And now I have to work out how to use a French keyboard: never fun.  If there are any typos, forgive me. What we’ve all known for months has been confirmed: Sol Campbell is leaving Arsenal.  Although Arsene suggested it was his own choice, one wonders if the press release was geared in such a way as to help Sol’s reputation remain intact, increasing his chances of a lucrative move abroad, as there is no question Arsene wanted Sol gone.  Campbell … →

He’s back. The â?¬4m man, once called “a player who makes Gus Caesar look like Pele“, has returned to training. Chelsea are reportedly quaking in their flashy boots. Song was joined by Mathieu Flamini, Pascal Cygan, and forgotten man Justin Hoyte as Arsenal made an early return to training. With the Champions League Qualifier on the 8th or 9th of August, and most of our players knackered from the World Cup, we need to get the squad ready to go … →

Today’s just “stuff“, really. Nothing fascinating. Seeing as there was no news and no World Cup game today, I just played Championship Manager with my brother. Not the new fancy bollocks: CM2 95/96: The glory years. And all was going brilliantly. A 35-year old Uruguayan, Carlos Pena, was banging in the goals, with Steve Vickers and Alan Stubbs keeping things tight at the back. Up-and-coming goalkeeper David James was solid between the sticks, and Victor Leonenko was setting the world … →

Thierry Henry and France eased into the final last night, overcoming an uninspiring Portugal thanks to a Zinedine Zidane penalty. It was Henry who earned the spot-kick, side-stepping Ricardo Carvalho before the Chelsea defender lunged in and brought him down. Though the picture shows Henry’s dive as being ever-so-slightly dramatic, there was definite contact: this was no repeat of his second round encounter with Carlos Puyol. What struck me last night is how little strength and depth France have, and … →

It’s a question, because I’m not sure. I haven’t spoken to him. Neither have AS, the Spanish sports paper, but they have spoken to “sources close to the player“. Aha, those imaginary people. It’s not the first time this summer we’ve been linked with the diminuitive Argentine. However, this time makes a little more sense. Up until now, it had been expected that Saviola would join Greek side Panathanaikos, who’d offered an enormous wage package. However, the ruling that Greece … →

What with his penalty heroics in the Quarter Final, and a string of top class saves last night, Jens Lehmann had become something of a superhero for Germany. However, sadly for him, not even superhuman goalkeeping prowess was enough to keep out an Italy side who were almost as slick as the hairstyles. 0-0 in the 119th minute, we waited for penalties, until two great finishes from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero. Lehmann didn’t stand a chance, and wept … →

Normally, we rely on places like Sky Sports for our rumours. Occasionally, we might venture into the murky territory of the likes of Teamtalk and Clubcall. However, it is not often our transfer tidbits are provided straight from the mouth of Czech international Pavel Nedved. Nedved put his foot in his surprisingly small mouth when he said: “I have discussed it with Buffon. He told me he was leaving and that we would probably not play in the same team … →

Well, the final votes in Real Madrid’s Presidential elections are being counted, and it looks like Ramón Calderón is the winner. Worryingly for Arsenal fans, Calderón’s policies included bringing Fabio Capello, Kaka, and Arjen Robben to the club. Oh, and Cesc. I spoke the other day about Cesc’s likely unwillingness to leave. Indeed, he spoke about it himself. However, having been voted in, Calderón has said he hopes to “deliver on all the promises we made“. His exact words on … →

Well, the quarter finals are over and England are out. However, they’re not alone in crashing out of the World Cup: Argentina and Brazil, arguably the two favourites, have joined them. It’s penalties and Portugal again for Sven’s side, though fifth taker Ashley Cole wasn’t required to do his duty: we were already out by then. Theo Walcott was more likely to be filming the game than watching it, most likely with Sol Campbell on commentary. Owen Hargreaves was England’s … →

26 six year old defender Carlos Salcido seems set to sign for Arsenal, and a deal could be announced as early as next week. We learned last week that Salcido was wanted by a European club, and now reports in the Mexican media have shown his destination to be the Emirates Stadium. Salcido, who operates on the left-side of a back three, and is capable of playing at centre-half or full-back in a four-four two, currently plays for Chivas de … →