..or something along those lines.

I think many Arsenal fans struggled to get through last night's game, it was an odd one indeed. From the continuing coverage on Arsenal's very own "The Truman Show" that is "The Billy Show" to the 59,500 (cough, cough) pairs of eyes watching the new captain take to the stage plus the various side shows - it was an "interesting" evening.

In essence we struggled, unsurprisingly, to play with any fluency or pace and it looked, from the first 5 minutes, that this was always go to be a long evening. During the 90 minutes there were little flashes of potential equally mixed with minor scares but sometimes it seemed that it was like watching an Arsenal game on a dodgy internet stream. Our passages of play never quite got into focus and the players seemed, somehow, to be out of sync with each other on numerous occasions. 

However, for all our flaws in our play last night there was (just) enough effort and concentration to make up for the lack of confidence and experience. That and, for once this season, a little bit of lady luck saw us go through after one real alarm (yet more thanks to Almunia) when Cesc made the most of a (rightly) uncontested drop ball (It WASN'T a free kick Mr. Pleat!!!) to put our own Puss in Pink Boots through to score with a superb finish.

So, as the boss remarked afterwards, we got through and we can hope the recovery has started though with our injuries and a game at Stamford Bridge this weekend we need to hold on to some of any luck going. The Champions League can be left out of our minds until February and we ask our new guy from the Soccer League to sort out one or two additions in January. BUT....

You know what I will take from last night's game, not the sight of Cesc in charge or Willie Gallas's face after he nearly let them into score but the 10 minutes or so of Jack Wilshere. 16 years old and as composed a European début since a young Spaniard probably! He looks too young to be on the pitch with the big boys but that his very appearance is what makes Arsene who he is and what he stands for. Whilst the world of football tries to eat itself with money grabbing agents and even more greedy players there still is an innocence of a young kid wanting to just play. It may not last but the memory will still be there.

It seems the world at large seem to believe that making Cesc captain was the only sensible decision open to Arsene Wenger and the media will maintain the stance until we lose a couple more games, at which point Wenger will have got it all wrong and we're in crisis for eternity. Of course, if we win tonight with a mix of Carling Cup youth and first team regulars then we will be on the right path, things can get back to normal etc.

The strange thing is that the more you read some of the blogs out in cyberspace you realise that a) there's a lot of rubbish (please no comments about my mediocre offerings) out there but b) some of the fans sharing their views on the world relating to Arsenal (or their own particular club) can offer far more common sense and rational thought than much of the media. The blogs tend to more consistent and, as they are not trying to sell papers, offer a more balanced perspective even if (like mine) it's sometimes tinged with bias and the odd nasty comment against local rivals.

It seems that the news of yesterday has cheered up a few, here, but has also been recognised as the first step along a difficult path for this young squad. I also sense that though William Gallas is not Mr.Popular amongst the majority of Arsenal fans right now there is a feeling that his experience and ability are both required. The real question is whether he is a big enough man to accept the decision of Arsene Wenger and knuckle down to the role of a senior professional under a young captain who would like his support in turning things round. Unfortunately the first thing we out of the "Gallas Camp" is from his agent (GOD I REALLY HATE THESE PEOPLE) saying (as good old Kenneth Williams said) that the media has it in for poor old William. Can't they just keep quiet and move on!

Anyway let's hope the young man can lead and inspire his troops this evening.

The majority of Arsenal fans seem to be of the same mind in that they wanted Cesc to be the new captain of the club. Today that wish has come true and whilst that might seem to be a good thing, I can see one or two potential downsides. Firstly there is the issue of how it will affect him as a player. On this season's evidence there could be a problem as he is looking tired and lethargic and so we are all hoping that this appointment will reinvigorate him as an individual and as a player. The second issue could be that people think that it all can be solved just by changing the captain and we all know that isn't the case, there are deeper problems (some of which were alluded to by Gallas, albeit in such a totally unprofessional manner) within the squad. Cesc's appointment won't change our frailities but hopefully it will boost confidence and generate a team spirit amongst the young team members and enable them to be "up" for matches over the next couple of months.

The one certainty from the appointment is that the entire fan base will be totally behind Fabregas and be willing him to succeed. He has shown since his first appearance for the club his enthusiasm for the club, his ability to defy his tender years and that he seems to thrive on the big occasion. His first big task could be to try and develop a relationship with William Gallas, of all people, as his experience is needed and he is due to play tomorrow evening. How he deals with him will also be seen as a marker to the younger players on how he may develop as a captain.

I can't do anything but wish the young man well and hope, pray and keep everything crossed that he can be as good a captain as the last 21 year old to have that honour.

I've just finished my Saturday morning read of L'Equipe (a paper with no equivalent or equal in the UK unfortunately - though the on-line article doesn't show the depth of the paper one) and there's a fairly decent article on the Gallas situation (even if it went to press before even more news came out of Arsenal). The subtitle to the article talks about a "media Tsunami" at the club and that's not too far from the truth - we're certainly grabbing the headlines (for all the wrong reasons) in the same way that Spurs did at the start of the season.

I love the start of the article as it begins with "Gallas didn't board the bus"..."he's not injured, not ill but simply at the heart of an affair that he, himself, started". The article also says that part of the Van Persie story included not only the insults but he apparently "montré du doigt!!" The article, like many, seems to reflect on whether he has played his last game but as he said himself that he was looking to go back to France near the end of his career .... maybe that will happen sooner rather than later.

As for today's game against Manchester City is a complete lottery to forecast from both team's inconsistency,  to our injury list and god knows how long our team will react to the whole sage this week.

 Fingers crossed!

Thanks for nothing William Gallas, you've managed to finally end any patience any Arsenal fan had with you. I've tried to find an Arsenal blog that had a good word to say about you and, well not to beat around the bush, there is a general consensus, a majority of opinion and 100% agreement that you're a c##t (see good articles by Arsenal Truth, Arseblogger &  here). Some might embellish their opinion with "some of what he says is true" but everyone is in full accord that you have gone way over the line with these comments being spewed into the open whilst you're off on International duty.

However, though many fans seem to be in agreement that it should be the end for you, certainly as an Arsenal captain and, maybe, as an Arsenal player there is little agreement that either will actually happen. On ex-Arsenal player, Nigel Winterburn, believes that Arsene won't sack him for two reasons; firstly we are not in a great situation at the moment and, secondly it will harm Arsene's position as it was his judgement to place faith in Gallas. Arseblogger isn't the only one to say that this may be the worst decision that Arsene Wenger has made as an Arsenal manager and I'm inclined to agree though that is with that wonderful virtue of hindsight. Many thought that Gallas was not ideal captain material and the way Gilberto was treated made it worse but none of us knew quite how bad it would turn out, did we honestly?

The really bad thing about the whole saga is that the front pages of all the sport websites have had for two consecutive days nothing but pictures of bloody Gallas and the corresponding crap he came out with. Being International week it's been fairly quiet so they've had no other news to divert them from highlighting my club and the disasterous conflict unleashed by the c##t.

Sacking him isn't harsh enough so I suggest stocks are installed outside the stadium and he can be left there to rot for a week or two.

Remember how the whole country used to make fun of a young Arsenal captain called Tony Adams. There were donkey chants, donkey cut-out ears and a variety of tabloid crap about a young English centre half who made a few mistakes. Did he after all this abuse:

a) Cry on the pitch like a baby

b) Moan about the other players in his team because it wasn't all his fault

c) Buckle down, work with the support of the other players and become a legend for both Club & Country.

You know for a fact that a) and b) were never going to be options for this man, even when he got sent to prison, he didn't moan, he took his punishment and came back to play his football. Yes he had flaws as both a player and an individual but did he ever give less than 100% commitment to his football and his team mates.

Now when we have a very young team we have the elder statesman of the team sending out all the wrong signals, his latest outburst seems to be a very strange reaction to our current problems and I can't see the young players reacting in a positive way. They must really be sick of being asked or told to do things by this jackass of a captain. So please Mr Gallas do us all a favour and move on if we're not good enough for your great talent.

Let's have a captain who these young players look up (not in age or experience but because they respect them as a player and an individual) and then, maybe just maybe, we can all move on.

On a positive front let's at least be happy for some of our youngsters this week, Henri Lansbury scored for the U19s (at 17) and Aaron Ramsey played for the full Welsh side in Denmark...

Always finish on a high!

Sometimes heavy rain can be a truly glorious thing. If it hadn't been p###ing it down last night and so f##king cold I may have taken a trip to the pub in Basel town, drunk too many beers, seen a wild Spurs fan celebrating yet another draw and let anger take hold of me with disastrous consequences! Maybe that would have been the case, I just don't know but I do know (and I've a feeling that my season ticket colleagues at Arsenal may agree) that I let the anger out when certain things happen and the alcohol has been consumed. I've never lashed out at someone (that's just immature isn't it and violence never solved any problem) but when a really annoying sod of a newbie football fan (who has, by definition, never really followed the game until Sky came along) flaunts himself in your face it's hard to control oneself.

So thanks to the weather and the fact that Teleclub didn't show the game last night I relied on the wonderful experience of Guardian MBM and BBC Live Text service to "see" the final 5 minutes of a game we should've won. There is something really "digital" about seeing the score appear online with no anticipation of what has unfolded or about to unfold. It's depressing and brings back really bad ceefax memories (York 1-0 Arsenal, springs to mind!).

Anyway for various reasons (one being, irony of all ironies, preparing dinner for my wife's friend's family - mum, dad, 2 sons - ALL Tottenham Supporters who didn't know the game had ended 4-4 as they have turned all media off at 88 minutes!!) such as letting the anger subside it has been good to wait before blogging today. 

So you're expecting comment - I'll just leave you with one and it's a truism: A good game for the neutrals is f##king awful for those involved.

 Oh and BTW - they're still bottom!!

I think there is one cast iron piece of criticism that can be aimed at Arsene Wenger and that's his stubbornness to a fault. Sometimes having the courage of your convictions is a good thing and that has been shown to be true in the past for Arsenal and will continue to be the case for much of the future. His desire to see the younger players succeed without resorting to the multi-million pound player has its good and bad points but the style of football cannot be criticised and with the current environment may prove very fruitful. However, the continuing (over 2 seasons now) support of William Gallas as captain (sorry, el capi) is a digging of the heels one too many times. It seems that he can make mistake after mistake (both on and, now, off the field) and he is forgiven. Does Wenger see a different player in training and do the players all have a warmth and regard for him as a player and captain that we've never seen, there must be something there that allows him to keep the armband!

Unsurprising news of the weekend was the move of Redknapp to the Spuds, this had been rumoured towards the end of last week and it seemed to have a momentum that indicated it was going to happen sooner than later. Unfortunately, for us Arsenal fans, it seems that Redknapp will not be taking charge today and so his first game will be the derby on Wednesday night. I have, and so do many of my season ticket holding colleagues, huge reservations about meeting teams with new managers. Players who had shown little effort, skill or ability suddenly become transformed into a wonderful  team during the new manager's first game and subsequent honeymoon period. It's not an excuse and I think we should still go out and win the game, hopefully after a decent result against West Ham (another team that tend to do reasonably well against us).

Many people, of whom Platini is a prime example, have said that Arsene Wenger doesn't care about anyone other than his beloved Arsenal and truly hates International football - it is no longer relevant. Well, to all of them I say, too bloody right as I read today that Sagna now has an injured knee following on from Gallas's injury last week whilst with the French squad.

Of course, this leaves the door open for our new wonder signing, Silvestre, to show his worth in the coming weeks with his defending and his versatile attributes, whatever they may be!

I'm too pissed off to write any more stuff other than f### you Raymond Domenech, I hope you're happy and has that woman said yes yet!!!

Trying to read through the sporting press around here means that you invariably look at L'Equipe as a sports paper should provide many juicy nuggets of interest. However, as it's Interlull week we get story after story regarding Les Bleus but there seems to be little critical comment on the manager and whether he will go or stay after this weekend's game against Roumania. From an Arsenal perspective it seems that William Gallas and his penis have an injury that may or may not result in him missing games fro the club. Let's hope so because as he admitted himself he hasn't exactly been playing that well and Arsene seems reluctant to actually drop him and give, say, Djourou a go.

Meanwhile Chelsea are suffering from the credit crunch (despite Roman's millions) and are trying to achieve Peter Kenyon's goal of being self sufficient as a football club by trying to claim back the fees for Mikel. It seems this money grabbing bunch of suits that runs this mockery of a club will do anything to get a few quid but are happy to lose £12M on Shaun Wright Phillips.

As it's an England game tomorrow and the English media are now convinced they are world beaters (based on one good performance) until they are losers (based on one bad performance) I tried to think why I have such little affection for the England team. I mean, up until around 1996 I even went to games on a regular basis. Granted, there was the euphoria of 1990 and the European Championships in 1996 but there has been a lot less love recently. I think it stems from the 90s when suddenly everyone became an England fan and the media hype went into overdrive so you get the flags, shirts for 3 weeks in June. Add to this the rivalry with clubs such as Man Utd and Chelsea, who provide many players who you hate week in week out and then are supposed to cheer for England, it makes it hard. However, of all the strange things that can happen I found myself agreeing with Rio Ferdinand this week when he actually spoke some sense - long may it continue.