I am touched by the hand of *boilk* this morning. Stupid delicious gin and tonics.
It’s a big day at the club today. The AGM takes place this afternoon and, all things considered, it should be a much calmer event than the last official meeting. Back in April things were stormier at a special shareholders meeting, so much so that certain segments of it didn’t make the official broadcast and we know that Arsene took offence at somebody labelling Sylvester geriatric when we all know that whatever else Sylvester still has the funk.
In hindsight that meeting probably wasn’t a great idea considering the pressure Arsene was under, the frustration of the fans, the Champions League semi-finals and all that. Today things in the garden are looking a bit rosier. The team has started the season well, despite two Manchester defeats, the one player we spent money on in the summer has turned out to be quite the find, we’re scoring goals for fun, the financial situation appears quite healthy after recent developments regarding Highbury Square and fans are feeling better about the team in general.
The main area of interest though will be that of ownership. Stan Kroenke is hoovering up shares like Pacman in an Anadin factory and there’s constant speculation that he’s planning a takeover. Personally I don’t think we’re quite at that stage yet. No doubt there’s a method to what he’s doing that is likely part of a long-term strategy but I’m not sure if the time is right for a takeover bid. There would have to be a willingness on the part of the other major shareholders to sell, for a start, and I doubt if Fat & Orange want to do that right now.
Anyway, it’ll be an interesting meeting. If there’s no report on the site later on then there’ll definitely be discussion of it on tomorrow’s Arsecast, so tune in for that.
To matters on the pitch and Robin van Persie is talking title. He says:
We’ve played eight games now and won six so it’s looking good for us. As long as we stay consistent against the smaller teams then we have a chance. Last season we lost games at this time so we know it’s going to be tough. We had five draws as well back to back after Christmas so we have to avoid that. I hope we’re stronger now, but only time will show.
Oh man that run of draws was painful. A load of 0-0s when we couldn’t buy a goal. Still, it’s good to have lofty ambitions.
Meanwhile Samir Nasri made his comeback against Wolves reserves, as we know, and while he’s anxious to get back to first team action he’s not quite there yet, saying:
I don’t know if I am ready yet for the first team. I need to play because nothing can replace the games. So I work well with [fitness coach] Tony Colbert and now after one or two games I will be ready to come back to the first team.
So maybe some more reserve outings and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the bench for the Carling Cup game against the Mugsmashers. I’m looking forward to having him back, I have to say. I think he had a pretty decent first season in a team that never really got going – and I don’t think he was helped by the manager’s attempts to play him as a defensive midfielder. I don’t think that’s his game at all. He’s more Rosicky-like than Song-like. And on nights when we miss the Czech, as we did on Tuesday, his presence could make the difference.
Not a great deal else to tell you, to be honest. There may be a brief post-AGM update later on but if not it’ll be covered in depth on tomorrow’s blog.
Finally, today is Arsene Wenger’s 60th birthday. No doubt there’ll be a Simon Cowellesque party with a masquerade ball and dozens of Z-list celebs falling out of their tiny boob tubes all desperately trying to get the paparazzi to photograph their clunges. Sadly, I didn’t get an invite.
Oh well, happy birthday Arsene. Here’s to many more.
Have a good one.
