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October 30, 2004
Arsenal 2 - 2 Southampton
We've sunk to a new low as NY Gooners -- the basement of Nevada Smith's on five-hour tape delay, to be more precise. It sort of feels like something out of Medieval Times down there -- which is appropriate because by the end of today's match it felt like I had been through some kind of torture, only to escape at the last moment.
Mostly a ho-hum first half, save Southampton hitting the post and Henry blasting a penalty off the post.
TH made up for it with a brilliantly timed run and typical finish, which had us 1-nil up and confident. Henry made another wonder run and set up Freddie, who should've made it 2-nil and game over.
Then Cygan remembered he had been pretty solid at the back for 75 minutes so he decided to quickly make up for lost time. Ten minutes later it's 2-1 Soton. The pizza/soup will be aimed in your direction this time, Pascal.
But, 80th minute sub Robin Van Persie popped up to tie the match with an injury time strike -- reminiscent of Jose Antonio Reyes' in the Cup against Chelsea last term. Speaking of Jose, he left with a hand injury but according to Wenger the X-ray came out good and he should be available for Tuesday against the Greeks.
Van Persie also had a free header just seconds before the death that would've written him a place in team lore, but he didn't get enough on it.
In the end, it was one relief-filled point from 90 minutes on the rack.
Man of the Match: Robin Van Persie. Welcome to the club. Two goals in a week will make you a lot of new friends.
MIA of the Match: Cygan. Why -- WHY GOD WHY?! -- do you have to make two or three horrible mistakes each and every game?
Song of the Match: There was no singing in the basement. So the song of the match, which no one actually sang, would have to be: "Sing when we're upstairs, we only sing when we're upstairs..."
NYGooner of the Match: He's not from New York, but how about one for Danny Karbasiyoooooooon? In midweek he became the first American to score for Arsenal's senior squad, I would guess. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Beverages report: Not only were we banished to the basement, but they didn't have anyone to tend bar down there! No matter, after getting so wrecked on Friday night that I passed out and missed my subway stop by 8 -- EIGHT! -- stops, it was a good excuse to stay sober.
(Match Reports courtesy of East Village Gooner)
Posted by gcurtis at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2004
Citeh v Arsenal, in Nevadas at 5pm today
If anyone's interested in checking out our reserves and new boys, Setanta Pub Channel will be replaying the Man City v Arsenal Carling Cup game at 5pm today. Jack'll be behind the bar and I'll be in front of it, so come down if you have the time...
Posted by gcurtis at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2004
ManUre v Arsenal: Wenger's Verdict
For those who aren't on the mailing list, here's The Boss' take on Sunday's game:
It was disappointing to lose on Sunday but I have to congratulate my players. They came out of this with a fantastic record of 49 Premiership games without defeat and showed they are a great side.
But they have a deep feeling of injustice. They are really frustrated. However you can only master your performance and that was alright at Old Trafford. I am convinced what happened during the game will make us stronger and more determined.
In my opinion, the turning point was the penalty. If you look at the possession they had in the second half and the chances they had in both halves, we were the better team. And at that point it looked more like we were going to win the game than Manchester United.
We had dangerous situations more than chances. With time going on I felt it was a good situation for us to be 0-0. They had to play with the idea that only a draw was not good enough for them. That would mean the game was much more open.
The penalty turned the game in United's favour and they are now eight points behind us in the championship. I don't know if the gap is sufficient or not but I believe we are a great side. And I want to start a new unbeaten run next week.
Thanks for your support.
If you want to receive his post-match mails, you can sign up for them here.
Posted by gcurtis at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)
So, you're happy with the stadium name...
| Well, the results are in, and the majority of the NY Gooners seem to be okay with naming Ashburton Grove as Emirates Stadium. Personally I was against the idea since it seemed to go against the traditions of the club and continue the lack of consultation with the fans that was so noticable when the club changed it's crest. Here are the final results; why don't you leave a comment explaining your views in the comments for this entry?
And check out the new poll. Voting will continue until next Monday when you'll have the opportunity to vote for your Gunner of the Month for October. | poll_process(5);?> |
Posted by gcurtis at 10:43 AM | Comments (4)
Now it's official...
...Horseface is a viscious Dutch thug! At least that's the view of well-respected English referee Jeff Winter:
"Van Nistelrooy could see where the ball was but he made no attempt to play it. He simply raked Cole's shin.
"He could have easily injured Cole or even finished his career with a challenge like that. It was reminiscent of Roy Keane's foul on Alf-Inge Haaland.
"If you had witnessed an assault like this in a factory it would certainly have ended in a court case.
"What amazes me is that these players are all part of the same union - yet you see one player deliberately do something that could cripple an opponent.
'Van Nistelrooy should hang his head in shame and apologise profusely to Ashley Cole for that unprovoked assault. But it's not going to happen, is it?
"There is no place for that sort of thing at any level of the game, let alone a showpiece occasion watched by millions of people all over the world.
"The FA are likely to hand Van Nistelrooy at least a three-match ban when they study the video evidence.
"But if it takes even harsher penalties to act as a deterrent then I'm all for it.'
Read the full article for more examples of Ruud's history of thuggishness (and don't forget he's also being investigated for punching a player in a Champions League match last week)... and then reflect on the fact that the Mancs have the gall to have a go at former-Gunner Martin Keown - on this record, Marty's got a hell of a lot more class than United's Dutch striker!
Posted by gcurtis at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
Ref for sale, one previous owner...
Check out this item for sale on EBay... Hilarious! I especially like the fact that the "The seller ended this listing early because the item was lost or broken." :-)
(Cheers to Teabag for the heads-up)
Posted by gcurtis at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2004
London Calling, October 25th
Dear NY Gooners,
Eleven v Twelve
It had to end sooner or later but one big question is being asked over here at the moment by both the fans and the media, and that question is how was a man put in charge of a game like this who is so obviously a 'Homer'. It cannot be a coincidence that Mike 'Old Mother' Riley (one for you older supporters. Ask your grandparents) has now given 8 penalty's to the Mancs in his last 8 visits to OT, but I'll get back to that later.
The fact that we lost our unbeaten run to one of the three teams we wish we hadn't, (the other two being Chelskavich & Sp*rs) only pisses us off even more. The general consensus is that we were not beaten by a better side; we were beaten by some very poor refereeing decisions. It is felt that in the first half he let too many tackles go unpunished; Van Horse should have gone for what can only be described as a career-ending tackle and the fact that the FA are now going to look at this incident says it all, Ferdinand should also have gone for his last man lunge on Freddie and how Gary Neville was still on the pitch by half-time for his persistent tackles from behind on Antonio is beyond everyone.
Riley bottled making any controversial decisions in the first half and we paid for it in the second half because if he had sent off any one of those three the whole outlook of the game would most definitely had turned out different. Most Arsenal fans are saying that, as hard done by as we felt about the penalty that was given, it evened itself out by the fact that they should have had one when Ash bought down Ronaldo, but the fact is that seven wrongs don't make a right. The sports phone-in programs were full of gloating Mancs going on about how they have stopped our record and how us moaning is all down to sour grapes. Well, my question to them is how would they have felt if the boot was on the other foot. Let's hear what they would say next February at Highbury if Lauran hacked down Giggs for the fifth time and only got a booking, Campbell has brought down Scholes when he is clear on goal, Henry studs Heinze and we get a dodgy penalty because Pires dives. I'm sure it would be more a case of sour vineyards than sour grapes.
All the talk about the title race now being blown wide open is b*llocks; we have lost a game - that's it! This wasn't a title decider; it was three points in October, we are still top of the league and we are still the team that others have to catch.
But this result does throw something positive. The fact is that we have just gone 49 games unbeaten (that's 49 Sp*rs not 4) and when we lose away to the Mancs it makes front page of most of the daily papers. What does this tell us? Well, to me it says that as much as Fergie says they are the biggest club in England we are the number one team. You may have won the battle 'f*ck face' but you won't win the war
I loved the following match report:
Malcom Glazer's Yankchester Utd - 2 The Champions - 0
Diving horse faced cheating coward (Undeserved pen 73 min)
Geriatric prostitute-shagging, round-faced, Pie-eating, Shrek-looking, Pikey (90 min)
Yankchester Team
Carroll, G.Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Mike Riley (MOTM), Scholes, P.Nevile, Giggs, V.Nistelrooy, Rooney, Ronaldo
After spending half an hour trying to gas myself in our electric cooker Joanna and I decided to rent a DVD to try and forget about the match. We popped into our local Blockbusters and rented "The day after tomorrow" and would you believe our luck that one of the first scenes is of a guy in some remote weather station watching the Mancs on TV and Van Horse scoring and his mate walking in asking if the team are winning. F*ck me, you just cant get away from them.
Champions League
I didn't manage to get to the game in Athens last week but my good friends Jonathan and Katia did and they managed to find out that the players were staying at the Inter Continental hotel, so they thought they would pop in to say hello.
They said that the players and staff were very accommodating, spending time with them in the hotel lounge during the afternoon of the game chatting, taking photographs and signing their shirts. When each player came down from their afternoon nap they went round each of their team mates and gave their own special handshake. It was a sort of sideways slap, a hook of the fingers and finally a forward punch of the fist. Although they all sit together there are little groups within the group but no one is ever left out. TH and Bobby are never too far apart, neither are Cesc and Antonio.
They seemed to all be very appreciative of the fact that fans spend a lot of time and money to make these long journeys. When it was time to leave, Katia thanked Arsene for spoiling us with all the fine football we are playing and he in turn thanked them for the great support. It was like one big love fest.
I Heard It Through The Grape Vine
This is allegedly a true story. Our good mate 'f*ck face Fergie' was asked at a dinner function if he had a gun and one bullet who would he shoot, Victoria Beckham or Arsene Wenger? By this time old 'FFF' who had had the odd pint or three of wine turned and asked "Can't I have two bullets?".
Don't you just love him to death?
Spotted out and about.
Arsene Wenger in the Inter-Continental Athens having a trim in the hotel barbers just before our Champions League game.
Players We Have Been Linked With This Week
Mark Schwarzer (Midd') Australian custodian
Useless Arsenal Trivia
Ashley Cole lives in an apartment complex in Friern Barnet which was a former mental hospital.
This Weeks Celebrity Gooner
Freddie Prinze Jnr. Whilst treading the boards in the West End he was given the star treatment with a guided tour around the ground, where he had a picture taken holding a shirt with Prinze on the back. He was later seen at a few games.
This weeks 'Totally Irrelevant' link to Arsenal
Jose Antonio Reyes has a sister called Mariana
Teabag
Posted by gcurtis at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2004
Looking forward to Sunday
Arsenal.com has a good breakdown of The Boss' history against United today.
Summarising the head-to-head stats,
| P | W | D | L | For | Against |
| 25 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 26 |
it's easy to see that Wenger holds a distinct advantage over Old Red Nose, being the winning manager in four more games. The Mancs also seem to have problems scoring against us, as the goal difference quite clearly shows (even more so when you consider that six of their goals came in a single game - as if any of us could forget that one...)
Posted by gcurtis at 12:40 PM | Comments (4)
Paddy's 50-50 for Sunday's game
The Sporting Life is reporting that, after intensive medical treatment in London this week, Patrick Vieira is 50-50 for Sunday's game against the Mancs.
This is welcome news, given the unavailability of Gilberto Silva and the potential ankle injury suffered by Edu in last night's Champions League draw in Athen. More good news in the article from Thierry Henry who played down his own ankle injury saying:
The Boss seemed to agree when he commented on all the "injured" players:
Posted by gcurtis at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2004
Calm down, calm down...
Arsene Wenger responded to Red Nose's latest outburst telling him to "calm down" before this Sunday's "Clash of the Titans" at the Theatre of Screams near Manchester (yeah, guess I've been hanging around too many Blue Mancs recently...).
The Boss, suggesting that Ferguson would only have been happy if the Arsenal players involved in the handbags had been executed by the FA, said:
"Seriously, you have to consider that he and I are not in the best position to judge that. The whole story was judged by the FA and we have to accept that.
"For managers, the responsibility has to be to prepare this game on the football pitch and not make it a game full of resentment and un-needed aggression. I hope he will calm down. I'm surprised he said it before last weekend's game.
"All I can guarantee you is that it doesn't influence us at all. We will be focused only on playing football.
"We want to make this a game everybody wants to watch. When the game starts it doesn't matter what you say five days before it."
Posted by gcurtis at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)
Soon, soon...
According to the E'een Stanah, The Boss should be signing his new three-year contract extension withing the next few days. Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood seems to think that this is the case and also strongly suggested that the club wants to keep him him at Arsenal FC even if he finishes his management career:
Posted by gcurtis at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
London Calling, October 20th
Dear NY Gooners,
Aston Villa
I know I shouldn't admit to this but most seasons I give my tickets away for the Villa game. It's one of the first fixtures I look for after the big games to see when we are playing them as I usually see it as a free weekend. To be honest, apart from one match a couple of seasons ago when we came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, my decision has been mostly justified. This will no longer be the case in future if Saturday's game is anything to go by.
There is a buzz of anticipation going to games now, everyone seems to be up for the game and even the cops seem to have a smile on their face. Saturday's atmosphere was helped by Villa's early goal plus some of the worst fouls and refereeing decisions I have seen for a long time. Villa's goal, and almost a second by Whittingham, gave the traveling support the expectation of causing an upset, and oh, how dear old spider would have loved to have been the person who stopped our unbeaten run. The only thing their good start did was kick the team into gear. When we are chasing a game it's as if the crowd has the cobwebs of complacency kicked out of them. We seem to find our voices.
It's great winning games comfortably but in most cases it does little for the atmosphere. Saturday had everything for an above average game - losing an early goal, bad tackling (at least three bad tackles from behind that deserved bookings), even worse refereeing (something to look forward to as "Poll the arse-hole" takes charge of next Sunday's game) and finally we had plenty of hate figures to vent our anger on (most notably the choirboy Hendry for the worst bits of acting you will see this year in trying to get Reyes sent off for head-butting). If you have seen the game I can only repeat AW in saying that we were outstanding and how we did not win by more is only down to some fine and sometimes lucky goalkeeping by Postma.
Arsene says that he hopes we are not being spoilt by the fantastic football we are playing; well most at Arsenal just feel it's the consequence of years of watching dull and boring games, a sort of footballing Ying & Yang. The Team was outstanding but one player was on everyone's lips after the game and that was young Cesc. He bossed the midfield and he is getting stronger with every game. His play is more varied than any other midfield player we have at the club; he has both short and long passing to his game plus he runs into the box and tackles. He very rarely misplaces a pass or gets bullied out of possession. He has now become one of the crowd favourites with his song sung as often as TH14, DB10 and PV4, all I could hear on the tube going home was people saying that they can't wait to see him up against Keane next week, where I guarantee the travelling support will let the old boy know that "He's only 17, he's better than Roy Keane". Vieira looks very doubtful for the Mancs game and it could be the moment the rest of the UK realizes that the best young prospect playing in the Premiership is Spanish and not some Shrek look-alike who has a soft spot for grandmothers going by the name of "old slappa"
Our mate Fergie
Alex Ferguson has really lost the plot this time, if he was a horse he would have been shot by now. The Mancs should book him into the nearest nut house to save us all from his stupid rants. The papers were full of it over the weekend but the following really sums up how bad he has become at mind games. To put everyone in the picture he was talking about last years "Battle of Old Trafford" (the papers' headline not mine):
| As opposed to the way you have forgotten how your players chased Andy D'Urso around the pitch when he had the audacity to award a penalty against your team at Old Trafford, but then again who are we to question this fine pillar of football society. |  |
Spotted out and about.
Patrick Vieira & Thiery Henry having lunch at The Dome restaurant in Hampstead.
Players We Have Been Linked With This Week
Wes Brown (Mancs) England defender
Michael Owen (Madrid - bench warmer) forward
David Beckham (Madrid) Midfielder and trend setter
Andy Kyprianidies (Komi Kebir) Cypriot attacking midfielder
Useless Arsenal Trivia
Arsenal once had the chance of buying Rudd Gullit when he was a teenager in Holland, but the manager at the time Don Howe said he did not think he was good enough.
This Weeks Celebrity Gooner
Kevin Costner. Whilst in the UK 14 years ago filming "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" he asked his personal driver if get him tickets for any live sports event. His driver was an ardent Arsenal fan and got him tickets to a game. He fell in love with the club and admits to getting in as many games as he can when he's in the UK, to the extent that last season he hired a helicopter to take him to the Villa game away (0-2). I wonder if he has any trouble getting tickets? Somehow I don't think so!
This weeks "Totally Irrelevant" link to Arsenal
The Arsenal boys plus their France team-mates stayed in the Hilton hotel, Nicosia, last week when they played Cyprus.
Teabag
Posted by gcurtis at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2004
Bunky Update
| For those that are interested, Bunky's back home now after his sojourn in Animal Hospital over the weekend. He's apparently suffering from a urinary tract infection that has affected his only working kidney but the docs seem optimistic.
He's eating again (as they put it, "aggressively") and seems a little perkier than last week. The bad news is that I've got to give him oral antibiotics (liquid-form) and fluids (via a drip and a huge needle) every day... oh, well, I guess I'm well overdue for overcoming my fear of needles... |  |
Posted by gcurtis at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
No fear!
Thierry Henry, interviewed in the Daily Mirror today reminds us all that it's time that the club finally became the force it should be in Europe:
Despite the absence of Paddy and Gilberto (leaving Freddy, Cesc, Edu and Bobby in midfield, with Reyes up front with Tel) in Athens tomorrow, Henry, speaking after the superb team performance against Villa, said that we have to keep the form we show in the League when we travel to Europe, despite the fact that:
"We didn't play that well in our first game this time but 1-0 against PSV was enough to give us three points.
"When they see what we do in the League, people cannot understand why we cannot do the same thing in the Champions League.
"But we can beat anyone when we play like this. We can beat any team in Europe."
Posted by gcurtis at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)
Paddy talks about racism
Highbury hosted a KickItOut anti-racism forum at Highbury yesterday - together with Edu, David Dein, Arsenal Lady Aman Dosanj (the first Asian to play for England and KickItOut's chairman, Lord Herman Ouseley. During the forum, Paddy described many of his experiences with racism in football (and in general life) saying:
"I grew up in France and there is racism there quite often. But it is all about trying to not focus on it and live your life.
"My dream was to be a professional footballer so in my head, no matter what people said to me, I wanted to achieve my dream.
"Life in France was quite tough when I was young but I had a strong family around me who made me believe in myself.
"In my head I am black, but if I give 100% of myself then I can achieve what I want, so what people were saying doesn't matter to me."
The KickItOut campaign's site has further quotes from our illustrious Captain, including these words for the racist Spanish coach, Luis Aragones:
"He does not say these kind of words, knowing that the TV was there, and it's the first time he has said it. He needs to explain himself to Thierry of course but also why. He's the only one who can explain what is going on in his mind."
Read the whole thing, it's a pretty good, and revealing, take on the differences between England and the rest of the continent as far as the tackling of racism goes...
Posted by gcurtis at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2004
And long may it continue...
After The Gunners' excellent performance against the Villans on Saturday, The Sun is carrying a story in which The Boss says that we fans are being "spoilt"... Well, that's The Sun's take anyway - Arsene Wenger actually said:
"I think people just enjoy what they see as much as the players enjoy the game that they play. It looks to me like the players are really happy when they come out of games because they enjoy what they do.
"You will be shocked one day when we will not play like that any more. Then you will feel like you have been cheated."
I don't know that we'll feel cheated but, like the Mancs in years past, it's certainly true that a draw now seems like a loss and a loss hurts a lot... I'd certainly be disappointed, but that's simply because our expectations have risen over the last few years. Obviously it won't continue forever, but I'm certainly going to enjoy it while I can - and still be just as devoted to the club no matter what happens in the future. That's why we're Gooners!
Posted by gcurtis at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
Paddy doubtful for Weds game in Athens
Despite the doom-and-gloom reports that you can find on sites like Soccernet.com, suggesting that Paddy is definitely out of Wednesday's Champions League fixture against Panathinaikos in Athens and "a major doubt" for Sunday's League game against United, things may not be as bad as suggested.
On Arsenal.com, The Boss is actually quoted in full saying:
Of course, if he isn't 100%, then he obviously shouldn't play... personally I believe that we can take the Greeks without him - it's much more important that he's there at The Theatre of Screams on Sunday - especially if Old Red Nose decides to play Phil Neville opposite him again...
Meanwhile, it looks like Freddie and Edu will both be back in the squad for Wednesday's game, which is good news...
Posted by gcurtis at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
Adams looking to Europe?
The Sporting Life is reporting that TA6 could be looking for a coaching job in Europe after his time's up at The Chairboys (Wycombe Wanderers) in 2006.
Talking to BBC Sport he revealed that he's unhappy with the style of management in the lower Divisions and feels that he's taken a step backward in his new career which could be reversed with a jump into one of the European Leagues:
"Maybe when my time is up here I may have to go into Europe because you do more coaching in those countries.
"I believe good managers are in their 50s so I've got about 15 years to go. You just don't end up with the final product straight away, it's a process.
"The world's about challenging yourself and it certainly is with me.
"If I do want to manage in the Premiership, La Liga or the Bundesliga then I will want the top players and my knowledge will have to be worldwide.
"At the moment, if Wycombe's directors ask me who are the best 14 young players in the world, I don't know - because here I don't need to.
"I don't know who is in Sweden's under-18 side, the Bundesliga second division or in Malta. If I'm going to do my job properly long-term then I need to know who's out there.
"To gather that knowledge I could travel - go and see how it's done in the French academy, tap Gerard Houllier or go and see Marcello Lippi.
"It's quite tempting. I could even just observe all the best academies around the world and learn about all the young players out there."
Posted by gcurtis at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
Not good, not good at all...
The E'een Stanah is reporting that Robin van Persie could be in trouble with the Law after leaving the scene of a traffic accident yesterday morning (though the accident did not involve anyone else).
Apparently he was on his way to training at London Colney yesterday (so alcohol can be discounted as a cause) when his BMW hit the central reservation, overturned, skidded across the other carriageway and down a slope into a field. Thankfully he was unhurt and called a friend to take him to training.
Unfortunately, in England, it is an offence to leave the scene of an accident before the police arrive - even if the accident doesn't involve other traffic or pedestrians and he could perhaps face a fine and/or time in prison!
A club source is quoted as saying:
Perhaps the law in Holland is different, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse... let's hope the authorities are forgiving...
Posted by gcurtis at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
Freddie and Clichy injured, Edu rested
Luckily for The Gunners, most of our Internationals returned from their country's games this week in good shape. Unfortunately, there were a couple of exceptions with Freddie Ljungberg suffering a hamstring injury and Ashley Cole stand-in Gael Clichy suffering an ankle injury in his Under-21 service for France.
Both could play on Saturday - a final decision on this will be made this morning... I'll provide an update when I hear the news.
Meanwhile, our midfield (already missing Gilberto for the whole month with a cracked vertebrae) has been further depleted with The Boss deciding to rest Brazilian Edu, since he's had a grueling time flying to his country's game against Columbia and back.
With Edu, Gilberto and Freddie as absentees against the Villans, it seems likely that our midfield will include 17-year-old Fabregas Cesc again (not that that's a bad thing...) and either Bobby or Pennant on the right (assuming that Reyes starts on the left) with Bergie and Tel up front. Not a bad line-up really with, I assume, van Persie and Flamini on the bench.
Posted by gcurtis at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
Let loose the Dogs of War!
Initiating the first round of mindgames in advance of next week's battle at The Theatre of Screams, The Boss is in The Sun this morning claiming that the Mancs are a spent force - though it should be noted that he does, rightly in my opinion, still think that they're title contenders:
I happen to agree with him - like Arsenal now, the Golden Years of United in the 90s were a result of a superb crop of youngsters from their youth system combined with some excellent activity in the transfer market by Ferguson (and, I believe, some excellent assistant managers backing up the red-nosed one - have you noticed how they seem to excel when he has a good, competent assistant and fail dismally when he doesn't?). While they still have a team that will contend for honours, I don't think that, even after rebuilding, they'll go back to the standards set in the late 90s. Even if they did, the opposition they face now and in the future from The Arsenal and the Rent Boys (together with several teams that are gradually getting to the top of their game and have no fear of the northerners - something that is oft ignored as a factor in United's success in the last decade) means that they are unlikely to consistantly dominate the game.
Posted by gcurtis at 10:13 AM | Comments (2)
October 14, 2004
Paddy revels in Captain's role
In an amusing interview in The Sun this morning, Paddy reveals the almost dictator-like power he exerts as Captain of Arsenal. From deciding whether the team wears long-sleeves or short (apparently based on whether he's cold not on the majority decision of his team mates) to providing a good example for the others, he seems proud of his powerful role which he inherited from Mr. Arsenal (TA6, of course) two years ago. Read the whole thing and have a good laugh...
Posted by gcurtis at 09:40 AM | Comments (2)
Bunky hospitalised again...
 | For those of you who are interested, my cat Bunky has had to be hospitalised again this morning. He's not been eating for a day or so, has been losing weight and they (and me) are very worried. I'll still be providing Arsenal FC updates - at least when the news starts flowing again (right now things are quiet on the news front with most attention focusing on this week's World Cup qualifiers rather than club football). |
Posted by gcurtis at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2004
Happy Anniversary
Wow, eight years to the day since Arsene Wenger took charge at Highbury - his first game being a 2-0 win away to Blackburn. Arsenal.com has a breakdown of the team's performance since he arrived (oh, what a blessed day that was in hindsight though I'm sure many of us couldn't have forseen how great he would be back then...). I thought I'd just provide his overall stats for you here:
Won: 265
Drawn: 105
Lost: 81
Goals for: 823
Goals against: 422
Three Premier Leagues, three FA Cups and much more to come in the future...
Check out the link for a breakdown by competition.
Posted by gcurtis at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
London Calling, October 12th
Dear NY Gooners,
The Emirates Stadium
Well that's it; from now on we won't be going to Highbury for matches, we'll be going down to "The Emirates". Imagine, there will be children who will be adults when this sponsorship deal finishes who will only have known our stadium as "The Emirates" (I keep writing it hoping that it sounds better each time) and the only people talking about Highbury will be old or middle aged men. You can hear it now: "You kids don't know how lucky you are". We had to stand in the pissing rain watching crap 1-0s. Now you have a great stadium, the best team in the world and the greatest manager that ever lived, but I'll tell you what; I'd have Highbury back any day!.
As per normal, "Talk Sport" - the national sports radio station - has taken its high moral stand and come out with the biggest load of crap ever, with Patrick Kinghorn of the drive home show being the biggest protagonist. According to Mr. Kinghorn he thinks that Arsenal have "sold out", stating that a club like Arsenal with all its traditions should have made a stand against the growing greed within the game. He said that Arsenal fans should rally together and force the club not to name the new ground "The Emirates", claiming that Madrid or the Mancs would never sell the name of their grounds. Well, Mr. Kinghorn bit off more than he could chew as he was inundated with calls from Arsenal fans (me included) telling him that we didn't give a dam what the new stadium was going to be called, it's not like we changed the name of Highbury and anyway we now have GBP100 million in our bank and who gives a sh*t.
The other amusing point in all this is the fact that our new sponsors are currently emblazed across Chelskavich's shirts. How do you think their fans feel knowing that they are buying merchandise with the name of their biggest rivals' sponsor on it? Somehow I can't see too much business being done in their megastore from now till the end of the season, my heart bleeds for them. I saw on one of their fan websites that they think that they have dropped Emirates as their sponsors as apposed to the other way. They clearly didn't hear the comments from the director of Emirates who said that they see Arsenal as a better long-term investment.
A Cold Night In Barnet
Being an international week I tried to fill the void of not seeing Arsenal by taking myself to Underhill, the home of Barnet and our reserves. I would recommend a visit to watch our reserves if you are ever in London because it is quite a pleasant experience. The crowd is a good mix of people made up of local school kids and fans who can only dream of seeing the first team because of lack of tickets plus some older supporters who just enjoy watching the kids. Dependant on the opposition and weather, crowds vary from one to two thousand (possible, as admission is free). Most people go because they want to be able to say that they saw the next Liam Brady, Rocky Rocastle or Ashley Cole but the reality is they mostly get to see the next Alberto Mendez or Stefan Maltz. I actually saw Rocky play for the reserves and I said he would be a star but then again I also said that David Nobel would and where is he now? The other added bonus is occasionally getting to see AW, David Dean, Liam Brady and the odd first team player coming along to watch.
The reserves play exactly the same way as the first team, sharp quick passing, great movement off the ball and speed on the counter attack. This is obviously an AW instruction so that if any player needs to step up to the first team he knows exactly what is expected of him. One player we can expect to see making the brake through in the next year is Arturo Lupoli, a 17 year old forward who we bought from Parma during the summer. This kid is very quick; he has a great first touch and an eye for goal. He scored the only goal of the game against a very poor Fulham side which he took with the skill of a man twice his age. We totally dominated the game and could have won by more. Of the team on show, all have a bright future in the game but how many will make it at Arsenal is questionable as a player will have to be exceptional to make that step up. But, I will stick my neck out and say that Lupoli will.
I Heard It Through The Grape Vine
Thank you to Brain H for this bit of information. Although it's old news now I think it gives us a bit of an insight into what went on during the summer.Brian told me that a friend of his works for a company that was given a contract to build a very expensive glass staircase at Patrick Vieira's house in Hampstead. When the news came through that he may be going to Madrid they contacted his girlfriend to ask is they still wanted the job done and she told them in no uncertain terms that she has told Patrick she has no intention of going to Spain and if he wants to go it will be without her and that they were to carry on with the staircase.
Spotted Out and About
Thank you to Katia for this. Patrick Vieira cut up a friend of hers on a roundabout in Mill Hill, North London. As her friend rolled down their car window to have a go at the driver so too did Vieira who gave an apologetic smile. Realizing who it was the friend, who by now had a stupid grin, gave Vieira the thumbs up and apologized to him and they both went on their merry way.
Players We Have Been Linked With This Week
Jesus Navas (Sevillia) Spanish midfielder
Ledley King (Sp*rs) England defender
Marco Ne (Beveren) Ivory Coast midfielder
Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid) Spanish defender
Valeri Bojinov (Lecce) Bulgarian forward
Useless Arsenal Trivia
After winning the Championship at Anfield in 1989 the majority of the Arsenal team ended up at a club called "Winners" in Southgate till 5am, quaffing down Champaign. It is now an "LA Fitness" centre.
This Weeks Celebrity Gooner
Johnny Rotten, lead singer with the Sex Pistols
This weeks "Totally Irrelevant" link to Arsenal
Former young-gun Steve Sidwell was named "The Championship Player of The Month" for September.
Posted by gcurtis at 11:05 AM | Comments (2)
October 08, 2004
Aragones' non-apology!
Spanish manager Luis Aragones dug himself into a deeper hole yesterday with a so-called "apology" that instead tried to justify his racist attack on Thierry Henry. Speaking to Spanish TV he said,
"What I said can only be understood in the context of the team and a training session, in which I am obliged to motivate my players to get the best results. I can only apologise to the people who may have been offended. It was never my intention to belittle anyone."
What! "I never intended to offend anyone... I have a very easy conscience"??? What the hell is that all about... what he really means is that he never intended his racism to be found out so his conscience is clear. Well, I'm afraid that's not good enough - and I'm glad to say that the English press (and Henry's Arsenal team mates) see it the same way. This morning's Sun calls on the Football Association to boycott the upcoming England friendly against Spain if the Spanish FA continues to stonewall and refuses to take action against their national manager. This is especially relevent given that the English team is this week highlighting the KickItOut's Anti-Racism Week in two weeks time.
Arsenal's World Cup winning Brazilian midfielder, Gilberto Silva, also spoke out against the Spanish coach in this morning's Sun, saying
"I hope he did not have any racist intentions in his heart. I am a black player, full of pride in my colour. Maybe Aragones will think twice next time he opens his mouth. I hope so. Football does not need this.
"This situation is even sadder as Thierry is a fantastic guy, such a great ambassador for the game."
Posted by gcurtis at 12:00 PM | Comments (5)
The Boss opens a can of worms...
Arsene Wenger, interviewed in The Independent, has suggested that some of our foreign imports may have been using performance-enhancing drugs before coming to Highbury. Note that, unlike some biased sources elsewhere on the Internet, he is not suggesting that they continued this use after signing for The Arsenal or that the player necessarily knew that they were taking these drugs.
He based his suspicion on tests that the docs at Highbury regularly carry out on the players, including in-house blood tests, though he didn't seem to think that a doping problem in football is widespread - just present - saying,
"There are clubs who dope their players without the players full consent. The club might say that they were being injected with vitamins and the player would not necessarily know that it was something different. We have had some players come to us at Arsenal from other clubs abroad and their 'taux d'hematocrite' [red blood cell count] has been abnormally high. That kind of thing makes you wonder."
Read the full article for all the details and find out why the FA and UK Sport (the FA's drug testers) are currently powerless to detect the use of erythropoietin (EPO) based performance enhancers.
UPDATE: Following The Boss' remarks, The Football Association has announced that they will start testing for EPOs in the "near future".
Posted by gcurtis at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
Arsenal FC AGM
Paul Matz of AISA has mailed out his report from yesterday's AGM and I thought I'd reproduce it here for those not on their mailing list:
On ticket prices Edelman said he "hoped" to keep ticket prices in 2006-07 at the same level as for 2005-06. Clearly he intends there to be an increase at the end of this season. He also said that purchasers of the 6,700 club class tickets (middle tier - cost GBP2,500 - GBP4,750) will not be guaranteed cup final tickets.
This was something that has exercised many existing s/t holders, who have worked out that with 44,000 season tickets (including the club class) even an enlarged Wembley will mean inevitably some will lose out. Kevin Whitcher from The Gooner suggested some consultation with fans before a final decision but of course no such commitment was given.
There was also a short but interesting presentation by Fiszman about various aspects of the overall development of the new stadium and all associated parts of the project.
No doubt others will post their impressions of the AGM but all in all a bit of a disappointment (as usual) and certainly a missed opportunity by AFC. I guess like Boards throughout the world they are just keen to fulfill the functions of the AGM and get it over with.
Paul M
Other reports from yesterday's meeting can be found on Arsenal World and ArseBlog.
Posted by gcurtis at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2004
Bloody Idiot!
As Toure's Jersey reported on the forum yesterday, and is now reported in the English press this morning, Spain's moronic manager Luis Aragones proved himself to be a racist sh*t on the training field yesterday calling our prolific Thierry Henry a "black sh*t" - allegedly in an attempt to motivate our French striker's teammate, Jose Antonio Reyes.
Apparently telling Reyes:
he then tried to pass off the remark as a "joke"...
Oh yeah, well that's alright then... NOT! Maybe this sort of thing is acceptable in Spain but, if so, the country and its people are worse off for it!
Reyes himself made no friends either when he refused to criticise his manager, echoing his boss, again trying to portray the incident as a "joke":
I'm afraid Jose that there's nothing funny about racism and painting the exchange as a bit of "humour" between friends on the training pitch leaves a bad taste in this Gooners mouth and will, I am sure, not go down well among his team mates back at London Colney. Racism is a blight that is, thankfully, slowly being eliminated from the terraces and the English game and his refusal to condemn his Spanish boss' insulting remarks is just plain unacceptable. Hopefully Arsenal FC will take him to one side and explain acceptable behaviour in the modern game - either that or maybe Sol, Ashley, Paddy, Lauren, Justin, Gael, Jamie, Kolo, Sebastian and perhaps Henry himself will just take him out the back of Highbury and educate him on having and showing respect for his fellow players.
As an aside, I wonder what Wrighties' reaction to this incident is... if anyone from Home has seen him on the telly talking about this, please let me know.
UPDATE: The KickItOut website reports that some of his teammates have already weighed in on the matter, with Robert Pires rightly condemning the remarks:
"We should not be nice to him. If this is a joke, it's a weird one."
and Sol adding,
"You've got to be sensitive and realise that football is a world game and people from different backgrounds do participate.
"You play people from all over the world so you have to rise above that and not be like the fans from some countries, who can shout abuse to players.
"Certain words can mean different things in other languages. But it's happened before with TV pundits or whatever. Over here, people take a hard stance on it and there's no room for racism."
Posted by gcurtis at 02:15 PM | Comments (1)
October 06, 2004
International time again...
| As per normal, many of our Gunners will be participating in their country's World Cup qualifiers over the next week. Here's a summary of who's going where: | |
 | Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole have, unsurprisingly, been called up into Sven-Goran Eriksson's England squad for the games against Wales on Saturday and Azerbaijan next Wednesday |
 | Thierry Henry and Robert Pires have been selected for France's game against Ireland on Saturday. Patrick Vieira is suspended for this game (giving Ireland a good chance of turning the French over in Saint Denis), but he is expected to join his teammates for their qualifier in Cyprus next week.
Gael Clichy and Flamini have been selected to the French Under-21s for their games against Ireland on Friday and Cyprus next Tuesday. |
 | Jens Lehmann will get another chance to make his case to replace Oliver Kahn in Germany's friendly against Iran on Saturday. |
 | Kolo Toure has been included in the Ivory Coast squad that will play Benin on Sunday. |
 | Jose Antonio Reyes gets his chance to represent Spain in their World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Lithuania on Saturday and next Wednesday. |
| Edu's been named to the Brazil squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Colombia, but Gilberto Silva's out after suffering a back injury (which is expected to keep him out of the Arsenal squad for a month. | |
 | Freddie Ljungberg will be representing his country in its World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Iceland. |
 | Robin van Persie is in the Dutch Under-21s for their games against Macedonia on Friday and Finland, four days later. |
 | Philippe Senderos will be hooking up with the rest of the Swiss Under-21s for their UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifier against Israel on Friday. |
Here's hoping that they can all get through these games unscathed and will be back at London Colney, raring to go for the Villa, Panathinaikos and Manc games.
Posted by gcurtis at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)
Henry and Pires nominated for World Player of the Year
Both Thierry Henry and Robert Pires have made the list of thirty-five players nominated in the first stage of voting for this year's FIFA World Player of the Year.
Posted by gcurtis at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2004
Welcome to our new site
If you see this entry then the DNS change has propagated and you're looking at the new site on Hosting Matters servers and I'd like to welcome you over.
The first thing you may notice are the changes to the look-and-feel of the individual, monthly and category archives which are now consistant with the home page. There're also a few additions including a clock (which could prove to be pointless :-)) and the first-ever NY Gooners poll (no guesses as to the subject).
Other new features which will be available soon are a better photo gallery (facilitated by the more modern software modules on this host), an NY Gooner calendar and a notification service. I'll also be making calendars available for NY Gooners (should you want one) and I have full e-mail accounts and mail forwarders (your_name@nygooners.com forwarding to your real mail address) available on request.
I hope you enjoy the changes and continue coming back to visit!
Posted by gcurtis at 11:57 AM | Comments (3)
Arsenal v Aston Villa
According to soccertv.com, Arsenal's home fixture against the aptly-named Villans will be shown LIVE at 10am on Saturday October 16th. It's a 10am game so Setanta will be on the door charging $10, but you can avoid that if you get there early to see the Brummie Blues beat up on Manure at 7.30am :-)
If you do get up early, you'll be able to grab forty winks with the snooze-provoking Citeh vs. The Rent Boys game at 12.15pm :-)
Posted by gcurtis at 10:01 AM | Comments (1)
Phew...
I wasn't really worried since The Boss has proved himself to be a man-of-his-word, but it was nice to hear him confirm that a deal to extend his contract out to 2008 should be signed in the next few days.
Speaking at the press conference announcing the new 15-year deal with Emirates Airlines, Arsene Wenger said,
"It may not be to 2021. I don't know if I will be sitting here then but it will be for a few years.
"Perhaps we do not always realise how respected we are but it is not just the new sponsorship that is keeping me here. My contract is just a question now of fine details between my lawyer and the club's lawyers. The money is not in question."
Posted by gcurtis at 09:05 AM | Comments (5)
Fly Emirates?
The BBC (and Teabag) are reporting that Arsenal FC have secured a $100 million deal for the naming rights to Ashburton Grove. Emirates Airlines, whose contract with the Chel$ki Rent Boys runs out at the end of the season have won the battle and will be our new shirt sponsor too, when the deal with O2 runs out in 2006.
Ashburton Grove will thus be named "Emirates Stadium", but it'll still be The (new) Home of Football for me...
Posted by gcurtis at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)
London Calling
Dear NY Gooners,
Charlton
I went to Saturday's game against Charlton not really sure what to expect from either the team or the crowd. The midweek bust up between Vieira and Lauren was the main topic of conversation with most people on the tube and I was keen to see if they gave each other the traditional pre-match high fives and group hug. So too were the photographers hovering no more than a couple a feet away from them, all waiting for that moment when they decided to kick off again where they had left off on Wednesday night.
I was in line with Lauren as he made his way into the huddle and I could see he was heading for Vieira first only to be stopped in his tracks by Lehmann. Was this the moment the photographers and the worlds media were waiting for? The hell it was. Not only did they give each other the high fives but I swear, when they hugged and pulled away they gave each other a little smile.
I don't know if Lauren was trying to prove a point to anyone but it was one of the best first halves I have seen him play of late. He was quick in the tackle, his distribution was excellent and his overlaps were perfectly timed. With regards to his runs up field, guess who was covering for him each time? That's right, his good buddy Patrick.
The crowd was also up for this game, which makes a change because normally the atmosphere for games against teams like Charlton tends to be a little subdued to say the least. I think the alleged fight galvanized the club and the barriers were raised on Fortress Highbury. The weather was crap and I think this helped the atmosphere as everyone decided to keep warm by getting behind the team. I'm not one of those people that wants to go back to the "good old days" of standing, I had too many years of being crushed in the North Bank, not being able to get to the toilets and having my mate Metin climbing all other me every time a cross came over because he was too short to see anything. I'm sure I missed 80% of the goals we scored in the late 70s thanks to Metin, who is still short but by the way but can now see all of the game without using someone's shoulders thanks to seating. The proof is there for everyone to hear when the crowd decides to get behind the team whether they are sitting or standing.
You will all have seen TH14's back heel, which happened so fast that most of the stadium did not realize what he did until it was replayed on the big screen and then there was a united gasp and another cheer in appreciation of a master craftsman at work. He always seems to give us a special goal when there's heavy rain as if to say "sorry to drag you out in this weather, have this to cheer you up" - just like his power drive against Man City last season.
Leaving the ground the crowd was still in good voice, the rain had eased up slightly and even the Piccadilly Line being closed - thus taking an hour and a half longer to get home - did not dampen our mood.
Martin Keown
I was sorry to hear that Martin Keown has been released by Leicester. I had the privilege of meeting Martin (notice how I'm on first name basis after one meeting) just after his testimonial when he came to my place of work looking for some granite for his kitchen. I found him very pleasant company to be in, he was polite and articulate and when he saw a photo of Highbury in my office that was all the encouragement he need to talk about Arsenal. He spoke about the club with a great deal of passion and he held no grudges with AW for letting him go.
He said that he had done more for his career than any other manager he had played for and because AW could not guarantee him 1st team football he said he wanted to leave as he felt he had one more year's football still left in him. He felt fit and he still had the desire to carry on but the trouble was Premiership clubs did not want to talk to him because of his age and lower division clubs were frightened off because they thought he may want too much money, but he said that all he wanted to carry on playing and the money was not the object. I hope he finds a new club soon because I think he deserves it for being such a model professional plus the fact that he did to Van Horse what we all wished we could do.
I heard it through the grape vine
Thank you to Pigeon for the following bit of information. He was talking to one of Jermaine Pennant's agents (he apparently has a team of agents) at a party on Saturday who told him that Pennant has come back to Arsenal and he is determined to be a first team regular. He has said that if he does not figure in AW's plans he will leave on a Bosman at the end of the season and one of the teams that have shown an interest in him is Sp*rs.
Spotted out and about.
Jose Antonio Reyes doing a photo shoot in Southgate, North London near the tube station.
Players We Have Been Linked With This Week
Robert Green (English) Norwich keeper
Sergio Ramos (Spanish) Seville defender
Raio Piiroja (Estonian) Fredrikstad defender
Useless Arsenal Trivia
Liam Brady's nickname was "Chipy" because he would order chips with every meal. That's French Fries to you; somehow "French Fryie" doesn't have the same ring to it.
This Weeks Celebrity Gooner
David Soul (Actor), Hutch from the original Starsky & Hutch
This weeks "Totally Irrelevant" link to Arsenal
Bobby Gould has left Peterborough's coaching staff.
Until the next time, remember 'Once a Gooner, always a Gooner'
Teabag
Posted by gcurtis at 09:03 AM | Comments (1)
October 02, 2004
Arsenal (1) 4 - 0 (0) Charlton Athletic
Greetings from quarantined block 412E9, cell #14. Whatever infectious disease I'm stricken with rendered it next to impossible to make it to the pub for the match this morning, so it had to be PPV...
And what a game to miss! The boys looked simply outstanding, with goals from Freddie and Jose sandwiching a pair of wondrous Henry finishes. Cesc and Vieira were paired in the center of midfield for the first time, and their understanding bodes very well for the next few seasons. I realize Cesc is just a boy, but the way he and Vieira took turns going forward while the other held back was outstanding. Great, great stuff. And Clichy was in for Cole and the back four didn't miss a beat.
Quickly now, the goals, before I go spray some more Chloroseptic into my throat:
1. Freddie opened the scoring with a cheeky finish from just outside the six-yard box. Henry was lying in the weeds and intercepted a lazy Charlton pass. He immediately threaded a through-ball to DB10 who beat the keeper Kiely to the ball and made him look foolish as he held to wait for Freddie's run. The ball was delivered and all FL8 had to do was redirect the ball into a wide-open goal. 1-nil to the Arsenal at the half.
2. Reyes delivered the ball to Henry, who from eight yards out with his back to goal and closely marked, back-heeled the ball past a helpless Kiely. Truly one for the ages.
3. About ten minutes later Henry and Reyes played the ball back and forth in the area, with Henry eventually unleashing a wicked strike into the top of the net that left Kiely without a chance.
4. Just a minute later, a pass from Pennant (on for Freddie, who left with a back problem) found Bergkamp on the edge of the area. JAR took DB's pass and with a perfectly placed first-time effort put Arsenal ahead 4-nil.
All in all, a fantastic match. I've only been supporting Arsenal for five years, but I am so proud to be able to watch this team. I can't even imagine how those of you who've been following for 10, 15, 20 years or even a lifetime must feel. Oo-2-Be-A-Gooner, indeed.
Man of the Match: Thierry Henry. Second in a row for the Frenchman, earned mostly due to providing us a goal we'll talk about for years to come. Proposed new song: "Chim-chiminy-chim-chim-cheroo, who needs Nwankwo when we've got Henry" (in honor of Kanu's famous back-heel, of course.)
MIA of the Match: I may be seeing things through rose-colored glasses (actually four cups of coffee and some DayQuil), but I have to say: None. A total team effort to keep a clean sheet and thoroughly outclass a game Charlton side.
Song of the Match: You tell me. I'd hope there were more than a few choruses of "Went down the lane...", "We Love You Freddie" and "Jose Antonio."
NYGooner of the Match: Hard to tell without being there, but in honor of his birthday it's got to go to Keith - and anyway, I hear he punts the hottest shirts in town.
Beverages report: Four cups of coffee - with French Vanilla creamer, in honor of TH, PV, Clichy and Kolo (don't they speak French in Cote d'Ivoire?)
Posted by East Village Gooner at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2004
Wanna winna book?
| The BBC are running a competition to win a copy of "The Glorious Game" signed by Arsene Wenger. They have five copies of Flynn and Whitcher's history of The Boss' time at Highbury to give away if you can answer a simple question: "Which year did The Boss get awarded his OBE?"
You can enter the compeition by following this link Thanks to Barry for the heads up on this one. |  |
Posted by gcurtis at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
The website will be down - for at most 24 hours - at some point next week. I'm moving web hoster for the NY Gooners and the site will be unavailable while the Internet propagates the change of service.
The reasons for this are miriad, but primarily:
- I'm fed up with living in the stone age as far as the software on the web servers go. This limits some of the functionality that I'd like to include on the site and I've finally given up on Earthlink ever getting into the 20th century, let alone the 21st...
- I'm fed up with the crappy support Earthlink provides...
- The new servers are just as reliable, but much, much cheaper!
I'll announce the move date as soon as I know it, but it should be sometime around Tuesday/Wednesday. There will be no change to how you access any place on the site, it'll just be unavailable until the update on the underlying IP address reaches your ISP (a maximum of 24 hours, but normally just a few minutes to an hour).
Posted by gcurtis at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)
A few changes...
You may have noticed already, but I'd like to welcome Teabag and East Village Gooner on board as contributors to the website. EV Gooner has kindly agreed to provide match reports when he can and Teabag's providing a London perspective in his new "London Calling" column (click on the image on the right sidebar).
There'll be more changes coming soon, so stay tuned for details.
Thanks again guys, your help is much appreciated!!!
Posted by gcurtis at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)
Welcome to London Calling
Dear fellow Gooners,
I have been bestowed with the honor of being "NY Gooners" London correspondent. I will try and keep you in touch with news from THOF, not officially that is but from the street; when I say street I really mean from my mates and any other people I run into. I will endeavor to keep the news fresh and try and stay away from the normal whose playing or injured chit chat. I am open to any questions you would like to send me if you have heard anything that you may want backing up, or information you may want if you are planning a trip to London to see the boys play.
For my first column I have been asked by our esteemed webmaster to give you a rundown about myself. I think that this has been done to prove I am one of your own and the site has not been infiltrated by some Manc or Sp*rs fan.
I will not divulge my age but what I will say is that I went to my first match on the 3rd October 1970 when we beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 during our first double season. In fact my second game was also a 4-0 win over Everton a couple of weeks later, which gave a young boy like me the feeling that every time I went to see Arsenal they would win 4-0. I can't give you any romantic memories of those matches a-la Nick Hornby but all I do remember is the sun shone.
I started to go on a regular basis around 1974 when I went on a six year run of never missing a home game and traveling to most away. I started as most did standing in the "School Boys Enclosure", before progressing into the North Bank. The terraces rocked to the sound of Punk, Disco and running battles in the North Bank as all came to conquer our stand.
The early 80's came and went with a whimper; I married and had little money for Arsenal, which in hindsight was not such a bad thing as we were pretty crap. Then came the Graham era, a time when I feel in love with the club again. During this period you had to have a skin as thick as a rhino to take the flack because although we were successful our football was dire, and we knew it. George arrived as the savior but ended up leaving thru the back door.
Enter the "Golden Years". I have never seen a manger loved at Highbury as much as AW. I have felt over the years that his popularity has just get stronger and stronger and it is now the general consensus that players will come and go but no one can think of the time when he will not be our manager.
I feel privileged to have a season ticket and be able to watch some of the finest football ever to be played at Higbury. Long may it continue.
The following are a list of my own personal Arsenal Favorites.
Favorite players
70's
George Armstrong, Charlie George, Alan Ball, Jimmy Rimmer, Alex Cropley (don't ask), Super-Mac, Liam Brady, Alan Hudson, Graham Rix
80's
The 1989 Anfield side plus Kenny Samson and Steve Williams
90's
Too many to mention but if I had to pick one it would be Dennis.
Favorite games attended
Tottenham 0 Arsenal 5 - You should have seen their faces
Tottenham 1 Arsenal 2 - League Semi-Final with Rocky's late winner, oh what a night
Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1- League Cup Final, Charlie Nic' finally delivers
Arsenal 4 Everton 0 - AW's first double topped off with Tony Adams wonder goal
Arsenal 2 Chelsea 0 - One over my in-laws
Arsenal 2 Leicester 1 - Unbeaten, I never thought I would ever say that topped off by the fact Gilberto borrowing my Brazil flag for the post match celebrations.
Worst games attended
Ipswich 1 Arsenal 0 - FA Cup Final, How?
Arsenal 0 West Ham 1 - FA Cup Final, most intimidating atmosphere at any final.
Arsenal 2 Luton 3 - League Cup Final, it's bloody Luton for god's sake.
Zaragosa 2 Arsenal 1 - CW Cup Final, Paris is a long way home when you've lost
Arsenal 1 Mancs 2 - FA Cup Semi, that F**king Gigg's goal.
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2 - Champions League quarters, revenge of the in-laws
Personal Highs
Knowing George Graham during his good days at Arsenal and him picking me out in the crowd whilst on the team bus outside Wembley and giving me the wink and okay sign.
Meeting AW, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole, Ian Wright, Liam Brady, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Martin Keown.
Playing on the Highbury pitch last May, and scoring in front of the North Bank. It may have only been a 7 a side tournament and the ground was empty but to me the place was packed and I lived the dream.
Seeing my wife and kids turn into as fanatical supporters as I am. There's nothing like seeing your wife tell her brothers to "F*ck off" and storming out the house when they were putting down HER Patrick Vieira and Arsenal.
So there you have it folks, until the next time.
Once a Gooner, always a Gooner
Teabag
Posted by gcurtis at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)