The good news is that Arsene will be playing a stronger side in this years FA Cup. We won’t open old wounds except to say that Arsenal should be ashamed of last years FA Cup efforts. As a fan of the FA Cup I have always wanted the Arsenal to try hard to win it, but in recent years it has been sacrificed in the hunt for Premiership and Champions League glory. Now, it appears, desperation has set in. Wenger’s decision to play adults in pursuit of the old trophy is a tacit admittance that he knows we have a snowballs chance in hell of winning anything else this year. Ultimately it doesn’t matter though, I’d love to win the FA Cup again. Anyway, I still harbour a flickering flame of hope that we will be European Champions this time around.

David Dein’s son, also an agent, and more importantly Fabregas’s agent, reportedly met with AC Milan to discuss the player. This kind of story gets an involuntary rise out of me. I want to stand up and shout AC MILAN F**K OFF! It is annoying but it is football and it has no doubt been helped along by Arsenals willingness to sell their top players. But, in the case of Fabregas we need not fear him leaving for AC Milan. It’s when Barcelona are heavily linked that I start to worry. That will be his only destination on the inevitable day of his departure.

We are nearly at the Wigan game, there doesn’t seem to be much team news around at the moment. Hopefully we will put out as strong a team as we were able to field against Chelsea and rack up another three points.  The title race is an intriguing one this year. There is no great team. This is both good and bad as it means that if Wenger had strengthened a bit in the summer the title would have been there for the taking. It is good because Wenger may still be able to claw his way back into title contention due to the inconsistency of the other three teams at the top.

Congratulations to the young lads for a terrific cup run. Were it not for the rub of the green and Burnley’s goalkeeper playing out of his skin the Arsenal brats would have progressed to the semi’s. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be this time around. The players acquitted themselves excellently and Wenger should be applauded for using the competition in the way that he does. Although only a handful of these players will make it into first team contention many of the others will go on to decent careers at other clubs and bring in some nice little transfer fees. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we saw some of this Carling Cup team loaned out in the January transfer window.

RVP has come out an stated that he doesn’t think that William Gallas was talking about him in his recent book launch blurb. The finger of blame has somehow now fallen on Eboue, although I don’t know where that little titbit has come from. Probably some over-eager journalist invented it. It doesn’t matter one iota whether Gallas was talking about RVP, Eboue or King Tut, the fact is that the whole episode should be consigned to the past. Look to the future!

It is a shame that we are out of the Carling Cup. I hope that the squad don’t let it knock their confidence. They need to focus on the task at hand – Wigan at home on Saturday. We are approaching what we laughably call full-strength now in our first team. With the exception of poor old Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott most of our players are back or nearly back. I am even expecting to see Eduardo again soon. Theo, presumably suffering the same problem that he had before but in a different shoulder should be tougher on his return, knowing that both of his shoulders are now strengthened. Rosicky, well, who knows what the hell is going on with him. He always comes across as a good guy in his interviews and it is a real shame what has happened to him. What has actually happened to him anyway? His comebacks are delayed time after time, does anybody actually know what is wrong with him? I hope that he can be more like Overmars, e.g. come back after a long and serious injury to play the best football of his life; rather than like Owen, who has been a shadow of his former self since his knee exploded.

Yaya Toure has come out and said that he spoke to Arsene over the summer (although he didn’t say what they talked about – the weather? How Kolo never does the washing up? Who knows). Yaya also said that he was happy at the Nou Camp, but, if Arsene goes for him, I’m sure that he’d join the Arsenal. Is he the answer to our problems in the centre of midfield? I don’t know, I have only seen him play a handful of times. He is obviously a class act and he is better than our current options in the middle of the park. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. I think he should join us just so he can see the look of joy on his mum’s face when she realised that the Toures have been reunited. Incidentally, how many other Toures are their lurking about? Would it be possible to have a team entirely composed of Toures? That would be amazing. Sadly my dream of a team split 50-50 into Toures and Hoytes is now never going to happen. That was a big disappointment.

The team have been quite bullish in the press following their victory over Chelsea. I can understand that, it is an outpouring of tension, a vindication of their abilities and a positive jolt to the confidence. All the same, I would like them to quieten down, get on with the business at hand and try to ensure that they get a good result against Wigan at the weekend. If we can just start to get some momentum going, keep building on the confidence with one result at a time then maybe we can start to get a run together and try to claw back some of the foolish points we have dropped this season.

Tonight, hopefully we have a treat in store with the oiks once again being unleashed. This time they are away to Burnley. This is the Quarter-finals ladies and gentleman. If we win this it’s the semis and we can hopefully exorcise last years pitiful capitulation at the semi-final stage. I agree completely with Arsene Wenger’s philosophy with this competition, but we cannot allow the same situation to occur as happened against Spurs last season. That was humiliating and it was unfair on the fans. Plus, a trophy is a trophy and while the Carling Cup is undoubtedly the most pony of the trophies it would be nice to have it anyway. We haven’t had a day out at Wembley for years. First though we have to overcome Burnley, on a pitch made of concrete on a cold and wintery night. Get the gloves out lads! Although this is a different competition it is still important to win this game for the sake of morale and momentum. Our club is gradually getting its winning mentality back and a victory tonight against Burnley would be our third on the trot.

The same goes for our final Champions League game. Yes we’ve already qualified, however, in previous seasons I have seen Wenger play a weakened team in these final games. When we lose those games it always adversely affects the squad and our current fragility means that we cannot afford any slip ups. Also, we want to finish top of our Champions League group, to do that we need to win or draw.

Transfer speculation time!! Yay! It’s that time of year again when we read completely baseless reports eagerly searching for some rudiment of truth only for Arsene to not buy anyone and we all feel sad and disappointed. Today Sky Sports News has linked us with a £6 million bid for Yaya Toure, interestingly linking Kolo with a move to Manchester City. I hope that Kolo stays. I don’t know what is going on there but he has been and will continue to be an important player for us. I am starting to think that Wenger has a problem with having brothers in the team! While I don’t think that the Toure’s will be like the Charltons, they may just be as successful as the Nevilles and that would be great! Justin Hoyte had a fair run of games for the Arsenal but then when Gavin came knocking Justin was out the door, now Yaya could be on his way it seems that Kolo is being sidelined!! It smacks of conspiracy or what. For the love of God will somebody please call Spooky Mulder. I wonder if Wenger was on the grassy knoll.

Anyway, I am confident that the urchins will see Burnley off tonight.

Good news everybody, the Arsenal have drawn Burnley away in the next round (the quarter-final) of the Carling Cup. Wile Jay Simpson wanted to test himself against a top side, it’s better really if we play the easy teams. Sperz are away to Watford, United face Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford and Stoke take on Derby. All the big teams will expect to get through this round. The chances of meeting Sperz at the Semi-final stage and thereby giving us a brilliant opportunity for retribution is looking good!

Good morning. Thursday, or Friday eve as I am lobbying to rename it, is here. The hump of the week is over and the weekend beckons. After recent results all Gooners can look forward to Saturday’s 3pm kick-off against Aston Villa. Make no mistake, it will be a tough match, but Villa are going through a dip at the moment and confidence is high in the Arsenal camp following our thriller against United and our midweek glimpse of the (hopefully not too distant) future against Wigan. It will be nice to play a match at the proper time (3pm on a Saturday) for once. For the burgervan, Saturday afternoon is when football should be played, not midday, not 5.15 and certainly not on a Sunday. How is one supposed to relax in front of The Antiques Roadshow if you are fretting about the Arsenal!?

The papers and their respective websites are abuzz with stories about our young players and youth system. England Boss Fabio Capello said in an interview that “Arsenal’s academy is the perfect example of how young players should be brought along at all European clubs”. Thank you very much Mr Capello and thank you very much Arsene Wenger. Once again, those ignorami that called for Wenger’s head a fortnight ago or contributed to the media frenzy that began to build against him, please go f*ck yourselves. Yes, Tony Cascarino, that’s you.

Jay Simpson, Tuesday’s two goal hero against Wigan, was in the papers yesterday hoping that Arsenal would draw one of the big teams in the next round of the Carling Cup so our young guns could have a proper test! Furthermore Simpson said that he hoped that if we did draw a big team that they would play their strongest team against us! If that isn’t the right attitude I don’t know what is. To top it all off Simpson is himself a Gooner! Burgervan hopes that he can break into the first team. The last of the Carling Cup games were played last night, unfortunately Sperz beat Liverpool again to go through to the next round, but at least that gives us an opportunity to visit some much needed Revenge on the stupid bastards.

The Telegraph website has a couple of interesting stories today, one focuses on why Ashley Cole is the least popular footballer in England. Burgervan isn’t going to go into details about it here, but sufficed to say it’s because he is a world-class arse-hole. The other article is a pretend match report from a game between the Arsenal first team and their Carling Cup team. The very fact that the Telegraph would write such a report is testament to the quality of our young players (I don’t see similar reports for Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool etc). The result by the way was 4-4!

The teams in the draw for the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup are the Arsenal; Manchester united; Blackburn Rovers; Sperz; Burnley; Derby County; Stoke City; and Watford. Now, Jay Simpson may want to play Man Utd in the next round but burgervan would be happy with a home tie against Burnley; Derby; or Watford. It does seem fated that at some point we will come up against Sperz again. I hope that it isn’t in the quarter-finals. If we are to put them to the sword I would much rather we did it in the semi’s or even better at Wembley in the Final. We must always strive for maximum humiliation of Tottenham when we can.

Two games in a row! That’s right, a miracle has happened two Burgervan score predictions in a row have been correct. That’s my quota for the season met!

What a great game that was last night. Our urchins yet again beat an experienced team, although this time it was a virtually full strength (except for Emile Heskey) Premiership side. Great stuff and great performances all round. Simpson’s finishing was excellent, Wilshere looks to be an incredible prospect, Ramsey is pushing for a first team place already, Fabianski pulled off some notable saves in the second half, Djourou led the team with aplomb (yes, we may actually have a leader in our ranks) and Vela looks as though Wenger’s comments earlier in the week are spot on – he could indeed be a world-class talent.

I’d like to see Vela used a bit more in the first team. He has so far made a couple of substitute appearances but such brief stints haven’t yet given him the opportunity to showcase his talents. However, when he is blooded properly is the manager’s choice and in this I trust Arsene completely. He does have a knack with the oiks after all.

It was excellent to see some of the senior team attending last nights match. I think attendance at all matches should be mandatory for the whole senior squad, but it isn’t, so well done to those who chose to come and lend their support to our young team last night. I caught a glimpse of Toure and Adebayor but there may have been more of the adults dotted about somewhere.

Wenger looked like the cat that got the cream in the post match interview. All smiles and compliments, far different from the slightly haggard Arsene we have seen over the last few weeks. Its not surprising though really is it, after having stoved in Man Utd the other day and now his immovable faith in the kids has been more than proved correct, Arsene had had a good week. Let’s hope that the feel good factor continues into the next match against Aston Villa.

I was chatting to my brother the other day and he told me (I don’t know where he got this piece of information – it is more than possible that he made it up!) that Tony Adams, after failing to tempt Martin Keown to Pompey, has also targeted our scout Gilles Grimandi. Oi, Tony, you may be Mr Arsenal, but leave off our employees! Tony has of course been travelling around over the last few years learning about management techniques and so forth. How he crammed this in between his time spent learning 18^th century French poetry and playing the piano I don’t know.  It appears that he has learnt that Arsenal’s scouting system is unsurpassed so rather than attempt to build his own at Portsmouth, he is trying to nick ours! I can’t see Gilles jumping ship though, he is Arsene’s man through and through.

There has been a lot of talk recently that Big Red Al won’t be managing Man Utd next season. As far as I can see this speculation is based on the fact that the Monstrous One is being nicer to everybody this season. It can only be good news for us if he does go, but you feel that United have reached a level at which they are always going to be a top team irrespective of whom they bring in to manage. Unless of course they bring in Juande Ramos. On a more nostalgic note, if he does go it will mark the end of Arsene and Ferguson’s amazing rivalry, which has been the hallmark of the Premier league for a long time and without a doubt has made being an Arsenal fan more exciting.

First off today, some transfer speculation. It’s been a while since the disappointment of deadline day so I feel ready and willing to impart some highly improbable Sky Sports News speculation. Reports (not sure from where or whom) suggest that ‘Lenny’, a 20 year old Brazilian striker may have already signed a pre-contract agreement with the Arsenal. He currently plys his trade with Palmeiras but only joined them from Fluminense in January. It is expected that if he joins he would be farmed out to Salamanca on loan, where Vela also spent some time. There you go, that was interesting wasn’t it. Not exactly the answer to our problems but nice nonetheless.

After his heroic performance against Man Utd Nasri has been talking to the press about his joy at playing for the Arsenal. He says that part of the reason that he has settled so well is that there are so many French speaking players. He even goes as far to say that the Arsenal are the unofficial 21^st team in the French league. His comments have echoes of similar interviews with Vieira and Petit, Pires and Henry and made me feel altogether nostalgic when I read them. If Nasri carries on as he has started he may well turn out to be the replacement for Pires that we have so sorely missed.

David Dein has defended Arsene Wenger in light of recent criticism levelled at le Boss. Saying that Arsene’s judgement must always be trusted and to judge us at the end of the season rather than the beginning of November. Good point. Dein describes Mr Wenger as ‘the most dedicated football man ever’. He also goes on to comment that ticket prices cannot possibly be raised anymore as it is stopping young fans from seeing the team. Also true. I know a lot of fans don’t like the permatanned Dein, but I miss him being at the club. The Wenger-Dein partnership was an excellent on and we enjoyed unprecedented success under their joint stewardship. I would welcome him back, especially as he is no longer shackled to Usmanov’s ankle. I bet he wishes that he hadn’t sold his shares.

Burgervan loves our new stadium. Its ace for want of a more childlike word, but does anybody else think that the capacity of 60,000 is already looking a bit low? I remember thinking it was a bit small when they unveiled the plans, especially with United pulling in 75,000 or whatever it is. Now Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea are talking about building new stadia with greater capacities than ours. How the f*ck they are going to get banks to lend for a stadium project in the current economic climate is beyond me but they are pursuing plans anyway. I realise that there must have been planning restrictions for us relating to human traffic on matchdays and maybe even a maximum height restriction but I would be interested to see whether the Emirates stadium has any contingency for expansion. I am a big supporter of reintroducing standing areas, which would certainly increase the capacity by a few thousand, bring down ticket prices in those areas and promote a better atmosphere. It might also allow more fans from poorer backgrounds, who are being gradually excluded by rising costs.

Tonight against Wigan will be a tough game for our sprites. Heskey is out, which is good news, but I expect us to win and to win comfortably. After the success of the first correct Burgervan prediction at the weekend, let’s see if we can make it two in a row.

I awoke today to the news that a group of MPs (the acronym being more suited to Military Police than Member of Parliament) have called for an end to Happy Hours. Apparently banning cut-price alcohol will reduce the burden drink fuelled behaviour puts on police. I am becoming more and more infuriated by the Orwellian nature of our Government, who having already sneakily eroded our civil liberties while nobody was looking and raised the taxes on all the things we like doing, are now contriving to prevent the population enjoying themselves at all. The Home Office Affairs select committee (those who have come up with this ‘solution’)  need to realise that foremost in the Governments mind should be a happy population, not just a happy Police Force. It isn’t as though the vast population have a lot of joy at the moment is it? For the love of God at least let people go out and enjoy themselves. It makes the burgervan livid. Revolution baby yeah!

Phew, I’m glad I got that off my chest. That’s the kind of poison that if kept locked up tight can create a bonafide loon! Today is, of course, Monday and that means that we are all returning to work and getting back into the routine of our mundane lives…………or does it?! No! Not this week as we have the joy of our 2-1 demolition of Manchester United to reflect upon! Ahhhhhhhhhh yes, it still feels good two days later. How I enjoyed having a nice lay-in yesterday, then getting up, tootling down to the paper shop, buying some milk and a newspaper and then settling down in my living room to pore over the mostly glowing reports about the Arsenal with a nice cup of tea and a plate of hot buttered toast. Mmmmmmm.

So, having digested the response to our victory, what is the general consensus? It seems to be that the Arsenal aren’t at a crisis point after all, but that the result doesn’t paper over the deficiencies in the squad. Generally the press and the fans are fairly certain that the league is beyond us this season, but that we should, once again, finish high enough to qualify for the Champions League. There has also been a lot of castigation of those that were overly critical of Mr Wenger, sadly Tony Cascarino was not explicitly named in the roll call of dishonour, but we know he’s on there so it will suffice to name him here. Phil Brown wrote an article in the Telegraph today about the qualities of le Boss and how, in the Hull managers early coaching career a sit down chat with Arsene inspired him to be the successful manager he is today. Good man. Now give us those three points back you scav!

Nice one Calzaghe!

Arsene has come out in the press to say that the Premiership race will be the tightest it has been for a long time. While I agree that there is no great side in the Premier League this year and from that perspective it will be tighter, I cannot envisage the Arsenal pushing for the title beyond February. It is possible that this result will galvanise the team as has happened in previous years but we have lost three times already without playing Chelsea, Liverpool, or Man Utd away. It would take a monumental effort to bring the Premiership back to Islington after the start we’ve had. As long as this isn’t one of those years where come May we are 20 points off the pace. It’s just plain embarrassing when that happens. I still think we can get a good run together in the Champions League. Those teams don’t bully us like the Stoke’s of this world and we are able to play our game effectively against most teams we come up against; and as we know, when we get to play our own way there aren’t many teams that can stop us.

Hopefully the cup competitions will all give us a bit more joy this season. Obviously the European Cup is the most important but I would like to see Mr Wenger show the FA Cup more respect this season. I was ashamed of the performance that saw us eliminated last season. The club really disrespected the fans that day. The Carling Cup, while obviously a bit pony, would be nice to win as well, particularly if we can do it with our oiks. The teens will get their chance against Wigan this week, and I am looking forward to seeing a bit more of Rameses and Wilshere. There should be some team news on that game as the day progresses.