Arsenal v Everton. Three possible line ups, the illnesses, and the future

By Bulldog Drummond It is difficult to get a firm fix on how bad the illness affecting Aubameyang and Wilshere is, or was, which makes the thoughts of predicting the team for the match this evening even more difficult. Everyone being fit I would go with Cech Bellerin Koscielny Mustafi Monreal Ramsey Wilshere Ozil Aubameyang …

Arsenal v Everton: one of the most astonishing runs of all time

By Bulldog Drummond According to Physioroom, Aubameyang is ill, and will have a late fitness test.  Jack Wilshere is also ill and likewise will have a late fitness test, and Danny Welbeck is out with a muscular injury.  Everton are reported to have four injuries: McCarthy – broken leg Baines – muscle strain Stekelenburg – …

Arsenal & the new guys v Everton and Theo. What’s gonna happen?

by Bulldog Drummond Of course it was too good to last, all this anti-everyone else and laying off the Arsenal, and within a few hours of our piece about a change in the way the newspapers see Arsenal we were back to the snarling norm with “Mesut Özil, Yaya Sanogo and Arsène Wenger’s ticking doomsday …

Welcome Henrikh, Welcome Pierre-Emerick. The complete review of our new players.

By Josif Ahead of our first chance to see Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Emiliano Francois Aubameyang for the first time at a home game, we take a look at our two new players, and bid them welcome. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is only 29 but it is safe to say he is the greatest Armenian player of all times. …

Why has the upmarket mainstream media changed its tune over Arsenal?

By Dr Billy “the dog” McGraw Something odd is going on. The mainstream upmarket media appear, for the moment at least, to have gone soft on Arsenal and are picking on everyone else.  The bloggettas however, oft written by robots as they are, are staying with their long term objective of knocking.  Such is their …

FFP set for a return, Big Sam stumped, Miki/Aub friends, under 23s squad, Zelalem back.

By Tony Attwood In the early days of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play there was a bit of a battle on this site between those of us in favour of FFP’s aims and some Manchester City supporters who argued that FFP was illegal and would be thrown out by the courts. It wasn’t and nothing happened, …

Fast football, why Alexis’ departure could be good news, and football racism. Just another window.

By Tony Attwood It’s not often that I find Amy Lawrence in the Guardian writing an article that I can agree with wholeheartedly, but it has happened today.  Annoyingly hers is not only written in a much better way than I could ever do, but she got there first. The issue is one about movement, …

Which of the top 6 club spent the most, and what did Europe get up to this month?

by Tony Attwood So by and large, and give and take a few that I have probably missed and the odd one or two I have got wrong, this is by and large what happened… First, the buying and selling for the current top six clubs in the league… Club Player in Cost Player out …

Why Arsenal seem to get more negative publicity than other teams

  This article by Jambreck initially appeared in the comments column of Untold Arsenal following a discussion of why Arsenal seem to get more negative publicity than Tottenham. I was reminded of it by the discussion on Radio 5 on Monday night which included clips of multiple Liverpool supporters calling for their manager to be …

Aubameyang joins Arsenal, Ozil signs new contract

By Sir Hardly Anyone Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined Arsenal for £56m. You might recall that this is transfer deadline day, but I thought I would mention it again, just in case you nodded off. There is still the expectation that Olivier Giroud will go to Chelsea and Michy Batshuayi from thence to Borussia Dortmund. The transfer …

When the group performance declines, what is to be done next?

By Tony Attwood It is often said, both in football and in other areas of life, that the time senior management really earn their money is when things go wrong.  Planning for the future when things are going right is less difficult because at such moments top management has time to consider, discuss, and evolve …

Swansea v Arsenal: the team, the possibilities, the options, and the transfer

By Bulldog Drummond The only news of late is that Jack Wilshere missed training this morning, although there is a suggestion he might still play.   And it is said that Rob Holding is going on loan to Burnley so he won’t be in the squad but we are told Giroud is. Meanwhile the issue we’ve …

Arsenal: The 7 biggest transfer stories of the hour, and recent games with Swansea

by Bulldog Drummond So now we have established after endless errors on my part that Swansea City won the Football League trophy and not the FA Trophy.  They are altogether different things.  Glad we got that sorted.  But I often wonder why there are people who want to tell me I’m wrong but don’t give …

Arsenal v Swansea: home & away form, lowest goals, wacky rumours, injuries, everything.

By Bulldog Drummond As pointed out before I made a mistake in analysing Swansea’s trophy cabinet, giving them two League Cup wins by reading the wrong column on Wiki.  What they won twice was the FA Trophy in 2006 and 1994.  They have of course only won the League Cup once and that was in …

Abuameyang transfer starts to make sense in German newspapers

by Tony Attwood OK so maybe we are about to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and maybe Chelsea really do want Giroud.  Maybe as GiveMeSport says, “Liverpool fans on social media are far from happy at news that Arsenal are closing in on the £56m signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.” But what does the situation look like in Germany; …

Swansea v Arsenal: Just how good does a new manager have to be?

By Bulldog Drummond Actually I wanted to call this, “Just how good does a new manager have to be; just how bad does an old manager have to be?” but it was too long to fit in the subject line. And I wanted the long title because it is a relevant question here.  Carvalhal has …

UNIQUE! All the latest transfer rumours translated into normal English

By Sir Hardly Anyone Yes I know it is hard to believe, and yes it has taken years of hard work, but finally scientists have now produced a translator that translates from journalistic gibberish to English. So without ado further here and forthwith are the current top transfer tales, complete with an approximate realisation in …

The top six is just an imaginary concept from an overexcited brain

  By Tony Attwood A couple of us were having a little debate about Mr Wenger’s comment concerning teams that had not won anything for 25 years, and this led us into all sorts of funny areas such as: When exactly did Liverpool and Tottenham last win anything? and which clubs have been the most …

Do you have what it takes to be a football journalist? Find out here.

By Sir Hardly Anyone Could you be a football headline writer or a footie journo?   Here is a little test whether you should aspire to that august line of work.   You then have to consider how you would turn each of the following stories into a bloggetta or Daily Mail / Daily Star headline. Here …

Arsenal’s new manager, the myth of the new manager & the most expensive seats

By Tony Attwood Uefa’s report analysing trends in European football, is huge.  Page after page of complex statistics and analyses.   So what does the Guardian give us as the big headline at the top of its review? Arsenal: No 1 in Europe “For ticket prices, that is. The Gunners boast an average “yield” per spectator …

The Deconfusion List: exactly where Aub deal has got to and who else is coming

By Sir Hardly Anyone 1: Aubameyang: not all plain sailing Aubameyang CONFIRMS On Twitter He Is Coming To Arsenal says ArsenalInsidernews.com and of course we all know that if it is on Twitter it is true because they have absolutely stopped people putting up fake accounts. But even if suspicious of Twitter we can be …

Jack injury worries, Aubameyang worries, Santi worries, and a spot at the airport

By Sir Hardly Anyone at the Rutland International Aerodrome, Oakham. So that’s another match done, and another cup final on the way.  And the natter and chatter goes on and on and… there is chatter that Auba is not coming to Arsenal because he is still playing for Dortmund. Arsenal Get Bad Update on Pierre-Emerick …

A fulsome and detailed tactical analysis of the game. Oh yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes …

Arsenal v Chelsea, the teams, shirt numbering, and beating Bayern last night

By Bulldog Drummond Some bookies have decided to take a new twist on the issue of Arsenal’s team changes and are talking up the possibility of a huge clear out by Arsenal, and offering all sorts of odds on everyone getting out of the club at once.   Well, not quite everyone but they seem pretty …

Arsenal v Chelsea: Mr Wenger in rhetorical and metaphorical mood.

By Bulldog Drummond Mr Wenger summarised the current position with a combination of metaphorical statements and rhetorical questions when he said to the assembled hacks, “We have been in a few finals – has it changed your mood?  No. I have no illusions at all.” The Mirror, reporting the comments along with several other papers, then …