Thoughts on RVP’s future + This morning’s meeting: LIVE

Posted on May 16, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season | 25 Guns

As you probably all know by now, Robin van Persie will meet with Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis this morning to discuss his future. The get together will take place in Arsene Wenger’s house, of all places, at 10.30am. It’s been splashed all over the web and papers for the last two days as if its big news. In reality, it’s not news at all. For six months now Arsenal and Robin have made it clear talks would take place … →

WBA 2 – 3 Arsenal: Arsenal complete The Great Escape

Posted on May 14, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Featured, Match Reports, Premier League | 48 Guns

West Brom 2 – 3 Arsenal Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction Arsenal were not able to raise a trophy aloft at the end of this season. We were, however, allowed to lift up Pat Rice, and give him the send-off he truly deserves. A traumatic season ended on a high as Arsenal secured third place with this win at the Hawthorns. You might not get any baubles for qualifying for the Champions League, but one need only look … →

If I were giving today’s team-talk…

Posted on May 13, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Premier League | 26 Guns

At around 2.50pm this afternoon, Arsene Wenger will look out at his Arsenal team, and attempt to cajole just one more performance out of them. Fortunately, he’s a man steeped in experience, who will doubtless know just what to say to his men. The situation is clear: win, and third is ours. Fail, and we’re at the mercy of others, and quite possibly locked out of the Champions League. As supporters, we can only imagine what words we might summon … →

The Party Before The Storm

Posted on May 10, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season | 25 Guns

Yesterday the playing staff held the annual End of Season party, at which they’re invited to bring their families and socialise. This was a particularly poignant occasion, as it marked the forthcoming departure of Pat Rice, after 44 years of service to Arsenal. Several players tweeted their thanks, and whilst the club have yet to officially confirm his retirement, it seems that there’ll be no last-minute change of heart. He’s set to be replaced by Steve Bould, current boss of … →

Let-offs, leaks & livery

Posted on May 8, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Premier League | 15 Guns

Does anybody want to finish third? After we made a right royal mess of our game with Norwich, we found ourselves needing favours from elsewhere. Thanks to an abundance of dark prayer and a good degree of fortune, we got them: City beat Newcastle to set themselves on course for the title, and Aston Villa managed to hold ten man Spurs to a 1-1 draw. It is somehow back in our hands. It’s a reprieve that I’m not sure we … →

Arsenal 3 – 3 Norwich: Advantage Spurs

Posted on May 6, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Featured, Match Reports, Premier League | 69 Guns

Arsenal 3 -3 Norwich Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction This game was a rather neat microcosm of our entire season. A fairly abject first half, a spirited improvement in the second, due largely to the unquestionable brilliance of Robin van Persie; and a heart-wrenching collapse at the finale. Having dragged us ourselves back from the brink to lead 3-2, we handed Norwich an equaliser, and in doing so may have handed third place to either Spurs or Newcastle. … →

Confessions of an anxious Arsenal fan

Posted on May 4, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Featured, Premier League | 27 Guns

It’s all so simple. Win two games, and third is ours. Other teams’ results can do nothing about that single, unalterable fact. It should be utterly reassuring. And yet… I must confess that I am an anxious Arsenal fan. If you’re a regular reader of the blog, that won’t surprise you: the enormity of wrenching third place from this most nightmarish of seasons, and the potential heartbreak of handing it back to Tottenham on the final day have combined to … →

Podolski confirmed; Third place far from it

Posted on May 1, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season | 11 Guns

So the worst kept secret in football is finally out: Lukas Podolski will join Arsenal this summer. It is, you won’t be in the least bit surprised to hear, a ‘long term contract for an undisclosed fee’. Media reports suggest we’ll end up paying about €11m for the Germany striker – a very reasonable fee, and a consequence of the fact that he has just a year remaining on his contract. Back in September few Arsenal fans would have bet … →

Stoke 1 – 1 Arsenal: Arsenal escape from Mordor with a point

Posted on April 29, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Reports, Premier League | 25 Guns

STOKE 1 – 1 ARSENAL Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction Let me start by declaring a bias: I really dislike Stoke. I dislike their manager, their players and their fans. I dislike their ‘style’ of play and their indeterminate evolutionary heritage. So if anyone who is not an Arsenal fan accidentally stumbles upon this entry, and feels it’s a bit partizan: it is. I dislike Stoke. I do, however, have a grudging respect for the effectiveness of their … →

Three. It’s a magic number.

Posted on April 28, 2012 by GilbertoSilver Posted in 2011-12 Season, Match Previews, Premier League | 6 Guns

Three games left, three wins required, with third place the prize. As you all know by now, fourth place is a risk we cannot take, rewarding us with only the a fifty-fifty chance of having an opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. Third place takes you straight in to the group stage, and is currently in our hands. To lose it now, having been granted so many repreives already, would be simply ungrateful. Today is undoubtedly the trickiest of our … →