Well what a roller coaster of a season that was. It really had everything, injuries, title races, embarrassing defeats, huge wins, elation, depression, cup runs, incredible performances, stupid mistakes and more.

Going back to July, I don’t think anyone really knew what to think. Thierry Henry had just left for Barcelona and all the media had written us off. They all thought that this would be the year that we’d drop out of the top four and everybody was tipping Tottenham to take our place. How very wrong they were. This was my prediction on the season ahead back on the 19th July:

07/08 will be interesting, Henry’s gone but Van Persie will have a brilliant season in his absence. He looked good last year but got injured halfway through; he still ended up our top scorer though. Walcott and Adebayor will also be looking to step up and I predict good things from those two.

Eduardo was incredible at Dinamo Zagreb scoring more goals than appearances last season; lets see how he does in England. I predict 4th again, the top three have strengthened this summer and will be too much for us. Give our young side a year or two and the title will be back to where it belongs.

That was my honest opinion. I believed that 4th was very realistic. I was a bit worried about Henry leaving and the other top three strengthening but I still thought we would comfortably get 4th. I thought Spurs would make 5th or 6th. I was right about Walcott and Adebayor stepping up, Ade had a great season and Theo made a fantastic improvement.

However in my look at the team ahead of the 07/08 season, my big tips were Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby. I wasn’t right about Diaby, he has just carried on as normal but to be fair he never really got many chances, and they were all on the left wing this season. However Robin started really well, and he was the early leader for the golden boot. He was just coming into some breathtaking form but that when the injury hit. He got a few games after that but he never really broke back into the side.

So, in the beginning, it started very badly. Jens Lehmann let in a ridiculous goal against Fulham in the first few minutes of the season. Things had got off to the worst possible start but we came back to win that one 2-1. Then, the very next league game against Blackburn, Lehmann did it again, spilling a shot which cost us the three points. However, a few days later we found out Lehmann had been dropped for our next game against Man City, Almunia got the start and we ran out 1-0 winners. That was the beginning of the end for Jens Lehmann.

We then got into a run at good form, and on the 15th September it was time for a trip down Seven Sisters Road to Tottenham. If we won there, we would go top of the league. We won 3-1 Thanks to two incredible goals from Adebayor and Fabregas. I was there and I will never forget celebrating them.

So that meant we saw ‘1.’ next to our name for the first time in like three seasons. It was early days so I didn’t really think much of it, but we held that spot from there on for most of the season. We sailed through our next few games in September and October which included a 5-0 win over Derby, and 3-0 home win against Juande Ramos’ Seville and a 7-0 thrashing of Slavia Prague.

However the very next game we dropped points for the first game in a while, the 1-1 wasn’t really a bad result. I’ll always remember that game for Cesc’s brilliant celebration. A couple of game later, we entertained Man United at home and we just managed to nick a point in injury time thanks to William Gallas. The lino correctly flagged that the ball went over the line and we kept our unbeaten start going with a 2-2 draw.

Come December, I started to believe that we could actually be challenging for the title here. I didn’t want to get carried away with our good start, especially after the pre-season where we were totally written off. The media had changed their mind about this young Arsenal side and were now raving about them. I remember headlines calling us the 2nd generation of the Invincibles.

I didn’t like this pressure though and soon enough, we lost. The unbeaten run ended against ‘Boro when we lost 2-1 at the Riverside in a poor performance. We now only had a point gap between us and United in 2nd and it was back to reality for the Gooners. We had to bounce back though; our next two games were against Chelsea and Spurs, both at home. We showed our character and beat Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a first half Gallas header and beat the rivals 2-1 in an incredible game (on my birthday) in which Almunia saved a Robbie Keane penalty.

These two game showed that we could come back after a disappointing defeat and showed quality where it mattered. There are important qualities of Champions and we had to somehow hang on.

Things were going well, and despite the injury troubles we kept up the pace at the top of the league. The youngsters were doing well in the Carling Cup too and made it to the semi finals where we were drawn against Tottenham. Walcott earned us a 1-1 draw at home and it was all set up perfectly for the 2nd leg at White Hart Lane. We were having trouble selecting a team so we had to draft in a couple of first teamers’ but it still was a mix and match side. It all went wrong for us that night though, Tottenham had been psyched up for the game of their lives, and they did it. They beat us 5-1 in one of the worst footballing nights of my life. They were better than us on that night, I have to admit that. Spent went on to win the Carling cup beating Chelsea in the final. We had to stand up, and get on with it, and that’s what we did…

Two 3-0’s against Newcastle in the FA Cup and the League in the space of three days quickly re-focused us and we were back on track.

So that was January, and we were still up there, in the fight. February was to be a massive and decisive month for us. After finishing 2nd in our Champions League group, we were drawn with AC Milan in the knockout stages. But before that, we had to play Man United in the FA Cup. Now it was well known amongst Arsenal fans that we weren’t interested in the FA Cup. Being 5 points clear in the League, and with AC Milan to come to Ashburton Grove in the next game, I wasn’t bothered by our 4-0 defeat to Man United. Obviously, it wasn’t nice, and it meant we were no longer in the FA Cup, but it was the other two competitions that we had to focus on now.

A few days later, it was AC Milan. We drew that one 0-0 setting it us nicely/nervously for the match in the San Siro. However the next game, was arguably the most important out of the three, against Birmingham…

Early on in the game, everyone at Arsenal was stunned by a shocking Eduardo injury. Fans, players and staff felt this challenge deeply and seeing Eduardo it that much discomfort was quite disturbing. It obviously affected the players and we could hardly play football for the remainder of the first half. Arsene had to give an important team talk at half time, and it worked. Theo Walcott helped us get to 2-1 in the process scoring his first league goal for the club.

Everyone’s thoughts were with Eduardo but it looked as though we were just about to hang on to the lead and maintain the 5 point lead when we conceded a penalty in the very last minute. It’s too late now to continue moaning at the referee but lets say that it was a dubious decision against Clichy. Gallas, like all fans, couldn’t believe it and walked up the other end of the field in disbelief. The penalty was converted and the game finished 2-2. Gallas slumped to the floor in a very visual display of his emotions, something he was later criticised for.

I didn’t care; I would’ve been the same. Every Arsenal fans across the country was in the worst mood that day. We still drew, but the harshness of the penalty and the shocking injury to Eduardo. It all just seemed like the end. We were still clear at the top but this was unsettling times for The Arsenal.

We had to try and refocus ourselves, but it just didn’t happen, March was awful for us in the Premiership. We drew our games against Aston Villa, Wigan and ‘Boro which meant Man United could overtake us on ‘Grand Slam Sunday’. And they did, we surrendered our 1-0 lead at Stamford Bridge to lose 2-1. The worst imaginable had happened, from such a strong position we’d lost it.

Our next game was against Bolton; here was the chance to end the month’s awful league form with a win. However our bad luck continued and going in at half time we were 2-0 down and had Diaby sent off. By this time I think pretty much every Arsenal fan had given up. It was terrible; I just couldn’t believe how we’d come to this. However, in the second half we completed an inspiring comeback and managed to beat Bolton 3-2. Cesc’s last minute goal won s the points and his celebration is still my desktop background. Even though we should’ve never got ourselves into that position, it was amazing to come back like that. It lifted spirits and gave us a bit of belief going into the final few games.

March was bad, but our awful league form was forgiven for this:

Incredible. The critics wrote us off but we went to the San Siro and gave the game of our lives. I was lucky enough to be out in Milan for the game and it’s an experience I will never forget. Cesc Fabregas’ late goal was incredible and an image that will never league my mind.

Obviously, at the time, I didn’t really see it that well, I was too busy going mental like I’ve never gone mental before. It’s just one of those unbelievable goals that you celebrate like you don’t care if you hurt yourself and al you can say is: “OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!” No, just me? Well it was fucking beautiful. Adebayor made it 2-0 thanks to some good work by Theo Walcott. That completed the incredible win against AC Milan. It’s a game I will never forget; we outplayed the current European champions, in their own stadium and proved our worth.

In the next round, we were drawn against Liverpool and we were obviously on a high from the last round. The Scoucers had disposed of the other team from Milan so they weren’t feeling too bad either. By coincidence, the two legs were either side of a league game against Liverpool. All three games were of the utmost importance. The first leg was at home and it finished 1-1 however we’ll always feel we should’ve won that. Liverpool’s goal was a very sloppy one to concede, we should’ve had a penalty and Bendtner stopped on of our shots on their goal line right at the end.

Next up, it was them in the league, and it was also 1-1, both sides fielded a weakened side but we still really needed to win this. Focus now turned to a massive night at Anfield. It was an incredible game and it looked like we’d won it late on when we made it 2-2 thanks to another great Walcott run and Adebayor finish. I went mental as usual but just a few minutes later Liverpool were awarded an incredibly soft penalty, just to rub it in our faces that we didn’t get one in the first leg. Gerrard scored it and they ended up 4-2 winners. It was a very sad night but I have to admit it was a brilliant game. I still feel we should’ve won it but oh well.

We were pretty much out of all competitions now. Next we had to go to Man United, we had to win there to have any hope whatsoever of getting back into the tile race, but in reality we felt it was all over for us anyway. We lost 2-1 and it finally felt like it was over. In a way it was a relief but it was very depressing thinking back to what a strong position we got ourselves into and then lost.

The remaining four games of the season we played like friendlies. We could still mathematically get back into it but we knew it was all over. Chelsea beat united at Stamford Bridge to take it down to the wire but in the end the inevitable happened and Man United became Champions.

So that was the story of our season basically. Well done if you managed to read all of that, it was emotional. We’ll learn a lot form this campaign and we’ll come back even stronger next season, but more on that in a couple of months. I’ll also do an end of season awards type thing soon. Thanks for reading and thanks for following us over this difficult season. Ooh to be a Gooner!

Hello there, sorry I didn’t write anything yesterday, I literally had no time at all. There’s been no big news, don’t worry; just little bits and pieces. However, last night I went to the filming of The Cesc Fabregas Show in Wembley along with my two competition winners. It was basically a show about Cesc’ career and where he started etc. There was also a great interview with Wenger about the boy and appearances from Nicklas Bendtner, Mickey Thomas, Paul Merson, Phillippe Senderos, Chris Kamara and Paul Kaye. There were some mini-games too, A touch test with an amatuer footballer, an XBox match verses a lucky crowd member (Cesc won 3-0 wheyyyy) and a game at the end where Cesc had to head a ball between the guests and then head it through a hole. If he managed it, the crowd would all get next seasons shirt as the prize. Fabregas did it and was mobbed by the crowd, was pretty funny actually but they said they didn’t catch it on film! But yeah, I’ve got next season’s shirt in the post apparantly.

It was a really good night, and nice to be so close to such legends in such a relaxed atmosphere. It took fucking ages to record though and we were standing up the whole time. It was very uncomfortable and tiring, so much so that a lot of the crowd left before the end. I’ve never been to anything like that before and I really enjoyed it, it actually looks like it’s going to be a good show so I reccommend you tuning in next week. My two competition winners had a good time too, thanks to Gill and Adam for coming.

Right, on to the news. Wenger has been saying that this young team will be much better come August compared to the beginning of last season. A lot of our young players have a made a great improvment this season, especially Walcott and Bendtner, and remember Fabregas and Clichy etc are still young, despite them being one of our best players they are still improving. Wenger also aims for van Persie and Rosicky to control their injuries next term. He’s also been talking about how he believes ‘World Class’ Robin can have an injury-free season.

Le Boss has also updated us on Eduardo’s injury situation. He believes that physically, he’ll have no problem coming back as expected, but it’s the mental side of things Da Silva will have to concentrate on. How will Eddy feel the first time someone comes flying in with a tackle? Will he have the mental strenth to get on with it? Or, is he going to be a completely different player once he sees someone coming in for a tackle? Only time will tell.

That’s about it really for today, Almunia’s been telling us that all ‘keepers have to be a bit crazy and Arsene’s looking forward to our next cruical game, the Champions League Qualifier.

Right, I have to go get ready for job no.2. It not too bad though, at least I’ll get to watch the football there. Thanks for reading.

We played out our last game of the season yesterday up at Sunderland, and depressingly, it’s all over now. We were 1-0 winners with Theo Walcott scoring inside half an hour. I didn’t watch the game, and I didn’t even manage to catch the highlights thanks to my Sky + fucking up. I have seen the goal though, Gilberto threaded it through to Theo from about the halfway line, Walcott took it under control well and slotted it nicely home.

It’s been really good to see Theo scoring this season, we signed him back in January 2006 I believe but his first league goal only came a few months ago against Birmingham. Theo’s just breaking into the team at the moment and for m, this season he’s been a great player. Why he hasn’t got more starts, is beyond me but Wenger says that next year he will be regarded as a member of the first team and he will be fighting for starting spots.

Theo has played a lot of his games on the wing, however this season he’s proved that he can do it up front too. Hopefully he continues to improve and makes a difference next year. Cue Wenger with the ‘he’ll almost be like a new signing’ line…

However, we hope to be making some actually real signings this season. Last summer we saw a few departures but the additions of Bacary Sagna and Eduardo Da Silva proved excellent signings by Wenger. This year I’ll be looking for similar efforts from the manager; then those two names were announced, I was please, however I had no idea who they were or how good they are. So this year, whoever we sign I’ll have faith in Arsene’s judgment that they’re the bollocks. Here’s what Wenger said about some possible summer signings:

“I know what I want and I am very confident. I hope to turn that around in the next two or three weeks. But the fans should be re-assured by what they see.

It would be better to buy someone who has played in England because they are less risky, but it costs more money if they are from the Premier League, so maybe I will try to do both.”

Promising words from Le Boss. I’m excited by the fact that we could have a new signing as early as two weeks but I’m more impressed that Arsene might actually spend a bit of cash and bring in an established Premiership player. Who has he got in mind? Niko Kranjcar? Gareth Barry? Probably both but it’s what he can afford to do. More on this in the week.

It’s set to be an exciting summer of comings and goings. Flamini, of course, we already know will be leaving, he’s signed a pre-contract but I guess technically he’s still our player for another month or so…yay. Gilberto Silva will decide on his future shortly. Lehmann is off, retiring or moving to another club, we don’t know yet. Hleb might be going to Inter, Wenger insists he’s staying, Hleb’s people are determined he’s going. I don’t really care to be honest.

Hopefully we keep the squad together but we’ve been promised a couple of signings and I can’t wait to see who Wenger brings in to boost the squad. I still believe that next year could be our season; I’m just depending on Wenger to make the right additions.

I’ll write up the season review in the week some time. Thanks for reading.

While Wenger argues with media over our players, it’s easy to forget we’ve got a game tomorrow. As I glance at Arsenal.com now, 1 of the 11 headlines is to do with the Sunderland match, and that’s just the preview. In fact, all week there has been little talk about our final game of the season, only to do with the coming and goings of players…more of the latter.

A couple of days ago, Arsene said he might take a few youngsters to Sunderland:

“It should be nearly the same group of players who are available. Nobody is coming back from injury certainly.

But I could give one or two players an early breather because they go to Euro 2008 or the African qualifiers.

So Kieran Gibbs, who got on the bench last weekend, could be involved again, so could Mark Randall. But I am really not sure yet.

It is the last game of the season, and we have nothing to win or lose. There is a strong argument there for giving the youngsters a chance but I’d still like us to go full strength. It’s very difficult for me to guess what team Wenger might field. So I’m just going to show you what I’d do, if it were up to me:

I’ll start from the back, I think Lehmann should play, either as a sub or a starting place. I heard he’s stuck on 199 appearances for us and it’d be nice for him to bow out on 200 games for the reds. That 199 stat might be total rubbish though, in that case, play Fabianski. I’d really like to play Traore, he could do with a game at left back but Gael Clichy is one game away from playing in every single game of a Premiership campaign, and for an Arsenal player, that’s quite remarkable.

In midfield, I’d play Randall on the wing. There are rumours that he’s getting promoted to the first team next season, and if he is, then this is the perfect chance to try him out. Also, it puts Eboue out the team. Up front I’ve gone for Ade and Bendtner again, notice how that’s a 4-4-2 not a 4-4-1-1. That didn’t work in the last game and I don’t want to see it again. Play them as a partnership or not at all.

Sunderland will be up for this, they’d love to beat us and from what I’ve heard from Roy Keane this week they aren’t giving up even though they have nothing to play for. So we’re going to have to try and be up for this game. Any youngsters involved will be really up for it and keen to impress the boss but I wouldn’t be surprised if not everyone puts in the game of their lives.

I’m kind of worried about us losing. It really could be anything, if we play like we know we can, a nice end of season thrashing would be nice. I’m betting on 0-0

Tomorrow’s game isn’t on TV, and I’m not going, so I’m not going to be able to follow it at all I don’t think. So there’s a possibility there will be no match report. Or I might even have to go off the highlights…we’ll see.

Enjoy the game if you’re going, it should be a laugh. Thanks for reading.

Confusing title, maybe, but these are the words from Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor today. The Belarusian has been linked with a move to Inter recently and now his agent has said he is definitely going:

Alex is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life. He is leaving even though Arsenal want to offer him a new long-term contract.

Only time will tell if it is the right decision but there’s no way back now. Everything will be settled in the next two weeks.

Fucking hell he’s not letting us down easy is he? Not like, “His time at Arsenal has come to end and, Alex is keen on a new challenge…etc” What a wanker. In today’s press conference, Wenger said that he has never received any interest from other clubs for Hleb and he has never heard anything from the play himself asking to leave. It all seems a bit strange to me, whatever, we’ll see how it goes. I’m not really that bothered if he leaves; I was more worried about Flamini. Wenger says he’s under contract; he’s definitely staying, but his agent says otherwise.

Adebayor has also been ‘linked’ with a move away. Basically, someone made up a story that he wants more money, or he’s off and it’s absolute bollocks. Wenger admits he has no idea where this idea has come from. This afternoon we heard from Ade, and he’s described it all as ‘rubbish’. However, he does admit he’s upset that we haven’t won anything and he’s desperate for trophies.

In other news, Wenger says Jens might retire and Rosicky will miss Euro 2008. Arsene, like me, has said that he’s not bitter over Flamini’s departure saying that he always gave 100% and was a true professional, pretty much what I said the other day. Good luck Matty.

Right, I’ve got to go to Job no.2 now. Jesus this is a long day. Have a good evening, don’t get too drunk…I’ll get jealous. See ya.

Alright? Cool.

This is going to be a really quick post because I’m fucking knackered. Working two jobs, one all day, one all night isn’t fun. I really don’t know why I’m doing it. So that’s why it’s now half 12 and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write to you.

I would go through the news that’s about, but I’m sorry I just want to go to bed.

Just quickly came on to reveal the two lucky winners competition, the prize was a ticket to go to the live recording of The Cesc Fabregas Show on Tuesday night The other day I asked you:

Cesc Fabregas made his full Arsenal debut against Rotherham United on October 28th 2003. It was a Carling Cup game at Highbury, the final score was 1-1 but the kids won on penalties. What was Cesc’s squad number in that game?

a.] 57
b.] 34
c.] 15

The answer was a.] 57, not 15 as a lot of you put. One of you even put b.] 34, which was a totally made up number, so I’d like to extend my congratulations to you. If you want proof, watch this of Cesc’s debut:

So the Random Number Generator picked two winners and they are *drumroll* Alex Crisp from London and Gill Rendall, also from London. Congratulations to you both and check your fucking emails now ‘cos we need to get these tickets to you. All those of you who didn’t win, hard luck, but hang in there ‘cos if one of those two can’t make it I’ll do another draw!

Right I’m falling asleep on the keyboard so I better go thanks for readgifznhdnsm…zzzzzZZZZzzzzzz…

Does anyone else feel like the season has finished already? With this great weather and nothing left to play for I keep forgetting we’ve actually got a game this weekend. There’s absolutely no build up to Sunday’s game against Sunderland yet, so news is quite limited.

The big news is Flamini leaving, but I spoke about that last night and we just need to move on from it now. I’m not that upset about it really; the fact that it hasn’t happened suddenly has sort of softened the blow. With the recent departures of Henry and Vieira, I was really upset, but when you look back on it we sold them at the right time. So I’m not going to fuss about this one. Not that I’m saying Flamini is on par with Vieira and Henry…

Wenger had a Q&A yesterday with the shareholders, so there’s a few stories coming off of that: He wants us to bounce back and win trophies next year:

“We were close this year but we did not win and what I expect from my team is that, if you are a winner, you say ‘let’s come back next year and win’. If our players are not capable of doing that and just want to walk out for bigger contracts, for me that would be the biggest disappointment.

If you are a winner you say ‘you beat me now in a game but give me a chance to come back and beat you’. That’s what I expect of a team. If they cannot do that then it means I was wrong completely in my whole judgement of this team.”

Notice the little dig to Flamini in there? If think this side does have a really good passion and winning spirit in the core. Gallas, Toure, Fabregas, Flamini, Adebayor, van Persie etc, they are all winners and will be big players when it counts. I’m pretty confident about next year but I’ll talk about that in the summer…

I like what Arsene’s saying though, if this side can come back after this season’s disappointments, right their wrongs and go all the way, it will show an enormous amount of character and I think for once we’ll be admired for something by the other clubs and media. Next year, we will still be a relatively young side, so if we could do it, it would be amazing.

This side has to stay together though. Flamini was a really important member of the first 11, so we cannot afford to lose anyone else. That’s why Wenger has said he’ll do everything he can to keep Alex Hleb at the club. It would be great if he stayed, but I’m not too keen on him now that he’s so publicly made us aware he’s not fully focussed on Arsenal. If he goes, meh, not the end of the world. But if he stays he needs to put this summer’s activity behind him and get on with playing.

The other day I told you about a competition to win tickets for the Cesc Fabregas Show. Click that link to see the question. If you haven’t entered already, THEN DO IT. I’m telling you now that a few people have got this one wrong so if you’re feeling lucky (and knowledgeable) then enter the competition. You have to be available next Tuesday evening the 13th May though. It’s being filmed in London, and I know not everyone on here can make that so I haven’t particularly been bombarded with entrants. So if you can make that night, then enter, because the odds are good.

Right, this London sun has worn me out, so I’m off. I will hopefully speak to you tomorrow to announce the winner(s) of the competition but thinking now, I don’t know when I’m going to get the chance. I dunno, I’ll have to try and find some time. I’ll see you when I see you.

Well it has been officially announced on the AC Milan website for some time now but tonight they’ve finally decided to update Arsenal.com with the news that Flamini will move to Milan in the summer. My current thoughts are: Well thank fuck that’s over. I’ve been waiting for them to announce it on Arsenal.com for bloody ages so I could talk about it on here but AC Milan’s site beat us to it.

It’s been a very long process, the decision on Flamini’s future has gone up and down, left to right and every possible outcome discussed. It’s a shame he’s decided not to stay with us but at least we’re still not left in the dark about it.

Flamini has had an incredible season with us this term; I would even go as far as saying he was probably our best player this campaign. It looked like he was certain to leave last summer but for some reason he didn’t and he actually ended up starting our opening games of the season. At the time, the explanation for this was that Gilberto Silva was still tired from international duty.

Mathieu got a little run in the side and he never shifted since. Gradually, but quickly, people started to realise that Flamini was some player. After a couple of months, he became irreplaceable, forcing Gilberto to the bench, the man who was favourite to become the new Arsenal captain after the departure of Henry.

Flamini was technically brilliant but the thing that stood out for me was his commitment. He gave more than 100% every single game, despite the opposition and chased down every ball. He formed a great partnership with Cesc and it was no surprise to see us rise to 1st in the league.

He became a fans favourite and Gooners were calling for a new deal. However, as time went on his situation became more worrying. I was always confident he’d stay; I always thought that the contact just hadn’t been sorted out yet. However by about March I just realised it was never going to happen. We were all praying for him to stay, but it came apparent that Mathieu was after a very generous salary and was not afraid to look elsewhere for it.

We could never compete with Europe’s elite and a move to Italy or Spain looked likely for the Frenchman. There’s one thing I’d really like to say though, I totally admire the way Flamini has gone about his transfer. He has been incredibly committed in every game he was selected for, even though his future was in doubt. That is a fantastic quality and proof of a true professional. Right up until that injury at Anfield, he gave absolutely everything for Arsenal and very once showed that his mind was elsewhere. And for that I admire him and wish him good luck at his new club and wherever he goes after that.

So he’s chosen AC Milan, the team that we outclassed at the San Siro and knocked out of the Champions League. They’re not doing too great in the league this season either, currently they’ve just scraped into 4th but that Champions League spot is by no means guaranteed yet, they have a lot of work to do.

You’d have to question Flamini’s ambition if he’s signing for a club that might not necessarily be in Europe’s top competition next year. Well it isn’t really about that for Mathieu. We know that he’ll do his everything for the team, no matter what the prize is. But the main reason he’s chosen AC Milan, is for the money.

I heard that he’ll be getting 144 grand a week at Milan. Now I don’t know whether that’s Pounds or Euros, but even if it is that’s still close to £90,000 a week. That incredible money either way and you’d have to be mad to turn it down really.

I don’t blame him for going one bit, but I just wished that Arsenal meant more to him than the money and he stayed. Oh well.

He’s still officially our player until 1st July, he’s signed a pre-contract agreement with Milan or something like that which means we’ll still be paying him until the end of his deal, nice work I suppose!

Both he and Ashley Cole have left Arsenal at times when they are close to becoming Arsenal’s best players. Both moved on to make the most of the money that is available in football. However they way that Flamini has conducted himself this final season will make me love him forever. He wasn’t a cunt about it (like Cole), and just did his job and got on with it. Since cAshley moved to Chelsea his career went downhill, I honestly hope the same doesn’t happen to Matty, good luck mate.

You might’ve heard about this new thing from Nike: The Cesc Fabregas Show. Here’s the official website. Below is a little teaser video, with Cesc doing a bit of acting…

If you go onto their website there’s two more videos to watch, Cesc and Senderos star in a little sketch with Matt Lucas and they set Fabregas on fire, don’t worry he’s fine!

You might’ve known that there were tickets up for grabs on their site, but all 400 have been given away now. However, I’m lucky enough to be able to offer you the chance to go to the live recording in London.

The show is being shown on Sky Sports 1 on Monday May 19th but you could be there in the live audience when they film it on the evening of Tuesday May 13th. All you have to do is answer this question:

Cesc Fabregas made his full Arsenal debut against Rotherham United on October 28th 2003. It was a Carling Cup game at Highbury, the final score was 1-1 but the kids won on penalties. What was Cesc’s squad number in that game?

a.] 57
b.] 34
c.] 15

Email your answers to: fabregas[at]the-cannon.com (just replace the [at] with a @ sign). The competition will close at midnight on Wednesday 7th May so get your answers in asap.

Obviously you must be available to make it to London on the evening of Tuesday May 13th for the filming. I’ll give you all the details of where it is and stuff if you win. So don’t enter if you’re from the other side of the world. I’ll email the lucky winner just to make sure anyway. If you do enter and you obviously wont be able to make it to London then you’re just stopping someone else who entered from going. And please, only enter once, I can tell if you’ve entered more than once so you’re wasting your time.

By the way, I’m not actually sure how many tickets I’ve been allocated to give away, but I’ll find that out today and then obviously I’ll pick as many winners as there are tickets…

Good luck everyone! I’ll let you know on Thursday who has won.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Jesus what a snooze-fest. That was quite possibly the most boring football match I’ve been to, ever. Fuck all happened in the whole game. Everton came for the 0-0 and we weren’t playing that well either.

We started with a very different 11; Fabianski was in goal, Kolo, Gallas, Song and Clichy were in front of him. It was a Brazilian pairing in the middle of Gilberto and Denilson with Eboue and Walcott out wide. Up front we had Adebayor playing the front man in a 4-4-1 formation with Bendtner behind.

It didn’t work.

We lacked a Cesc Fabregas in midfield and the strike partnership wasn’t combining. I was surprised not to see Cesc playing but I’ve just read on the website that he’s fucking injured too! Incredible! Out for three weeks apparently, so his season is over but he should return for Euro 2008. It was his 21st birthday today and he picked up the PFA Young Player Award before the game. What a season the boy’s had.

I was interested to see how the non-regulars got on, but everyone was fairly anonymous. Everton had a corner within a minute and I thought this could be an exciting game but oh how wrong I was.

15 minutes later we had a half chance. Walcott got forward and tried to curl it inside the par post but he couldn’t put enough bend on the strike and it went comfortably wide.

There was a little scare at the other end just to keep us awake. Just before the half hour mark Andy Johnson broke through the defence. Fabianski decided to come out but for some reason changed his mind, I’m not sure why, it was a pretty tight angle and I thought he would make it. I went mental when he changed his mind, I thought Johnson would score but Lukasz got a foot to it. Then there was a moment when the ball was loose in the box but Song managed to flick it over the bar whilst on the floor.

From the resulting corner Denilson had to clear the ball off the line. It was a couple of minutes of excitement in a very dull first half. There were a few more opportunities for us in the final 10 minutes but nothing clinical.

I didn’t really know what to think at the break, I just hoped Wenger kicked some backsides in the dressing room and got the team playing.

The second half got underway and nothing had changed, there was no new enthusiasm and I thought this game was destined for a 0-0.

With 20 minutes to go Wenger decided to make a change. I saw Traore had been recalled from warming up, I turned back to the bench and noticed Lehmann was standing in his shirt waiting to come on too. Traore replaced a tired Toure and Eboue switched to right back so Armand was playing left wing. Lehmann obviously came on for Fabianski, although I don’t think anyone would’ve complained if he replaced a certain no.27.

I felt a bit sorry for Fabianski but this was Lehmann’s final goodbye. Alright, he’s been a bit of a twat at times this year but he’s been a fantastic servant for the club and almost won us the European Cup in 2006 when he went on that great run of form.

The substitutions woke the crowd a little, and to be honest they made a positive impact on our team. Lehmann’s quick and precise distribution was allowing us to run at Everton’s defence. Traore’s pave on the left was causing them problems too and after being on the pitch for just 7 minutes he made the deciding impact…

Armand got down the left, unchallenged; there was no way of catching him. He delivered a wonderful hanging cross that had Nicklas Bendtner written all over it. The big Dane rose on the edge of the six-yard box and headed it inside the near post.

A beautifully simple and nicely worked goal, from two boys just coming into the team. After the game Bendtner seemed really grateful for Traore’s assist and getting the winning goal. He said that Armand does it all the time in training and it was good they could replicate it when it mattered.

The final few minutes were played out in the same matter as the rest of the game. Senderos came on late on for a knackered Adebayor. No he didn’t go up front.

So the final score was 1-0 to The Arsenal. It was a typical end of season game, no sweat broken and the whole thing was played in a bit of a friendly manner.

There was the traditional lap of appreciation after the game but Lehmann stole the show. It was nice to see the whole stadium chanting, “Lee-man! Lee-man!” He got a great send off but he deserved it. Jens, thanks for the memories, you’ve been fucking mental but we’ve loved you. Good luck son. I heard the Flamini song start up for a second but then died off, there were no big goodbyes from him like Lehmann. They were saying on Sky Sports News that he’s having a medical at AC Milan tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll know where his future lies soon then.

Tomorrow is bank holiday, hurrah! Nope, I’m still working. Speak to you soon, thanks for reading.

Oh yeah I almost forgot. That win meant we went an entire campaign unbeaten at home, in all competitions. That’s some achievement, if we can start to build a decent home record it will really help us in future seasons for that title push. We’ve only ever lost one game at the new stadium so far and long may it continue. Well done lads.

After Man Utd beat West Ham this lunch time, our title hopes are officially over. It was a very, very long shot but after the win at Derby there was a bit of talk about our title shot and I said, “If West Ham beat United on Saturday then I’m going to be shitting myself on Sunday.” In one way I’m grateful I’m not shitting myself but in another way it’s a bit sad that it’s finally over. But at least it is over.

So tomorrow’s game is no longer vital. Or is it? We can still make second, Chelsea don’t play until Monday but I’m still sort of hoping they beat United to the title. I just think it’d be funny. We can’t come 4th anymore so it’s looking like we’re going to be 3rd.

Everton however, really need a result tomorrow. They can’t come 4th anymore, but that 5th place still isn’t secure yet. The way it’s worked out this year, there’s only one UEFA cup spot for league positions. Villa are right on their tail and Pompey are just behind them. So Everton will be desperate for as many points as possible tomorrow to secure that vital European spot.

This is worrying, Everton are a decent side and are more than capable of getting a result against us, as we’ve seen in recent years. We beat them 4-1 when we went to Goodison earlier in the season but last year we only managed one point over the two league games against them.

So basically, we’ve proved we can spank Everton, scrape out a draw with them and lose against them. And I’m betting tomorrow that it’s going to be one of those three, we’ll win, lose or draw. No but seriously, what I’m trying to say is that it really could be any result.

Right, team news. Robin van Persie is being rested, Tomas Rosicky’s out, Eduardo’s injured, Diaby’s injured…oh fuck it I can’t be arsed to list them all, this is what I think the team will be:

So the same team as Derby, except van Persie is out. I’d love to put Walcott up front but we’re lacking on wingers at the moment so he has to play there really. Denilson, for me, struggled against Derby but I think he should get another game, he needs these appearances. I’d like to play Hoyte at right back but I think he’s leaving to be honest.

The same goes for Flamini, I’d love him to play tomorrow but it’s totally up to Wenger. He hinted in the week that he might be on the bench. It would be great to cheer Matty off. Although it looks like he’s leaving in frustrating circumstances, he’s still been a great servant this season, given 100% in EVERY game and become a fans favourite. I remember last season, at the final game of the season, I waved Flamini goodbye but he stayed, this time I think it’ll be for real.

I really don’t know if we’ll win tomorrow, but I really don’t care. Obviously I’d like us to go out in style and win in front of our fans but if we don’t it’s not going to be the end of the world. I’m just going to have a fun day out and enjoy my last game of the season.

The perfect result would be something like a 5-0, but I’m not going to be choosy! Enjoy the game everyone, and I’ll speak to you on Monday hopefully, thanks for reading.

Seeing the articles on Arsenal.com tonight, it doesn’t seem like Arsene was in a great mood in today’s press conference. By the looks of things he was harassed by the media about possible transfers and he let them know what was what.

He said that Hleb is not for sale and only Flamini is free to leave at the moment. It also appears that Hleb went for more than an ice cream in Milan. Arsene has found out exactly what happened that night before the game and he says he’s going to report Inter Milan for tapping up Hleb.

I don’t think anyone bought that story about Hleb simply going for a frozen treat, and he’s obviously sat him down and asked him what actually went on. I doubt he’s too happy with Hleb at the moment and if Alex did want to leave he’s not going the right way about it.

Wenger’s stepping in the way and insisting that he has two years left on his contract but I wouldn’t be surprised if he told him to fuck off. I’d feel pretty betrayed if I was the manager right now.

As I mentioned yesterday, Flamini’s April deadline is up. When Wenger set the time frame for Flamini to sign, I thought to myself, if he extents that then he’s being taken for a ride. Well, he’s extended the deadline to Monday. Mental.

“It will be sorted out over the weekend. Will he stay or not? That is down to him but the deadline is Sunday, Monday latest. The deadline moved for negotiation problems. Only he could tell you [whether he will go or not]. For me yes he stays, but does he tell me the complete truth, I don’t know.

To me, that looks slightly promising that he’s staying, but we’ll never know once it’s finally over. My guess is that he’s still weighing up his options. With Milan still unsure whether they will qualify for next season’s Champions League, maybe he’s waiting to see what happens there. If he did move to them and they didn’t manage to qualify then you’d have to think his move was a little unambitious, but we all know it’s about money anyway so maybe Champions League football doesn’t matter to him.

Wenger has reminded us that we must stick to our wage structure. It’s quite annoying that we can’t just spend big and keep our best players like every other big club does but Arsene’s reminded us that we have a £360m debt to manage from the stadium move. Ouch.

Le Boss has also commented on Edelman’s departure saying that it was completely unexpected. He says that they never spoke about the decision and it was completely out of the blue. The two still haven’t spoke about it yet wish seems a little suprising to me. The guy’s been here 8 years but doesn’t decide to tell anyone he’s leaving. I’m a bit suspicious…and worried.

I’m fucking knackered, I’ve just about managed to squeeze this post out of me and now I’m going to bed. I’ll speak to you tomorrow evening to preview the Everton game, until then.

Hello there, sorry I’ve been a bit lazy with the site recently, it’s because I’ve been working my arse off working and literally haven’t had a spare minute. I’m not working tonight though so you get an update…

I’ve missed a few stories however the big one in football is the all English Champions League Final. Yep, the dreaded Manchester United vs. Chelsea scenario came true and it’s going to be the cuntiest final in history (Spurs will never make it). It’s on the 21st of May, mark it in the diary because I think a day of sleep is in order. It’ll be a brilliant game, but there’s no way I’ll be able to watch it. You might say I’m jealous, well I am, but the sight of one of those two lifting the trophy will make me puke a little. Can’t decide who I want to win, there are positives and negatives either way; so I’m just going to blank it out.

Right, the less said about that the better yeah? The big news Arsenal-wise is the departure of Keith Edelman, our Managing Director. It’s come as a bit of a shock to me, I’m not really sure why he’s left but I fear it has something to do with the fact that he’s also the Director of Arsenal Holdings PLC; This will spark wild debate over an Arsenal takeover which looks long off before I heard about this.

Regular readers will know I’m not really fully in the know with things to do with the Board and other behind the scenes activities so I’m not really sure how Edelman’s departure will affect us. He joined us in 2000 and played a big part in our move to Ashburton Grove. He will be retained by Arsenal for one year ‘to ensure that a smooth transition takes place’. The Board are apparently looking for his replacement already.

One departure I certainly wasn’t expecting this summer. However one I am expecting, Mathieu Flamini is still yet to be announced. His April deadline has been and passed so it’s safe to say he’ll be moving on this summer. It’s a real shame but if he wants more money, so be it. He’s now fit for the weekend’s game with Everton, it would be nice to see him play in that and say his farewells to the Arsenal fans but Arsene has suggested today that he’ll keep Denilson in the side to give him a chance. When asked about the possibility of him playing Wenger said:

“Maybe Mathieu will be on the bench but I don’t know yet. He might join in training on Friday.”

He also hinted that Fabianski and Bendtner will be allowed another chance but van Persie will miss the game. He’s not exactly injured…but he’s being rested for precautionary reasons. Whatever.

Everton wont be an easy game, they need the points and are very capable of getting a result off us. We should still be going for the win though; I hope Wenger doesn’t mess about too much with the team selection. I’ll talk more about this game on Saturday in the match preview.

I think I’ve covered everything of importance. Sorry about not writing much this week but not a lot I can do about it, I’ll update tomorrow night though. Until then.

We won! Hooray! If someone had said to me before the game that Derby would score two, I would’ve been quite scared; it was one of those games that you expect to win but in the back of your mind you have that horrible thought that we could just lose.

My day started at half two when I was picked up from Watford. My mate and I thought we’d make an early start, get up there early and beat the traffic; lucky we did we found out there was an accident on the M1, phew. So we got up there about five-ish and had a little drive around the area of the stadium.

Pride Park was in the middle of an industrial estate, surrounded by JJB Sports, Frankie & Benny’s, KFC, Burger King etc. There was even a Starbucks built into the outside of the stadium. Quite surreal and characterless when we’re used to our stadium in Central London between houses.

So we got parked up and waited at one a little local’s bar for our other mates making the trip up. We headed over to the stadium after a few beers and a discussion about the recent 5-a-sides tournament, our slim chance of winning the league and what we thought of the game. Had another quick beer inside the ground before kick off.

I found out that my seat was right on the edge of the Arsenal fans. I was on the right hand side, the edge next to the corner of the singing home fans. I thought ‘this’ll be fun’.

The strange evening began when the 2 minute warning. Their Wonder of You
was some dance track I can’t remember but this was interrupted by: “RAMS FANS, THIS IS YOUR TWO MINUTE WARNING!” In the style of that movie previews guy. Me and my mate just stood there rather confused.

Anyway, we started with pretty much the team I thought expect Denilson started ahead of my choice, Gilberto. However it soon came clear that the young Brazilian was not the right choice, fair enough Wenger was giving him a game but he was being bullied all over the park.

The game took a few minutes to get underway, simply because Derby decided to push us over every time we picked up the ball. However to be fair whenever we didn’t manage a little time in possession we couldn’t do much with it.

In the first 20 minutes, wither side could’ve been one up. We’d smashed it over the bar twice and thanks to some poor defending we allowed Derby a couple of chances too. However we took an unsurprising lead after 25 minutes. It was a defensive error when a clearance went straight to Bendtner; he played a one-two with van Persie before slotting it home. Fair play to him for scoring under pressure and having quick reactions but it really was a simple goal.

However the lead didn’t last long, 6 minutes later we’d conceded. Savage took a free kick out wide and swung it in dangerously. We failed to clear it and McEveley kicked it into the back of the net inside a busy area. It was a sloppy, sloppy goal and really quite embarrassing.

We needed to score quickly and we tried our best, van Persie and Fabregas both had decent shots but I was dreading going in at half time tied at 1-1. However we regained the lead 6 minutes from half time. Toure’s long ball into van Persie was perfectly weighted and timed, unlike Derby’s offside trap, Robin took a touch, was one-on-one and slotted it in nicely past Carroll. Quite a nice goal really but if their defence was any good; he never would’ve been allowed that time and space.

So we went into the break leading (thank God) but I wasn’t all too convinced. Derby had been playing their socks off, this was their last hurrah before they went down, their last chance to do something special. However their football was more special needs. We hadn’t been playing well though and if we were playing another side on the night we could well have been loosing at this point.

The Derby fans had spent the final part of the first half chanting, “Adebayor, Adebayor, his Dad washes elephants and his Mum is a whore.” He wasn’t even on the pitch. Not only is that a crap insult there was nothing to provoke it, apart from maybe a hat trick against them in the home game…wankers.

However he came on at half time, replaced by an injured again van Persie. Jesus Christ! Apparently the substitution was only precautionary, but still!

Adebayor’s inclusion inspired the team. His work rate and energy is invaluable to us and it was making a telling difference. We had a few chances as the second half got going. However we were taking control of the game, we were like the bigger kid holding the little kids head at arms reach while they tried to run at us, we broke no sweat.

It took until the 59th minute for the next goal to come. Walcott drove to the by-line and cut it back for Eboue, he slid it across to the back post and Adebayor came sliding in for our third. He quite clearly had heard the chanting from the Derby supporters and ran over to that corner holding his hand to his ear. They in return booed him and started up that song again. Meh.

So it was 3-1 now, and it looked like game over. We should’ve added a 4th soon after When Walcott went clear through on goal but his curling shot into the far bottom corner went inches wide. Eboue had a decent chance after that too, but, you know…

In the 77th minute it all went Pete Tong when Derby made it 3-2. Earnshaw had only been on the pitch a few minutes when he broke clear and slotted it past Fabianski. He proceeded to do some stupid little dance when any other side would’ve ran the ball back to the halfway line hoping for another goal.

The Derby fans were in full voice now, they thought they had a chance, but we were having none of it. Less that two minutes later Walcott was down the other end of the field and with a little bit of skill he found a second of space in the box and curled a shot into the far corner. He certainly made up for his miss a few minutes earlier, a well-taken goal. The best thing is, which my mate pointed out, that he didn’t lose his confidence after that miss and wanted another chance to score, this boy really is improving.

4-2 now, with just over 10 minutes to go. The announcer proudly addressed the fans with the 33,003 attendance, another sell out at Pride Park. Fair enough, it’s not the easiest thing in the world going to Derby. However I lost any respect for the fans when they answered this with: “Loyal Supporters! Loyal Supporters!” Seriously?! I mean it’s one thing to be proud of the support but you don’t go singing about it, it’s not very humble. What a bunch of cunts directing that to us when we’ve sold out every single match home and away this season and there’s all us Gooners standing behind the goal on a Monday night after losing the title quite embarrassingly to be honest. Go fuck yourselves.

Seconds after this, we made is properly game over with Adebayor making it 5-2. He went back to the corner of the Derby fans and he and Eboue mocked Earnshaw’s stupid little dance 3 minutes earlier. The home fans started to leave, and we sang them off with their: “Loyal Supporters! Loyal Supporters!” chant. Not as loyal as they make out then.

On the 90 minute mark Adebayor completed his hat trick. That’s three goals in each game against Derby this year, a feat that’s never been accomplished in the Premier League before, nice one Ade. He went clear through on goal past a tired Derby defence. For the first time in the game Carroll decide to come out and Adebayor skipped past him slotting it into the empty net. It was another little celebratory dance with Eboue and then an acknowledgment of the Arsenal fans that’ve supported him so well this season.

So the final score was 6-2, a nice little thrashing but I feel bad that we let in two goals against these useless pricks. We didn’t play really that well but it just shows you how fucking awful Derby are. It was sort of played like a friendly, we never really got into top gear but to be fair we never really needed to.

We got back to the car and headed back down the M1 and I arrived home about half 12, not bad little day out. I’m definitely going to miss these away trips; I’m not going to Sunderland so it’ll be my last for a little while.

Finally, I’d just like to mention that Derby are a bunch of cunts. The team themselves are a bunch of slow, old bullies whose only tactic against a team like ours is to kick them off the ball. We were simply a class apart and there wasn’t anything they could do to stop us. However their fans are even worse. It seemed like they’d studied a Spurs song-sheet before the game and tried to insult us as much as they could. Half of their songs didn’t even make any sense or were completely irrelevant to what was going on in the game.

They are the Tottenham Hotspur of the north and I fucking hate them. Before, I felt a bit sorry for Derby this year. I’d never seen them play before as I missed the home game and never followed any of their other matches, but their quality of football is shocking. They’re on course to set a record for the lost points achieved in Premiership history and I hope they fucking do it, they totally deserve their position in the league. Good riddance.

Right I really need to go to sleep now, thanks for reading.

Now I don’t want to get too over confident, once apon a time I wrote a headline: ‘The Hammers are in for a hammering‘ and we lost 1-0. However tonight I’m just hoping we can put on a good show for the travelling fans; which I will be one of! It will be my last away trip for a long time so I jumped at the chance to go. I actually missed the home tie so I’m looking forward to seeing Derby County live for the very last time.

It’s been a terrible campaign in the top flight for The Rams; they have been the whipping boys of the season conceding an incredible 76 goals! They’re currently on 11 points at the moment and all they have to play for now is that unwanted record of lowest points gained in a Premiership season. Ouch.

We beat them 5-0 when they came to The Grove, Adebayor bagging a hat trick. Not much has changed since then and I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happened again. I think it’s fair to say that if we don’t go and pick up 3 points at Derby then we really have to be embarrassed.

We might not have much left to play for, but we should still be fielding a half decent side. I mentioned the other day that it is still mathematically possible for us to win the league so maybe we should just win these last few games…just in case.

I think we’ll play a few of the non-regulars though. Wenger’s already hinted that Fabianski will play and he mentioned that he might rest some of the players involved in Euro 2008, which is quite frankly ridiculous. It’s hard for he to guess what side Wenger’s going to go with but if it were up to me I’d pick something like this:

Apart from the captaincy…I think that line-up is quite possible. I think Song, Gilberto and Bendtner should all get a game, all simply to see how they could play a part in next season’s campaign. I think Walcott definitely needs to start, whether up front or on the wing I see no reason why he shouldn’t be in the 11. It would be nice to see Adebayor play, I bet he’s still hungry for goals.

Both Derby and Arsenal’s positions in the league are pretty much sorted now anyway; they’ll come 20th and we’ll probably finish 3rd. So really, it’s all about pride now, there’s nothing to lose. However, I’m expecting a top performance from whoever plays, and that they give everything for the 90 minutes. It would be nice to see a few goals too but I would compromise that for just a great display of football.

I’m heading up north after lunch, should be just over two hours drive. We’ll find a nice little pub, and get to the game. In a way, it’s nice that we’re not in the title race, the game will be played with a smile and we haven’t got to deal with the pressure of our results. At the end of the day, all I’m looking for is just a good day out.

Someone said earlier that we could’ve won the league tonight if things had gone our way. Oh dear. Match report to come ASAP but I’m going to be quite busy over the next few days so just hang in there. Thanks for reading.

“I’ve not been offered nothing here [Portsmouth], I’ve not been offered anything elsewhere. I want to keep learning and wherever that takes me it takes me.

I always tried to lead by example [at Arsenal] and get out there and make sure they realised they were playing for the Arsenal. I tried to install in the team a kind of ‘over our dead bodies’ kind of attitude.

I just feel that people don’t realise that the best back four win the league. The last two seasons Manchester United have had the best back four and, before that, John Terry and his men were fantastic for two years.

We’ve kept more clean sheets at Portsmouth than Arsenal have, but I’m not going to question the great man [Wenger].

I love the club, it was part of my life for so many years and if anyone at Arsenal wants to invite me back, I’m willing to give it a shot. I’m fully prepared and willing to do what I have to do.”

These are the words from Tony Adams after talking to Setanta yesterday. Tony is currently Harry Redknapp’s no.2 at Portsmouth but that contract runs out at the end of the season and he’s hinted he might go looking elsewhere to further his career.

I wasn’t always sure what the situation was with Tony and Arsenal, he didn’t turn up for the last day at Highbury and there was a rumour that he didn’t get on with the club, or something along those lines. However these new quotes suggest there is no problem and he’s love to work at the club if he were asked.

Wenger came out recently saying he wasn’t happy with our defence…so…why not snap up Tony Adams? Arsene suggested he could be in the market for a defender, but I don’t really see why; Clichy, Gallas, Toure and Sagna should be a great back four. With a bit of help, they should be unbreakable.

When Steve Bould came in as a defensive coach in 2006 we formed a record breaking back four in Flamini, Senderos, Toure and Eboue! They went through most of the Champions league with a clean sheet, and with an in-form Lehmann behind us it was no surprise we made it to the final.

So, I’m thinking, bring Adams in as a sort of no.2/defensive coach. If he could do something like Stevie Bould then hopefully we can learn to be tighter at the back. It would be a nice boost to see Tony back at the club too, the fans would love to see Mr. Arsenal return home. It would be great if Tony worked his way up at Arsenal and took over from Wenger in a few years time.

I dunno, I hope Wenger has a little think about it, I could be completely wrong but it’s an idea. I reckon Adams might be looking for a proper managers job but if he’s interested in working for Arsenal I think we should get him.

There isn’t a lot of other news about. Man United have just lost to Chelsea 2-1. It means the two are level on points and it will go right down to the wire. Some of the complete optimists I know have told me we can still win the title, heh! If United lose their next two games, Chelsea draw one and lose won and we win our next three we would be champions! It’s not impossible, in fact it could happen, but it is a long shot!

Luka Modric has signed for Spurs. A few people linked him with a move here but I don’t think Wenger was ever interested. He’s Eduardo’s mate from Zagreb but not anymore, I can confirm Da Silva rang him up this morning simply saying, “Cunt” down the phone then hanging up. Spurs have paid something ridiculous for him; the money will be coming from the Berbatov sale I guess. Funny they’ve wasted all their money on a player when they’re desperate for a player in another position. Oh well.

Right I’m off, have a nice weekend.

Happy Friday! And it’s a busy (I miss-typed that ‘busty’ there, no it’s not a busty Friday I’m afraid) one as usual so I’m just going to get on with it…

Wenger is sticking to his deadline of April for Flamini’s contract Arsene still believes that he wants to stay but Matty’s got 5 days and 5 hours to sign something or it’s bye-bye. Arsene has made it clear that there is an offer on the table; it’s now up to him:

“I respect our wages structure. We do not pay - a little bit more, a little bit more. We have made an offer. We think it is decent and that is it.”

Personally, I think Flamini is still deciding where to go. If the above is true, then Mathieu would’ve told Arsene that he’s not interested and we would’ve heard by now, unless we’re just not being told about it. If he still hasn’t made his mind up, then he’s leaving it very late and I’m sure a few of us are going to be a little bit pissed off with him even if he does stay.

It still looks like we won’t find out until the 1st May. I just want it over with to be honest.

Alex Hleb’s future is in doubt too and this week Inter have publicly come up saying they are interested. However at today’s press conference Arsene Wenger has told us he’s not happy about that. He says that he’s had no contact with Inter Milan and for them to come out with these comments “is not acceptable”. He says it’s actually illegal but he hasn’t reported it to FIFA.

Arsenal News Review is reporting that Hleb has gone but to be honest with you I don’t really listen to what he has to say. He says he has a trustworthy source where he has got this information but I’m not deciding anything until I’ve seen it on Arsenal.com.

After this interview with Thierry Henry there has been a bit of talking about him returning to England. He hasn’t had the best season with Barca but he’s going to put that right with a screamer at Old Trafford isn’t he? Yes he is. Wenger was asked today whether he’d consider taking back Titi and he didn’t rule it out. I think there is a lot of respect between the two guys and he says they often watch each other’s teams on TV and trade helping tips. I don’t think Thierry would ever come back to Arsenal in a playing role, however we could do with a left winger…

Next up we face Derby, that’s on Monday night. I’ll preview the game on Sunday but Arsene’s said he might play Fabianski. It would be nice to see him given a chance and I think this might be the right time. Flamini could return to action but I think that’s about as likely as him saying he’s play for us for free from next season.

Oh yeah, and just to add insult to yesterday’s post, we have another player out for the season. Bacary Sagna’s brilliant season is over. It’s been a tragic one with the loss of his brother but he’s moved to the Premier League in great form. He was one of our players of the season this year and we’ll all be looking forward to him returning in August.

Right, I think I should go down the pub now. Thanks for reading.

That was the headline I was welcomed with on Arsenal.com when I got home from work today. I just huffed and thought, ‘here we go again…’

I was thinking though, how many times have I seen similar headlines on the official website this season? I mean I could just go through the news archive but that would taking fucking ages and I cannot be arsed. We’ve had such terrible luck with injuries again this season. I’d go as far to say that if we had more players to pick from at some times of the season we could’ve gone on to win the title.

I mean if van Persie hadn’t been out for most of the season, he would be challenging Ronaldo at the top of the Golden Boot charts. His injury struck at a time when he was scoring for fun and playing with such flair; it looked like it was going to be a great season for Robin. Eduardo’s injury, seen above was not only emotional, but he came just at the time when he was settling into our side and scoring goals. If he had stayed fit we probably would’ve had that bit of extra something to push for the title.

Rosicky’s been out for most of the season too. Like van Persie, he was in good form at the beginning of the season; I think I remember him having an excellent assists-per-game ratio. Thanks to his injury problems, we’ve been stuck with Eboue on the wing and we all know how badly we’ve suffered from that.

The headline above though, from arsenal.com, is really exaggerating the real story. Their “Three midfielders ruled out for the rest of the season” article is really news we know already; it’s just the fact that, that is what stuck me as soon as I logged onto the computer today. It was sort of like an insult I guess.

Anyway, it’s saying Hleb, Diaby and Rosicky are out for the season. Hleb, we found out the other day picked up a suspension for that slap in the Reading game, Rosicky we knew about ages ago and Diaby picked up an injury against West Ham reserves on Monday, we’ve now found out he won’t be risked in these final few games.

The only recovery is Manuel Almunia but Arsene says, “I have not decided what I will do with the goalkeepers yet.” He recently hinted he’ll give Fabianski some action in these last few games so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him face Derby.

In other news there’s this strange article with Arsene saying he won’t accept disrespect. He says he can take a bit of criticism, that’s natural, but he’s come out with these strong words:

“People say you make mistakes, well that is professional. When people say you don’t know what you are doing, that is a little bit disrespectful.”

I don’t really know what he’s referring to, to be honest. Most Arsenal fans accept that we lost the title year down to a bit of bad luck and the young players not having the confidence and that bit of extra strength in the final stretch. I thought his comments were a bit out of the blue and I’m a bit confused to be honest.

And finally, Havard Nordtveit believes he can be the man to fill Wenger’s defensive vacancy. Wenger said the other day he could possibly be in the market for a new defender after losing the lead in so many games this season. Nordtveit has been brilliant for the reserves this season, however he doesn’t even turn 18 until June! Here’s what he said:

“Of course I want to be that player. It is up to me to show them what I have. My first season has been very good. It was not so happy in the start with my injury but I am pleased to be back regularly in the Reserves, and to be captain. We got a smashing result on Monday night so it is just going upwards.”

You’d think that Wenger would be looking for a World Class, proven defender to solve our troubles, however Harvard is hoping he looks closer to home. I wouldn’t be that upset if Wenger did decide once again to simply promote a youngster when we need a play: This guy is the nuts. He says his target is the pre-season games and then just go from there. Not a bad idea mate.

Right, that’s enough for today. Speak to you tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Apart from some bits from Theo Walcott, everything I have to tell you today is pretty crap, so if you’re feeling a bit sad tonight I suggest you move along. There are some strong links suggesting Hleb and Flamini will be leaving this summer and two more injuries to report. Bullshit.

I’ll start with the Alex Hleb story. This all started in Milan, and the night before the game when the players were allowed the evening to relax, it seems Alex Hleb sent his time talking to Inter Milan. Out came this cover-up story that he went to go and get ice cream with his agent. Right.

True or not, the rumours have come and not gone. This week Arsene’s had to give his own opinion:

“I believe Alex will stay but you cannot stop the rumours when players are in this type of situation, but I want Hleb to stay like everybody else. You can go to Real Madrid and Barcelona, but you have no more guarantees to win trophies. And from this season we should get the belief we can win trophies and come back to win the title.”

The fact that he’s had to come out and say this to me suggests that those links with a move away are very real. Also, Wenger doesn’t deny the stories here, so maybe something is going on. His statement above is reminding Hleb that players who have left Arsenal haven’t always found the grass greener, and this side we are building here are very capable of winning trophies.

I don’t want him to go, but I wont be too upset if he does leave. He’s one of those p layers that can be brilliant one day and shit another. He would need to be replaced though. If he does leave this summer, then we’ve seen the last of him in an Arsenal shirt because he’s been banned for the rest of the season.

Another top midfielder linked with a move away is Mathieu Flamini. Juventus, have today confirmed they are very interested in signing him the team which he supported as a boy. From tomorrow, Matty has a week to sign a contract with Arsenal or he’s outa here.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I’ve been told that after the game on Saturday he was in the tunnel celebrating the win with the players. This seems like good news to me but I’m still lost about Flamini’s future, I have to admit though that I think he must be leaving now. We’ll find out in 8 days though…

My mate brought up an interesting worrying point today. Hleb and Flamini are Cesc’s best mates at the club and with Fabregas constantly linked with a move home to Barcelona it’s not looking good. More on that though once we find out about Alex and Mathieu I guess.

There’s another midfielder with his future in doubt, and that’s Gilberto Silva. The Brazilian captain says he’s going to have a nice chat with Le Boss about it once the seasons over. I always thought he was going to leave, but I think he’s going to probably stay now. Especially with the futures of Hleb and Flamini still unclear.

I’m going to get the bad news over and done with and tell you that Djourou and Diaby were injured in last night’s reserve game against West Ham. No idea how long they’ll be out for but apparently they aren’t major injuries but they were taken off mainly not to make it worse. The final score was last night was 2-0 in a game in which 16-year-old Jack Wiltshire stole all the attention. The youngster had a great game and to top it off he got one goal and one assist; both were fucking brilliant. One to definitely get exited about.

Walcott has said this week that he’s desperate for Wenger to start considering him as a first 11 player. Wenger described his performance against Reading as “his most complete game”. He’s made a big step this season and I’m quite sure he’ll get a big chance to come into this side next season. Arsene also said that he asked Theo to make his game more aggressive and powerful and in that link he admits he’s done exactly what he’s asked of him.

Theo has said he’s tired of only coming on as a sub all the time and wants to make the impact over a whole 90 minutes. His personal target was 20-25 starts this season, so far he’s on 17 and I’m quite sure that Wenger will use these last three games to give him a chance to prove his worth; so he looks on course to make that target of 10 starts.

It’s getting to the case now where you have to ask, “What more does Walcott have to do to get a start?” Maybe the only thing/person standing in his way is Alex Hleb, but maybe he won’t have that obstacle for too much longer…

It’s going to be one exciting summer.

Del Deanus, 34, played youth team for England and Tottenham Hotspur (I know, I know) and is currently managing Ryman Division 1 North side Edgware Town FC. However I recently heard the sad news that he has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Del, has been a prolific fundraiser for MacMillan Cancer Support having run the London marathon, lost four stone on a sponsored diet and organised a football match to raise money for the charity. Lots of ex-players and celebs have pledged interest in suporting this worthy cause. Ex-footballers include the one and only Paul Merson and I we’re still waiting to hear back from the legendary Ian-Wright-Wright-Wright whether he can make an appearance but it’s not 100% yet. We’ve also got former Scum and QPR legend Les Ferdinand and ex-Chelsea hero Frank Sinclair playing for the ex-players team.

DJ Spoony, DJ Brandon Block , cast members from the British gangster movie, The Rise of the Foot Soldier, and other celebrities from music and film will be playing in the All-Star XI side who’ll be playing against a top notch non-league side, which will have players from teams including Hendon, Wealdstone, Northwood and Edgware FC.

There’s even an incredible chance for two lucky people to rub shoulders, swap tactics and play with the professional side. This once in a lifetime opportunity and we’re auctioning this prize to raise money for Del’s care and well-being in the future months. If you’re interested in not only donating the cash but also playing alongside Paul Merson and even Ian Wright email: contact@delsmatch.co.uk to bid.

Kick off’s a 3pm but gates open at 1pm for this is all day event, there’ll be bouncy castles and face painting for the kids and a licensed bar and refreshment stalls for adults, that’s sealed the deal then yeah? There’ll also be a charity auction with rare signed & match worn shirts and other sporting memorabilia to bid for.

The big day is in three Saturday’s time on the 10th May. It’s being held at Edware FC’s ground on the high street in Edware. So I’m hoping as many readers in the North London area can get down to this great event, have a laugh, meet some ex-players and just suport this great cause. Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s and under 5s can come in for free.

For more information go to www.delsmatch.co.uk. It’s got all the links there to find the ground, you can buy tickets on line online and it’s also got information of how to enter the bidding to actually play in the game.

I hope you’ve given that a quick read today, sounds like it should be a fun event. I hope you can make it, it would be appreciated so, so much. Cheers people, and I’ll be back with normal Arsenal news tomorrow. Thanks for reading, bye.