july 25th
07.33 – Whatever medication they’re putting in Peter Hill-Wood’s tea at the moment, I hope they keep it up. There was a time that whenever he opened his mouth, he put his foot right in his mouth and left Arsenal fans slapping their foreheads with frustration.
Now though he’s making a lot of sense, saying the right things, and as a good Chairman should he’s steadying the ship in the face of the media onslaught Arsenal are facing at the moment. In a very good piece in the Standard, he talks about the current financial situation at the club and about the new stadium and the future of Arsenal in general. Some people might have been shocked to see Arsenal’s players flying economy to Austria, but the Chairman says “I was concerned in a fairly successful banking business but when we went through hard times in the 1970s, the Rolls-Royces went and we drove Minis. Instead of flying first class, we went economy. As far as I am concerned it is a good discipline.”
Beautiful. The most telling quote for me is something that the fans who want us to go out and spend money we don’t have should pay heed to. Look at Leeds, look at Chelsea who were days away from going into receivership before they sold out to the Russian mob, be thankful we have a sensible board in place and not one that would mortgage our entire future for some short term peace and quiet. Hill-Wood says “We are ambitious but we are not going to bankrupt the club to achieve that.”
Martin Keown has been training alongside new boy Philippe Senderos for a few days now, and he’s impressed. “For me, he has what it takes to go all the way.”
Senderos himself seems like a very level headed young man, who is genuinely thrilled to be at Arsenal. You can read more about him here. Obviously there’s a lot of hype about this kid, and many of us would love to see him break into the first team this season. It would keep Cygan out for a start. But remember he’s just 18, and the burden of expectation can be hard to bear for such a young player. A forward can miss a chance or two and it’s generally not the end of the world. Mistakes by centre-halves can be more costly, so there’s more pressure on Senderos than there would be on somebody like Rooney for example. Still, we’re keeping fingers crossed for him.
In a flurry of goalkeeper news, Cañizares says he’s had no contact with Arsenal, make-up wearing Rustu threw his toys out of the pram when Arsenal wanted him to have a medical so he fucked off to Barcelona instead, and AW is hopeful of completing the signing of Jens Lehmann soon. “We are hopeful that the deal will work out, but nothing is perfect yet. There is not much time left and if the deal is not done in the next few days we will be forced to look elsewhere.”
Some ex-Gunners making up what little news there is this morning. John Hartson wants to make his Celtic comeback in the upcoming friendly against Arsenal, while Fabian Caballero is in trouble at Dundee for being a fat cunt. Jay Bothroyd has joined Perugia, while Omer Riza has joined Turksih side Trabszapopobalzor.
That’s it, but keep your eyes and ears posted. Word is there’s a big deal going….nah, nothing is going to happen today. Nothing at all.
