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
mentioned in a post a few days back that AISA have put out some interesting information of late. The information below also comes from AISA and relates to ticket touting. I have to admit I am utterly biased on this – I completely dislike touting, and would be much happier if there were none. …
Read More “Arsenal memberships withdrawn over black market tickets”
Jonanthan Brown wrote to me directly, rather than via the blog, on the issue of Denilson, and I would like to pass on his thoughts. To declare my position: I think Denilson is a sensation, but that he suffers as Gilberto did in the fans’ eyes. If you remember, Gilberto was often thought to …
At the time of the game I made some comments on the trouble at the Arsenal / Everton match – something I saw from the vantage of the upper tier a little way along from the place over the away fans – towards the half way line. My thought at the time was that …
There was a moment right at the end of the game against Portsmouth in which Papa Bouba Diop committed what looked like a dreadful foul on (I think) Denilson. From my position in the upper tier quite some way along from the incident I didn’t have anything remotely like a perfect view, but it looked …
So, five league games unbeaten. Not perfect by any means, but certainly better than the two defeats that preceded the change of captaincy. And certainly not bad when the run includes three of the teams currently above us. And even more so not bad when you remember that the heart of our team has been …
There are three big reasons why most football commentary is negative. First, it is easier to write negative than positive commentaries. I remember the classic moment 20 years back when we beat Liverpool Not-yet-insolvents in the last game of the year. The fanzine “1-0 down 2-1 Up” celebrated that with a series of articles at …
…. the team that is built around the ability to beat anti-football. It is now 243 years 38 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours, 23 minuutes 3 seconds since one of the big four won a league match, and time is starting to run out for these top clubs. By having successfully evolved ways of disrupting …
The message cannot be clearer – with the injury to Cesc now, and the clear signs that Liverpool are still be protected by referees in a way that other teams are not, the Lord Wenger will know exactly where we stand for the second half of the season. Back comes Eduardo, followed somewhat later by …
There was a moment in the Villa game yesterday where one of their players went down holding his head and the ref looked, and then played the game on. The commentator said “that’s not right” or something like that, and eventually several minutes later the game was stopped. I thought this a heart-warming moment. I’ve …
Read More “Football in turmoil, Villa rumbled, Liverpool as Emperors”
This week’s game in the press has been to suggest that Arsenal is falling apart because there have been changes at Board level. My guess (which is of course just a guess) is that the change arounds can only be for the good of the club. They will have no effect on the short term, …
Read More “Is this a new Bankrupts ploy, or are they out of control?”
So, I read the situation quite wrong in my earlier blog, and the member of the board who got up and walked away was not just bored with the talk, but annoyed that her arguments were not listened to. At least I had the sense to suggest I didn’t have any inside knowledge on the …
What a jolly day for news this is. Take that bunch of loveable rogues the Tiny Fantasits form White Hart Lane. On the last day of the last January transfer window they sign Gilberto from Hertha Berlin. He plays a couple of times in the space of a year, and after that the fantastic …
The problems that arose at the Everton game worried me. Not just the fact that Arsenal supporters (in the most expensive seats it turns out) took it upon themselves to throw stuff on the away support below, but also what appeared to be the inept response of semi-trained stewards who did nothing but attack the …
This Sunday is Yellow Day at the Ems. Don’t ask me why, its a Red Action thing, but those guys work their hearts souls and lungs out for the club while those of us in the upper levels mumble about it not being like this in 1927, so if they say we have to wear …
It was a jolly affair all round, and with quite a few unexpecteds. You’ll know about Eduardo’s contribution: solid, modest, and a couple of chances. It was just good to see him. But whereas I expected the see an amazing display of through passing from the midfield for Eduardo to run onto, it didn’t …
So today is the day – Eduardo is back. The Croatian media have block booked the press box, and there could be a larger than normal crowd… at Barnet. Yup, its reserve football time – and it is live on Arsenal TV. The Lord Wenger says Eduardo has been brilliant in recovery and could come …
There was a time in the 1990s when Italian football was king. WC Milan (then known as AC – before they started playing silly buggers) in particular had the most stunning side that played fluent exciting wonderful free-flowing football. It was Total Football II. In those days it was all so good you could watch …
Read More “Football in England starts the journey into decline”
Like many gentlemen of a certain age whose fathers have now passed on, I find myself wishing I’d listened to my dad a bit – especially on the subject of Arsenal in the old days. My dad went to the Arsenal through the 30s and again in the post-war era, and saw the great teams. …
Read More “It wasn’t like this in the 1930s. Actually it was.”
Sometimes you just have to hand it to the Evening Standard. This week David Mellor ran the story that “the Soviet Union is alive and well and living at Stamford Bridge.” There followed an article in which Mellor points out that when the club publishes transcripts of question and answer sessions with fans (all part …
There is that thing that Sir Alex F Word does when his team plays badly – instead of considering the poor quality of the performance (as the Lord Wenger did openly and honestly after the defeat in Portugal) the manager of Manchester Bankrupts rails and rants about the referee. Since he refuses to be interviewed …
Police investigating the activities of Tottenham Hotspur supporters guilty of homophobic and racist chanting at Portsmouth have finally, after months of pressure from this and other blog sites, released pictures of 16 suspects today. That the event took place on 28 September and that only 16 of the hundreds – perhaps thousands – who joined …
Paranoia is the stuff of jokes, but for those who suffer from it, it is a totally debilitating condition. This past weekend the Ince character said in every newspaper that would give him space that “people are out to get Keane and me.” I would have thought most people couldn’t give a toss about either …
Read More “From mental strength to paranoia: another day in football”
The owner of CSKA Fulham has gained some financial relief after the Russian government has loaned $1.8 billion to the steel company Evraz. But the situation is getting ever worse for the football club. Abramovich owns much of Evraz (having sold his interest in Sibneft the oil company). But Evraz, with debts of over …
Read More “Chelsea finances get worse as they fall to Arsenal yet again”
A day or two back JBH wrote a really interesting piece on Denilson in the comments section of this website. I strongly recommend it as a piece of interesting reading – especially the summary of the stats. Take a look at this – and remember we are talking about a young player doing his first …
Nearly a year ago the major football clubs in Europe agreed to drop their legal case against Uefa and Fifa over injuries sustained by players while playing for countries rather than clubs. As a result the clubs now get some money from the countries when there are international tourneys. But as we have seen the …
