It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold. If temperature is a guide to the revenge due then Blackburn are going to get roasted.
Our game at Ewood was a seriously depressing affair and one of the low points of this (and any) season. To concede 4 goals from 3 Blackburn shots and to lose from being 2 up after 20 mins was desperate for fans just recovering from the MU mauling. They were the worst of times.
Today we hope to continue our long unbeaten run since the last defeat (thanks RL), and I see no reason whatsoever to think A Change is Going to Come. Can we do it ? Yes We Can. In fact, I Had a Dream we would win in style (stop these American pre-Superbowl quotes immediately BR before you lose your audience)
With better luck we would have left the Reebock with 3 points , being only the woodwork away from a comfortable win; We were able to get good Yardage but the Completion Rate wan’t good enough. Walcott, who came in for much criticism, piled up lots of Rushing Yards but was unable to Convert his Air Yards. The use of Ramsey as the Ball Carrier was not working as Bolton’s Defensive Ends kept Blocking him.resulting in too many Incomplete Passes and Interceptions This could be put down to our Offensive line having problems escaping their markers. Despite the negativity, it was highly encouraging to see our Defensive Line cope so well now our Full Back has Returned, and is able to help in Defensive Co-ordination. (Enough BR!!)
What do Blackburn bring? Well, a poor defence whose last away clean sheet was last season at the Emirates. The Yak is suspended, Samba is out of favour and will not be picked. Steve Kean has been given the vote of Confidence by the Venky’s. Rovers were extraordinarily unlucky to lose to Newcastle mid-week having 30 shots on goal with no result. Blackburn are 18th in the PL, closer in points to us than we are to MU.
Mr. Wenger has stated he will rotate today, by that I believe he will rest O-C and perhaps Ramsey. Though Van Persie needs some R & R he is unlikely to get it as Park is clearly not to be trusted ; if we are frustrated, imagine how Park must feel – excited beyond belief at his signing and then left bereft on the bench, which must be hugely dispiriting given his hero status in Korea.
My Team:
Rosicky remains one of my favorite Arsenal player, it is tragic his injuries have resulted in our not seeing his best form, but every time he plays he gives his all and deserves more pitch time. Whether AW would drop Ramsey who appears to be an automatic starter is a moot point, but if it were my call, the Welshman would get a rest.
Today’s Gooner: I used to walk my dog (Eddie RIP) in Highgate Woods. As often happens when dog walking one makes friends with fellow walkers. Usually we have no idea of each others names and refer to each other as “Rufus’s Dad” or “Snowy’s Mum” etc. I became friendly with a big man walking his Staffordshire, he always wore a hat low over his brow and I thought nothing of it. We often talked football and one day he said he played regularly for Arsenal Celebrities. Curiosity got the better of me and I asked him his name, to which he replied Tony Hadley, the lead singer of Spandau Ballet. Being a top class bullshitter I managed to extricate myself from an embarrassing situation by telling him he looked much older and fatter on television.
AW’s next Transfer Target.
Tony will almost certainly be at The Emirates today cheering on his team. Top bloke, big Gooner, fine singer. dodgy pooch.
See you all the The Line of Scrimmage …..
Go Giants
COYRRG
Written by Big Raddy
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
……. with every paper I’d deliver 😉
I got it, I got it ……………….
Morning all
It’s freeeeeeeeeezing
Hmmm I buggered off and missed the plaudits for the website.
Thanks for the comments. Must say very impressed with the WordPress back end which it was all built on (plus some themes). Still some content to be fleshed out and as Raddy suggests some tweaking of colours.
Was built on a theme and my logo was designed a couple of years ago, so the logo is set, I just need to work out how to tweak the background colour.
Right enough about that….Pre match time.
Irish will be very happy if Rosicky starts, unfortunately she’s sitting in row 29 in the clock end 😦
What a clever bunny you are GiE 🙂
If irish gets to land .looks quite bleak at the airports.
GIE I has a one page website and was inundated with suppliers from Bangledash,india and China offering me their services. the key as you know is to get page one on Google.
BR, fine post.Will we get some spandau ballet from our Theo.
Cracking read Raddy and great title 🙂 my favourite song of all time probably.
As for today it won’t be for the feint hearted..need to fly out of the blocks and get the job done (how many times have i written that lately?). However I wouldn’t be upset to see us use RvP like we did against Stoke earlier this season putting him on for ten minutes to win the game. However coming off the bench today would fill me with fear of muscle pulls as the players sit getting cold on the bench.
My parents are there today and are the opposite of my jonah’ism tendency. As my Mum said:
“well we better go down and help the useless buggers out, they obviously can’t do it without us” 😀
BR,
I know there is going to be one, and I hunt and hunt, but not once have I ever discovered the musical reference. Normally have to wait until Rasp bothers to surface, but thanks to Peaches today (I still had to google the bloody thing).
Tony Hadley soooo neads a beard.
Hoping and praying for The Ox.
Morning all,
Rousing prematch Raddy as ever. I’ve got thermals on top of my thermals today, just off to the game.
If I’m not mistaken, this is today’s musical reference…..
I would give Park the full 90 central. As GM keeps rightly pointing out, he knows where the goal is.
I hear the only Arsenal player (past and present) who has scored in the ACN is Eboue – I miss the silly sod 😕
Pants on head Rasp.
Yes Park up front and in the middle, but not left on his own, we need to get some midfielders higher up the pitch when attacking.
In many ways Micky 😆
Right I’m off to freeze the balls off mi brass monkey
…Park
AA Ox Ros
..Art Song
Cold as a witches tit here and yet Mrs Raddy has persuaded to me to for a bike ride up the coast. Back game time.
Rasp – stop chatting and get in your car!!!!!!!!!
Morning all, great pre match raddy, just in the process of getting ready and for once not full of eternal optimism, i think we’ll win, but its bound to be a nervy horrible atmosphere with the rustling of bin bags outsinging the home support……..
I have noted that there is a similar likeness between the bin bags and the fans using them………………yep you’ve guessed it, they are both plastic…….
I understand the frustrations and yep the roses aint coming to fore at the moment, wenger has made mistakes and some players are going through well big dips in confidence, strange how we recovered from the early season white flag syndrome, to get fourth before xmas, only to toss it away quicker than the government spends our taxes……..Injuries have bitten hard and been prolonged, so for that reason alone I will give AW a bit of slack, although I cannot understand why he didnt dip his big toe in the transfer window……..
Great to have Sagna back in the team and that will help steady our back line. I think there is a need to freshen the team and it looks like the Ox is out, which is a massive shame…….{ question on the Ox, just how many of the fans that booed wenger taking him off were the ones berating him for buying him?} Fickleness is rife at the emirates………
My team today: (not the one wenger would go with)
Szczesny
Sagna Kozzer Vermaelen Miquel
Coquelin Song
Walcott Arteta Arshavin
RVP
Subs:
Park, Rosicky, Benny, Henry, BFG, Yennaris and Fab
Consertative punt at 2-1 today, half time draw full time win………..
Hope to make the tavern, but tight on time……….
Still and always proud to be a Gooner……….
Right I’ve been persuaded to go for a country walk and then pub lunch…well it was kind of a deal involving me going to Villa game…..who’d have thought she would remember that.
Hoping the pub has the wifis otherwise see you all to celebrate a fantastic win.
Loved the pre-match, Raddy, and thrilled you have woven in the NFL terms so cleverly.
Much appreciated – as well as the song – got me humming – I drove my chevy to the levy but ………………. 🙂 (I hum because I can’t sing – another thing I can’t do) 🙂
Come on you, Gunners — come on you Jints — news journalist term for the Giants!! 🙂
Great pre match as always Raddy. The bin bag thing is really tragic. If any of you read twitter you must have seen how it was all started by a website called arsenaaction which turns out to be based in Pakistan and run by a manure fan. Yesterday on his FB page he said he’d been through the “Terry O’Neill” days.
I always though the lines
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
Was a bit lazy. But then again I like Gary Glitter so what do I know?
I’ve got 8 haircuts in a row now so I’ll see you all much later. (had a couple of very cute asian girls in already 🙂 ) I’m quietly confident about todays game. My client who is a manc fan tells me there is a good article about Our support today in the Independent.
Raddy, it is amazing how you manage to write an original match report everytime. You always produce an unexpected angle and that’s why we all look forward to reading your PMR!
I like your line-up and you might get an 11/11 today! I am hoping for a good performance today with 3 points in the bag – COYRRG!!!
sagna , ramsey out..le coq rosicky start. ox been passed fit.. woohoo
Sky have said that Coq and Rosicky in — Rambo and Sagna on bench.
woohoo bout the ox, not about ramsey, although the boy does deserve a well earned rest..sagna on for coq 60min, henry for ox 68min, ramsey or benny for rosicky 80min..are we predictable or what?
BR
You never fail to amuse and surprise.
A very fine read, thank you.
I predict RvP on the bench and TH to start, but we’ll see…
This is one of those games where we MUST take our early chances.
Looking rampant early on. Great ball by Coquelin, great cross by Theo aswell from the byline! Football can be so easy when you do the right things!
Let’s av another fellas!!!!
Great start up 1-0 after 80 seconds but even given many more chances it’s still 1-0 after 22 minutes.
This is the stage of the game where we typically fail to seize the opportunity to put the game beyond doubt.
1-1
I,ve alrewady read this script…….
Would love to see the shots to goals ratio of teams that have played us this season. Every time someone shoots against us it goes in the fucking net!
Very wobbly right now.
What a fantastic goal.
Get to the byline Theo, it’s so fucking easy!!!!
You beauty!!!
Another unbelievable pass and another great goal!
Superb pass from Song, second great pass from Walcott and the second goal from our most V-aluable P-erson
Before I could finish an Ox showed up in the box.
3-1
Not a good tackle. No need to follow through with the left foot.
Hope RvP isn’t crocked!
Nice to see Theo and Song stepping up a bit.
Our closing down has been outstanding at times, just wish we would do it for 90 minutes.
Song is lighting up the game with his passing, he is having and outstanding 1st half.
I think that after the amount of flack he has received, a lot of our posters will be enjoying some humble pie right now!
I’m having a spoonful or two myself Gn5 🙂
In case I have not made myself clear, The Ox is going to be World Class.
That’s okay Rocky, I know your comments are never sinister and I also know that you will be delighted to see him playing at this level – it makes the humble pie even tastier.
Let’s really give credit where it’s due – that was a great response to conceding what must have been a very disheartening goal against the run of play.
this is a good opportunity to bump up the goal tally. The Ox is simply amazing. It feels like signing a new 30 million player. He can run, dribble, pass score the lot.
who are you inzaghi? weve got the real f’Ox’ in the box
I really rate Song but I’ll admit he has frustrated me in the last couple of outings.
Not today though.
I really like Arteta in this team.
Rocky,
Song can be very frustrating I agree, but that is now quite a few superb through balls he has played this season.
And the boy can dance!!!!
Anything he can’t do!?
Theo has been outstanding today aswell. He was getting slated on sky earlier aswell!!!
Fine play from Theo for the 5th.
Skill, strength and intelligence.
I have a new favourite player and he wears 15!
Arteta has been outstanding today aswell
That Ox boy is fantastico. Sold 3 dummies one, two, three and Rosicky should have put the cross away.
Six is Sexy.
Another great goal!
I knew I should’ve found space for RvP in my dream team! Gutted!!!
Coquelin is another who has had a fine game.
Hatrick RVP ain’t bad either!!! 🙂 🙂
Come on Arsenal only half an hour to hang on
Death by a thousand passes – what a great comment.
GM
🙂
Isnt it interesting that RvP is still on the pitch.
Obviously Wenger doesn’t share the same worries that some of us express every day about him getting injured. He’s a different animal these days and doesn’t need to be wrapped in cotton wool
Gn5
O’Reilly is not a bad co-commentator for an ex Spud.
Why can’t we score 10? Wenger out !! 🙂
Rocky, I agree he shows no sign of bias.
The comment can, however, be a two sided sword, how many times has our own death been by our thousand passes?
GM 🙂
the most worrying sign about tonight is that Park didnt even get a run out..
when is he due for national service??
something stinks there, deep down i dont believe he is a wenger buy…even though he fits the mould…
rosicky deserved a goal..
GoonerMichael @ 2.46pm,
hahahahahahahahhahahahhahahha…LOL 🙂
Outstanding performance.
Pressed really well and passed the ball well with good movement.
Ox, Theo, Arteta, Coquelin and RvP stood out with everyone else putting in great shifts. Nobody had a bad game.
Don’t want to hear anyone saying that Blackburn were poor, because we made them look poor apart from a 5 minute spell after their equaliser.
If the players are going to get grief when things don’t click then they deserve the praise when it does.
Brilliant football and a fantastic result. Let’s just hope this is the start of a good run.
Just got In lads , whats the score ?
We were lucky Glic and scraped a wobbly win! 🙂
Redders,
Seventh heaven , One Is !
RUP:I realy dont believe there is any mystery about Park, he was bought on a short term contract in a blaze of publicity to increase awareness and thus sell shirts in the far east, just as we will in all probability buy a Kenyan Player after this years pre season for the same reason.
I counted the goals on one hand as they went in, Glic.
Good to see JET playing well for Ipswich. I wanted him to do well for us but didn’t work out.
frimpong crocked for Wolves
Some blogs and bloggers will be a bit red faced tonight and not from the cold either.
What a difference having full backs who can support the wide men makes. Gives them an outlet when they are doubled up on. The result pullbacks and crosses from deep inside enemy territory.
Just had a look at the mornings previous stuff,
chas, I think Transphobia is a fear of spending wonga in a TW. 🙂
GiE, Exellent looking website, no idea what it is, but may i suggest some of them Ruski girls evonne had on the other day ! 🙂
Jail Legs,
That is a sad anorak collection, unlike mine, which Is, I`ve collected “diving” hair from all the women I`ve “Met” and kept them vacuum sealed fresh , Because I know one day John Terry is going to need a hair transplant, only then will he`s “Pussyness become complete !. 🙂
Exactly Dandan,
It’s so much easier to find the lonely striker from the byline than it is from crossing early. Coquelin was excellent today in linking up with Theo and set up one goal and created the first with his pass to Theo.
The Ox was unbelievable today aswell. He got to the touchline on numerous occasions after skinning his man. He is going to be/already is some player!
I bet the “bin liners ” looked stupid ! 😆
Afternoon all, how did the bin bags react to all the goals?
Altho I am now worried about my Jonah’ism more as I didn’t know the score til half time and got the radio on in time to hear TH score.
Did the sending off change anything?
“imagine how Park must feel – excited beyond belief at his signing and then left bereft on the bench”
How prescient BR…??!! If you can;t give hm a run out at any pint in the 2nd half today when can you.
Wonderman and myself were discussing the Park conundrum last night. Why oh why did we hijack Park’s move to Lille..??
Makes no sense.
Off to score points in the Dad of the Year contest (judged by ,my wife) by taking the kids out to the park in the freezing cold. If I was single I’d go no further than the drinks cabinet.
Back later to join in the ‘festivities’
hey dandan,
i made those comments a while back and a few AA’ers were quick to put me in my place..
then somebody made a comment in a recent post that he would come good in the end and if not we would be able to sell him at a profit..fair enough
but who would buy a player for 5mil plus, with a season left in him before he basically would have to retire from professional football..
agree with you bout the commercial side of things, otherwise there would be no better opportunity than todays game, for the boy to get his minutes..
have you scouted anybody in kenya? 🙂
GiE,
any chance of your parents support for every game from now on in pleeeeeeeeease?? 🙂
Bit late, but another quality pre-match BR, I think a few of them Spandau boy`s are gooner`s .
Sending off had No effect on the end result IMO! Sure, it made it easier as the game went on due to fatigue but wenger and the boys came out with a point to prove..
we were already 3-1 to the good!!
Agree robin,
Ma and Pa GiE get the parents of the match award ! 🙂
only 1 goal in all other 5 matches being played currently (half time)
fair to say that we scored enough goals for everybody today!!
Sending off gave Theo lots of space and he made them pay, but he had already created a couple from that side before the dismissal, so it didn’t affect the result.
Do you think maybe that Wenger is using Henry in front of Park at the moment with the knoedge that he’s leaving shortly? When Henry leaves I would expect to see a bit more of Park on the park!
todays attendance was just over 59.000
there seemed to be a couple of empty seats in the stadium, but it shows that wen you take the boo-boys and negative aura out of THOF we can razzle dazzle..
dont think so Ging!
not even 5min for park today, im suprised..
especially after RVP’s hatrick, the norm for wenger would be to take him out..
GM 2.46….Classic GM !!!
GIE,
Blackburn were going to lose anyway, (Vermaelen also hit the post) but I think going down to 10 men could not have helped them, as we were running enthusiastically, thrillingly and with all our old skill back.
Wonderful.
The Ox was splendid, fast, tricky and full of fight when tracking back when he lost the ball occasionally. One of Theo’s best games too, but RVP was magnificent.
Well let’s not mince words, the whole team were good!
Cornish Glic,
I am pleased you did not mock my 7 fingered hands, earthling, or I would have taken TerryM’s mini-periscope to berate you with!
Mighty indeed would be my wrath – and Terrynutkins would not have been happy either!
Pleased to hear it.
Let’s hope that they remember those thoughts of what they did going forward.
I don’t think many here will eat humble pie about Song as most have consistently said he has lost form in the last few games and it was worrying, sounds like back to his old self today with Arteta giving him a bit of a safety blanket?
The same goes for Theo all we want from the lad is consistency. With Gervinho returning soon and Ox stepping up perhaps he has realised what he needs to do to keep a shirt.
BFG on twitter:
Tired now ! We all wanted 8 .. Still a great result. Love this club #Arsenal
Very true, GIE.
Song was immense today and some of his defence splitting passes were top drawer. Arteta was full of fight and tidied up when attacks broke down. All good!
LadyArse on Twitter:
“The Ox has the same number of league goals this season as Torres and RvP scored as many today as Carroll has since season began”
WelshGooner has a song for Ox…..I like it:
“1,2,3 o clock 4 o clock OX, 5,6,7 o clock 8 o clock OX 9,10,11 o’clock 12 o clock OX.. we’re gna rock around with OX tonight”
Sorry RedMartian, I was busy thinking how much to charge JT for my Hair collection !. I suppose three seven fingered hands is needed when having three todgers !. Did terry discover you through his telescope whilst looking at Uranus ?. With all your shagging of Earthwomen, Terry has made a mess of his bedroom, on the plus side the room has got good spermal insulation ! 🙂
What a performance guys. Everyone played well, have to agree with Slimginger 2:24, Coquelin was superb.
Just settling down to watch the England match, Come on England.
Just great stuff today. Coquelin was outstanding. Good to see TH score a league goal.
I am so excited about Ox, one of the best at his age I have ever seen. His movement, determination and vision are top drawer. Can’t wait to see him with JW.
BR,
I know how I’ve been banging on about Oxo this season, that he’ll be this and that, but he is the most exciting 19 yr old I’ve ever seen playing for Arsenal.
I’ve only seen the highlights of the first half and saw the 7th on a stream but again today we create 20 chances 11 on target and score 7 with an early goal!! The difference…..the accuracy of our finishing no less than we have deserved
Agreed Jailhouse (wtf !!!) watching OX is pretty frightening. Im not suree he’s even 19…thought he’d not long turned 18.
Very good player already, Bergkamp only knows how good he’ll become. From day one he has reminded me of Luis Figo.
Sharkey,
From day one he has reminded me of Coquelin 🙂
The Blackburn left back must have a twisted spine after the humiliation he got today. What it shows is that given space TW can exploit it, and that he enjoys playing with Coquelin.
Great to see Song get back to the monster we know he can be. His performance was full of energy and super passing.
So many great performances it is difficult to find an M.o.M which considering RvP got a hat trick is a testament to the play of all the team.
Oxo, born 15/08/1993.
Just back from the game.
Fantastic performance by everyone. The ox added energy to everything we did and I thought Rosicky was excellent today. Theo had a very good game and used his pace intelligently.
The Ox was the star for me. I didn’t mind when he was taken off, but he could have got a hattrick.
AW has a nice problem when Gerv returns. Clearly the Ox will get more goals than Gervinho but can also create so it looks like a choice between Theo and Gervinho for the other flank.
Sorry Chas,
but I’ve had to kill off Legs. Shame really, I liked him alot.
Legs. Do you think they are twins?
As AW says, Ox’s play reminds me of Rooney. Just his play not his demeanour.
rasp,
Was it colder than last Sunday ?
Micky moidurhd Legs?
Lovely title and pre match Raddy, love the song it comes from too.
Rocky/Sharkey – I was a bit harsh on the team post Bolton.
I branded our team a joke on Wednesday and Walcott as woeful.
Walcott was excellent and the whole team played really well. Hope we didn’t pick up injuries. The whole front three played out of there skin today.
Big result.
Rasp. Looked as thought there were plenty of empty seats today. How was the atmosphere?
Aaaaaaaah, well, you see, I was there when Robin scored a hattrick, our little Ox opened his premiership account and Henry added to his. In addition Arteta scored a great goal too. Not a bin liner in sight
Thats a good shout Legs…Coq and Ox – twins separated at birth.??
Coquelin is a truly fantastic footballer. Shows his class no matter where he plays. The kid even looked class playing at LB !!!
Hi glic – yes colder than last sunday, although the prommised snow hasn’t arrived yet.
Yes Raddy, quite a few empty seats. Strangely the announcer did not come out with today’s attendance was 60,000. I think the empty seats were mainly due to season ticket holders staying away
Raddy – it was really quiet where we were sitting, disgraceful really 😦
They don’t announce the attendance anymore Rasp.
What a lovley afternoon that was. Bloody freezing,but wore 2 coats and sneakily had my onsey on underneath. any one who didnt see it, please try and watch it on sky or something. RVP was simply unbelievable but Ox was the star. Ive always thought he reminds me of Ronney (nice version though) and today he reinforced that opinion.
Lets keep RVP, and with Ox and Jack, we will wipe the floor with every one next season, this is a fantastic team in the making.
didnt see any stupid bin bags either
I haven’t managed to see any of the match. Did we deserve to win or were we lucky?
Great pre match Raddy.
GM, to be honest i thought Blackburn deserved a draw, but its about time we got some luck hahaha
The tossers who talk about bin bags are the same tossers who moaned about spending money on the Ox. I haven’t seen them giving Wenger any praise for that signing.
As you know I don’t rate Theo but from accounts on here he had a very good game. I’d love him to prove me wrong and become a fantastic player. Good luck to him.
Just a quick question could our first choice midfield/attack end up looking like this come the end of the season?
………….Song…….Arteta…………
Theo………….Ox……………Gerv
………………..RvP…………………
GiE,
You read my mind.
Ox came inside a lot today when were 4 or 5 up and was spraying passes everywhere. He could definately be the missing link between midfield and attack, and no doubt he can finish aswell so would get a few goals. It’s what we have been missing a lot this season.
Yes GiE, and its prospect has got me very excited…now weres that telescope.
Terry,
Was you bouncing up and down on the Bouncers knee ? 🙂
Peaches – how could you??
You promised to text me the results?
I was skiing in -28 cold checking my mob and worrying that you don’t want to upset me!!
You should have told me, I would fly off those mountains 🙂
Great to have alternatives at last and all brought about by 2 young players grabbing their chances.
The only players who are certs are Chesney and RvP 🙂
Evonne
I’m skiing in +2!!
where are you?
GM
Theo did have a decent game.
Cornwall, i accidently elbowed him when Ox got his second goal, he didnt feel a thing but my arm is killing me.
You know your demands for ‘super qualateee’. Well in Ox and Jack we have it. They will be Englands best 2 players in a years time.
Long may it continue Rocky
Finally sitting down after getting back via shops……….from the siberian emirates…….
GIE@6.02pm, exactly the line up I would go with, people immediately think of ox taking one of the wide berths, with Jack till next season, i think the Ox will drift inside, where I think he will be even more devastating……..Slowly as we are getting players back, options are plentiful…….
Thoughts on today……….
1. Great start, at pace unlucky not get to an early 2nd…..
2. No bin bags, maybe the rumour was a load of rubbish?
3. Rosicky so deserved a goal, thought he was superb….
4. Theo showed he does have a brain and set up 3 goals……unlucky not to score as well. Needs consistency now to keep the boo boys off him……
5. Ox is fantastic, he is starting to influence for longer, think AW was right to sub him, as remember he went into game with a knock. Will be in euros squad.
6. Very surprised that RVP stayed on…….
7. The sending off didnt affect the score too much.
8. Back line was reasonably solid today, Kozzer is truly the boss and his recovery speed is unreal.
9. My man of the match today goes to Coquelin, absolutely fantastic, involved throughout, is so talented………
10. disappointed we only scored 7……………..!!!!
Terry,
I`ve always known Ox and Jack were “SQ” and I think we`ve got Szczesny, Ramsey and Cog as “SQ” as well, I`m just greedy and want more ! 🙂
Not forgetting the more mature SQ of RVP,Verm and Koz !. 🙂
Silly Rocky, you cannot ski in +2. I’m in Poland, my friends’ house, come over, I told her all about you 🙂
Harry – thanks for the brief, who was sent off and why?
Effin brilliant day out at the ems. Loved every second from the 8.28 train onwards.
Really pleased to meet yet another AAer, Brigham at the Tavern. Top man.
Peaches, Rasp, Irish and Chary as lovely as always.
I’m such a simple man, the footy is good and I’m as happy as larry.
Come on Equatorial Guinea.
Let’s have Gervinho back.
Peaches and Rasp,
Does this mean it’s nearly time to unveil my ‘tongue in cheek’ assessment of our season so far!!! 🙂
Was beginning to think I had cursed us!
Givet was sent off for a challenge on RVP, who went up in the air, need to see it again tonight……….game was 3-1 at the time and was already over……
Oh yes sgg, definitely, have to wait until next week though 😉
Harry, Evonne,
It was Givet’s follow through with his left foot that got him sent off. The tackle might have only been a booking had he not thrown his left studs into it. No need really.
The unbeaten run continues 🙂
Wish I had been there despite the cold. It was even chilly in Peaches pocket.
Ok Peaches,
No doubt you will have a full inbox now that the boys have put in a decent performance! 😉
evonne – I’m sorry I forgot to text you 😳 How was the skiing?
Raddy 🙂
harry 6:27 No.9 = My man of the match too. What a prospect we have in him.
Keep this squad together and add one or two more in the summer and I think TMHT will have his way and we will challenge for the title in 2013.
What a difference a day makes.
Come on you Gunners.
Definite Red card. Givet knew straight away and FairPlay to him, was more concerned about RvP’s health.
Peaches – skiing was clearly not as good as the game 😦 We only managed to ski down 4 times, half froze to death, great fun
Who was the best man there? Polish TV sign prizes for chesny, but they would
do we extend thierry’s loan deal for the extra 2 weeks?
we only have him for 1 more league game against sunderland and the 1st tie against milan..
personally, id love it if we extended and we could send him off on a real high in a last game, last goal against the spuds!!
Bit of a fluke today.2 deflected goals, Vermaelen misses from 3 inches.Rvp could have blown his goals in.The ox is entitled to have the occasional good game even if he mishit for the second. The worlds number one got his positioning wrong for a goal from 40 yards.Rosicky will never score. walcott keeps his head down looking at the turf when blindly crossing. Arteta got realy lucky as the shot was going wide. Le coq should be in the reserves this is a man’s game. Song was dreadful,totally lucky he thread a ball through 4 men.benyahoun was a passenger and henry totally mishit his shot from 2 yards and it came off the defender’s ankle. Would never have won if blackburn hadn’t had a man sent off.Not convinced,just a freak result.
love gambon xxx
Top bloke that Gambon. Shame he doesn’t post on here
Who is Gambon as was that sarcasm or what he feels?
An LG blogger, and No it wasn’t sarcasm, he genuinely thinks like that.
Virtually every blogger on LG is rubbishing today’s performance. Tragic.
frimpong stretchered off against QPR..
its the knee! will have scans, but doesnt look good..
gambon is a lonely boy who has issues with himself and takes it out on this world..look at me, look at me! i love arsenal but hate everything about them..Pathetic!
That Is the blogger who I commented the other week about, He said at that time he wanted Wenger to die, I said his name rhymed with Tampon, which is fitting.
Just back in.
Oi GiE/Slim,
I have been saying for a while that Ox will end up an AM.
Just tried to have a look at Legrove and its gone wordpress weird. So funny if they are slagging that off.
How good is it to see an Arsenal player go round the keeper? 🙂
Gambon sounds like a glass half full kind of guy.
Half full of bullshit.
Micky,
I’m pretty sure it was GiE’s idea!!!!
I also heard that GiE was the one who signed Park! 😉
slim,
Time and time and again they are proved wrong about players we have. To say nthing of all the players Wenger is a wanker to not have signed, only for them to turn out to be utter rubbish.
LeGrove is The Sun of blogworld.
Mind you, Pedro does an unbelievable job producing posts every day. Not his fault he has been taken over by cretins.
Slim,
Yeah right 🙂
Bugger. Must go. Nite all.
BR – “The only players who are certs are Chesney and RvP ” – lovely situation to be in.
Everytime I see Le Coq he surprises me. Seems to add something more that I didn’t know he had, or realise he did so well.
I can see Coq being a regular within a year.
He hasn’t had a bad game for us this season, and has put in 2 motm performances against Spurs and Blackburn. In his normal DM position he is going to be a beast. Has the same fight that Flamini showed in his last season with us but with the composure to go with it.
Micky,
I can’t believe you stuck with Jailhouse for so long.
Definitely a DidIt. 🙂
Le Coq keeping our full Bacary out of the team!
Imho …Gambon is a schoolboy playing out a fantasy of having a top job in the City, having a supermodel wife, pornstar mistress, four kids at Eton, and spending £25k per year on Arsenal.
No one has ever met or seen him. He simply doesn’t really exist.
Oh and he once wished cancer on Arsene Wenger. I think it was cos Arsene had pickerd Denilson, or something else ‘just as important’ as that.
People talk of ‘keyboard warriors’…that’s that dickhead in a nutshell. Even most of the ignorati* over at LG look at Gambon sideways on…whilst shuffling away in the opposite direction.
The guy is a legend.
My fave line of his: The Invincibles as an achievement is ….’overrated’
* Please don’t miss that – IGNORATI. I’m quite chuffed with that one.
Regular where SGG..?? I think its as Raddy says…no one will own a perma-shirt. I think shirts will be anyones ‘based on form’.
Its only RVP and Sz that are dead certs. Beyond that we’ll all have our faves and preferences, but will be mostly ambivalent about a lot of permutations.
I’m already like that about our 3 main CB’s. If Theo’s in the form of today, then I’m like that between him, Gerv and Ox.
Pick 3 for MF from Song, Rambo, Art, Coq, Wilshere…and even throw in Tomas R.
If Arsene goes in the summer, I’l be absolutely fuming about all the money he has spent and the shit squad he’ll have left us with. 😉
Harry. Have to agrre wholeheartedly with your assessment of our Coq (!).
‘Involved throughout’ says it all really…for a kid playing at RB !!
Nice beard Radders !!
Uncanny likeness…lol
SharkeySure finally went back to the future – Jan 28th 8:31am to be precise.
nice one Phat Bohnz
Evening all – hope all those who went today have finally defrosted and got home safely. I’m safely ensonced at home with 3 inches of snow outside.
what a game, and TH12 on hand to get some more of the gooner love right at the end.
My 2 boys were thrilled to be there to see the great man score for us again.
i hope he makes it to 230 goals – it’ll be a nice round number.
Lol Chas….I saw some of his other ‘splendid offerings’…but missed that one.
Can’t believe its not syndicated worldwide for 3pm Xmas day. I love his ever so cheery sign off, its enough to melt even old Ebenezers heart and make him join in the festivities.
You weren’t worried about your journey home today…??
SS,
I understand where your coming from but disagree a little.
A manager has to have a first XI and I think Coq will be in that list within a year. Raga Benitez didnt have a first XI for about 2 years and it eventually cost him his job.
There’s a difference between having a strong squad and having 23 players who could start. Man Utd have been so consistent because of players like Solskjaer, Park, O’Shea, Butt etc.
None of those players were at any point starters, but they were fantastic squad players. Look at Chamakh, his record as a starter for Arsenal is pretty good, but as a sub it is appalling. You must have squad players to be a great team. At the moment, we have a lack of players who can come in for 1 or 2 games and perform close to their top level.
#who’s Raga Benitez!!!! 🙂
I meant Rafa obviously!
By the way, did anyone notice that RvP had a hand in 5 of our goals today. Would love to see us score 7 without him.
FBB, I couldn’t have been less worried about anything in my whole life. Lovely.
I also see where you’re coming from…although I have to say it was a little easier when you were FGG !!
I think back to Manninger ‘trying too hard’ in 98 and 99, because he knew that he was only ever filling in for Seaman, and that ssoon as h the moustachioed one was fit, Alex M was back to the bench.
YOur Scum U example is a very good one, although its possibly slightly different. Those four you list always do/did a sterling job when called upon…but are definitely in the 2nd tier squad wise.
I’d struggle to convincingly rank some of ours as 2nd tier. Ie who out of Mert, Verm, Koz is 2nd tier. Who’s going to come in, play well…then go straight back to the bench when x is fit again.
It seems that only Phil Neville and Nicky Butt got fed up of being 2nd tier and moved on to play more games. I suspect that we’d have many more.
Maybe its all a moot point when we have so many games to play, even more so when FFP has in all competitions in April/May !
Chas – I meant pre match, not after the match, when you floated home on the cloud nine express !
SS,
I forgot Phil!!! Lol
To be fair, it is so much easier to have those types of players when your team is winning things. If we had been winning trophies in the last 6 or 7 years then I would bet Raps’s house on us still having the likes of Gallas, Flamini and Hleb filling in those roles.
Right. back from skiing.
Evonne – the temperatures have been unseasonably high in Toronto this winter. It generally drops below freezing at night but goes anywhere between 1 and 7 above during the day.
The (tiny) ski resort I was at have enough snow machines to do their own snow, but it was quite granular. Still fun though. It’s just nice being outdoors all day.
Thinking about our recent performances…
Today we played well. We had lots of movement and we fought and tracked back. The sending off probably added a few goals to the tally, but made no difference to the result. Best of all, we showed real character after conceding a goal from Rovers’ first attempt (making it 1-1 at the time).
Against Bolton we had a very good first 30 and should have been 2 or 3 goals to the good. They cleared one off the line and RvP hit the woodwork twice. On most other days that would have been a win. As it was, we got a point and a clean sheet.
The Aston Villa cup game was a stirring fightback. We had gone 2 down against the run of play and again showed great character with the comeback.
I think we would have won (or at least drawn) the ManUre game if it hadn’t been for AW’s baffling substitutions. Although MU were better in the first half we were way better in the second.
In short, our recent form has not been bad (and has been better than many of the critics have recognised).
Sunderland away will be tough, but with Oxo, RvP, the returning Gerv, Theo (hopefully) on form, possibly two proper FBs we have more than enough to cause them problems.
Our “long unbeaten run” will continue 🙂
In a universe, parallel to the one most of us live in, this is a valid comment:
“Have a great day Grovers, early kick off, big win and enjoy the protest, whatever form it takes.”
‘..enjoy the protest’….what a fucking saddo !!!!
Agreed SGG. Think of the likes of Kolo who came into the side and played anywhere he was asked. I remember Kolo playing in all three thirds of the pitch in one game against Chelsea.
He’d only come on a as a sub I think, well thats if my memory is winning its battle with my Alzheimers.
Isn’t it funny how a good result makes us look at previous results in a different light?
Had we lost or drawn today we would be talking about how shit we were against Bolton,Villa and United, but because we won and played well, suddenley the Bolton game was unlucky, the Villa game was a great comeback, and the second half against United should’ve got us a point.
Hindsight is great, but unfortunately it’s never there when you need it most!
“In short, our recent form has not been bad (and has been better than many of the critics have recognised).”
Needs saying twice…cheers RockyElvis
Right, its bed for me, as I’ve got five kids in the house aged from 4 to 11 (two not mine) who will all be dragging me out of bed at an ungodly hour to take them to play in the snow, and walk them to a hill for snowboard and sledding ‘fun’.
For me SGG, the trick is to never go too overboard in either direction after any result.
Just watched the whole game on Sky football first and just one criticism, Szczesny`s positioning for free kicks in that area, he should stand more central in the goal, just another foot to his right and he would have saved It, very similar to the Larson freekick for Sunderland which I also criticised at the time for standing to far to his left, needs to work on his positioning imo. Other than that not bad !. 🙂
GLIC,
I think your right. Aslong he can see the ball then he should be as central as possible. These lads can hit the ball up and over the wall without even thinking about it. Years ago the wall did a job, but these days it’s almost pointless.
…..and get your tallest men on the ends of the wall !!!
slim,
Going back to an earlier comment, Cog does remind a bit like Flamini but will be better, The one moment against Shrewbury did it for me, from our corner he sprinted back to make a sliding interception in our area to deny them a certain goal, he`s got good pace, an engine, passing ,tackling and underated skill ,plus versatility.
It`s that time of night when most of us will look to turn in and for some to whip their telescope out and look to the heavens, ” constellation 52 looks interesting “!. 🙂
SGG
My view of our performances against ManU, Bolton, Villa etc hasn’t changed as a result of today’s game.
Check back through my comments and you’ll see.
Fair enough RL,
You are obviously a good judge of the game then. As supporters its obvious that emotion often gets in the way of judgement. If you look at comments a day or 2 after the event, they tend to make much more sense and be far more reasonable (on here anyway!).
Just thinking about our future squad:
Szscesny
Fabianski
Mannone
Sagna
Jenkinson
Yennaris
Mertersacker
Vermaelen
Koscielny
Bartley
Santos
Gibbs
Miquel
Henderson
Song
Coquelin
Frimpong
Wilshire
Arteta
Ramsey
Rosicky
Diaby
Lansbury
Oxlaide-Chamberlain
Gervinho
Walcott
Miyaichi
RvP
Campbell
Afobe
Not bad is it? Another top class striker and this squad could be unbelievable!
Just to put it in perspective just how good RVP really is, here are the top scorers in the EPL………..
1.RVP-22
2.Aguero-15
3.Ba-15
4.Rooney-13
5.Yakubu-12
6.Dzeko-12
7.Dempsey-10
8.Sturridge-9
8.Bale-9
8.Balotelli-9
8.Fletcher-9
8.Adebayor-9
8.Bent-9
8.Lampard-9
I fucking hate LG,
People on there too busy watching Arsene lose to realise that Arsenal won. Mugs!
The only bad thing about that stat GN5 is this:
Man City 3 Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli
Spurs 2 Bale, Adebayor
Chelsea 2 Sturridge, Lampard
It does make you wonder how the fuck such a shite United side are 2nd in the league with only Rooney in there in 4th place! Hope they do us a favour tomorrow though!!!
yee har – take that blackburn! That’ll learn you for letting Nelson go to the Spuds 🙂
Great game from the ox, also agree on the comments regarding Coq – he looked good.
Good to see Walcott chiming in with the assists – getting in and attacking the byline have been wanting to see that for a while…
Good confidence boost, lets kick on lads….
I’ll go for the Utd win over Chavs today, and a Pool win over Spuds tomorrow. Spuds could implode enough for us to squeeze past.
Snow in London. Not a flake in sight down here, and we’d planned a day on the white stuff slithering down the slopes of Dartmoor.
Micky – snow in London? don’t make me laugh 🙂
Raddy – we were neighbours, I used to live in Highgate for many years and walked my dogs in the woods there or on the old railway walk. Thank you for great prematch yesterday
Chas @ 8:53 – I love the interview with the Ox, I like what I am seeing and what I am hearing, great guy, lovely lovely young man. Is he really only 18?? blimey
The world looks beautiful – a big Arsenal win — 10″ of snow and I am scheduled to do bugger all today!! 🙂 Good Morning AA!!!!! 🙂
10″ of snow?
That is so unfair. Guess that’s the Chavs game off then 😦
RA,
Bugger all? You have that American whooha tonight.
Evonne,
Morning, and oh what a star that Oxlaide is.
Morning all,
I’m surprised it hasn’t been called off already. Then again, the mancs have only got a short journey from Surrey.
Benik and Le Coq
http://www.twitvid.com/1HWM5
Morning all
evonne – serious snow at me, I expect your house is blanketed too. What will the little pug think of it I wonder 😉
How much did we pay for the Ox? I think Arsene knows what he’s doing 😉
Micky, 🙂
That’s my excuse to do bugger all. Got to lay around all day keeping up my energy for an all nighter!! Lovely!! 🙂
Just finished 2 hours of snow clearing – feeling righteous and healthy!
Evonne. Perhaps we walked together sometimes – I had a Springer Spaniel until 1997 and then a very beautiful chocolate Flat Coat Retriever.
I now someone said not to mention this but ….. Blackburn were simply dreadful. No physical presence at all and all our players appeared to be twice as fast as theirs. Time and again Ox and Theo made idiots of the FB’s, and in midfield we were so dominant even our DM was playing on the edge of their penalty area.
Yes, we were great but they are Championship bound.
I used to rant about the unfairness/stupidity of a very average player like Eastmond getting into the first team reckoning before Le Coq and Frimpong.
They were stars of the youth teams that I watched for some years (CharyB too), and to be charitable to Eastmond he tried hard, but that was it – and I was surprised he was not moved on.
When Le Coq was loaned out to France, Frimpong disappeared and Eastmond started to get Cup games etc I was really gob-smacked.
Arsene has put that right! 🙂
RA. We have to change our kick off times to fit Asian viewers. I think they should move the SuperBowl so it is not an all-nighter in Europe 🙂
An all nighter? Who’s the poor victim?
Morning all,
SlimGG, emotion is the catalyst that enables the fickleness to burn bright………And boy is our fanbase fickle…..
With the squad you have listed you wouldnt need another striker of class in there, Campbell and Afobe would give us what we are missing right now………
You have missed off quite a few players as well:
Botelho – Will be our long term left back
Anekes – This lad is quality, strong and very much a gifted playmaker, has set up many of afobes goals……
Galindo – left sided attacking
Wellington – Brazilian Ox!! (needs to sort attitude out)
Eisfeld – New in, not on my radar, so cant comment, but he must be in there somewhere.
Ozakup – Midfield playmaker
Others of Note:
Bellerin
Toral Harper
Hajrovic
Bunjaku – watch this space
Ebecilio
I hope Lansbury makes it at Arsenal, he is a gooner and has some engine under the lid, but I think he has had his chance in wengers eyes….Its about taking their chances, such as Coquelin has done this season. I was worried about losing him, have followed Coquelin ever since he joined us in 2008/09………he made big strides last year at Lorient, the worry is always that they need 1st team football more………Now he is in there on merit and think he’ll stay as a very key player……….
Morning all about 10cm of snow covers the ground here in sunny Norwich, off to take my Tibetan Watch Dog off for a walk, he loves the snow, his fur doesn’t as he ends up coming back with ice balls stuck to him.
Morning all.
have now watched the highlights three times and this boy Chamberlain is something special. Well spoken, intelligence on the field, upper body strength, two footed, can pick out a pass and is not afraid to shoot.A real gem and worthy of his place now. A natural talent if ever I saw one, a great acquisition to the team.
Raddy, I totally agree – especially when I am in the UK! When in the US – not so much! 🙂
Micky Legs, you are a beast – there is no victim – I spread my love around – but the Jints first tonight!! 🙂
GiE,
If that’s your garden, two questions:
1. Where the hell are the goalposts? and
2. What the f… is that wild animal on the loose?
Morning Kelsey,
Oh come on – he is rubbish — any player who cannot do a triple back somersault after scoring a brilliant goal has a lot to learn!!!! 🙂
GIE,
I had muntjac deer in my garden last night.
Did not see them, but their cloven hoofed little tracks were evident to anyone used to tracking Sioux indian sign, which naturally is de rigeur in America, if you want to keep your hair!!
But he did a cute little dance for his second goal celebration 🙂
……… and he takes a wicked corner
RA,
They are ugly little bastards and hard as hell, but almost certainly the tastiest of the deer family.
Have to go and rescue my Cordylines be back in a bit …….
RA,
May I suggest that instead of spreading your love around tonight, you sit in an upstairs window with your bow and arrow.
Harry, 🙂
Agree with your addendum, and I would speak up for young Ebicilio with whom I have been really impressed.
My tip for the longer term is a lanky CH called Zach Fagan – I think he has a certain something about him – let’s see!
RA. Strange that. My father was a tracker with the Cheyenne. They called him in to educate the tribe in the lost arts.
Dad was born into a Dutch family, yet honed his skills tracking beaver in the Montmartre District of Paris
At least that is what he told me ….
Harry,
Based on YouTube clips the kid Bunjaku looks like the next Zidane! I certainly hope so.
Time will tell of those lads come through.
As someone pointed out the other day, if only 1 or 2 make it as top players at the Arsenal then it’s worth the effort and finances. Just look at Wilshire, Coquelin, Frimpong and Miquel.
Let’s just hope we can keep em all together.
Raddy 🙂
Micky – there’s 8 inches of snow in my garden and children sledging in the park beyond it. I’m awfully glad I found this house 🙂
I was worried when Coquelin went out on loan last season that Arsene didn’t reckon him – Arsene does do that sometimes and yet other times he sends the ones that aren’t going to make it out on loan. No rhyme or reason to the man still he looked very happy yesterday 🙂
Tracking beaver…lol.
I love Montmartre
Morning all…..
…. New post for you all to revel in 😛 ………..
Raddy, 🙂 🙂
morning people,
with all the snow, is it a possibility that any of the games will be cancelled tonight/today?