Good morning to you all and a slight and rather fruity *boilk*.
Let’s start with the football and then move on to other things which are not football. That, to me, appears to be the way to go about things. We have West Ham today, a team that beat us twice last season so they’re a team that we should be looking for the ultimate vengeance from. No holds barred, straight into them from the off, don’t give them time to think etc etc.
We do have Alexander Hleb back but Eduardo is out with a groiny groin. He joins the rest of the injured who sit aboard a lonely ghost ship that sails the seas of the Lewinverse endlessly. Nicklas Bendtner should make the bench and with Arsene Wenger lauding Dean Ashton (a man described as ‘pathetically bad’ during the week by the Guardian) we’ll have to wait and see if our tall, weighty front man can get amongst the goals.
West Ham will be high energy and combative and we’ve got to be ready for that. Ashton, despite being fat and slow, is dangerous and capable of goals while they’ve been scoring from midfield too with Bowyer, of all people, in form. I think we’ll probably see Diaby on the left and Hleb on the right hand side with Adebayor and RvP up top. The rest kind of picks itself and we’ll have to keep the momentum going against a team who were beaten quite convincingly last weekend by a Newcastle team last we beat quite convincingly in the week. If only that guaranteed victory.
Gilberto, who has been missing for the last couple of games, will fight for his place according to the boss. Some reports say he was sick but even leaving that aside the form of Flamini and Cesc in the middle of the park makes it difficult for him to get back into the side. With Denilson and Diarra looking good and Diaby finding his feet again then there’s incredible competition for places in central midfield.
When Freddie Ljungberg left Arsenal he produced rather a bitter article accusing the club of failing to live up to promises to bring in quality players and he suggested that our time had passed. He’s been forced to change his mind by our start to the season and Arsene says ‘fair play’ to him for doing so. I also love the way he makes it sound as if leaving and going to West Ham was a decision Freddie made on his own rather than after being told his chances at Arsenal were limited. I still love Freddie for what he did when he was with us but I hope he has an absolute stinker today if he plays.
More from Arsene and he talks about signing ‘superstars’ – here and here .
Now, away from football and Arsenal confirmed yesterday that they held a meeting with Farhad Moshiri of Fat & Orange. They then reiterated their intention of retaining their shareholding and said they have no intention of selling their shares. With Usmanov hoovering up shares like a fat boy gobbling up a packet of M&Ms that fell on the floor it was quite pointed to hear Arsene speak, saying:
English football is in danger of losing its heart a little bit. We have passed from the era of the owner-supporter to the owner-businessman.
The true danger today is that people who buy large clubs refinance their purchase by borrowing money, by putting the debt on the account of the club. Manchester United generates so much money which they can use to service their loan — but their example, reproduced on smaller scale, can be mortal. That is the greatest danger to English football today.
When the manager follows up that with quotes about how he can spend a fortune if he wants then it’s as close to a ‘We don’t need you’ as he can possibly give. I have to say I find it fascinating that almost every time Fat & Orange make a new share purchase or announce something there’s been a response from Arsene. I’m not sure if it’s deliberate or if it’s just been curious timing but the manager has made it abundantly clear which working model he prefers, whatever the ins and outs of his friendship with Dein.
The Guardian talks about Dein ‘looming’ over Arsenal and that’s a good way of putting it. At a time when financially the club is in great shape and we have what looks to be the dawning of another great Wenger team to have to the shadow of this hanging over us is not much fun.
The Mail reports that the board could be putting together a five year lockdown agreement. I’m not sure how accurate that information is but what is clear is that Stan Kroenke’s stake in the football club could be absolutely critical. There’s talk of him attending the AGM in support of the board but if an arrangement can be made between the board and Kroenke then it more or less kills off any chance Fat & Orange has of taking over. I expect there to be some discussion between N5 and the US in the days to come.
And there you go. Not much else to talk about this grey old morning in Dublin so I shall be off to make some breakfast and then out into the day. I might try and get to the Woolshed for the second half of the match, although I’m not sure if I can.
Fingers crossed for a good performance and three points today. Come on you reeeeeeeds.
