It says a lot about the utter detachment of footballers from reality that we wake up this morning to front and back pages in a frenzy as to whether one vastly overpaid footballer will shake another vastly overpaid footballer’s hand and whether another vastly overpaid and self-important footballer will talk to his estranged popstar wife or not.
Meanwhile, a Premier League club goes into adminstration for massively overreaching itself. I wonder how much of the mess it got itself into can be directly attributed to footballers’ wages? Rhetorical question.
So while Arsenal too are prisoners to market forces and have to pay their players huge wages, it’s refreshing to note that not only were Arsenal yesterday able to announce they had reduced their own debt – almost all of which is related directly or indirectly to building a new stadium – by a cool £130m, but that for now, our players are not dragging the club’s name down with their off-field antics.
[Blogger exhales and heartrate slows as rant finishes].
Over to the Potteries for the real stuff. I had managed to jemmy our last two visits there into the far recesses of my mind. Today’s reprisal has brought some of those memories flooding back, and judging by the general mood across the interwebnests, I am not alone.
Ordinarily, I would agree that a draw at the Britannia – where we most definitely haven’t ruled the waves in recent years – would be a good thing. But really, we cannot afford to drop any points at all I don’t think.
I like what Pulis has done at Stoke, and personally I cannot see any problems with the way they play. They’re hardly going to take us on at our own game are they? But they are pretty much the antithesis of us – as The Times puts it, “the ultimate culture clash†– and that’s why we can struggle against them.
For me, it’s all eyes on the defence. To be caught out two away matches running by Delap’s long throws is naïve in the extreme. If it happens again today I might blow a gasket. It would be unforgivable. Like a man walking into the same lamppost three days running.
Fortunately, our last two league games have been clean sheets – read it and rejoice, even if they were sandwiched between Flapianski’s House of Calamities – and we definitely need defensive solidity today.
Looking forward to it already.
Finally, happy birthday to Arseblog – eight years old. A top lad, top blogger, and the inspiration for about eight thousand subsequent Arsenal blogs, mine included.
What is eight in blog years?
hahaha that rant at the beginning made me laugh. laugh as much as chelski just going down to 9 men. when you look at the antics of chelski players on and off the pitch and the mismanagement of clubs like portsmouth going into administration, it really puts things into perspective. a lot of people have been angry at Arsenal not making signings and although it can be frustrating at times, you really have to give credit to Arsene Wenger. the man is an absolute legend. he’s done so much for this club and english football and will continue to do so. things have looked bleak this season but i wholeheartedly trust Arsene completely. now chelski are on the verge of losing, let’s give stoke a hammering!!
bridge gave terry a skip when the were supposed to shake hands then the boos started from chav fans their fuckn deluded for booing bridge,bellamy gave terry stick in the interview afterwards,brilliant!!!!!!!!
Still looking for more green shoots of recovery.
That result makes the Stoke game even more interesting. We absolutely have to win it in order to lay down a marker.
Lets hope we smash the Potters, then, and only then will other results really matter. Come on you Gunners!