The day of reckoning draws ever closer. By 6pm Sunday we'll know what next season will bring in terms of European football, but it strikes me that what we need to do this summer won't be too heavily influenced by where we end up.
Accepting that Champions League football is a draw for certain players, it doesn't mean you can't sign quality just because you finish outside the top four.
Normally Friday is a busy day as we prepare for the weekend's game. Arsene Wenger holds his press conference, we get the latest team news and so on, but due to the fact we're supposed playing Wigan our game isn't until Tuesday because of their participation in the FA Cup final.
It's been another pretty quiet week – you can tell because all the tabloids are just running last week's transfer stories over again in the absence of anything else to talk about. Gonetic. Jovelons. Whatever. Let's get to the summer then start worrying about these kind of things.
Sideshows. Fun things in their literal sense. There's the main event but there's also something on the side to divert and amuse us. It's little known, but during his Glass Spider Tour, David Bowie provided a number of these, including otter throwing stalls and beat poets who were so androgynous even the great man himself couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.
*boilk*(with thanks to the good people of Kentucky).
Morning all and welcome to Friday. Instead of preparing for Arsene Wenger's press conference this morning, it rather unusually took place last night and the boss gave the latest injury update ahead of the Fulham game.
Good morning and welcome to Friday after what seems to have been a long week.
We can now start looking ahead properly to tomorrow's game against Norwich and the early team news is that both Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott are likely to return to the squad. Obviously that leaves the manager with some decisions to make.
Normally we'd have an Arsene Wenger press conference to look forward to but the boss can't make it this week because he's lost his voice. Rumours that he suffered this injury around the same time as Gervinho started finding the net seem unfounded to me.
We'll start with the Abou Diaby story, and the French midfielder's injury curse continues as he was ruled out yesterday for up to 9 months with a cruciate ligament injury. It's unbelievably harsh news for a guy who was happily proclaiming he'd learned to manage his own body just a few days ago.
Although I didn't see any of the Europa League action last night, I heartily endorse the idea of both Sp*rs and Chelsea going as far as possible in the competition. Hopefully they'll go all the way to the final and wherever it's held football holds its nose at the stink both teams make as the game erupts into on and off-field violence, culminating in a helicopter like Blue Thunder going into silent mode and spraying all the fans with Agent Orange and hippo piss while blasting Life is a Rollercoaster by Ronan Keating at top volume.
I woke up this morning to terrible news. My application to do a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama was unsuccessful. Although they admire my work, I didn't make the very short list. However, should one of the other students drop out, I will be reconsidered.
Then I remembered that I didn't make any such application and it turns out there's a bloke with the exact same name as me who has, rather carelessly, used my personal Gmail address as his own.
Hello and welcome to Friday. Another day closer to the big game on Sunday.
We'll hear from Arsene today as he meets the press but the early team news is that Bacary Sagna misses out due to the knee problem which kept him out of the Aston Villa game last weekend. That means Carl Jenkinson will fill in, and given the nature of the game, his support of Arsenal and, therefore, outright loathing of Sp*rs, we'll have a fully committed replacement back there.
So, what now? The answer is obvious enough: the Premier League is where it's at. That's all we've got. It might not feel particularly great at this moment in time, but it's something to play for and something to target.
I'm not going to suggest that finishing in the top four is any kind of trophy, clearly it's not and the insistence on misusing that particular quote is an irritation, but whatever we're going to need to do this summer would be more easily achieved if we have Champions League football.
Hello and welcome to Friday after what has been a seriously, seriously quiet week.
You would think we were in the depths of summer or the very belly of an Interlull, such has been the lack of news and goings-on. Of course much of that is all the fault of the team and Arsene Wenger for winning last weekend.
Morning all, it's still very quiet as we prepare for Sunderland tomorrow.
I suppose that's because the players who were away came back yesterday in dribs and drabs, and after medical assessments the only real training session will be this morning. At that point the manager will have a better idea of who he's got available for the trip to Roker Park.
So deadline day came and went and we bought somebody but it was somebody nobody had ever mentioned before but everybody was an expert and knew all kinds of stuff about him even though they didn't seem to know it the day before yesterday and basically I'm glad the transfer window is over because it's all a big distraction from the real thing.
I slept it in a bit this morning. I was dreaming I was playing in the Champions League final for Arsenal against Bayern Munich but 85 minutes of the game was taken up by an extended version of the Champions League music while Michel Platini was carried around on a throne like a Roman emperor.
Morning all, it's a pretty miserable one here in Dublin.
Bits and pieces going on as we prepare for a big, big game on Sunday against Chelsea. Arsene's press conference took place yesterday and it was interesting, really interesting, to see how stories are created. You might wake up and see us linked with Napoli striker Edinson Cavani but how that's come about is quite fascinating.
It's been a pretty quiet week but things should start ramping up a bit today as we start to look ahead to Sunday's game against Manchester City. There's some early team news, most of it good, but Olivier Giroud is a doubt having not trained all week because of a deep cut on his knee suffered against Swansea.
It's been a pretty quiet week but things should start ramping up a bit today as we start to look ahead to Sunday's game against Manchester City. There's some early team news, most of it good, but Olivier Giroud is a doubt having not trained all week because of a deep cut on his knee suffered against Swansea.
So, Arsene has been talking about transfers. And as time goes by, listening to Arsene talk about transfers is steadily becoming one of the most infuriating things about life as an Arsenal fan. One day we're going to be active, the next we'll wait and see. One day we're looking everywhere, the next it all depends on a bloke signing a new deal – the same bloke who has steadfastly refused to sign the new deal on offer for 18 months now.
it's a busy day so I've got to fly through the news this morning. The pre-Wigan press conference took place yesterday and with regards team news there's little to report. No fresh injuries, nobody back, so it will be the same squad that made the shorter trip to Reading.
The only real decision the boss has to make is whether or not to deploy Theo Walcott as the main striker again.
Morning to you, welcome to Friday and although there's still all kinds of misery stalking the corridors, we can start with some good news.
Jack Wilshere is close to agreeing a new deal with the club, which should make everyone happy. So too is Aaron Ramsey, which will bother some, but I can see why it's happening.
Morning all, after Tomas Rosicky's sensible words yesterday it's the turn of Mikel Arteta today. In an interview in the Mirror he lays bare the current situation and says that the players are working hard to put things right. Rightly, in my opinion, calling Swansea the lowest point of the season, but he's backing the team to provide a response against West Brom tomorrow.
Morning all, welcome to Friday. I'm just awake from a dream where Lily Allen was a three-legged ninja sent to kill me but her weapon of choice was a rifle which shot Cadbury's Creme Eggs. Deathly delicious. I survived, as you can see.
Lots of talk this morning about contracts and clauses in them and all kinds of stuff but I'm just not sure why this is a story.
welcome to Friday, another week has flown by, we've got a busy few days of football ahead and two away games to contend with. Starting with Villa tomorrow, then there's a trip to Merseyside to take on Everton in midweek. Arsene Wenger held his pre-Villa press conference yesterday and beyond confirming that Abou Diaby is still 3-4 weeks away (he's hobbling up an down escalator in terms of his career), there aren't any new injuries or knocks to be concerned about.
Right then, we can start looking ahead to tomorrow's game which, because of the early kick off, is just a little over 24 hours away.
There's some early team news, some of it promising, some of it not so much but not that unexpected really. It was slightly worrying to read Arsene Wenger refer to Kieran Gibbs as 'long-term', in the same breath as lifers like Diaby and Rosicky, but I'm hoping that he just means he's been out for a while already and isn't a one/two week knock like some of the others.
Morning to you, welcome to another Friday and there's plenty to get through between now and the end.
Starting with some injury updates ahead of tomorrow's game against Fulham and there's some vaguely good news. Wojciech Szczesny could return to the squad, but probably not yet the team, provided he comes through an U21 game today without any problems.
Morning all, mild *boilk* after going to celebrate the win in last night's Irish Web Awards (Best Podcaster) with Mrs Blogs. Nothing coffee can't fix though. Or morphine, but I don't have any morphine. I wish it grew on trees. The world would be a much better place if everyone had a morphine tree.
Hello, welcome to Friday and the end of the Interlull well and truly. After ten days of nothing there's a fair clump of stuff going on this morning and with Arsene's press conference this morning there should be enough to get any Gooner through until we play Norwich tomorrow evening.
We do have some early team news ahead of that game and as expected Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott miss out.
Morning all. I am a bit tired this morning having been woken up at 3am by the dog, who is a good dog, but who himself had been woken by one of the cats ... erm ... caterwauling. Damned Evil the Cat.
Anyway, here we are with a game at West Ham tomorrow before we head into another dreaded Interlull.
Plenty to be getting on with today. Arsene held his pre-Chelsea press conference yesterday, the club have released the financials and Sanchez Watt and Craig Eastmond have gone to that great Nandos in the sky. I mean, on loan to Colchester.
We'll start with the team news ahead of tomorrow's game and really, there isn't any.
Morning all, bit of a *boilk* this morning but nothing too serious, as Icehouse once said.
Let's start with the best news from yesterday and that's the return of Jack Wilshere to first team training. It's been a long road for the young man and no doubt a very difficult one too. As somebody who finds it hard to take missing a game of 5-a-side I can only imagine how tough it's been for someone like Jack – whose enthusiasm for the game is obvious – to miss a year or more or his career.
Hello and welcome to Friday, football is back tomorrow and there's news galore. Mostly because Arsene held his pre-match press conference yesterday rather than today, so we have plenty to talk about.
Team news can wait until tomorrow for the most part but it does look as if Abou Diaby is the only casualty of the Interlull and even then his problem is quite minor.
It is upon us, at last. The transfer deadline. Tonight, the window shuts at 11pm and after that
it's a case you have what you hold and that group of players will be tasked with taking us through
until January, at least. It does look like there'll be some departures with stories about Nicklas
Bendtner having a medical this morning with Juventus, Ju Young Park traveling to Celta Vigo and
there's talk of Chamakh and Malaga but I'm a bit dubious about that one.
Good morning, welcome to Friday and as such the newsiest day of the week as we start to focus on
Sunday's game against Stoke.
Starting with some early team news and it looks like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in
contention, for a place on the bench at least, while Laurent Koscielny hasn't yet recovered
sufficiently from his calf problem to be considered.
Good morning, here we are on the eve of a new season and I don't know about you but I'm excited.
Genuinely.
I watched some Sky Sports News last night and they showed Robin van Persie arriving in
Manchester, getting out of a car and looking happy. I mean, I can deal with him going there, I can
deal with the fact that he's a big old jazz-handed Quisling, but looking happy?
News is somewhat scarce but we'll muddle on and find something to talk about. We could start
with the fact the club gave some futher insight into the appointments of Steve Bould and Neil
Banfield. We know that the former is going to be Arsene's assistant but Banfield thought he was
just going to have a chat about the reserves when the boss called him into his office:
The manager invited me into his office, and with Steve Bould going up to be assistant manager I
thought that he may have pulled me in to explain his decision.
another week comes to an end as we push further forward into the "summer" and there are a few
bits and pieces going on this morning.
Firstly, Jack Wilshere is off to Sweden to have a 'minor procedure' on his knee which the club
say shouldn't significantly delay his comeback next season.
Morning all, last night I dreamed that Google launched a thing called Google Cake, where you
could download ready made sponge cakes but you had to do all the icing and filling and stuff
yourself. It got messy.
Anyway, plenty to be going on with this morning as the club yesterday confirmed that Pat Rice
would be leaving after 44 years.
