Goodly morning to you all from New York. I am 45 today and unfortunately I did not meet Cagney and Lacey. I suppose I could be disappointed at that but I choose to look on the bright side.
Instead I want to say thank you again to all the people who came to the Barleycorn yesterday for the Arsecast Extra LIVE and the people who insisted we drink whiskey while doing the podcast. That was undoubtedly the most whiskey I’ve ever drunk doing a podcast and I think it shows as you’ll hear later when we get it up for you. Hopefully I can still do that despite the fact I’m so very, very old today.
Genuinely though, it was fantastic to meet so many Arsenal fans. The love people have for this club is amazing and it was just brilliant to hang out and chat and share that with so many folks. I have to say a big thank you to Kurtis Powers and the Arsenal NYC crew for making this happen, and Brian and all the staff at the Barleycorn for looking after us so well.
Arsenal match or not, if you’re ever in New York this is a great place where the food and drink are like Ozil. It’s not a Gervinho place. Or a place where you would ever get Trouble on your Mouth, so it’s well worth checking out and look, they played a big part in bringing us to NYC to talk about Arsenal and for that alone they deserve the props.
For both myself and James it was an absolute pleasure to meet so many Arsenal fans, to hang out, have a beer, and the rest. People genuinely came from far and wide to be part of this event and while I can’t mention everyone, it was such a thrill to just be able to do it and to chat to so many of you. Thank you so much for making us feel so welcome. We appreciate it hugely.
Amazingly, we had a fantastic time, beat Chelsea and everything else, and as far as I’m aware James did not get injured at all. The worst thing that happened was a tiny bit of beer being spilled on him, which is small price to pay for an Arsenal win over them. I was terrified going around New York with him, knowing that at any minute a ninja might ninja the shite out of him, but as far as I’m aware he’s still in one piece without any wounds, scars or slices.
From a football point of view, I assume that everyone is still just enjoying the Chelsea win. It’s a little difficult to combine the time zone with the Arsenal stuff but basically I’m just going to make the assumption that when it comes to Saturday’s game people are, like me, picturing Diego Costa’s face in the moment after Laurent Koscielny knocked him over on his fat evil arse and just taking great enjoyment from that.
I really can’t put into words how his unhappiness makes me happy. It’s a bit like being a party which is a nice party and then from nowhere Phil Collins arrives and pulls out an acoustic guitar and says ‘I’m going to play a few songs’, but as he gets his custom made plectrum out to start doing it someone just punches him really hard in the testicles and his slumps to the ground making a sound which is guttural and can only be made when you’re in absolute agony.
Honestly, when that guy’s life is bad, our lives are good. It’s a simple equation one we should never forget to have a good time with. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Meanwhile, I think we’re quite concerned about the injury sustained by Francis Coquelin. There’s talk of knees and ligaments and months, which is a bit sad really. I thought he played well against Chelsea when Chelsea lost and Costa was really furious about it, so hopefully it’s not as bad as they say. I do worry though, ‘they’ seem to know quite a lot and it’d be a real shame if he had an extended period out. I know we have cover and plenty of midfield options, but I’d rather none of our chaps got hurt that way.
Finally, this made me laugh a lot and I’m not quite sure why. It could be the Bourbon.
Right, that’s that for this post. Because of time difference etc, I’m going to put the Arsecast Extra together asap and put that up for you. Then I might get some breakfast. And after that, I fly back to Dublin this evening so everything should be back to normal. Apart from the fact I’m older and Diego Costa is still probably really angry but hahaha and fuck that guy.
Anyway, that’s it. Podcast will be up in a little while. I need some kind of bacon, maybe with pancakes and maple syrup and goddam I’m really hungry now. Have a good one.
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Today’s pic is by @lightmattersstudio
