Untold Arsenal: Supporting the club, the manager and the team
"I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art." A Wenger
The 5-6 scorline is an important statistic, because it marks a significant change in the approach of the “Rovers” – and in many ways completes an extraordinary transformation for the “club”. There was a time, 3 years ago, when the only statistic you could measure for Blackburn was kicks. It was so bad that it led to …
The one thing most of us lack , as supporters of one of the world’s biggest teams, is power. Support a little club and you might well be able to chat to the board members. You might even be able to influence the Trust that runs the club. But with clubs like Arsenal you have no …
Read More “How the fans can take control of the Premier League”
One week ago this august blog ran the “Sir” Alex Ferguson diary predicting what Mr Red Nose would say about the Manchester City game on 10th February. And we got it utterly right. On 5 February in this widely read and supremely revered commentary on all that matters in the known universe and elsewhere (see http://tinyurl.com/yv2sdw for …
Read More “We predicted what “Sir” Alex would say… you didn’t believe it, but we were 100% right”
A research report by independent analysts Initiative Sports Futures shows that the total world-wide in-home audience from the Arsenal / Man U match was 8m people not the 1 billion that was widely reported by Sky at the time. The match was available in 203 countries and territories, and if everyone who could have watched did watch it would …
Read More “Arsenal / Man U audience was 8 million not 1 billion!”
All EPL clubs have big squads – the trick has been in the past to have a mix of first team regulars, those who can step up, and those who know they will hardly get a game but expect to be there in a year or so. The problem at Arsenal is that M. Wenger …
The web site behind this blog: www.emiratesstadium.info is best known for housing “The Stupidity Files” – a collection of articles celebrating the total insanity and idiocy of those who play, manage, control and write about football. There’s hundreds of articles and stories on the site – but in all the years of collecting them none …
Read More “I absolutely bet you have never seen insanity in football like this.”
The BBC is reporting that at a meeting in London all 20 EPL clubs including Arsenal agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games. The new games would be played at around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them. The additional 3 fixtures would be fixed by a draw but that …
All the contracts of Arsenal players must be reviewed after it became clear that many of them (including the 8 year contract that Fabregas signed) are completely unenforceable under a new EU wide legal ruling made on 30 January 2008. The new ruling puts the name Andy Webster alongside that of Jean-Marc Bosman. From now on you can say …
In case you have missed it, the forces of darkness have been out in, well, force. Our club has been threatened with legal action for failing to cut out anti-semitic chanting. The most prestigious Gooner web site has been closed following threats of legal action. And there have even been threats against one of our …
Read More “All the words you can’t call a Tottenham supporter”
It is the most nerve wracking day of the season. A vast array of mindless pointless “international” friendlies in which our players can play and be injured. There’s no benefit, nothing happens – except hamstrings go, knees get knocked and the Spanish practice their racial taunting. In one way we can feel pleased for Clichy …
Read More “Would you let a bunch of mindless twirps have access to your most valued possessions?”
The secret diary of “Sir” Alex Burgundy, manager supreme of Manchester Cowboys, the Yankee owned “soccer” outfit from the wild north-west frontier. Monday: I’m sure Arsenal get an unfair advantage because of those foreigners they sign, and I demand the FA restrict the number of foreigners allowed. Meanwhile we have to compete so ask Groggsy (who …
That’s shots on target. The other stats were quite good too and the match was easily won. Wenger said lots of lovely things about Ade, Ade did a relaxed head nodding act after the last goal, everyone sang the new song at the proper speed (that is a three second pause after each line, not a …
On 3 Feb Henry now at Barca and Carlos Vela (on loan at Osasuna) both played – and quite logically it was in the Barca Osasuna game Carlos Vela has already been scoring regularly for Osasuna – a club tipped for relegation, but by no means certain to go down. He’s 18, cool, and looks more than ready to …
Read More “Vela and Henry – Arsenal new and old meet in Barca”
Last week one of the most established and venerated web sites related to Arsenal closed down for a while. The reason, as far as I can understand, was that the site had criticised an Arsenal supporter. This supporter had then got upset, and had contacted both the people who run the site and the firm …
Recently M. Wenger expressed his complete vision of the individual, the team, the club, football – all in one sentence. And in so doing he symbolised why it was so hard for English players to do well at Arsenal. Speaking about Luke Freeman who has just joined the club M. Wenger said… “He is 15 years …
Read More “Why English players find it hard to break through at Arsenal”
Woke up this morning, turned on Radio 5, and the announcer says, “The Big 4 are playing today”. What Big 4 I hear you ask – well no I don’t but you know. There is no Big 4. There never has been a Big 4 during the history of the EPL. What we had for …
The 8 year contract that Cesc Fabregas signed with Arsenal is completely unenforceable because of a new EU wide legal ruling made on 30 January 2008. The new ruling puts the name Andy Webster alongside that of Jean-Marc Bosman. From now on you can say the names together for they both have a significant impact. …
What do Peter Crouch and Luke Freeman have in common? As you know Luke Freeman is 15, has signed for Arsenal, is the youngest player to have played in the “Proper” section of the FA Cup, has played three time for Gillingham and will sign a professional contract when he is (or “turns” as the journalists love to say) 17. …
Kevin Keegan has a tactic. Not scoring. As a tactic the squad have learned it well. They didn’t score against Arsenal. Or come to that against Arsenal. Wenger has a tactic too. Drop a player for the matches at the end of the season, then when he thinks about leaving during the summer hols, tell …
I have a lot of feeling for White Hart Lane – having watched my first ever football match in the Lane. It was Wood Green Town against Dulwich Hamlet at the only football ground that there has ever been in that long and winding road. (Forget the silly stories the popular press – only …
The FA “Cup” as it is customarily called is a competition held in high esteem – mostly because it is an opportunity for little “clubs” who have no chance of winning anything to have their day in the sunshine (or in the case of Wigan’s pitch, mud). We think of Havant and Waterlooville, Hereford, Newcastle …
OK – I know I am supposed to write about things re Arsenal FC that no one else writes about. But in covering this story at least I do give a bit of background on the wife. The story of the way Cole paraded himself to Chelsea while still an Arsenal player, breaking every rule about …
Read More “The family of Mr and Mrs Cole – one time of Arsenal”
Based on current performance, by 2011 Arsenal will have five significant teams: The first team – challenging as always for the major competitions. The “squad” team – back up players who play in the FA Cup and League Cup, plus in lesser European games, and who are available as replacement to first team players who …
This is not a moment to despair. Arsenal have suffered but a handful of heavy defeats under Wenger. The 6-1 deafeat by Manchester United in the league is 2000-1 was the worst, followed by 5-0 by Chelsea in 1998-99. But following each of the heaviest defeats involving 5 or 6 goals against Arsenal have never lost the following …
Tottenham 5 Arsenal 1: So what did we learn? Firstly that coin throwing is still prevalent at the Lane, and no one seems to have any idea what to do about it. The referee saw the matter and failed to take any action, the stewards as always refused to take any action, and based on the …
