A Little Balance

It's not often in a season that we can boast of beating both Man U and Chelski in the space of a month. But before we start buying into all that "back in the race" crap, I think what we need is a little balance and perspective.

It would seem that the team that has benefitted most from the intermittent sparkles from Arse is Liverpool. And until we also whip Pool when we meet, then I can't see how on earth we're going to get back in the race. The only point we have made thus far is our ability to raise our game for the big ones, and how we can't seem to find anything for the games against Stoke, Hull, Fulham, City and Aston Villa.

And you know what that means? Perfect form for the Champions League!

I hope Le Boss has got his thinking cap on, coz that's the only way I see how we're going to salvage this season.

But what a start for Cap'n Cesc.

So is the Arsewiper back for real? I dunno. It feels less painful writing about Arse games, and for a while, the game last night was same-old same-old. But fingers crossed, and in time, the Arsewiper will be writing from closer to the Emirates too.

In the Depths

Over the last couple of weeks, as an Arsewiper, this Arsewiper has really been down in the depths of despair and disillusionment. The Man U victory did little to change anything, and all was comprehensively lost when we did the expected and folded against Villa. It was sad. Nothing else.

So, when all else seemed shit, things got only shitter. First, news of Theo and has shoulders of glass. I suppose with both shoulders in shit shape, he'd better watch himself the next time he scratches his armpits. Best thing, though is all that has been happening re Mohawk Billy. Not much needs to be said about his original comments, the latest is that at last, Le Boss has been decided to drop him and his captaincy. About time. I won't be surprised to see Billy storm off like did with Chelsea. At 31, who knows. He could do a decent job next to Sol at Pompey.

Le Boss knows of ours as "that kind of mental problem". And of course it's a damn mental problem. Did he have to take so long to figure it out? And it's a mental problem in some of the key first team players. For that, the blame has to be placed on Le Boss himself. As Le Boss, it's the responsibility of Le Boss to ensure that there is proper balance in the team, and for sure, this has to be one of the most unbalanced Arse teams in recent memory.

So we've got selection issues ahead of Man City (who thankfully, are just as inconsistent). Cesc is suspended - which could be a good thing, considering that he really really has been off, most evidently against Villa. Ade will have jet lag, so too would Vela. Bendtner should just stick to his Playstation on Saturday afternoon, and RVP is back.

RVP????? You mean, the troublemaker?? heh heh. I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe Le Boss should just make him captain. But but, there's of course talk first that Cesc should have the armband. Ade has given him the thumbs up - which has the important caveat that this was said before Gallasgate. I'm not too sure, to be honest. I don't think he's captain material just yet. We need an Adams, a Vieira, and Cesc just isn't there just yet.

As for who will be captain against City, methinks this is probably the only time I will admit to missing Flamini. He would have been an alright alternate alternate alternate captain. After Toure and Cesc. Maybe we should just have Wilshere in as captain.

Will Arse win on Saturday? Who the hell knows anymore. Maybe if we trot out our Carling Cup 11, I would be slightly more optimistic. But right now...

Worth a word or two, I suppose

More than the 2-1 win against Man U, the performance of the young 'uns against Wigan last night is truly something worth writing about. All through the side, you could see the drive, determination, strength (and maturity?) that was missing in the games the senior side lost against Fulham, Hull and Stoke.

Let's be honest, on any given day, with their squad, Wigan under Steve Bruce would be a far better side than any of the above three. We gave them a hiding. A 17-year old and a 16-year old pulled the strings in the middle of the park, better than Cesc and Denilson ever did in those games. And we have a genius in Vela. Goddamn, that finish for his third was utterly sublime. If he doesn't get a few starts in the full team, then you've gotta start questioning the "youth policy".

So things are looking good for the junior squad, and you have to wonder if the senior players will do anywhere near as good when Wigan come visiting again in the League. I think not.

Well, as for the senior dudes, yes, it was a good performance. Yes, one of the best games of the season or seasons. But for all the experts pundits who were last week writing of the collapse of Arse, and now of the rebirth, I just say go F yourselves. Stupid media frenzies. I'm not going to get anywhere near ahead of myself. This team runs TOO much on confidence, and as we have seen, it goes just as easily as it comes. Until we can show that we have a good run in us, then I really don't know.

I thought the 2-0 away win at West Ham was the start of something. The start of a resilient team able to win the difficult games, on not so good days, against decent opposition. But then Spurs and Stoke happened. Who knows what will come next.

Good thing Aston Villa ain't doing too well. As good a time as any to meet them this season.

So let's look ahead. But not get ahead.

PS - it was kinda funny to see the first team sitting in the stands in all the finery. Ade, Cesc, and Eboue - in glasses! Maybe it's just because he's short sighted. Now I understand.

The End

I thought I should explain the paucity of posts last month, and why this will be the last.

It has just been too painful. And I think I should start caring less. This was started as a means of catharsis, but I figured it's way too painful for catharsis. But let's get this sorted out.

Firstly, it is painfully evident that this will be another trophyless season. I have not used the word "yet another" because that implies some expectation or supposition that it should not be or should not have been. But let's be honest, we have not even been close since the Invincibles. Yes, there was the Champions League Final of 2006 - but even then, let's look at the line-up then:

Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Hleb, Cesc, Pires, Gilberto, Ljungberg, Henry. Subs: Flamini, Reyes.

Only two years ago, and who's left? Cesc, Eboue and Kolo. And surprise surprise. How did we lose? By giving away two goals at the end.

So where was I. Yes, another trophyless season. And a team which earlier than past seasons, has shown that it has the character of an 8 year old child. Brilliant one moment, the object of great pride another, but also possessing the confidence, strength, steel and maturity of...an 8 year old. How can a team have a confidence that comes and goes as fickly as the English weather? How can we flit from a 5-2 win at Fenerbahce to utter utter nonsense 2 weeks after? How can we throw away two goals in 4 minutes while ahead of our so-called rivals?

We have lost three games this season. In themselves, I would not be concerned, but more sadly, it's how we have done so, and how we will continue to do so that matters. Yes, we drew with Spurs, and it's one point at home - the same that Chelsea got in their game with Spurs. But let's get real. Chelsea are likely champs, we aren't.

It was said many times that in games past, it was boys against men, and the boys won. Well, against Stoke, the men won, and the boys were made to look like...girls.

So where do we go from here? Well, Cesc will leave. If not in January, then in the summer. The rest, well, does it really matter? Clichy may leave, and so too Sagna. There's something horribly wrong with the team - much as Arsene loves (or loved) talking about team spirit - and until he figures it out, the team will drift.

As Arse fans, we have gone through worse. Much worse. And in the recent past too. I can fall back on those memories, and think that well, at least it's been worse. So I'll remain an Arse fan, but one that will care that much less.

I knew this was coming when I sat and watched the Stoke game unfold. Never had I seen such a performance. It must as well have been a bunch of reserves from the Championship. Utter nonsense. And I must say, Cesc was the worst. He's been generally nothing since EURO 2008. Such are our expectations. So I sat there watching, expecting the inevitable. And it happened, sooner than I thought. And I decided to watch the MU-Hull game instead. I switched back learn that Clichy had scored his first ever Arse goal. And I didn't care. I still haven't seen it, and neither do I want to.

It's two days to Arse v Man U. The biggest day of our season, and I don't care as well. You know you've hit rock bottom. It's like when you learn how to deal with someone that you love, but decide you can't care about anymore. That's me.

One of three things could happen on Saturday: Arse whip Man U (probability: 5%). MU whip Arse (probability: 70%). Boring draw: (25%). Whatever it is, our season is over anyway.

So that's the end....for now at least. Until something happens. Which really for now, looks as likely as...David Dein?

Aw just fuck it

It's been a few days, and I still haven't gotten over it. Feels like a really really bad fucking nightmare.

Right. What's worse than losing to Hull? Losing to Hull at home. What's worse than losing to Hull at home? Losing by giving away two goals after being one up. What's worse than that? Drawing with Spurs in a game we should have won at by at least three. What's worse than that? By giving away two goals in the last 3-4 minutes.

I could go on forever figuring out where and when everything went wrong, but I won't bother. I won't be worth the damn catharsis. Let's just say in that 3-4 minutes, we just saw all that was bad in the last year and a half come right up to the surface again. That it came in such a concentrated 3-4 minutes only makes it that much (infinitely) worse.

Fuck it. There are serious problems in the defence and in the team's defensive mentality. At 4-2, we had opportunities to put it away for good, but fucking lacked the bollocks.

I don't think I've ever so NOT looked forward to a game. But that's how I feel about the next game against Stoke. Who the fuck cares...since we have absolutely no idea which team is going to show up. Here's my starting 11 for Saturday:

Fabianski, Clichy, Silvestre, Djourou Sagna, Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott, Diaby, RVP, Vela.

What's the worse that could happen? We lose to Stoke. We've done worse.

Review: West Ham 0 - Arsenal 2

Now that is the kind of victory we need more of, if we are going to be championship contenders. Not anywhere near our best, had to deal with our fair share of bad luck and super goalkeeping, but somehow managed to find something to pull us through dogged opposition. The 4-0 or 5-2 strolls will always be there, but increasingly, I don't think we're going to find much more of them in the Premier League. Player ratings first:

Almunia 7 - Good show. Made one crucial save, and was generally reliable at all other times.

Eboue 6.5 - Defensively, acceptable. Going upfront, was nowhere what Sagna offers us, and had his fair share of wasted passes, runs into road blocks, etc. On the Eboue scale, it could've been worse.

Mohawk Billy 7 - Apart from a few dodgy moments, was acceptable too. Funniest moment was when he fucked up on a back pass to Alumunia, but had the gall to give Manuel the cheesiest cheesed off look. haha. What an idiot.

Silvestre 7 - Slowly getting into it. Can see where the experience lies, but still has some rustiness. Once he gets over it, he should be excellent alternative for either MB or Kolo.

Clichy 7 - Not great by his own high standards, but did alright at the back.

Theo 6.5 - Not one of his best performances. Did have his moments - like hitting the bar early on - but looked like he needed a rest and more imagination.

Cesc 6.5 - Probably the main reason why we were particularly poor in the first half. Not enough imagination - but stepped it up in the second half.

Song: 7 – Always gives a pretty good show of himself when not in defence. No complaints.

Nasri 6 - A bad day at the office. Tired? Perhaps.

Bendtner 7 - Occasionally irritating, and took a while to settle in. After 30 minutes, though, seemed to be involved enough. Played his best with Ade and RVP both on. Super pass to set up Ade for the second.

Van Persie 7.5 - Had a couple of great chances, and thwarted either by an excellent Robert Green or the bar. Always looked a threat.

Diaby 7 - Becoming a really useful dude. You could tell the difference immediately after Nasri and Walcott (the two worst performers) came off. He's gonna prove to be a real irritating thron for defences here on in.

Ade 8 - OK, I admit it, he did make a difference. Involved in the first own goal, and scored the second. The Ade-RVP-Bendtner threesome does look quite useful when needed. Especially with RVP on the right with the freedom to cut back in a cause problems with his left foot.

As with many recent performances, the first half was crappy-ish, and the second was more like it. I suppose it has always been that we're best when after tiring out the opposition for 70 minutes, we hit them during the last 20. But that's no excuse for sloppy stuff in the first half.

All in all, great stuff, and I'm looking forward to Wednesday and Spurs, who now have 'arry in charge. I'm trying to figure it out. Who're the idiots here? Spurs or 'arry Redknapp? He says he'll quit if Spurs are relegated. By then, who'd giving a flying F, and he'd be sacked any time it comes close to that anyway. Spaz. As I said earlier, quite glad they won against Bolton. Give them something to hope for. They had to win sometime, and now that they've done it, they can get back to losing a few more again.

Finally, finally, finally - AT LONG BLOODY LAST, we can stop hearing about Chelski's friggin' home record. Thank bloody god. It just goes to show that we could've done it ourselves last season, but at last someone has done it. It's also bloody poetic that Chelski go out and lose their next game after idiot Scolari goes out and says something about Chelski emulating our Unbeatable season. Yeah, right. If the season lasts 8 games, you stupid moron. I think Benitez knows better than to say anything really daft now.

While much will be decided by the games between the Big Four (and Pool of course look really good after beating both Man U and Chelski), methinks it's in fact going to be the games against the likes of City, Villa, Fulham, Everton, etc. Pool have not had an easy run so far, but have done manificently. Hats off. But we all know Pool. There's a long long way to go.

Things that make you hmmm...

First thing is an interview with Mr Adebayor. Several "interesting" things therein. I shall quote a few interesting things:

“I’m a person who’s always laughing, no matter what happens. Even when sometimes people call me and tell me that someone has passed away, I’ll still be laughing." [NOTE: Translation error. Otherwise, freako...]

“Money is killing the spirit of the game. I don’t want to mention a name here, but good players are made to be in a great team. And most of the players are not in a bad team, but they are not in their right place or position. Money is killing football because some people are making the decision because of money." [NOTE: Errr. Yes. SOME people are making their decisions based on money. Like SOME people, like...not me]

Second thing is Hull are joint top of the table today. A day before the top two play each other. I expect a draw, and that means Hull will rest just one point from them, and nothing we can do ourselves will change the situation. At best, a win will bring us within one of Hull, and two from Pool and Chelski.

But there're a few things we need to take a look at, just to put things into perspective. First, Hull will have to play both Chelski and Man U in the next 7 days. Let's see what the deal is then. We could be surprised, we may not. Whatever happens, it will be interesting. Second, Hull's results so far have been with the lesser lights - and I count Arse's performance as one of a lesser team. They did lost 5-0 at home to Wigan, so that's also an indication of what the team is capable, once they stop running on teen spirit.

All in all, I expect a good season from them, but not at this pace. Methinks a 6th-10th place finish in the end, which would still be massive.

As for Saturday's action, heh heh. Everton 1 - Man U 1 was sweet as hell. I was kinda worried with that Fallaini dude during Arse's game last weekend, and it was not surprising he scored too. I mean, apart from being quite a decent player, that HAIR must scare the shit out of any player.

Finally, and I've spoken about this before: Bergkamp for Arsenal! The Iceman has spoken again on possibly coming back to Arse, and really, I can't think of anyone better to take over from Le Boss in time to come. It would be nice to see him deputise for a little while in the near future - I mean, to see Wenger/Bergkamp on the bench...that would bring a smile to any Arse fan. The interview's right here.

So on to West Ham. And before that, any result over at Stamford Bridge would be good, but a draw the best.

Fenerbah....CHE!

Well, I can't claim to have watched more than the highlights so I can't really do justice to a proper review. Yes, the Arsewiper had his arse licked by a cold, so I thought some sleep would have been a better proposition.

Five goals against a Fenerbahce side which had not lost at home in Europe (I always find this phrase kinda odd) since like, the Ottoman Empire fell. Ade scored. Incredible. His finish even looked somewhat confident. Which is even more incredible. What more, five goals from five different players. Yummy. I must say if Diaby keeps this up, he's going to be really someone crucial to the team. He was pretty impressive up till his unfortunate injury, so let's keep fingers crossed that he does not get struck down by Rosicky-itis or a milder form or chronic RVP syndrome.

Despite all the nice warm feelings, there is of course the slight issue of our defence. Not too convincing of course. But on the positive side, let's just say that yes, it would have been far better to have won 5-0, but if ever we're going to concede two away from home, then scoring five ain't that bad a proposition. Le Boss says that Mohawk Billy and Kolo will be back for Sunday's game at West Ham. I think we should stick to Silvestre. He was okay against Everton, and showed that he needs some match time in Istanbul. So let's give it to him. But methinks Le Boss will go back to Mohawk. Idiot. Whatever the case though, Mr Song ain't a central defender.

I saw a few funny things watching the highlights of all the Champions League games. First, there was Alex Manninger in goal for Juve. Not bad, I say. I always rated him somewhat. Yes, he had his awkward moments. But he had his good ones too. Whatever the case, I was happy to see him in goal for a big team in Europe. Same thing for Bobby Pires. He actually played! And scored! And with his head! Wow. Yes, we've missed someone like him. But at least we've got Nasri now. Who definitely has a stronger shot, and doesn't run like he's got his jock strap on a bit too tight. Could never figure Bobby out there. He was god awful slow, ran like a duck, had a weak shot, but still did the deeds. Good man. Finally, saw that #@$%! Belarussian playing for Barca too. Yes, he's still up to his usual run like a mad dog into the penalty box, then...passing. haha. Looks like the Barca socks have been given the same treatment as the Arse socks. Pull them up, dude!

Oh yeah. Another thing. The Champions League Post-Game show. Who did we have on? Richard Keys, Trevor Francis, Andy Gray, and....Gus Poyet?????? WTF. Is that a loser club or what. Doesn't his team have a UEFA Cup game in Italy on Thursday (which of course they lost), doesn't he have something else to work on rather than commenting on how he feels about losing Berbatov while watching the top teams play? I mean, if I were a Spurs fan (which is as likely as...nevermind), I'd just slit my wrists.

So on to Sunday we go. First though, there's the issue of Spurs v Bolton at 3pm. Now, I really really want Spurs to get at least one point there. You know, they could do with some confidence, some semblance of "hey! We've turned the corner! Let's go out and kick some Arse arse!" It's exactly that attitude we need, so we can then REALLY get them at a 7-0 or something. If they lose at home to Bolton (which is quite likely actually) then we can expect a rather rather nothing game on Wednesday night. That's my prediction anyway.

For West Ham - let's have a bit of rotation, why not? Bendtner and Vela to start. Plus Diaby. Plus Silvestre.

Review: Arsenal 3 - Everton 1

That's was really quite odd. I wouldn't really say it was a game of two halves. More like a games of three teams: two from Arsenal, one involving Theo, the other involving a bunch of ill-spirited laggards. First, the highlights.

Link:

Now, the player ratings:

Almunia 6.5 - Not one of his best. Particularly when he a momentary lapse over a corner and had Clichy to thank for a goal-line clearance. What the hell was he thinking there. If it had been 2-0, it'd have been a totally different proposition. Redeemed himself with a good save from Yakubu early in the second half.

Song 6.5 - Unfortunately, was a bitto blame for the Everton goal. Definitely not comfortable where he started - on the right. Was bettter in the second half, when he was in the middle and was allowed the space to come foward.

Silvestre 7 - As good a debut as we could've hoped for. Loathe to say this, but his quiet, dependable presence was a little bit of what we have been lacking. Funny that it was he would sorta was there for Nasri's equaliser.

Touré 6.5 - Not one of his best. Telling that we seemed to have a little better balance with Silvestre-Song in the second half.

Clichy 8 - Have given him extra credit for being the only one who seemed to care in the first half. As always, provided the spark on the left side when our right was Theo-less in the first half. Excellent judgement in making his goal-line clearance. He does that quite a bit, methinks.

Eboué 6 - He was, well Eboué-esque. Some nice runs, but always wasted. Nuff said.

Cesc 6.5 - By his standards, a poor game. Was never as instrumental as we have expected him to be. Looked tired, particularly in the first half. Shooting wasn't great too.

Denilson 6.5 - Both Denilson and Cesc's poor performances in the first half sorta encapsulated the entire team's. Misplaced passes, lack of effective distribution, etc etc.

Nasri 7 - The team in a nutshell. Hopeless in the first half, but took only 2 minutes of the second to set it right. Much of our good play in the second half involved Nasri too.

RVP 7.5 - Man, if he had his shooting boots on, it could've been quite different. He does have this problem of leaning back and ballooning his shots, doesn't he? But he did put in a workmanlike performance, and seemed committed enough. Had a 100% legitimate penalty shout waved away. Pathetic refereeing again. But I've said enough of that already.

Ade 6- Needs some time on the bench. Totally out of sorts. He really hasn't done much this season, apart from that freak hat trick. What caught my eye was his reaction to Theo's goal. He looked as interested as the Everton defence. WTF was that about?

Theo 8 - Deserves all the credit despite playing only one half. Arse are now a different team without him. Particularly without Sagna on the right as well, we were totally pathetic in the first half.

All in all, good not necessarily from the footballing point of view, given that we are still capable of putting in really really bad performances - but more from the fact that we are at least able to turn these shit performances around. Le Boss has obviously made some nice noises, and constrasted the "nervousness" of the first half versus the much better second half performances. We're gonna have quite a few injuries going to Fenerbahce, so that's a little worrying.

Not too concerned about losing Mohawk Billy. More worried about Sagna, and hope that we get Nasri back. Maybe it's time we give Ade a rest. WTF. Since his pay rise, he really hasn't been worth much of it. Let Bendtner have a run out man.

Is this it at last?

Well then, yes, I've been comatose for the last two weeks. Nothing has happened. The world passed us by, and 14 days later, here we are. Thank god. Can't imagine the only news in the interim being England winning, Rooney scoring, RVP straining a muscle, and Cesc breaking his nose.

Le boss thinks that this is the Everton game tonight is a“new start”. In fact...“it is the real start of the season because there is now no interruptions anymore. It looks like to me there is a new championship starting.” In other words: OK. Let's start this all over again. There really is no more room for any more shit performances. We've lost two, and we can't afford any more. Not against Man U, Chelski, Pool, and anybody-bloody-else. Er, yeah, I think so too man. Nothing more self-evident methinks.

On the injury front, looks like RVP has recovered from cutting his fingernails too close to the quick. Looked like he may have been out for 2 weeks to recover from slight bleeding under the fingernail, but he may be ready now. Wonder if Le Boss will start him though. You never call tell with these fingernail injuries. But oh yeah. Forgot. Bendtner got injured on the Eastern Front. So RVP will probably start, and once his fingernail starts hurting again, we might just see Vela. Ooops. But did Vela travel 48 time zones away for a meaningless match? Ah shite. These idiots should take a page from Ade's book man. Screw their national football federations.

I mean, Le Boss did say that (of Theo) "everybody needs nursing a little. Robin van Persie is a little bit the same type." What nursing? Of the tit kind? Hell, we all need that. But c'mon, a professional football player should be able to run out there for 90 minutes without having to be nursed. Even then, isn't it every 2-3 hours at the max?

So we'll rest Theo too. Hmm.

On the more positive side of things, looks like Diaby has emerged from intensive care. It was pretty worrying for a while. It was real touch-and-go stuff. But methinks with his immunity still low, Le Boss may just take the option of putting him on the bench for some needed fresh air. So in the middle of the field, we have Cesc (with broken nose), Denilson (who probably played a bit too much on his Playstation during the break), Diaby (with the weak immune system), and Song (our rock of stability now).

There's stuff too about Mohawk Billy (phew - great chance to give the dude a rest) and sadly, Sagna. But we've got a super replacement in Eboue. haha.

Starting 11 then? Almunia (wake up!! International break's over!!), Clichy, Silvestre (woo hoo!), Toure, Eboue, Cesc, Denilson, Song, Nasri, Ade, RVP. On the bench: Wilshere, Ramsey, Wenger, Pat Rice.

Finally, some humour for the day. As if they weren't losers enough, it now seems the idiots over at White Hart Lane are shite simply because they've been playing on empty stomachs. Saideth one of their own: “We’re feeling hungry going into games and that can’t be good. We get lots to eat after matches but we want something before as well.” Awwwwww...pooor things. Please, One Day, please please give us summin 'a eat. A Mars bar please?

Bloody losers. Just get relegated and f off. Didn't know a good thing in Martin Jol, innit?

So where exactly do we go from here

Alrighty then. International break and two weeks of introspection ahead of us. About as good a time as ever to really think about what the hell we have to be happy with seven games down the road.

First, we're 4th, and 4 points behind Chelski and Pool. Sounds alright, but honestly, we were ahead just two games ago, and have yet to play any of the top four, while both Chelski and Pool have already played Man U. By all accounts, we've had a really easy first seven games, and should have done much better.

Second, we've got no major injury problems to complain about - but that just makes it worse in that we've got no excuses on that front. Against Hull and Sunderland, we had just about our best 11. (Come to think of it, we didn't have Eboue. Maybe we just lacked our cutting edge there. haha!)

It really feels sucky so far, but let's have a nice balanced think through about this. Just two games ago, after the young 'uns had whipped Sheffield United, it was all celebratory and shit. In all reality, two games don't make or break a season. It does reveal certain problems, and on the positive side, it's better these things get revealed now, and get worked on early.

After seven games then, I'd give us 6/10. There have been nice moments, but too many scary ones mixed in. Much to work on. On the other hand, I'd give Pool 9/10 and Chelski maybe 8/10. Considering that we're 4 points behind, that's not too bad. Pool will slip up, and we can only hope that Chelski don't keeping romping on.

What the boss needs to do is really look at how he can rotate the squad a little bit more, and look again at the heart of his defence and captaincy. If the guys lacked "sharpness" as he claimed, then c'mon, do something about it. I cannot help but wonder what Ramsey, Wilshere, Vela and Bendtner could have done against Sunderland. Could hardly have been worse than what the seniors did.

And the goals we've conceded. Holy Shit. Three from corners is unacceptable, especially since we usually lead in the corner count by something like 12-3. We're just not defending them well, and that's usually just a problem with being static. For that, I put down to Kolo not having a great start, and Mohawk Billy once more not being the force that the manager thinks he is. The Sunderland game was probably a great time to blood the young ones, and stick Silvestre into the fray. Now, it'll probably be a bit too late. Not sure Le Boss will experiment with change after the break.

Looking ahead, I think much will be clearer come 3pm GMT on 8 November 2008. We'd have just played Man U, and Chelsea-Pool would have taken place a few weeks before. We'd also have played Fenerbahce home and away, and our Champions League credentials should be clear either way by then.

Finally, Le Boss needs to shut it about teams being "defensive". Let's face it, whatever you call it, they've been successful. I mean, how can he complain about Sunderland defending when they actually scored? We've had this happen to us time and time again, so it can't be new to us. We need a Plan B, just like all other teams have both Plans A and B. But methinks Le Boss ain't going the way of Plan B. We can only hope that he at least makes minor changes - starting first with looking at the defence, and reconsidering Kolo-Gallas.

Review: Sunderland 1 - Arsenal 1

Well, this ain't really a proper review, since for reasons only known to the idiot broadcasters from where I come from, the game wasn't telecast. You all out there figure it out. Three channels. We pay good money, and of the three channels, two were used last night: for Wigan-Boro and West Brom-Fulham. Wonder what it is. Do these idiots have a quota? Does it cost more to telecast an Arse game? Are there more Wigan, Boro, West Brom and Fulham fans out there in this part of the world? Screw me, they are idiots. I have half a mind of cancel my subscription. The day we have a 3.00pm kick-off, they decide not to carry it.

To the game though. Suppose I can't be unhappy with the score. Not as sharp as usual, to make the chances count. The boss really shouldn't have started with RVP and Ade. Give the guys a break, and give Bendtner and Vela a chance to start, rather than come on when we're shit in trouble. There are the usual negatives to take from the game, but know what - there're a few positives. haha. Yes, there are:

(1) Points wise, it ain't too bad.
(2) Losing three at this stage would have been the end of our season. As it stands, it still ain't that bad.
(3) There must've been at least a decent level of spirit for us to equalise at that stage of the game.
(4) And it was Cesc who scored! With a header! From a corner!

And oh yes, we did have a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed. I shall belabour the point. Referee makes mistake. A red card is rescinded 48 hours after the fact. Linesman makes mistake. It would take 10 seconds to review it, but would they? As Le Boss has said:

''It's just another appeal for video. If a manager had two appeals per game on video, with this one, I would have used it, of course.''

Hey, they do it in tennis now. So let's move forward just a tad, why don't we? For those who argue that "technology" would disrupt the flow of the game, I say don't be daft. There are a million other things that do worse.

So there we have it. A total of 7 points dropped that we shouldn't have. And we haven't even played any of the better teams. Not just talking Man U, Chelski and Pool, but also Villa, Citeh and Pompey. Don't know why we keep doing this. But it's done. Time to move on.

Joe Kinnear I am

What? You want a @#!king review? What is this? Some kind of @#!king blog? Goddamn, all these shit teams like Sunderland can go suck my @#!

I don't see any new @#!king injuries, so that's @#!king good news. I mean, why does Le Boss even bother mentioning @#!king Abou Diaby and @#!king Tomas Rosicky anymore, I don't know. It's about time we write them off. In the meantime, as for the @#!king game itself, to be honest, I don't know what to expect - which is kinda @#!king scary. But whatever, so long as the game's not a @#!king 5.30pm kick-off, I'm happy enough. Wouldn't mind seeing D'Gerbil Cisse tripping over his laces and spraining his ankle.

Let's go have a good game. Another @#!king crap game, and I'm gonna get bulimic - with all chronic nausea and all. Particularly since we're gonna have another @#!king irrelevant international break after this, we're gonna need some nice positive feelings to get us through the fortnight.

Some of the news surrounding Sunderland and @#!king Roy Keane is quite funny though. He's talking all about past rivalries and the possibility of signing Paddy Vieira. Well, good luck to that. Heh heh. It'd be nice to see a captain give his manager a knee in the bollocks after taking him off.

Elsewhere, @#!king Robinho is talking out of his @#!king arse - claiming that if Citeh beat Pool tomorrow, then they would be well placed to "win the title". Oh come on. Just #@!$ off, why don't you. Little #@!$. My money's on a comfortable Pool win. I'd be chuffed to see Citeh take anything from Anfield, but let's be honest, the @#!king odds are not good for what is still Manchester City. Let's not get carried away, a-holes. Prediction: Liverpool 3 - Citeh 0.

Not Quite a Review

So we beat Porto 4-0. Yes, I was worried prior to kick-off, but I sure won't start gushing as well. The boys of course done well, but after that performance against Hull, I think we'd better not start taking things for granted. Let's wait a bit and see where this goes. It does not really help to have wins like 4-0 (Blackburn), 3-1 (Bolton), 6-0 (Sheffield United), 4-0 (Porto) punctuated by a 2-1 loss at home against Hull. Gotta do better, methinks.

We went by the whole of a disappointing last season losing three in the league, and two were against Man U and Chelski. We hadn't even got to October, and have already lost two to Fulham and Hull. Unless we go on some kind of super run to May, and whip the likes of Man U, Chelski and Pool, we've got some serious worrying to do.

Fenerbahce are looking horrid, so let's hope that our next game over there is an easy one. In the meantime, let's go get another good result at Sunderland and after that Everton.

There's been some talk about Kolo's comments following the Hull game, where he spoke about being "scared" of Hull. Yes, that looked kinda odd, but I know where he was coming from. All said and done though, he is probably the most experience head out there apart from Mohawk Billy - so if there was any doubt, he should be the one banishing it from the thoughts of his team mates.

We've lost one at home and one away. That's it then. The message is clear as day: keep it sharp, keep it professional, and stop f-ing around - particularly at home.

For those who need some therapy, try the full highlights below.

Arsenal vs Porto 4-0 Highlights 30.09.08 Uefa Champions League

...ill...

Physically sick. Since 2.30am Sunday morning. Can't get out of bed. Overwhelmed by feelings of nausea. Total loss of appetite. Sex drive (thankfully) minimally diminished. Feelings of confusion and incomprehension. Fevered, wakeful sleep. Bordering on hallucinations. What's happening to me?

I think it's Severe Acute Post-Fulham Hull-icitis. I hope it's not chronic. I hear it can lead to suicidal tendencies. Have to go. Please help. Call the ambulance if you don't hear from me by Sunday next.

Pretty Boring

Nothing much happening in the run-up to tonight's game with Hull. The only thing worth noting, I suppose, is what Hull manager Phil Brown (who the F???) had to say about the Kevin Davies tackle:

"...there was nothing wrong with it. If you allow Arsenal to dictate that tackle goes out of the game, then we are finished. We have got that tackle on our side - they have got the technical side of the game on their side. If they are allowed to express that technical side without tackling, without physical contact, we might as well not turn up.”

Yes, strictly, there was nothing wrong with it. But the point is that particularly because of the nature of the tackle, the difference between nothing wrong and a broken leg is a milli-second. If teams think that it is worth that milli-second to risk a fellow professional's career, then they can F off, these half rate "physical" sides. I suppose if that's all you've got, then that's all you've got. Pathetic.

All in all, this could be a tricky tie. Hull will probably dig a moat around the box, stick their 10 outfield players behind the ball, throw in the occasional arrow, battle axe and machete and break a few legs. Considering that they've made the most tackles in the league so far (1,245,598), I hope we bring out chain mail, shields and gauntlets along with the shin pads.

So let's put this down to a 2-0 win. What we really need is an early goal - then let's see what these half rate losers do.

Denilson has come out and said all sorts of nice, optimistic things - and it really is nice to see the boy getting some confidence. From the odd Carling Cup goal, to a handful of impressive starts and goals is really something.

“I am very happy with what I’ve been doing on the pitch. It has been a great start for me and for the team. As games go by, I get more confident."

May he make a certain Mathieu Flamini nothing but a fleeting, not-so-pleasant figment of a distant past. Let's see what he makes of the Milan derby on Sunday.

A little side note as penultimate point. Champions League final in 2011 looks to be headed to Wembley. This is of some personal interest to the Arsewiper. Suppose with finals coming up before that in Milan and Madrid, there should be a good chance of the Arsewiper being at at least one in the near future. Muwahahahaha!!

Better Late than Never

Yes yes - I haven't said anything about our boys' 6-0 win over Sheffield United yet. Not that there's much to say, except "wow". I've seen the highlights (unfortunately, that's all I've seen), and it was truly amazing. Wonder who the boss is going to put out on Saturday. Ramsey? Vela? Wilshere? To have them play at that level, while still having Cesc and Denilson doing the work just gives you a nice fuzzy warm feeling in your gut.

I shan't go into all the adjectives available to describe the game. That's been done in the media already - the same media that ruled us out at the start of the season. So let's just take one game at a time, and look forward to the team that trots out on Saturday.

In the meantime, I'm gonna do justice to a great footie website in www.mightyfootball.com, and embed my first Arse game right here. And what better game to do it with, eh?



While everyone's spewing and gushing about our attacking verve, it was useful that Le Boss also spoke about our defence. Useful point to note: in our five Premiership games, the two goals conceded were from set-pieces, and in the Champions League, from the spot. So no goals thus far from open play. Especially with Hull, we've really got to watch against conceding stupid free kicks in our half, coz I think that's just about the only plausible way they're going to get anything from the Emirates. Evidence: Rooney's retard tackle on Arsely Hole which gave away the free kick on Sunday.

The news is that Gael is back (phew) and Silvestre's actually fit. Alex Song seems to have picked up a knock, which is unfortunate. But with Hull, I think we could dispense with the holding midfielder, and go for a straight 4-4-2. Now, what a nice problem, but which is our best 11 right now? Are we going to go Nasri, Cesc, Denilson, Walcott and then RVP, Ade? I actually think we can rest Ade. Give him something to think about, and stick in either Bendtner or Vela. Both must be just brimming with confidence right now, so why not? And RVP? I think we just play him as much as we can now. Who knows when he's going to pick up a knock.

There's also been some closure to the whole thing with fat ass Platini. Typical of what a loser he is, it took him (as a 53 year old) to have his father giving him a talking to come out and apologise:

"I have been told off by my father who set him on his way at Nancy.''

Yes, and Arsene probably screwed your mother Nancy too. The day I have to publicly admit being told off by my father (at age 53, not 13), is the day I euthanise myself. So maybe Mr UEFA President should take the cue.

Elsewhere, there's all sorts of nice things Cesc has been saying of late, and it all sounds rather Captainy:

“I cannot go to sleep as one day or other they will want to play more and more and the manager will want them to play more. I will have to be better and better. Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida — they all play in my position. This is great for me. I love competition."

“The manager is the best at giving youngsters a chance. No one comes near to him for that. He’s not scared to play everyone. He doesn’t care how old they are. It’s amazing. It’s why we have so many good young players. It’s the club’s policy. The loyalty is there when you see that the manager trusts you since you were 15, 16."

I like his last point in particular. How that gives fat ass Platini any room to criticise our youth policy I don't know. So you have a corps of young players, aged 18-23, firmly loyal to the club that took them in - what's the evil in that? What would the fat ass rather? A club full of short-socked Alexander Hlebs?

Psycho Shit Platini

Some totally bizarre quotes from #@$%! Michel Platini about Le Boss. Here are some of the choice words, which particularly directed against Arsene, seem to be seriously off. He must mean Romano Bloody Bitch or Man City or something. Can't understand what the hell he's going on about. But typical. Always hated that fat piece of shit.

"I like to talk about football, him (Wenger) about business. We must stop with Wenger and all that.''

"That is what makes football so great. It is what people like Wenger do not want, little clubs beating the big clubs, because they want their business.''

Like, what planet is that fat shit from? I think I know what it is. It's this French thing. Fat ass can't stand someone older than him looking decidedly more French, slimmer and cooler than his lard-faced pseudo-French visage.

Some of Le Boss's comments in response are in this story in Soccernet, so see what you all think. I can't see a better boss who stands for the greater good of the game than Arsene, so fat ass must be off his meds.

It's all too bizarre. And oh yeah -- see, Le Boss thinks like me. Video technology is in, I say. Screw the fat psycho. Aaargh. Such unnecessary irritation.

As for more serious matters, first, looks like we're gonna trot out the Arsenal U-21 team for the game with Sheffield United tonight. Excellent I say. Can't wait. What the heck does fat ass have to say about that? It's been a long time since I was excited about a Carling/Littlewoods Cup game, but this is it. Ramsey, Wilshere, Vela, Randall, Merida -- how can anyone not look forward to it? Comfortable 3-0 victory (at least) I say.

There's some quite funny stuff about one of my favourite clubs, Newcastle. Methinks Mike Ashley must have got one of those "I am a rich Nigerian, dying to give you some cash, if you would only give me £10million first" emails. Funneee, to say the least. Let's see. We've got Arabs, Russians, Americans in charge, now there's talk of Nigerians. Had a Thai too. Can't wait to see what happens over at Tyneside.

My Favourite Crap

Absolutely most favouritest thing is the fact that at the end of week 5, what we have is Arse at the top, and Spurs rock-bottom. Played 5, won 0, drawn 2, lost 3. Point differential after five games: 10 points. I suppose since Spurs finished 37 points behind us last season, there's still some work to do. Yes, yes, my friends. Let's go for a top four this season. Who knows, displacing Arse while so doing. Yes, one day. One day. I mean, One Day Ramos seems optimistic enough:

“It is not true. I am delighted to be in London and with Tottenham and I am having a marvellous experience.”

Wonder if it's the shopping he's delighted with.

Other most favouritest things are f course, the fact that (a) Robbie Keane still sucks. Most incredible £20million spent I've ever seen, and (b) his ex-Spurs #$%! is equally crap. That listless, aimless, lazy performance against Chelski was absolutely shocking. Now, I ain't a Man U fan by any stretch of the imagination, but even I could see he was a total disservice to the team -especially in the second half. Another monumental waste of money. Also (c) that Anelka too was totally crap, and (d) that Ronaldo once more showed us why he's just such a detestable diving ugly prick. Moment of the weekend was his yellow card.

But all said and done, this was a pretty nice weekend. Man U should have won, if they had just put in an average second half performance. It was kinda poetic that it was a totally unnecessary Rooney foul that gave away the free-kick that led to Kalou's goal.

Next up is the Carling Cup. Let's give Wilshere and Ramsey a good 90-minute run out, why don't we?

Review: Bolton 1 - Arsenal 3

We're Top of the Table! And what a great way to do it. When ultimate a-hole Kevin Davies scored in the 14th minute, it was a little worried sense of deja vu that came over me. But it wasn't too bad. It helped that Fat Sam's no longer in charge. Any concern, however, was erased at kick off. Our reaction was absolutely stunning. For some 15 minutes after the goal, the football that we played was out of this planet. Quite like nothing the EPL has seen this season. We hit the post twice, and opened up Bolton like they were a...a...erm...a really shit team. (For lack of analogy, I'm telling it as it is). Ade should've scored with his first chance, and Song too could have done better with his header.

Then, would you believe it. Who else, but Eboue who scores the equaliser. Yes, our Eboue. Who now has become the complete midfielder as Le Boss would describe it. haha. Great finish for someone scoring only his first league goal. Bendtner would score a minute or so later at the end of another great move, and it was expected that we would then slow down and take the foot off the pedal till half time.

After the break, Bolton came out, and we had to defend. But there was some maturity in the performance, and we always felt we could break at will. And so we did with goal machine Denilson popping up again to put it to bed late on. It was really quite like bliss.

To the player ratings:

Almunia 7.5 - Several excellent saves, always confident and kept us in the game with great saves at 2-1.

Sagna 7.5 - Excellent as always, and looked just as effective on the left as he always it is on the right.

Toure 7 - Nice, dependable performance again. But the dude had better score soon. Had a good effort today, but just missed. Hope all his recent misses don't put a dampener on his confidence in front of goal.

Gallas 7 - Like Toure, where necessary, looked generally comfortable. Nothing fancy, and a few good challenges here and there. Just what we need, I suppose.

Clichy 7 - Another good show, and we're just all glad his injury has turned out to be okay. Just "bruising" on his shin looks like. He's now got a week to get over it before Hull, so I'm not too concerned.

Eboue 7.5 - Would've given him slightly more, but he had too quiet a start in the second half. But his role in our come-back was incontrovertible. Added to his like little won penalty last weekend, his slightly off-side goal today should get him more confident going forward. Had another brilliant or two to add to his tally. Methinks if he keeps it up, he should score a small handful this season.

Fabregas 7 - Quiet, but still dependable performance by his standards. But I must say - we really should do better with the 17 (!!) corners we had during the game. Note to Le Boss: gotta work on the set-pieces. Bolton scored on one of their first corners, and Cesc should be whipping them in at greater speed and into more dangerous positions. We've got pretty decent people in the box with Toure, Gallas, Ade and Bendtner, so it was a pity we didn't make better use of the corners.

Song 7.5 - Beginning to like him quite a bit. His place in the new-look Cesc-Denilson-Song midfield looks like a brilliant brain-wave from Le Boss. Strong at the back of the two, but also decent going forward. Hit the post, and had a good shot in early in the second.

Denilson 8.5 – He's becoming this season's Flamini. Given the opportunity, he's shining more and more every game. Great assist for the second, and scored his second for the season with a cool finish. Got a good feeling about him.

Adebayor 8 - Would have given him more with his tireless assists and un-selfish play. Played in Denilson for the third and caused headaches all over the place. Should've scored his fourth of the season, but somehow hit the post.

Bendtner 8.5 - It's super encouraging when we can rest RVP and play Bendtner for a full 90 minutes. And what a show. Great ball for Eboue's goal, and finished off his first for the second a minute later. Many great touches, and he's a much stronger physical presence than RVP. Somehow, you get the feeling that's he's morely like to break someone than get crocked by the odd tackle. Which is reassuring, to say the least.

As for the subs, what can I say: our English duo of Ramsey and Walcott were super. Walcott's undoubtedly confident, and my money's on his first league goal next week.

Finally, best performance (9/10) of the weekend for us must go to the guys over at Anfield. Great performance there, to get a goalless draw against Stoke. Thanks dudes. So we're top of the table, and sets up this evening's Chelski - MU game perfectly. Any of the outcomes would suit us just fine. A draw, and we're still top. Chelski win would put MU in great position, and a Chelski loss is just the best feeling ever.

Nice weekend all round.

And our squad is not thin

Right. Earlier than we thought, the depth of our squad is beginning to look suspect, methinks. As we recover from Kiev and look forward to Bolton, it's scary that all we can do is celebrate that there were no new injuries. Yippee. But that means Diaby is as usual still crocked, Nasri is down and Silvestre, is well, Silvestre. WTF is all I can say. Add to this the fact that we bought faulty goods in A Fishy Fishshop (aka Amaury Bischoff) and have to write-off Rosicky, I think the picture should be pretty clear, no?

If we are to read the tea leaves on Rosicky, it must be clear that we will hardly see any more of the poor sod. Here's a particularly sad tea leaf. It's shocking that he hasn't played since January. Has it been that long??? Holy shit. I remember long ago, when he first got crocked that one his Czech coaches warned that this was career ending. Well lo and behold. So we have it. So that's ONE place to be filled, in addition to what's missing in holding midfield. That makes TWO.

As for Diaby. The way he's getting injured, I'll bet my mortgage that he'll also never be a regular, so let's put that down as THREE. Nasri, Silvestre and Fishshop combined aren't much to shout about injury-wise as well, so all in all, we need to do something serious in January - and start praying that we get no further injuries. September is a bit early for injury prayers.

We can't put too much strain on this squad as is. RVP's going to get crocked the time he's putting on the clock. Until Eduardo comes back, Bendtner and Vela aren't ideal. Good, but not good enough for now. Thank god too Alex Song ain't made of glass, so at least we've got one holding midfield position in place. I suppose with Ramsey and Wilshere, we've got kids ready. But that's a litle bit scary, if you asked me.

Review: Dynamo Kiev 1 - Arsenal 1

First off, let's just say I'm not too upset with a draw. First group game in the Champions League, having to play away at not our most favourite venue, one point is not too bad. That said, we should have won it, but nearly lost it. On balance, can't complain and say that this was two points dropped. It could've been an unlikely and painful three. I don't think this alone is going to hurt our chances. If we win all our home games, and sneak two more points (or even one) away from home, we'll still be fine.

As for the game itself, it's funny this review comes after what I said in yesterday's post about referees and rescinding bad decisions. A replay from any angle will show that the fucking cheat (aka Ognjen Vukojevicin - don't ask me how to pronounce it - not a typo) in front of Sagna had hauled him down. It was a pertty devious attempt, and if "simulation" is a yellow card offence, then this is a freaking bordering on red. So let me ask this: will, upon going hom and watching the highlights, the referee and UEFA decide on rescinding the awarded penlaty and the resultant goal? Of course not. For consistency's sake then - let's do away with all post facto decisions. Send bloody Captain Fantastic off to his three-match suspension. As far as refereeing is concerned, I'm not even going to go into the supposed three minutes of added time. Some mention of it here, though.

On the team performance, it was pretty typical of what we went through last season away from home too. Not too adventurous, rather subdued and shackled by a hard tackling home team. There weren't too many at the top of their game - exception maybe Theo and I'd say even Alex Song. He did a pretty decent job as cover for our back four. It was only when he left that the gaps started appearing.

Mohawk Billy has developed a rather useful habit of sneaking in at the far post for crucial goals. It's nice to know that there's always this lurking option which (tired) defences aren't always able to deal with. Theo put in good work for the assist too. Ade and RVP were probably tired from their exertions, and it may have been a better decision to take RVP off earlier. Carlos Vela was sadly ineffectual in the short time he was given - and same could be said of Bendtner when he came on as well.

So, we've got four points from the last two away games - and three in the more important one. Really can't complain. Three more in the next against Bolton and the final prognosis must be that we've done pretty well. After that it's the Carling Cup and Hull at home, so we should be shaping up nicely for the more crucial game at the Emirates against Porto on 30 September.

Alrighty then. Have already lost some sleep. Don't think I'm gonna lost any more for the damn 5.30 kick off against Bolton.

I Wonder How Much Romano paid

Much of the news today is about the red card for Captain Fantastic getting rescinded, and how Sir Alex is like so pissed off. Looks like the old Cap'n will play against Man U next weekend then. Wonder how much Romano Bloody Bitch paid for it. Probably a lot more than last season, since the sheikhs being on board would naturally raise prices.

But. More importantly...besides the fact that Sir thinks the same would never happen following a Man U appeal, the same old stupid question arises: if mistakes are made by referees, and the decisions are allowed to be rescinded post facto, then why shouldn't it be allowed for every damn thing - and not just red cards. It's just so goddamn stupid. If a penalty was given when it was clearly not one, then should the resultant goal be rescinded? If a goal was missed, when it crossed the line, should the goal be added, post facto? If it didn't cross the line? These are altogether more important things that a straight red and three missed games.

So this is what I say should happen. For all potential goals, penalties and straight reds, referees be allowed to instantaneously review it. The 4th official already does nothing but stand there and watch the telly. He can viewa couple of replays, confer with the referee, and a decision can be made in one minute. No hold up to the game, and proper decisions are made. I mean, for chrissakes, the game is held up by the stupidest of things now, like fake injuries, so why can't we put aside 30-60 seconds to keep the game together?

Shameless Evil Part II

There is order and there is madness in the universe.

First, the order. Spurs are rock bottom. One point in four games. Six points adrift of Hull, and two points away from second from the bottom Stoke. Let's see now...Pavlyuchenko, Modric, and my favourite a-hole David Bentley, I sure hope you're all feeling mighty clever with your transfer decisions. Losers. I suppose when a team loses one of their recognised "top two" in Robbie Keane, it really spells trouble for all the losers left behind and considered not as good as Keane. Keane's performance on Saturday against Man U was just classic. Totally useless, luckily left unnoticed. Let's hope Rafa continues picking him. What a useless waste of space on the pitch. Can't even do a proper somersault. Looks like a 5 year old rolling out in garden. But I suppose he ain't gonna have much more opportunity to do that these days.

Next to the madness. The sheikhs at City were reportedly looking at Ronaldo. No, the Brazilian one. I suppose after getting told to f-off by the younger, lighter one, they decided if they couldn't get him, they'd get the older, fatter, more injured, uglier (if at all possible) one. I suppose the sheikhs figured out that since both speak Portugese, it's more or less the same. Same name. Would sell the same jerseys. They'd probably also printed out a few for themselves, then figured they'd better get a player to go with the shirt.

Next thing you know, they're gonna start offering contracts to Pele, Beckenbauer, di Stefano, Muller, Puskas, Maradona (probably comes with free coke), Zico and (so they can sound smart) Socrates. They'd feel mightily chuffed with their own bunch of galaticos.

Wonder what I'd do if I was a City fan. It's a toss up. Do I kill myself now, or wait for a couple of years then do it?

It's times like these, when there's madness in the transfer markets and madness in the financial markets, that you gotta love Arsene Wenger and our board. We ain't Spurs, we ain't West Ham, we ain't Newcastle, we win't City, or Chelsea -- we're Arsenal. If this is the way City are going to get to get their 3 points, they can take it and shove it. No thanks, I say.

Shameless Evil

Yessirree...it's that time of the morning to indulge in some really juicy evil. Not very difficult to do really, given several events in Italy and Spain.

First, of course, there is Milan's second straight defeat of the season. And there they sit, second from the bottom. Zero points. I'm sure Flamini must be having a whale of a time. Bottom of the table, no Champions League...what the !#$% he's doing there, only he knows. But wait a sec. I do know why he's there. Just look at the line up, with the likes of: Maldini, Ambrosini, Zambrotta, Pirlo, Kaka, Shevchenko, Ronaldinho and Pato (on the bench!), I'm sure just being on the same pitch as these dudes would have strange expansionary effects on one's head and testicles. So if he left on a free to pander to his head and testes, then as I've always said, go for it. I see Pato replaced him on 70 or so minutes. Get ready for more time on the bench, dude!

Needless to say, Senderos didn't even make it to the bench. Screw me. Wonder what he thinks about his (alleged) comments re Milan being like the best thing since sliced bread. Almost as good as a ciabatta?

Of course, over in Spain, we also see Barca with one point from two games, a negative goal difference and hovering over the relegation zone. Nice that the ugly Belarussian got his ankle injured too. See that's what happens when you don't wear your socks high enough. At least NOW someone else gets a taste of the idiot's injuries.

Life is good. So Mat, Alex, if you're reading this, you might want to have a little click right here. Hoep this gives you just a little idea of what you're missing. Yeah yeah, I know -- better touch some wood, coz things are liable to come back and bite me on the arse. But hell, that's not going to stop me from gloating while I can.

Review: Blackburn 0 - Arsenal 4

Well, that was satisfying. Ade now has three for the season, and RVP's on three as well. A stroll in the park, and so many positives to take from that, but before I start gushing even more, two points which we should still take note of: some occasional defensive scary moments, and Ade's need to have some practice timing his runs.

First off, Theo - and it was great to see Le Boss giving him a start. He started confidently enough, and did quite a bit to torment the Blackburn defence. He started on the left, and since he later switched to the right, I think we can safely conclude that his preferred side must be the right. Caused so many more problems there - though of course his contribution to the first RVP goal was from his cutting in on the left. Denilson also had a superb game, and for once showed for the full 90 minutes that he could indeed be a full time stand-in in midfield. It was also great to see Song come on, and his contributions were immediately felt. Great stable, confident play in front of the defenders.

As noted earlier, it was great to see Ramsey get a run, and Wilshere too. Feel really happy for Ramsey that it was his excellent through ball that let Ade in for his third. And that second Ade goal - what a string of passes that led to it. Something like 27 touches, and no one touched it. Just yummy. Now to the player ratings:

Almunia 7 – Solid as usual. Never looked in any dubt. Great hands, super distribution. Another clean sheet. Not more you can ask for.

Clichy 7 - A quiet game by his standards, but always dependable still. What a rock.

Gallas 7 - Also a good, reliable quiet performance. No real need for him to get into one of his favourite rants, so we should all be glad.

Toure 7.5 - Gotta love the dude and his new hair. He was all over the pitch, and should have had a goal to his name. Please please please stay fit.

Sagna 7 - Like Clichy, nothing spectacular, but that in itself is already spectacular. Our favoured 4 in defence seem to get better by the game.

Fabregas 7 - For once, the focus was on someone else, but his role in the team is undeniable. His control, vision and distribution were spot on as usual.

Denilson 8 - Excellent. His cross for Ade's goal was inch-perfect. He seems to be gaining in confidence, and he should get a regular start from now on. Put in the tackles, did the running.

Eboue 7 - OK, nothing to complain about here. Put about a reasonably good performance, and did pretty well with the run and fall to earn us the penalty.

RVP 7.5 - Great opening goal. Put in another great show behind Ade. Though every time he gets a knock, I'm like...oh shit...

Ade 8 - He somehow makes these hat tricks look really pedestrian and simple. He could've had 5 or 6. He really needs to time his runs better, and once he does that...man, what he could do with the service from the likes of Cesc and Denilson.

Theo 8- Confidence does wonders, and as a result, showed a moment or two or selfishness. Good for the boy, but some of his shooting was still indicative of a 19 year old. Had a good time watching him go at the Blackburn defence.

Looking Ahead

So at last. A 3pm kick-off. And there's a whole lot of weird shit out there about Theo, and how DESPITE his heroics against Croatia, he may not even start in the game against B-burn. Before I get to that, a few words about his goals.

Yes, yes, England won, despite what I said. But I'm glad I was wrong - for the only reason that Theo made the difference. My word, those were some stunningly efficient finishes. Just pure class - and I suppose given his propensity to let a few get away in the first 3 games this season, it was only a matter of time before something clicked. It only happened during an international, and we can only hope that it similarly clicks in a few of his games with Arse. He'll get there, but I agree fully with what the boss has said:

"I don't know [if Walcott will be involved], I will have to rotate the squad in the next three games. You cannot expect the players who have played in their national teams can play three times in a week. We have a very compact squad and people are interchangeable.”

“People will expect him to score four goals on Saturday now...You never get better treatment [from opposition players] when you are known to be dangerous.”

Typical of the English press, they all find it really strange that after having scored three goals, Theo might be put on the bench. Of course he would, and should! There are three difficult away games coming up, and which stupid boss would risk throwing in his 19 year old wunderkid to start in all three? And anyway, it's Blackburn and fat Ince. We may just do enough with Eboue.

As for the game itself. Well, I suppose we no longer have Lehmann in goal, so there's one source of comfort if we're thinking of last season's game. But sadly, no Nasri. He would've been useful. Maybe we'll see Ramsey come on at some point. He really should. I'm dying to see him in a proper competitive game, and his fresher legs should come in useful. So if we're 1-0 up, and B-burn are chasing the game, let's see the boy come on.

Alrighty. Enough of this. There's also a whole lot of stupid things going on about transfer targets. But seeing how January is quite a few turns of the calendar away, I'm not even going to go near that.

Final Destination

So here's the scene. Ade and his mates are hanging around at an airport, waiting to board a plane, when suddenly waking from a catnap, Ade starts yelling that the plane's gonna crash. He just knows it. He saw it. He makes a scene, causes a delay, and the whole world curses the damn idiot for delaying their flight. As a compromise, he says that he'll only get on if the President of the Togo FA gets on as well. As is always the case with these horror flicks, the guy doesn't. So Ade never gets on. In his own words:

"My life is very dear to me and, if we have to go down, we'll all go down together with the president. There are rumours that, if we get on, the aircraft will go down."

What a freak man. Now nobody's gonna want to get onto a plane with him - to Turkey, Ukraine, Portugal, Newcastle, whatever. What the F. Can you imagine if it were poor Dennis, after having been urged to get on a plane...to have this shit happen?? But if it's some elaborate ploy to get out of a game, what a way to do it man. Gotta hand it to him.

In the meantime, looks like Roman Pavlyuchenko has gotten into the mix of things at Spurs. He says:

“At the Spurs camp they put it to me like this – score against Arsenal and you are a hero.”

What a loser. Just try scoring a goal against ANYONE in the first place. (Own goals not counted). If that's what it takes to be a hero at White Hart Lane, then they really have got lower standards than I ever thought. Pathetic.

Looking ahead to Blackburn, I must say I'm anticipating it with much less dread than I would have in the past. Somehow, Blackburn without Mark Hughes isn't really the same. Just like Bolton without Fat Sam. In fact, with another fat ass Paul Ince in charge, I'm feeling mightily confident of a good result. Has anyone seen the waist on the dude? It must be like 40" or something. What a disgrace.

In the meantime, can't wait to see England lose against Croatia. It's gonna be fun reading the papers on Thursday morning.

Signings that never were

Well, first off, let me saw that Arse tried to sign me at the end of the last transfer window. I swear to god, they did. Arsene in fact called me, at about 2300hrs GMT, and there I was talking to Milan on one cellphone, Barca on the other, and Manchester City on the land-line. It was like freaking a mess! Couldn't they have called me earlier?? So in any case, I was sitting in a real cool club with two chicks on my lap, and I couldn't really hear any of them, so I told them to F off. If they were really serious, they'd have called me earlier. There's just no more damn respect in this game anymore.

But let's see what they do come February. I'm sure I'll tell you again they tried to call me right at the close of business.

Right next to me was my friend Stephane M'bia. Now, I know nobody's really heard of him, but he's an alright dude. He cleans his own boots, and when he kicks his ball out of play, he's the sort to get it himself, and not wait for another one to get thrown back in. He's a decent chap. But right after Arsene called me, his phone rings, and I think Arsene tried to sign him as well. This is
what Stephane said:

"Everyone knows there are clubs that are after me, that is not new, Arsenal made contact in the last hours of the past market but the club did not want to let me go. Rennes is looking to improve my pay, I have already decided to stay here against my wish, however everyone knows I want to move to the Premier League to improve myself and play in the biggest league in the world."

This is serious shit, okay! I mean, even Sky Sports has reported it. Not some goal.com gossip.

But whatever, transfer window's closed. Who gives a flying F. We nearly signed Bozo the Clown, but I think City got to him first.

So enough blah blah. Much ado about England, Capello, and how Bilic thinks England are crap. Of course England are crap. Holy shit. Does it take a Slaven Bilic to tell anyone that. And I must add, it ain't anybody's fault, let alone Arsenal's French dudes.

Reflections on Madness

Well, first the main point must be the disappointment of Arse falling well short in all the transfer activity. It really sucks on many levels. There I was, on the Arse website, wondering if perhaps the news would come first there. But screw me, all that was new was Wenger spewing shit about Eboue. Was that supposed to make us feel better? That somehow, we didn't need another midfielder? Then, that was replaced by some words about how Carlos Vela is going to be just great. Yes, but what about fucking now? I think it's absolute shit that Wenger hasn't yet come out and said anything about why nothing happened, despite his earlier point about signing one more. It's all a bit odd, really, and the silence had me more optimistic in the initial stages after the close of business.

The sad fact, though, is that we're just left feeling as if we missed the bus. Some Arabs came, and will one fell swoop, changed the direction of news.

But the greatest concern must be what Cesc must be thinking. Who the heck's going to be his foil? Denilson? Eboue? Diaby? Song? Even in the most optimistic scenarios, where nobody gets injured, we're still far short of both League and Champions League contention based on this. Are we really going to make a run of it with Eboue as Mr Midfield Fix It? If come December, we're off the pace, and Le Boss doesn't go out and get some real reinforcements, then I won't bet against Cesc leaving in the off season. And THAT, my friends, would not be a nice thought. For all the arguments about Wenger's lack of ambition, I'm not sure he's made any arguments that say anything about his short-term ambitions.

At the other extreme end of Arse's lack of movement is of course, City. Now that is real madness. All said and done, with the Arabs' desire to make the club the new Chelski, by bringing in a new bunch of galaticos, the one person who must be shivering in his pants must be Mark Hughes. All due respect, he ain't gonna make it. Give him two draws and a loss against United, and he'll be out of it. How people can talk about bringing Ronaldo, Robinho, etc etc etc to City, and expect to standy by Hughes is beyond me. His days are numbered. I give him till November.

And finally, there's all that funny business about Kevin bloody Keegan. Is he sacked? Is he not? I suppose he was asked to resign, and he just hasn't done it yet. haha. So much for his stupidity, stupid behaviour, stupid decision to play Barton, and stupid face. Just go away. Who cares about Newcastly and their fat owner? They are sooooo out of it.

Oh Damn...

Transfer season is over. And there was nothing. Zip. Our last buy was Silvestre. Can't get over the excitement. I really cannot figure out what the boss has up his sleeves. Maybe he's thinking of Eboue as cover in the middle of the park, as our missing holding midfielder? Or maybe he's lined Rosicky's bones with adamantium? Damn. It's really really really frustrating when this was supposed to be a stronger team from last season, and all we've done is sold off more than we've brought in. If nothing was going to happen on the transfer market, the least we could have done was keep Gilberto. We even signed a goddamn injured unknown in Amaury Bischoff.

But who knows. Maybe when the sun rises tomorrow (in England), there'll be news of a middle-of-the night signing.

Elsewhere, we hear that City (yes, they've ditched the Thai name) have become an Arab team, and has join the ranks of those inhabiting the Emirates Stadium. Signed Robinho for £32.5m. Screw me. It's bloody hilarious all that's happening in the wrong part of Manchester. Can't wait for it to head the way of Leeds. And that El Pathetico Robinho must be really desperate. Mark Hughes must be wondering what the hell hit him. Let's see Citeh run into a string of bad results. Poor Sven must also be shell shocked. But who cares.

So Flamini made his debut at the San Siro, and it must have been fun being in the team that loses at home to a newly-promoted team the first day of the season. Hope he gets used to it, and to hanging around a bunch of geriatrics and has-beens. Maldini, Pirlo, Inzaghi, Seedorf, Shevchenko...granted, with the likes of Ronaldinho, there will be flashes of brilliance, but it's his life, so good luck to him. Wonder where Philippe was. Not on the bench, so maybe he was out house hunting. But since he's only going to be there a season, he'd better start house hunting somewhere near the south coast of England, or up the other end, near Boro. Let me say it again. I like the boy, but if he for a second thought that he was leaving for greener pastures, he is so bloody wrong. Poor guy.

Now let's see. Who else lost on opening day to a newly-promoted team?? Oh yes. Barca. Where some idiot Belarussian didn't even make the starting line-up. How sweet it is to see Samir Nasri scoring goals, and with his socks pulled up right. One more thing. Total attendance at Numancia: 10,000. Let's put it in perspective. Twice that many people watched Leeds in League One at Elland Road on the weekend. So if that's what gets Hleb excited, good for him too.

I'm gonna have something to say later, probably tomorrow, on that yellow card for Nasri. If there's retroactivitiy in the issuing yellow cards that the referee missed, shouldn't there be the same for penalties wrongly given, penalties missed, red cards missed? Goals missed? Stupid refereeing system had better change soon...

Review: Arsenal 3 - Newcastle 0

Well, this is as good a time as any to get back into this. Quite a few things to talk about, related to the game and otherwise.

All in all, more of the same: a 3-0 drubbing over a dismal Newcastle team. It could have, and should have been more. It's good to see the confidence back in the team, and honestly, apart from the defeat to Fulham, we've conceded only one goal since the start, and scored 10 goals in the league and Champions League. Yes, we're talking about Twente, West Brom and Newcastle, but they were still competitive matches. Not some Burgenland runabout.

To the player ratings:

Almunia 7 -Another comfortable game. The few times he was involved, he looked pretty confident.

Sagna 7 - Well, little left to say these days except Bacary has set really consistently high standards for himself. He keeps it up, the boy. Not sure how he does it. In control, and as always, both a threat upfront and reliable at the back.

Toure 7 - A really good, quiet game. I think we missed him. Djourou has stood in well, but Kolo's in a different league. Should've scored.

Gallas 7 - A good game for the captain. Wonder what Silvestre must've been thinking sitting in the stands with Paddy Vieira - "am I going to be stuck in the Carling Cup???"

Clichy 8 - Ditto as with Sagna. Don't think I need to say anymore...which is good and bad really. Hope never to talk him for granted.

Eboue 7 - OK OK...he did have a pretty decent game. Set up the second goal too. Credit where it's due, but let's hope he keeps it up.

Denilson 8 - Yes, at last, the game we've been waiting for the boy. He even scored. Maybe he was just sick of being next to Eboue the last couple of games. But yes, this is hopefully sign of things to come.

Cesc 8 - We so so so missed him. It's almost scary. Had a quiet game by his standards, but still managed to pull all the strings almost effortlessly.

Nasri 8.5 - At times, he made some scarily good runs on the ball. Great movement, passing and energy. He's going to be sooo much better than Hleb. Have given him extra credit for taking out that fuck Joey Barton. We'll talk about Barton's challenge and smirk later, but let's just say his take out with just that oh-so tiny flick of his foot was just brilliant. Well worth a yellow card. What the hell moron King Kev was raging about was another thing. What did he want? A lifetime suspension? Time behind bars? Just an absolutely fucking stupid twat for raving at Samir after the game and to the media. He has so lost the plot. But more later.

RVP 8 - Yay. He scores! Great all around. Nice penalty, second goal and all. But but but. Gets injured with what looks like an innocuous nick. Oh sigh. Maybe it's just a secret ploy to get him off international duty next week. heh heh heh.

Adebayor 8 - Good performance that deserved a goal. Won the penalty, assisted in the second and third goals, and was just a pain all day long for the Newcastle defence. He'll score soon if he keeps it up. But his work rate is just excellent.

As for the subs, it was good run for Carlos Vela, and I can see him making a few actual starts. Really encouraging, and seems to have a good head. He should give Eduardo a good run for his money. Theo made a good appearance too, though he really should've scored at the end of a dream Arse move.

Now, where were we? Oh yes: bloody Kev and Barton. First, let's just say that yes, his challenge was alright. But it was a millimetre away from a straight red. It was unnecessary, and we all know it was meant to signal his return. The smirk at the end to Samir was just typical, brainless thug shit. How he can get away from that is just amazing in the first instance. But of course, nobody saw it except the millions on TV. Great the Samir didn't react then, and saved it for later. That was one yummy nick. Good on the boy.

Of course, now that Kev has decided to go ballistic, it should be clear to all that the man has lost it. What business he has bringing back to thug for 2 minutes, then raving about something like a "dangerous" challenge is just surreal. Someone ban him for senility. Poor useless twat.

There's gonna be a good game tonight. Honestly, I just love ties like Chelsea v Spurs. Basically, no matter what happens, I'll be happy. Chelski win will mean Spurs (4th place Spurs) will have gotten off to the flying start of three straight losses, and rock bottom. Just absolutely brilliant. A draw would mean that Chelski have dropped points, and of course - if the miracle happens (which it won't) then nothing better than Chelski dropping three. A win-win-win situation for me, looks like.

Finally, there's some bullshit out there about Senderos saying AC Milan are a better team that Arse. Well, I like the boy, and let's say he just misspoke out of his arse. But let's not forget that he's on loan. He's still got to come back, and all sorts of shit can happen should he (likely) flop at Milan...

One day left in the transfer window. I really do love surprises, and I think Le Boss has a big one in store.

More when that happens.

Boycott

Just a note to say that in response to the utter crap that I witnessed from 12.30am to 2.30am on Sunday morning, I will not be writing any further until I see a worthy performance. There is no point going on about how crap it was, who was particularly crap, and why we were. That's bloody Arsene Wenger's job, and if he can't see the problems, then that's the real problem. It was pathetic. To lose our second game of the season, to Fulham no less, scoring only one goal in two games...just makes it all the clearer that we surely ain't going to be challenging for shit with this team and this attitude. For the first time in yonks, I was actually ashamed of putting on an Arse shirt during the weekend.

Some pointers in case Le Boss needs them:

First, I don't see how a Denilson-Eboue central midfield can play anywhere other than the League One. We might as well have started with nine men.

Second, Theo was particularly crap. Too predictably predictable.

Third, Gallas is no fucking captain if he can't raise his team against Fulham.

Fourth, RVP looked like he needed a nap.

Fifth, if not for Clichy and Sagna, the rest of the team might just have fallen asleep.

Sixth, why not put on Ramsey and Wilshere at the hour mark? What the worse that could've happened? We surely couldn't play any more crap.

Ah. Fuck it. I'm not going to lose any more sleep for these shit games at shit kick-off times.

What a Damn Week

Well, first, the long lay-off has been necessary as I tend to Arsewiper Sr, but that aside, what a strange week it has been in terms of transfer news eh?

I must admit that the first I saw of it was a little story (The Sun was it?) that we were taking a look at Mikael Silvestre. My first thoughts of course were, yeah yeah yeah. We've heard so much shit over the summer, but isn't it a bit late in August for this??? Then lo and behold, we sign the dude. Did Arsene just happen to walk by the One Pound Shop? Did he lose a bet? What on earth was he thinking?? We offer a 2-year deal to the 31 year old dude when we wouldn't give Bobby Pires anything more than a year? I must say while I've been tried to be open minded about the many criticisms over the move, this little piece of injustice has got to me the most.

But that said, we could be in for a surprise. Look at it this way. First, the sales of Vieira, Henry and Pires showed us that Le Boss knows for sure, and he has been spot on, that he knows when players are slightly past their best. Then, there's been talk that if he ain't good enough for Man U, why is he good enough for us? Well, consider this. Vieira was never good enough for AC Milan. Henry never good enough for Juve, and Bergkamp never good enough for Inter. But they came, they played and they conquered.

I can see Silvestre as not the best, but decent cover at the back. With talk of Djourou possibly heading off, and Traore getting loaned out, perhaps it makes some sense. He won't be a pillar, but he should be useful should any of our back four need a break.

Don't get me wrong. I'm far from a Silvestre fan. It's already damn difficult seeing his picture all over the Arse website with his new #18 shirt. But I'm the eternal optimist. I'd put some money on him scoring at least one goal this season too. Frank McLintock for one thinks we've got ourselves a real deal!

In the meantime, of course, there's still the silly rumouring going on about Gareth Barry. Stories abound, but this one has Le Boss deciding only after the draw for the group stage next week. Quite cute in a way. What? He's going to say: "Hmmm...ok. It's all shit teams. We won't need Gareth for these games, and we'd sit him out anyway. So okay, let's sign the cup-tied idiot now."

All said and done though, I do think we'll buy one more for sure. Since the news is that Xabi Alonso has been priced out, I won't rule out anyone. If we can sign Silvestre, it could be literally ANYONE!

It's Fulham tomorrow. We're gonna unleash some Shock and Awe at Craven Cottage with Alex Song and Mikael Silvestre! (I hate these # !#%^&*! 5.30pm kick-offs. Do people not know that there's half the universe who'll have to watch the game at 12.30am?!?! And so many more of them to come. Damn these Sky people messing with us!)

Review: Arsenal 1 - West Brom 0

Well, first the few positives: Nasri, 3 points, another clean sheet. That's it I guess. Now the player ratings, which should be self evident:

Almunia 7 - Another dependable performance. Had little to do other than one or two key saves. Good confidence builder yet again.

Sagna 8 - As always, one of the team's star performers. You really can't fault him. It's scary to think what we'd do without him, both in defence and in attack.

Djourou 7 - A pretty quiet, generally dependable but unspectacular performance. Not much more we can expect from a stand-in centre-back, but should prove to be a longer-term deputy to Toure or Gallas.

Gallas 7 - Reliable performance too. Nothing to complain about, though I wonder what that was all about when he seemed to want to get into a scuffle with Djourou. Yes, the boy may have let something in on goal, but c'mon cap...

Clichy 8 - Together with Sagna, the rock of our team at the back and going forward. How he keeps up the performances while his team-mates stagger along I don't know. Staggering.

Walcott 6 - Another disappointing display. Did he even play? Fell over too easily, too many stray crosses. Not good. I'm sure Le Boss may be fast losing patience. He may be given one or two more chances, but I don't see this lasting too long.

Eboue 5- Well, Eboue is Eboue. And when I saw him in the centre of midfield in the pre-game line-up, I shuddered in fear. All in all, since he was on the pitch, let's just say it could have turned out a lot worse. We can just be happy that nothing untoward happened and continue to wonder why Le Boss keeps him around.

Denilson 7 - Not too bad at all. But maybe this was because West Brom gave us sooo much room. Not Cesc by any stretch of the imagination, and he does look good next to Eboue. Like Walcott, Le Boss will probably give him a few more run-outs, but once we buy a more experienced midfielder...who knows.

Nasri 8 - Well, after 3 minutes, we were told why he replaced Hleb. He can erm, like...score goals. A great debut. Appeared all over the pitch. Looked like everything creative we could offer had him involved. Extremely encouraging. Let's just hope he keeps fit.

Bendtner 6 - Alright, but nothing to shout about. Nothing much else to say really...

Adebayor 6 - Extremely frustrating as always. Always at the centre of things, but never really making full use of his chances. We could see why Milan and Barca didn't want to pay that kind of money for him. He just gets so many chances, but the fact that he didn't score seems to exemplify all that went wrong for us.

We no doubt started like a house on fire, and should've been two up within the first 10-20 minutes. Then, we reverted to what we knew best. That is, dominance, nice passing, but...

West Brom gave us the space that Twente didn't, which was why we could play. But let's not expect the same charity from the likes of Boro or Blackburn, so we must be disappointed all in all. But 3 points is 3 points, and the fact that "Top 4 Spurs" lost to Boro makes it so much sweeter.