january 7th
09.22 – No doubt you’ve all heard the FA Cup draw by now. Those FA bastards. Man Utd as usual get a walkover against non-league ‘West Ham’, while Arsenal have to take on the mighty Farnborough United. Their boss Graham Westley says “I see Wenger rested Thierry Henry on Saturday. He must have seen this draw coming.” True enough. It’s going to be a big struggle for the Gunners to maintain their defence of the cup now. There are no easy games in football any more and….wait……..sorry, can’t keep that up any more.
Whatever happens, it’s likely to be a day to remember for the Farnborough (from the Conference) players and fans. Because their home ground only holds 8 people and some rabbits, the match is likely to be switched to Highbury. People might criticise the FA Cup, but imagine being a player for a team like Farnborough and having the opportunity to play at Highbury, in front of 38,500, against top class players. It’d be deadly. I hope they have a great day out and really enjoy themselves…as we score a bucket load of goals.
“I need to be playing League football and I think this is possibly the last stage in my saga here. I must start being relied upon. It all depends on the selection process and who will come into the frame when Martin and Sol don’t play. That’s the big question that needs answering and I’m sure the manager will have to make a decision on that soon.”
Matthew Upson talks about his Highbury future here. Another player whose Highbury future is in the balance is Francis Jeffers. Despite AW saying last week he saw him as an ‘Arsenal player’, it seems he’s been offered to Rangers who are interested in taking him on loan for the rest of the season. Not sure it’s a good idea to be honest, we need our squad to be as strong as possible for the rest of the season, although there is big speculation that the reason Kanu hasn’t been in the squad for the last couple of games is that a deal has been done for him and he’s not playing so he won’t get injured and scupper the transfer. We’ll see what happens…..