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Arsenal Versus Nobody: What I Did On My Holidays – Part 1
It never ceases to astonish me just how much I accomplish from the moment the curtain falls on the football season. It seems illogical. The game itself is played over ninety minutes and even allowing for added time and the fifteen minute break for the players to enjoy their oranges and a vigorous rub down […]
Arsenal Versus Aston Villa: History Beckons
I didn’t bother going out for my usual ride yesterday. The west of England was suffocated under a bleak grey cloud. An unseasonably cold wind drove the rain remorselessly down deserted streets and across the sodden green fields. The mountain bike remained in the shed and I remained in front of my computer intending to […]
Arsenal Versus West Brom: The Final Curtain
I was driving down the A367 yesterday afternoon on the way to a garden centre. A part of the ancient Fosse Way, the A367 once rang to the hob nailed Caligae of the Roman Legions but nowadays is home to a series of pedestrian crossings and a seemingly unending sequence of roadworks. In short it’s […]
Arsenal Versus Sunderland: Missing The Point
What a different Arsenal team this is from the one which faced Sunderland all those weeks ago. Months ago in fact. I don’t know if your memory stretches all the way back to October when we last played the Black Cats but I had to go and look up the game to remember it – […]
Arsenal Versus Man United: Sitting This One Out
I shan’t be watching this afternoon. My wife has made other plans for me and if you’ve ever met my wife then you know how wise I am to smile sweetly and just miss the match. To be honest it’s only Man United and I shouldn’t have a problem avoiding the score until the game […]
Arsenal Versus Swansea: A Little Mozart To Lift My Mood?
Curious feeling this. Like floating weightlessly after months of rolling helpless in the furious cataract of storm torn seas. This gentle drift towards the end of the season, while all the time the gradual background hum of excitement builds at the prospect of an FA Cup final. These two contradictory emotions running side by side. The title […]
Arsenal Versus Hull: Credit Where It’s Due
Manchester United have provided us with an admirable cast of pantomime villains over the years. Defectors from within our ranks like Persie and Stapleton, outrageous talents who preferred history to remember them as diving, whining cry babies like the lesser Ronaldo, and revolting cheats like Nistelrooy. Despite these and many others and despite Ferguson’s corrupt […]
Arsenal Versus Chelsea: Barbarians At The Gate
When all this started for me it was Leeds. The devil, incarnate in eleven all white outfits. Then, for a while, it wasn’t really anybody. Or rather it was everyone and it was no one. It became Liverpool in the eighties and more recently it was Man United. Now it is Chelsea. Of all of […]
Arsenal Versus Reading: Time To Dunk The Biscuitmen
Bill Oddie Bill Oddie, Rub your beard all over my body, Geoff Bailey Geoff Bailey, Rub your beard all over me daily. I wonder if we’ll get a replay of last year’s FA Cup semi final. I watched it again as a part of my preparation for Saturday afternoon and it was a real nail […]
Arsenal Versus Burnley: Arsène Versus The Reptiles
Like many of us I was deeply saddened to wake yesterday to the news of the death of Richie Benaud. Sport lost another of the good guys and in the world of sports media that leaves a very short list indeed. Among the tributes being paid many people, myself included, shared Richie’s tips for commentators, […]