Awesome Reception For The Boys In Malaysia

                           

                                        A group of fans from Indonesia livened things up a bit.

The Squad's Arrival In Malaysia In Pictures

The boys have arrived in Malaysia and pictures show they had a good time in-flight and were heartily welcomed by fans in Malaysia. Enjoy the gallery.

Arsenal FC Is Bad For My Blood Pressure

I honestly can't wait for August 18th when the season starts and we have more football to talk about than who we are buying or selling and whether the Dutchman goes to United, City or Juventus. It's one hell of a job keeping up with all the rumours flying about.

I am just a fan who wants to watch the team he loves get out on the field and play beautiful football and win games. The politics of pro or anti-Usmanov, pro or anti-Kroenke, pro or anti-Wenger, pro or anti-Gazidis, support or against Dein's return and all the other debates that are currrently drawing a line between supporters is really beginning to get to me.

Arsene Wenger -The Last of The Alchemists

Arsene Wenger granted an interview yesterday to Hong Kong Magazine Time Out and as has become norm these days his critics couldn’t wait for the ink to dry on the interviewer’s paper before tossing him in the shredding machine.

When asked what goals and aims he has set for the coming season, Wenger said, “The priority is again to fight for the championship and Champions League. To finish the season as high as possible…”
 

Unsurprisingly, given the bent of even Arsenal fan’s to take swipes at him these days, the critics took on him for mouthing this ambition.

What do they expect him to say? That he has a squad that’s only capable of fighting for a Europa league place and he’ll ensure that we fight hard enough to finish above all the other teams that will qualify in that category?

The Ferguson Yarn About RVP And Other Stories

Good morning, Gooners. It's Thursday already and this week has followed the same theme as last week's with mostly quotidian gist of training sessions, rumours of moves and bids (that more often than not are found to be untrue) as well as links to unknown players in far-flung regions.

Bendtner and Arshavin  have packed their Louis Vuitton suitcases to leave for the Far East with the rest of the squad on Saturday. All those big names Bendtner's agent boasted were courting him after the Euros have yet to go to the ATM and get the money to pay us for him. Arshavin looked like he was glad to be back from pictures of him in training sessions this week. No suitors for him?

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."

Vermaleen Undergoing Shaolin Training Ahead Of Next Season

Ahead of the next campaign, the club has put out a couple of videos of The Verminator that will make opposing attackers squirm in their boots -hopefully.



 The first team resumed training at London, Colney on Tuesday and the likes of Arshavin and Bendtner were conspicuosly present as well as Van Persie who was spotting greying hair that was not there at the end of the Euros -that's before murder he wrote. I wonder what brought on the grey. Must have had a really stressful vacation.

The full picture gallery can be seen Here.

The team is due to depart on Saturday for the pre-season tour of Asia. Despite reports that the club has informed Van Persie that he is not going to be allowed to leave and that he will be expected to be on the trip, it will be interesting to see the actual reality.

If he does not go with the team, it's as good as saying he's gone and the buzzards in Manchester, Turin and anywhere else they've stayed perched on trees can begin to circle.

His staying back at the club will come with it's own peculiar headache after publicly stating that he disagrees with the club's management on how to move the club forward. He's unlikely to be allowed to continue skippering the team after that. The fans may not be quick to forgive and forget and may get on his back at every given opportunity. Can the best be gotten out of him under these circumstances? It may just be in everyone's best interest to let him move on.

There are conflicting reports this morning on the signing of M'baye Niang, the French teenager with some reporting that Caen rejected our £6m bid and another reporting that terms have been agreed so I guess we'll just have to wait for an official statement from the club. Hope we pipped City to it though. That will be one small victory against their rich ass.

That's your midweek edition in the bag, Gooners. See ya.

Arsene Goes After Paulinho For His Mental Tougness

Arsenal eye £9m move for Brazilian star, Paulinho.

Now that was a decent rumour to wake up to this morning. Been a while since we had a decent one to   whet our appetence for fresh blood to add to Giroud and Podolski. A Brazilian. Wait a minute it isn’t just any Brazilian, it’s a Brazilian STAR.  

I know what you’re thinking, “Denilson is Brazilian too”. I did think it too but I didn’t let that dampen my euphoria. The boys from Brazil are usually fantastic ballers. Was sheer bad luck we got the 1-ina-million who isn’t. Besides this one’s name ends with “nho”. Like Ronaldinho and Robinho.

Uninteresting Times At Arsenal

It's a brand new week and I hope it will be more interesting with all things Arsenal than last week was. Very little came out of Arsenal in the way of news last week so most media resorted to dishing out the mundane, the unremarkable and the humdrum to fill the pages. May this week see us living in interesting times.

Pre-season training resumed last week Monday with most of the first team reporting for duty. Seemed no one told Andre Santos that his pal Benayoun was on loan last term and has had to go back to his owner. He sent the twit below to Benayoun the day before pre-season resumed and got a cocky response from Benayoun.

While this provided comic relief during a mundane spell as regards darling Arsenal FC, I did pause to wonder why there was this gap in communication.

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

It's All So Fuckin' Hysterical

Peter Sullivan: Why are you always smiling?

Connor Rooney: 'Cause it's all so fuckin' hysterical.

The response in the dialogue above from the movie "Road to perdition" has to rank amongst my favourite movie quotes of all time. Daniel Craig playing Connor Sullivan was the picture of cynicism when the prodigal son delivered that line with a dead pan face as he watched his father and foster son playing a song on the piano to the thunderous applause of a room full of mafia cronies. A perfect picture of a loving father and son belying the fact that they were indeed proven murderers.

Seven Seasons And A Funeral?

                                                           Click on picture to enlarge.

The club has revealed the new away kit. I've spent quite a bit of time looking at the picture above trying to ooh and aah about how fine our new jersey is and unfortunately I've come up quite short.

I couldn't shake off this feeling that I had seen this particular portrait before and just when I was beginning to think it must be my mind playing tricks it finally hit me -The Addams Family. This morbidly Gothic pose is straight out of The Addams Family.

Wenger Confronts RVP On Training Ground

                                                        Click on picture to enlarge.

The Gunners Have Landed in Nigeria!

Yes, I know that title amounts to taking the piss. I couldn't resist this one so pray, forgive a disappointed Gooner who had cancelled every other engagement to be at the Abuja National Stadium on August the 5th but must now wait until next summer to see the team he loves play in his home country. This is the closest I'll be getting to them in Nigeria until then.

If you look beyond the obvious state of disrepair of the bridge railings in the picture above, you'll see one of Airtel Nigeria's billboards located at Costain in Lagos showing a picture of members of the Arsenal team. I took this picture out of my car window while driving at a 130km/hour

The Boys Are Back In Training

Most of the first team reported back to the London, Colney training ground yesterday for pre-season training.

Only those who participated in Euro 2012 were exempted from the session that was overseen by Arsene Wenger, new assistant manager Steve Bould as well as first team coach Neil Banfield.

Click HERE to see exclusive pictures of the session on the club's official website.

Fans Give Wenger Backing But Not So For Kroenke

The Arsenal Supporters Trust annual survey result has been released with Arsene Wenger having the massive support of 77% of AST members that participated in the polls.

The annual survey is an important tool used by AST to form important policy positions; this is subsequently forwarded to the management of Arsenal FC to reflect the views of its members.

Questionnaires were sent to 1067 AST members and 636 responses were received which represents 60% of the membership. The responses are believed to represent a diverse spread of Arsenal supporters including shareholders, red members, overseas supporters,

Arsenal Trust Questionnaire Results 2012

Arsenal Trust Qestionnaire 2012 Results

Is Arsenal a Club in Crisis?

Every thing was going so well. I mean, we had signed Podolski -a proven forward from the German league and only just announced the acquisition of Olivier Giroud -the French League's top scorer from last season.

For the first time in years, Arsenal fans watched happily as the club went early into the transfer market and signed other than delinquents who are still wet behind the ears. We were making all the right noises in the transfer market too; there was still talk of our pursuit of Yanni M'villa and the French goal keeper Lloris, both first class internationals whose abilities can not be faulted. Not exactly marquee signings but we were looking like a club with true intent to contend next season not one who at the end of the season looks like they "also ran".

If You Think You're Angry About RVP Leaving, Watch This Fan's Rant

Arsenal Postpone Nigeria Trip

Arsenal FC has today announced the postponement of the trip to Nigeria which was originally billed for August 5th, 2012. The Arsenal first team was slated to play the Nigerian national team at the National Stadium in Abuja on the last leg of it's pre-season tour.

The club in a statement on the club's official website blamed "complexities linked to the planned game against Nigeria..."

Full Text of Usmanov's Letter To Arsenal Board

Red White letter to Arsenal

Bye, Bye, Robin!!!

After last night's rant, I'm calm now. And I'm really, really, really sorry if I used unbecoming language sometimes during my rant but that was how I felt at the time.

Anyway, hard as it is to put in words, Robin Van Persie has ceased to be a Gooner. It doesn't matter if the club holds him back now and make him see the remaining one year of his contract through as was suggested by the statement released last night, RVP will no longer be considered a Gooner.

BREAKING NEWS! RVP HAS JUMPED SHIP!!!

At 4.03pm this evening, the worst fears of every Arsenal fan was confirmed when club captain Robin Van Persie released a statement on his personal website notifying the fans that he will not be extending his contract which has one year left to run. Below is the statement in full:

This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.
As announced earlier this year I had a meeting with the Boss

Lloris, M'villa And Other Transfer Noises

The transfer window continues to swing and thankfully we seem to be making all the right noises. The club is in pursuit of Lyon's French goal keeper Hugo Lloris who's first choice keeper for both club and country as well as the captain of his national team. He's described as "boasting lightening reflexes and having good decision making abilities". While this may sound good, I don't see from where I'm standing how he'll be satisfied with playing second fiddle to Szczesny with the CV he boasts. It will be the first time we'll be having two first grade keepers at the same time in our ranks in a long time. We certainly look like we have every intention of placing something new in our trophy locker this season.

The Euros is Over and Arsenal is Still Here!

Welcome to a brand new week and the beginning of the second half of the year. The rains continue to pound down on Lagos and a few surrounding states. Last Friday, many residents of Lagos woke up to find their homes submerged in flood waters after several hours of a consistent downpour that had begun in the early hours. It's a nightmare to move from one end of the city to another as the persistent rains continue to cause traffic gridlocks. The state government has warned residents to expect the rains to continue like this for the next two weeks. Scary news.

The good new is that the proposed rehabilitation of the 3rd Mainland Bridge has been suspended indefinitely by the Federal Government.

This Podolski Wen We Dey Wait Sef

Last night, Italy dispatched Germany in impressive style to ensure that the last two standing Gunners at Euro 2012 will head home before the Final game on Sunday July 1st. Mario Balotelli sealed Germany's fate with a brace before the break; the 2nd goal, a strike that was reminiscent of the late Rashidi Yekini in full glory.

While Per heads home without kicking a ball for Germany throughout the tournament, new boy Podolski played in four of Germany's five games racking up 290 minutes of football, has one goal and zero assists to show for it. Podolski started for the Germans but an ineffectual display had him replaced after the break.

Airtel Goes With Arsenal

Arsenal FC has today announced a three year partnership deal with African mobile network operator Airtel. Announcing this earlier today, Arsenal's Head of Global Partnerships Vinai Venkatesham said, "“I am delighted to welcome Airtel into our family of Commercial Partners. This is the second long-term partnership arrangement to arise from the continent and we look forward to developing a number of exciting initiatives with Airtel, starting with our forthcoming tour to Nigeria in August. This underlines the depth of our following in Africa and how the profile of the Club continues to grow internationally."

The deal allows Airtel to harness the club's merchandising, hospitality, and content rights in five markets including Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia, Uganda and Ghana

Keshi Vs Wenger

I find myself in a bit of dilemma this morning. It's the old club versus country dilemma that has either made or marred the best of us. Oh, I love my country with all my heart and will scream it from the top of the Udi hills if need be. But I also love Arsenal and have very often chanted "Arsenal for life!" or "Arsenal till I die!". But in all this I never for once believed both these loves of mine will line up against each other and make me choose. What colour of jersey will I be wearing when I arrive the Abuja stadium on August 5th

Giroud Chose Arsenal Over Chelsea

It's the day after Olivier Giroud signed on as a Gooner. Enough reason to have a smile on my face when I woke up this morning. My wife saw the smile and asked why I had a smile on my face and years of experience ensured I said the right thing.

I looked softly into her eyes and said, "Because I'm lucky to have you."

State of the Art Mobile Medical Unit a Must for Game in Nigeria, Arsenal Insist

Arsenal Football Club has insisted on a state of the art mobile medical unit being flown in from the United Kingdom for the August 5 game in Abuja.

The club had confirmed towards the end of last season that the first team will be traveling to Nigeria to play a yet to be confirmed team as part of their pre-season tour due to the fantastic support of the club's Nigerian fans.

It's Official! Giroud is a Gooner

It's official! Giroud is a Gooner!

Arsenal FC have just confirmed via the official club website that the Giroud deal is done. The club reports that Giroud completed a medical before agreeing terms at the club's training grounds yesterday evening.

This is official confirmation of a move that has had all Arsenal fans excited for the past few weeks and only got a concrete base on Monday morning (yesterday) following the the hippy hair-styled president of Montpellier's confirmation when speaking with Midi Libre.

Giroud Poses For Gay Magazine

Our new £12m signing Olivier Giroud may have made himself a target for opposition supporters before he has even kicked a ball for Arsenal by posing topless for French gay magazine Tetu.

The 25 year old will be in London later this week to put pen to paper on a five year contract after France's elimination from Euro 2012 by Spain.

"I am proud to become a Gunner," Giroud said to a reporter from The Sun as he confirmed rumours of his move to Arsenal for the first time.

Giroud can definitely expect some heckling on this score from the terraces every time he lines up in an Arsenal shirt in England as the football world has expressed zero tolerance for homosexuality.

Olivier will be joining Arsenal from Montpellier where he finished the season as league champion as well as the Golden Boot winner after Euro2012.

Giroud who was recently voted the country's sexiest footballer featured on the front cover of the latest edition of Tetu and reportedly said, "I have no taboos. I will be glad if my gesture will help change the mentality of some people involved in football. I don't see any difference between a straight person and a gay one. Tetu is a magazine like any other."

Hmmmm. He had better produce fast if he does not want the Arsenal supporters to get on his back as well. We can also be politically correct as long as he's banging in goals.

England Knocked Out of Euro 2012: A Tale of Two Ashleys

England was knocked out of Euro 2012 tonight after the game went into a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw during regulation time.

The two Ashleys -one from Chelsea and the other from Manchester United- both failed to convert their penalties while the Italians missed only one penalty kick. This means only two gunners remain to continue representing Arsenal (Per and Podolski) at the Euros as Theo Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlin will be joining their England team mates on the flight home tomorrow morning.

England has not been lucky with penalties in major tournaments in recent years and must have felt some déjà vu as they were eliminated for the sixth time in the knockout stage of a major competition -never getting past the quarter final stage.

The country that gave football to the world will continue to bask in the glory of the world cup they won in 1966 -the last major honours they won- for a while longer.

AC Milan Has Released Flamini

AC Milan has released Mathieu Flamini after his contract expired and both parties were unable to reach an agreement over an extension.

"The time has expired for Flamini...", Galliani, the club's vice president was reported to have said.

Word on the grapevine is that the 28 year old is set to follow another AC Milan release to FC Sion of Switzerland.

Switzerland!

How?

At the age of 28?

We begged this boy to stay in Arsenal and he refused. Given, he won the Seria A once and the Supercoppa Ittaliana once in his time there but he was never an essential part of the team as he was unable to displace Ambrosini in his preferred midfield position. He ended up being used as a utility player in Milan which was the grouse he had with his time at Arsenal

To end up in Switzerland at the age of 28? He may as well head for China.

I hope for his sake this isn't true.

Wenger Didn't Say Van Persie Won't Go...

I'd be a fool if after these past few years, I have not learned to be wary of statements like "There's no reason why Van Persie, a top player, a champion would want a move to Serie A -in terms of prestige of the league, level of play or financial considerations", Mr. Wenger told La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper.

We all heard him say the same about Fabregas and Nasri just before they both switched allegiance elsewhere.

I could take him up on that "champion" bit because I don't remember RVP winning any championship(s) in the past seven years but I'll let that one pass.

I've learned to read between the lines and it seems to me that Wenger has not ruled out a move to Spain or maybe even within England if Manshitty keep up their pursuit of our captain.

"If he moves there, I'll buy you a caramello," Wenger told the Italian reporter to emphasize his point.

For those of you who do not speak Italian like me, caramello is an Italian ice cream not the latest edition of Ferrari.

I've heard some call him Baba Ijebu.

On the home front, I picked up the dailies this morning to see President Jonathan's defense of his trip to Brazil to attend the United Nation's Earth Summit in spite of the security situation in Kaduna and Yobe states where Boko Haram had bombed three churches simultaneously last Sunday. Nigerians were told by the Information Minister that "the President can govern from anywhere in the world..."

Where have I heard that one before? Yes, this was the same argument that was employed not too long ago by then President Yaradua's spokesmen as he lay seriously sick in Saudi Arabia.

66 people have been confirmed dead at the last count and "christian youth" are still carrying out reprisal attacks in both states and what under the circumstances will qualify as a  summer junket is more important to our president?

Person wey im house dey burn dey pursue rat?

Wetin Fifth Officials Dey Do Sef?

"Wetin Lawyers Dey Do Sef?"   
That ubiquitous bumper sticker that lawyers in Nigeria display proudly was what came to mind as I watched replays of that goal Ukraine scored against England that should have stood but didn't.


What on earth do these extra officials bring to the game of football? They certainly have not convinced anybody they add any value to officiating.

Look at that one! (circled above) How on earth was he standing there, staring straight down the goal line and did not see Terry hook that ball back into play? He may as well have rigged up a hammock, laid down, scratched his red balls and enjoyed watched the game with rest of us for all the help he gave the center referee.

They've certainly proved they are not an alternative solution to goal line technology.

The New Home Kit 2012

Doesn't look like we'll be requiring additional black arm bands on those unwanted occasions when black arm bands are required.

That has been taken into consideration in the new design and we'll be ready.

Possibly a cost saving consideration.

Walcott To Face Ukraine in Group Decider

England has a lot to be thankful for as Roy Hodgson announced yesterday evening that Theo Walcott is fit and ready to take his place in the squad as England prepare to face co-host Ukraine in their third and decisive group game of Euro 2012.

Walcott had hobbled out of training on Sunday morning with a tightness in his hamstring and the medical team had instantly gone to work to ensure the fitness of the undisputed game changer in the 3-2 win over Sweden.

"He is fit for the game and luckily we don't have any other injury concerns," the usually solemn Mr. Hodgson told newsmen with a hint of a smile at his pre-match news conference.

Theo Walcott came off the bench against Sweden to equalize the game as England chased the game and shortly after beat two Swedish defenders for pace to set up Danny Welbeck for the winning goal. See goals here

England has to avoid defeat in the game against Ukraine if they are to advance to the quarter finals.

UEFA Catches Bendtner With Pants Down -Again!

Niklas Bendtner has been fined €100,000 by Uefa for getting caught with his pants down once again.

The over-confident Dane was caught in October 2010 by paparazzi as he stumbled out of a London night club with his pants hanging around his ties -on this occasion exhibiting a pair of black Armani underwear.



This time he displayed a set of boxer shorts bearing the name of the betting company "Paddy Power"

It is instructive that Uefa has deemed his offense more serious than than the Russian fans setting off flares and smoke bombs in the stadium during the group A match against Poland. This was in addition to displaying illicit banners and pitch invasion by the Russian supporters. For all this the Football Union of Russia was fined €30,000.

One thing can be said for the Great Dane though, in addition to his foolhardy  breaking of Uefa's laws on personal endorsements, he did his stock much good with two goals and one assist before exiting the Euros at the group stage with Denmark. Add that to the fact that he finished as Sunderland's top scorer last season.

Maybe he's finally done enough to get Barcelona's attention. You never know.

RVP Has Left The Euros

RVP's Netherland's have been eliminated from Euro2012 after a disappointing run of 3 straight defeats which means they didn't get as much as a point out of their participation in this edition. Rather sad for a finalist in the last World Cup and more-so a team that was tipped to win this edition of the Euros. Christiano Ronaldo had other plans as he staked claims to his big match credentials by scoring a beautiful brace after Portugal went down 1-0.

Sorry to see the Netherland's go out without so much as a whimper but, reckon what's important to most Gooners in all this is that we can finally resume contract negotiations with last season's MVP after he suspended all talks until after the Euros.

Hear he plans to go on a vacation to some exotic island before he meets up with Mr. Gazidis but I think the papers should be couriered to wherever that is for his signature (or lack of) so we can get down to the business of making definite plans for next season with or without our captain.

We've dallied over this enough.

Welcome To The Naija End Gooner's Blog

 My friends call me Lalah.

I'm The Arsenal's Biggest Fan!

Okay, okay. I know that's one hell of an assertion to make since I've met quite a number of people who are contending with me for that title.

Alright, I'll take it down a notch -I'm The Arsenal's Biggest Fan in Nigeria (aka Naija).

I've had some of my happiest days as a fan of this great club and lately there's been more to cry about than rejoice about but through it all I've never wavered in my belief in this great club.

One thing's going to be different as we go into the 2012/13 season though, I've decided I'm going to blog about my experiences supporting this great club. Sorry, scratch that! I'm going to share my grief (if God forbid next season ends up like the past seven) -I will not go it alone this time. If as I expect, things change and we have more reason to pop bubblies then I'll also share this with you. From match to match from the 18th of August 2012, my joys and my pains will be shared right here.

As the closed season's business drags on as slowly as we've perfected the art, here goes the Naija End Gooner's blog....

 This is the Naija End of the Emirates!