Arsenal v Notlob; Billy the Dog’s contribution to football journalism is recognised by O2.

By Billy the Dog McGraw Oh yes indeed!!!  It’s Arsenal vs Notlob Wanderers. (And by the way Tony has a spare ticket for the Wednesday European thing match.  Call me on 07714 76 2250, or email Tony with your contact details (Tony.Attwood@aisa.org).  Cost price obviously, but you have to sit next to Tony and I …

The solution for international football and a way to end injuries

By Walter Broeckx I must admit the first hours when I found out about the Walcott injury I was down. Very down. Why oh why did it happen again to one of our players. We all remember last season. Robin Van Persie who was on fire. From the start of the season he gave assists and …

Match fixing, gambling syndicates, Ye yeah

By Walter Broeckx As we are in a dull period of the season with the international games having just ended, and the word corruption having been mentioned in an article I thought it could be interesting to have a look at a corruption scandal that took place in Belgium some 5 years ago. It involved …

Arsenal: A blogosphere survival guide

By Terence McGovern. It seems recently that the internet world involving Arsenal has descended into madness. We are inundated with reactionary pieces spawned by sensationalised and generally unfounded rumour. It is enough to drive even the most staunch supporter insane. The ridiculous part of the problem though is that Arsenal supporters, for the most part, …

On the eve of Armageddon

By Paul Blythe ‘There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Marouan, and Laurent, and Sebastien, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of Arsene, and you yourselves thrust out.’ I am a seeker of truth. I study the mystic runes and the wisdom of our ancestors to discover a deeper …

The philosophy of Arsène Wenger: the total revolution

By Tony Attwood (You can go back and read the article from the start, by clicking here). So the revised Wengerian philosophy emerged out of practical considerations.  It had these basic points… a) The new youth system is working and some of the players coming through (Wilshere is the most obvious but there are many …

Wenger’s theory and practice of football – part 2

By Tony Attwood I pointed out in part 1 of this article that Wenger brought to Arsenal a new approach to football, not just in the style of playing, but also in the style of coaching, of economics, and of running the club. However the world changes, and football was not blind to what Wenger …

It is not Wenger, it is the Wengerian philosophy that matters

By Tony Attwood The issue has been raised a number of times: this blog has gone totally over the top in praising Arsène Wenger, instead of recognising his faults. Maybe there’s something in that, and if so, it is entirely my fault.  So I thought I would go back, look at Wenger, and all he …

Spot fixing in the Premier League

Spot Fixing in English Premier league Dilshan Mohemad On the back of Pakistan cricket teams spot fixing scandal one has to wonder how clean is the English game and could it be also targeted by bookies if it has not been already. First we must understand what spot fixing is. It is different from match …

Football in its current form is unsustainable

By Tony Attwood Sometimes things just go wrong.  You can’t help it, but well, you know, you find your wife is having an affair with not only the groom and the stable lad, (or maybe one of those nice centre forwards from Man IOU) and then your mate says she was also seen with the …

Why do Chelsea only have 19 players? How to manipulate the 25 rule

By Tony Attwood No one quite knows the best way to react to the new 25 rule, and looking at the official data to emerge from the EPL it is clear that the clubs have simply made occasional adjustments to their squads to fit the new rules. What I haven’t seen elsewhere is an analysis …

Racism among the Anti-Arsenal Arsenal blogs

By Ronnie Browne Let me start by saying that I think Le Grove is probably the best formatted blog of it’s type there is, there are posts everyday and it’s clear and easy to view and contribute to the comments section.  I have been a reader for a long time, mainly because I like reading …

Theo involved in bizarre airport fiasco with VIPs.

by Roxy Beaujolais Well!  There I was in the first class lounge of Geneva International Airport, Geneva, which is Overseas (as we travelers say) when who should turn up but the England full team, along with their bagmen, carriers and barristers. You could have knocked me over with a six hundredweight bag of cement and …

Royal Madness: how one team spent 280m euros and got absolutely nothing

By Walter Broeckx We all have read about the madness that has gone in to football when it comes to spending money. The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City with their financial doping is already well documented on this site in many articles. And let us not forget it is a force which Arsenal have …

The Lord of the Lies: an allegorical tale

By Paul Blythe With apologies to William Golding During an unnamed time, a plane carrying a group of boys crashes over the Pacific. The pilot and crew of the plane are killed, but many of the lads survive the crash and find themselves stranded on an uninhabited island. Amongst the oldest of the boys, handsome …

England: a national team hiding behind a series of court injunctions

By Imade Itup Another England match, another England footballer wins an injunction  banning the reporting of allegations about his private life.  According to my records that is now three England players currently with publicly listed injunctions stopping the press and blogs from saying anything about their lives. In considering the point I found myself meandering …

Arsenal Worldwide is up, running and growing

By Walter Broeckx from Arsenal Worldwide The Arsenal Worldwide project off and running. I mentioned last week the Arsenal Worldwide project has started, and now we really are moving. It took us some time to get started, and like all new starting things it takes some time before you really get an audience. If people …

Forgive? Yes. But with supporters there is still a limit

By Walter Broeckx The beautiful (I still haven’t found the right words to praise it) article from Paul Fowler about good supporters had made me think a bit. Forgiving is indeed maybe a big part of what we as good supporters should be able to do. A good supporter can forgive a striker to have …

Arsenal’s transfer window experience, plus the “25” and the 57 under 21s!

Phil Gregory So with the transfer window shut, and no deals still pending approval for  last season’s top three, let’s see how this year’s title contenders have fared in their summer dealings. Arsenal arrivals: Koscielny Squillaci Chamakh Arsenal departures: Campbell (11) Silvestre (12) Gallas (26) Eduardo (24), 11 as a substitute Numbers in brackets represent …

Man City was 40% of the transfer window this year. What the hell happens now?

By Tony Attwood We’ve often taken a little look at the finances at clubs such as Man IOU, Barca and the like on this site.   Swiss Rambler does the same, often in more detail, and recently did a brilliant piece on Inter Milan, showing how they too are facing an absolute financial crisis, and how …

What makes a good supporter? After yesterday’s comments on this site, it is time to find out

Good Supporters? By Paul Fowler A few months ago I made a conscious decision never ever to post any opinions on football blogs again. Being a fervent gooner, and apparently currently undergoing the phenomenon that is trophy-cold-turkey – which if you believe the press, is a football condition only experienced by Arsenal fans – I …