Thankfully we managed to get things back on track last night with a fairly comfortable 2-0 win over Standard Liege to win our Champions league group with a game in hand. When I say it was fairly comfortable I mean in terms of our first half performance and the final result but it was not so comfortable for Gibbs, Gallas or Arshavin who were all in the wars. Gibbs has unfortunately broken his metatarsal and will be out for 3 months after his opponet tried to block a shot late on and his follow through caught him fairly hard. It's a big blow for us as Clichy is still injured and I was surprised that he played last night as he had only just recovered from a similar injury that had not broken the bone but bruised it. I suppose the boss wanted to play his best available left back as Traore looked shaky there at the weekend and he wanted to wrap the group up lat night as we have so many games between here and Christmas. As for Gallas and Arshavin their clash of heads when trying to score from the same cross looked very painfull indeed and Arshavin looked to have lost an awful lot of blood. He was brave to play on as was Gallas who looked a little shaky afterwards and was later replaced by Silvestre after suffering an ankle injury as well.

The manager started with Eboue at right back as per usual in the Champions league this season and I wonder if it is to keep him happy with first team football or if Sagna has an ongoing problem with his right ankle that goes back to his injury against Chelsea at the tail end of the 2007/8 season. Gibbs was at left back which surprised me as I said but we had our defensive rocks in Gallas and The Verminator at the centre of the defence which is what we need in every game possible. Song played the defensive midfield role with Cesc and Denilson ahead of him and I was a little surprised to see Denilson start as I thought Ramsey might continue or Rosicky might play but he did well in the 60 minutes he played. The front 3 consisted of Arshavin, Vela and Nasri with Eduardo not getting a look in much to my surprise but maybe it's still too soon for 2 games so quickly after each other for him. It was good to see Vela get a chance to start in a week where the manager has given him his backing and also revealed that the club are in talks with him about a new contract.

After some very close calls early on and a goal mouth scramble where we had 4 or 5 shots saved and Vela hit the post we eventually took the lead when we were looking to use up some time as both Gallas and Arshavin were off the pitch receiving treatment after their clash of heads. A long hopeful ball towards Nasri seemed to be going nowhere until the defender slipped and caught just enough of the ball to play Nasri in nicely and he finished with aplomb into the corner from just inside the box with only the keeper to beat. Our record of not getting penalties continued as Eboue went down in their box but the referee waved play on but to be honest when Eboue goes down I always think it's a dive and I think it might just have been in this case too. Luckily for us the referee was probably influenced by that decision when he didn't give what looked like a clear penalty against Gallas at the other end a little while later and I think he was also influenced by the player's fall as it was theatrical but in my opinion it was a definite penalty. With half time approaching Denilson tried a pot shot from 30 yards as there was no pressure put on him and with the ball swerving in both directions the keeper dived past it and despite getting a little piece of it he couldn't keep it out and all our hard work paid off as we headed down the tunnel with a 2-0 lead. At 0-0 we were also a little fortunate as Standard hit the angle of post and bar from a good break but all in all we made so many chances in the first half that 2-0 was a fairly accurate reflection of events.

In the second half we saw Silvestre replace Gallas and we didn't play at the same pace as the players possibly tired and possibly had the Chelsea game on Sunday in mind. The chances we made were fewer and defensively we obviously didn't look as stable with Silvestre in the team. I know the chances are that Senderos will want away in January but I really think he has a lot more to offer than Silvestre and with Djourou out until March at least we need to buy another central defender in January. The closest either team came to scoring was when a ball was cut back to the edge of the area by Standard with 2 unmarked players waiting and 1 of them hit it sweetly but kuckily the post intervened on our behalf again and we kept our 2-0 lead. Nasri was replaced after 60 minutes by Theo and Denilson by Rosicky after 66 minutes as we saw the game out without too much incidents until Gibbs' injury and of course Cesc's "altercation" with Carcela Gonzalez. As both players had little niggles at each other Gonzalez sent Cesc to the ground with a trip/push and both players then went head to head as the referee approached them. It looked like both players would be booked until Gonzaled pushed his head forward into Cesc's and although I wouldn't quite call it a head butt it was enough for a red card in this day and age. Thankfully Cesc just peeled away and kept his feet because it would have been embarrassing if he went down under such a light touch.

Afterwards the boss said he was happy to get back on track after the Sunderland defeat and he thought the first half performance was good but that we eased off in the second half. He said it was important to get a good level of performance as the the level on Saturday was not what was required and a win ahead of the Chelsea game on Sunday was important. He said he will pick some different players for the final group game away to Olympiacos and that was to be expected as it's a dead rubber. He also said that Song has extended his contract until 2014 and that's good news with the way he has played so far this season. He also made some weird comment about Denilson's goal coming from the Brazilian's shorter ankles as he thinks all Brazilian's have short ankles which gives a different flight to the ball. It was a sweet goal and his 2 goals this season have both been crackers so let's hope there's more to come. Rhys Murphy has joined Szczesny at Brentford on loan although his loan period is 3 months and Szczesny is only there for a month. Sanchez Watt has signed a new extended contract at the club and it's good to see so many youngsters coming through the ranks although quite how they will all fit into the first team squad I don't know. That's it for today.

Here's the highlights from last night.

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And to finish today's title track from Radiohead which is for Kieran Gibbs and his matatarsal which he almost broke last week and he managed to finish the job off last night. 

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See You Tomorrow.

I had been waiting for the return of proper football all through the interlull so that I could write about some proper Arsenal news again but our defeat to Sunderland on Saturday has put a bit of a dampner on that. At least we can get straight back on the horse tomorrow night at home to Liege in the Champions league as we look to get the win we need to win our group or at worst the draw that will ensure qualification. With the game coming so quickly after the Sunderland game I'm sure there will be some changes as players are rested with Chelsea in mind or given a break after a hectic interlull for some of them.

There are a lot of options open to the boss in just about every position. Gibbs might be back and Eboue seems to be the right back of choice in the Champions league but I hope he keeps the central defensive pairing intact. Ramsey didn't really shine on Saturday but he might be a lot more effective in a home game where the opposition need a result and he has a bit of room to play. I hope both Song and Cesc play from the start too as I thought they were our 2 best players on Saturday and Eduardo deserves another chance even though he was poor on Saturday. If he manages 1 goal I have a feeling that the floodgates will open for him and plenty more goals will flow. It was good to see Theo come back as well and I have a funny feeling he will start as he needs to get some game time in.

After yesterday's games we are now only ahead of The Spuds on goal difference again although we have a game in hand and the experts are again predicting that they will finish ahead of us. Let them predict all they want but there's not a hope of it happening and a 9-1 win against Wigan isn't going to change that. My only regret about the game is that I used to have Lennon and Defoe in my fantasy team and they got a combined score of 43 points yesterday which would have really helped me a lot. However as Lady Arse commented yesterday I'm better off without them as it did make me "feel dirty" having them in my team. My team had a fairly OK weekend without them anyway but for some bizzare reason I didn't put David Dunn into my team after advising everybody else to do so. He managed 10 points yesterday and he plays again on Wednesday night. I should really listen to my own advice and if I had made him my captain I would almost surely be sitting on top of almost every league I'm in by the end of Wednesday night's game. While I'm talking Fantasy football it's good to see Jimmy Bullard back and he's a good buy at the price he is at the moment. It's just a pity that he plays for Phil Brown and if he keeps playing like he is at the moment he will save Brown's job for him. I'll preview the Liege game tomorrow so that's it for today.

Here's the goals from our 3-2 win away to Liege in September.

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And to finish today's title track from Radiohead. We are just ahead of The Spuds on goal difference, just about in the last 16 of the Champions league and just about to play our most important game of the season so far against Chelsea next Sunday. 

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See You Tomorrow.

The debate about Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland rages unabated here in Ireland but I'm going to leave it behind and talk about some really interesting football instead. The manager told us yesterday that Denilson, Fabianski, Vela and Traore are all available to play against Sunderland tomorrow and it means that we come out of the international break with more players available than when we went in for the first time that I can remember. Of course we have lost RVP for the next 6 weeks at least and that's a shame with the form he's been in but we are the top scorers in the league and the goals are coming from everywhere in the team. With Eduardo and Vela available to play this weekend we have enough firepower to beat Sunderland but I'll preview that game tomorrow. Theo, Diaby and Wilshere are all very close to returning also and the good news about Gibbs is that he has not broken any bones but he has brusing on his bones and soft tissue on his right foot. Gibbs has a chance of being ready for the Champions league game against Standard on Tuesday and he should definitely be ready for the Chelsea game the weekend after.

There were stupid rumours in the papers last week that Eduardo was on his way to Liverpool but they have been well and truly been put to bed as he has signed a new contract at the club which will keep him with us for a few more years at least. The boss has said how he is quite happy with the outcome of the injuries for RVP and Gibbs as when he first heard they were injured he feared they would be missing for a lot longer. With Traore available to cover for Gibbs we will still have 3 of our best defence available and that will make it easier on him if he does fill in at left back. In midfield we have a wealth of talent available and the manager will have to think long and hard about who he picks and who he puts on the bench as well. Some players are bound to be disappointed by any decisions that are made but that's why the boss is paid so much money.

Some of our players did very well with their countries over the last week or so and we will have quite a few players at the World cup next year. The French squad should include Gallas, Sagna, Clichy, Diaby and maybe Nasei too. Both Senderos and Djourou should be there with Switzerland Eboue will be there with the Ivory Coast as will Song with Cameroon. I'm sure Theo will be in the England squad and Gibbs is a possibility too but I think Wilshere is very much an outside bet at this stage. Cesc is an absolute certainty for Spain and Vela, Bendtner and RVP will be there with Mexico, Denmark and Holland respectively. That's a total of 15 players at the very most who will be getting very short holidays next summer. Let's hope it doesn't affect us too much next season. In addition a number of our players scored for their countries during the last week. Ramsey got 1 against Scotland for Wales as he ran the show in a 3-0 friendly win, Eboue scored 1 of the Ivory Coast's goals in a 2-2 draw away to Germany, The Verminator managed a goal as Belgium beat Hungary 3-0, Eduardo scored 2 as Croatia beat Liechtenstein 5-0, Gallas scored the all important goal that qualified France for the World Cup against Ireland and of course Cesc scored for Spain in a 5-1 win in Austria. Our players just seem to love scoring at the moment although we have not scored a goal in the first 15 minutes of any match yet this season despite having scored 55 goals in 19 matches. That is sure to be remedyed very soon and hopefully it will be this week. With 9 matches in 29 days between now and Christmas week we can expect an awful lot to report and talk about.

I have the day off work and all next week too but I have made myself available for an hour and a half of work at 5.30 this evening that is very near to my home and the same again at 6 on Sunday evening. With football at 7.30 tonight I'll be in a hurry to get there on time but as we will be playing for 90 minutes I can live with starting a few minutes late. The Arsenal match is live on the radio tomorrow here in Ireland but as of yet I don't know if it's on the TV so I'm not sure what my plans are at 3 tomorrow afternoon. If I can't watch the game I think I'll listen in and spend the duration on Twitter too. I'm part of a fairly big Arsenal community on Twitter and news and reports come thick and fast. The goals from a game are usually available to see pretty quickly and it's always a good place to get a stream for live matches. The link to my Tweets are in the side bar and if you're new to it just send me a Tweet and I'll try to hook you up with fellow Gooners. Well that's about it for today and with our season back in full swing tomorrow things are looking up again.

Here's a little bit of what Eduardo can do.

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And to finish today's title track from Bob Marley and The Wailers. There is a poitive vibration about the club after an international break for a change despite the RVP injury.

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See You Tomorrow.

Yet another late blog today due to circumstances beyond my control yet again but as I have no work after today until Monday November 30th normal service should be resumed. I blame it all on Thierry Henry as after playing football last night I made my way home to watch the last hour of the France v Ireland World cup play off and I was delighted to hear Ireland score the goal that put them back in the tie just before I got out of my car. At half time I put on a home made pizza and quickly started downing a few bottles of Heineken to help me to ease the tension. Ireland completely outplayed France for most of the match and when they didn't take subsuquent chances that came their way I was worried. The game went into extra time and penalties loomed in half an hours time before the intervention of Henry in the first period of extra time. A high ball into the Irish box should have been cleared but it wasn't and as it was about to go wide Henry handled it twice before poking it back across the goal for Gallas to head into an empty net. If Eduardo was on a charge of purposely deceiving the referee for his supposed dive then Henry will have to be charged too but I won't be holding my breath. Apparently he even admitted it afterwards but still I don't expect FIFA or UEFA to act on his admission. It's a shame that a player I consider to be Arsenal's greatest player ever has sullied his good name by doing this and as a result the benefits for his country as it guarenteed qualification for the World Cup.

In Arsenal news Eduardo signed a new long term contract yesterday and I think that shows that the boss believes that he is over his injury troubles with his leg. I think he's a fantastic goalscorer and I'm delighted he has signed on for a few more years. Arshavin will have the summer off as Russia were beaten in their play off by Slovenia and Eboue managed to score for Ivory Coast in a 2-2 friendly draw against Germany. Cesc also managed to score a goal as Spain won 5-1 in Austria despite going 1-0 down. All of our players will be back at the club today and/or tomorrow and we will know then how we stand as regards injuries and fitness but there was some good news yesterday as the club announced that Gibbs has not broken any bones in his foot but he does have briusing to the bones and soft tissue in his right foot. If it was me I would be able to play with my left foot in that condition as it's only for standing on seeming as I'm right footed.

There isn't a whole lot of other Arsenal news today as we wait for those players to return but over here in Ireland the only football topic of conversation on the TV, Radio, in the streets and in the workplace is Henry and his apology on Twitter where he apparently said that if he hurt anyone he's "sorry". We have government ministers attempting to get the match replayed and Henry has become public enemy number 1 with the majority of the 4 million inhabitants of the Republic. I could have taken a defeat if it was deserved but to have it taken from you by foul means is a bitter pill to swallow. I have removed Henry from my list of favourite players on Oleole and it will be a long time before I forgive him. If France believe in fair play they should offer to replay the match and the main instigator behind it should be Platini. Let's see what he's really made of - as if we didn't know already. That's it for today but it should be back to all things Arsenal tomorrow.

Here's a look at Henry's handball.

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And to finish today's title track from The Clash and it expresses how we as a nation feel for Thierry Henry.

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See You Tomorrow.

Good Morning fellow Arsenal fans from a damp and cold Dublin. Sorry for the late blog today but circumstances which I can't go into here have conspired to delay me and I must now try to work and blog at the same time which isn't always easy. First things first and I must change the trousers I'm wearing as they're soaked through but luckily as I work in the rag trade there's always a sample pair to change into lying around somewhere although the fact that the sample legs are 4 inches too long doesn't help a lot. Anyway enough of my petty problems and on to all things Arsenal.

Our injury troubles continued last night as our second choice left back, Kieran Gibbs, went off with a foot injury after only 21 minutes og England's under 21 match in Lituania. There's nothing on the club site as usual but we'll probably find out later how serious it is. He was taken to hospital for x-rays which would indicate that something or other is broken but I hope it's not too serious. It leaves us with Traore as the only fit left back at the club and I think he's just back from an injury too. If he hasn't recovered the next options would be Gallas, The Verminator or Silvestre who can all play there although I wouldn't like to break up the central defensive partnership which would leave Silvestre as the next choice. I hope it doesn't come to that as it scares me when he is in the team. It's a pity for Gibbs as he deserved a chance to show what he could do in the first team and stake a claim to make that position his own. I'm sure that given the same oppurtunity Traore will feel that maybe he can stake a claim too. He has a lot of ability and speed going forward and a very good shot too but it's his defensive game that has been called into question in the past.

According to reports in the papers today RVP's placenta fluid specialist has treated other Premier league players before and he's the first one to openly admit it. The thought of having placenta fluid rubbed on parts of me to make me heal quicker doesn't exactly appeal to me but needs must I suppose for RVP and I can only hope that it works. As it stands the manager is without his first 2 choices in the pivotal role of his attack and at left back also as November's shadow begins to lurk over us as per usual. Also I read today that Sir shits his pants a lot reckons that the race for the title will be a 2 horse race between Manure and Chelsea. Let him underestimate us all he wants but in my opinion he knows we are better than them and he is trying to disguise the fact by writing us off. We should have beaten them at Old Trafford, without Cesc, and we are ahead of them in the league with a game in hand on them. I'll have to leave things there or there will be no blog at all today. Hopefully, for me anyway, Ireland can overcome France tonight and progress to the World cup but most importantly of all hopefully Arsenal won't get any more players injured tonight.

Here's a clip of the long unbeaten run we went on last season. The same again with a few more wins would be very nice.

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And to finish today's title track from Eastwood and Saint(not Queen). We have suffered yet another injury on international duty but at least there are no more internationals for a few months and we can concentrate on Arsenal.

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See You Tomorrow.

We play AZ at The Emirates tonight and we know that a win will as good as qualify us for the knockout stages of the competition no matter what. As a result we must approach the match with the right mindset and look to dominate them from the off. The goals don't always come early in our home European games but patience is a virtue that paid off against Olympiacos and if needs be I'm sure it will pay off tonight. I'm sure that they will look to defend from the off and to stifle us where possible particularly as they have Koeman as their manager. He has a good record against us with Ajax and PSV both frustrating us in the Champions league previously whilst he was the manager of the respective clubs. Dutch clubs have a tradition of playing attractive and attacking football but he has never done that against us but his teams have always managed to do the job required of them.

However, tonight AZ need a win if they are to have a real chance of qualifying from the group and a draw will leave them in a position  where third place and Europa league qualification is their only real option. I still don't expect to see them become adventureous in any way shape or form tonight and I think they will probably feel that their best chance of a goal is from a high ball into the box which is how they scored their last minute equaliser in their home game against us. I have to say that the sight of Koeman on the sidelines is enough to annoy me and there is nothing about the man that I like. It goes back as far as the night he single handedly knocked England out of the World Cup when he scored a wonderful free kick against them despite the fact that he should have been sent off earlier in the game. I was no lover of England and definitely not Graham Taylor at the time but it just struck me as an injustice and it's time an English club made him pay for that.

With the news that the latest player to join our ever growing injury list is Gael Clichy with a stress fracture of the back we can at least welcome Rosicky back tonight. He's not quite ready to start but it looks like he will get a run out at some stage and it's good news as he is a player who can really make a difference at times. There's no news on the exact length of Bendtner's absence but it looks like being a month at least and Clichy would seem to be out for roughly that amount of time too. It will give us a chance to see Gibbs play as part of the first team and his deputy will be Traore who is due to be back in full training tomorrow after his injury. A lot of fans including myself have thought that Clichy's form has been off for a while and we had hoped Gibbs would get a chance at some stage. I didn't think his positioning was good against Liverpool in the Carling Cup but it will be different with the first choice defence around him. He has a chance to make that left back slot his own over the next month and push for a spot in England's World Cup squad too.

The boss said yesterday that Almunia will continue in goal and Mannone will be the sub keeper. With Gibbs at left back I expect the defence to remain the same as Saturday's besides that neccessary change. Eboue has started at right back in 2 of our 3 group games so far but I think Sagna will play and his 2 assists at the weekend should make sure of that. In midfield I'm sure that the 3 that played at the weekend will continue and 2 of the front 3 are certainties with RVP and Arshavin both playing and the other player to start will probably be Eboue or Eduardo. The boss could surprise us all and play Ramsey in the midfield 3 and Diaby in the front 3 but I don't think so.

As I said AZ will look to stifle us but as long as we play our game and are patient we will get the chances and the goals should come too. Hopefully we have learned that 1 goal isn't enough against them and we can push for a 2nd or 3rd if we do get that 1st goal without over comitting ourselves. If the need arises we should be prepared to run the clock down and take the ball into the corners to make sure we qualift tonight. I predict a 3-0 win with the goals coming from Arshavin(he's due one), Diaby and RVP and Arsenal managing to get the better of Koeman at last.

In other news Stan Kroenke has bought a good whack of shares to bring his stake up to 29.6% of the club and leave him very close to the magical 29.9% mark that will mean he must bid for all other shares. At least his purchase of 427 shares at £8,500 a share is worth reporting unlike the 10 shares that he bought last week. As I have said before he keeps his cards close to his chest and no matter what speculation is out there we won't know what will happen until it actually happens. The boss has said that the next month will be crucial for us as we look to really challenge for the league as there are usually a lot of injuries in November. We have had so many injuries already that we can do without any more this month. When the players head off to play for their countries next week I will be keeping my fingers crossed that they all come back in good shape and hopefully we can keep the players who are vital to our team fit. We have Rosicky back and Vela should be available at the weekend as well with Walcott a few weeks away from returning we will at least have a few more attacking options. After tonight we play Wolves, Sunderland, Liege and Chelsea in November and 7 points from those 3 league games would be perfectly acceptable although 9 points would lay down a marker for all other challengers for the league. Just recently I have heard a few pundits changing their minds and saying that we have a chance in the league and I have even heard a few say that we have the best chance of challenging Chelsea out of all the other clubs in the league. I have said from the start of the season that we are the best bet to challenge them as Liverpool and Manure have worse teams than last season and it's good to be listened to at last although I would probably prefer if they were still writing us off. That's it for today.

Here's a good goal by our left back tonight against Portsmouth reserves.

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And to finish today's title track from The Damned. It's time for us to smash up Koeman's record against us by beating his team tonight.

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See You Tomorrow.

It's Saturday morning again and Arsenal have a game today for a change. Birmingham travel to The Emirates this afternoon for a 3pm kick off and the game evokes a lot of memories of the last time we played them. On that day at the end of February 2008 we were on top of the league as we travelled to St. Andrews looking to extend that lead against a team struggling to avoid relegation. We all know what happened to Eduardo that afternoon and the tantrum Gallas had when Clichy gave away the penalty is well documented too. What other people forget but we Gooners vividly remember is that we should have had a penalty when we were 2-1 up and that Clichy actually got the ball when the referee awarded a penalty against him in the last minute. We followed that game with only 1 win in our next 7 league games even though we managed to knock AC Milan out of the Champions league in the middle of it all. With the league gone we managed to win our last 4 games and we finished 4 points off the top if I remember correctly.

In injury news it appears that Almunia is finally back from his "chest infection" and Diaby is available to play after all but we are without Clichy, Bendtner, Eduardo, Nasri, Djourou, Denilson and Vela will be back too late from international duty to play. That's 7 players missing but to be honest we can cope without all of them against Birmingham in my opinion. The big question is if Almunia will come back into the team or if Don Vito will keep his place and the manager is the only one who knows the answer to that question. I think Don Vito deserves to keep his place but if the boss doesn't put Almunia in he will then have to wait for Don Vito to have a stinker before he can replace him. There is a definite pecking order at the club and I expect that Almunia will start but maybe the fact that we have won every game he missed will make him realise that his position is not secure. We have a good replacement for Clichy in Gibbs and many fans feel that he should have had a chance already this season as Clichy's form has not been great.

My guess at the starting line up is Almunia, Gibbs, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Song, Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin, RVP & Theo although Eboue and/or Diaby may well also start. Our formation will be 4-3-3 of course and so long as we go about the game in the right way we should dispatch Birmingham and put them in more trouble near the foot of the table. I predict a 3-0 win for us with the goals coming from RVP, Arshavin & Theo and if we don't let up over the 90 minutes it could be even more. Goals are coming from all over the pitch as we play a brand of football that is very pleasing to the eye but is also producing results for us.

In other news our postponed home league match at home against Bolton has been provisionally rearranged for Wednesday 2nd December which is a very important date in my calender as it's my birthday. It depends on whether both teams have been knocked out of the Carling Cup or not as that is also the week for Carling Cup 5th round matches. The boss has revealed that Sol Campbell has being training with us as he looks to regain his fitness but he said it is only for that reason. I can't say I'm too happy about it after we released him to let him join a team on the continent and he joined Portsmouth instead. Never mind the fact that he walked out on his team mates at half time in a league match against West Ham. The boss has said that he thinks referees should keep their distance from players and managers and he refused to be drawn on whether Manure's manager should be punished for his outburst after their game against Sunderland. He did say that he wants all managers to be treated the same if they have something to say in the heat of the moment after a game and he doesn't think Manure's manager would want to be treated differently. I'm sure he must have said that tongue in cheek as we all know he not only expects favouritism but he also receives it. That's it for today.

Here's a clip of The Verminator's goals for us so far.

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And to finish today's title track from New Model Army. It's time for our players to get some vengance for February 23rd 2008 but in the form of a good hiding for Birmingham.

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See You Tomorrow.

England played their under 21 game against Macedonia last night and it was an eventful night for their 3 Arsenal players. The bad news first of all is that Theo Walcott got a dead leg and was taken off at half time as a result. Depending on the severity of the injury we may or may not have him available for the home league game against Birmingham this day next week. I've had a dead leg myself in the past and I did manage to play football a week later after working all week long so if it's not too bad it will be quite possible for him to play.

The good news from last night's game was the performances of both Gibbs and Wilshere. Gibbs scored the first goal in a 6-3 win and he was involved in the build up for 2 or 3 of the other goals. On the down side he also managed to put through his own goal but overall he performed very well. Wilshere also played very well and his talent was obvious for all to see last night as lesser players struggled to keep up with what he was trying to do at times. It's great to see how much talent both of them have and they have to be pushing for some more time in the first team. There is a school of thought that Clichy should be replaced by Gibbs as his form over the last 18 months has not been up to the standard that it was prior to that. There are also an awful lot of fans who would love to see a lot more of Wilshere as the manager continues to slow play his introduction to the team.

It's very strange heading into a Saturday afternoon and knowing there's no Premier league football to watch or listen to. I miss the good old days when internationals were played on A wednesday night and league games were played on the Saturday before and after. Now the players are with their countries for a week before a game is played but they only return to their clubs on a Thursday morning at the earliest before a Saturday afternoon match. It's a little bit crazy that the clubs pay the players wages and club football is far better and far more interesting to the fans but FIFA and UEFA continue to have so much control over every thing that happens. Of course they're doing it for their own interests as they continue to line their pockets and refuse to bring in technology that would improve the game for their own stupid reasons. I long for the day when the clubs that pay the players wages have more control over those same players and the amount of international games played is decreased but I can't see that happening in the near(or even distant) future.

I suppose I'll watch Ireland play Italy tonight as I'll be in a friend's house play some poker and I'm sure the match will be on. I have a few friends who are going to the game and they go to every home Ireland match in Dublin at least. I spoke to one of them after football last night and I told him I find it hard to watch Ireland attempt to play football after watching Arsenal every week. He agreed about Ireland's style of play but Trappatoni has a style of play with which he thinks he can achieve some level of sucess with a very average Irish team. If they make the runners up spot in the group they will have a good chance of making the World Cup next year and it will be one huge party over here when the World Cup is on if they make it. That's it for today.

Here's a clip of Alex Song showing how well he has started this season.

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And to finish today's title track from New Model Army. I betcha I'll end up bored to tears watching Ireland tonight and I also betcha that our bad start to this international break with injuries will continue.

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See You Tomorrow.

We have a home game at 1.30 this afternoon against Blackburn and it's live on the TV which gives our players an oppurtunity to show the world how the game should be played against a team put together by a man who would like to show the world how football should not be played. We beat Blackburn 4-0 at home and away last season and we have won our last 6 home league games against them with Blackburn failing to score in 5 of them. All that adds up to a belief that we should give them a good hiding today.

With Almunia unavailable due to sickness still it means Don Vito will remain in goal and hope to keep yet another clean sheet. The defence picks itself in my opinion but it is interesting that Eboue has played both Champions League matches this season but as Rock The Casbah said Gibbs has not got a look in. In midfield we will see Cesc and Song I'm sure and more than likely Diaby will play too but it would be nice to see Rosicky play alongside Cesc. RVP will lead the attack I'm sure and Arshavin will play too which probably means Bendtner will play on the right with Theo coming on at some stage for his comeback. I'd like to see Vela get another run out too and of course it would be good to see Jack and Rambo get some game time.

I can see Blackburn doing everything they can to frustrate us and we're bound to be kicked from one end of the pitch to the other in typical Allardyce fashion but it's up to our players to keep playing football and the chances will come. We have the fire power to cause them real problems and Paul Robinson dreads playing against us as he nears 100 career goals conceded against Arsenal. I predict a 3-0 win for Arsenal and I think RVP will keep up his recent form and goal scoring record against Blackburn by bagging at least 1 of the goals. A win will put us back in the thick of the race for the league as Manure got a lucky draw at home to Sunderland yesterday and Chelsea play Liverpool directly after our game today.

In other news our youth team got another league win yesterday as the beat Crystal Palace 1-0 with Nigel Neita scoring the only goal. There isn't too much else to say today except that I'll be watching the match in the company of my fellow Wicklow Gunners in The Strand in Bray before I join some friends in my local to watch Chelsea play Liverpool and I don't know who I want to win that one. Maybe a draw would suit Arsenal best. 

Here's a clip of the type of start we could do with against Blackburn from Arshavin in this fixture last season.

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And to finish here's today's title track from Jimmy Cliff. Blackburn may think they are hard enough to take us on but they are set for a football lesson in my opinion.

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See You Tomorrow.

To say there is very little Arsenal news about today is an understatement but hopefully something will happen at some stage today to ease the boredom. I suppose even if the vast majority of the players were not off with their countries we still wouldn't have a lot to report as we wait for the season to start on Saturday. Is it me or did the off season seem even longer this year compared to other years. Thankfully we have only 4 days to go before the real football begins in earnest with 4 games in 12 days starting with our trip to Goodison Park.

Young Kieran Gibbs has spoken about how he has had to make a lot of sacrifices as a young boy to get to where he is today and according to the boss that's a star of the future and a future international player. Theo reckons the main thing needed to make it is the right attitude and he says his family helped him to keep his feet on the ground. He said the money and the fame come but you have to keep working hard and playing football. Both players were giving advice to any budding stars of the future at the member's day last week.

After the mini furore when Stuart Pearce didn't call Jack Wilshere up to the England under 21 squad last week he has now received a late call up in place of the injured Fabrice Muamba. Of course there is yet more talk of him going to South Africa with England next summer for the World Cup which is all a bit ridiculous at this stage.

Barcelona reportedly have decided they won't break the bank to get Cesc as they believe they will get him next summer. If they paid over €45 million and Eto'o for Ibrahomovic what price do they think they would have to pay for Cesc. We have no desire to sell and the player has stated that he is happy to stay with us so in my opinion that would mean they should pay about €75 million for him but even at that he's going nowhere this summer. The fact that the player is not available and they continue to do their business in the papers is completly lost on UEFA.

Hangeland has spoken about how he is happy to stay at Fulham and he says that he's not in a rush to go anywhere. He said there has been a lot of speculation but his policy is not to comment on speculation and he will only comment when something happens. The way I see it he would jump at the chance to join us and Roy Hodgson continues to mention his name alongside ours. I think a serious offer from us would secure his services but it depends on whether the boss thinks he needs him or not. Aother player whose name won't go away is Chamakh but nothing more seems to be happening for the moment and at this stage the smart money is probably on a transfer at 5 to midnight on August 31st as per usual.

I sincerely hope the boss has a defensive midfielder in his sights but as the days go by I begin to doubt it more and more. I know there are not too many players of the calibre that we require out there and I don't know of any that are available but I just hope against hope that he has an ace up his sleeve.

There's only 4 days to go to the start of the season so it's time to sign up to Fantasy Fooball before it's too late. It's completely free and great fun. Just follow the link and join whatever of my leagues you like with the codes below.

Oleole league code  4383-1847

Oleole Arsenal league code  4383-1835

Oleole head to head league code  4383-1828

There's also a scoreline prediction competition if you're interested at this link and the code to join is FC85F-XSC 

If anyone is having trouble signing up just let me know and I'll do the best I can to help. That's it for today.

Here's a clip of one of my favourite goals ever from Denis Bergkamp.

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And to finish today's title track from Denis Brown. We will spend the next few days anxiously sitting & watching to see if all our players come through their internationals in good shape.

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See You Tomorrow.