Strange Day

Strange day. On my way home tonight, I ran a red light by mistake because I was trying to send an email on my phone. I ploughed right into a crossing pedestrian who happened to be Manchester City footballer Nigel De Jong, smashing his legs in the process. The police arrived and asked me to blow in the bag and I was just a bit over the limit..hic. Anyway, to cut a long story short the cops agreed that I had no criminal record and sent me on my merry way without as much as an endorsement. ''He's not that kind of driver'' I heard them mutter as I sped off.

Manuel sus errores nos han costado el título

It has indeed been a long time since I felt the urge to update this blog as I have been busy with work and playing my new XBox. I don't know if I feel the urge now, but I was checking new templates, opened the dashboard and here I am.

The Premier title was looking to be a strong possibility this time last week and at 4.45pm on Saturday all was running to plan at St Andrews (The patron saint of Scotland and a ploughed piece of waste ground in Birmingham presided over by a ginger haired heathen called 'Eck' who also happens to be Scottish). Birmingham City was always going to be one of our tougher games in the run in and it proved to be so. After a pretty forgettable first half, Arsenal started to take some control with Abu Diaby in particular continuing his excellent run of form (and fitness). Nasri and Arshavin were introduced for the lively Rosicky and Walcott who I had actually forgotten was on the pitch. Samir made a very quick impact and scored a goal of real quality as he does. One nil to the Arsenal and we were on course for another three points. My elation was soon to be hacked to bits and spat into the net by our hapless excuse for a goalkeeper. Take a bow Mr Manuel Almunia !! On more than one occasion you have flapped around your goalmouth and given the ball a helping hand into our net. Not nearly good enough. I'm afraid I have been scratching my head for a long time as to why Arsenal have such a poor collection of goalkeepers. Anyway, I am not going to dwell on it as there's fuck all I can do or say to make it better but FUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK !!!!!!!!

Barcelona come to the Grove on Wednesday and it really has the makings of a fantastic cup tie, two of the greatest football playing teams on the planet playing two legs in magnificent arenas and surfaces. I really wish I could afford to be there but with a trip to America in a couple of weeks coupled with my meagre earnings in my taxi, I just can't afford it. I am disappointed that I have only managed to attend two matches this season, but that's what redundancy does. Football ain't cheap and travelling from Glasgow makes it an expensive day out. Next season I am hoping I can get to many more games.

In two weeks we head to Orlando for a few days before boarding a Carnival cruise ship for the VH1 'Best Cruise Ever'. We sail to Grand Cayman with 15 bands including 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry. It is going to be awesome with wall to wall rock music and partying. Bring it on !!!!!

I have managed to source an English pub in Orlando so that I can watch us playing those puffed up cockerel loving fuckers who last won the league before my grandfather was born. I just hope it ain't frequented by any of their sad deluded fans. The Wigan game I will miss, but according to Wise old Collymore, we are going to lose that one anyway.

The countdown to the holiday has begun.......

There's always next season

So here we are three quarters into our big four game run and we have secured one point. I remember thinking before the Villa game that if we could get seven points from this run, we would be in a great position. Sadly we are now in a less than great position but crucially we are still JUST in with a chance. I personally don't think we can win the title but we are more than capable of winning the rest of our games. The truth is that we won't win them all and will probably finish 3rd or 4th.

I think we all know what has gone wrong and Arsene Wenger really has fallen short of making the appropriate adjustments needed to step up into the level that Man U and Chelsea are at. The sad thing is that they are not world beaters and Man U especially are there for the beating but you need to know how to beat them, and more importantly, you need a defence and goalkeeper capable of preventing them scoring.

I am not happy with our manager's contribution of late but I am also unhappy with some of the comments on forums calling him amongst other things, a cunt. Arsene Wenger is not and will never be a cunt. I imagine the assholes referring to him in such a way are devoid of any love of the beautiful game and are not true fans of the club. I love what Wenger has done since his appointment and will never forget watching some of the most enjoyable football this great club has ever seen.

The squad we have is not very far from being the best, and without the injuries and a few other inadequacies I honestly believe we could be title winners. The following list below outlines what I believe to be the main reasons we have fallen short this season.

1. Almunia and Fabianski are way below the goalkeeping standard required for a first and second choice keeper.
2. Adebayor was sold and never replaced
3. We are unable to defend as a unit
4. With RVP injured we are left with Vela and Bendtner who are unproven at top level and unfortunately Eduardo has not fully recovered from his break.
5. We are unable to deliver a decent cross on a consistent basis.
6. We try to pass the ball through the eye of a needle around the box and we lack that 'killer' ball.

I could go on, but those are the what I believe to be the main downfalls of Arsenal 09/10 squad. I personally would never have Bendtner anywhere near first choice striker and would have even rushed in a cheap loan signing but that is only my opinion.

Thanks for reading and on a positive, we still have St Totteringham's day to look forward to in the coming months. Here's to a quick recovery and three points against the scousers on Wednesday. COME ON THE ARSENAL !!!

Excited and Nervous

It has indeed been a long time since I updated this blog as I have had very little time for anything other than sitting around in my car trying to make money. Taxi driving is not a career I had hoped to be involved in at this time of my life but shit, it sure beats drawing £60 from the government every week.

Today is a HUGE day for Arsenal and we are an hour and a half from kick off as I type. Can we take the three points today? Too right we can. It won't be easy with our now limited resources up front but we played them off the park at their place earlier this season and got fuck all from it so today at home we really need to take our chances.

Just a short piece today to say COME ON THE ARSENAL !!!!!!!!

Half time

Test only

Half time thoughts

Arshavin

Horses' Arse

We live in very strange times. The biggest pre order CD in the history of Amazon is a collection of covers by a strange Scottish woman called Susan Boyle. Why would this be I ask myself and I really struggle to come up with any sort of logical answer.

Cowell and co have a helluva lot to answer for when they keep feeding the public with an endless supply of mediocrity. The sad thing is that the public seem to lap it up time and time again. Now, I bear no ill will towards the woman who has indeed got a decent voice but come on?? A collection of songs including 'Amazing Grace', 'Daydream Believer' and 'Silent Night' is hardly the stuff of musical par excellence. It's typical dross churned out to hit the shops for the xmas people. Maybe there is something wrong with me that I would rather buy John Mayer's new album which is a collection of finely crafted and mostly self penned material that comes from the heart with some amazing musicianship to boot. Has it made the news headlines? Nope.

I do watch The X Factor for my sins and I have found myself despising it on so many levels this year, but I keep watching it. I DO NOT buy into it, I don't vote and wouldn't dream of buying any material associated with it. On the whole, it's entertainment that will quickly disappear from my mind as soon as they bring down the final curtain.

When Susan Boyle was in 'Britain's Got Talent' I didn't get the fuss at all and I still don't. Believe me, there are hundreds and possibly thousands of more musically talented people in the UK than her. Every town and city has better singers than her, but they just don't have the drive, commitment or luck that she has had and we will never hear of them. Programmes like 'The X Factor' and the tabloid press are so powerful that they just need to suggest something and the whole world just follows. It's force feeding and it is not healthy if the music business is going to prosper with any substance.

I wish Susan Boyle well and I am sure she will do well, but honestly after watching her sing 'Wild Horses' on television last night, it ain't for me. 'Wild Horses' is a classic that was ruined in her translation of it. But hell who am I to offer a critique? I'm just a has been baseball pitcher who curses and swears a lot. Shit, I'm not even that...................

Le Cunt

Thierry Henry cheated last night and he got off with it !!! So what?? Many have done worse and many will do much worse than T did last night.

I am neither French or Irish so I feel exactly the same as I do when I think of all the cheating antics displayed by the likes of Ronaldo & co.

The sheer volume of hatred displayed on Twitter during last night's aftermath was honestly ridiculous, with many associating Ireland's World Cup exit with ........................Arsenal?????Last night had absolutely damn all to do with Arsenal. I am seriously amazed that anybody can suggest that last night's handball is suddenly going to make us forget what the wonderful Thierry Henry did for Arsenal and indeed world football.

In the same way that Roy Carroll didn't run up to the ref saying ''Hey ref, that's a goal man. I dropped it about a foot over the line then scooped it out'' Thierry Henry stayed quiet. I didn't complain when Scotland got that penalty against the Welsh at Anfield all those years ago when Joe Jordan clearly handled it. The whole thing is just a huge mountain out of a molehill and I would be disgusted if the game had to be replayed.

Cheating is not nice, but it happens and it always will. I think no less of you Thierry !!

Post Shinedown

Three nil to the Arsenal

adios scumbags

Arselesscast

Interlull filled rubbish

One nil to the Arsenal

Fulham v Arsenal half time audio

Arsenal 4 Wigan 0

audio

Full time audio. Liege v Arsenal

Half time thoughts

Despicable Togalese Tosser

It has not been a fortnight that I wish to remember in footballing terms. From our defeat at Old Trafford came a very tiresome international break which saw us lose Arshavin, Scotland predictably fail to qualify for South Africa and a torturous 90 minutes following Man Shitty and Arsenal via Radio 5 and Twitter.

I reckon that this is the first Arsenal game I haven't been able to watch live in over a year. So travelling down the M6 heading ironically for a Man Shitty supporter's birthday bash, I tuned into 5 live to listen to the action unfold. This really is not a good way to follow your team but it was the only option available as we continued south past Manchester. This was an early season away match that I was tempted to attend but thankfully I chose the season opener at Goodison in preference.

I have spent the day travelling back up and following the reaction on Twitter and the web. It is now Sunday evening and I have watched the Football First recording of the game. The result was a complete farce and I thought we played reasonably well and controlled things. Unfortunately it is not the footballing skills of any individual that everyone is talking about.

Adebayor is a disgrace to his profession and should have been shown a straight red for his despicable lack of regard for the well being of a fellow professional who until recently, he shared a dressing room with. His act was deliberate, and could have done serious damage to Robin Van Persie's life, not just his career, his life you fucking tosser!! Any blow to the head can have grim consequences and to deliberately do what he did leaves me very angry. I never cared for his lazy, offside strewn performances for Arsenal, but now I can only wish him a career that doesn't see him win another honour. He rubbed salt in the wound with his 90 yard sprint and showed complete contempt for all us Gooners. So Fuck off Adebayor you scummish rancid lanky piece of turd !!!

Sorry for the language but I am really pissed off. We are Arsenal and we will bounce back. Not often I hope for a Manure win, but I will for just one week.

Lucky Mancs

Sky Sports named Wayne Rooney as ''Man of the Match'' after yesterday's debacle at Old Trafford. What exactly did Mr Rooney do to deserve such an accolade? I am still scratching my head. Was it due to his body weight dropping onto Almunia's arms to earn a very dubious penalty? Or was it the fact that he is an 'honest' Englishman who can do no wrong in the eyes of a biased English press? Because make no mistake about it, Thomas Vermaelen had him well sussed and allowed him very little time and space to show anything to earn such praise.

Everything about yesterday's game was rather skewed in my mind, the result, the penalty, Fletcher remaining unpunished, our stonewall penalty denial and Arsene's unfair treatment by the officials and their 'fans'. I may sound pissed off and that is because I am. Whenever Mike Dean is involved, we seem to get well and truly shafted. Remember that last minute penalty he gave against us at Birmingham City a couple of seasons ago? Fuck you Mike Dean!

There are an awful lot of positives we can take from yesterday. We were the better team and as long as we continue to play like we did, not many teams will get points off us. I feel a lot more confident regarding our defence. Vermaelen and Gallas look a very solid central pairing. The Belgian is definitely future captain material from what I have seen since he arrived. Our young players have stepped up to a higher level and I have been particularly impressed with Song and Denilson.

So now we go into an 'Interlull' and have a long wait until we run out at Eastlands, but on yesterday's performance we need fear nobody. Yesterday was a hiccup and I doubt that many Mancs will be very confident of retaining the title with their squad. It has taken a while, but quality wise, I believe we have now overtaken them.