It would appear that someone has taken my “trying to teach quantum physics to parrots” quip and run with it.

Here it is then, a guest post from Jayfree LordGunner Szczesny via our partners at OTBAG.  Enjoy, I did.  PG

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I set out in my own little way to try and teach quantum physics to parrots, seeing there are far too many these days. As an avid reader of this blog I may not hit the great heights of the usual writers but I will simplify it a bit to a level even the moaning parrots can understand. I do love history and a stat or two, but not today.

Rather, I’ll be looking at the period 2005 to now that created the Great Schism amongst our fan base.

In 2006 we reached our first ever Champions League final which was swiftly followed by a move to the majestic Emirates stadium coupled with a state of the art training ground in the shape of the Colney. However the lack of any trophy in the following years delivered a schism that showed the true colour of every Arsenal fan.

Judging by what detractors, moaners and haters have made of this period one would assume it has all been stagnation and mediocrity. This is very far from the truth with the club achieving so many club bests and records, not to mention the avoidance of the pitfalls that befall many a club following a change of stadium (e.g Man City, Wigan and Nottingham).

With the Anti-Arsenal crescendo growing there was emergence of a true and intelligent fan base to rival the camp made up of lazy journalists with half baked lies, moaners, glory hunters and other such filthy ilk. I prefer to call them the parrots, repeating the same old lies over and over in hope we all fall for them as gospel truths.

However, much to the chagrin of our club’s enemies, we stood firm in our faith and support.

The parrots seeing they were destined for an epic failure resulted to spreading doom and gloom. The other option  for them was to label the true, faithful, loyal and intelligent fans as AKBs, blind, deluded, sycophants etc. This was a serious case of the blind choosing to ridicule the sighted for being far-sighted. It also leaves one asking: if our most decorated manager doesn’t know best then who does? The idle bloggers with zero games managed? The social media account holders who have become experts on scouting, injuries, signing, tactics etc.  Or even the journalist who would earn more as a manager if he could but only put his footballing theories to the test.

Maybe it still remains to be seen who is deluded.

But when you sit there asking us not to support EVERY player in our shirt then you are clearly deluded. Delusion is a guy who has never even managed a Sunday school team having the arrogance to  ask us to agree with all his doom and gloom, trust his untested opinion rather than that of our most successful manager.  You can write a million blogs on surgery but I wouldn’t trust you over a proven surgeon, no day no way.  Would you rather be a sycophant to a moaning blogger who knows next to nothing about managing a football team or a sycophant to a manager of the decade?

Wait, don’t answer that.

Some typical examples of parrot lies include the following gem:  The players don’t have heart.

While this may be true of those who left us (like Adebayor, Cole, Nasri?) for more money or to ride on the backs of others for a quick trophy (Cesc, RvP?), it is certainly not true for those who stay and fight for the shirt.  As you moan and throw your toys out of the pram, the likes of Diaby, Ramsey, Sagna stayed and put their bodies on the line for us.  At the very least, they deserve our love, support and respect.

A common lie that we have all heard is that the club is not ambitious and Arsene has money to spend.  Which of course he never spends, season in season out. I guess having a blog, working for a local tabloid or even owning a social network account makes you, as an individual more ambitious than those who actually kept us stable having overseen an ambitious move to a new stadium.  A move, incidentally, others such as Spurs and Liverpool, are STILL struggling to make. If Arsene had kept back £60m every season, his mattress would have hit the ceiling by now. Anybody with half a brain will know we have not been in the financial shape to compete with Man Utd or the sugar daddy clubs.

Then somebody yells: even smaller clubs spend more than we do! And that is why you have Rangers, Portsmouth, Coventry, Leeds etc paying the price.

A realistic Arsenal fan  – a sincere fan – would never ask the club to spend beyond our means knowing it could put us in a shallow grave.

The most comical parroted lies touch on the manager.

How many times have you come across this crap that the manager doesn’t do tactics, the manager doesn’t train defence or know how to buy a defender?  But these people – many of whom write on social media, maybe the odd pundit who has failed as a manager or as a blogger who has managed zero games, knows less about tactics than a League Two manager, let alone Arsenal’s best manager and, again, incidentally, the EPL Manager of the Decade.  Some of the best defenders in our history like Campbell, Toure, Cole, Lauren, Sagna, Koscielny etc, are all HIS buys. Holding the European record of 996 minutes, the unbeaten season, all apparently achieved without Arsene bothering to get around to training the defence are all obviously HUGE contradictions.

In all this I have discovered we have several types of parrots.

The first type of parrots are the Trophy Hungry Brigade who demand a trophy at all costs. They will use history to tell you we are a big club that fails if it does not get a trophy, yet they tell you don’t use recent history of Arsene trophies to appreciate him. Of this group Bergkamp wondered whether they love Arsenal or just Arsenal with trophies.

The second group are the Moaners. This is the most absurd group, crying and whining instead of supporting.

The Moaners crumble at the first sign of difficulty but are the FIRST to blast the players for not showing heart.

Moaning at every signing, every substitution and every line up. This group has already predicted Sanogo will flop.   Amusingly, just like they did with Koscielny and many others before him. After predicting every player will flop they do get a perverted we told you joy when it doesn’t work out for a player. The hindsight moans after every line up and substitution could be the subject of a great satire. Ramsey has left them with egg on their faces, but even now, they STILL think they know best.

The third type are the Pseudo Experts – among them the bloggers, the journalists and managerial failures turned pundits. The first two use misleading headlines and twisted stories to spread their Anti Arsenal/Arsene agenda. The pundits talk too much over how practicing managers aren’t doing the simple A,B,Cs of the game whereas they failed or dare not try.  Turns out it could just be peer jealousy.  Arsene once said he “is paid to manage they are paid to talk”. Well we all know talk is cheap, so let them talk.

The fourth type are the trolls from other clubs who masquerade as Gooners to be part of the anti Arsenal/Arsene agenda. Their agenda is to act as a catalyst to self destruction, attempting crudely to push us over the edge. They paint a picture of an Arsenal fan who is always angry, frustrated or bitter with his club, management and players.  Sadly for them, we see through them all.

The true genius of our manager has been seen in adversity.

The loyalty of our true fans has been seen in adversity.

The manager deserves to be hailed for the ambitious move to Emirates and how competitive he has kept us against all odds.  Paul Kaye and his mates unveiled the ‘GEORGE KNOWS BANNER‘ not only as a tradition but a show of our class. True fans like myself never fear parrots and we always chant, ‘ARSENE KNOWS BEST’. We are never afraid or shy to proclaim always, ‘IN ARSENE WE TRUST‘.  A true fan stands for something and never falls for anything or gets blown by the winds of doom and gloom.  You will never find a better, stable and more successful 17 years in our history. Never forget it took us 44 years to build and rebuild for our first ever trophy.

On the subject of celebrating fourth, a certain King Henry made it clear that in our celebrations we were happy to prove our detractors wrong and to bamboozle the enemy, nothing more nothing less.

With better days ahead keep the faith and support Arsenal.

I can be found on Twitter as: @LordgunnerJefri

Jayfree LordGunner Szczesny (Facebook)

Some players just look right in an Arsenal kit.You couldn’t see them in any other .Some join other clubs and you come all over Gok  Wan when watching them (I better explain that!) and find yourself shaking your head saying “no, no that’s just not you”.

It’s not just our club,I mean Glen Hoddle ‘looks spurs’ just as much as Thierry ‘looks Arsenal’,but the man who looked Arsenal more than anyone who wore the red & white and carried the canon with style,skill and that ‘we ain’t losing this one attitude’ just happens to be my favourite player David Rocastle.

I was fortunate enough to be at wembley to see him pick up his first winners medal,a league cup against the Scousers ,and I bet he was as gutted as me a year later when we lost to Luton.

He was that type of player.

One of us.

The fan on the pitch.

He never gave up and we loved him,always will.

1989 saw him pick up his first title on that magical night at Anfield .Again I was lucky enough to be there and I remember at the end Rocky came overwith his great big smile and his dancing eyes.

He had been amazing in that game,in fact you’d have trouble remembering a duff appearance from our number 7. I think Arsene would have loved him and i think the feeling would have been mutual.

He went onto win another title for us in a team that lost just once that season, but George Graham had started to play him central,frustrating for us who loved his banana shaped passes up the line,his powerful running and his knack  of scoring beautiful  and important goals,(look up the league cup semi final at the lane and the one that kissed the bar on the way in against the Mancs at Old Trafford).

He was a tough so and so too,his comment about the brawl at Old Trafford(for which Arsenal were docked 2 points but went on to win the league anyway) was typical-” it was our team mate, our little blood brother in trouble. They were kicking Nigel (Winterburn) like a nighclub brawl. Thats what got us upset. if it was just a bad tackle,you wouldn’t go in like that,no chance. But when I saw them kicking Nigel,I ran over thinking ‘you can’t have this’ we went in there and stuck up for each other. At Arsenal we never started fights-we just finished them”.

Despite playing in every league game the following season something was obviously up and Graham sold him to Leeds via that famous conversation between the 2 men in a car ,which left Rocky in tears.

He didn’t want to leave,he knew where he was loved but George clearly had reservations about the players knee injury, which ultimately was correct.

He went on to play for Leeds and Man City ,never reaching the heights he had at the Arsenal, where young players coming into a dressing room full off strong characters were welcomed always first ,and encouraged by Rocky.

That speaks volumes for him.

You will find no-one who has a bad word about him and where his name is still sung at every game to this day,he died tragically ,way too young ,but is remembered always by his fellow gooners.

I’d like to think he’s up there being watched by a grinning Geordie Armstrong in his red & white kit.

As and forever our number 7 .Terroriisng old spurs defenders! He wore it well, in fact no-one has ever worn it better

For a change from the kind of poetry I normally write, I decided to do another one about the Arsenal. If you haven’t seen my first (and probably better) effort at poetry about Arsenal, take a look at my poem on the first 5-2 that i wrote last October HERE

We start this off in no-mans land,
Where hours trickle like hourglass sand,
The quietness has some of us fearing the worst
Where every single day feels like August 31st,

Some get so stressed, they feel physical pain,
Fearing we may lose our stars is the bane,
For the ones we covet, they fear the persuasion of cash
But one good signing and negativity is gone in a flash

Seeing us do “nothing”, some cannot abide,
They scream “Sack Wenger, cast him aside”
some of us are accused of “blind faith and madness”
but expecting Messi will lead to disappointment and sadness

The transfer window is descending quickly
They way it contorts us is terribly sickly
Each day a new “In the Know” trumpets his horn
We are left hoping he’s not another Fairthorne

Eagerly clinging to every rumour and whisper,
Each new piece of news is a little bit crisper,
Caught-offside spin their merry tales,
While ITKs refer to top secret emails.

Don’t be desperate for the sulia linked tidbit
You’re lining the pockets of those spouting bullshit,
yet for some, not seeing Arsenal is the real sorrow
Fear not, the season is but 78 days from the morrow

The yearning for Cesc made twitter get hectic,
But if he goes to United, they’d be apoplectic,
Strangely people are still not over Mata or M’Vila,
But hey, that new French kid might just be killa,

Every single day, twitter is abuzz about a rumour,
a certain Zef Kolombi, was a terrific bit of humour,
Some players have medicals lasting forever,
suggesting we sign Barton or Samba is not very clever.

Some crazy things happen when the window is ajar,
like Peter Odemwingie, driving to QPR
Pardew the patriot will brush up on his French
and City will buy someone to keep Nasri on the bench

Liverpool will probably pay yet another ridiculous fee,
while the Arsenal sign a whizkid on the cheap or for free,
Hughes and Stoke will spend lots yet still stumble,
While Spurs will dream big, but lose Bale and then crumble

What transfer window is complete without Arry Redknapp,
Everyone’s a trrfic player he tried to sign once but Snap!
Sky will show him often in the window of his 4 wheeler
As he declares “Fack off, I ain’t no Wheeler Dealer”

Goal dot com and others publish “exclusive” news,
Desperate for followers, hits, clicks and views,
Until right at the end of it all you see Jim White
As you look back and see if summer was great or shite

A big “thank you” to Daniel (@thedanielcowan) for helping me edit this piece

Hello and welcome to this week’s round-up.

First up this week is the player of the season awards. Arsenal have seen fit to drag it out for the week so I will have to go ahead and congratulate our award winner before the announcement. Mikel Arteta secured fourth place in his new role at the base of the midfield while Theo’s best season yet saw him secure third. Koscielny’s performances in the run-in were fresh enough in the minds of enough fans to see him take third place. There were a couple of surprise omissions from the top of the pile but the people have spoken and, but for the formalities, our Player of the Season 2013 has been crowned. Congratulations, Mr. Tomas Rosicky.

As entertaining football has gone into hibernation, I will reluctantly discuss the internationals. Per Mertesacker was captain for the Germans against…I want to say Ecuador? Lukas Podolski scored after just a few seconds and then again sometime later in the game. Meanwhile in Wembley, The Ox and Theo were about England’s best players in what was a poor game, between two poor teams, with Ireland. Thomas Vermaelen injured himself in the Belgium game but that is all I know. I’m not even prepared to research any other international news that may or may not involve Arsenal players. It is, frankly, too dull.

In non-news, many players are leaving the club this summer and we don’t even have to try to find buyers for most of them. There will be new blood in both the junior and senior ranks with players like Yaya Sanogo and – if you believe what they say – Dan Crowley apparently being lined up to come in. This, however, may be an elaborate joke at my expense and those players may not even exist. I’ve never seen them. What do I know?!

That’s it for this week but what did you expect? Get out of here!

Thanks for reading.

Up the Arsenal!

I’ve lately noticed a notion among some people that none of our players are good enough, even to the point of suggesting that the only reason they won’t leave is because they aren’t good enough for other teams to buy them from us. So I decided to put myself in the shoes of other clubs and think about a few things from their point of view. I’m going to look at some of our core players on the team and see what they would seem like to someone on the outside looking in.

Club A — “We need a young shotstopper who has the potential to be world class to act as successor to our current aging incumbent.”
“He must command his area well and have a sense of confidence that should permeate to those in front of him.”
“He should also have experience playing for a big club at the biggest stage in Europe.”
“How much would such a keeper cost us”

Szczesny, who fits the above description to a T, would cost any club at least around 15 million pounds.

Club B — “We need a centerback who is just coming into his prime.”
“He needs to be tenacious in the tackle, read the game well enough to make key interceptions and have the pace to keep up with quicker forwards.”
“Should also be decent in the air and an eye for a key goal in the other box would be a bonus.”
“How much would such a centerback cost us considering this level of quality and combination of skills isn’t easy to find”

Thiago Silva joined PSG for 42 million Euros last year, so Laurent Koscielny, even if not considered at the same level, would cost about 25 million.

Club C — “We need a young fullback who has an engine that allows him to keep running up and down the flank tirelessly.”
“He needs to have an eye for the tackle and be able to mark tricky wingers while also keeping up with them on pace.”
“Should also link up well with the man in front of him and be able to put in a quality cross every now and then and assist in the attacking process.”
“Considering how hard it is these days to get a quality left back, how much would such a player cost?”

Kieran Gibbs, would cost you about 15-20 million pounds having just signed a long term contract.

Club D — “We need a young midfield general whom you can build the team around.”
“He needs to have a combination of Spanish flair/technique and English fight/grit”
“In time he should be able to pick out a pass, lead the team and make players better in future”

Jack Wilshere, the future of Arsenal, would cost anyone about 40-50 million easily.

Club E — “We need a tireless fighter in midfield who will do everything he’s asked to do with aplomb”
“Should be able to do it all, tackle, pass, mark, intercept, and make effective late runs into the box”
“Must be the ultimate professional and never stop trying to impact the game no matter where he plays”

Aaron Ramsey, I would argue, would cost another club about 15-20 million to pry away from us.

Club F — “We need a forward/winger hybrid with electric pace that will trouble anyone in the world”
“Should be young and progressing rapidly with an eye for goal, reasonable control and a calm, composed finish”
“Should also be able to take set pieces and have the understanding to create for others when needed too”

Theo Walcott, would cost any team at least around 30 million to buy.

Club G — “We need a versatile playmaker who could play through the middle or out wide and be an endless source of creativity”
“He should also be able to score the occasional goal and have good shooting ability from outside the box”
“Being able to take set pieces would be another bonus and the ability to take a man on and beat him would be ideal”

Santi Cazorla, a man we bought (or robbed) from Malaga for a mere 12 million, would cost anyone around 25 million to buy in fairer circumstances.

These are but a few examples of what we have as part of our core and there are several more I could list. The point is that some people complain about our wages being paid to youngsters, they complain about trusting youth and relatively unknown players so much, but with this kind of quality that we’ve discovered and developed (or in the case of Santi, stolen), maybe we do spend some money after all and maybe there is some truth to the saying “we don’t buy superstars, we make them” after all. I think we have a LOT more quality at this club than what we normally tend to appreciate at acknowledge and when you FAIRLY think about what it would cost a club to purchase these players from us, or what you’d take in order to be willing to part with some players, maybe we’d appreciate them more than we already do. That is one of the reasons why I wrote this, to show that the idea that we don’t have any good players is well off the mark.

The other reason why I wrote this piece is this — You read every day on twitter, on FB, on blogs and even in the media about how we need to spend on proven superstars to find success as a club and I disagree. I think our success will come from signing the right players for our system who can be nurtured into superstars. Now to be clear, I am not saying it wouldn’t be nice to get one or that I would say no if we were to buy a big name, I am however saying that it doesn’t depend solely on that or the price tag. We could get someone for next to nothing and turn him into a superstar (Kolo Toure for example).

I’d like to wrap this post up by saying a few things about the transfer window. For one, I have full confidence in the club and Arsene to sign the right players (and these need not be the fantasy names that we can all think up) and I would gladly give them the time to do their business this summer (the first summer in years that we have money and that will have squad continuity). Secondly, it has been a little over 10 days since the season ended, and there are still 3 months to go in the transfer window. I believe panicking at this point of time that we won’t get anyone and starting to get angry at the club for not buying yet, is borderline ridiculous. I understand people are concerned about how we will buy but I wonder when people will realize that they have zero control over this and no amount of agitating on their part is going to make a transfer happen for the player they want in the time frame they specify. The only thing this panic and anger achieves is to make things far more stressful for yourself and makes the summer, which is tough enough as it is without our beloved Arsenal playing every week, far more torturous for others. So what I’m saying is, be patient and hold off on your panic and anger at least until the start of the season. I know it isn’t easy, but please try.

PS. This blog was inspired by a little exercise that @GeezyPeas conducted yesterday on twitter on the value of Ramsey. So credit goes to him for sparking off the idea.

PPS. This is to share one of the best blogs I’ve read in a while by @PoznanInMyPants — Part One and Part Two

Today is a Guest post by @Wilsheristic .You should give him a follow on twitter,he tweets as well as he writes.

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As the dust settles over an enthralling win, people have logically begun to talk about transfers. I mention logically, since the Newcastle win seemingly heralded a flurry of activity over the summer.  An agonizing wait of almost 88 days is upon us and we are perfectly poised to be sitting ducks for transfer rumors and speculation.  Amidst all the noise, it’s easy to undermine the efforts of those who helped us reach this stage, berate the ones who had an off season and disown the injured. Yesterday’s heroes become today’s villains.

Let’s start with Bacary Sagna. Unimpressed by two broken legs, Sagna still flies into tackles with scant regard for his injury record. His heroics over the past four seasons have seen him rise up the ranks significantly to be acclaimed as one of the best RBs in the world. I will never forget THAT clearance against Aston Villa in the 09/10 season, one of his many vital contributions . His audacious defending at CB against Sunderland was one of the highlights for me this season. However, after four glorious seasons, it has taken just one seesaw season for most of us to write off his importance. I do acknowledge that Carl Jenkinson has been filling in excellently and has improved remarkably from the past season but his steady rise has seen a number of people lose patience with Sagna and inexplicably welcome his departure. Surely, I have missed something? This is someone who’s recovered from two leg breaks and who, in Wenger’s view, is adamant enough to play games even when he has sustained a knock. That kind of determination doesn’t materialize without a level of commitment and motivation to play for the club. Surely, he deserves another chance/season? He’s been pivotal in our top 3/4 finishes in the previous years and I hope he’s part of our title challenging squad next season. “You never question his commitment and his intelligence”, said Wenger. They don’t like make ‘em like that anymore.

Likewise with Vermaelen. Once we start rotating the CBs, which we will have to eventually, there are few better options out there than our very own Vermaelen, someone who’s highly respected by his teammates, evidenced by . Could it really be true that Arsene Wenger made someone, who apparently has neither drive nor skill, captain of Arsenal without thinking twice?

True, he’s been underperforming recently but if we had to part with every underperforming player we would never have had the RVPs, Nasris or even Mertesacker for that matter. What I fail to understand is how quickly we turn against our own players even though history has always taught us otherwise. The very people who were hurling abuses Ramsey, for example, have been embracing him pretending as if his place in the team was never in doubt. If we don’t support our own players, I don’t see who else would. The last thing we would all want to see is Vermaelen shining in another team’s colors.

I was hoping to include Arsene Wenger in this argument but I will reserve it for some other time since that would take up an entire post. These players have been excellent servants for the club and I am certain that people will comprehend their true relevance only when they leave.  We have to thank our stars that we have someone at the helm who perseveres with out-of-form players until they come of age or survive a bad patch. Wenger couldn’t have put it better himself when he said “You will miss me when I am gone.”

Was this the most important date in the recent history of Arsenal football club, it was two days after the defeat in the Champions League to Bayern Munich a game that saw Arsenal totally out played to an extent not seen before under Wenger’s reign as manager. Yes there had been heavier defeats and games against Barcelona where we were taken apart but to me this was different as we were watching a game where Arsenal and Wenger did not have an answer for the movement and work rate of a team. Wenger could not point to a weakened team through injury or suspensions this was a fully fit team that had players rested on the weekend before losing to Blackburn in the FA Cup.

 Sitting in the stands that night was the silent one over for one of his few visits to London to see how his rather large investment was doing. Even if he does not know much about football (not the American kind) he would have picked up on what he had just seen and probably heard from some of the crowd. Skip forward to the Thursday when Wenger had a meeting with Mr Kroenke, now what was said is I am unsure of the newspapers report that Stan gave Wenger his backing, some in the media were saying these were “crunch talks” but I’m wondering if the “crunch talks” as they call them were not about Wenger’s future but the future of the way the clubs was being run.

 Was this the meeting where Wenger was told that he could now do what he wanted with the club or perhaps he told Mr Kroenke what needed to be done, was this the moment that his hands which had now been mutually tied by the board and himself were free.

 I have long had this thought that Arsenal, the board and Wenger was planning for 2014 the year the two shirt deals were to be renegotiated and the last of Wengers current contract. A ten year plan to get Arsenal back on its feet after nearly bankrupting themselves moving to Ashburton Grove a time where front loaded sponsorship deals were needed and financial prudence required. The spanner in the works was the financial input from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City that made Arsenals and Wengers plan difficult to maintain. 2014 could not come quick enough and has in reality has not, but Mr Kroenke has I think looked at the situation and released the funds on the back of the announcement of the Emirates deal and the rumored Puma deal to Wenger and the club.

This Summers transfer activity could be interesting from an Arsenal point of view, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and maybe another one or two big clubs with new managers trying to stamp their mark on their new clubs and Wenger with his buying hands free for the first time in a decade with full the support from Mr Kroenke.

Arsenal’s record since the meeting to the end of the season was played 13, won 10, drawn 2 and lost 1.

@Swales1968

Mel tells me that I should remember it is the anniversary of the great night at Anfield.He also tells of the the need for his award winning account of that night ,to be published today.And on this date every year.For ever.

This wonderful story was written by Mel,for another blog,then picked up by Arsenal.com(for a reason no reasonable man can determine).So here we are .Third in line.

Still ,nice of him to still remember his old mate.

Here it is then,Enjoy

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“We’ll win cos we’re the arsenal !”,eternal optimists or deluded fools?

Not sure which camp I fell into as we boarded the coaches on the Avenell road and that chant went up.

I was still cockahoop at a workmate selling me his ticket (£12 including the coach !)a couple of days before this remarkable Friday.

I was at the game against Wimbledon when most believed our title dream had gone,but even if it was to most Gooners, as far as I was concerned if it was mathematically possible,I was gonna see us give it a go,anyway .I’d failed maths O level a couple of years previous so stick me in the deluded camp.

I was traveling alone (most of the mates I knocked about with at the time weren’t really into football,more acid house,the stone roses,ecstasy, raves and failing to chat up girls from what I remember. I was too, but Arsenal was “my thing” always was and always will be and in my 18 years I’d only seen us lift an fa cup and a league cup.

The mood going up to Liverpool  on the coach was helped along with some fierce drinking and singalongs . My Irish genes helped me put a good performance in on both counts,.I  remember as we closed in on our date with destiny that the driver told us it was touch & go whether we’d make kick off.In fact when the boys in yellow & blue ran on the pitch before kick off with the flowers for the Liverpool fans still mourning their 96 brothers and sisters who had died weeks earlier at Hillsborough just because they went to a game(this of course is why this fixture had been postponed and rescheduled to the Friday night after the cup final which tonight’s opponents had won)we were watching it on the coaches portable TV until the Merseyside constabulary decided to give us a fast track escort to the ground.

As we poured off  the coach that chant went up and for the first time I genuinely thought we’d do it.Nothing to do with the drink you understand!.I just fancied us(told you I was deluded).

Once inside, tucked into a corner,I found myself wedged up alongside a Demis Roussos lookalike(look him up kids),anyone that’s been to a massively important game and tells you they remember everything is a liar,the first half was gone in a flash but my new best mate Demis assured me that nil nil after 45 is good and George’s plan was working.

I  remember thinking Liverpool were subdued and there for the taking, and Arsenal were “at it” especially Rocky and Richardson,not surprising really Rocastle was truly one of us and Richardson used to tackle people with his face if he had too! We weren’t going down without a fight that was for sure.

Seven minutes into the second half we got our goal, an Alan Smith header that despite the Liverpool players insisting he hadn’t touched it,the linesman agreed with the 4000 behind him that Smith had,of course he had!, game on!

With about 15 minutes left we looked like we’d get another,Michael Thomas through one  onone with Grobbelar ,but he scuffed it straight at him.

“Don’t worry we’ll get one more clear cut chance” the portly Greek love god next to me whispered. I had my doubts though,neither side were creating that many chances but without hope and all that heh?

As the minutes ticked by that hope was strangling us in our corner but then in the last minute it happened….he was there again. Thomas coolly lifted the ball over Grobbelar and pandemonium was unleashed

Magical doesn’t do it justice.

After the initial going mental bit I remember Demis taking me in his arms, we embraced like grown men only did in at funerals and New Years Eve’s party’s,he could have held me “forever and ever” (I told you!,look him up), there were grown men around us in tears.Remember this was before the days of some blokes letting us down by wearing Ugg boots and applying fake tan but it was beautiful nonetheless.

The players and the trophy malarkey after was a bit of a haze.

We were all still congratulating each other but I do remember Rocastle,his face lit up and his eyes dancing,you see he was our bloke on the pitch despite MT getting the goal ,Rockys medal was ours as well and when he smiled we smiled.

One last bear hug from Demis and soon I was my back to the coach.

Leaving the ground was interesting. Some of the  Scousers  were fantastic, others less so! in fact i would like to thank the 3 Graeme Souness lookalikes that chased me back to the coach helping break the 100m drunken idiot dash world record.I think it was their encouraging words that did it,or the things they said they were gonna do if they got hold of me.

As I waved them goodbye from the safety of the coach there wasn’t a lot of noise at first,just exhausted Gooners with stupid great grins on their faces not believing what we’d just witnessed.

As soon as the first miles to London sign appeared the celebrations commenced.Not sure Ive ever seen drinking like it!.

All the while I was thinking “how did we just do that? How? Cos we’re The Arsenal that’s how”

A source close to Positively Arsenal has told us the the Mother of Cesc Fabregas is predicting he will be home for lunch on Sunday.

This is an experiment to see how many people are easily fooled by an idiot blogger hungry for hits on their ego massaging sites.

Sorry if you have been fooled ,but do wise up.

See you tomorrow

Hello and welcome to this week’s round-up.

First up this week is the tragic end to a season we were all just getting into. We saw the introduction of a new attacking front in the shape of Santi, Giroud and Podolski and while there were teething problems, the team found its stride and finished the season on an impressive run of results, by any measure. In brief, we started the season in a very uptight and defence-focused fashion. It was working from a defensive point of view but the balance was wrong. Despite many good performances, our forwards were in at the deep end and struggling to find each other. In these tougher times, Theo Walcott can take a lot of credit for turning up with some vital goals. We climbed the table but were still off the pace with our rivals. It took the week of weeks to turn our season around and, despite only winning one of three huge games, it seemed to be the slap in the chops that the players needed. We lost to Bayern at home, we lost to them, and we went and beat Bayern in Munich. We were out of the Champions League but we took from it the confidence to believe. Sixteen unbeaten games later and we’re dining at the top table for another season.

37 games in and we were just a point above the spuds and and two behind the chavs. We had to go to Newcastle and the game was as tense as any of the scoreless draws from early in the season. The passing and movement were restricted by fear of failure and creativity was the ultimate casualty. Mikel Arteta had started the game but didn’t see out the first half due to injury. For a moment, if you forgot the crushing weight of history supporting the contrary, you might have thought that Champions League football would be beyond us. Thoughts like these, of course, will pass and be proven as nothing more than irrational nonsense. When Laurent Koscielny decides it’s time to qualify, we qualify. Kos scored with an audacious volley which managed to make the keeper look a bit of a tit on his last day in the job. Then came a deluge of fuel for the fire that is Tottnum’s never-ending embarrassment. Word went out across White Hart Lane that we had conceded and Michael Dawson was on his knees. Daniel Levy had tears in his eyes.  These are moments to savour. You grandchildren will one day turn to you and say ‘Tell us the one about the time Newcastle equalised on the last day’. As expected by most, all three contenders for the two qualification spots won their games. So, by a point, we have achieved the goal which may have once been the minimum requirement but became an apparently insurmountable task. The players who had been labelled as flops did what they could to directly answer their critics by celebrating in the tiniest of pants. This is not something of which we approve, over here at the Round-Up HQ. Certain staff members have spoken of feelings of inadequacy.

Several players have been speaking about their ambitions for next season. Olivier Giroud’s desire to progress further in Europe, coupled with Theo’s desire to push for domestic success, are just harmonies over a symphony of positivity and ambition coming out of the club. Even the most pessimistic fan can only find disgruntlement in which of the world’s best strikers we may sign. Again, I don’t like to speculate on baseless rumours but I couldn’t resist this one. There is talk that this will be the first transfer in which we don’t hear that Arsene Wenger is a “long-time-admirer” of Solomon Kalou. We haven’t won a trophy since those lies were published this potential non-link should be seen as the clearest sign yet that Arsenal are ready to push for glory next season.

Arsene Wenger spoke this week about Santi Cazorla’s season and was very clear in his views that he should have been selected in the Premier League team of the season. Wenger’s innocence on the matter is, while endearing, extremely naive. If Santi was to be selected, then Mikel Arteta and other Arsenal players would also expect to be considered. Santi represents the thin end of the wedge. You let one in, before you know it, the Premier League XI are wearing red with white sleeves for convenience.

And finally, the enigmatic little genius that is Andrei Arshavin has bid farewell to the club. As a free agent, the Russian will be free sign for any club lucky enough to catch his eye. Not everybody liked Arshavin, but then not everybody likes The Beatles or Fruit Pastilles. Some players work hard while others work smart and Andrei spent the majority of his career in column B. From his four goal thriller in Anfield to his delicate cross to set up Thierry’s goal against Leeds, Arshavin entertained and will always have a place in the hearts of many Arsenal fans. Good luck, little dude.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading.

Up the Arsenal!