Down Fulham! Down! And Don't Expect No Marquees, Gunners

Arsene Wenger's boys came through yesterday. Good show after last weekend's debacle in the season opener against Aston Villa. Played as we all know they can. We need to earn the respect of the other clubs so they dread the "versus Arsenal" fixture like they used to when they looked at their fixtures calenders. Only by showing some steel. Only be going through a more than ordinary run of wins. We must build on the victory at Fulham.

Nobody is afraid of Arsenal any more. Nobody ever won championships by not evoking fear amongst the mid to bottom table teams at the very least. Every rat believes they can earn all the the points in the Arsenal fixture these days. That needs to be reversed now! Consistency has to be the watchword from here on. It's the hard way -it's the only way.

 Hopefully, we will bring in at a minimum, that defensive midfielder we all know we need before the market shuts...only eight days left...
Don't see many teams that will let a top player leave now and go through searching for a suitable replacement before deadline day. Not the kind of quality that will appease Arsenal fans. I suspect strongly that we have been had once again. There isn't going to be any marquee signing as marquee signings go. The £70m that was bandied around so early in the transfer window  by Gazidis has proved to be another illusion.

For another season, we've been sold a phantom "war chest". One that never gets spent. One that doesn't get carried into the next season when it isn't spent because the "right quality" was not available for it to be spent on. If we carried every war chest we were told about that didn't get spent into the next season, bidding £50m for Suarez would have been a breeze, wouldn't it?

There will be no marquees; not the £40m plus variety. At worst we may just have to make do with Flamini on a free and at best some obscure youngster itching to get away from the French division one and recognises that Arsenal could be a good stepping stone to loftier dreams. A player whose club can really do with the £8m to £14m that AFC's valuation of players is usually limited to.

No there isn't likely to be a marquee. We'll get Flamini and be happy about it if I may add. We have to brace up for this scenario. The sooner we come to terms with that, the less pain we will have to endure as the clock runs down on transfer deadline night on September 2.

Nice one, boys. Let's finish off Fenerbahçe on Tuesday and no one can accuse you of not putting in your shift. Let's watch and see how Gazidis, Wenger and the club's hierarchy aid your cause...


Twitter @naijaendgooner

Is Wenger All Of The Problem With Arsenal?

It's such simple arithmetic...

It's over 48 hours since I watched us lose our opening game of the season at home to Aston Villa. Enough time to lose all the vitriol and invectives that I might have used if I had made the attempt to analyse what exactly went wrong at the Emirates last Saturday. A game that started so brightly with Giroud scoring in the fifth from a trademark Arsenal breezing move ended with Villa thumping us  3-1.

Pundits and analysts alike have taken the game to bits to understand how it all went awry so I won't waste too much time on that. The referee on the day was blamed for some of it. Szcezney's tizzy goal-keeping got some of it and our defence line's inability to contain Agbonlahor got some but most of the blame was contained in a small square placard held up by an angry fan as the game wound down. It simply read, "SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY!"

Hitting Southampton For Six

Arsenal 6 - Southampton 1

After the first two games of this season against Sunderland and Stoke City, when we did not score a single goal, I must admit I started to wonder where our goals were going to come from this season. I mean, we had sold the most prolific striker in the premiership during the summer and brought in three players with a lot of promise that on paper made us look a much better team than we were last term but after both games, it looked like it was going to be a while before the team will gel as a unit and start delivering on that promise.

Watch Arsenal In Nigeria In High Definition

Sagna, Mertesacker and Podolski were in Lagos, Nigeria to meet Arsenal fans last weekend. Watch the trailer of "Arsenal In Nigeria" in high definition.

Sagna, Per & Podolski Danced In Lagos

Sagna, Per & Podolski Came To Play Monkey Post In Nigeria?

It was a serio-comic show yesterday evening at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos as Airtel and Malta Guinness hosted Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna in an interactive session with Arsenal's fans in Nigeria.

The players came to participate in promotional activities with regional partners Airtel and Malta Guinness who recently signed partnership deals with Arsenal that will allow them harness the club's merchandising, hospitality and content rights.

Podolski, Per & Sagna taking questions from Charles Anazado while us ordinary mortals watched

Like Arsenal fans every where else in the world, Nigerian fans were mostly interested in extracting guarantees of a trophy next season and one wanted assurances from Sagna that his injury from the end of last season had healed sufficiently enough for him to ensure that no goal will be scored through his position at right back.

It was a lesson in diplomacy to see the trio deflect all sorts of questions like, "Sagna, will you leave Arsenal if the likes of Manchester City offered you good money?"

"If it was all about money, a few of would have left ages ago," Sagna replied.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the answer to that question in that response? Not that I blame him though, that's a question no player can answer honestly.

Charles Anazado who emceed the occasion did a good job of protecting the players from some questions that would have embarrassed them. One female fan took the microphone and asked, "What do you think of Arsenal hiring a new manager?"

I turned around to see if the chick was blonde but she was blacker than my black arse and that's saying a lot because my arse is black.

What did she expect the players to say? You're right, Honey. The club needs to sack Wenger and bring in Redknapp.

Charles took the microphone back from her and as tactfully as he manages Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi and co on his SS3N football show, answered the question himself by reminding the audience that Arsene Wenger has only recently turned down a job offer from the Brazilian Football Association.

It was good to see the boys out here really but it hardly makes up for the disappointment of the cancellation of the game that was planned for August 5th. My ManU friend actually said the trio had been sent down to play "monkey post" in Nigeria; that's the backyard football game that requires 3-5 players on each side that's popular in Africa using a small goal post that can be set up with stones or sticks.

Monkey Post

All-in-all, it was a good show but we now look forward to the big one with the whole squad in attendance as  has been promised by the club.

We'll get back to transfer rumours and speculations in this space from tomorrow. See ya.

When Per, Sagna and Podolski came to Lagos, the clowns came to welcome 'em twitter.com/naijaendgooner…
— lalah D Gooner (@naijaendgooner) July 30, 2012

Pictures Of Sagna, Podolski And Mert In Nigeria

Sagna, Podolski and Mertesacker arrived in Lagos yesterday and have been participating in marketing promotions with Arsenal's Nigerian partners. Rosicky did not make the trip as originally planned. See pictures below:

                                                              Click on images to enlarge
 

On The Way To Nigeria

Refuelling stop in Palma - and our trio are preparing some gifts for their Nigerian fans. #ArsenalTour2012 twitter.com/Arsenal/status…
— Arsenal.com (@Arsenal) July 28, 2012

All We Are Saying, Give Us Arsenal!

The boys have arrived in Beijing and were accorded another awesome reception from the Chinese fans. Oh! How they love this club in China. Makes me wonder what would have been if they had come to Nigeria as planned. The Malaysian and Chinese receptions would have paled in significance, wouldn't it, Nigerian Gunners?

Yeah!!! I hear you roar, "ALL WE ARE SAYING, GIVE US ARSENAL". Yeah! You all know that tune and we will sing it until we are heard if they don't keep their word to come play here next summer.

The Arsenal marketing director,Angus Kinnear made us a promise when the club postponed the trip that was planned for August when he said, 

"We have a huge and loyal following in Africa, and we are sorry that the team will not be visiting this summer. However, we have a long-term commitment to Nigeria and we are already making plans for a visit next summer."

Hopefully, the club will keep their word and we'll watch and cheer the team on our shores next summer.

The game in China is between us and a familiar opponent from the premier league, Manchester City. It's a showpiece game like the one in Malaysia last Tuesday but I reckon we'll take it a bit more seriously than the game against Malaysia XI for pride's sake. The game is scheduled for Friday next at 12 noon at the famous Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing. I'll let you know here and here when I confirm if it will be aired in Nigeria.

However it goes anyway, not much significance should be given to the results because the boss is more interested in the workout value of these pre-season games than the results, and of course the Chinese fans will expect to be entertained. Having said that, I'd rather we were not at the receiving end of a hiding from City because we need the team to have a workout and the Chinese fans to be entertained. It's City we are talking about and the British press in particular will not let us live it down no matter how friendly the game may be. It has become fashionable to remind Arsenal how they need to spend more money especially when a chink is spotted in our amour. I really don't want to hear it.

It was one of them days today and I couldn't find time to get in here earlier than now. Luckily there wasn't much more than unconfirmed rumours of Carzola heading our way amongst a few other rumours to report.

I'll keep it short this night and hopefully I'll be much earlier tomorrow.

Kachifo!

Arsenal First Team Stars To Fly To Nigeria

On the heels of the cancellation of its trip to Nigeria in August, the club has announced that four first team stars will be flying to Nigeria to take part in marketing activities with regional partners, Airtel and Malta Guinness.

Sagna, Mertesacker, Podolski and Rosicky have been chosen to fly to Lagos with club officials in two weeks to take part in club events and activities organised by Airtel and Malta Guinness.

Arsenal’s head of global partnerships Vinai Venkatesham said: “We were disappointed to have to postpone the game and intend to visit Nigeria next summer. However we are delighted to be bringing this group of players to Nigeria to take part in events with our regional partners. It will give us a chance to engage with local supporters and reinforce our commitment to the market.”

The players will take part in a busy schedule of events in Lagos. Emmanuel Agu, marketing manager for (Malta) Guinness Nigeria plc commented: "Malta Guinness is the Official Malt Drink of Arsenal in Nigeria and we are looking forward to welcoming the Arsenal players to Lagos.

"We are sure that they will have a most enjoyable visit as they experience the energy and vitality of their Nigerian fans. Over the next few days, we will be announcing how fans of the nation's No 1 malt drink - Malta Guinness - can enjoy not only the goodness of our new lower sugar variant, but also win the opportunity to interact and get involved with their idols at a number of exclusive events during their stay. You can get more information by going to www.facebook.com/maltaguinness."

The players will also be making appearances for mobile network operator Airtel. Deepak Srivastava, chief operating officer and executive director for Airtel Nigeria, said: "Arsenal has a very large supporter base in Nigeria and Airtel is eager to connect these fans with some of their favourite football players.

"Indeed, Airtel is extremely committed to creating opportunities to excite and engage telecommunications consumers just as we are passionate about realising our brand vision of being the most-loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians."

The True Gunners' Debate

I belong to a Blackberry group of Nigerian Arsenal  fans. Some reside in the States, some in the UK but most of us live in different parts of Nigeria.

The debates in the group are usually very heated with pro and anti-Wenger, pro and Anti-Usmanov sentiments usually determining which side members take in whatever topic is up for discussion. No matter which side of the table the members seat, one thing you can't fault is their passion for Arsenal FC. 

I decided to publish the most current debate which started yesterday evening