Fucking typical, Frank 'I'm a chav' Lampard goes to see the placenta doctor and comes back fully fit earlier than expected. Van Persie goes and ends up being out six months instead of six weeks.  To be fair to VP, I don't think he acted against medical advice, and judging by Arsenal's statement they place the blame firmly at the feet of the Dutch FA and their medical staff for misdiagnosing the injury. In fact, that's what I originally thought, until ClownshoeVanClubfoot (formerly EduardoisInnocent) pointed out that it took VP a full 8 days to return to the club (why the club didn't insist he returned immediately I have no idea).

And some of you mocked me for this:

I didn't include this in yesterday's log as I'd wrote it the night before and didn't know. I'm kinda glad I didn't know, as it would have taken some of the shine off my new-found optimism.

So, with all this, we are now being written off as title contenders before a ball has been kicked against Cheslea and to be honest I'm fucked if I care. Nobody really took us seriously as contenders this season anyway, most paying lip service simply because we are sitting in the top four. I, on the other hand, think that it won't set us back anywhere near as much as the loss of Rooney would set back Man United. They are a one-man team, we are most definitely not.

But then again, with Man U things are different. Such as how they complain that they should have had a penalty against Besiktas, my god how they moaned, and it wasn't even a 'stonewaller.' Moan on Wednesday, moan on Thursday, hell let's moan some more on Friday and then see what happens. What happens? They get TWO penalties against Portsmouth. Two. In one game when we can't even get ONE in four months despite having players GBH'd in the box. I haven't seen the calls as I write this, and I could go and find them but they might be perfectly legit penalties in which case my wrath would not be warranted and after seeing how much money I lost in my wages from being sick I very much want to be wrathful.

Seriously, how many penalties were given yesterday? And how many will we be denied today?

Logic dictates that we should actually be getting considerably MORE than other teams given the amount of intricate play we do in and around the box and how quick our players are for many of the defenders in this league. Is that the problem? Are our players just to quick for the refs as well? Or are we paying the price for our fabricated reputation? I think it's a bit of both.

Sepp Blatter has finally been kicked in the head by a donkey (well, you explain it) and has now said that he IS in favour of goal-line technology. It's all very well and good, and I'll be interested to see how far he takes it, but as Arsenal never have any problems with goal-line decisions (it's the penalties we never get) it means feck all to Arsenal at the minute so I'll come back to that another time.

Oh aye, isn't there a match today?

There's still no word on Gallas, and we are still none the wiser as to if we'll see Eboue or Traore at left-back. Do you play the guy with experience, even though that means playing him out of position, or the youngester who finds the left a much-more natural friend? We forget the experience Traore gained at Portsmouth, and while that might make the difference, it's still no substitute for Gibbs or Clichy. Whoever plays there we just have to hope they get a lot of help from the rest of the defense and left-side midfield.

There isn't really anything more I can say that hasn't been repeated ad nauseum already. Many fans think this is 'must win' some think it's 'can't lose' and most people, outside Arsenal, who are supposed to be 'in the know' don't give us a chance.

Personally, yesterday's optimism aside, I think it'll be whoever manages to get the luck and the ref's calls. Will he allow Chelsea to bully us beyond the laws of the game? If so then we will struggle. If we get a ref who has some balls then we have a chance.

But first and foremost, we need to turn up. We need to be the Arsenal who went to both Manchester clubs, but this time convert our chances and kick Drogba (as if he was the ex-25) before he gets a chance to pretend he's been kicked and win a dangerous free.

This one really could go any way...

With the power of our collective will, we can make it go ours....a hattrick from Cesc wouldn't hurt either!

(If you are fed up with the coverage of the Arsenal Chelsea match, there's a really touching article here about Alex Song, and I just think the guy rocks.)

Last chance to enter the TShirt competition which closes at midnight tonight....with only a few people choosing to enter, you have every chance of being the lucky punter to pick up the Tshirt shown below.

You can win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail). Not exactly an Arseblog-style pair of tickets to the Chelsea match, but hey, it's free...

So far, as I said above, there's only been a few entries (I'm choosing to believe that everyone is taking their time over their entries rather than no-one's interested/reading) so you have great odds of winning....

Unlike most competitions though, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

Midnight tonite folks....get them in before then!

Listening to Fans Forum last night (I didn't bother entering the competition this week as A. I couldn't afford the flights to the match if I'd won the pair of tickets to the Chelsea match and B. I didn't think they'd let me win two weeks in a row, though I did briefly consider entering under a false name until I remembered A.) when  a very good point was made which gave me added hope for Sunday. In fact, by the time I had finished this blog, it had given me faith, a starting point to see a way through the machine that has become Chelsea.

I shall get to that in a minute. First, I'll let you into my thinking as to how the game was going to go prior to hearing it so you can see why I needed something, anything to sway the balance.

When I thought about what the final result on Sunday would be, I just didn't know. I genuinely didn't have a clue. There was a teeny tiny part of me that dared to hope, kept shouting 3-1 3-1 3-1. It dared to dream that we could do again what we did at Stamford Bridge last season. But the bigger part of me remembered, painfully, what they did to us at the Emirates. We haven't lost at home, in fact, we've won every match, that has to be a good sign right? But then those sort of runs have to come to end at sometime. I was basically being schitzophrenic about the whole thing.

So much depends on the back four, will Gallas play? Who'll play left-back? Eduardo, Vela or Theo through the middle? Will Almunia remember he's playing a competitive match or think he was out for a stroll with his pink dog again? Will Drogba do to our centre-backs what he normally does or will the Verm keep him in his pocket for the 90, only occassionaly punching him behind the ref's back? What about Anelka, you know he likes to score against us, if the Verm has Drogba and Gallas isn't playing, will he be left to Butternut? Will Arshavin steal the show like he did when he first arrived or will he be quiet as he has been for much of the season? Which Arsenal will turn up? Can our defense hold more than theirs? Will 4-3-3 blunt the diamond or will they simply cut through our heart?

So many questions. And I just didn't have any answers. The only thing I knew was that it wouldn't be dull.

Then I heard the fan on Arsenal TV. I wish I could remember his name and give him the credit for one of the smartest things I've heard in a long time (I apologise if someone has already raised this point and I missed it).

Cheslea, as we all know, have adopted a diamond formation this season. The diamond, as we also know, is a European formation and not one you are likely to see deployed in England unless it's by a visiting European team. So, it's no surprise then, that they are blowing teams away, afterall, these teams, for the majority, have never faced such a contraption as the diamond. How on earth do they cope? But hang on you say, what about Villa and Wigan? They beat Chelsea, and Man U should have. What do those three teams have that the others didn't? Experience in Europe. That's what (Wigan may not as a club, but their manager most certainly does). You might be thinking they dispatched Liverpool with aplomb and Liverpool have heaps of European experience, but seriously, who isn't beating Liverpool these days? And especially in a 'European' setting.

With this thought, my belief that we could get a result increased 10-fold. And off my mind went.

Chelsea might be 'blowing teams away' but quite a few results have also come by the skin of their diamond-studded teeth. Both their losses came away from home, and, as Wenger has pointed out more than once, we have played two more away games than they have, with a game in hand to boot.

We don't have RVP or Super NIk to torture Chelsea's centrebacks, and that might actually turn out to be to our advantage. Terry & Co. like a big man to mark, they'd prefer power over pace and movement given that they themselves move like tractors.

In Vermaelen and Gallas we have a centre-back pairing that can handle anyone when they are on top of their game. No Gallas? Then we have a natural leader in the Verminator who will hopefully haul his counterpart into line. Perhaps we'd see Song in there beside the Verm, what a pairing that could be. TV5 can take Anelka and his pace and Song can just stick to Drogaba so tight that he has no need to get off the ground and win an aerial ball. Denilson can sit and protect and then use his small ankles to splay that ball around the park to set us on our way. Nasri, who has become quite the tackler, in the middle beside Cesc, Arshavin on one side, Rosicky on the other, and Eduardo/Vela/Theo through the middle.

Almost makes you drool doesn't it? Suddenly the fear is leaving me but no doubt it'll be back between now and the end of the match.

People might discuss what we may or may not be lacking up front, the doubts might be looming large over left-back and the potential centre-back pairing, but for me, our biggest concern is Almunia. Will Chelsea have noticed that he hasn't a clue and if you shoot, generally, he'll dive too early or too late? Can we stop them getting near him? Don't be stupid, off course we can't. But that's ok. We need to learn to accept our defensive frailties, embrace them, make them our own and then they cannot hurt us. Acknowledge where we are weak but know that where we are strong can more than compensate. It's all very new-agey, but it saves heart attacks.

Embrace the fact that we will only keep one clean sheet in 10, but only if you embrace the fact that we are scoring more goals than anyone else ever has in Premier League (short) history. Did we care that Henry couldn't head a ball for shit and therefore could not be seen as a 'complete' centre forward? Did we fuck, we knew what he could do with his feet more than covered for what he couldn't do with his head and we loved him for it, hell, we usually had a laugh when he tried a header. This is what I propose we do with our defence. I don't know why we suck at the back, Almunia aside, the individual components of our defense are exceptional. So perhaps all the balme does lie with the keeper. I don't know, but what I do know is that we can't do anything about it so why worry?

At the start of the season I said we'd have to score more than we let in, and I keep bringing it up because I don't often get things so spot on. Our season, as we have seen, is about scoring more than we concede and we have no reason to think that will change on Sunday. Or for the rest of the season. For that reason, we have to do what we do best, and that is all out attack - try and get as many as we can before our defence cracks. And let's remember, no team keeps the ball better than us, and there's fuck all their diamond can do if it hasn't got the ball.

I also now fancy us to break our duck when it comes to not scoring in the first 15 minutes of a match this season.

I read on Jamrockrovers blog that Wilshere is a doubt for Man City due to an ankle injury (I was watching the match and it was a shocking tackle) and Merida will be banned (given that the match was being filmed by one man with him camera-phone Arsenal TV didn't really capture the incident but the commentators seemed very firm in their belief that not only had Delph been the instigator he had also grabbed Merida by the throat in a much more threatening manner than what Fran was being sent off for, even though they didn't say what that was, just for reacting) it gives Le Boss the perfect excuse to slip in two more experienced midfielders. I really hope he does. While I absolutely love seeing the kids in the Carling Cup, Man City will be fielding a top side and I simply don't want to see them humiliated. But more on that after we get Chelsea sorted out. Bit of a tangent I know, but the tackle on Wilshere just popped into my head as I was running through all the players and options we have for Sunday.

Back to that.

Sky and the Redtops will tell you that Sunday is do or die for Arsenal. Many will even try and tell you that even should Arsenal beat Chelsea all that will do is open the door for Man U and let then slip through as we eventually fade. Don't let them fool you.

Our title challenge does not depend on the result against Chelsea, though a win would be fantastic, and no loss is ideal, it would be far from the end of us in this league campaign. Wenger will have a fair idea how many points will be needed to win the league, and he will revise that figure as every week passes and teams lose unexpectedly. It doesn't matter where we get those points, just that we get them.

Wenger has also stated, quite categorically, that this team's time has come. There can be no more hiding behind youth and inexperience. He isn't asking us to wait any more. He believes, and he is promising, that this team WILL deliver this season.

We've trusted and believed in him this far, why should we do any different now?

Arsene knows, and he says we can beat Chelsea.

That's good enough for me.

And that's your lot for today, all that remains today then is to remind you of the competition which will be running until midnight after the Chelsea game. You can win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail). Not exactly an Arseblog-style pair of tickets to the Chelsea match, but hey, it's free...

So far, there's only been a few entries (I'm choosing to believe that everyone is taking their time over their entries rather than no-one's interested/reading) so you have great odds of winning....

Unlike most competitions though, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

Typical of Roy Keane eh? After sounding somewhat sensible last week in the aftermath of 'Henry-gate' he has decided to have a dig at the Arsenal manager and the behaviour of Arsenal under Wenger.  For what reason? Only Keane and his shrink can answer that.

He even has a pop at Wenger for not really having a right to comment on Henry's handball as he's not Irish. Yes, Roy, he's not Irish, well done, but he is French, you know, the OTHER team who were involved in the play-off.

Idiot.

And all this from a man who has admitted he deliberately set out (and suceeded) to break a fellow players leg for a foul committed on him some time before. Can you say that about ANY of the Arsenal players who have played at the club in the entire time Wenger has been there?

When you can't be one of the big boys, I suppose the next best thing is to have your name written beside them by slagging them off.

Class as always.

Pot, kettle, wanker springs to mind. Read for yourself here. 

Watching Wenger's pre-match interview on Arsenal TV Online, he seemed remarkably relaxed and confident. He also corrected an error regarding Alex Song's new contract, and for me, as he establishes himself firmly as one of my favourite players, it's great news as Wenger said he made a mistake and that Song has not signed until 2014 but rather 2015. That's how much the club rate him, and I do too. I'll be the first to put my hands up and say at the start of his Arsenal career I genuinely didn't think he was good enough. I was wrong. He is now one of the first names I want to see on the teamsheet alongside Cesc, Vermaelen, and Gallas. The fact that Gallas is mentioned in there too shows how much can change over one season.

With regards to Gallas, Wenger said he is hopeful that Gallas will return, but at the minute (the interview was filmed on Thursday) he can't get his contact lens in. I'm going to go out on a very short limb here and say that 99.5% of Arsenal supporters would rather see a one-eyed Gallas play ahead of a fully-fit Butternut. The other 0.5% are morons.

Wenger also hinted that Eboue may start at left-back, and it is between him and Traore. I have a funny feeling he is going to stump for the 'experience' of Eboue over Traore, but to me it's much of a muchness. Eboue and the left are not the best of friends, but defensively Eboue is more solid that Traore who is amazing going forward (unlike Forest who just seems to put his head down and run, Forest run). Either way, we can't really do much about it and it isn't ideal, but Wenger's right when he said moving Vermaelen to the left, while an option, means playing two different players/positions in the back four and that should be avoided at all costs.

I'll look at the possible lineups in more detail tomorrow and Sunday when we have more news from Arsenal, but at least with Diaby injured we know the likliehood of someone getting crocked in training has been reduced by 80%.

I know, by the title of this blog, you probably all thought it referred to the upcoming match, but it didn't. It was reference to my spanking new signed Herbert Chapman football:

As far as I can see (it's really hard to count things on a ball) it has 24 signatures on it and the only ones I can make out are Alex Song (because it's just a big A S), Arshavin (and that's only because he put 23 below it) Senderos (because he put a 6) Nasri (because he put an 8 - otherwise it looks like his name starts with an O and has a K in it) Djourou (because of the 20) Eduardo (because he put a 9) Wilshere (because of 19) and Sagna. By having a look at some signatures online I think Wenger has signed it, but I couldn't be sure. It pleases me to think he has so I shall think that way until it is proved otherwise The rest are a mystery, but it also pleases me to know that all the Arsenal players have touched this football which is now MINE, mine I tell you.

You might want to check out the new transfers I have up, such as this one:

You can view them all here where there are currently 80 different images to choose from.

And that's your lot for today, all that remains today then is to remind you of the competition which will be running until midnight after the Chelsea game. You can win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail). Not exactly an Arseblog-style pair of tickets to the Chelsea match, but hey, it's free...

Unlike most competitions though, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

No blog as such today, my head's swimming and focusing on tiny letters is really hard. Just popped in to show you a great TShirt idea from EduardoIsInnocent, who, rather foolishly, did not enter it in to the competition (details at the bottom of this post). Though, to be fair to him, he did mention it weeks ago. So I guess he'll just have to get his thinking cap on and come up with some more ideas ;)

If you'd like to get it as a TShirt transfer for a piddley £2.99 (without the ladyarse.com all over it) just click here for more info I can also supply plain white Tshirts at rock bottom prices if you just drop me a line at info@ladyarse.com

COMPETITION

All that remains today then is to remind you of the competition which will be running until midnight after the Chelsea game. You can win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail). Not exactly an Arseblog-style pair of tickets to the Chelsea match, but hey, it's free...

Unlike most competitions though, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

Well, last night was a mixed bag wasn't it? A superb performance, a comfortable two-nil win, the worst referee seen in a long time, Gallas and Arshavin assaulting each other while Arshavin did his best for the Standard defence and a busted foot for Gibbs in a match he probably shouldn't have been playing in.

Then, on top of all that you have the Scousers joining the ruling elite in the Europa league as their luck shows no sign of changing. If you like a good chuckle at the expense of others, have a read of this http://www.lfc-endofseasonparty.com/ I don't generally partake in gloating, but I made an exception in this case. The face on Stevie G at the end of the Fiorentina match was just picture perfect. I swear he was on the verge of tears. It was, as they say, great TV.

Nasri showed why it's a bad idea to be on the opposing side to Diaby in training and what it had cost us by getting the scoring underway with a sublime half volley after the Standard player fell on his arse. Denilson, making his first start since September, managed to mark his 100th appearance for Arsenal (seriously, how did he get to 100 so fast?) with a thunderbolt of a strike which moved so much the keeper dived past it. We should have had quite a few more not even taking into consideration the penalties (for both sides - one for them two for us) which the ref just decided he wouldn't bother giving.

All round, it was a good performance. But, and you knew there had to be a but, Almunia is worrying me greatly. He had very little to do, but when called into action he showed delayed reactions and a general level of cluelessness which has come to define his season. There was one attempt by Standard which he saved simply by virtue of going down before the player had made any contact with the ball. Had the player made any significant contact it was a goal, but, luckily for Almunia, the Standard player scuffed it. What is up with him? I know he's never been a world-beater, but this year he looks so disorientated in goal it's becoming frightening.

We all know by now the severity of Kieran's injury, a 'gaping hole' as Wenger described it, and for a break to be confirmed so soon after the match shows just how bad it is. Three months and world cup hopes (sssh, don't let Wenger hear me say that) seriously jeopardised. You have to feel for the lad. Then again, why was he playing? To receive an impact injury (albeit on the other foot) which was so bad that it was immediately thought a break and then to come back just a week later in a game there was no real need for him to play to me was just madness. There would have been no problem playing Traore in last night's game, for all his defensive frailties, he could have more than coped against Liege. And, even if he hadn't, we had enough about us to score more than he let past him. It was a very strange decision by Wenger and one which might come eto bit us in the arse on Sunday. But that's a long way off so we'll look at that more closer to the time.

I finally heard from Arsenal today, wanting my address so they can send me my Herbert Chapman signed football, so keep an eye out for photos when it finally arrives. Do you think they'll send it in a display case? Nah, me neither.

All that remains today then is to remind you of the competition which will be running until midnight after the Chelsea game. You can win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail).

Unlike most competitions though, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

In what is sure to take the gloss of a spanking 2-0 win and qualification in the Champions League, Kieran Gibbs has suffered a confirmed broken metatarsal in his left foot which will require surgery tomorrow. As you may remember, I said in my preview that I thought we should give him a rest to make sure that he was fit and well for Cheslea. Guess Wenger doesn't read LadyArse.

I think we can take from that was well that there must have been a weakness from the challenge while on u21 duty.

A full match review will come tomorrow, but thought I'd fire out this rather depressing update.

Bollocks. Guess we should have known better than to think our injury jinx might have finally passed.

I kinda shot myself in the foot yesterday doing a preview not knowing if I'd be fit to do one today. As it turns out, while no better than yesterday, I'm no worse and now have to find something to fill some paragraphs.

Champions League aside, a story which caught my attention was that of Ryan Babel saying that he will probably have to leave Liverpool come January if he isn't getting regular starts. I just don't get this one, what, seriously, is wrong with Rafa? I'd take Babel in a heartbeat if we weren't already overloaded in that part of the pitch. Could we offer him more games that Liverpool? With Theo's track record with injuries, and Wenger's assertion that Walcott's future lies through the middle anyway, should we take a look? I can't remember if Babel plays right or left but all I do know is that everytime we seem to come up against him he causes us nothing but headaches, even if that is only for five minutes at the end of a game. It's a thought, and he seems like a Wenger-type of signing. At 22 years of age why not?

Elsewhere, in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, some of the players have been revealing their nicknames. Some weren't surprising, such as Cesc's being 'Cescy' and I suspect that Mannone gave himself his own nickname when you learn that it is, not all the originally, the Italian Stallion. What I did like was how quickly Butternut admitted his was 'big head' (better than fish-face I supposed) and Clichy's is 'Clicky', both provided by Wiltord interestingly, or not, depending on how easily you find things interesting. The bizarrest had to be Song's which is 'Jo.' He doesn't know why it's 'Jo,' just that it is and always has been. RVP was 'Cheetah' for a while, and Nik says his is 'Nik' as everyone elsewhere always just called him 'Bendtner' until he came to Arsenal. Cutting edge stuff indeed.

So, do I have any other team news that I didn't have yesterday? Nope, not a jot. I do know that You Watt has signed a new extension to his contract, and Rhys Murphy has headed out to join Chesney at Brentford, only he's off for three months to Chesney's one. Do we lend out more players than any other Premier League Club? Perhaps, is there a statto out there with nothing better to do with their day? If so some figures would be interesting and much-obliged.

Just to keep you coming back, and to make up for how crap I've been due to illness over the past few weeks, between now and the Chelsea game, I'll be running a competition to win a large 'Let's Talk About Cesc' Tshirt (click on the link to have a look at it in more detail).

Unlike most competitions, this one will require a tiny bit of skill.

So, to win (and you can enter as many times as you like), simply send your ideas for what would make the perfect Arsenal Tshirt to info@ladyarse.com. It would help if you could put 'TSHIRT COMPETITION' in the subject line (or click the email address above and that'll do it for you).

It can be about Arsenal club, players past and/or present, or slagging off any other player or team in the league, the topic is open. Basically, it only has to be a TShirt an Arsenal fan would love to wear.

The winner will be announced in the first blog after the Chelsea game, and please note that by entering you're giving me permission to use your ideas to make a TShirt/TShirt transfer...well...you didn't think I was doing it TOTALLY free did you?

So let's be having your ideas then...info@ladyarse.com and it would be appreciated if they could be in English as I'm an ignorant fool 

After stating that they won't order a replay, I see that FIFA are pulling 'irregular betting patterns' out of their arse to force an extraordinary meeting on December 2nd.

Is this the first step in moving towards a backtrack and a replay order? Stranger things have happened, decide for yourself here

Two posts in one day, I know, but this is just a quickie, which might be how I have to do things until I get sorted. This article just came into my inbox, and while I know you all know how much Cesc loves Arsenal, and he has reiterated his commitment to the Gunners more often than I've had dizzy spells, it's always nice, and in this article in the Times, he even adds a new bit...

Asked whether he could stay at Arsenal for the long term, Fabregas said: "Why not? I have never really thought about it, staying here all my life, because you never know what your career will bring. It is my seventh season now, I am really happy, better than ever, so you never know." 

Read it for yourself here and if you happen to have Laporta, Messi, or Xavi's email address, please pass it along.