Morning all, it’s heatwave time in Dublin! Well, not exactly heatwave. More of a coldgone. We actually had some sun yesterday which was very welcome as it meant drinking a beer in the garden was quite pleasant indeed.
I for one plan to enjoy these couple of days of summer and as this weekend is a bank holiday here … well … I think it’s time to break out the mint. Oh yeah.
On to matters Arsenal and Robin van Persie has been talking about Chelsea and Spain, calling them bitches and stuff. He reckons they should stop harping on at referees:
Chelsea players are always bitching against the referees. I really cannot understand that. Just shut the fuck up and focus on playing football.
I have to say I thoroughly approve. After the goals he scored since January he’s got a free pass from me and what I like about what he’s saying is that it’s what we think too. Every time I see John Terry go over with his face and mouth and use them to make loud, churning sounds at a referee or tabloid newspaper when time they do something he doesn’t like then I can’t help myself from shouting ‘Shut the fuck up’, even though I know he can’t hear me.
To be honest, I’m usually a little more forthright than Robin, adding a ‘you thundering cuntspanner’ or a ‘you patchy haired, blubbering, penalty shanking wankhammer’. Perhaps Robin just needs some practice. He’s only starting down the road of throwing foul-mouthed abuse at footballers in public, I’ve been at this some time. I’d be quite happy to give him some lessons actually. We know he likes a bit of verbals on the pitch, you often see him mouthing ‘you fucking prick’ at an opponent, but to add real Arseblognal quality he needs to be a bit more inventive than that.
I know there are some out there who will say ‘Oh footballer, who has very often engaged the referee in similar discourse to the one he’s criticising others for, what a hypocrite!’, but I say, ‘so fucking what?’ The game is quite bland these days. Ultra-marketed, super-corporate, protect the ‘brand’, don’t say or do anything too controversial, and I understand that, I really do. You don’t want the image of your club tainted by incidents which are probably best avoided.
You know, knocking up a teammate’s missus, crashing your sports car while drunk and giving a false name to the police when the police know full well you’re not the footballer you say you are, dangerous liaisons, drugs, wife beating etc etc. Those things are best avoided for everyone’s sake.
Yet a player who thinks a bit like a fan and has some of the same kind of passion as a fan, well, I can’t really argue with that. Does Robin hate Chelsea? I don’t know but he’s told them to ‘shut the fuck up’ in public, which isn’t something you hear too often from players. Is he still bitter with Spain for them not being booted off the park in the World Cup final? Clearly there’s still some resentment there,
And that’s no bad thing. Bitterness is a fine motivator, as is hatred. Yeah, yeah, turn to the dark side and all that, but apart from when they got blown up at the end the dark side were winners. Exploding planets, cutting off people’s hands, building a massive great empire, stone cold, 100% winners. All we have to do is ensure we never play against a team of little furry midgets who live in a forest and we’re all set to do the same. And anyone who doesn’t like it should, you know, shut the fuck up.
Onto today’s transfer guff and the Mail says we’re in with a sneaky £4m bid for West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie. Hopefully we’re chucking in a free Carlos Vela with that too. As with all stories like this it’s hard to know what’s real, what’s agent planted nonsense, and given the publication I suspect it’s more likely the latter, but this would be a typical Wenger signing. He’s looked a decent player but after one season in the Premier League we don’t have much to judge him on. We shall see.
In The Sun a story that Arsenal have told Real Madrid that Cesc will cost then £54m. Heh. This morning the Spanish press are reporting a €30m bid being prepared by Barcelona which probably goes some way to explaining the story in The Sun. €30m is a long, long way from being acceptable.
Meanwhile, Denilson has been talking to the Brazilian press and has denied that he wants to leave because he’s not playing or that we haven’t won a trophy. He says he’s just unhappy at the club and wants to go somewhere else to learn a new language. And asked about whether the manager might have done more by bringing in experienced players, he said (Portuguese – Google translation):
In my opinion Wenger did what he had to do. He was a honest man, very clear and correct with everyone. He gave the opportunity and unfortunately we could not take it. If there is someone to blame for this it´s us, the players, that are on the field. I will never blame it on Wenger.
Make of that what you will. Thanks to Marcos for the translation this morning.
And that’s about that for today. Time to bask in the sun before the real summer returns. Till tomorrow.
