ARSENALISM©

“They’ve (Arsenal) got no chance of winning anything this year”- Andy Jacobs 31/10/11Talksport The normally humorous and Reasonable talksport presenter is stinging after his Chelsea team were undone by Arsenal at the weekend, leading to severe antiarsenalism. For comments to Andy later in the season you can contact www. talksport .co.uk/ Call 08717 22 33 44 (10p a minute) or click here to email the studio Twitter @tshandj

HALLOWEEN ARSENAL It’s been, shall we say, an action   packed weekend for me, full of ‘good idea at the time’ moments, hangovers, kids parties and prior engagements; therefore I am only getting clear headed enough now to compose anything worth reading. Saturday’s win at the home of the teenage Chelsea was a satisfying victory; satisfying in that it was based on character, craft and a hell of a lot of determination. Fighting back in a game is the mark of team spirit and that’s what The Arsenal did. The reportage of the game was full of comment on the defensive shortcomings of both teams rather than the ability we showed to dig ourselves out of holes. Aside from man City’s result at Old Trafford there has been no better result this season. To win away from home against a team with virtually their first team in place is always good, but for that team to be Chelsea, who are, according to pundits contesting the League this year, is superb; especially given the fact that we scored five...

RVP the MVP  I'm not going to talk about The Press, The Media, defending, racism, John Terry deliberately falling over or anything else. I'm simply going to bask in the glow of a victory. Wining at Stamford Bridge is lovely. It's great. It's the nuts. You could clearly see what it mean to our players at the final whistle and that joy was fully merited. We have now played at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and WHL in the league, so if you like, those tricky fixtures are out of the way. With Sagna and Wilshire to return and with Vermallen back in the mix there is reason for optimism and reason for a smile. Let's enjoy today's victory and let's all turn out on Tuesday to support our boys. Up The Arse!

I was going to be loquacious and erudite but sod that! Get in there you glorious golden Gunners! You f# cking beauties!!!!

I don’t like Chelsea FC. Why? You may ask (or not). Where to begin. Is it the nouveau riche fans that crawled out of the woodwork when Abramovitch parked his gold plated Helicopter on the helipad, the horrible players that they have, the misapprehension that they are based on the Fulham Road or the arrogance?   It’s all of that and more. Let’s face it they bulldozed their way into the elite based on being flash Harrys. That’s not to say that I begrudge a team that use money to replace history; that’s the way of the football world. The difference is that, unlike Blackburn for example, there was and is nothing likable about the Club post Abramovitch. Of course like every club there are proper supporters that have been there through thick and thin and will be there regardless of fashionability; my Uncle for example. But in Chelsea ’s case I fear that the ‘all mouth and trousers’ brigade are the most vociferous. Tim Lovejoy is the quintessential modern Chelsea fan; that sums...

http://youtu.be/VPwZWQOg6kw http://youtu.be/bTH93G50Vco On this day in 2003 The Arsenal Official History 1886-2003 was released On this day in 2004 RVP made his competitive debut for Arsenal and scored against Man City in the League Cup On this day in 2004 Seb laarsson made his debut in the same game On this day in 2010 Arsenal beat Newcastle 4-0 at St James' in the Carling Cup On this day in 1950 Doug Lishman scored the first of three consecutive Highbury hat tricks On this day in 1999 Arsenal lost to Fiorentina during the ill fated spell at Wembley Stadium in The Champions League

Oh dear. That's the last time I look into my crystal ball Terrible predictions weren't they? One thing you can never predict is the unpredictable

Now that The Carling Cup is all to play for I had a look at the teams left in and the potential final eight. And I’m going to break the habit of a lifetime and make some predictions. Arsenal Man Utd Cardiff Crystal Palace All are safely through which leaves the following fixtures The mists are parting....This is what I reckon. Blackburn V Newcastle Everton V Chelsea- Scouse Blues to overturn Londoners? Stoke City v Liverpool- Upset in the offing? Wolves v Man City So I’m predicting Man Utd v Arsenal Or Man City v Arsenal Or Newcastle v Arsenal In the next round We may know who our opponents are in the quarter Finals before we take to the field against Chelsea on Saturday: Good times ahead, eh?

And the momentum continues. A fine win in another competition. Don’t let the negative press coverage fool you; it was a tussle and we came out on top. Again. The quarter finals beckon. Again. Let’s not devalue the tournament, as it’s one of the two trophies we have a realistic chance of winning this season, based on the refurbishment we are under going. As for the future, the return of TV5 was a great boost and the thought of a defensive unit next year without a weak link is exciting; for a number of season’s we have had to play with a fault in the back five be it the keeper or centre half. Now I can see the day where a back five of Sagna, Mertersacker, Vermaelan, Santos & Szczesny will present a formidable unit. It's also refreshing to see Park score in such a calm manner. This guy seems to play and score, be it for club or country and could be that other striker wev'e needed. All in all the season improves at a steady pace and we can now look forward to Saturday'...

Let’s just suppose that Manchester City win the Premier league. Not too much of a supposition really; they look pretty good, have a nice squad to choose from and have a good manager with great tactical acuity. If they win it at a canter, so be it. Money giving the ability to buy quality has always been important in the modern game from Blackburn to Chelsea and all points between.   Ferguson is clearly not to be underestimated, although, perhaps his focus is that third European cup for himself having eclipsed Liverpool ’s record. Chelsea are doing okay but you can see the end of the road beckoning for some of the squad. The Premier and Champions League are out of reach for us; I’m not being defeatist I’m just saying it as I see it. So the domestic cups are up for grabs; that’s the way I see it. Carling Cup is a realistic target as is the FA Cup, and I believe that we need one of these. Not through desperation but because they are trophies that we can win, as the vast majorit...

http://youtu.be/Kg2DWs5dQ-o How I Feel @ 10:46 Another observation from the stoke city game is that some of my fellow supporters seem to be wearing Gravy stained glasses and wearing Baco-foil balaclavas. That’s the only conclusion I can draw from the continued character assassination that they carry out each home game against Theo Walcott. A group of supporters drone on for ninety minutes about Theo’s short comings, with the air of authority normally reserved for David Attenborough when explaining the gestation period of The Mountain Gorilla. With much to be despondent about the targeting of Theo is not only counter productive but myopic. In the last two games it has gotten ridiculous and on a match day I feel like Basil in the scene in Fawlty Towers where he is trying to read Jaws and Sybil is reading a book smoking and eating chocolate while guffawing interminably, and then gets on the phone. I wonder if it ever occurred to them that perhaps Theo has been charged with o...

Against the odds This is getting very, very tedious. So Arsenal can’t ‘sell out’ The Emirates and we are a ‘one man team’. The last two Premier League games have been early kick offs on a Sunday and yesterday the Victoria Line was out of service; which for a lot of travellers meant getting to The Emirates was problematic. I’m not for one minute saying that attendances are not down but let’s get it into perspective; credit crunch, recession and a poor start to the season has an effect so it’s far from panic stations. And let’s face it London prices have an impact. Come to think of it Old Trafford looked pretty empty after an hour. As for the one man team stick being used to beat us with, there’s a certain Merseyside team who it is generally acknowledged, even by their own support, that have been somewhat reliant on their Captain for a number of years. Could it be the fact that he is English and that we all know how much the media loves Liverpool that scant mention is made of this? ...

This season is going to be a bit like climbing Mount Everest in Flip-Flops; a long hard slog. Our meat and drink is three points. This we achieved today due to that little bit of quality. Stoke where their usual awful selves and deserved nothing from the game. That they got a goal was down to poor defending on our part. Another two for the Captain sunk Stoke and we played keep ball for the last stretch of the game. This was met with Ole's from the less than full Emirates today. But three points is three points. That's what matters right now. It takes us up to seventh and in the region of where are aspirations are; the second tier of the League. Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs making up the front runners. Talking of Manchester, there was some mention made at the Emirates today as the goals rolled in at Old Trafford. To me this extraordinary result was as meaningful as talking about La Liga or Serie A. So far away are City and United from us that a result between the two see...

When critics come they come not single spies, but in battalions Now, I’m not the type who looks out for car’s following me, strange phone calls or unexplainable coincidences but I can confirm that as an Arsenal supporter I have to say that there is something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Before during and after Wednesday’s enjoyable victory in Marseille there was layer upon layer of criticism, snide remark and general bastardness towards Arsenal. Particularly bad was the awful ITV coverage (are they any worse than Channel 5?). Did we want to know that O’Neill didn’t get on with Wenger? Did we want to be reminded ad infinitum that Arsenal have not had a great start to the domestic season? Was it good TV to have Keane gloating at our current sticky patch?   Ah-ha or not Ah-ha that is the question http://youtu.be/Oi9W1E_Flqw Alan Partridge Gareth Southgate as a panellist brings new meaning to the word wooden. Andy Townsend transcends banality with his so called incisive views....

Always Be Closing What’s this fixation about Arsenal players signing new contracts,  Arsenal closing deals? Facts are that all players who are signed for Arsenal Football club, like every other club, are on contracts for a set period of time. They are generally signed because they want to play for the club and feel they are receiving an adequate wage. So far so simple, yet the press seem to have chosen contracts as their new stick to hit Arsenal with. First it was the Fabregas Nasri situation, then deadline day, and soon after the Old Trafford debacle all out war on all things Arsenal. If a player who is on contract doesn’t want to extend or needs thinking time, but still delivers I don’t really care. The press seem obsessed and the feeling is that they view neghotiators as salesmen trying to hit deadlines. That's not how it works with professional athletes and the machinery that surrounds them; they are not rubes to pitch snake oil to. Every club has players on contracts that sec...

In a Champions League awash with Money; a tournament where Man City and PSG can just waltz into with a blank cheque book (and before that Chelsea ) it’s worth remembering where that road can lead. Our opponents last night are the poster boys for European Corruption in football The 1992–93 UEFA Champions League was the 38 th time that the European Cup had been contested only this time it was now UEFA Champions League It was also the first season after the break-up of the CCCP and Yugoslavia which meant a large number of new teams entering as Champions of their leagues into the competition. The first time winners of the ‘new’ Champions league were Olympique De Marseille, who beat Milan in the final. But this victory was tarnished, as soon after allegations of match fixing were leveled at Marseille and their president Bernard Tapie. The allegations were of match fixing in a league game where Marseille had fixed their title-clinching Division 1 game against Valenciennes thus ...

Arsenal are unbeaten in the last seven visits to France which is a nice record to have.Over the years we've also taken part in some pretty good games against the French home and away. If we can make it eight unbeaten it will prove to be a satisfactory nights work. http://youtu.be/OV5g0eFfV7w Arsenal 2 France 0 http://youtu.be/q47fQWbY4OQ Arsenal v Auxerre http://youtu.be/-hxIjplqgrg Arsenal v PSG http://youtu.be/X6YtES25bh8 Arsenal v Lens http://youtu.be/pGu4F3Ovg8Q Arsenal v Lyon http://youtu.be/26pbtdDbvvk Arsenal v Nantes "venez sur vous Gunners"

" What I know now, was that these men would never break, never lie down, never bend over for anybody. Anybody." Verbal Kint: The Usual Suspects      Remember they accused us of disgraceful behaviour? Bollocks to that! I'll tell you what's disgraceful; diving, rolling around, getting a fellow pro sent off, Refs colluding and xenophobic reactionism. What's more honest is standing up for each other and saying " you see what you get when you try and f*ck with us!" These guys had the ability, skill and quality but also the balls to stand up for themselves when others tried to take liberties. How many of the current lot can you say that about? http://youtu.be/HjsASf5z9ac Is this what's missing? http://youtu.be/FUZxnW2tAHk “ We're gonna stick together, just like it used to be! When you side with a man, you stay with him! And if you can't do that, you're like some animal, you're finished! We're finished!  Al...