Hello and hope you’re doing well? Sunday 21st of September, will see the Mighty Cannon host our recent rivals Manchester City at Ashburton Grove. Kick off is at 17.30pm Central European time ( 4.30pm UK time), the weather expected is 15°c, and cloudy.
Perhaps this is less the game it was several seasons ago, and we go into the match as favourites, but City are no push over, and certainly have a sense of pride when it comes to playing Arsenal and now that for every club in every position every point is totally important this game has the potential of being a classic.
There’s been much talk about Pep being washed up, but that seems a bit foolish considering the team he has, and his vast experience as a manager? They seem to be more a sleeping giant and if they wake and drink an expresso, then we all better watch out?
Liverpool are now on 15 points and we (in third place) have 9, and a loss for us today leaves us (again) chasing Liverpool by two games, so its important to keep that pressure on. City are in 12th: W2 L2 D1, so a poor start for them, but a win would mean a huge leap in the standings.
Like the Gunners, they played well in mid-weeks Champions League game, beating De Bruyne’s Napoli 3-0, and looked the most comfortable they’ve been all season.
However, Marmoush Nouri, Cherki and Kovacic are ruled out by injury, Stones has started training again but might not make City’s starting squad. Rodri still not 100% fit played 60 mins against Napoli.
I’ve been informed by a friends at Statto HQ, who know all about such things, that Arsenal have a 50.4% chance of winning and City 24.2%. So COYG!
Mills
Well now, this is a game that brings so mixed emotions to me.
EXCITEMENT – I’m excited about the prospect of watching a huge game that is almost a must win for both clubs just 4 games in and because of Liverpool’s 5 game winning start. It seems ridiculous that a game of this magnitude is here so soon.
FEAR – I’m fearful about the prospect of watching a huge game that is almost a must win for both clubs just 4 games in and because of Liverpool’s 5 game winning start. It seems ridiculous that a game of this magnitude is here so soon.
Get my drift?
DREAD – I’m dreading the reaction of the online fans should we lose, the overreaction will be mad, no matter what the circumstances of the loss are or how well we played.
Dread – I’m dreading the reaction of online fans if we win, no matter what the circumstances of the win is or how poor we were.
Recently we have defenders on better form than they have, while they have attacers on better form than ours.
The old saying that “Defences win titles” will be put to the test this season, because if it’s true, we will be lifting the trophy come May. Liverpool have been riding their luck so far, but as I always maintain, the results will eventually be reflected by performances, so we need to hang in until that happens. I’m hoping they don’t improve and reap the rewards of their early good fortune, but I worry they might. As I said, so many mixed emotions brought up by this one massive game.
Tuesday the 16th of September sees the Mighty Cannon in action against Athletic de Bilboa, in our first Champions League match of this season. Kick of is 18.45pm Central European time (17.45 BST) at the San Mames Stadium, Bilbao.
So as the leaves start to turn into variegated colours and the horse chestnuts start to fall, the games come thick and fast. I’m sure after the game against Forest, which produced some nicey goals and some good football, everyone will be interested to see how we can set up and play this one out as a squad?
The Lehoiak (The Lions) are currently third in La Liga, although they lost at the San Mames at the weekend against Deportivo Alavés (1-0), and the one thing you could potentially take from that game was that their keeper (Simón) looked a bit shaky at set pieces/corners, so hopefully we can exploit that?
Founded back in 1898, Athletic are the fourth most successful team in Spanish top flight football and have not been relegated since its inception in 1929, a record only matched by Barcelona and Real Madrid. The have a long and interesting history with strong links at its core to Britain, in name and in original founders, one Alfred Mills who was from Cornwall and had gone to Bilbao to work for a local cable firm, and ended up playing for an ex-pat side but through this became the only foreigner ( El Inglés was his nickname) to sign the original statues of Athletic. He was for a while their captain and won the Copa del Rey in 1904 and served as a board member. Later Athletic would be coached by Billy Barnes, ex Luton, QPR, West Ham, Sheffield United.Barnes was named among the top 100 important QPR players ever but he won the Copa del Rey during his two stints as manger three times with Athletic.
They have won La Liga, eight times, the Copa del Rey twenty four times, they qualified for the CL by coming fourth last season and reached the semi-final of the Europa League, who were beaten by our best mates Man Utd.
Athletic were runners up in the UEFA cup several times, back in 1958 and in 2011/12.
Athletic Club’s new stadium, nicked named the Cathedral, can hold up to 53, 289, it was completed in total back in 2014. Their fans (the Lions) can certainly make some noise as I’m sure we will witness. We will also get to see in action Nico Williams, of rumoured to be linked with the Arsenal, but the feeling I get around Planet Gunner is that we are looking very solid, with the summer signings looking eager, and I’m sure everyone feels that we do at least have a stronger squad than last season.
Their manager, Ernesto Valverde has a full cv, including previous tenures at Athletic, plus times at Barcelona, Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villareal, Leyton Orient and Valencia. He was well decorated as a player and coach and his cabinet trophy is full to the brim. Currently he has a 50% win ratio at Athletic, and overall career is 52.63%…that in around 940 games.
Our old pals at Statto HQ have predicted a 50% chance of win for the Arsenal, and only 22.6% chance for Bilbao.
After this we line up against City (H), Port Vale(A) and then Newcastle (A), so it will have been quite a September song to have sung. COYG!
Mills
Well then, 3 days is a long time in football. One game against Nottingham Forest has change my mood and my feeling about the team going forwards. Spirits are lifted and most fans are happy, why though?
It’s simple, we played good football that was fun to watch. For the last 4 seasons I read that we’ve had 9/10 summer windows, and they have turned out 4 or 5/10 at best. Ah but this year, this summmer looks to me like it actually was a 9.
Cristhian Mosquera has knocked my socks off. Ok, It’s just less than 2 full games, but my God, he looks incredible. He appears to be no downgrade on Saliba defensively at all and is better on the ball. By “better” I really mean just as good at passing and striding out, but in addition he looks happy to move into midfield, receive the ball under pressure and distribute it quickly and accurately. If this small sample turns out to be the norm. Then WOW.
Martin Zubimendi is a HUGE upgrade on Partey. Even without the 2 goals, he is a top top player that will only get better as chemistry with his team mates blossoms. He’s quick, tidy on the ball and as the kids are want to say, he’s “press resistant”.
Noni Madueke is a treat to behold. He’s direct and tricky and effective, no one thought we had stollen him from Chelsea, but he’s come in for Saka, and that’s some ask, but again, there looks to be no step down in quality. More a traditional winger and maybe , with Viktor Gyokeres poaching about, that’s exactly what we need?
Gyokeres himself looks to be just the profile we were screaming out for.
Eberechi Eze on the left looks to be the teams biggest upgrade and I belive he could be the final link we were short of.
We haven’t even seen Piero Hincapie , and by all accounts he could turn out to be another upgrade, hard to imagine that give how good the rest of our defence is, but imagine if he is? Oh Lordy.
Anyway, here’s the thing, I can’t wait now to watch us again. I haven’t felt this way for years.
However, It was just one game that’s changed my mood, and I suppose one bad game could crash land me again. But for now COYG.
Hello, and hope you survived the International break. Now the nationalism is swept away under the carpet for a bit, we can get back on with the PL. Saturday 13th of September sees the Mighty Cannon witness a visit from the waistelands of England to play Nottingham Forest, kick off 12.30pm local time.
OUR VISITORS.
Forest during the break have had a topsy-turvy ride, going in with Nuno and coming out with Postecoglou, which surprised everyone.
This of course will bring up lots of speculative ink on the subject of whether Ange can continue the good job Nuno did at Forest.
Last season Forest finished seventh, and qualified for the EL. Ange won the EL, but finished 17th with the Spuds (stop that laughing!). Ange says he has ‘nothing to prove at Forest’, which doesn’t make sense, aside that nothing doesn’t exist, I would have thought that every manager/ coach has to prove themselves, but you know what thought did? He’s on a two-year contract. If Kyogo falters at Birmingham I can see him potentially bringing him in next season, if the moneys there. Ange certainly got the Bhoys playing very well in his time at Celtic Park…
It must be tough for everyone at Forest to have lost Nuno at such an early stage, and have to adapt to Anges ways? So far Forest have W 1 D 1 L 1 and are in 10th place.
Our pals at Statto HQ have given the Gunners a 68.9% chance of winning and Forest a mere 12%. After the frustrating loss to Liverpool, this game will be certainly an interesting one, to see how Arsenal keep developing.
Mills.
So the International break is over, we all take down our England flags until the next break, or the next hotel opens it’s doors to a migrant. ( a bit of political satire there). We can get back to watching our beloved team, with the second worse chance created from open play and the worst big chances in the whole league. First and second eh? What other manager could do that and still have us in the top 4 ? eh? EH?
Something has to change, if we carry on creating nothing, reality will kick in and our league position will plummet, OR……. we can create more and take advantage of the best back 7 in Europe. And lets be fair, we are outstanding at defending. But that comes at a cost. It puts a heavy burden on our front 4, especially when their primary job seems to be helping to defend, rather than scoring goals.
I don’t think I can take another 35 games of paint by numbers safety first football. I don’t want to sound all negative, but perhaps it’s a byproduct of Artetaball? Surely we can’t go through the season saying “only the result matters”?
Sunday 31st of August will see Arsenal FC against Liverpool FC, at Anfield on Merseyside, kick off is at 4.30pm UK time. This will be match-day three of the 2025/6 season.
OUR HOSTS.
Liverpool need no introduction, unless you’ve been living in the Kuiper belt for the last hundred years or so. One of the true forces in the PL to be reckoned with, and favourites to win the PL 2025/6. They are on their good days, a truly excellent team and are unbeaten so far this season, but have allowed in four goals in those two.
At the time of writing this Isak still hasn’t signed for them and there’s still time, if so and with him, they may become an unstoppable force. But what happens if they meet the unmoveable object? Hopefully that object comes the form of a cannon.
If Isak to Liverpool happens or no, this one will leave a bitter legacy at the Toon and has already spilt a lot of speculative ink in the press and hurt voices elsewhere. Liverpool have reinforced themselves this summer with Wirtz, Kerkez and Ekitike with rumours that Guehi is on the way too.
Having kept an eye on their first two games I would say they are beatable, but one seconds worth of a concentration slip-up and yer doomed. Anfield has never been much of a happy hunting ground for the Arsenal, although I liked the effort and resilience we showed last time up there.
According to some AI-head its nearly four thousand days since we beat Liverpool at Anfield. Although that seems a strange deception when we only ever play them on Merseyside once a year, its not as if we could play them on any other days except at Ashburton Grove for the home-tie. That win came on the 2nd of September 2012. Trouble is AI- head forgot to include our Carabao Cup win back in 2020.
The first game ever with the Reds at Anfield was on the 1st of January 1894. Over all its 83 games won by the Arsenal, 66 draws and 93 wins by Liverpool. Last season it was all square at two a piece in both games.
Our chums at Statto HQ have given Liverpool a 42.5% chance of winning and the Arsenal 28%.
Mills.
I can’t remember such a pivotal game coming so early in the season. I don’t think the magnitude if it can be exaggerated. A win up there would put down a marker to end all markers. Liverpool have not looked great , despite 2 wins, but then again, neither have we. Let’s not pretend the United game was awful stuff, and for 45 minutes against Leeds, it wasn’t much better. The 100% record of one of us has to go.
Here is my best guess prediction, if we score 2 goals , we won’t lose. It’s been a Donkey’s age since we conceded more than 2 goals, and that’s the sum total of my logic and guess work.
The team sort of picks itself, with Odegaard’s fitness being the big question. If he’s not fit I think Eze will make his debut as 10 at 10, with Martinelli on the left. If he is fit, maybe Eze will be the starter on the left.
It’s not the end of the world if we lose, and it’s not conquering the world if we win, but it might feel like one or the other at full time. For all our sanities sake, a draw would be a good result, and I’d take one now.
I understand results are everything in circumstances like this, but wouldn’t it be great to watch an entertaining game of flowing football as well as getting a positive result? That’s my wish anyhow.
It looks like I’ll be doing the post game blogs this year, so I’m going to assume that everyone has seen the game, therefore I wont be going through the action because who am I to te
ll you what you have seen. So I will just let you know my thinking and in the comments you can all put me right.
There is much to be happy about and some to be less so happy about.
5-0 and top of the league after game day 2 is about as good as the numbers get. No complaints there then.
Gyokeres scored his first goal and it looked like a typical Gyokeres goal. He made a run into the left channel, cut in, kept good close control and slotted in through a now quit crowded box, into .the near post. The lad looks vey quick, strong and composed. Once his team mate learn to put early ball into the spaces, he could be just the ticket. He also lashed a penalty in with a confidence built on successfully scoring 28 of 29 previous attempts. I hope he take on, and is given, the responsibility of spot kick going forward.
Noni Madueke had a decent game on the left, for me doing better than Martinelli normally does, but the little spell when he moved to the right, he looked much more comfortable and dangerous. Which is good news because with the Saka injury that’s where he will be playing. The Saka injury is a worry, because if it’s the same Hammy, it migh indicate things to come. Let’s hope not, because he’s a bobby dazzler, the goal he lashed in yesterday, with his right foot no less, was a thing to behold.
Timber got MOTM for a good glancing header, a scruffy poke in and a great little through ball assits, on top of a very competent defending display. He’s quite the player too, Ben White has a job on to disloge him.
Max Dowman made his ELP debut and my wood, what a talent. There is no “over hype” with this lad, he’s incredible. 15 years old, hasn’t had his first shave, a year away from his GCSEs and playing like he owns the gaff. He won the penalty too. He’s my new favourite Arsenal player. I’ve never seen a lad anywhere near his level at that age. So exciting.
The defence and Raya look so good and with Zubimendi sitting in front of them, I can’t imagine there is a better defence in world football. Zubimendi looks quck and composed, gets passes away under pressure and I’m sure he will soon me more adventurous once he feels establish in the team.
Right, now the less good stuff. 3 of the 5 goal were from set pieces, so although they count exactly the same as open play goals, and are hugely important, it does indicate that we were not as free flowing and dominate as the 5-0 suggests. In fact until injury time in the first half, it was a tiresome game to watch. We scored of ever attempt on target, that is totally unsustainable. So I don’t think all is rosy on the carpet. But the early signs are encouraging.
Saturday the 23rd of August sees game number two of the 2025/6 season for the Arsenal and our first home game at the Emirates will be against newly promoted Leeds Utd, at 5.30pm UK time.
Old timey rivals of ours from the 1970s and the 1990s, with a rich historical pedigree, we are sure will be excited to make the journey south in hope of another PL victory as they try to get a foothold in the PL.
Leeds beat Everton in their first game, and were awarded a controversial penalty. They have a strong fan base and their team knows about ball control and had 63% of it against the Toffee’s. Our friends at Statto HQ(at the time of writing) have given the Arsenal a 74.7% chance of winning and Leeds have 9.5%.
Mills.
Well if it isn’t all fun and games this week? We got the horrible news that our new beefed up Havertz was out for the season, and now the word is that he will only be out for a few weeks. If ever “Expect the worst and hope for the best” has worked in our favour, this is it. I think we paid £65m for him to replace Xhaka, but that was horrible, so we moved him to CF when Jesus broke down, and it has to be said, there was some success. It worked better than expected, and he certainly brings something to that position. So even although we have a shiny new CF, it would have been a blow to lose the lad for an extended period.
It would appear that the danger of Havertz having a long team injury , caused us to revive our interest in Eze. Not only revive it, but steal him from right under the chicken’s nose. At 27, he is at his peek, can play from the left or the middle, he’s a very good player and raises the high water mark of the squad. His willingness to run with the ball, shoot on sight and pass with risk in the final third, is something we have been woefully short of. I for one am excited about this signing. Well played Arsenal.
Arteta has been backed once again with an absolute fortune, and to be fair, I think the squad is complete. Of course professional moaners will find something to grumble about, but I think we couldn’t realistically asked for much more. I’m not a big fan of Arteta’s vision of how football should be played, but he’s the boss and the club has given him the opportunity to put his ideas into action, and that’s a good thing. No excuses, as they say.
Unless someone is sold that detracts from the strength of the squad, we’re good to go. Let’s hope this is the year and these are the players to go all the way. I think we have a chance. Our defence is top class and our forward line looks much more dynamic and threatening, my only worry is the midfield, but if Martin plays at his best and Rice can better assimilate to the 8 position, it could be good enough.
Right friends, that’s it for our first edition of the new formula for the blog. Let me know how you feel and give any ideas about how to make it better. As ever, if any of you wish to write an article, either regularly, semi-regularly or as a one off, just raise a hand.
The season is off and running with a win in the Old Toilet. Three points and “only the result matters” as the desperate say.
So, let’s start with the positives. Err?!?! we won? Raya made more saves than any keeper in the league this week? We restricted them to only 60% possession? Only let them have twice as many attempts and shots on target? No one got injured or sent off? We seem to have perfected the old “up and under” attack/clearances. Oh yes, plenty of positives.
Now, to our shiny new toy, Victor Gyokeres on his debut, perhaps the least said the better? He looks big, strong and fast. But let’s be fair, with the service he got from our midfield and wingers, even peek Henry would have struggled. I mean we had an extra man in midfield and should have dominated, but we did anything but. Saka and Martinelli were poor and without any excuses.
Look, it was the first game of the season and I’m sure it will get better. It will have too, because that was a painful watch. But all the excuses and wishful thinking in the world, won’t allow me to see any way that we have made considerable steps forward.
Anyway, time will tell and if we have to stink the place out, getting 3 points disguises the stench?
Well, here we are again in the languid dog-days of August, where winter isn’t even a rumour but a more a fantasy, and at the start of a brand new shiny Premier League season. The grass is clipped and the seats are mended; the toilets are clean and everyone ones ready as they can be.
I hope you been having a good summer and if you’re English enjoyed the Lionesses winning the Euros (with Arsenal Women playing a major part), and if not, just enjoyed the Euros. It already seems far away? If not I hope you enjoyed the scene in Happy Gilmore 2 when Happy and his sons beat the $%’!§ out of the dummy of Hal L. One of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages,which maybe shows how sad I am?
” that’s something we’ve known for ages”
As you all well know being studious, long-time, long-beard Arsenal fans of the media both established and social, players have gone or are going and others have come in, (no need for me to get into it) which has brought much scrutiny during the pre-season friendlies and discourse on You Tube where the vlog remains a good way of wasting your precious life, although I do still miss George and Shotta’s vlog as it had a lot of humour as well as insight. Except when I was on it.
Of course from this point until the nights start drawing in, every aspect of Arsenal’s game will be under the microscope. Will the Arsenal fall foul of some new rules by pedantic refs, only to watch them be more lenient as the season progresses, as we have witnessed in times gone by? Expectancy is high and the pressure with it. I’m glad I’m not a footballer! Apparently we are 9/4 to win the PL.
Friendlies and pre-season predictions mean little to me at this moment, as we have such a long way to go and who can really tell, in fairness maybe some can and they have super 24hr footballing minds and crystal balls. I don’t. Obviously I have an eye on things, and was willing Havertz to score and not make a mess against Bilbao as he would have already had the mob on his back, and I like to personally see all our players with a high level of confidence, as I’m sure you do, going into a season.
But lets face it, its great to have it the Arsenal back! John Fowles wrote in his book the Aristos that ‘sport is a receptacle for energy, and holds our attention as it has endless possible permeations’, and I’m happy to put any energy Arsenals way rather than trawling though videos on YT about political skulduggery and fear-mongering speculation. It seems odd that politic is the main source of entertainment these days? But horses for courses, some people like that, and that’s fair enough. I just wished I didn’t have to bloody fact check all the time!
Anyway, the Mighty Cannon will make a trip up to the northern marches and take on our best chums Manchester United on Sunday the 17th of August, KO at 4.30pm.
United had an appalling season last season in the PL and to an extent the EL. This must be the first time in nearly thirty years that it actually feels like we could go up to OT and hammer them. But I’m sure they will be keen and peachy to make a good start too and many eyes will be on their new boy from RB Leipzig, Benjamin Šeško. Anyway, apart from Bernie Rhodes, who knows?
I phoned our pals at statto HQ and they were over joyed to hear from me and quickly gave me their predictions: United have a 27./% chance of winning and the good ol’ Arsenal 45.%
I am also really interested what the outcome of Manchester Citys 115 charges, as this will have a big affect on many aspects of the coming season. What do you think might play out?
Well that’s it, here’s to a great season and hoping that Isak doesn’t go to Liverpool (he hasn’t at the time of writing this) and that the Mighty Cannon wins all four trophies and that pigs might fly, why I have no idea, but maybe it would be a cheap airline?
Anyway, come fly with me and wish the Gunners the best. But please, next year can we have the yellow away kit back? You know, She likes to wear it in the merry month of May. Grrrr!
Cheers to Ian and Ed for keeping the blog going this summer break, always interesting to read what you guys write.
Take care of yourselves. See you for the opener at the Emirates against newly promoted Leeds Utd.
Well the season be over (for good and bad) and now we’re headed off to the beach to be baked by the sun-hot speculation of the transfer- market arrivals, whilst surfing the waves whilst wondering who will barrel-over and depart.
The fixtures for the new season will be released on the 18 of June at 10am (WET). The Mighty Cannon is back in action on the 23rd of July against AC Milan, kick off 12.30pm western European time, we then play Newcastle and the Spuds in the following days.
The Charity shield between Palace and Liverpool is on the 9th of August.
Take care of yourselves and have a great summer. Its odd that we don’t wish each other any kind of happiness/greatness in any other season?
Sunday the 25th of May, will see the Mighty Cannon make its last manoeuvres of the 2024/25 season as we head south to St. Marys and play Southampton FC for the final game of the season. Kick off is at 4.00pm western European time.
For the last assessment this season our chums at Statto HQ have given the Arsenal 69.3% chance of winning and Southampton 12.6 %.
I’m sure Southampton will be glad to see the back of this season with just two wins and six draws.Of course its even more strange to have a quick butchers at the league table and seeing the Spuds fourth from bottom and ManUre one place above. Yet one of them will have some silverware very soon and their followers will be handing out the banter on that one and not care about the league positions at all?
Same at the top, does anyone care about the final pecking order of merit or just trying to qualifying for the champions league? And Arsènes words of along ago that were so often ridiculed, seem more honest and observant more than ever?
At this moment in the world of football blogging seems to be similar to being a silent film actor trapped in a world of films with sound?
The vlog has superseded the blog, and so the soft power of passive non-written creativity has won for the moment and the typed word put away on the high shelf at the footballing Sunset Boulevard address, along with the dreck, dust, goalkeepers roll-neck jumpers, rattles and unwanted periodicals and erotic etchings from the 19th C.
Like a lot of my last (bland) articles, I find most Arsenal outlets are merely saying: “it’s raining today, it could be sunny, and it was mixed in the past”? I’m not sure where that leads us, how many outlets do we need, as truthfully relative as they might be, to tell us the same thing; that which we already know or have already thought about?
Personally I still think there’s a lot of ground to be covered in blogs, for example the whole idea of counter- support structures in an unwanted sense hasn’t been talked about much ( I meant to do it for the Newcastle game, and it completely slipped my mind), but often teams/fans will latch onto another and try to create a rivalry that isn’t there (Newcastle and Stoke come to mind), even if it sounds a bit woo, it does exist, just needs thrashing out a bit and articulated at another time.
I tried this season to write about how supporting Arsenal (and the hope of Arsenal success) weaves its way into our lives, how it affects anniversaries, our dispositions, our insecurities, friendships, our memories, how we are persuaded in an utterly illogically way to be prejudiced. How the process of supporting, holds your hand or drops it even when your loved ones die. How it affects you physically as well as psychologically, day after night after day. Perhaps much of this is delusion, but even so any delusion is concrete and not an illusion?
Supporting is (perhaps) the oddest relationship we can ever have, married, non-adulterous, yet with the same spectrum of emotions, yet its unconsummated and abstract to say the least, no single connection but an ongoing stream of events, and identities that ironically isn’t even separate from anything else?
In a lesser manner has been like that on PA? Witnessing its vintage years and what a intricate, complex and full bodied brew they were,
Mr.Black each week taking you somewhere new, or to helping you to revisit places you’d partially forgotten. I used to love to wake up on Saturday mornings to see what he’d written, for me his words were as much a part of the matchday as any of the physics and emotions that played out on the pitch. That probably won’t happen again in my life. If anyone pushed blogging into new pastures it was him, certainly not me, and it was PA that supported such works. And without any kind of support structure any experiment or different perspective collapses and is quickly brushed away.
Of course Stew might have been the Messi of the blog, but he wasn’t he only excellent writer, the list was long and the standard was high for a long time, not just articles but posts too, there are utter gems hidden in the archives, especially when it came to Arsène Wenger apologetics.
Gone now, the raison d’être for the blog, and (most) of the people we ever swapped words with on what was a daily basis. How quickly times change?
It was always interesting how you could get to know people by the tone and feeling in their posts, almost as if you could hear them speaking? People also became their avatars, as you tried to create an idea of who they were, even more sad is that they were part of your life, then that’s it, they’ve gone and the memories of it all becomes a kind of spectre fading into the mist? Where have they gone and what are they doing now?
I hoped I might be able to pull some of them back but I failed on that one, or perhaps a less ego-centric viewpoint might be that the times have just simply changed, as stated before the vlog superseded the blog, plus peoples feelings change towards Arsenal? Plus we all have different ideas of what a blog might be?
The fight for Wengers art (in German art means ‘way or style’) even at a much-needed group therapy level has gone and here we are a couple of mangers down the line, grappling with new dilemmas, new thought’s and reactions. All systems (possibly) are conservative at heart and that always causes a problem as all life is changing. How to deal with that?
At the time of writing this we can still achieve second and reaching the CL semi was no mean feat, but something still felt like it was missing this season? Of course the Real Madrid game will stay with us till that which we call the end, so for all the feeling on having not really challenged in the league, who knows if this season might be the springboard for something a bit more glorious in the next? Hopes spring eternal?
Its ok, I’m not a conservative or republican for many reasons but one reason is that at the most basic level all life is change, certainly not in the way wanted, as life remains unfair and unjust to say the least, but to go against flux is a going against nature? But I do feel sentimental.
More practical, materialistic-minded people I’m sure would feel critical of me and see it as a weakness (and in many cases I would agree with them) and that’s fine, it might be a flaw but there’s also an element of compassion and agape that’s coupled with it? I miss how it was on PA. All those faces and names, some you become acquainted with and others, friends and here we are in the perhaps in the twilight of the blog.
“who do you think you are Uncle Monty?”
In 1947 Jack Lewis’s brother Warnie wrote in his diary how ‘nobody turned up’ which spelt the end of the Thursday night Inklings meetings that witnessed( whether they are to you taste or not) some critical evaluation of works that both added and changed the world of literature/human lives, that’s where we are now at PA, or close to it?
A blog isn’t only about the articles, those are introductions, but really its about its forum?
I want to personally thank Ian and Ed for being our backbone and being a perfect foil to my bits and pieces and keeping it all in check with football analytics. You guys have a vast knowledge of football and its been great when you’ve shared your recollections and times spent with the Mighty Cannon. And thank you for the support you gave me this season. You’ve kept the blog alive week after week, not me.
Words we could perceive through one lens are either black or white magic, some may curse and destroy, but others support and nurture and I was really grateful to everyone who said kind things, and also many thanks to Stew and Heady for their words of support and encouragement , especially as I tried to stretch the blog into other directions earlier in the season and your thoughts and presence have been much missed as the season progressed.
And thanks to all those at statto HQ for your % ratings, to Archibald Leitch for popping up time and time again and to Gee, Markyb, Arsenal Andrew, and all apologies to anyone I forgotten, and to all the people who clicked like on the blog but don’t comment, including those who were probably were bots. Merci!
Of course none of this is possible without George, who kindly tolerated me and the things I wrote, some of which maybe stretched things a bit far, but I’m not writer and trying to scratch together (sometimes) three pieces a week I found almost impossible, I’m just not that skilled. I only meant to write previews for the first three matches or so just to get things going.
Plus writing about that which you guys already know is insulting…which means scrabbling for another angle that’s hopefully interesting, isn’t easy at all. I’ve forgotten lots too, often recalling being at matches but nothing of the game itself, but of being in pubs before and afterwards, which isn’t a help to anyone.
I know I failed many times, but its ok to, failure rises with success maybe the place to aim for is beyond those two, and that’s closer to that where I was trying to get to.
After the ManUre cup game, George kindly stepped in without a complaint or word of criticism to me and held the torch, as he has done for this place since its inception. THANK YOU GEORGE! For this season and all the others and for your support and encouragement, and of course for PA.
Well that’s it. I don’t how we can keep the blog going next season I’m not sure I have much left in the artillery room. Perhaps we could get our heads together and work something out before the end of July when the Arsenal are back in action against AC Milan?
If that’s it and we can’t go any further, then know this, it was my pleasure to be acquainted/friends with you, and I will miss having somewhere to go and swap perspectives on the Mighty Cannon and sometimes more and enjoying reading that which you’ve written.
Its been a real Dance to the Music of Arsenal Time both this season and all the others that we’ve witnessed together, to sometimes talk about wider connected fields; all those teams, all those matches, misunderstandings, understandings, all those emotions, all those hopes.All those draws.
Positively Arsenal 