Reading 5 - 7 Arsenal | After The Euphoria Comes The Inquest

Every now and then, every football fan will see one game that he will never forget; one that he will remember exactly where he watched fifty years later, who he watched it with and most of the details.

In 1989, the Nigerian Flying Eagles came from 4-0 down against the USSR in the quarter-finals of the Under 21 championships. With 25 minutes to go, the deficit was overturned and we went on to win the game on penalties. No Nigerian of my generation will forget the game that came to be known as the "Miracle in Damman"

After The Interlull | It's Norwich Away!

Two whole bleeding weeks without any real football. Really wasn't much else to do with all the extra time I had on my hands but to hole up in my man cave at every opportunity and tidy up all sorts of things I keep putting off for when I can find good time. Did come up from my semi-hibernation for 90 minutes last Saturday to watch the Super Eagles spank the Lone Stars of Liberia 6-1 to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations.

Also took the time to get familiar with Fifa13 as well. Haven't been able to find much time for it since my ordered copy arrived. Have won some and lost some. While I like some of the new features, I really am pissed off with what EASports did with the first touch control -it's so difficult to bring the ball under control with the first touch now. Really will take some getting used to.

Why I Welcomed This Interlull | The Squad Gets Deeper After The Break

I usually hate the international break with the kind of passion that I only reserve for bad breath and BO but this time I welcomed it with a loving bear hug and hoped to hibernate for the two weeks that it will last.

I welcomed the break because I saw Gibbs limp off against West Ham last Saturday and after watching his replacement, Santos for the rest of the game I was convinced that he isn't the ideal cover for Gibbs. I really am fond of that cheerfully disposed Brazillian but whatever else Andre Santos may bring to the team, defending isn't one of them. I will be glad to see Gibbs back, fit and ready to man that left-back position; the international break will afford him time to rest and get back to first team duties. He was on England's list for their two games during the international break but that injury against West Ham put paid to that.

Rumour Has It Mancini's Tearing His Hair Out Because Of RVP

If rumours are to be believed, Mancini was seen tearing his hair out while raging at his bosses at Manchester City for not doing enough to sign Robin Van Persie. While I take that particular story with a few pinches of salt, it is a sight that gives me a lot of satisfaction to imagine considering his penchant for calmly talking about his interest in Arsenal players that are usually designed to destabilize the players.

Apparently, City is determined to offload the likes of Adebayor, Dzeko, Tevez and Santa Cruz before upping the derisory bid they made for RVP with an eye on balancing the books before UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules kick in.

Meanwhile, rumour has it (thanks Adele for letting me borrow this) that The Old Lady has upped her bid for RVP to £20m which Arsenal has accepted. A £190k/week salary after tax offer is also said to have been offered to RVP in the personal terms discussions between the club and RVP.

So unless Manchester United comes up with something more attractive, we can look forward to seeing a bald Mancini on the side lines next season while Robin goes abroad which is what both Club and fans will prefer under the circumstances.

Santi Carzola is the boy from Malaga who rumour also has it that we have agreed terms to sign. It is the most plausible of all the transfer targets we have been linked with recently because Malaga is in a financial mess and have until July 31st to pay up all outstanding debts or face relegation. Carzola, citing unpaid wages from the last campaign has informed the club that he wants to leave and has already held positive talks with Arsenal officials. July 31st is only seven days away so we may expect this deal to be expedited.

The club has meanwhile announced that Koscielny has agreed to sign a new long term contract which offers some reassurance with Barcelona rumoured to be sniffing around him in the past few weeks. My friend Okey was quick to remind me that these contracts don't mean a thing these days.

"Apart from the fact that the selling club will get a bit more for a player with a lengthy contract, when they want to leave they leave," Okey said. But then he's the most pessimistic Gooner I know.

I've heard the club criticized for not extending player contracts before it gets to the last year to avoid the scenarios we are seeing with RVP and Theo. The truth is having a player on a long contract shifts the balance of power in favour of the club. Any club who wants to sign him must go through the club and the club have to be ready to do business to entertain any offers. So I say well done, Arsenal and  to Koscielney, I say congratulations. We have a tradition of repaying those who show faith in us

The boys will play the first of their Asian tour matches against Malaysia XI this afternoon by 1.45pm Nigerian time and it will be aired on ESPN so you can catch it if you can steal 90 minutes of your employers' time but be sure not to say I sent you.

On a final note, there are people who still have confidence in Marouane Chamakh even if most of us have given up hope in him. The team held an open training session at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil yesterday and one Malaysian beauty proposed publicly to him. We are awaiting his response.