Right people, turn your papers over, you have ten minutes complete the questions 

What are the most points ever scored by Arsenal football club in its EPL history? (three points for a win)

1. a) 102
2. b) 90
3. c) 88
4. d) 95

Who scored the most goals (7) in any game for Arsenal.

1. a) Ted Drake
2. b) John Radford
3. c) Ian Wright
4. d) Cliff Bastin

Ken Dodd’s Dad’s dog died last night-

1. a)  Diddy?
2. b) Doddy?
3. c) do wah diddy, diddy dum diddy do?
4. d)  What type of dog was it? One of those dogs that when the doorbell rings it goes into a sexual frenzy and starts trying to mate with anything? Hold on I thought this was an Arsenal blog! I mean did Ken, his Dad, or even his dog even support Arsenal? Grrr! When I met him on tour in the Levant, Samgrass said this would happen to society! Grrr! One sh-sh-sh-ould stick to f-f-f-ooter..?

On their way to the 1980 CWC final, Arsenal beat IFK Gothenburg 5-1 in the first leg, but what was the score in the second leg?

1. a) 1-1
2. b) 2-2
3. c) 0-0
4. d) Where is Gothenburg? Is that where all the Goths live? I met a Goth once, London type, said his name was Adrian De’ath. Slept in a coffin. Had his black hair all shaved close on one side, and it was long at the back like a mullet. I said “you look like a pale Chrissy Waddle!”. He didn’t say anything back.He just stared out of the window all mean and moody contemplating death, wind-swept moors,Lord Bryon and the band Bauhaus.

Which club did Patrick Vieira come from when he joined Arsenal?

1. a) A.S Cannes
2. b) Juventus
3. c) AC Milan
4. d) The Village Vanguard about 3 a.m.

Which player did Bruce Rioch bring to Arsenal?

1. a) Dennis Bergkamp
2. b) Ian Wright
3. c) Jimmy Carter
4. d) Dennis Einstein, the younger brother of Albert. Famous for his philosophical insights into the stratagems of pedantic formulations of incoherent a posteriori, and the culmination of the categorical imperatives within any coherent theory of truths as a subsequent notion of inductive reason as an attribute of the material cause of various teleological arguments that reason that Tottenham Hotspur are basically a form of oscillating stool type matter, as found in farmyards. He formulated this as: Lilywhite + Alectryon = shit. A formula that broke the scientific world into pieces, and lead the scientific naturalists and various Middlesex rambler/country types drop their aforementioned notions, and revise history and pay homage at the sign of the Gunner.

How many goals did Thierry Henry score for Arsenal?

a) 164

b) 228

c) 174

d) I knew a man at Oxford in 1924 called Henry, went together to Ascot to see the horse “Ponceious Pilot” in the 2.30. Came in first. Old Henry ran awf with me ticket, never saw him again, the rotter bagged all my ruddy cash! Never trusted anyone called Henry after that. Now Quiggan, thats a trustworthy name! Always trust a  Quiggan! I say you don’t perchance fancy a quick snifter do you, should be coming up to opening time soon? Mind you I knew a bloke called Snifter once too. Bohemian type, un-shaved,wore sandals in the winter. I said to the fellow, never above the latitude of Gibraltar should one been seen with that type of footwear. Of course,he ignored me, can’t think why? Those literary-set types are all the same-louche.

Victoria Concordia Crescit was the Arsenal motto for years, but what does it mean?

a) Victory comes from harmony

b) You man, go over there and attack those trenches, while I take dinner.

c) Victory is a crescent like joy

d) Dunno but wasn’t she one of the Spice girls? Or something like that anyway, one of them Boy-bands you get on that X factor show.

What position/style of play do Joke City adopt the most?

a)  left back

b ) right back

c ) I dunno I just can’t stand them. And I don’t want to talk about it, but we call it “parking the bus”.Grrr!

d) Ken Dodds Dads dogs dirty doggie style position.

How many games did Nigel Winterburn play for Arsenal?

1. a) 335
2. b) 359
3. c) 584

d) Look you idiot, he didn’t play for Arsenal, he played for West Ham! Call your self a Gooner! I know these things I was at Anfield in 89! And me Grandad supported Arsenal.

Why was Liam Brady called “chippy”?

a) He comes from Chipping Ongar.

b) He liked chips

c) He collected small chips of wood from carpenters across the world.

d) He chipped the ball beautifully, every Arsenal fan knows that!

Which Arsenal player was called Supermac?

a) Frank McLintock

b) Malcolm MacDonald

c) Bob McNab

d) Me Mums mate, Alfie Mackintosh. He kept terrapins and weasels. He was a shallow man, cruel and insensitive. Took to ranting of an evening in his garden, said he wrote all of Shakespeare’s works. Ended up supporting Chelsea.

Who did the Arsenal Ladies beat in this years(2016) FAW Cup final?

a) Chelsea

b) Man City

c) Doncaster Belles

d) Notts County

Quiz complied by Boris Karl-Orf . Have a good weekend. Don’t worry them Gunners and the regulars will soon be back!

Thank you Mills, you have added a smile to my morning. And tomorrow I have a very special piece to put up from an occasional contributor, but one who produces quality not quantity. ( Taps nose and winks  knowingly) 

See you about 10.

Now where are my car keys ? 

  Mane Bonum populo affirmativo,

The dust settles, the planet turns on. We must return to more weighty matters.

As an antidote to the endless nothingness of the international football break a new feature on PositivelyArsenal in the form of a Quiz, prepared by Mills. Needless to say his specialised subject is Arsenal. May your mood be a little lighter. Bene habeas. 

When was Arsenal Football club established?

1. a) 1886
2. b) 1996
3. c) 2006
4. d) No idea I’m too busy watching Arsenal fan tv and vlogging myself for intricate details like that.

Where was ex- Arsenal player John Kosmina born?

1. a) Pluto
2. b) New Zealand
3. c) Australia
4. d) Behind the green door.

David O’Leary’s nickname was..?

1. a) The Martian
2. b) Spider
3. c) Fly
4. d) No idea, I only read books by David Icke.Just think under my finger nail there could be many worlds…the moons a secret alien base you know…

In what position did Ritchie Powling play?

1. a) Missionary
2. b) Midfield
3. c) Defence
4. d) No idea, but was he on TOWIE?

What was Liam Brady’s nickname ?

1. a) Chippy
2. b) fishy
3. c) meat pie

d)Hey man, whoa man, I dunno man, I never came down after Woodstock man! Cain’t remember the 60s let alone nicknames.

Before Arsenal FC became Arsenal FC with various prefixes, they were called what?

1. a) Dial Sq fc
2. b) Fax machine fc
3. c) email fc
4. d) Snap chat fc of course! Facebook is only for old people -you’ve gotta keep up, I mean being a You Tube star is just so yesterday! Its the new Punk!

Le Grove is what?

1. a) A lunatic asylum near Chipping Ongar.
2. b) a place where old animals go to die.
3. c) one of the Hells that Danté wrote about.
4. d) some damp Urbex place that makes you want a crap when you go there as you feel you have the cold under the skin and all paranoid that the local farmer type is coming to give you a bollocking or worse.

In what place did Arsenal finish last year?

1. a) 2nd
2. b) 1st
3. c) 3rd
4. d) Look son, I want Wenger out, so it must have been 4th, I mean we always come 4th ffs! What we need is Mou to sort things out, he knows what he isn’t doing, if you know what I mean? Know what I mean? I blame Wenger! How come we always come fourth, George Graham now that was a manager!

Against which team did Sammy Nelson pull his shorts down after scoring for and against Arsenal that night?

1. a) Coventry
2. b) Spurs
3. c) Man Ure
4. d) Spurs, at least that’s what I read at “A Cultured Lefty Cheesy Footicus”.

Which is the most loathsome club in the world?

1. a) Spurs
2. b) Tottenham Hotspur
3. c) The Spuds
4. d) I simply have no idea as I’m too busy reading the Grauniad during the match. Rhubarb and Bikini atoll coconut smoothie anyone? I say that O’Zeel chaps rather good I hear?

Coming soon, part two!

Quiz created by Boris Karl-Orf.

Good morning Positive Arsenal fans.

A blustery Monday morning in Norfolk as we move into an interesting week, though the international football is to be our primary focus over the next few days.

Of yesterday’s game? A fair result punched out by two sides that worked hard for 95 minutes. Our visitors had the edge defensively and, other than a 10-15 minute period before half time, shut down just about everything we put together as we got within the final third. I do not think we were on our top game. We did not test Lloris enough. Again we saw our lads struggle in front of goal at home at the weekend, following a free-scoring midweek in Europe. I can’t imagine that sequence is just coincidence, but I would be hard pushed to put down the cause to fatigue. Perhaps even the very best players find it hard to flick backwards and forwards between the different demands of CL and PL football every few days?

Us?  Though not classic Wengerball we had good performances from a number of our lads. Hector I thought was Man of the Match, very mobile, very sharp, and looked most likely to get on the score sheet during the second half. Granit performed well and there was no evidence of the red mist descending in what, on a couple of occasions, flared up into the usual NLD handbag waving contest. Theo maintained his good form and was always involved. I was as surprised as he was when he was hooked. On the downside I thought Alex Iwobi did not look comfortable or show us his best. I would have liked to see him take on the donkey Walker more, one on one. Usually he is only too happy to dribble into the box but yesterday that part of his game was missing. I think we needed something “unexpected” like that to crack the Spurs defence. At 20-years old and with his debut just one year ago his form will go up and down so no worry there. I suspect the youngster may get a rest with Aaron coming in.

Did we miss Santi ? I think we did and I look forward to his restoration at Trafford Park for the lunchtime kick off on the 19^th.

Them? I read in the mainstream media that the “three at the back” tactical master-stroke devised by Pochettino was our downfall?  I don’t think so. I thought one of their “three” was an accident waiting to happen even before his silly own goal. (Excellent call by the linesman btw for our goal – I was convinced it was offside until the third showing on the TV). Dembele earned a lot of praise in the mainstream media as Spuds’ best player, indeed the official MOTM on BT. He did well but Son was a right handful, he left Mustafi trailing on one occasion. He was constantly busy. The Korean also was commendably sporting in not taking Cech’s head off his shoulders after the horrible slip our keeper suffered. Plenty of players would have gone for the ball. That was a bad moment.

Not the send-off into two weeks of the international wilderness that we were hoping for but a point gained nonetheless. I see that Ozil has been given a break by Joachim Low which is helpful to preserve the player for a few more weeks. Fingers crossed the rest come back safe and sound, and ready to nail down the coffin lid of the Portuguese.

Vote early, vote often and enjoy your week.

Arsenal “lied” to the fans. They said we would be as big as Bayern Munich. They said we would be able to compete financially with any club in the world. Blah, blah feckin blah.

How many time have you seen or heard such bollocks? It is said, repeated and accepted by the brain dead all over the Arsenal fanbase. It can be only one of two things that allow this ignorance, either those saying it, and believing it, are genuinely stupid, or they are choosing to pretend to be stupid.

Arsenal now they make more £££ on matchday than any other football club in the world. When the stadium move was planned, that was the goal. It’s an incredible achievement that it has now been realised.

However when the move was being considered, matchday income would have made up the vast majority of income. So had the circumstances remained the same, we would actually have been one of the biggest clubs in the world, right now. The problem is that “right now” match day income is less than 25% of the income of big clubs. The rest comes from commercial sponsorships and TV . So that means we are still considerably behind the really, really big boys.

Of course people will then ask why our commercial income doesn’t match theirs ? They will insist “we should be doing better”. This insistence is made from a position of total ignorance and lack of understanding.

Commercial deals are given on the worth of the brand name, which more or less comes from the global standing of the club based on recent and historical success. That is where Arsenal fall down, historically we were miles behind Liverpool and United, at least in the terms of global support. So when the worth of kit deals etc. are calculated, we are in the queue behind them. You know 5 Champions Leagues and all?

The rise of world wide popularity of the Premier League also means the most successful PL teams are ahead of us there too. City and Chelsea are at an advantage because their owners have chosen to buy them domestic (and in Chelsea’s case European) success. Sponsors not only know about the recent success of these two pretenders, but they know that their owners will continue to plough money in, in order to get more success , over the term of any deals struck. That makes them a more valuable investment than Arsenal.

The only way to make us more valuable, to sponsors,  is to win more.  But in a league where at least three teams can massively outspend us, that is no easy task. It’s not as easy as saying “we should be doing better”. The fact is we are doing better, a lot better. But the other clubs not only have the advantage in buying players, they also have the advantage when it come to being sponsored.

All this is before we even consider that the petro-fuelled clubs also sponsor themselves.I think City’s training kit is sponsored to an absurd extent by, basically,  Mansour’s brother.

So before we accuse the board of “lying” we should consider that they have in fact achieved the goal they set out too. They just failed to see into the future , just like every other board in the world. No one could have foreseen the change to the football landscape,  especially the serial moaners within our fanbase.

The reality is that our board has done remarkably well, given the changes in revenue streams and the global recession that they encountered, and in the midst of a property development based stadium move. So let us  celebrate the good work they have done rather than ignore the difficulties and demand, that somehow by magic, we achieve par ( or better)  with Real Madrid.

P.S. This was published last night, but this reply from our own Arsenal Andrew should be read with it,as it perfectly sums up why certain misconceptions were allowed to exist.

Arsenal “lied” to the fans. They said we would be as big as Bayern Munich. They said we would be able to compete financially with any club in the world. Blah, blah feckin blah.

How many time have you seen or heard such bollocks? It is said, repeated and accepted by the brain dead all over the Arsenal fanbase. It can be only one of two things that allow this ignorance, either those saying it, and believing it, are genuinely stupid, or they are choosing to pretend to be stupid.

Arsenal now they make more £££ on matchday than any other football club in the world. When the stadium move was planned, that was the goal. It’s an incredible achievement that it has now been realised.

However when the move was being considered, matchday income would have made up the vast majority of income. So had the circumstances remained the same, we would actually have been one of the biggest clubs in the world, right now. The problem is that “right now” match day income is less than 25% of the income of big clubs. The rest comes from commercial sponsorships and TV . So that means we are still considerably behind the really, really big boys.

Of course people will then ask why our commercial income doesn’t match theirs ? They will insist “we should be doing better”. This insistence is made from a position of total ignorance and lack of understanding.

Commercial deals are given on the worth of the brand name, which more or less comes from the global standing of the club based on recent and historical success. That is where Arsenal fall down, historically we were miles behind Liverpool and United, at least in the terms of global support. So when the worth of kit deals etc. are calculated, we are in the queue behind them. You know 5 Champions Leagues and all?

The rise of world wide popularity of the Premier League also means the most successful PL teams are ahead of us there too. City and Chelsea are at an advantage because their owners have chosen to buy them domestic (and in Chelsea’s case European) success. Sponsors not only know about the recent success of these two pretenders, but they know that their owners will continue to plough money in, in order to get more success , over the term of any deals struck. That makes them a more valuable investment than Arsenal.

The only way to make us more valuable, to sponsors,  is to win more.  But in a league where at least three teams can massively outspend us, that is no easy task. It’s not as easy as saying “we should be doing better”. The fact is we are doing better, a lot better. But the other clubs not only have the advantage in buying players, they also have the advantage when it come to being sponsored.

All this is before we even consider that the petro-fuelled clubs also sponsor themselves.I think City’s training kit is sponsored to an absurd extent by, basically,  Mansour’s brother.

So before we accuse the board of “lying” we should consider that they have in fact achieved the goal they set out too. They just failed to see into the future , just like every other board in the world. No one could have foreseen the change to the football landscape,  especially the serial moaners within our fanbase.

The reality is that our board has done remarkably well, given the changes in revenue streams and the global recession that they encountered, and in the midst of a property development based stadium move. So let us  celebrate the good work they have done rather than ignore the difficulties and demand, that somehow by magic, we achieve par ( or better)  with Real Madrid.

Good morning Positives,

I don’t think any of us were surprised by the result last night as we had been, and were again in Sofia, a better equipped football team than the Bulgarian champions. We acknowledged Ludogorets had some talent and, at home, would probably be a more difficult prospect to beat. However we expected to win, we expected to go through into the last 16, again.

Equally I doubt any of us expected to win in the way we did, fighting back after an opening fifteen minutes in which the hosts shocked us twice. I have checked the script and there was no reference whatsoever to falling behind by two goals, then having to clamber back into the game.

Of the game itself Arsene clearly decided that a decisive step toward qualification was required and started with the strongest 11 available, bar Cech. As matters turned out his caution was well placed as the opening few minutes of the contest was wide open, Sanchez spinning and cutting through the greenshirts, with the Bulgars again raiding fast and wide as they had in London. The first goal conceded was a cock up, from the strange decision by the referee to award a handball, to some static defending by Kosc and Mustafi, a scuffed clump by Cafu (or possibly an own goal by Jenks but we will ignore that) before bobbling past a flat footed Ospina. It was not a classic. Shit happens, but shit has consequences. Sparked by that gift the home side raced forward again, the irritating Cafu turned Kieran inside out, and bingo – 2-0. The second Ludogorets goal was rather good I thought.

Just for Eddy I have retrieved the offending picture from the DT site;

Were we unhorsed ? Did we panic – Was it Zagreb Part II ?

Not in the least. A commendable mental strength showed itself following the double setback. We immediately regained control of the ball, worked hard, tackled cleanly and pressed the home side back, creating space and chances around their penalty area. I sensed our lads had given themselves a collective slap and woken up properly. They stood a little taller and straighter. Two well taken goals from Xhaka and Olivier arrived as the result of our dominance. By half time we looked set for the victory and a further two or three goals.

And as I anticipated the second half of one way traffic and the game effectively over by the 70^th minute or thereabouts exactly the opposite happened. The men in green, who did not appear to have a clue about defending in the preceding three halves of football, came out in two banks of four and frustrated our attacking efforts. Larry laboured hard, but on scraps. We seemed suddenly tired, listless, out of ideas.

On the break they menaced us and after a first half in which our keeper had almost nothing to do, Ospina was called onto make two saves from Wanderson that on another night would have left us stuffed and 4-2 down. In contrast to the first half it was Borjan in the home goal who had his feet up. Not only did the Bulgars play far more organised and intelligent football in the second half, they also flung themselves on the turf squealing every time they were touched, although on a couple of occasions Granit’s ‘touches’ might well have been grounds for the yellow card that he eventually earned. By 80^th minute the game was at stalemate, with Ludogorets content to take a well earned point.

And then, out of the blue, a quick, long pass by Elneny, released Ozil. Our German drove straight toward the goal, scoped the ball over the advancing Borjan, left two defenders on their arse ( see above), and tapped in our winner, our saving moment, our vindication. IT IS WHAT WE DO!

That the game as decided by an exquisite goal from the most talented footballer on the pitch was appropriate.

What an odd referee, very good at times, but a unique view of what constitutes handball with decisions given against both sides on the slightest manual contact. I shall keep an eye on Mr Nijhuis.

On we go then, Europe settle for three weeks – Tottingham next and a very different challenge.

Enjoy your Wednesday.