december 11th
I am writing this having just come in the door from watching the game. I have not read any match reports or read what any Arsebloggers have said on our forums or on the arses. I’m going to skip, for now, the first half and and move straight to the incident which decided the game.
Having already been booked in the first half Gilberto went for a tackle in the 56th minute which, no doubt about it, was a foul. It wasn’t a terrible tackle, it wasn’t a dirty tackle, it didn’t stop a goalscoring opportunity, but for some reason referee Dermot Gallagher decided it warranted a second yellow and red card for Gilberto. Really harsh.
What made it even more upsetting was the fact that less than 5 minutes later Alan Shearer went through the back of Sol Campbell and didn’t even get so much as a ticking off from the ref. If Gilberto’s foul was a yellow card then why the fuck was that not a yellow card? And Gallagher can’t say he didn’t see it because he was standing right in front of it. I’d have been quite happy for Shearer not to be booked if that’s the standard the referee had set for the game but if he’s going to give a second yellow, which does require a bit more thought than a first, for Gilberto’s tackle then I just don’t understand how Shearer managed to get away with nothing. Although it’s Shearer and I recall the Carling Cup game they played when he elbowed some bloke in the face, the way he always does, and then cried like the little bitch he is when he got some of the same back. He is a massive, massive cunt and he never gets 10% of the cards he deserves.
Afterwards Arsene Wenger said what I’m sure a lot of managers would like to say about Shearer. “I just think that he is an example of a guy who, when the ball is in the air, goes first for the man and then for the ball — today more than ever — and he gets away with a lot. How many fouls were committed today without any attempt to play the ball and without a yellow card? Shearer got a cosmetic one in the 90th minute.”
Despite our chances in the first half – one where Given made a brilliant save from TH and the other when Thierry totally miskicked with the goal at his mercy (not even mentioning the penalty we should have had for handball) –
it was always going to be difficult with 10 men against a Newcastle team that have fashioned themselves on Wimbledon. Forget football it was all long balls and borderline acceptable challenges. We didn’t do much in the second half after the sending off and after a bit of a scramble Solano’s cool finish was enough to save Souness his job.
I know we’ve got a terrible away record this season and I know some people are having a hard time with it but in some cases we have been unlucky. Chelsea – Drogba scores with a miskick. WBA – Carter scores a goal he’ll never score again as long as he lives. Boro – we hit the wordwork early on which would have changed things. And now Newcastle – there is no doubt in my mind the sending off gave the result to them. We would not have lost that game with Gilberto on the pitch. No chance. I know they came out strong in the second half but we’d have weathered the storm and with 11 we’d have had more going forward and I’m sure we’d have scored.
It’s a bit funny though. When you play well all the luck seems to go your way. When you’re not playing as well as you can nothing goes right for you. That’s not to say all our problems are down to bad luck, that would just be silly, but I think it’s important that people don’t get carried away with the criticism of the team or the manager or the tactics or the colour of our shirts (if we were we playing with red shirts and white sleeves we’d be top of the league right no but that’s another story!). Yes, we have problems but they’re not as bad as they’re made out to be. We’re the victims of the very high standards we have set for ourselves.
I am very worried about Sol Campbell though. He was really poor again today, his passing was atrocious, his decision making was poor and I wish I knew why but more than anyone he is really struggling at the moment when he is one of the people we need to bring some stability to things.
Senderos came in alongside him in central defence and was really solid, Kolo at right back was decent and Lauren was by far the better option to the ‘injured’ Pascal Cygan.
Anyway, we now have 8 days until our next game, the visit of Chelsea to Highbury. There’s a lot that needs to be worked on during the week, a lot of things that need to be said and although the title is really out of our reach this is a must win game to restore some pride and confidence and to start hauling ourselves up the table.
I have a tremendous hangover so that’s all I’ve got. Till tomorrow and enjoy your Sunday.
