Tonight brings yet another vital League game against Bolton Wanderers at home. Sunday’s result at their place was a little harsh on them but we took our chances, they didn’t. That’s how the game goes.
One of the Trotters’ fan websites has taken a swipe at us here in the Gooner Nation.
The attack is graceless and completely over the top. However if I’m honest there is a small grain of truth in it. I’ve said before and I’ll repeat that the Trotters under Sam Allardyce were the first team in the Premier League to figure out how to play against us. It involved plenty of welly, true, but it was more sophisticated than that.
I also accept that Gooners moan far too much and support the team far too little. It is indeed true that Arsčne Wenger can be graceless in defeat. I don’t want a manager who is happy as Larry in defeat, nor do I want the Gooner Nation to accept mediocrity for our club and its great history and traditions. I do want a bit of class however. After all, we’re The Arsenal. Sometimes we’d be as well keeping our own counsel rather than bleating too much.
That said, the attack on us was out of all proportion to our alleged offences. Still I thought it was interesting to see another’s view of us. Let us do our level best to send the writer of the piece to bed grumpy tonight. We’re about to embark on an absolutely critical section of the season. Injuries so no signs of abating so we’ll just have to make the best of the squad we’ve got. Denilson and Theo Walcott should be available for selection tonight. Aaron Ramsey and Samir Nasri won’t be. Also unavailable through injury are Nicklas Bendtner, Johan Djourou, Gaël Clichy, Kieran Gibbs and Robin van Persie. Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboué are still in Angola at the African Cup of Nations. Nine players unavailable for selection. Not what we’d want ideally at this time of the season but we’ve not done too badly so far, given the horrible run of injuries.
We’re starting to see the more self-inflicted wounds at other clubs. Pompey are now suffering the hangover of running the business side like a drunken sailor on shore leave. The latest skeleton to come out of the closet being Sol Campbell suing for £1.7 million he alleges is unpaid in image rights and bonuses. At Manchester United the Glazer family continue with their campaign to drag every last tanner out of the pockets of the fans to pay for the debt mountain they created.
If you’re like me the first reaction to any problem at Old Trafford is to laugh. In this case however the supine reaction to the takeover at Manchester United by both the football authorities and the government gives great cause for concern generally. How can a takeover that entails no debt to over £700 million in debt be “good” for Manchester United? How can the sort of nonsense we’ve seen at Portsmouth and Notts County where taking over the clubs prove not to have a pot to pee in be in the best interests of the game? You simply couldn’t make up what’s going on at Anfield.
Finally, Haiti. I’m pleased to see the club will be donating £1 from every programme sold at tonight’s game to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a coalition of thirteen charities which includes the British Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children and Help the Aged.
The club website’s “splash” page also contains a link to the DEC website for donations. Well played. Just what I expect from The Arsenal.
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