1. Eduardo dived – whether this was deliberate or not.
2. Celtic conceded 5 goals over two legs and had two shots on goal over 180 minutes.
3. Prior to the penalty incident Arsenal were dominating the game as they did the entire tie.

The transfer rumour mill is in full swing as we delve ever forward into January 2009.  Christmas is a distant dream; the next Bank holiday is seemingly lodged irrevocably in the unreachable future; and temperatures continue to plummet at a pace akin to the demise of the economy. Manchester City appear to be buying everybody, or at least trying to, however, so far there transfer policy hasn’t borne fruit on the pitch. Whether that is to do with Mark Hughes being crap remains to be seen. West Ham appear to be selling everybody, although whether this will prevent their collapse is unknown. The Arsenal are being linked with increasing numbers of players but nothing has yet happened beyond the excellent news that Jack Wilshire has signed his first professional contract with the club. One hopes that this piece of critical housekeeping is followed up with new contracts being offered to Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott.

There is increasing speculation that Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin will be moving to the Emirates. They say that there is no smoke without fire, although in this case one would think that the smoke and the fire are firmly in control of Arshavin’s agent. Can anyone really see Mr Wenger spending 20 million on a player?! Still, the Mirror yesterday reported that le Boss has green lighted the deal and circumstantial evidence in the form of Wenger’s statement regarding Champions League-tied players suggest something may be in the air. One cannot deny that purchasing Arshavin is an exciting prospect, however, I have been an Arsenal fan too long to get carried away by things like this. In fact, the last time that we were linked to an established top level player and we actually bought him was Dennis Bergkamp. Another player that we have been strongly linked to in the last couple of days is Matthew Upson, who, predictably West Ham have stated will not be sold. The latest rumour is that we propose a swop deal with Bendtner plus cash for Upson. This is so speculative that one wonders if there is even a mote of truth in the story. For a start, I think Wenger doesn’t believe in going back. Secondly, Upson has a terrible injury record. Thirdly, Bendy would almost certainly refuse to go there. There is also increasing chatter regarding a potential move by Toure to Manchester City. I really hope that this doesn’t happen. Toure is one of the old guard and somebody that I really hope can work back to the once high level of form he displayed. His malaria seems to have drained him of much of his energy levels in games but these illnesses take time to recover from and I am convinced that if he stays he can once again attain his old self. There has been surprisingly little news about Gallas in the last few days. He was the one player everybody expected to see out the door asap. One would think that Wenger is keen to tie up a replacement before considering letting Gallas (or Toure) go. He would very much want to avoid the situation that occurred in the summer where he let Gilberto and Flamini go without being able to sign a defensive midfield replacement. In fact, that also occurred when he sold Vieira. I remember opening the papers each day expecting to see we had signed somebody, but to no avail. I recall even Jose Mourinho saying he thought Wenger must have a replacement in mind. That turned out to be the last time that we won anything. Hmmm.

What would be nice is that if indeed we are to sign anybody we do it as quickly in order that the team can be settled and the new playing staff integrated as soon as possible. We very much want to avoid the situation in the summer where everybody was rushing about like blue-arsed flies in the closing moments of the transfer window, only to be predictably disappointed in the hunt for bargains. The fallacy that one can pick up a player cheap at the last minute has well and truly come back to bite the Arsenal on the backside as now the exchange rate is such that £1 and 1 Euro are of the same value so that the cost of players now as compared to the beginning of last summers transfer window is much higher. Also, the spectre of the Webster Ruling looms darkly on the horizon. A contract will soon be virtually worthless. I wonder who the Arsenal players are hoping the le Boss will buy. We know that Fabregas wanted Wenger to bring in Alonso in the summer, but do you think that the players look at the newspapers and see stories about Arshavin being linked and think to themselves…Hello, that would be good?!

Patrick Vieira. The great man says we lack experience, that the talent is there but the crucial factors to make us winners are missing. He's right of course, and he he also one of the very few ex-players whose comments I am happy to listen to. He questions those who question le Boss, and while I question those whose views about Wenger are extreme (e.g. the lets sack him brigade) I do think fans should be able to criticise when things have gone wrong which could have been avoided.

Vieira is still marshalling the Inter Milan team. You wonder why we sold him. It was bullshit that he and Fabregas couldn't play together. Imagine how awesome our midfield would be if it comprised Vieira and Fabregas. Fabregas and the other young players could have learned so much from the great man and how he would have provided the steely edge we so desperately lack. Oh well, the past is the past, but that was a bad decision and really the beginning of the end of the last great Arsenal era.

Tonight Eduardo makes his reserve comeback bringing him a step closer to fist team action and bringing us a step closer to having a clinical striker again. His determination and attitude during his rehabilition have been inspirational and one hopes that his presence on the pitch is similarly motivating. He was looking shit hot before that numbnuts smashed his ankle and I hope that he can come back mentally as well as he has physically. The Croatians will be happy as well, their international side have looked a shadow of themselves since the poor little sod was knackered.

A lot of players, current and ex, seem to be talking about how divided our squad is. Yesterday Adebayor mentioned it, Vieiraalso highlighted in in his interview. How was the squad allowed to become so fractured, why didn't Wenger sort it out? I know that is part of the Captains role and Gallas was more Bligh that Nelson but even so, Wenger has eyes and knows that harmony is a necessity if a challenge for honours is to be made. He should have stopped the rot before it became debilitating.

Anyway, i'm tired now, time to go.