july 2nd
09.34 – There’s nothing like a funny story to kick things off in the mornings. And I don’t know about you, but the fact that Ken Bates has sold Chelsea to a Russian mob…er…group has made me smile. He famously bought the club for £1 back in the 80s, then spent every day since doing his best to annoy people. And to be fair he did a very good job. Of annoying people.
So farewell then to evil Papa Smurf, and it’s hello to Roman Abramovich who will do ‘whatever’s necessary’ to bring success to our blue chums. Can I suggest electric fences all the way around the ground for a start? On the outside of course…
Patrick Kluivert has spoken about his current situation and has denied any fresh contact with Arsenal. He said “It is true that Arsenal tried to sign me five years ago when I was an AC Milan player but since then there has been no serious contact. Neither myself nor my agent have been in contact with any club and the quotes attributed to me in the media saying there have been discussions are simply fiction.”
We’re still waiting for a centre-half, probably the most important signing of the summer. Certainly more important than Harry “chase me – chase me” Kewell. We’ve already brought in Philippe Senderos and now AW wants to take another young defensive prospect to the club. Jacob Timpano is a 17 year old Socceroo and Arsenal face competition from Real Madrid for his signature. Or, to put it another way, somebody is talking this lad up big time and has used a contact in the BBC to raise awareness of a player that nobody has ever heard of. Timpano plays for the Woolongong Wolves. Woolongong Wolves…heh.
So we’ll keep looking for our new defender. The latest names to be linked include Kevin Hofland (again), Gareth Southgate and Frank de Boer. I’d take either of the first two, but I’d put de Boer in a big sack along with Cygan and Stepanovs and then chuck them into a river.
That’s about the size of it so far. More if anything happens later.
