kellys i - the healing process begins now

As featured on Footy 24/7

I understand what Flamini was getting at mentioning about finding 2008 season’s finale hard to take, it was so hard because we had the rug pulled away from under our feet just when we started to believe we were actually going to achieve, but to add perspective and has been mentioned already we have improved enormously on last season, points and football wise.

This sounds so self centred I know but I need healing time from this season, I need a line drawn underneath it but with all of the lessons learnt form it as well.

I watched MoTD last night and was angry about Manchester United winning the title, Manchester United had all the luck that we didn’t have, Scholes should have been sent off, Rio should have conceded a penalty etc. however they played like they were never going to lose as well, a great belief in the squad, we had that as well when thing were going well, but we did not have it when it was needed.

Lineker mentioned that we only finished 4 points behind the Champions and that was all the mention we got, what I was thinking was  he should have said Arsenal should have won it by 10 points but lost it, then go back to the beginning of the season and make a montage of film clips of their football predictions and nail them to the wall.

It is always funny to me when we get criticized by the pundits for having a poor two seasons but always manage to finish above where they predicted we would end up in the first place and yet their favoured Liverpool end up below us again and yet are thought to have had a good season when they finished below their expected position.

In my opinion some reasons why we did not win title and not in any order of preference

Tony Adams type leadership qualities required on the pitch from our captain
Defensive qualities need to be sorted especially against the long balls
Squad was big enough but not deep enough of experience or quality needed to sustain FA, Champions League and Premiership assault
Refereeing mistakes went against us
not having a higher scoring ratio from the chances produced
Injuries
Luck just ran out.

Arsene will be hurting as much as anyone right now, believe me he is going to be a man on a mission next season, can you remember when he predicted when asked if Arsenal could go undefeated the whole season and he said yes it was possible, and we lost a few matches into the season, he was pilloried for it by everybody, with radio stations calling us arrogant and everything with the who do you think you are saying none of us cant beat you and at every opportunity it would be mentioned when we conceded any goals you would get a snide remark from the commentator about it.
 
Well what actually happened was that Arsene got asked the same question the following season, and the media waited as he said that it was possible, but improbable and smiled. The media loved it, they thought they had taught Wenger a lesson in humility and as you know the rest is history as we went on the 49 match unbeaten run for the whole season, did we get an apology…or any signs of humility from the media. No.

Arsene said at the pre season press conference that we may win the title when everyone was predicted we would be in 10 - 6th place behind spurs and Liverpool, but ok we failed to win it, however, I am going to have a wager that it may just happen next season if history has anything to do with it, we lost it by 4 points and a few more goals, or 5 points without outscoring Manchester United, and as you know and I know we have plenty of chances to have those points but had them snatched away for us and I don’t think that will be the case next season.

Yes I still need healing time, it hurts like crazy, but the recovery is underway and the belief is starting to come back again, we need to see Arsene deal with our shortfalls from last season, I will wait with interest who we are going to get in and then it will be keep quiet about it and go about systematically winning the title, yes the healing process is really underway.

Arsenal suits and season tickets

Footy 24/7

I am usually the last person to stand up for the suits at the Arsenal but over the years I have heard fans of other clubs complaining how increases in their season ticket prices have been hidden amongst the reduction in the number of cup games included. As usual I have absolutely no facts to back my thoughts up with and I don’t think I’ve seen a true comparison of season ticket prices, showing a price per game figure but I have a feeling we might come out quite favourably in such a comparison, against the likes of Spurs and Chelsea.

I believe our season ticket prices are similar to those at Spurs and I remember being shocked that friends of mine were paying more than us for an incredibly cramped wooden seat, with a relatively similar view to the one I used to have in the West Upper at THOF. However I think they only get three Cup games included in their tickets (I guess with their board making the correct assumption that they are going to get knocked
out of tournaments in the first round and I believe the likes of WHU fans don’t get any Cup games included in theirs and I therefore believe that if you divide the cost by the number of games, the prices of our tickets work out somewhat less expensive than what our friends down the road are paying for a far inferior product.

I appreciate the argument that the club are getting all the money for cup games up front but I for one have always loved the fact that our season ticket was just that a “season” ticket, guaranteeing me a seat at every home game. Having such a shambolic lifestyle, I would hate to have to start worrying each season, when the cup credits were running out and when I needed to start applying for match tickets. Perhaps I am mistaken and in these less devoted, more discerning times there are more Gooners who want to pick and choose their games, but I’ve always assumed that, like myself, the reason for buying a season ticket was to be able to attend every home game, whether this be a bunch of bench warmers playing Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup, or our first XI against AC Milan in the Champions League. If this is still true, then it’s always made sense to save all the unnecessary bother of forcing season ticket holders to apply for tickets to cup games, by including them in our tickets.

What’s more, I’ve always enjoyed the idea that it costs us exactly the same to watch us play the likes of Barca as Barnsley (well actually I used to adore the idea that I was watching these glamorous games for free, as at THOF we used to get moved to accommodate UEFA sponsors and used to get a refund for the cost of our tickets!). But I have little doubt that if we were paying for these games individually, the categorisation of games according to demand would mean that we’d be paying through the nose for the more glamorous ones.

Also when there were two group stages in the Champions League, qualification for the second stage accounted for six of the seven cup games and so comparatively speaking, in recent seasons we’ve had great value for our money, when you think of all the great European football we’ve enjoyed, while at the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Rd, their season was over in January and they were lucky if they got to make use of only
three cup vouchers before exiting the FA Cup against such entertaining teams as WBA and Wigan!

So in this particular respect, I am not whinging (for once!)

The only way is up…isn’t it ?

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Our Managing Director, Keith Edelman , has left the club, some sources say his time was up as he had done the job he was employed to do, (build a new stadium and move into it,) other theories state that main shareholder Danny Fiszman pushed him out because of his inability to attract top class players to Arsenal.

What ever the shenanigans within Arsenal FC, we the supporters are at a loss as to how a team that nearly every pundit in Europe have stated play the best,most entertaining, most attractive and thrilling football in any league, can be heading towards the end of the season in 3rd place, with an empty trophy cabinet.

Being the type of fans that we are, we are used to everyone else targeting us with bad humour,bad press and general derision, we put it down to the fact that alot of the snipers are just a little bit green with envy at everything that Arsenal have acheived.It is hard to find the truth in certain matters, just look at todays Telegraph, ‘ Mathieu Flamini to leave Arsenal for AC Milan .’ Have a good read and make up your own mind, we call it the Silly Season, it’s when every talented Gunner is the target of every type of transfer targe, usually fabricated by immoral agents who are only concerned about their lucrative fees…remember Cashley  ?

We all remember this…Captain fantastic doing what he did best…winning trophies and keeping all the players on track.

Now we know we are biased, TA is a Vice President of our Supporters Club, but here is an example of the best type of footballer that Arsenal have ever produced, Mr Adams rose up through the ranks, had a few stumbles along the way, (no one is perfect,) yet is now firmly a legend within all Arsenal fans hearts, so the question has to be…who broke the mould ? Why can’t we produce more players like this ?

There seems to be a missing link within the current squad, we have brilliant individuals who can play other teams off the pitch, but what we seem to lack is real leadership, a strong personality who will walk up to Arsene and say ‘ give me the captains armband…I am good enough, let me prove it to you and all the fans.’ Gallas, is good, Kolo is good, Fab is Fab ( a natural born leader ? maybe…just maybe…) but it seems we are searching for the ’spark’, that bit of magic that seperates the leaders from the led.

Slippery derby away daze

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Derby v Arsenal

We travelled the fairly short journey up the M1 to Pride Park, a ground that we hadn’t been to for a few seasons for obvious reasons, expecting a decent performance and win against the bottom team. A team with only one win all season and with a real chance of setting an all time record low re the number of points gained in the Premier League.

Having said that, Derby have lost quite a few games by just one goal this season and Manchester United had struggled against them not so long ago, grinding out a 1-0 win. The odds of 11-1 on a Derby win were therefore worth thinking about – stranger things have happened after all, and Wenger had been reported as saying that he would rest a few players.

As it turned out, it would have been money wasted. As it also turned out Wenger did rest a few players, and as it also turned out (again), the years that we hadn’t been to Pride Park had seen the area around the ground transformed. After parking the car, you used to have to walk through the dark by the river to the rubble outside the stadium. Gone is the walk, and gone is the rubble – to be replaced by an upmarket trading estate type thing. Much better than before!

This threw us of the scent a bit as we used to know the way to the Navigation pub without a problem. We did find it though, only to find that it was shut when we arrived. Something to do with the previous landlord not paying some bills or something. Anyway, we found another pub around the corner and settled down for a few pints before making our way to the ground.

Pride Park offers pretty decent viewing for the most part and it was from near the front of the ‘upper tier’ that we saw the teams take the pitch. Arsene had been true to his word and had rested a few players, with Fabianski in goal being the stand out one. No I know that we don’t have a very good chance pf winning the league but it’s still mathematically possible, and whilst that’s the case I would prefer that the strongest team available be put out.

Derby started the game reasonably well and harried Arsenal around the park. We took the lead though when Moore made a hash of things at the back – a quick one saw Bendtner fire us into the lead.

As so often happens these days, we weren’t able to hold onto it though. Van Persie missed a great chance to make it 2-1 and soon after a free kick floated in by Lily Savage saw the ball fall at McEveley’s feet. With half an hour gone it was all square.

Van Persie made up for his earlier miss by beating the offside trap, controlling neatly before firing in. He was withdrawn at half time though with yet another injury. A great player he most certainly , not much use on the sidelines though. As it turned out, it was a precautionery measue. Let’s hope for more appearances next season.

The 2nd half saw the introduction of Adebayor who had scored a hat-trick in the fixture at home to Derby earlier in the season. It didn’t take him long to add to his Derby goal tally, he netted our third on the hour mark. Arsenal then played some beautiful football but didn’t finish the game off. In another case of deja vu we missed chance after chance and then let the opposition score. Earnshaw pulled a goal back with about 15 minutes remaining.

With the pressure in the league off, Arsenal responded by attacking rather than sitting on their lead and it paid off. Walcott got a gaol that his performance deserved before Adebayor scored his second and third to finish the game off and complete his second hat-trick against the Rams this season.

So 6 of the best – not the first time that Derby have let in that many this season. Fair play to their supporters though, this game was a sell out and apparantly the last half dozen or so have also sold out!! How many empt seats would there be in our lovely new ground to watch a game when we’d already been relegated?

So we’re still in with a very faint chance, finegrs and all things crossed - and may all things Manc and CSKA Fulham be cursed forever more.

Only one more trip left now – the Black Cats, until the, cheers!

Kellys i - the media must remain impartial

As featured on Footy 24/7

Is the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports and Setanta overstepping their boundaries of what they are supposed to be providing by acting as judge and jury in sports incidents?
Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb has been charged with violent conduct following his altercation with Reading’s Graeme Murty.
Hleb allegedly slapped the Royals skipper during the second half of the Gunners’ 2-0 win at the Emirates on Saturday.

Referee Peter Walton has studied video footage of the incident and has informed the FA that he would have shown Hleb a straight red card for violent conduct had he spotted it at the time.
Hleb, who has until 6pm today to admit or deny the charge, faces a three-match ban which would rule him out of the rest of the season.
So, Alex Hleb yesterday was told that he was being investigated for an “attack on the Reading player for violent conduct because the referee missed it during the match, or to be precise, he misread the situation because he actually saw the incident, formed the wrong conclusion because he did not see all of the incident, he missed the incriminating evidence and formed the wrong conclusion

So actually, if the referee did see the incident but he misread the situation is the truth, like he misread a few penalty decisions for dives, like he misread a few fouls or offside decisions, or even misread throw-ins or misread, a corner for a goal kick or visa versa, surely that is part of the game.

Remember Hleb in Milan who was booked for taking a dive in the San Siro yet the referee admitted after the saw it on tv replay he actually got it wrong and should have given Arsenal a penalty, so where is the fairness in TV evidence? Were we awarded a penalty after the game, of course not, was Rooney booked for diving at Old Trafford after the game and the goal taken away after he won a penalty, no he wasn’t.

If the referee has the ability to change bookings after the match and review his misread situation, then what are the football governing bodies going to do about the other injustices during the game that are only highlighted by football programmes like Match of the Day.

MOTD etc analyse things in depth and seem to actually delight in trying to find things that the referee has missed so taking a superior position or higher perspective usually because they are ex footballers and like to ridicule the referee because he has never played the game, and they usually use this by mentioning the fact that if the referee had played the game then he would have known this or that fact.

The problem they have is that two pundits say like Shearer and Hanson can quite often look at incidents from different points of view, from a strikers and a defenders viewpoints, thus reading different things into the incident which they feel should be allowed for that player to do or not to do depending on that players position in the team, how often have we seen two pundits argue the toss about something because it is what would be deemed acceptable for a defender and a forward

So should the FA and Premier League take any notice of TV replays after the fact, if so at what point should it be used?

Do the British media send their video footage to Uefa of wrong incidences in the Champions League matches? No, or to Fifa no. So why do it for FA Cup matches and Premier League matches, are they really doing it for the good of the game or are they trying to influence the outcome, knowing that player will probably get a suspension and possibly influence the outcome of the entire season for that team, just imaging if Ronaldo had done something where he got a three match ban on the back of TV evidence, Manchester United may have possibly dropped 9 points in those three games because of Ronaldo’s incredible scoring record this season, would that have changed the outcome of the premiership, you bet it would have.

The problem I have is that every pundit has to be seen whiter than white and totally impartial to the teams who play when they inform their opinion, If I was of a cynical mind it could be misconstrued that say, Lee Dixon might favour Arsenal in his viewpoint, Mark Lawrenson and Hanson may favour say Liverpool in their viewpoint just as much as Bryan Robson, Lee Sharpe, Dennis Irwine, or any ex-player of a big club may favour the club they played for, or even worse, to hold a grievance against a club that was a rival.

Pundits working for TV companies where the tv companies have shares in specific football clubs like ITV used to have in Arsenal, or Sky do with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea looking for ways to influence the outcome of the rest of the season by pointing out these things or are they just doing their job.

Now if anyone can tell me Richard Keys is impartial I will show you a liar, Sky have tried to recreate the best finish to a football season ever (actually on ITV) the 1989 season when Arsenal went to Anfield and win the title with the last kick of the game.

Sky change the football fixtures at the drop of a hat for TV and they would surely love to have the finale of a season, I sometimes wonder if before a ball was kicked in a season they must have looked at who they thought would be in the running for the title and made sure the games are going to near the end if not the end of the season.

Relegating the Royals and meeting Smudger

Arsenal beat Reading 2-0 at the weekend, so why is there a picture of Alan ‘ Smudger ‘ Smith?

The legendary man was rushing to get to his commentary position before the kick-off when I spotted him, yet he was kind enough to stop, turn around and come back and shake my hand when I called out his name.

Unfortunately for me, he had legged it again before I could get out my camera phone, but he left me thinking…’what a nice guy, still has his roots with the fans and still makes time for them despite being busy.’

So on to the game. Not really that convincing but a good result over all. I shall concentrate on all the good parts first, as there is definate evidence that this Arsenal squad can grow to be a formidable force in English and European football.

Cesc Fabregas, where do I start? First of all I’ll check my Gunflash diary again…born 4th May 1987…yes he is only 20 yet he is already well on the way to being an Arsenal legend. His ball control, balance, vision,distribution and general dominance of the midfield is a sight to behold for one so young.

If Arsene Wenger signs anyone this summer, he must first of all make sure that Cesc resigns his current contract in permanent ink…in duplicate and tells the whole world that he is a Gooner forever.

Along with Cesc, one of the other most noticable performers on the pitch was Adebayor, he is a strange enigma, very tall, very lanky, yet he eats up the pitch like a greyhound, he is always looking to have the ball played to him as he obviously loves to score goals, he has been recently suffering from strikers drought, but not anymore…thank goodness.

The other legend in the making? Theo Walcott, at last the youngster had a full 90 minutes and he certainly made his prescence felt with his electric pace and pin point passing.Theo is a firm favourite with all the fans, his every touch was cheered and his contribution to the whole match was pleasing to see.Over the years Arsenal fans have been treated to some of the best football in Europe and at times against Reading the quality shone through. We know it is all too little too late, the dreadful dull draws against Birmingham and Wigan put pay to any real title hopes way before the Chelsea and Man Utd defeats, but if fans can take any hope from this season it is in the fact that maybe Arsene is right, may be he can grow his own players and fill a squad…but until then Arsene, make sure you make some serious purchases in the summers please.

Anfield Agony

Losing is hard, but losing when you have been winning is harder and losing when you are winning away from home at Anfield is very difficult. We have seen the most majestical play from Arsenal this season, we have players that every other team in Europe look upon in envy, but sometimes…just sometimes they just don’t perform. There are now going to be alot of questions asked about the depth of the squad and the inexperience of the youth players who are now in the first team and whether Arsene has got his tactics wrong with regard to squad rotation and having key players sitting on the bench.

All of this is irrelevant really as there are 90 minutes in each game for the players who are selected to put the ball in the net, it’s that simple really, and Arsenal usually do this very well, sometimes with astonishing style, sometimes with a lucky goal mouth scuff, but last night…it wasn’t to be.

So this morning hurts, but good luck to Liverpool, they never gave up trying, they made the most of their chances and they should now go on and win the Champions League in Moscow.

All To Play For by Arsenal 247

A fortnight of fire for Arsenal.Expect change at the top.

The first game against the Liverpool did us more favours than we realise, that, with some luck, might actually put us back on course for the Champions League and the Premiership.But the game on Wednesday highlighted the weaknesses that appear to have taken over at the club.  There is a lack of confidence, a lack of belief.  Arsenal no longer seem the club who when the backs were against the wall, they would fight to the finish to get a result, not a draw, but a victory.  For some reason there is none of what Tony Adams and Martin Keown instilled in the club.  And this, really, has been our Achilles heel.

Against Liverpool, we started well.  There was some confidence, some creative play and some hunger, but physically we were matched by a below par Liverpool side that over rely on Gerrad and Torres.  And after Adebayor ended his goal drought we were punished by Dirk Kuyt, somebody who has been poor for Liverpool and whose family, it was confirmed, were neighbours with the official charged with officiating the game.

Personally I don’t care that a penalty was not awarded.  We should have won the game without the need to talk about penalties and dodgy refereeing decisions.  In fact, doing so only detracts from the problems that we are facing and need to be addressed.

Yet, a one all draw, is in my opinion a fair result.  It will mean that we will travel to Anfield knowing that we need to score an early goal.  Doing so will mean that they have to score two and while they have Torres, I think that Gallas and Senderos could manage him.  Anfield can be as special as it wants, but they will be relying on Gerrard to do it again, to pick up the team and drag them to a result.  We will need to be ready for a tight and defensive game at Anfield and we will have to be focused and sharp so that we can hit them on the counter-attack.  Flamini will have a lot of work to do and he’ll have his work cut out to manage and trick Mascherano.

Liverpool have one pot to play for, we have our season.  The one-all draw that is being taken into the game isn’t advantage Liverpool, for them to think and for the email to confirm it will just make us more determined.  It just needs us to nick a goal early on, at Anfield, for them to go into meltdown.  At this point we need to continue hitting them on the counter and seal up the back line.

In the League Rotation-mad Rafa will change his squad to ensure that his preferred, er, team are fresh for Tuesday.  So we need to capitalise on this at the weekend so that we can set the tone for a comeback on Tuesday night.  Then we can head into the semi’s where we can seek revenge for the earlier loss in the League at the Bridge.

As for United, well, they are playing the way they are playing, but with Vidic out for 3 weeks, they are week at the back.  And playing this game at Old Trafford will make us more determined to turn-around the earlier result in the FA Cup.  Then, well, we just have to seek favours from other teams, Boro this weekend – Aliadiere perhaps, and Chelsea, who are still chasing the League.

Who knows, but as crazy as it sounds, we are still in with a shout.

Anfield Away Champions League Preview

Reproduced with kind permission of Kellys i

And then there was one, so this it what it has all come down to, this match, a single moment in time when the winner goes through to the Semi Final of the Champions League with Chelsea or Fenabache waiting in the wings.

Can Arsene muster his team like he did for the AC Milan match in the San Siro, he is going to need all of his management skills to have the team ready for this one but they are capable of getting the result, it seems to have a feel of a certain match in 1989 when we had to travel to Anfield looking for a certain result, nobody gave us a chance in that one either and nobody outside Arsenal can see a win, but there is an air of confidence in the ranks of the Gooners…read it all after the match…

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