october 10th
08.59 – Do not make contact. Repeat. Do not make contact. The underground mammal discovered. Abort mission. End.
Robert Pires has been speaking about football in general, and all the things that have been going on in recent weeks. He believes the Grosvenor House incident and the allegations made have tarnished the English game. “It’s very heavy to bear and gives a very bad image to us.”
He also talks about Arsenal and Manchester United saying “There is no hatred between us but we (Arsenal) are always the targets, perhaps because it is a team where there are not enough English players. Manchester (United) are the favourite team of the English.”
Is the new majority shareholder in Manchester United an Arsenal fan? The Irish Times (via ANR) reckon he is.
After an international break, Arsenal tend to suffer a bit. Results have gone against us a bit, due to the amount of players we have away. Arsene Wenger wants the good results to continue after these insignificant games are behind us. He says, “When we come back we have Chelsea and then there is Dynamo Kiev after that so it will be important for us to be at the top of our game then.”
I was thinking during the week about this Grosvenor House business and how the press was essentially gagged in the UK, while newspapers and TV stations elsewhere in the world were able to name the players involved, even going so far as to put pictures of one player taking from a previous unsavoury incident. Anyway, as I’m in Barcelona, and my server is in the US, am I outside the jurasdiction of such a press ban? I remember another case a couple of years back about some crazy stalker woman who said she had an affair with a famous player/tv presenter, and while the press in the UK were not allowed name the person, press, radio and television were able to name him in Ireland. I don’t want to find out so I can start naming and shaming, everybody knows who they are now anyway, but I’d just be curious to see where I stand.
Jermaine Pennant was questioned by police but released without charge after an alleged assault saw Leeds’ Jody Morris arrested by police and then suspended by his club. I know he’s up there to get experience, but I’m not sure this is the kind of experience Arsene Wenger had in mind.
This morning sees the long awaited arrival of The Boilerman. Well, that’s the idea. Knowing this country it could be next Friday. Fingers Xed.
