march 4th
I think after three years I’ve run out of ways to start the morning’s blog. Perhaps I need to open with a random expletive from now on.
We’ll start this morning with news that PFA Chief Gordon Taylor has slammed David Dein for not backing UEFA’s plan which says English players have to be played just because they’re English. I wish some rampaging wrestler would slam Gordon Taylor into the side of a building, repeatedly, but you don’t hear me going on about it. Shaddap you clown. Penalty hero Manuel Almunia has called Jose Mourinho ‘arrogant’ after his behaviour in the Carling Cup final. Expect some witty reply from everyone’s favourite bad sport – that’s if he deigns to turn up for his pre-match press conference this week. The cunt. Almunia has also said he doesn’t understand why Luis Aragones was fined for his comments to José Reyes in which he called Thierry Henry a ‘black shit’. He says Aragones is not racist and all this does is highlight once again the huge cultural difference between the Spanish, who in general feel the coach has done little wrong, and everyone else who thinks the comments were out of order.
Thierry Henry feels Aragones got away lightly with a €3,000 fine for his comments and has called on FIFA make it a ‘proper one’. He criticises the Spanish FA, saying “They fined for the sake of it, not because they felt he said something wrong.” I’m not quite sure what he expects FIFA to do though, like the Spanish FA, like UEFA and like so many others they pay lip-service to racist behaviour and when the opportunity comes to make an example of somebody – like Real Madrid in the Champions League – they’re thinking about how it will affect their income and not how best to solve the problem.
Edu has spoken about how well he’s been treated by Arsenal and Arsenal fans in the last few months atfer he and the club failed to reach agreement on a new deal. “Arsene Wenger has always told me that he counts on me for the rest of the season. In the beginning I was a little worried about the reaction of the supporters, but they had a good stance.”
Arsene Wenger says there’s a ‘good chance’ we’ll see Quincy in action against Portsmouth on Saturday. There’s still a doubt over Thierry Henry, although Robin van Persie is back, while Dennis Bergkamp and José complete their three match bans. The young Dutchling is determined to make the most of his second chance in football after being let go by Ajax because of problems with his attitude. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to make this same mistake at Arsenal, he says “To be given a second chance, that was great. But to get it at Arsenal. What a second chance to get.”
And there you go. Any plans for the weekend then?
