Regardless of your view of 'Henry'gate,' for Arsenal fans, the news that FIFA are to investigate his handball with views towards possibly banning him from the start of the World Cup group matches must surely resonate after how Eduardo was treated.

While the line between Eduardo and Henry is vast (one is dubious, the other clear cheating) the fact is both were charged after the event using video evidence FIFA/UEFA refuse to allow during the original 90 minutes and plan to punish the player with a punishement far in excess of what would have happened had the referee spotted the incident.

It's simply absurd. Eduardo's three-match ban (for a yellow card offence, a six-fold increase in punishment for an error by an official (if you think he dived)) was rightly overturned, but such was the outcry about Henry that I fear he will not be so lucky. I didn't think the media could get more hysterical than they did with Eduardo, but the surpassed themselves with Henry.

FIFA are well within their rights to look at the incident, afterall, their own rules state that they are free to do so if the ref missed something and it wasn't included in the match report. But how can they issue anything other than the punishment he would have got had it been spotted at the time - a yellow card?

FIFA and UEFA are rapidly descending into an even bigger joke than we already knew they were. Logic dictates that Henry should, at most, get a retrospective yellow. The masses however, might dictate something far more substantial altogether.

If a six-fold punishment is issued (ie a 3 game ban), FIFA must follow suit with EVERY single yellow-card offence not seen by the officials. That's an awful lot of bans for an awful lot of players. Will they open that can or do their best to slam it shut?

Read more for yourself here and make up your own mind.

I'm writing this on my iphone so please excuse the typos.... What a match! What a performance! What a difference diaby makes! Eboue got a standing ovation when he came off and he deserved it. I've been his biggest critic this season but it's been through pure frustration but I will never complain about him again if we get rid of bendtner who surpassed his previous levels of incompetence at every opportunity At least eboue can control a ball with feet that arent like pinball flippers. Warming up before the match bendtner was practising his shooting and managed to miss five out of five at an empty net. At least he is consistent. What I couldn't understand is why wenger played him on the left with vela on the bench. Let's get this straight, it was his touch and his finishing which were beyond diabolical, nothing to do with position. As usual the ball bounced of him left right centre and backwards. He is beyond a joke and is now just embarrassing. But there was so much good that it would be wrong to waste words on a player who shouldn't even be in the premier league with ANY team. Nasri was inspired running for 90 minutes solidly. Diaby organized the midfield in a fashion not seen since cesc was injured. It was even more in evidence when he limped off and was replaced by song and it all started to go a bit pete tong. 3-0 wouldn't have flattered us and while Roma produced a few great saves from almunia they didnt deserve anything. When the second have started we should have anihilated them but our finishing let us down. This was the best I have seen us play probably since the Chelsea match which raises the question of can we only get up for the big games, but one I'll leave for another day when I have a pc.... Comically toure got booked for entering the field of play without permission when the second half started, even tho he hadn't realized it had started with only nine arsenal men on the pitch and ran straight off when he realized. To say the ref was fussy would be like saying bendtner is only a wee bit crap. We passed fast, we had runners, and we defended as a team. If this result doesn't give us confidence for the league then nothing will. Short and sweet and no doubt I'll return to the match when I get back home to do tomorrows blog but in the meantime we can smile and know that with cesc, theo, eduardo, rosicky all on their way back (who knows how long diaby will be out for) we are nowhere near as crap as recent performances have suggested. A thouroughly enjoyable nite and you can thank my pc-less for the fact this blog isn't 5000 words long....til tomorrow...

As you read this I should hopefully be in London.  Should any huge stories have broken overnight, such as Eboué being struck down by leprosy or the like, I'll have missed them due to the fact my flight was at 6.30am and minutes at that time in the morning are better spent sleeping rather than searching.

Some 'good' news is that Diaby will be fit to play but I doubt very much that he'll get a start.  Leave Eboué to start on the bench two games in a row?  Not likely.  Vela should start, there should be no debate about this, and, indeed, there is no debate.  He just doesn't start.  Will that change tonight?

Our central midfield will be Song and Denilson.  Merida, who, let's face it, couldn't do worse, could bring the much needed creativity in the middle of the park.  And he's a solid lad too so he'd offer something of substance as well.  Wenger won't put Nasri into the middle until well in to the second half anyway, around about the time he could take off Merida to put on Eboué for whatever reason that could be. Or Ramsey, a full bloody international, who, as my Man U supporting mate said, would have got a decent run in the Utd team with all their injuries this season and last, and would already be a Premiership and Champions League winner.

But this is all just fantasy football.  We know what the team will be.

Wenger is turning into Benitez, wanting not to lose more than wanting to win...and I think, until Wenger reveals that Eboue is his secret lovechild, that we are just going to have to place his continued selection in with the Bermuda Triangle and Sp*rs endless supply of money in the category of 'things with no rational explanation'. 

Champions League Benitez isn't such a bad thing, but in the Premiership it is suicide as Liverpool are finding out.  Man U are romping away with the title, not because they are so good, simply because the rest of us are so average.  I guess we'll find out just what Man U are made of in the San Siro later.

As I said yesterday, and Wenger agrees with me so I don't know if that's a good or bad thing at this point, Roma won't play for a draw.  Apart from it being against their nature, they know the value of an away goal. That should open the game up, but do we have the players to exploit that?  Can Song and Denilson ensure enough possession to let Van Persie, Nasri, and, hopefully, Vela, do their stuff?  Will Gallas and Toure hold strong? We'll know at around 9.30 this evening I guess.

Tomorrow's blog may or may not be here, I'll be in London overnight for the match and don't know if I'll be able/have time to get near a PC...but there's a cartoon scheduled to keep you occupied until my return just in case :)

Come on you goooooooooooooooooooners!!!

I hope Emmanuel Eboue spent last night with his head hung in shame.  To get booked for failing to shut the f*ck up was bad enough, but to then get sent off hardly 15 minutes later for a petulant kick out was beyond defensible (is that even a word?).  He hadn't looked too bad but once he got booked for slabbering at the referee and still didn't shut up you just knew he was going to see red, especially when you add into the mix the fact that Mike 'It's all about me, so what if I was bullied at school' Dean had sent off more players than any other ref.

His goal which was disallowed should have stood, Mike Dean seeing Woodgate fall over and the perfect opportunity to give a free kick to Sp*rs.  He gave Arsenal nothing all day.  Adebayor was as lazy as he has been all season, so lazy in fact that when he actually ran for a ball he pulled up with what looked like a hamstring and had to be stretchered off - he couldn't even walk off the pitch.

Sp*rs should have won, but as bad as we were they were 100 times worse.  Bendtner replaced Emmanuel F*ck Up Number 1 and actually had a good game, almost winning it at the death with a powerful drive which Cudicini tipped over.  A cultured curler from Van Persie might just have been what was needed.

Alumumia saved well when Modric should have scored and then it was all over and we were left to count what Emmanuel F*ck Up Number 2 has cost us.  Two points, at least.  Champions League football at most.  I know it's a bit much to put it all on one player, but when a player gets booked within the first 15 minutes of a match and you're thinking the manager should sub him cause you know he's gonna go you really, really, REALLY have to question his place in the team.

Eduardo and Arshavin were on the bench, but apart from Bendtner and Gibbs for a bloodied Clichy we played with the same 10 of the 11 that started.  We came out in the second half looking to play like Bolton, defend, defend, don't lose, don't lose, and maybe, just maybe, we might get a chance.  Even with 10 men, had we taken the game to Sp*rs we might just have nicked it.  They really are that bad

But we didn't.

Where we go from here who knows, but it has to be without Eboue. It has to.

It's that quiet out there that I'm sorry I'm resorting to quoting an article from the Sun where Arshavin is reported to have said:

"If I had it in my power to introduce a ban on women driving cars and to withdraw all their licences, I would do it without thinking twice."

He continued: "In my opinion a woman and a man are two absolutely different creatures."

Doesn't he know that the stats support the fact that men are actually more dangerous on the roads? 

I don't know what this story is supposed to achieve other than fill pages in the Sun, and I know that a players individual beliefs aren't relevant to his playing ability, but imagine if he had said this about black players? Or Jewish or Muslim ones? It seems in football, as I have experienced in my time, sexism is allowed to proceed without any restraint.  I know because there has been many a time that men have refused to even have a conversation with me about football simply because I am female, even though I had probably been to more matches than they had by a factor of around a thousand, have been a football fan for 29 years, been going to matches since I was 4, and would have been playing football since then too if it hadn't been for the fact that there was absolutely nowhere for women or girls to play football in Northern Ireland until I hit my 20's by which point I had given up on sport and started partying instead.

I'll shut up now, it just winds me up that there are a number of prejudices which are rampant in football and no-one gives a sh*t.

(there really is that little Arsenal news out there lol)

I'm off today but yet I still find myself awake...perhaps that's why I'm grumpy!

On a positive note, it seems that yesterday's meeting of the Premier League has put to bed the grumbles of Arshavin's signing for Arsenal.  He's our player, he was signed in time, and everybody else is just sh*t stirring.

Perhaps there'll be more tomorrow as it's the day before we demolish White Hart Lane.  Until then, I shall fill myself with coffee and look at all the poor sods having to crunch their way through the snow to get to work....it's a tough life!

Is there any news? Nope, there's nothing new floating about at all.  Arshavin is moving his girlfriend to London.  Which she's probably pleased with.  Who knows.  Gazidis is happy to stay at Arsenal, which is also good seeing as he's just arrived.

It's snowing like crazy here in Belfast which is about the most excitement we've had since it snowed last year.

They're making me do work this morning for some reason so if anything new pops up later I'll try and do a proper blog, but as it stands, I have a funny feeling there will only be 'filler' pieces popping up between now and the weekend.

Glad to see Liverpool come unstuck at Everton, and to see Mad Rafa's decision to sell Keane being punished so soon as Gerrard limped off after 15 miniutes with a pulled hamstring.  It's nice when Karma gets it right.

Til later....unless I get snowed in....

After a whole month of spelling his name Andrei, Sky Sports quickly changed it to Andrey after he was officially confirmed as an Arsenal player on the Arsenal.com.  It just goes to show how complicated the whole transfer process can be when names can't even be agreed on, let alone fees.  But at about 4.55pm, almost 24 hours after the transfer window shut, Arsenal were able to confirm that we had indeed signed Andre-with-a-y Arshavin.

Reports on the fee paid are conflicting, but the story coming from Zenit sounds like a whole bunch of crap, trying to make out that they squeezed more than £15million out of Arsenal.  I don't believe it.  They know if a transfer fee is 'Private' Arsenal won't dishonour that so they've decided to take advantage and talk some more bulls**t.  They actually make Real Madrid look like they have some scruples when it comes to transfers and we all know what a bunch of chancers they are.

Anyway, we have our man.  Here's a few more facts stolen from the Arsenal.com website (yes, I'm struggling to find anything new to write about):

FULL NAME: Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin

NATIONALITY: Russian

BORN:  May 29 1981. Saint Petersburg, Russia

AGE: 27

HEIGHT / WEIGHT: 172cm / 62kg

PREVIOUS CLUBS: Zenit St Petersburg (2000– January 2009) 232 appearances (51 goals)

CLUB HONOURS: 2003 Russian Premier League Cup
                                2007 Russian Premier League
                                2008 Russian Super Cup
                                2008 UEFA Cup
                                2008 UEFA Super Cup

TRANSFER DETAILS: Long-term contract for an undisclosed fee

POSITION: Midfielder

INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Russia (2002 - Present) 41 appearances (15 goals)

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: May 17 2002 v Belarus (International friendly, in Moscow, Russia) 1-1, Belarus won 5-4 on pens.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL GOAL: February 13 2003 v Romania (International friendly, in Limassol, Cyprus) Scored third goal in 4-2 Russia victory.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Voted Russian Footballer of the Year in 2006
• Started all 30 matches in Zenit’s Russian Premier League campaign in 2007, the first time Zenit had won a league title since 1984
• Played a key part in Zenit’s 2008 UEFA Cup winning campaign
• Came on as a half-time substitute in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup victory over Manchester United in Monaco, in August 2008. Zenit won 2-1
• Three impressive performances earned him a place in the ‘EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament’
• Graduated from the Smena football school. In 1999 – 2000, he played for Zenit’s ‘farm club’, Zenit-2 in the Russian Second Division
• Made his full Zenit debut in England, against Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup at Valley Parade in August 2000. Zenit won the match 3-0
• Is comfortable in many positions. He started his career as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder and more recently has been playing in the ‘second striker’s’ role

RUSSIA IN EURO 2008:

GROUP STAGE:

• v Spain - Lost 1-4 (suspended)
• v Greece - Won 1-0 (suspended)
• v Sweden - Won 2-0 (played and scored)

QUARTER FINAL:

• v Netherlands - Won 3-1 (played and scored)

SEMI FINAL:

• v Spain - Lost 0-3 (played)

Theres a few rumours flying about that some paperwork was not filed in time, but I'm pretty sure the Premier League confirmed yesterday that all the relevant papers had been received by 5pm on deadline day.  To see the Daily Mirror yak on about how the Premier League has bent the rules for Arsenal is just ridiculous.  The deadline was extended for all transfers which were agreed in principle, so it's just bollox.  Add that to the fact that Zenit are groaning on about the fact that Arshavin blah blah blah you just know that this story isn't going to settle any time soon.

That's your lot for today, I think we've covered the Arshavin story well enough, here's hoping there might be some news about the other players we are meant to have in the squad.

This blog was supposed to come at 5pm yesterday.  But there was still no deal.  No deal at 6, or 7, or 8...and then Wenger spoke to Sky Sports News but by that point I knew if I blogged then I would have nothing to say in the morning..  I didn't hear the words coming out of his mouth directly and past experience has taught me nothing if not to wait until I can see his lips moving for myself. 

I haven't heard the words from Arsene so I realise I'm setting myself up to look like a proper twat if this all falls through (the Premier League said it was too late last night to confirm that Arsharvin transfer could be ratified so they weren't making a decision until after this was being posted - I've waited long enough)

I'll have to be honest, I didn't think I was that fussed on if we signed Arshavin or not.  Until yesterday.  Then I got extremely excited at the prospect, probably not helped by the frenzy Sky Sports News where whipping up as the deadline approached.  And then it passed.  And I was still waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  When the news broke that AP were saying it was all off my heart sunk.  I was actually dissapointed.

Bloody typical.

And then it might not be off.  Not only did I have to wait for an official confirmation, I had to watch Sky Sports News drooling over Robbie Keane for hours. Player goes back to club after two minutes away and failing to do anything of note. What a story!

Seriously, there were 33 days in this transfer window, why does it take til the last 33 minutes before anything starts happening? And why do I expect it to be any other way? It's insanity. And the fact that it snowed so it dragged on that little bit longer...if there is a god, he's a sadistic fecker - I had this blog ready for hours and was just waiting on the elusive official confirmation.

After fees were agreed between Arsenal and Zenit, and terms agreed between Arsenal and Arshavin, Zenit were holding out for Arshavin to repay some of his signing on fee back.  Has anyone else heard of this happening?  I haven't, but does that could just mean that other clubs are better than Zenit at keeping their mouths shut?  But from what I can gather, most people are saying they have never heard of such a demand being made.  To be honest, it all smacks of vindictiveness on Zenit's part.  We know they didn't want to lose him, and let's face it, it's not like they need the money. What other reason could it be?

But, finally, the most drawn-out, up-down, hokey-kokey transfer story in living memory has been completed and we have our new player.

His former manager has been quoted as saying 'Arsenal do not realise how good Arshavin really is.  He will blow the Premiership away' (or something like that, I'm not very good at quoting people - that requires that I pay attention).

Arshavin will reportedly wear the number 13 shirt, and, while there is a stupid superstition around that number in the UK, 13 is a lucky number in France (Arsene's seat pitchside is number 13).

We didn't sign any oompa loompas or 'unknown talent' as professionals prefer to refer to them as, so its just Andrei.  Anyone want to bet he gets an horrifc injury within a month?

So what do we know about our new boy?

Personal information
Full name	Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin
Date of birth	29 May 1981 (1981-05-29) (age 27)
Place of birth	Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder, second striker
Club information
Current club	Zenit St Petersburg
Number	10
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–	Zenit Saint Petersburg	238 (51)
National team2
2002–	Russia	041 (15)

 (yes, I stole it from Wikipedia)

Let's hope his performances are nothing like his transfer, or we'll have another Eboue on our hands. We've signed him until 2012.

And if you find yourself getting down about this season, think of next and say the following: Fabregas, Walcott, Eduardo, Nasri, Rosicky, Van Persie, Vela, Arshavin.....Clichy, Toure, Djourou, Sagna......a holding midfielder and we're set. (I'm ignoring the need for depth part as it doesn't fit with the point I'm trying to make)

Other transfers:

Keane back to Sp*rs (LMAO) - you just know that wee sh*t will score against us on Sunday. 

West Bromwich Albion have signed defensive midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu on loan from Paris St Germain until the end of the season. Good for them

Newcastle United have signed Ryan Taylor from Wigan Athletic, with Charles N'Zogbia the other way along with £6M

Fulham have signed Olivier Dacourt from Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season.

It is believed that Arsenal have made a signing, although the press black-out regarding the matter has left it hard to establish exactly who it is.  Unsubstantiated rumours hint that it could be Zenit's Andrei Arshavin.  It is believed that he will arrive at the Emirates on a White Stallion and proceed to score 300 goals between now and May, while he will set-up around 1,000 for his grateful teammates, who, until now, have been unable to do anything for themselves.

The fee, thought to be the highest in living memory, is only a partial down payment on his right foot, with the remainder to be paid in daily installments of £2million for the next 16 years.  It is believed his hands are an optional extra which Arsenal are exploring the true market value of before making a decision.

It is also believed that Zenit have asked Arshavin to return all food and drink he had consumed while at their training grounds, and also asked him to re-lay every piece of grass he may have flattened while he was their player.

The Arsenal fans have reacted in a nonchalant manner, many of then stating they have never even heard of a player named Arse Shaving, believing this was some new meterosexual trend in West London.

Wenger has refused to comment, but stated that it was highly unlikely that Arsenal would sign anyone over the age of 16.

Confirmation of the above to follow

(spot position of tongue-in-cheek in case you missed it)

I thought about doing a blog this morning, but then figured as it was the deadline day for the transfer window I would wait til 5 and do a round up then....but what would I have to put in tomorrow's blog?  Oh, the dilemma!. 

So, i'll do a quick blog at 5pm when the window thankfully slams shut, and we'll see if the Russian weather has brought with it a Russian playmaker.  I doubt it though as Sky bet have slashed the odds of Arshavin (I know I'd been spelling it Arsharvin, it was an 'inside' joke, but apparently it unsettled a few people ffs) joining Arsenal from 1-8 to 6-4, that's a pretty big cut.

Til this afternoon and the end of this madness then....