Saturday, March 31, 2007

Liverpool vs Arsenal


Two beanpole strikers will be back during the weekend match between loserfool and us tomorrow.


Peter Crouch has recovered from his injuries and should be contesting for a starting position as Bellamy is out with an injury. For us, Adebayor is back after his 4 match suspension. The Togo striker even managed to score twice for his country during this suspension break..


However, Adebayor famous bad temper is shown again as he quarrelled with the National Togo team over bonus issues. It remains to be seen whether he will ever be called up again to his national team.... I would have thought he enough time to think about his temper, but i was wrong.
Well, at least Adebayor is good and will score some goals for us. We cant be waiting for all the injured ones to be back on the feet.
All said, i am guessing a 0-0 match result between the two team or a small 1-0 to arsenal!!
Go Gunners!!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Tomas the Porn King

Anyone read about the big bang from the czech team?

They really made it a wild night with the 6 chicks for the whole team.....

Rumour has it that Rosicky was the leader of the pack.....He and five of his Czech Republic team-mates landed the whole squad a £25,000 fine from the Czech FA after spending a night in a hotel with six prostitutes. ............

THe Big Bang story was exposed by a female Czech journalist after she had managed to sneak into the hotel room herself as an autograph hunter. She claimed that the players 'drank and hugged prostitutes' while she spoke to Jan Polak at the room door.

Rosicky, along with Martin Jiranek, Tomas Ujfalusi, Polak and Marek Cech, managed to bring the girls into their hotel by telling team officials that the girls were 'autograph hunters'. They also claimed they had been celebrating Ujfalusi's birthday

Nice story to spin.. and how in the world did they pull this off!!
You Go Gunner!!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

McClaren: Here to stay or gone tomorrow?

In the aftermath of Saturday's goalless draw with Israel in Tel Aviv, McClaren has been subjected to a tidal wave of criticism. Pundits and fans are all united in suggesting it is time for him to go....

However, Steven Gerrard and John Terry have joined forces to insist England's under-performing players are 100% behind beleaguered coach Steve McClaren. While both players accept that England's recent performances have not been good enough, Stevie G and John both think that McClaren is the right man for the job.

'All the players are right behind him!' Gerrard said.

'It is us who are going there and underperforming and underachieving. It is down to myself and the other boys to stand up and turn these results around to try to take some heat off him.'

Gerrard and Terry sat together during the press conference, offering moral support to each other as well as their manager following a run of five games without a win, which has produced only one miserable goal......

If that run is not brought to an abrupt end against the part-timers from Andorra in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium tomorrow, McClaren might as well hand his resignation letter over immediately.

Terry added that such a scenario will not occur and followed Gerrard in offering his unequivocal support for the former Middlesbrough manager. 'What we have been hearing is not nice,' said the Chelsea man. 'Steve McClaren is defintely the right man for the job, 100%.

Given the woeful sequence of results, which follow on from a run of equally dismal performances at the World Cup, it is little wonder that many are questioning the ability of the players upon whom so expectation has been placed.

Will McClaren stay or go? The answer is a Big "YES TO GO" if England lose or fail to beat Andorra. If England wins, the agony will be prolonged and we will see the galaxy of stars suffered under the lousy leadership of one person.......

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Kroenke Sports Enterprise - Takeover or NOT?

A takeover of our club by an American Company??

Soccernet reported the following:" Kroenke Sports Enterprise have 'no interest or intention' of buying into Arsenal, according to a spokesman for the American company.

Although the major shareholders - ....... of the Premiership club have no intention of selling up, broadcaster ITV are likely to be open to offers for their 9.9% stake in the Gunners.
With the valuation of Arsenal - their parent company listed on the alternative Plus market - currently around £404million, ....... a significant outlay for any potential investor.
US billionaire Stan Kroenke had been widely reported to be interested in acquiring the shares.
His company - Kroenke Sports Enterprise - already have an 'innovative strategic relationship' with the north-London club through Major League Soccer team Colorado Rapids, and the group have a large portfolio of sports-related interests across the Atlantic.

However, any suggestions this would now be followed by KSE taking a financial stake in Arsenal have been quickly dismissed.....................

.............. The agreement in place at the moment between the two clubs is primarily designed to help develop the Gunners brand in America, and will also see an exchange of coaching as well as commercial ideologies, with an inaugural Arsenal Cup to be held for US clubs by the Rapids this summer.
Jeff Plush, managing director of the MLS outfit, was in London recently as part of a pre-season trip to Europe, which also included a visit to Valencia in Spain. He said: 'We can certainly give to Arsenal some of our expertise in sports marketing - we own five teams, a television network and four venues. 'With them, we are frankly a more credible football club than we were.'
Even though KSE are distancing themselves from any talk of a potential takeover, it was inevitable interest in Arsenal would surface sooner rather than later.
..............................With a strong tradition, established fan base and a young side, buying into the Gunners would certainly make an attractive proposition. "

The above speculation is very similar to the rumours flying around before Chelski or Manure take over... Its always done in such a way to prevent our share prices from shooting sky high. Well, Personally, I think it will be good. Free up some dough for the Gaffar to buy some experienced and established players... It can only be good news if we have the funds to battle the other big 3. That at least we are fighting on equal grounds.... now we are abled commandos with pistols. We need machine guns and cannons to fight for the title!!!

Go Gunners!!!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Lehmann

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann insists there is 'no fixed date' for his future to be sorted out.

The 37-year-old German international, currently with his national team preparing for Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier in the Czech Republic, is out of contract at the end of the season.
It is believed he has been offered terms for a move back to the Bundesliga.
But Lehmann said: 'I am in a situation at the moment where I have to make a decision at some point, but there is no fixed date for that to be made.
'Every week, a new club is linked with me, while everybody knows I am also happy at Arsenal.
'I'd rather not talk about it all.'

will it be good if Lehmann left us? Although he is still good for a couple of years, his hotheaded nature and aging reflexes remain a crucial factor for us to consider to let him go...

What do you say? Fellow gunners...

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Ex-Gunner : David Bentley

David Bentley became the first scorer in the new Wembley stadium on 23rd March 07 while playing for the England under 21 against the Italian in a not-so-friendly friendly match.

Is a player so versatile and talented deemed not good enough for our squad? I always like the lad when he was in our team and was very shocked when he was sent by Wenger to Blackburn on loan. Later I found out he had handed in a request for transfer as he was not playing enough games to his liking with us. Sadly, the gaffar was not granting him more games.

Bentley was handed his debut for Arsenal in January 2003, coming on as a substitute for Kolo Toure in the 77th minute of the 2-0 FA Cup Third Round win over Oxford United.
He had impressed when moving through the ranks of both Arsenal and England- he was an international with England at Under-15 and Under-16 levels and captained the Under-18s. He won his first Under-21 cap in 2003/04.

Sigh, why is it that there is no English blood coming through the ranks of the youth? Even someone so talented was given up by us.....

Friday, March 23, 2007

Denilson

The New Dunga

Denilson is currently the captain of the Brazilian national side at U-19 level. Starting his career at Sao Paulo, Denilson played 12 games as a defensive midfielder before catching the eye of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. He plays like the lengendary Dunga in the same position and is commanding as the captain of the U-19.

He signed for us on the last day of the August transfer window for £3.4 million (US$6.5 million), Wenger strengthened his midfield options after the release of Pires and Bergkamp in the summer of 2006. He is the likely successor to Gilberto.

Denilson said upon signing for the club: 'It has been a dream for me since I was young to play in Europe, but I never imagined I could sign for a club like Arsenal so early in my career.
'I am going to try to my maximum and I want my football to mature here.
'I really think I can become a champion with Arsenal and make it into one of the best players in the world.'

In November 2006, Denilson was called up to the Brazilian national side for a friendly match against Switzerland but he did not play that day.

He made his Premiership debut for Arsenal in a 1-0 defeat against Sheffield United coming on as a substitute on December 30, 2006.

Things look bright as Denilson has featured as a substitute in more than a handful of games for us. He Will Be someone to look out for in the near future.!!

You go! Young Gunner!!!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Old news, new dimension...


My friend email me this old photo of Diaby accidentally whacking Terry in the face/head.... What a sight!!!....
It was a terrible accident and believe me, Diaby was very shaken too by his horrible kick as much as Terry was shocked by the impact. All in all, it was an unfortunate accident...
I was thinking and this might be very controversial but what the heck! What if one day, John Terry decided to leave Chelsea? Will he leave London or England? If he stayed in London, will he join us?
Believe me when I said i have no love at all for Chelski, but you must admire the blue's captain. He reminds me of old Adams. Brave and Courageous at the back and contributing his fair share of goals for the team....
Yo, Wenger boss, Found anyone in this mould?? We desperately need some leadership and courage on the pitch at the moment... I have faith and so have the rest of the Gunners!! Just dont keep us waiting too long...

The Aftermath...

Someone offered me an idea about the reason why our players are in all the wrong positions.....

Wenger is experimenting!!!

He has given up for this season. He KNOWS that 1st and 2nd are out of the question.... while 3rd or 4th seriously does not make any difference... and we will definitely end up in 3rd or 4th position at the end of the season...

He plays the players in different positions, he plays the youngsters with a dash of experience so that they can learn more and gain more experience faster... in this world where they have to grow up fast and strong, an extra game under the belt is always a luxury....

Hence, the gaffer had the courage and faith to put the young ones with only Gilberto, Lungberg, Rosicky, Gallas and Toure as 'Nannies' on the field.. Well, you can count Lehman if he is not acting more like an 18 year old hot head all the time....

Well, I hope the team enjoys the experiment and the gaffar would be able to find the correct mix and balance for the Gunners!!!

YEah... Go GUNNERS!!!

Monday, March 19, 2007

What is going on!??!!!?

After last night performance...... I am speechless.... in fact, I think the whole community is speechless... what is going on?? What is Wenger thinking about?

We had a fit back four. Or At least fit center backs!! What was Toure doing playing at right back? AJ had a great time skipping around and speeding pass Gilberto... No offence to Gilberto, I think he is our best player for this dismay season but his best position is in defensive midfield!! What was he doing at center back??? sigh...

I am so lost for words.... Everton was beating the shit out of us.... Although our passing was fine and beautiful, but there is really no killer instinct up front. The Beast best position is as a support striker or attacking midfielder!!! He looked so lost up there... Alialliare? I dont even want to talk about it...

Liverpool could only manage a draw and I thought we could capitalize on this. In the end, we cannot even match their absymal draw.... What a season this is becoming...

I hope we can recover from this debacle month and somehow can ourselves together and prepare for a better season next year....

:(

Monday, March 12, 2007

King Henry Out.......


The king is out for the rest of the season... It brings a sad end to a season that went off and on.. off and on... One second he was so hot he could score with his butt, the next he could miss a sitter than normally my grandma also can score.... is Age catching up with him??

The signs were there at the World cup in Germany.. He look jaded but which coach in the world would have dared to drop him? in the end, he was struggling and was only showing flashes of brilliance.... Yet, he was able to carry the team into the Final... No doubt with some help with his aging teammates of the mercurial Zidane, hardworking Makelele and Solid Thuram....

Will the King be back at Ashburton next season? I certainly hope so... and I firmly believe he still has a lot to give to our young team. Every player looks up to him and every player wants to emulate his success for the Gunners.... If we ever lose him in the near future, it will have an impact like when Viera leave..... causing the team to lose its balance and Captain.....and go into rebuilding again....

I am betting my last cent for the King to return next season and bring back the long lost title back into our trophy room!!!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

My honeymoon in brief....3














Day 5: Tokyo Disneyland!!! its very very fun... The pictures describe it all.... you Rock Mickey Mouse!!!















Day 6: Woke up at 4 plus am and went to tsikuji fish market. Damn fun loh.. Go and see all the fishes and also see the bidding for Tuna. Starts around 430 and ends at 6 am.... The tuna is bigger than Cat!!! Then eat sashimi and sushi around the area. Cheap and fresh!!! In the afternoon, we took a half day tour with Sunrise which brought us around Tokyo to the castle, to the Tokyo tour and Asakungsa Temple and finally Ginza for shopping!!























Day 7: In the morning, we took a free tour with some local Japanese guides who brought us through Meji Shrine. Its a very nice place and big and scenic and we were very lucky to catch some wedding ceremonies.......... After that, we went shopping. You must BUY Burberry..!!! its at least 30% cheaper than Singapore... ..



And that is it..... We went home bery bery tired... but very very happy that we shared such a beautiful Honeymoon together......

Cheers!!!

My honeymoon in brief....2









I think I have no time to detail the trip and describe all the happenings... so I will just summary and then put some pictures to illustrate.... so here it is:





Day 2: Took a train from Osaka to Kyoto. Around 40 mins. Left lungage at the inn. i forgot the name but small japanese style. Sleep on the mat type. quite fun... Went to visit temples. First one was Ping An Shen Gong. A lot of tourist.






















Day 3: Join a day tour with the company name Sunrise tours. Its half gov. so prices are reasonable. Went to see many temples, including Golden Pavilion and Sanjuesan something.. (my personal fav) very peaceful and nice gardens.....shop around train station.Itself an attraction... :) Tried to see some Geisha, but not season.. ( too cold) and never go into all those sleezy pubs.. hahha...







cat with some jap in traditional kimono
Day 4 : Hang around in Kyoto. visit 2 more temples and also shop around.. also visited the Manga Museum.... Totally cool as there was a Gundam exhibition going on.....Afternoon took the 130 BULLET train to tokyo.. Shoik man... damn fast.... Reached Tokyo within 2 hours. Checked in and Shop Shop Shop... in the evening, we went to the Odaiba area, it was very scenic.. with the Rainbow bridge inside and a very nice beach front... too bad it was too cold to take a dip.. :)






















To be continued......

")

Thursday, March 8, 2007

My honeymoon in brief....











On the first day, we reached Osaka via Kansai airport. After putting our luggage at Hearton Hotel, we had a very nice breakfast in a nice Japanese cafe.












First up is the Osaka Castle in the morning. Its a very scenic place and very peaceful. The weather was super cold and we had some hot tako balls. Shiok!!





























I had a bad fall at the main bridge at the castle and sprain my ankle slightly, but luckily i was able to walk it off.. haha... so much for trying to be more dexterious......






Next up was my favourite spot (besides disney land): THE OSAKA AQUARIUM!!



Check out the big Whale Shark!!!.. this is just a plastic replica.. Cool right?



the amazing pokemon fish (Sun Fish) and a very nice tortoise....
At night, we went shopping and eating.. the Japanese are such a nice and polite people.. its hard to imagine how come they can do all those things in the war... Well, its so long already.. so we should all look forward.......
It was a great First Day and I was very excited after the first day and looking forward to the rest of my honeymoon...
Cheers...
Rick...
p.s : I had the most wonderful curry udon at a small family restaurant outside Osaka aquarium.... Thanks to the Mrs' knowledge of the japanese lang... hahhaa.. or else we might have ordered something very wrong.....

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

My Japan Honeymoon trip.....

Dear Friends,
I just had my honeymoon a few weeks ago. Between the 18th of Feb to 27th of Feb. Our destination was my wife's dream place to visit: JAPAN....
We arrived in Osaka via Kansai airport....
It was damn early like around 5 am... we were tired but also very excited about our free and easy journey....

Everything was an experience with the vending machine!! ahahahaha.. from buying tickets to snacks to cup noodles, hot can drinks.. one day, they probably dispense pet dogs or cats.... this japanese....

To be continued......

Monday, March 5, 2007

Arsenal and West Ham........

yes.. The Gunners beat Reading 2 -1 comfortably with a backup team that consists of several youngsters and rotational players... Not too shabby i will say.... hhahahahaa....
:)

I just wanted to make a brief mention of West Ham United at this junction.... my heart really goes out to them.. What is going wrong with the team? How can a team that have Lucas Neil, Anton Ferdinard, Robert Green, Tevez, Reo-coker, benayou etc etc... let in 4 GOALS?? its very unbelievable... somemore this is after they went 2-0 up.

I think God is also making fun of Ham when they went 3-2 up at 86 mins and still manage to concede 2 goals in regulation + 5 mins of extra time... it is truly heartbreaking.... sigh... will we see them in the premiership next season? hmm... that is very very difficult at the moment...
too bad for Matthew Upson and Lucas Neil... who join them at the January transfer window.... a transfer to the championship.....

It might be good news for us though... once Ham goes down, we should be able to snap up Reo-coker at a good price... that is of course if the Boss decides to finally buy a full fletch English guy...

Come on Gunners...!! Push for second place.....
Yeah yeah....

Thursday, March 1, 2007

FA Cup Replay

Ladies and Gentleman,

I am back on line... after my bery bery busy time, I am finaly able to catch up with my writing...

Tonight is the replay of the FA cup tie with Blackburn. The Gunners, after losing the last 2 cup ties cannot afford to lose another cup tie. I believe the lads are all fired up after the lost of the League cup final... and of course the seniors are raring to go after the shock loss to PSV.....

Now that I am back, I hope my team can come back to winning ways!!... Go Gunners!!! lets get the show on the road......