Travels, Villains & Heroes

Well with Champions League qualification secured, the draw for the group stage complete & a trip to Old Trafford coming up on Sunday it feels like the season has really kicked up a gear after a somewhat whimpering start.

The balls of fate

Lets start with our Champions League group shall we –

It isn’t the easiest group (F) we could have had but it certainly is one that I believe we can qualify from. What immediately strikes you is the fact that we’ll have no marathon travels with our opponents Olympique de Marseille, Olympiacos and Borussia Dortmund being based in France, Greece & Germany respectively. The fact we’ll be playing in local Europe rather than the far off former outposts of the Eastern Block is a real positive as is the fact that we’ll see decent continental opposition visit the grove over the next few months.

You have to look at how our fixture list has worked around these group games and see that as a massive result.

Don't go back to Dortmund... I mean Dalston.

After the home game against Swansea (Sept 10th) we travel to Dortmund to face Tommy Rosicky’s former club on September 13th. The home tie with Olympiacos on September 28th is sandwiched between the visit of Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers to the grove (Sept 24th) and the first NLD in Riotsville on October 2nd. We travel to the south of France on October 19th which is either side of home games against Sunderland (Oct 15th) & Stoke City Rugby Club (Oct 22nd)

Marseille come to London (Nov 1st) just a few days after our annual visit to Stamford Bridge (Oct 29th) & a few days before the trip to the Hawthorns (Nov 5th). We travel to Norwich on November 19th, play host to Borussia Dortmund on the 23rd then have a day out by the river & face Fulham on the 26th. We face Wigan at the DW on December 3rd then travel to Greece for the return against Olympiacos on the 6th before facing David Moyes Everton back at home on the 10th.

So all in all there isn’t a great deal of travelling to be done, even with our away games in the league, which you would like to think will be a real advantage. There is no doubt that the three foreign sides will make life anything but easy, especially when they are on home soil but I think that we can progress from the group and into the knock-out rounds.

Run by Steve Williams

I hope Samir Nasri is disappointed that he has missed the chance of facing his former side, I hope it is eating him up inside, that he didn’t sleep last night and that he’ll have to spend the next six months in a medical room at the United Stadium which is most likely run by someone who was once associated with our club (As that seems to be the way that City operate)

"Yeah, Sky Walker... Like 'im good player, good player"

Speaking of former players & people we don’t like… I see Adebayor has joined that lot down the road for a seasons loan. What a coming together of the forces of darkness that is! I wonder what pop star the Togolese journey man will compare his new club too? I’m guessing if by his reckoning AC Milan are Beyonce then the spuds can’t be anywhere above Susan Boyle? I give it two days until old ball bag face is lauding his new signing as the best striker in Europe & two months before the two of them are slagging each other off in the current bun.

Right enough of horrible bastards we don’t like lets focus on a proper Gooner –

A new hope

Wojciech Szczesny has been talking about the teams self belief & also how his wonder save against Udinese was nothing of the sort. Jeez, he is modest too – what a guy!

The Pole isn’t the only one who has been discussing the sides self belief RVP & Jenks have been at it too whilst Tommy Vermaelen has clearly been reading this blog because he has also started talking about ‘Positive Thinking’.

We’re still being linked with the players we’ve been linked to for months but as yet we’re seemingly no closer to securing signatures, that said it was telling that Ivan Gazidas wasn’t at the Champions League draw yesterday. You can only assume (and hope) that he is busy down in the bat cave attempting to bolster the ranks. In fact David Miles was at the draw and intimated that we are indeed pressing on with trying to get deals done and will be doing so until the transfer window closes.

A foot note to that is that in order for any new player to be eligible for the trip to OT on Sunday deals must be complete in their entirety by mid day today. Doubtful is the word that comes to mind, followed by unlikely…

"Oi! Woolnough, shut it!"

Now apparently Arsene won’t be speaking to the men from the written press today for reasons which are unclear, but on the day that old red nose kissed and made up with aunty  many journos including Matt Law from the Express jumped on Wenger and criticised him for it via Twitter. In fairness to Matt he reigned in his criticism when it was pointed out to him that Wenger was more than willing to talk to him and many others in Italy on the day of the Udinese clash which was incidentally the day we sold Samir Nasri. It’s all something and nothing really but it’s somewhat telling that as soon as Wenger has lifted his reputation out of the gutter, when many said it couldn’t be done, they find a new stick to beat him down with.

Well that’s it for today – we’ll have a bit more of a look towards Sundays clash with United tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Paul.