Good morning, it’s sunny again so I might keep this brief. This could very well be the extent of summer here in Ireland, I don’t want to miss it.
A few reasonably funny things going on this morning. First off there’s Sol Campbell talking about going back to play at White Hart Lane. Naturally enough he’s been the target of some fairly intense abuse since he left there to come win things with us but he doesn’t care. He says:
If the manager wants me to play, that is not a problem for me. Whenever he needs me, whenever he picks me, I’m there. I ain’t got time for that sentimental stuff.
Splendid, just the attitude we need. I like the way he refers to all that abuse as ‘sentimental stuff’, tops. And just so nobody’s wallowing in post-Barcelona self pity, he goes on to say:
We have to get Barca out of our system. Everyone has to learn and be honest about it. Ask: ‘Where do I want my career going?’ You have to be honest with yourself and say: ‘I must work harder, understand the game more and realise it’s a big world out there’.
You wonder how often players of this generation will maintain that kind of attitude/ambition. It used to be a case that the better you played or the more you won the better you were rewarded, either with wage increases or a move to a top club. I think that still holds true for players that come through the ranks and work their way up from a smaller club to a bigger one but you have to wonder about players who come to Arsenal at a young age and are rewarded for their potential rather than their achievements. I’m not naming names but some players are being given long contracts and big pay rises without really having earned them.
I understand the reasoning, we’ve all complained that people have left on free transfers when they shouldn’t have, but perhaps it allows a player to coast through his career knowing he doesn’t really have to go the extra mile at times. A reminder of what it’s all about from Sol is no bad thing in my opinion.
Anyway, moving on from that there are a couple of hilarious transfer stories in this morning’s News of the World. I know, I know, but as it’s quiet we might as well. Firstly there’s the £50m bid from Man City for Cesc Fabregas one. I mean really. It’s one thing for City to attract players whose older careers are winding down and are looking for one last pay day, like Vieira, Toure or Adebayor, but the idea that Cesc would go there is just silly. And in a summer when we’re going to be inundated with Cesc to Barcelona, Cesc has signed for Barcelona, Cesc has signed a pre-contract for Barcelona, Cesc will go to Barcelona if X candidate wins election, Cesc has clause in contract which allows him to join Barcelona for free if they say please really nicely type stories this is frankly ludicrous.
But then the NOTW does ludicrous quite well and has provided us with this summer’s first sighting of the Lesser Spotted Frey. That’s right, we’ve been linked, as we have been in every transfer window since Arseblog was spewed into the world, with French keeper Sebastian Frey. It’s almost like a signal that the real crazy madness can begin.
Picture the scene. A tabloid journo approaches the Sports Ed in the office.
“Boss, I’ve got a story from a ‘source close to Spurs’ and ‘friend of the player’ which says they’re going to make a £150m bid for Lionel Messi this summer”.
“Marvelous, but has anyone linked Sebastian Frey with Arsenal yet?”
“No”.
“Well, you know the rules”.
“Awwww”
Look at the picture of him in the News of the World. He looks like Jeff Bridges who consumed a barbiturates laden Nick Nolte and who now lives under an underpass drinking Mr Muscle and Blue Stratos to get his drunk on when he’s not having fist fights over shopping carts with toothless hobos. I know we need a keeper but fucking hell. Anyway, now it’s been done the real summer lunacy can begin. Have at it, chaps. We’re ready and waiting.
Not much else going on really. I lost 5 Twitter followers last night for saying I wouldn’t have Robbie Keane on my 5-a-side team, one of them was BBC Football. Oh dear. Run by Sp*rs fans who love the Mallet Headed wonder, perhaps? Quality, not quantity, that’s what I say. Unless it’s forged banknotes, in which case the two go together very well indeed. Ask Mickey Thomas, the printing press, Wrexham cunny.
Right, that’ll be that, till tomorrow and the build up to the game on Wednesday starts in earnest.
