Ok, let’s have a quick look at what’s happening.
After the Carling Cup shennanigans Arsenal have appealed against Emmanuel Adebayor’s red card on the basis of mistaken identity. Obviously that means they’ll have to provide evidence against Eboue but I know which player I’d rather lose for three games. As you can see from this video Eboue’s actions, while not particularly vicious, were undeniably stupid while Wayne Bridge really out to be ashamed of himself. His theatrics were pathetic. However, the Sun reports that Adebayor could still face a ban for allegedly raising his hands to Ricardo Carvalho and for not leaving the pitch when shown the red card. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens there.
Meanwhile Kolo Toure has apologised for his actions which saw him get sent off. Of course there were headlines yesterday about the ‘Snarling Cup’ final but it’s just typical media overreaction – Henry Winter, someone that I’ve always had some time for, makes a complete fool of himself with these hysterics. Get a fucking grip, Henry, your hand-wringing and mock sensibility is as pathetic as Wayne Bridge and Emmanuel Eboue Three Stooges act. It was hardly anything to write home about and it was just a cynical Chelsea trap that we fell into and ended up wasting most of the injury time. We’ll live and learn, I hope.
Arsene Wenger is still happy he made the right decision with regards his team while Cesc says other teams should be scared of the talent Arsenal have coming through.
There was confirmation of Abou Diaby’s ankle injury, the one which Dan Smith shattered last year, when he kicked John Terry’s face. How typical that Terry makes a full recovery and can go carousing around nightclubs while Diaby looks set to be out for some time. One thing Chelsea fans can be thankful of though is the fact that one of their scumbag fans might just have saved Terry’s life. Gary Lewin was behind our goal having treated Manuel Almunia who had been hit by something thrown from the crowd. Terry was turning as blue as his shirt before Lewin stepped in to save the day.
Speaking of Manuel Almunia there’s interest in him from Spain as Villarreal want to bring him home in the summer. “He is a priority for us”, they say. Elsewhere Arturo Lupoli will return to Italy in the summer after signing a deal with Fiorentina.
There’s no real team news about tomorrow’s FA Cup replay against Blackburn yet but obviously we’ll be without the suspended Toure and whoever else gets a ban. How sporting it was of Mark Hughes to call one of the Chelsea backroom staff minutes after the Carling Cup final to ‘thank’ them for getting our players sent off. I really hope we go there and stuff them, the horrible fuckers. A more detailed preview tomorrow.
Finally for today I hope you’ll raise a glass and say cheers as Arseblog reaches the grand old age of 5. On this day in 2002 the very first words were:
The Arseblog is born amidst a fanfare of pure silence and a rippling of no applause. Not sure what way this thing is going to go, it has no plan, no direction, no aim, no purpose – simply a tool for me to ramble on about all things Arsenal and maybe some other stuff instead. Anyway, I shall crack on.
Profound, I think you’ll agree. Not for one moment did I think I’d be still doing it, daily, five years later on. And my how things have grown – last year’s birthday post was full of stats and facts and figures and it’s gotten worse, if you know what I mean. More visitors, more comments, more emails, more page views and more pressure as you people demand your daily Arseblog like the relentless, arse-hungry, blog savages you are.
Since last year Arseblog has moved from Barcelona to Dublin and the Arsecast has been added to things providing you with a weekly dollop of Arsenal audio where we know the difference between Philippe and Robert Senderos and nobody fucks with Arsene Wenger Hawkins.
Thanks to Tom for his stand-in blogs and his technical expertise which helps fix things when I break them. Thanks as well to the other Arsenal bloggers who happily provide their time for the Arsecasts, it’s much appreciated.
And especially thanks to all of you for your visits, emails, comments, suggestions, complaints and hate mail. It’s all very welcome. As I’ve always said Arseblog is a labour of love and even five years on I haven’t got bored of it. It’s now become a huge part of my life and I appreciate everyone’s support, from recent readers to those sick masochists who have been here since day one. Offline the Arseblog community has grown too and it’s always a pleasure to see you folk.
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed in the links bar at the top that there are other plans afoot and I should be able to give you some more details of that next month. Anyway, it’s all part of trying to make sure that Arseblog doesn’t become stale and predictable. Ok, more stale and predictable.
So, raise a glass, here’s to five more years (the perfect excuse for a breakfast beer!). Cheers everyone.
