december 13th
09.39 – Arsene Wenger has said how much he respects Celta Vigo and the Spanish league. We’ve had some tough encounters with teams from Spain before, it’s a bit of a bogey place for us as we haven’t won here since Franco was a lad. He (Arsene Wenger, not Franco) said “We respect Celta Vigo. We respect the Spanish League too; their teams make it through every year. In the past we have had disappointments at Real Mallorca, Deportivo La Coruna and in the quarter-finals against Valencia.”
I think any game at this level is going to be tough, but Arsenal should fancy their chances against Champions League newcomers. It will see Arsenal fans re-united with Silvinho, who was always a very popular player. He left in a hurry two summers ago with stories flying around about his passport, but Arsene Wenger gives the reasons for his transfer here.
The fact that have qualified seems to have loosened the purse strings a little bit, and Double-D has confirmed the boss wants to strengthen and is looking to bring in a striker. “We are looking to strengthen the squad in January and we hope that will be the case. It is Arsene’s decision as to which areas he wants to strengthen. It is no secret he is looking for a second striker.”
Good news on the stadium front from the Guardian, who report that the government have approved compulsory purchase orders which will then allow the consortium of banks to release the funding. There was also a story in the week about how Granada were trying to back-out of an agreement to purchase 4.9% of Arsenal’s shares once the money for the new stadium was in place. Arsenal’s lawyers were a bit smarter than those from the football league and they enforced the agreement meaning Granada couldn’t just bugger off and not pay like they did when ITV Digital folded.
I have to go buy a new TV today. Off to the outlet store for a genuine Sorny™ or Panatronic™. Have a good one.
