Hello to you all and another week of Arseball begins. It’s Steau Bucharest in the Champions League and then Sunderland at home on Sunday, so lots to prepare for.
There’s a fair bit to talk about this morning so let’s get going. We’ll start with Mathieu Flamini (New deal please) who has been extremely impressive this season. We all know how close he came to leaving in the summer and having been frozen out of the side for months ahead of that expected departure it’s a surprise to see him in the team and doing so well. Arsene Wenger says:
Mathieu told me first he wanted to leave and of course I couldn’t do anything against that because he had the right to do it. After, when he changed his mind, I said ‘okay, you fight like everybody else for your job and for your position’ – and he does that well. Mathieu realised he was maybe at a place where he will get a chance if he is doing well. He is growing – he has a little bossy attitude in midfield you know and he is an organiser, a fighter and a winner.
I like him, I have to say. I know he hasn’t always convinced others but his attitude and commitment on the pitch has always been spot on and this season he’s stepped it up another gear. He’s winning praise not only from Arsene Wenger but opposition managers and he’s still only 23 so there’s a lot of room for improvement. Get him a new deal please, Arsene.
Another youngster, who hasn’t played as much as he’d like this season, is Justin Hoyte. He’s still brimming with confidence though and sees no reason why we can’t go on and win the league. I think he’s going to find his chances this season limited due to the arrival of the impressive Sagna but with Arsene apparently seeing Eboue more as midfielder he could be the cup run right back.
Now, Keith Edelman spoke with the BBC yesterday about the situation regarding possible takeovers etc etc. Having met Farhad Moshiri (Usmanov’s partner in Fat & Orange) he says that they do not want to take over the club and only regard it as a good long term investment. I suggest listening to it here (Real Player required) because the presenters don’t quite believe that and I’m not sure I do either. While I have confidence in the board’s ‘control over 51%’ of the shares I don’t think for a second that Usmanov has come to make money from Arsenal FC, especially when he’s got David Dein as his frontman. They want a takeover.
The interview makes for interesting listening though. Edelman sounds incredibly sure of what he’s saying and is trying to reassure fans that the current board will remain in place. They also discuss rumours that Usmanov and Moshiri were about to get rid of David Dein who definitely isn’t on board just to be part of a long term investment. Dein sold his shares so he’s got nothing invested despite a £75m deposit in his own bank account.
The Mail reports that Dein’s lawyers are looking into whether or not the lockdown agreement between the board amounts to a restraint of trade for other Arsenal shareholders.
Edelman also revealed our plan to replace Arsene Wenger is to convince Arsene Wenger to keep working. I can just see him at 87 years of age still in the job wearing an ‘I’ll retire next year, I promise’ t-shirt which is already four seasons old. Honestly though, thoughts of 2014 are a bit mind-boggling at this stage of the game.
And that’s really about it. For those of you who have sent email over the last couple of weeks I’m going to try and clear some of the backlog this morning, so apologies for the late replies. There’s just a lot of it every day and I don’t always have time at that moment to reply.
Finally for today, and to get your week off to a fashionable start, I’ve got another t-shirt giveaway. There’s a fine Cesc shirt from our old friends at Harderthansatan.com – clicky for big and a link to their site.
To win all you have to do is answer the following question. Cesc scored his first Arsenal goal against which team?
a) Rotherham – b) Wolves – c) Liverpool
Answers to [email protected] and the winner will be announced on Wednesday. Till tomorrow then.
