Archive for August, 2006
August 7th, 2006
My brother is a heretic Chelsea fan. Today is their open training day, where they all go down to Stamford Bridge to watch the players be put through their paces. Said brother was particularly excited today, as he knew he’d get a glimpse of their new stars, Ballack and Shevchenko.
However, what he was not expecting was to see William Gallas turn up. The supposedly wantaway defender appeared in the centre circle, and recieved a huge standing ovation from the crowd, which he returned with applause.
The Chelsea store had no hesitation in selling printed Gallas shirts, with the number 3 which had supposedly been destined for Ashley Cole across the back.
I don’t think that means that Cole is staying with Arsenal, but apparently the big news at the Bridge was that Gallas didn’t appear to be going anywhere. He and Mourinho have seemingly made peace, which is remarkably easy when you have Roman’s roubles as a catalyst.
If then, as arseblogger suggests, there are to be signings, brace yourself: I worry we could see the walking calamity that is Eric Abidal in an Arsenal shirt sometime soon.
August 5th, 2006
Yet again, I’m away from home and in an internet café. And I’m running out of time. And this internet is pretty slow, so I already resent paying for it. So I won’t slow it up any further by adding links etc. In the mean time, here are some thoughts.
Jose Reyes is hedging his bets by telling the Spanish press he wants to go to Madrid, and telling the English press he wants to stay. I don’t know what time period he thinks this is, but there is now a world-wide media. You can’t say you wan’t to join Real on Spanish radio and expect it not to get back to the country you play in.
Jose has never been the sharpest tool in the shed, though, as the radio hoax proved. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter how much he wants to go to Madrid – Madrid have to want him. And if they do, and an offer in the region of £15m comes in, he’ll be sold. The decision of Marseille’s fiery winger Franck Ribery to hand in a transfer request makes the sale of wantaway Reyes all the more viable. However, if Reyes plays in next week’s Champions League tie, then he will not leave: Madrid will not buy a cup-tied player.
Ashley Cole is probably going to leave in the coming days, and it’s now just a question of how much we’ll get. There’s lots of talk of swap deals involving the like of Gallas and Wright-Phillips, but when do these ever happen? £20m would be just handy, and hopefully enable us to strengthen the squad – on which front, there’s worryingly little movement.
Congratulations to Niklas Bendtner who scored the winner of his league debut for Birmingham, where he will spend 6 months on loan alongside Muamba and Larsson. I know they gave us some of the Pennant money, but we’ve still done them three very good favours indeed.
I’m off now. If any of the deals I’ve mentioned above go through, I’ll probably be back. Till then.
August 2nd, 2006
I’m going up to perform at the Edinburgh Festival tomorrow, and I don’t return to London until the 29th of August. Updates between now and then will be pretty infrequent, and that’s a shame because a lot might happen:
- For example, Ashley Cole will almost certainly join Chelsea. I wouldn’t be too excited about the possibility of William Gallas coming the other way, however. Although some French radio stations are reporting the move as a possibility, Arsenal can offer Gallas nothing that Chelsea can’t. What’s more, Chelsea would probably rather let him rot in the reserves for a year than sell for a cut-price fee. Wishful thinking, I’m afraid. (Edit: Even as I write this late Tuesday night I am hearing slightly more promising things about Gallas. Maybe I’ve been too hasty…). Cole might be joined on the way out by Jose Reyes, whose making no bones about his desire to return to Spain.
- Arsenal will attempt to qualify for the Champions League without Jens Lehmann and Thierry Henry. Zagreb musn’t be underestimated – it’s absolutely vital to have European football in the first season at the new ground.
- We will definitely have International football as tickets for Brazil vs. Argentina will go on sale, as International glamour comes to the Grove. What a fantastic game to grace our new stadium. Hopefully Arsenal fans will get first first dibs on any available seats.
- Fabrice Muamba will probably make his debut for Birmingham after impressing in their pre-season. I’m convinced he’s going to be a top player: if Alex Song can make it, anyone can.
- Didier Zokora will probably be spat at by an Arsenal fan or two after he revealed he chose Spurs over the Gunners. On reflection, he deserves pity. As would Patrick Vieira, had he joined Man U – as it is he looks set to seal a switch to Inter Milan.
- And who knows, maybe we’ll actually sign someone. The man most likely is currently Shilla Illiasu, but then none of us know what Arsene’s thinking. Some of us think he might not see fit to buy anyone. Whilst I understand where arseblogger is coming from, the prospect of going into the season without significant strengthening genuinely worries me.
There you go. Busy times. And I’ll miss most of them. Do check back though, as I shall loiter around internet cafés waiting for something interesting to happen. You never know.
August 1st, 2006
We won 8-1 yesterday, but not even that has cleared the clouds over the club. The pick of the goals were Robin van Persie’s two strikes, and afterwards Arsene Wenger admitted that the team which started that game will probably play in our Champions League Qualifier.
And now the bad new:. Ashley Cole turned up at Colney yesterday but left after an hour complaining of stomach problems. I am assured by more than one person in the know that the complaint was fictional, and that he left under a huge cloud, saying goodbye to various people in a Vieira circa-2004 manner.
Despite Jose Reyes starting for Arsenal yesterday, the Spanish press remain convinced that each day brings him closer to Real Madrid, with David Dein reportedly telling his agent that Reyes is for sale at the right price. Reyes has angered the club by granting an interview with Madrid-based Sports Paper AS, in spite of Arsene’s press ban on the Austrian training camp. It’s great reading:
“I have always said that Madrid are one of my greatest objectives. They are a sweet candy, hard for anyone to resist.”
And then when asked about the statement he released a few days ago proclaiming his desire to stay:
“It’s the truth. I’m not looking for any club. However, there might well be clubs looking for me. If they want to sign me, they must first approach Arsenal.”
Right. Hardly a “hands off” to Real, is it? They seem to think a fee of â?¬20m would do the trick, and I don’t disagree.
If Cole and Reyes are getting your goat, read this from Patrick Vieira (link unsuitable for those of a weak constitution).
It’s not all bad news though. 23-year-old Ghana defender Shilla Illiasu has joined on trial with a view to a £500,000 permanent move. The centre-back was involved in all four of Ghana’s World Cup games, starting three of them. Whilst I have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed by Ghana’s defence, he must be better than Cygan.
Next Posts
