It’s Friday. Hurrah.
A quiet blog for you this morning but with an Arsecast special, the details of which you’ll have already gathered. More on that to come shortly.
So while the vast majority of Premier League fans rejoice at the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and hope that he’s welcomed to Spain in the same way that bull the other week welcomed the Matador’s intestines to the top of his horn, Arsenal fans will be reassured by the latest proclamation from Cesc Fabregas that he sees his future with us.
I say latest because he has consistently said it yet time and time again the lazy stories about him going back to Spain appear. And most of the time they seem to originate from the UK press. Anyway, Cesc says:
Of course I see my future at Arsenal. I have a very long contract with the club. The boss knows that I really want to stay here.
What you cannot stop is what people say about you. The press can write or say whatever they want. Here, I do not get involved at all. Since I am 18, they have been saying that – but I am still here.
And that, my good old friends, is somewhat impossible to argue with. Anyone who tries to argue that Cesc is not here is being rather silly and deserves a good slap.
Meanwhile, more reports from Italy link William Gallas with a move to AC Milan. With the retirement of Paolo Maldini and Milan choosing not to take up their option on Philippe Senderos it seems they’re in the market for a defender and Gallas, when he feels like it, is a defender. Milan, of course, have a few bob to spend after the sale of Kaka to Real Madrid. Maybe we’ll do a buy one, get one half price job and sell them Adebayor too. Hey, everyone’s looking for a bargain this summer. Except Real Madrid.
And that’s really all there is going on at this stage. Most quiet indeed. All week I’ve been running a competition for you to win tickets to see the London Masters tournament. The question was about Ray Parlour’s nickname and the answer was ‘The Romford Pele’. I have to say I’m a big taken aback at how many people thought it was ‘The Ginger Avenger’. Honestly. Some of you out there are a bit mad. But in a good way.
Anyhow, the RNG has done its stuff and the winners of the tickets are as follows: Ron Robertson, Ian Dorren, Guillaume Vernay, Lisa Roser and Andy Baker. Well done to all of you, I’ll be in touch with more details anon. Commiserations to the rest of you and thanks for taking part.
Now, as part of the promotion for the event the good folk at the London Masters arranged an interview with Ray Parlour who will be part of the Arsenal team, which also includes Nigel Winterburn, Michael Thomas and Paul Merson.
In this Arsecast special I talk to Ray about Arsenal last season, Arsenal for the season ahead, Arsene Wenger, as well as his life after football, what it was like to leave Arsenal, his media work and the upcoming tournament. As well as that we say goodbye to an old friend in this Arsecast special edition.
You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week’s arsecast directly – click here (20mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.
So enjoy, thanks again to Ray for his time and being such an absolute gent when I rang him the first time and realised nothing was actually recording, and don’t forget the London Masters next Saturday, tickets are still available and it should be a fun night.
Till tomorrow.
