august 17th
13.49 – Have just seen the highlights of the game, and while I personally think Sol was a bit unlucky to get a red card, there can’t be too many complaints really.
He now faces an automatic 1 game ban, and Arsene Wenger didn’t have any complaints. He said “It was not malicious but I can accept the fact that he was sent off. It was just a foul and he was the last man, those are the rules of the game.”
He’s not worried that Sol seems to have all the luck of a non-Irishman at the moment. “He is a strong boy and has faced more difficult situations than that in his life.”
True enough. We’ll wait to see if Thierry Henry gets reported for his topless celebrations in front of the Everton fans. No doubt the FA will have something to say about that. However, as much as I love Thierry, wouldn’t he have been better off celebrating with the Arsenal fans who took up 90% of the ground, rather than winding up the scallies?
Patrick Vieira has reaffirmed his commitment to Arsenal and revealed that there are no get out clauses in his new contract. He said “The contract runs out in 2007 and I have don’t have any clauses in it. When you know big clubs are after you, you have to think what is the best deal for you. I really thought about it and know that the best thing for me was to stay at Arsenal.”
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and Arsenal vice-Chairman, David ‘Danger Double-D’ Dein were reportedly going to discuss the Francis Jeffers loan business after yesterday’s game. As I’ve said before, I don’t see any benefit for Arsenal in this, and the fact that Jeffers started yesterday on the bench would indicate that he figures in the manager’s plans for the time being. Some reports suggest Arsenal would do a permanent deal with some cash coming our way, but it seems unlikely as Everton boss David Moyes says “We’ve got a few players that I’d like to bring in before the transfer deadline…but our budget is very limited.”
According to today’s Sunday Times, Jermaine Pennant has joined Leeds on a 2 month loan deal. They quote Leeds chairman Professor John McTalkalot as saying something along the lines of ‘We’ve had no commitment from Arsenal, but it opens up the possibility of a permanent deal.’
The fact that Leeds couldn’t afford an empty bag of penny sweets at the moment might be a problem for them. The News of the World reckon Pennant could go back to Watford though. It’s a strange one this. AW was quoted as saying Pennant was probably the closest of the young players to the first team. I doubt he’ll go permanantly, especially with the Wiltord situation still up in the air, but he’s got to get a run of games sooner rather than later.
Anyway, we’ve started off the season in Arsenal style. A win with 10 men, yet more Red Card Shame headlines, a possible FA investigation and a visit to the video advisory panel. It’s going to be an interesting campaign.
