sez it all ...

fold!

gooners 0: adug city 3
(ireland 45,robinho 56, sturridge 90 pen)

can just hear the knee jerk calls for le gaff's head ... so, can anyone tell me who esle can do the job? ...

i say start all over again, arsene. it starts here and now ... some insprational words from that sage oscar goldman ... "gentlemen, we can rebuild him. we have the technology. we have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. steve austin will be that man. better than he was before. better, stronger, faster." ... and that theme song ......

have we arrived at critical mass?

captain nicotine does the laundry in public ... here and here. seems like things have been simmering for some time. more problems for le gaffer ... but i suppose he's known about this combustible internal situation for some time now.

internal strife or unhappiness can no doubt be extremely damaging to a campaign, just look at our jeckle and hyde form and the situation at toteringham under ramos as compared to that under redknapp.

la dolce villa

wengker now says: "You cannot speak about whether you will be champions or not at this stage but to be champions you need to be consistent - and we are not." smell a crisis?

this roller coaster ride just won't end

gooners 0: villa 2
clichy og 70, agbonlahor 80

speechless ...

is this the same team?

toteringham 4: reds 2

initially minnows, then the gooners and now the reds. it's getting seriously weird.

actor out on loan

goonerlings 3: latics 0 (carling cup)
simpson 43,68 vela 71
the milwall loaner's first start in an senior game. and what about goal no.3 ......

the latics were to be an altogether different proposition to the blades (but in the end, only marginally). expected a more torrid time but things happen when you are having fun and have the commitment and skills to back you up. there's a refreshing thread of natural teamwork and selflessness running through this and the earlier game. i don't care how great a player you are, when you have 3 hyperactive hobbits hounding you whenever you get the ball throughout 90 odd minutes, you'll lose the plot. seniors should take note.

some have said that there's no pressure on the kids ... really? surely pressure must be seen in it's context. you're 17, you're trying to break into the 1st team (your future depends on it, it's your chosen profession init?), there's at least a coupla other guys who can play in your position and who've got the skills and maybe more experience, you're actually playing other 1st teams (well, mostly), the whole world is watching (well, maybe an eighth :-)), your manager (not just any manager but le gaffer) is watching, the odd national team manager is watching, the fans are watching, there's a real trophy up for grabs, it's a knockout competition ... get real.

work in progress they may be but them children provide heaps of fun ... and isn't that what it"s all about? when i really want to get serious and worry about things, i clock in at my office.

let yo feet do the talking, fool

title contenders are now afraid of us ... ? boy-man shooting off his mouth again here and here.

we're not called arsenole for nothing ...

6 more minutes of stress (the boys are back in town, i hope)

gooners 2: manure 1
nasri 22, 48 da silva 89
6 mins of stoppage time added

most say that it was a pulsating attacking game. but i thought that we we rather tentative throughout, moves did not flow. nerves i spose ... on a bad run and knee deep in a must-win game against manure. the second goal in particular was rather satisfying, a 16-17 pass move before the ball nestled in the back of net. and then we didn't just all drop back and defend the 2 goal advantage (or we just don't know how ...), this going forward regardless attitude is a joy. dangerous? tactically naive? who gives a sh*t ...

but with the late da silva goal and the extra time ... shades of the toteringham disaster ...

to be fair, manure (with their first team, mind you) had an out of sorts kind of day ... didn't have the edge and the luck. penalty? what penalty?

we're not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. premiership still very much a pipe dream at this stage, methinks. but someone asked before the tie, whether we have the stomach for a fight given our recent results? answer's quite clear, init? it's just a shame that the same or even depleted team beat manure but not the minnows ... it's all in the mind, stupid.

back down on earth: great win this may be but the facts are that this bit of euphoria only gives us 3 points whereas 13 have been needlessly fed to the fishes and nasri's not an out and out striker, is he?