May 19th
So the Ashley Cole thing came to a conclusion yesterday but we won’t know what decision the panel have come to until June 1st. At that stage Ashley will be off on his holidays and although Arsene Wenger says he wants to keep the player he suspects agent Jonathan Barnett is trying to secure a move away from Highbury. The boss said “I’m more concerned that the agent will try to move Ashley Cole than us not wanting to talk to his agent. On our side, we have no problem with speaking to him and signing a contract, but what the agent will want to do, I don’t know.”
He’s not worried about this week affecting Cole ahead of the cup final though saying he’s been playing with it on his shoulders for three months and that Ashley is a ‘strong boy’. He owes us a big performance though. However, The Sun suggests some minuntes from a board meeting which were presented as evidence by Arsenal show we were trying to offload Cole before he ever met Chelsea. There are no details in their online edition though but someone will no doubt pick up on this during the day.
Better news surrounds José Antonio Reyes who, after publicly pledging his future to the club yesterday, has shaken off the knock he’s been carrying and will start the game on Saturday. According to Arsene Wenger “Jose will play. I have decided to start him but where, I don’t know.”
We interrupt this blog for an important message:
Sorry about that, where was I? Roy Keane thinks the final could be explosive while Patrick Vieira says he’s prepared for anything United have to throw at us. Unless they throw Gary Neville which would be like someone shitting in their hand, vomiting on the shit, covering it with snot and hippo’s afterbirth and then throwing at your head. Not good, let me tell you. Arsenal’s hero of the 1979 final, Alan Sunderland, talks about that goal and life in Malta with his cockatiel called ‘Rooney’. No, seriously. Demento, trusting soul that he is, believes Thierry’s injury is just ‘gamesmanship’ and that he’ll play in Cardiff. Arsene Wenger’s response – “We’re not liars.” Gilberto has backed Jens Lehmann to be an important part of our cup final win, saying “Nobody at Arsenal ever lost faith in Jens. He has a strong personality and could be our match- winner against United.”
Peter Hill-Wood on players, Highbury and Arsene Wenger…oh, and Dennis.
Last chance to win the Senderos t-shirt from goalhanger – see yesterday’s blog for more details on how to enter and the Random Number Generator will do its thing tomorrow morning. And that’s about it this morning.
[arseblogger exits to the left, looks for a moment at the sky, gives a little wave and smiles to himself.]
