I awoke this morning with a very familiar feeling. Not dread. Not paralysis down my left hand side. Not the need to occasionally throw my hands up in the air. No. It was:
Not only was I led astray by Tom but also by the Mugsmasher and a man who forgot his medallion. There I was trying to have a small glass of beer to ease myself back into things but they were relentless. ‘Here’s another one’, they would say as I managed to finish off the one that came before. And then there was the rum. I curse them all this morning for their wicked ways. Only bacon can save me now.
In the world of Arsenal the boss is still pretending he might sign a centre-half, suggesting a loan deal would be the way to go:
If we can get a defender on loan until the end of the season, it is an ideal solution for us. It would not get us into a position where we have to pay five defenders for four years and it would cover the season. If we find that opportunity we will do it. We believe in the quality of the defenders we have, but we are a bit short in numbers.
All a bit weird really. Is it mandatory to give someone a four year deal? And really, who is available on loan that’s any good?
“Hello [club], I would like a lend of your [best defender]”
“Hello Arsene, cock off. You can have this bloke instead. He’s a bit rusty, having been left out in the rain for months but if you oil him up and ignore any creaking noises it’d probably work for a bit yet”.
*Later*
“I am delighted to welcome Taribo West to the club on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee. He has a wealth of experience and can bring that added Sylvesterness that the squad has been so badly missing …”
The pressure is eased somewhat with the return of Squillaci and I think people’s fears would be eased if he could throw in a few top notch performances. Not that he’s been terrible or anything but the Djourscienly axis works well, and we need Squiscielny and Djourllaci to be as solid as and when we need to roll that out. There’s a little over 48 hours until the transfer window closes and I still wouldn’t put a penny on someone being signed. I’m happy to be surprised however.
At his press conference yesterday Arsene Wenger revealed that Wojscez©® is the number 1 – “at the moment” – which is something I think we all knew anyway. He was asked about Manuel Almunia, who may be back in the side tomorrow, and spoke about his injury and time out of the team. As I said yesterday he might have been expecting to move on this transfer window but things change quickly in football. When it was put to the manager that Almunia might not enjoy being on the bench or not in the team at all, and would like to move, Arsene basically said “He’s got a contract and that’s that”. Which it very much is.
It also seems Arsene is the only man alive not worried about Andrei Arshavin. Arshavin’s worried, the fans are worried, his fellow Time Bandits are worried, but not Arsene. He says:
If you look at the best passers in the Premier League, he’s still up there. Even the other night he has given two assists against Ipswich – one to Fabregas and the corner.
The stat about who is top of the 3 yard pass to an opponent under no pressure at all does not seem to be available for some reason. Anyway, here’s hoping Tuesday was something of a turn-around for him.
Carlos Vela has joined West Brom on loan rather than Bolton. A story in The Mirror suggests Owen Coyle pulled out because Vela’s agent wanted a payment for sorting the deal out. In which case I heartily applaud Owen Coyle. What did an agent have to do with any of this anyway? Vela is already an Arsenal employee, once Arsenal and Bolton reach an agreement regarding wages that should be that. An agent trying to skim off the top is just taking the piss.
I suppose the other thing about the West Brom move is that Vela wouldn’t have to do anything other than commute for a bit every day. A move to Bolton would have meant temporary digs, or a hotel, this way he can stay in London, which may well be an important factor for him.
Henri Lansbury is ‘nasty’ says the Norwich manager. But nasty in a good way. I’m interested to see how his loan goes.
And that’s about that. It remains only to give you the winners of yesterday’s competition for Gunnerblog’s ‘Cesc we can’ t-shirt. The Random Number Generator has done its thing and the two lucky folk who answered that it is indeed legal to punch a bishop at a fancy dress party (it is also legal to give a mega-wedgie to anyone dressed as Chewbacca) are Christopher Sorenson and Swati Rishi. Congrats to you both, I’ll be in touch to get your details.
And if you fancy one of the shirts you can buy can them right here. They’re good for what ails ya.
And speaking of being ailed, or whatever, it’s time for breakfast, more coffee and some lying down a whimpering a bit. Back tomorrow with a good look at the Huddersfield game.
