The LadyArse Returns

Good morning all, LadyArse is back from her summer holidays and raring to go.  Why I'm talking about myself in the third person I have no idea, perhaps it's the heat and my brain has finally melted. Who could tell if that was the case?

Something I feel I should start with is the transfer window, which, despite the widely held belief, does not start today, it started at midnight after the last game of the season.  Let me quote the Premier League Handbook if I may (and as it is my blog I may):

SECTION M
TRANSFERS OF PLAYERS’ REGISTRATIONS
TransferWindows
1. “Transfer Windows” means the 2 periods in a year during which, subject to Rule M.4, a Club
may apply for the New Registration of a player or to have the registration of a player
transferred to it or for a Temporary Transfer.
2. The first Transfer Window in any year shall commence at midnight on the last day of the
Season and shall end on 31st August next if a Working Day or, if not, on the first Working Day
thereafter, at a time to be determined by the Board.

Now. Let that be an end to this nonsense. Hehehe (and if you don't follow Jamrock's Blog you won't have a clue what I'm rambling on about, but then I'm pretty sure that it won't be the first or last time).

So what's happened since I last blogged? Not much to be honest. We've had Gilberto telling Melo he should join us and he hasn't bothered (see later) , a whole rake of players we are connected with but never going to buy, and then there's Benzema.  I don't know why I like the rumour about him joining us, but there is something to that story that just feels 'right.' That's the best I can do regarding an explanation I'm afraid.

Cesc is still not going to Barca/Madrid/Milan (Inter or AC)/City/Chelsea or the moon. How do I know this? Because I listen to him when he says it 3,456 times a week and not the Sun/Star/Mirror.

The 25 is still with us, but from the upturn in articles about him and Milan, hopefully not for much longer. So is Eboue, Silvestre, and Gallas. Yay!, boo and boo in that order.

Bischoff and a few youngsters have gone. I think we all feel the same about Bischoff and hope Wenger learns from it. We paid wages for a year to a guy who was realistically never going to play first team football all the while providing free top-line rehabilitation and then he has the cheek to start demanding stuff from us. Don't let the door hit you on your non-Arsenal Arse on the way out.

RVP still hasn't signed his contract, but it looks more likely than it did at the end of the season. Why do I say this? Because it's true.

Nasri has been voted our fourth best player of the year on the Arsenal site, with Almunia coming in third. Who will get second and first? I guess one of them has to be RVP, more than likely at number 1, so who is number 2? Denilson? Song? Doubtful, doubtful...it can then only really be Arshavin, which is a sad indictment of the rest of the players if the person who occupies one of the top four slots for player of the season only arrived at the end of January and didn't really get going until well into February. Such was our season last year. Hohum.

But let's not look back, let's look forward. Forward, forward, always forward, unless it's good stuff that's behind, which rules out last season so forward it is.

A new name has been linked with us, Gaetano D'Agostino. Know anything about him? Me neither. All I know is that this story appeared on a number of websites around the same time which means it is either likely, or likely that the publishers of said websites all read the same Sun-like trash.

That story 'broke' just before this one about Melo being a no-go due to the fact that he signed a contract extension at Fiorentina. He was shit in the Confederations Cup anyway.

We kick off our season in 17 days with a friendly against Barnet, the usual pre-season opener. 17 piddley little days. It's like an interlull now, we're into the home straight.

Then we head off to play Hanover, twice on the same day according to the Arsenal fixture list. How's that work? Perhaps we'll have so many players by then we can field two teams, more likely it's a typo. Tut tut. Wouldn't get that sort of thing round these parts....moving on....

With Wenger saying he'd like to get all players in place before pre-season training begins we can all hope that we'll see some movement sooner rather than later, but just saying it doesn't make it so.  I'd like to be a millionaire by the time I'm 35 (that used to be 25 sigh) but that doesn't mean it'll happen. Arsenal and transfers are like oil and water, they don't like each other much, and one often floats on top of the other, urm, well, not exactly, but you know what I mean.

Finally, I have a slight dilemma, caused by the inconsiderate nature of people to insist on getting married during the football season.  Not only has my other-half's nephew decided he would get married in August, he thought that August 29th would be the perfect day, the day we play away to Manure. Typical fucking Liverpool supporter. Do I go? The wedding is at 1.30, and that match is sure to be a 12.45 kick off. Does it matter that I've only met him once?You can tell the season is getting close when life starts getting in the way of football...I can't wait!

And that's your lot for today...see you tomorrow, same time same place...have a good one Arse lovers!