Arseblog … an Arsenal blog

Morning to you. I'm very glad I brought the scheduled podcast for today forward to yesterday (although it was tomorrow and today back then) because I am as sick as a dog this morning. Not the dog that is currently chewing a log at my feet, she seems completely fine and delighted to be alive, but another pooch whose head...

It wouldn’t be summer without a saga and Arsenal are again toeing the contractual high beam with Aaron Ramsey this summer. The Welshman has 1 year left on his Gunners deal and having viewed the distracting Alexis Sanchez situation last season, the club will look to force Aaron’s hand in a showdown at high noon style situation. Ramsey won the...

Welcome to another episode of the Arsecast - the Arsenal podcast. Arsenal appointed a new head coach, Unai Emery, on Wednesday. The Spaniard's name was barely mentioned, but he's going to be the man tasked with bringing Premier League competitiveness back to the club, building on what Arsene Wenger left behind and hopefully adding to the trophy cabinet along the...

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and I have to say Unai Emery's performance as he was named head coach of Arsenal yesterday made his a very favourable one for me. We had the announcement in the morning, confirmation of the story that broke on Monday evening, that the 46 year old Spaniard was to become...

New head coach Unai Emery met the press for the first time at the Emirates Stadium today. Watching it on video it came across as an impressive performance from the Spaniard, and for a view of the events from much closer, James from @gunnerblog was there and sends this report. -- After 22 years, there is a new man in...

During the Arsene Wenger era, the manager's desire to manage the message and to keep things quiet as much as possible dovetailed very nicely with Arsenal's inherent conservatism and reluctance to play the media game. 'That's the Arsenal way', people would say, but it was as much the Wenger way as it was the club's. That little smile when asked...

That old phrase 'You never know what can happen in football' came to mind last night when we'd taken a break during recording the Arsecast Extra live at Union Chapel last night. During the show, we'd been discussing the future on the assumption that Mikel Arteta was set to be named as the man to replace Arsene Wenger, but then...

Welcome to another Arsecast Extra, the Arsenal podcast, with myself and James from @gunnerblog. So this episode was recorded like at Union Chapel last night, and during the first half of the show we discussed lots of things but also the future on the assumption that Mikel Arteta was about to be made manager of the club. At the break...

A very good and early Monday morning to you. I am writing this blog in my kitchen as the puppy decides that her favourite thing in the world to eat is soil and has used the kitchen floor as a plate for her soilstravaganza. The appointment of Mikel Arteta is set to take place 'this week', according to reports, as...

I sort of watched the second half of yesterday's FA Cup final in a bar yesterday evening. It will tell you the esteem in which I hold Jose Mourinho that I wanted Chelsea to win. I didn't just want them to win, I really wanted them to win because I knew this would make him sad. I'm not saying I'm...

“Nothing in his life became him like leaving it.” William Shakespeare, ‘Macbeth’, Act 1, sc. 4, l. 7 It has, I am sure you will agree, been a wonderful few weeks. He has now departed in the most joyous of ways, relishing every last moment. This was the right way for it to happen, with fanfare, with pomp and with...

If Mikel Arteta was a lady an anagram of his name could be Maria Kettle. Chances are though, if he were a woman, his first name wouldn't be Mikel. Another anagram is 'Rat-like team', and one of things many of us hope is that a new manager makes us a bit more mean and a bit less nice. I want...