I feel your fists and I know it's out of love

Well... I suppose that I should at least try and write a few things while I'm waiting for the Fonz to duly strap on his water-skis and prepare for this seasons grand finale of EPL-Enders.

Happy days!

I'm going to start by slagging of TalkSport - what a pile of shite... I have been refurbishing my flat and I, bored with painting, decided to find some company in a portable radio - y'know, like a proper prole. I tell you what the torrent of shite that that station puts out is beyond my comprehension - is it a comedy? Is it Parody? Surely... it can't be serious!?

Yesterdays discussions revolved around horse racing tips and a debate on 'how dare those dirty towel heads diss our brave lads'. Then Wrighty came on with this horrible fucking sidekick and talked even more shit... there was a 'what's your favourite computer font' phone in!? Today the action revolved around the Arsenal fans in Rome getting a pasting on the bus... and more horse racing tips - the morning session was all about the dirty I-ties; where as the afternoon session discussed how shit Arsenal were and whether the Arsenal fans were asking for it (a stabbing) - the phone in was 'now you know the facts, are Arsenal fans cunts?' - the justification for this was based on an Italian policeman falling over as an Arsenal fan escaped arrest and subsequent beating in the back of the van... there were no callers unsurprisingly and they moved on to Sepp Blatter and how dare he dictate to us how to play football!

This debate was revealing... particularly with the ambitious sidekick to Wrighty carefully dictating the script in his cockney-wanker 'bloke down the pub' manner. Apparently Sepp has dismissed goal line technology as he wants people to play football - not machines - or something. This was carefully whipped into a Sun meets Daily Mail outrage and spun in a rumplestiltskinesque manner into a debate on how it would be OK if we had an extra helper for the ref on the goal line to keep an eye on the ball rather than a pesky machine - it's poor circuits couldn't keep up with a fast moving ball, apparently, and this was backed up by an email from 'Steve' who reckoned that it wouldn't work. And a few more emails from stooges claiming that a bit of controversy made football interesting and we would have nothing to talk about if the correct refereeing decisions were made all the time. Wrighty just nodded along like a Muppet.

This, of course, is utter fucking bollocks... an extra man to check the goal line and help with penalty decisions simply adds another opportunity for corruption i.e. you can't give an apple mac a backhander and ask it to look the other way in the same way that you can't take a PS3 out, get him laid and then threaten to tell his missus if he didn't make the 'right' decisions in a specified match.

But lets skip back the record to the Roma vs Arsenal game... I'm not sure about you but I suspected foul play (actually it was pretty blatant). The Ref was alright... but Roma... tell me this - how can a team with an average age in it's thirties and carrying several injuries play football for two hours straight and then suddenly start bouncing around like spring lambs? Totti - the cunt - played extra time whilst chewing fucking gum!! ColonelDecker reckons that after 90 minutes the camera panned to the Roma team and the phisio was handing out bottles that they just downed before pulling a face and gurning before the camera flicked away again. When it came to the end of extra time the Arsenal team (with an average age in its early twenties) where on their backs panting and cramping up while the Roma lot were all grinding their teeth and jigging about to an imaginary Kylie tune.

Still justice was done and what an experience for the team to get through... Roma - you tried your best, then cheated and still failed - fuck you.

I couldn't watch the penalties - I just downed my pint and left the Chapman, came home and watched the text stream from the BBC Sport site whist eating a toasted cheese and white onion sandwich... sad - it would have been nice to be in the pub with the fans when Tonetto skied it. Not watching penalties now is officially 'lucky'.

I wouldn't have liked to have been one of the Roma team this morning... waking up in a puddle of cold sweat, paranoid with a minging head and a cock that had shrunk to the size of an acorn... it serves them right.

Fucking losers.

I'm going to skip back now a bit further to the first leg when Roma came to the Emirates. TalkSport were banging on about how Arsenal fans should have known better than to go down the wrong street and meet the Ultras, etc. and generally apologising for hooliganism and encouraging fans of all teams to beat the shit out of any away fan that may inadvertently stray into their local on match day. And this got me thinking - in the first leg the Ultras came to Holloway - they pretty much had the streets pre-match and I could clearly hear their chants in the roads all around my house for hours before kick-off. They were roaming in packs looking for the Arsenal firm with a stripe painted over their eyes and scarves round their faces - very organised. Post match I considered just sprinting home as I knew that there would be trouble... I'm not a coward but those boys don't fuck about - they are stabby and fight like a military campaign. In the end I ended up down the Herbert Chapman with the boys to discuss how shit Roma were and how we should have got 5 passed them.

Then the shit hit the fucking fan.

There was a noise outside and there were running battles up and down the Holloway road between the Arsenal hooligans and the Ultras... there were probably over 100 people involved in this - ColonelDecker's younger brother went out with KeepTheFaith for a look - I stayed back and made escape plans with the Decker in case it all went wrong. Chairs, bottles and bricks flew past the window and, when they ran out of those, the Ultras turned to my local Turkish green grocer for some slightly less effective missiles.

The Decker's younger brother came running in panting: "It's mental out there the bloke next to me just got hit with a fuckin' pineapple!! He went down with all pineapple marks on his face!"
KeepTheFaith produced a white onion and proudly placed it on the pool table... I don't know if it hit him or he caught it.

We decided to really make some quite serious plans... these involved sticking a quid in the pool table and getting the balls out, retiring to the disabled bogs (our appointed "helms deep") and bracing the door while we made 'scum' style I'm-the-daddy sock'n'pool ball head smackers as a last line of defence.

The Ultras then smashed up the McDonald's... which I quite admired them for - if only for a millisecond... then we realised that they only did it to get the metal pavement furniture to use as shields in an operation to storm the Chapman. Luckily for us it was that flimsy aluminium stuff and just bounced and buckled off the windows - but they had made the ground and set about trying to boot the door in... scary shit. The enormous Polish bouncers on the door did well and gathered everyone in and got the whole thing bolted up as they arrived - we then sat tight and waited for the cavalry to come...

...You would think that at this point the Metropolitan Police would make some sort of an appearance?

Nope... they shat it and, i'm informed, decided to wait around the corner until the SPG turned up 15 fucking minutes later!

The cavalry, when it did come, was in the form of the Arsenal firm who re-took the Chapman in a running battle that could either be described as brave, insane or a fucking good night out - depending on your perspective... actually the Arsenal boys were about as scary as the Ultras - massive fuckers and all of them completely twunted on cocaine. They came in bleeding with broken hands and faces, eyes rolling around their heads carrying a fallen comrade. One of them shouted 'Clean up' and those who required 'cleaning up' dragged the fallen comrade to the bogs. We felt no safer in their presence... there is something in the eyes of fighting men, a mixture of adrenaline, fear and testosterone (and class A's) that just exudes a choking and oppressive air of violence to all those around who had the temerity to be absent from the front line. We listened in as they talked of the battle - it was a hard one for the home team and there had been some stabbings by the sound of it.

Ten minutes later they came out of the bogs - cleaned up of blood, clothes straightened and pressing wads of scarlet bog-roll to their wounds. KeepTheFaith peeked in after they came out and saw over 20 discarded cocaine wraps on the floor... the mobile phones then came out and with much chatter the battle lines were re-drawn. They left as quickly as they came... Ultras too - just before the police turned up.

Why do I pay my taxes again?

Some plain clothes boys then strolled in and took the CCTV film and left - all was quiet... I took the onion home - but not before stopping by the grocers to buy some bits and pieces, some cheese and a couple of cans of red stripe to see me to bed.

None of this was reported... anywhere - but it happened right here in England and in a local Home Fans pub - so TalkSport, get your fucking facts straight and talk about sport for a change eh... otherwise why not just change the name to TalkShit!?

We gonna burn your deathmask uniforms

Welcome back.

I have now moved the wife and kids out to her mothers 'up norf' and I am spending my last month in N7... sad times. But I'll be back every other weekend or so for matchdays - well maybe... we'll see.

So where was I? Oh yeah - Burnley, kids, well done never mind... seriously though - they did well and it never going to be easy for them - it was great experience for them (i.e. a physical away cup tie with a lower league team and a hostile crowd) and they did alright. I think, if anything I would have let Simpson start and show a bit more faith, after all this is his kind of game - not sure why Wenger slung in the semi-first teamers as:

a) They didn't want to know and
b) It's disruptive to the reserve side that earned the right to play the match

Maybe Wenger knew that we were going to be out muscled and it was damage limitation... or maybe he couldn't be arsed with it and needs the 'reserve' players in the first team to cover for injuries... anyway - it's only a tin cup and it has Redknapps name written all over it - so best for the kids to get beat now rather than mugged at the hands of full strength, first team Tottenscum and give them a chance to release another Arsenal related DVD.

Talking of Tottenham - their new stadium plans yeah... carbon fucking copy or what? Apparently - so I hear from an architect - the basic plans are the same but they slapped some panels and a fucking cockerel on the side and changed the roof so the crowd can get a better view of the replay screens - other than that - identical... I reckon Tottenham love us in a very 'repressed' way. They want to be us!

Hmmm.. what else - Oh yeah, Roy Keane... he fell on his sword - or was he pushed? And if so - who pushed him?

On the 3rd of December the collective came up with on of it's theories in the media section (the collective is a small 'detective' group what we have set up to try and sift the sweetcorn from the shit of the British media to guess the real agendas behind the spin):

Newspaper: The Sun
Reporter: Steve Brenner
Date: 3/12/2008
Game/Team Ref: Roy Keane /Sunderland
Link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1997504.ece
ColonelDecker: Keane looks set to be the 'New Gallas' They want him out for sure, I think this is a witch hunt after his outspoken views on the press recently. Therefore IMO it is not encouraging bets against Sunderland, just 'he's rumbled us! Lets get him out quick'. Thoughts?
DogFace: I believe that either Keane will be sacked or Sunderland will be relegated. He has rocked the boat by telling the truth and will be slapped by the 'hand that feeds'.
KeepTheFaith: Yeah I said a few weeks ago I thought Keano would get the sack if they lost to West Ham, He must realise what's going on because he has toned it down a bit lately.
Theory: Keane/Sunderland will continue to be targeted until he leaves.
Updates: Keane has resigned

It didn't take long before Keane went - the writing was on the wall... it's a shame and this is yet another example of the lengths the game/gambling/media machine will go to punish those who do not stick to the script. Keane is a fucking hero and those gloating fuckers on MOTD comparing him to a tramp or father Christmas and all that shit should be even more ashamed than they should be already (if that level of shame even exists).

And while we are on the subject of shame... let's talk about Eboue.

Eboue whoooaaaooh

Eboue Whoooaaoooaaa

He comes from Africa

He's better than Kaka

Now you all know that I think Eboue is a good player right - he plays with his heart and he plays for the team... it's obvious for anyone watching that he is exactly the kind of player we need in the team - shit kickers think twice when Eboue is on the field because:

a) he draws the foul and tries to get players booked when they foul him.
b) he kicks players back... hard.

I hear a lot about him being a cheat - but he merely reflects what the referee is letting the other team get away with... in his own way he tries to level the playing field. Now my two over riding memories of Eboue as a player are when he stuck that cross on to Henry's head when we beat the Mancs 2-1 and when he fucked up John Terry's foot for trying to injure Fabregas. Both good memories. So what I want to know is this - when Eboue came on against Wigan the other day - why was I the only one to welcome him back with a cheer? And what the fuck was with all the booing? Arseholes!

I have a theory - it's called 'ticket exchange'.

I have noticed that the 'tourist factor' dramatically goes up in some of the less glamorous fixtures - the ground fills up with utter cunts... I know - they are fellow Arsenal fans - but seriously, you should hear some of the shite I have to listen to from these idiots... generally they are stereotypical 'grotesques' harking back to the days of Neil and Graham when 'real [White/English] men' were fielded for Arsenal who could 'stand up in the challenge' - they hate Eboue (who they refer to as anything other than 'black' which I suspect is the real reason) and Denilson (who they call frail and bambi) and smack self defeating tabloid gleaned platitudes off each other like wet fish in an effort to appear knowledgeable to all those around them (who incidentally wish they would shut the fuck up). I would prefer a half empty ground to be honest - we don't need pricks like this... at least they've laid off Gallas now.

Eboue will prove them all very wrong... if he stays.

The Wigan game, other than that, was formulaic of most games this season - as was the Middsbrough game something is going on... we play well - we go up - we stop trying, defend or 'open up the game' to suicidal levels.

Also - Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith has left the board and there is speculation as to whether she will sell her shares - from what I know she is fairly 'traditional' in her views on how a football club should be run - so this does not sit well with me with regards to Kroneke's influence...

...There may be trouble ahead!

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still

ASI Topic - Conspiracies in games
Displaying all 8 posts by 5 people.

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Post 1
TheTurbanator (Malaysia) wrote 12 hours ago:

I think we should list down the conspiracies in every game we watch and look at it. I'll start.

1) Numerous fouls by Steven Sidwell and he only get booked in the 85th minute.
2) Foul on Denilson, never given. Instead, play on. Villa got a goal.
3) Man down on the field. Sagna couldn't cover Ashley. Still play on. BAM! Goal for Villa.
4) Bolton 'valid looking' goal disallowed against Liverpool.
5) Stoke players injured 3 of our players without receiving serious bookings. Lost 2-0.

What else?

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Post 2 - (1 reply)
DazedAndConfused wrote 4 hours ago:

I see where you are coming from but if we had beaten Villa and Stoke would we even be having this discussion?
The players have to take some responsibility and we have to stop blaming everything else.

We have fallen well short against lesser teams and at the end of the day history looks at the results and nothing else ( with a couple of exceptions).

We are not going to win the league with results like the one on Saturday so we have just got to stand up, accept it and hope we have some good runs in the cup.

At the moment I have more time for our league cup team. They seem to want to play for every ball and with passion and pride!

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Post 3 - (2 replies)
DogFace wrote 3 hours ago:

Good grief... head in the sand anyone?

Tell you what - let's just stand up, be men and fucking ignore it and hope it goes away.

Yeah - I'll agree, if we hadn't been fucking robbed then we wouldn't be blaming the ref - but what kind of argument is that? As it stands we are getting robbed and NOBODY is blaming the ref!?!?!

Do you belive everything you read or eveything you see?

WAKE UP!

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Post 4
ColonelDecker replied to DazedAndConfused's post 2 hours ago:

Telegraph:
"Erratic refereeing by Mike Riley angered Arsenal's faithful but it was not his fault that, on the day, their team was left wanting."

News of the World:
"Riley indeed may have missed a Curtis Davies offence against the Mexican prior to that clinching second. But it was not the fault of Riley that Gallas defended like an old mother when Martin Laursen’s Twickenham-style punt was converted by Agbonlahor."

Independent:
"By then the stadium was almost half-empty anyway, a mix of frustration and low boos mingling with the cacophony of jeers wrongly directed at referee Mike Riley."

The Sun:
"The home fans were unhappy with referee Mike Riley’s performance, particularly for failing to spot a foul on Carlos Vela before the second goal. But that could not excuse the ineptitude of their team."

The Mirror:
"To blame referee Mike Riley's poor performance, as Wenger did, is to deny Martin O'Neill's side the credit they deserve."

I could go on!

Do you think they are trying to propogate something into your heads?

Maybe?

So its either "OK Riley was shocking but thats ok because Arsenal didn't play well"

or

"Arsenal are shit, but I'll mention Mike Riley because he had a shocker but we''ll just paper over that"

Seriously, listen to Roy Keane. Watch the match without media interuption and make your own mind up. It is no coincidence that every single hack has mentioned Mike Riley because they know what they saw, but they also know what they want you to believe!

And believe it you tend to do.

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Post 5
ColonelDecker replied to DogFace's post 2 hours ago

Hilarious quotes above, took me about three minutes.
These rags must think the whole poulation are fucking stupid.

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Post 6
JoyOfCesc (London) wrote 2 hours ago

The media will always lead and then in turn follow the popular consensus. We are led to believe that money and fame are the be all and end all. The more money you spend, the more famous the name then then better the end product. Maybe as Arsenal have decided on a policy that goes against the grain of what we should do then the powers that be seem fit to try and stack the cards.

The Premiership is the biggest and best league in the world bar none because of the way it has been marketed. This is not in doubt as nearly all the top leagues are looking at following the English model. This means attracting the best names by spending the most money. As a result the fairweather fans will attach themselves to this culture. Its what makes people believe that spending money equals succes. However by bringing through our own players have we unwittingly created a scenario where we are proving the theory wrong. Money goes to money, but by not spending and indulging in the "game" are we putting noses out of place?

Just a thought.

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Post 7 - (1 reply )
DazedAndConfused replied to DogFace's post about an hour ago:

Point taken and I agree but what is going to happen...
As a life long Arsenal fan I want justice, I want to see the team win the league every season etc.

Unless they introduce yellow and red cards for ref's or TV Replays things will never change. We all cannot sit here and say Chelsea or Man U have never had a bad decision. But going on a long winning streak by playing champion standard football consistently may dull those bad decisions.

I am only saying stuff you all already know and just wanted to air my view.

I bet when we went unbeaten we had a few bad decisions but I cannot remember them - one because we played fantastic football all round the park consistently and two who cares because we strolled over all opposition!!!!

Sorry if I ruffled any feathers!!

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Post 8
ColonelDecker replied to DazedAndConfused's post 55 minutes ago:

I completely agree with getting television replay's, It would cut out, or at least make it more difficult to match fix.

I think feathers were already ruffled mate. Honestly I was like an out of control monkey on saturday. It makes it more infuriating when you know what they are doing.

There were always ample warnings, there were always subtle signs and you would have seen it comin' but we gave you too much time.

Modern day fighter aircraft are built to be deliberately aerodynamically unstable... it is this instability which gives the machine the agility to turn and change direction rapidly at high speeds. The inherent unpredictability in the aircraft makes it virtually impossible for a human to fly without the aid of sophisticated real-time computer systems to provide the pilot with the prescience of reaction time to counter the chaos of the environment and translate the insanity into a feedback of 'artificial stability' to the cockpit. This is purely to give the pilot the feeling that he is in control of the machine.

All modern combat aircraft are fly-by-wire with the computer doing the work... soon they won't even require a pilot to appreciate the excitement of the high speed turn – the pilot will become a liability as his internal organs will not tolerate the ever excessive G's that the machine is capable of. He, literally, will no longer have the heart or stomach for it.

One day the machines will fight each other.

Football is generally considered to be the most exciting competitive sport to watch – this is because of the unpredictability of the environment. Games can turn on a penny as sometimes the 'luck' that is the chaos of the environment plays a factor that will give one team an advantage... if the two teams are equally matched then this inherent instability can be the point on which a match can turn.

All modern football leagues are money driven with the accountants doing the work. The real money in modern football is derived from gambling. The gambling industry is the core of the machine that is abstracting football from the exciting game it once was for the spectator into the equivalent of a fruit machine with flashing lights and promises of riches. By law all fruit machines have a minimum payout – over a long enough period of time you are guaranteed to lose circa 30% of your investment. Fruit machines are regulated, taxed and frequently checked to ensure that they their profit margin lies within the legal boundaries. The machine that is the economics of capital in football gambling is not regulated... it is assumed by many that the money riding on a game will not affect the result.

This is a fallacy.

With chaotic systems it only takes minimal interference to effect a desired result. With influence over key people, who possess the right skills, football matches are easy to fix. It is for this reason that to be sure of a competitive edge; the coin of good fortune must always fall in the favour of the bookmakers.

The fans are becoming an increasing liability in this game as they will not tolerate the ever excessive manipulation and corruption emanating from the machine. The fan, metaphorically, no longer has the heart or stomach for it.

The machines of capital are fighting each other for control over our sport. The machines of capital are tearing our sport apart.

This season is the worst I have ever seen – each match starts with the referee flipping a coin... I think that the penny is slowly dropping and if you care to examine it closely you will see that it has two heads.

So – on to Arsenal Vs Aston Villa... you know I'm getting bored of this but hey-ho:

As was stated in my previous post – the result of the mornings match between Bolton and Liverpool would be critical as to the results of the other matches that day – specifically the 'big 4' in terms of the multiple position pushed by the bookmakers and taken by many a punter. So I shall start there. Styles, true to form, exhibited an extreme and unsubtle bias in favour of one of the teams at the expense of the other – today Liverpool were 'in favour'. Liverpool are 'concentrating' on the premier league this season as are Chelsea – they must stay close before the real battle begins at the end of the season.

So the Liverpool win sets off a chain reaction; Liverpool win... then Chelsea must win – although to be fair, the chavs didn't need much help but there would probably have been some insiders who would have liked to have the option of the draw for increased revenue on the Asian black markets. Man Utd took the hit last week and were never going to drop points to Stoke at home...

...so...

Who does that leave to take the hit? Yup – Arsenal. If you listened to the commentary and read all the match reviews then you'll probably be in a very confused and agitated state... maybe you'll be blaming Wenger and the team. You'll probably be hating yourself right now...

I stated in my last post that if I saw a good game, win or loose, then I would be happy to watch it. The truth is that I walked out before the final whistle. The game was a disgrace... again – and I'm getting bored. At least this tells me something about my team and its position on the EPL dodgy-o-meter. We are a straight team it seems... although – there is something not quite right there either and things don't quite add up. Last season Wenger would have slated the Riley post match – but this season he plays the game and gives the sharks exactly what they want to report (frustrating for them I imagine). Also you would think that the inclusion of a billionaire on the board would have some influence against this familiar old story... billionaires tend to have very good lawyers and the resources to build a case for our defence that is not only overwhelming but watertight come the end of the season.

Arsenal should definitely sue the Barclays Premiership.

Think about it... if you saw a good game of football in which we lost fairly and squarely to a better side; then why (as a fan of football) would you be so angry at the result? All respect to Villa for keeping the fouls professional and not kicking the shit out of us as they must have know they could have given the 'blind eye' of Riley. I have no animosity for Villa at all... they played a good game and it's a damn shame that we couldn't see a competitive match as I reckon it would have been a cracker... instead - at half time as I was stood at the raft of wall to wall urinals, instead of looking forward to the second half, I was left staring at a fag end that I was trying to obliterate with my stream piss; pondering if it was physically possible to fart and urinate simultaneously... why do I buy my season ticket again – surely not for games like this..?

"I got back to my car on Saturday and turned on the radio to be immediatly met with the presenter welcoming on one of the many bookie spokesman on the phone and do you know what his first words were 'great day for the bookies whenever arsenal lose'." – ColonelDecker (ASI hard core)

Yup - there you go; Arsenal does the bookmakers 'a favour' yet again, right from the horses' mouth. Put two and two together – please, entertain the idea... I know it's hard – I mean Bertrand Russell spent half his life trying to prove logically that 1 and 1 equals 2... Concepts are easy to subscribe to but notoriously hard to define – I'm not asking you to believe in something new, I'm just asking you to question your belief in the concept that football is a fair and honest sport because it clearly is not.

"We had enough chances to have won it, but in the current climate of everyone beating everyone else, I thought that West Ham could go up and get what to me would be an unjust winner." – Tony Adams

Read between the lines... what is the 'current climate' and why are aggrieved managers from premiership football teams threatening to go on strike to demonstrate their opposition to the worst season ever for refereeing decisions? Is the fact that the replay monitors have been banned from the dugout and the 'respect' campaign has gagged any reaction to incorrect decisions on the pitch just a convenient coincidence?

...Hmmm...

Face it - your game is being stolen from you, you are an increasing liability – you are not wanted or needed. Right now the invisible clothes are being woven, and come May, the emperor will wear them on an open top bus around the city... will anyone notice? Will anyone care?

Man – I'm depressed... but let's look at this and learn. After Liverpool won I was tempted to Lay Arsenal (as per the Hull match) but I didn't... I have this blind spot when it comes to my team and it's something I need to address – last season we would have battled for it and got the points – although last season it was proved ultimately pointless as we were taken out of the running by the kind of refereeing that get's your legs broken. I think this season is different, if we are allowed to play then we play – if not then we can't be arsed to go through the motions... in a sense we have become temporarily tacit in the corruption.

I have no idea why... but it has something to do with Kroneke and Dein, I am sure... I can't figure it out though and it's doing my head in. When will we show our hand? Do we have a hand to show? Have we folded already?

In the end I didn't lay Arsenal – I stuck my money on Fulham to beat Tottenham, all of it, I mean - it was obvious weren't it and @ 3.6 with Tottenham losing it was a fucking gift!?

Anyway, with regards to your bottom line, the template it seems is this:

Liverpool and Chelsea will remain in each others shadow at the top for as long as they can... I would watch out for changes of intent in early February though, in terms of either team's chances of winning.

Man U are happy to hold back and let Liverpool and Chelsea slug it out before making their move... they will want to be in touching distance come Christmas... I doubt that they hold out too much hope of winning though, but they would like to be in the mix to get involved in the 'nail biting – to the wire' gambling crescendo extravaganza towards the end of the season... and if they could nick it then I'm sure that they will try.

Given the above; Arsenal will always be the team that takes the hit as we are indeed the 'soft touch' of the big four in terms of power, influence and corruption. Our agenda is to win by playing great football – the other 3 want to win by any means necessary – in addition to this, the European bookmakers don't care much who wins or loses as long as they can make a fucking packet... and this is the final thing I have noticed.

Markets are being generated and this season is all about selling form to generate income – one week a team will win against the odds and then loose against the odds... and this is not just a randomisation of results (although you wouldn't guess that from the bottom half of the table), it's cleverer than that it's like horse racing – try and figure it out, spot the opportunities and beat the bookie – like the Fulham Vs Tottenham match for example.

Anyway what it boils down to for Arsenal is that there is an unfair advantage to the machine and the teams who are part of it; the sport and the teams that want to play it merely get shat on by default... I will admit I was wrong – in terms of our season falling apart, it's started early this year, so I wonder what the madness of the Chinese New Year has in store?

Are teenage dreams so hard to beat..?

Just got in - my voice has gone... did you see the match?

Fuck me - our attacks were something else... proper football - the first was a great little poke under pressure - for the second, when the ball was played through to Vela, I jumped up and shouted:

"oooHH LOOK AT THAT!!"

Everyone around me was watching and froze like statues... Vela ran in and laid it back for Simpson.

I swear the geezer behind me just reached out and clutched my coat and tried to rip it off with my skin as he balled his fists up.

I was like: "Arrgghhgh" but couldn't stop watching..

then

"GOOOOOOAAALLLLLLL"

We went fuckin' mad.

For the third - Vela's chip that made Kirkland look like a mug - we were just like:

"Man that's far too cool to go in... it can't be... a... GOOOOALLLLLL!!!"

And fuckin' Fabianski's double save? FUCK ME!!!

Right - I might update this tommorow with something legiable when I come down - might not.

I FUCKING LOVE THE CARLING CUP!!! Win or lose man - fucking love it!

Give me one more chance and you’ll be satisfied

“Only two ways out of here, football and rock n’ roll; tonight we can have both.” – Bono

I am told that the game at the weekend was the best showcase of football in the premiership this season. I am told that it was great for the neutral. I am told that it was spectacular.

I am told this by the very group of people who’s opinion I trust the least. I have to fight back the temptation to get sucked in, agree and spout the very same nonsense right here.

I would never bullshit you... and I apologise for that – I can only tell it how I see it, and I was actually there to see it.

In my last post I stated that:

“the mancs have a good squad and will want to win”

They did have a good squad but they didn’t want to win... The game was very open and Howard Webb was showing the usual northern bias throughout the game... although the bias was selective in terms of what was given and to whom. For instance – Ronaldo could easily get free kicks in a scoring position for just chucking himself at the ground – although Ronaldo’s free kicks
were piss poor as was his finishing in a scoring position. Webb also held off the cards for Man-u and let them get away with a lot in the tackle – although this didn’t matter as Man-u didn’t go hard in the tackle (particularly at the start of the game) as is their norm when they want to win. Rooney showed his class in everything but the finishing – which again was comical. Berbatov played himself offside in the only scoring opportunity that he found in the game – thus negating the goal (although, true to form, he is an offside goal hanger anyway). In fact Berbatov and Rooney got in each other’s space quite frequently as neither of them wanted to be the one to have to pull the trigger... or not – as the case may be. FYI – Rooney and Berbatov ‘to score’ were heavily backed.

Our goals were of a good quality and it was nice of Berbatov to get the assist with his ‘strikers clearance’, or whatever, and Neville fail to block the first and to buckle under the challenge of Nasri for the second.

Webb also didn’t give a foul for a challenge on Diaby – from where I was sat, it looked like he was clean through so it would have had to have been a straight red... I will assume that this was the case as it didn’t make the highlights on MOTD (FYI – red card was heavily backed). The crowd gave Webb a hard time for these clearly bad decisions... but – to be honest none of the decisions he gave made much difference... so I didn’t join in – they were all for show, a scam.

Rooney got a chorus of:

“You’re just a fat granny shagger”

Which was mildly amusing... but I didn’t join in with that as, the way he was playing – he was doing us a favour by being on the pitch.

All in all - I felt that the match had an air of inevitability to it from the moment it kicked off...

I have been to Arsenal/Man U matches before and there has been something in the air, the teams will run themselves into the ground to get the 3 points and the crowd will respond with an urgency to match... this time – it all seemed a bit civilised. Maybe I’m just cynical and jaded from the Tottenham game and I’m reading it wrong - I hope so.

In my mind Man-U didn’t want to win for reasons stated in the previous post (from the ‘Dan Roebuck’ Guardian article):

“Arsenal have been the bookmakers' saviours this season. Failures to justify odds-on prices against Fulham, Hull City, Sunderland, Tottenham, Stoke and Fenerbahce have scuppered many accumulators and hefty single wagers. The layers will be hoping Arsène Wenger's side can do them another favour tomorrow against Manchester United, only this time they want them to beat their visitors rather than slip up.”

What I can’t decide on is whether the key Arsenal players were in on this too – as I said, it was all a bit civilised and we just sat back for most of the second half soaking up the attack without even attempting to punish them on the break – which is our norm... a lot of things don’t add up – this game was too perfect for the EPL brand, we know that the Arsenal Man-U games get a high viewing figures (last season it was reported at 1,000,000,000 viewers) so it all i.e. every facet of the game seemed a little too convenient for anyone with an interest in it other than football...

So it seems once again Arsenal with a little help from Man U “have been the bookmakers' saviours this season.” – So one thing for sure is the bookies must be well chuffed; they could not have picked a more perfect result – right down to the goal scorers!

Let’s see if it continues...

BTW - I hope you all took my advice and sold the shit out of the Mancs – it was clear that they were never going to win that game... although I also had a sneaky fiver on 2-2 ‘correct score’ at some stupid odds – I really thought it would come in when they flagged up 6 minutes extra time... I remain ambivalent.

Also – Arsenal to win the title has dropped from 20-1 to 13-1... although (if you placed it) I wouldn’t lay it off until we beat Aston Villa this coming Saturday as I reckon it might drop another 3 points or so.

ASI Topic: BBC WTF?
-------------------------------------
Post 1 DogFace wrote:

What a bunch of arseholes... why do I pay my licence fee?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7714854.stm

-------------------------------------
Post 2 ChristHeart (Netherlands) wrote:

Wow, I knew exactly what this discussion post was gna be about from just 8 characters.
Has it really become that bad?

-------------------------------------
Post 3 The12thMan (Ramapo) wrote:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1083992/Sky-pundits-I-trust-people-walk-dog-Keane-rages.html?ITO=1490

at least keane respects wenger

-------------------------------------
Post 4 TheTurbanator (Malaysia) wrote:
Good one.

"They're brainwashing people. People say it's good for the game. It's not good for the game, interviewing people about Arsene Wenger after what that man's done for English football. It's amazing.

Will Arsene Wenger be remembered in 100 years' time for what he has done for football? Bet your life he will. Will these people on the television be remembered for what they've achieved? None
whatsoever. "

Best quote ever.

-------------------------------------
Post 5 DogFace wrote:

This from the 'Chief sports writer' of the current bun... try and resist punching your computer screen as they are expensive to replace:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1903113.ece

Big respect to Keane - it's a brave stance to take.

-------------------------------------
Post 6 DogFace wrote:

Man, re-read that and fucking hell - Keane... fucking respect man!!!

"I wouldn't listen to these people in the pub, and yet they're on television constantly"

That is brilliant!

-------------------------------------
Post 7 ChristHeart (Netherlands) wrote:

Wtf - this is weird. Has Keane grown up?

-------------------------------------
Post 8 DogFace wrote:

Man he's my new hero... Managment must have opened his eyes to all the shite that's infested the game...

...he was never one to mince his words.

-------------------------------------
Post 9 ChristHeart (Netherlands) wrote:

"equally flawed in his failure to condemn the dismissal of the chronically irresponsible Robin van Persie. "

"sit-in-the-hole contradictions like Gilberto"

"And what of Gilberto?

"The man who put the oil in the midfield mechanism that eased the Gunners to their unbeaten season in 2004 is still cranking it out at Panathinaikos. "

Hangon... first Gilberto is not such a brilliant signing, and then he praises him?
This is quite obviously just a hate rant against Arsene Wenger. Chief sports writer. This article can tell you more about Mr Steven Howard than Arsene Wenger.

It's funny reading the Sun article right after that stuff that Keane says, because it is basically just a case study of Keane's point.

-------------------------------------
Post 10 TheTurbanator (Malaysia) wrote:

That Sun article, is it written by a 6 year old? Stupid stupid facts really. You can see it is biased towards Man Utd.

But Keane,man. Everything he say is so true. Respected him as a footballer, double respect as a manager.

-------------------------------------
Post 11 JabbarBoy wrote:

'If Wenger’s quote at the top of this piece needs a little explaining, the young Spaniard’s does not.

The corollary is simple enough: In the Premier League, we are wearing a big girl’s blouse'

stupid fag....... how the hell can a guy like this become sport editor or whatever the shit he is???

-------------------------------------
Post 12 JamesDeGoona (St Joseph's College) wrote:

yer i like Keane now he is Sunderland manager. He seems to stick up for Wenger quite a bit

-------------------------------------
Post 13 KashmirGirl (London) wrote:

"You're sitting there with people like Richard Keys and they're trying to sell something that's not there. I tell people any time they watch a game to switch the commentators off, don't listen to
experts, gather your own opinion."

I like this bit. Very interesting.

-------------------------------------
Post 14 MohammedArsenal (The Indian High School) wrote:

Wow....all of a sudden i'm like: ''Go Roy!''

-------------------------------------
Post 15 KashmirGirl (London) wrote:

Haha me too!

-------------------------------------
Post 16 ColonelDecker wrote:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/sunsport_columnists/article1911725.ece

After reading the link on saturday to Mr Howard I was wondering how he was feeling this morning and he has turned on United now.

Clearly he cannot bring himself to praise us so it is 'obviously' Uniteds fault that we won.

I particularly love the glaring contradiction, in saturdays column

''Back in April 1997 — just six months after Wenger arrived at Highbury — Alex Ferguson enthusiastially took the new Arsenal manager to task for the first time, saying: “He has only been here five
minutes and yet seems to have a comment to make every week. He should shut up. ''

“I think he has a problem with Manchester United.”

''Never more so than tomorrow. ''

Yet today he feels:

It was a day when Arsenal desperately needed to come up against a footballing team rather than one sent out either to stop or kick them. Or both.

Oh sorry, so saturday Man Utd are our worst nightmare, yet on monday morning they were just what we needed?

No wonder he's the chief sportswriter of the sun, because that basically equates to the chief accountant of Lehmann Brothers.

-------------------------------------
Post 17 DogFace wrote:

LOL - it just goes to show that these cock-ends have no opinion whatsoever.

It's all smoke and mirrors these days man... parasites the lot of them.

-------------------------------------
Post 18 PieFace (London) wrote:

I am now a fully paid-up member of the Roy Keane fan club - what a brilliant attack on the media, particularly naming Richard Keys (a brainless front man, if ever there was one - spot on Roy, just what the FUCK qualifies that gibbon to pass judgment on a Premier League manager or player, having never actually been involved in the game at grass roots level?)

Mustard.

And then I read the Steven Howard piece, which is your typical Sun journo shite - pick up on the prevailing mood and blow it up out of all proportion. Get the fans all riled up. Add in a bunch of irrelevant historical nonsense (trawling back to a quote from 1997, 11 years ago? Really, Steve?). And criticising players because of their nationality? Forgive me ifI am very much mistaken, but that is racism, is it not?

That really is quite some crisis going on at Arsenal ain't it Steve - losing THREE games this season (by a whopping single goal margin in each), a miserable FIFTH in the table out of twenty, a massive SIX points behind the leaders (that's an enormous TWO wins off the pace! Criminal!!) How on earth can any of the players, fans, or right-thinking members of he football-watching public NOT think that Arsenal Football Club is a pathetic joke, with a clown at its helm steering the club inexorably downwards???

Red-top journalists. Like sharks, they catch a scent of blood, and ... I swear to God, these fuckers actually derive some sort of perverse pleasure out of hounding people out of football. It isn't the game that they love, it is the kill. If they were legally allowed to dispay the severed heads of the honest hard-working football managers they have driven out of their clubs thanks to some hysterical whipped-up media frenzy following a poor run of form, they would do it. "You see that Sam Allardyce? Got him fucking SACKED, I did - a really vitriolic piece abolut how he was too fat to manage Newcastle, got his head above the fireplace, I have." And Wenger, surely, has the biggest antlers of all - King of the Forest, no less. What these vermin wouldn't do to claim his scalp. However, it was woefully misjudged and I think Keane's statement has caught the mood and exposed gutter journalism for what it really is. You know nothing about the game, you children. We know only ever print what you think your public want to read so people will buy your scandal sheets. Don't pretend you actually hae anything intelligent to bring to the debate about football. Fuck yourselves, pigs, seriously - fuck yourseves.

Right, I'm off to buy a new laptop and some ointment for my right fist.

The wall-to-wall is calling, it lingers, then you forget

The Grauniad (as my dad always used to call it when I were a lad as it was his regular rag of choice) posted this interesting story today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/07/premierleague-arsenal

Now this story is interesting in many ways – firstly Wenger comes out and accuses the refs of targeting Arsenal unfairly and then this rare nugget slips out which states: “Bookies savour Arsenal failure”. So we have:

1) The referees are targeting Arsenal in key matches.
2) Bookies make a killing out of Arsenal under-performing in key matches.

Hmmm… shit – man, this is a toughie, I have 2 right and I need to put it together with another 2 – so, if I put 2 and 2 together it makes... hmm – I think I need some help from the Numberjacks (my daughters’ second favourite program on CBeebies):

“Brain gain, brain gain
Get together use our brains,
Time to get your brains all linking,
Up together,
Joined up thinking”

By crikey I think I understand now!

The article then goes on to point out that the mug money is on United... and the bookies will hope and prey to their bookie gods of back-handers and brown paper bungs tied up with string that Arsenal can ‘do them another favour’ and cause an upset. Whether this is true or not; I don’t know – but, given the early odds - I suspect it is. The smart money will land late – it always does.

Hmmm… I wonder who the ref is?

Oh my giddy fucking aunt it’s only Howard fucking Webb!!!

This game is going to be bent as they come... but I still think it’s risky as the mancs have a good squad and will want to win – I would sell manure on the A/H... alternatively get on the high side on the yellows and a sneaky fiver on a red.

Wait until the morning papers though and try to work out where they want your cash to go – then oppose it. It’s been a Manu/Arsenal media circus the last few days with various articles pushing this as a ‘must win’ match... Arsenal have been undersold in the media – and the pictures tell it all i.e. looks of despair on Arsenal players faces Vs pictures of a happy, smiling Ronaldo/Rooney and articles stating that Rooney is going to ‘put us to the sword’... we have been undersold but not written off (as Liverpool were in the Chelsea match) – so maybe a draw then?

Back to that article:

“The layers will be hoping Arsène Wenger's side can do them another favour tomorrow against Manchester United, only this time they want them to beat their visitors rather than slip up.”

It has to be said, and I have said it before, that despite the decisions made by the ref; we are giving some of these games away (i.e. the ones in favour of the bookies) and ‘slipping up’ far too easily. In seasons past we would have battled against the odds to get the result – of course, it didn’t come to anything as the pitch would be tilted and the run of bad decisions simply increased to match and cancel out the extra effort. This season is different – and I suspect that we may be treading a murky path... and, if I am correct – then what will that do for our title aspirations?

Currently we are 20-1... so, worth a couple of quid... you can always lay it off if the odds shorten before the end of the season (I suspect that they will).

I could be wrong though – I often am... one thing is for sure - my eyes are open and I’m watching my team very, very carefully.

As an aside - was the Guardian ever a good paper and why did my dad stop reading it... I know he always regarded himself as a bit of a socialist. He would even take us on weekend days out to Highgate cemetery to peek in on Karl Marx’s grave, feed squirrels and fly kites in the adjacent park... he used to mumble something about Marx although I nerver took very much notice. Now all I see around London are fly-posters of Marx with the same sort of mumbles on them.

Maybe the Guardian lost it's 'socialist' heart along with it's spelling errors - or maybe my dad's now a just a signed up a capitalist - I can't decide... things change with time - like football.

We'll call it a draw I think... 2-2.

Half man half machine, what does it mean, what does it mean?

It was quite a good game last night – ok, we didn’t smash Fenerbahce – but it was nice to see a competitive match... well – 70 minutes of competition before the team ran out of puff and settled on a point (much to Wenger’s disapproval). They had a charmed goal last night and I have to say that they defended well and their keeper had a great game. Robin van Persie had a great game too... although he didn’t score – he did everything but.

Although, in the last 20 minutes I felt the game was smothered by the ref somewhat and we missed out on a couple of goal scoring opportunities because of it, would it have made a difference?

Probably not.

I opted for club level in the end as the view is better and the beer available and free. Tamzin Outhwaite sat behind me with Tom Ellis (I think), they have been at every game that I’ve sat up there (and there have been some obscure ones) - they are among the few that make any noise, so I guess that they are ok for *celebrities*. Oh - It was her birthday apparently. Another ‘face’ that is always there is Dara O'Briain – you should see him inhale a pie at half time – 3 bites and the fecker is gone... being Irish - I wonder why he supports Arsenal? I'm not saying that there are no Irish gooners - but its rare (we have more Malaysian and Nigerian gooners than Scottish or Irish) as the is no sectarian history with the club... perhaps that, in itself, is reason enough - or maybe it's just his local team.

*UPDATE*

In a pub conversation; dhjackal (resident Irishman) informs me that 'there are loads' of Irish gooners due to the days of Brady, O'Leary and Stapleton... but 'any fecker wid any sense followed United'.

*END UPDATE*

While I was watching last night; I kept thinking that Roberto Carlos looked fat and past it... I checked his stats in the programme and found out he was actually 1 day younger than me – man; that hurt!

The only negatives last night I could find were that Bendtner and Nasri were having very bad games – it looked like they were stoned half the time or had been out on a massive bender the night before – I don’t think they have got any excuses for not being sharp especially considering the game we have on Saturday.

So all in all last night was frustrating and ultimately a little disappointing but for a laugh click here:

http://shop.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs08/detail.php?productid=ST39060&proddesc=Arsenal+4+-+4+Spurs

Or here:

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/grabapieceofderbyhistory041108.html

Sad fuckers… apparently they need the money to buy some new headphones or something. I’m tempted to go for the shirt and get Harry to sign it in a creative manner.

“Tottenham are shit” – Harry Redknapp

If the price was right - I bet he would do it too!

*WENGER WATCH*

Arsene Wenger has come out and stated the obvious i.e. the refs are bent:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7712255.stm

Although this story was quickly smothered by the manager of Shitkicker FC, Tony Pulis, stating that he was really worried that his nice bunch of brave and plucky lads might get ‘unfair treatment’ because of the nasty Mr Wenger putting a hex on them...

The man is taking the piss:

“People in general can be swayed if they're not watching you play and what you are trying to achieve. They read the papers and unfortunately a lot of people believe what they read. Sometimes the truth is a long, long way away from what people are actually saying.”

One wonders what he sees when he looks in the mirror...

Pulis, you should have laid off Walcott – it will come back to haunt you as now Delap (your 1 trick pony) can be red carded at will with the commentators smoothing over any cracks in the decision with the opiate words:

“the man who [intentionally] injured Theo Walcott”

To the sage nodding of the watching populous... whether it be fair or, indeed, foul. Get used to this chant:

“What’s that coming over the hill? It’s relegation! It’s relegation!”

Oh and while you are doing that; check your match schedule boys and have a look at just who will be sending you down and pounding the final nail in your coffin in the final 'nail biting', 'to the wire' game of the season.

...Hmmm...

Of course this story was then smothered by the bigger story of Alex Ferguson being charged for pointing out to Mike Dean that he is in fact a bell end... one has to wonder at the timing of this. A recent conversation in a ASI discussion thread got me thinking:

ASI_EuroGooner wrote 3 hours ago
"I think arsenal are at their best when people write them off, when they're not expected to win or do well or whatever.Cause then they play without pressure as everyone expects them to lose anyways...it happened last season, even before the season started, we were written off, we all know how that went 4 pts off the leaders and robbed in the champions league. It happened when we played AC milan, people thought kaka,gattuso etc. etc. would give our young guns a lesson in football...of course that didn't happen either. what I'm trying to say here is we play well when we have no weight of expectation on our backs so go ahead...write off THE ARSENAL cause that's how they like it best.but don't be surprised if we pull of an upset against the mancs and make the likes of rooney, berbatov, ronaldo, giggs etc."

DogFace replied 3 hours ago
"More to the point - we are allowed to play well when the weight of gambling liquidity isn't on our backs...

Think about it."

So... with SAF safely bound and gagged and Arsenal written off in the media as 'injury ridden' and 'spineless' – I wonder where the money is going this w/e?

I’ll be watching the back pages very carefully over the next few days...

...I suggest you do the same.

And, as if by magic... as I was typing, look what just appeared:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7713259.stm

C'mon yous reds!

..This happens at every fucking gig we play..

Today's TOP STORY on BBC Sports!

Tony Pulis (Shitkicker FC manager) in response to Wenger's indignation at having the shit kicked out of his team and the subsequent torrent of bollocks from the 'we hate Arsenal' media:

"On Saturday Mr Wenger confessed that Stoke deserved to win the game. He has now tried to re-write history, his comments certainly made me smile."

"There was only one red card on Saturday and the last time I watched the game it was not a Stoke player who received it "

"Rory is as honest and committed as they come, he would never purposely go out to injure a fellow professional, don't forget not so long ago Rory was sitting in a hospital bed with a double fracture."

"As I recall Emmanuel Adebayor was booked for a chest-high challenge on Ryan Shawcross."

"There was only one red card on Saturday and the last time I watched the game it was not a Stoke player who received it, I have great respect for Mr Wenger and Arsenal Football Club. But you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

The irony is staggering... truely staggering. I wonder why this is the top story - fucking yesterdays news.

Remember children; Wenger is a nutter and these aren't the droids you're looking for.

Right - I'm off to watch us smash Fenerbahce... the only question is club level or penny stinkers - hmmmm.

I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like

Firstly, apologies for no post- Stoke entry. I have man flu... *cough* - it's a bit like man-u except you get better and feel good about yourself after a few days.

So Stoke, Stoke, Stoke... well, were do I start, and more importantly, where do I stop - de-ja-vu weren't it?

Stoke kicked the shit out of us.

Now I don't have a lot of time for Rob Styles as a ref and in the previous post I did suggest that this might be a bent an physical match - but come on... what the fuck was that all about? Did the Stoke players (who look like they have spent some time on a building site) promise build him a right nice brick BBQ/Gazebo if he let them kick the living shit out of all the foreign darkie southerner jessies?

Stoke are new to the premiership, and they require points, I realise, but they are going down. They are the shit-kicker extraordinaire of a side who:

a) isn't wanted here
b) doesn't belong here

Ok- Delap can throw it... but, against all other teams it ends there. Against Arsenal - as we have seen season after season, we go out to play football and the referees allow what is basically aggravated assault on our players. This, for me, it the corruption in the EPL at it's most blatantly obvious.

But, again, we prick our ears for the commentator to say something in our defence after the 9th straight-red challenge goes in only to have Styles wag his finger a bit.. but no - we hear shit like:

"He was absolutely entitled to go for that ball"

This, as a statement in and of itself removed from the context of what actually happened is valid... however - when this, quite unbelievable, drivel of lies and apologies drips over the absolutely fucking obvious like dogshit sprinkels on a Mr. Whippy; it beggars belief, to me, that 90% of people will actually buy/eat it?!

And what about that mugging on Adebayor when he was off the feild of play? What do we get:

"oh,well he made absolutely sure didn't he"

What- 'absolutely sure' that he injured him or put the ball into touch as he was going nowhere near the fucking ball (that was already in touch)!?

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? WAKE UP YOU THICK CUNTS!

Yes, 'Shitkicker-A' was entitled to go for 'Ball' in the game that is called 'football' - however it is not within the rules for Shitcker-A to tackle from behind, straight legged, studs up and take his opponents fucking ankles out. That's actually called an infringement of the rules. It is not, as the Media would condescend to tell you (because you're all obviously too fucking thick to wipe your own arse without Sky telling you to 'check your y-fronts for skid marks because something smells a bit shitty around here'); a brave, gutsy display of commitment and 'heart'...

...Sorry - just had to vomit there...

When Kid-A kicks the shit out of Kid-B for his lunch money we don't slap Kid-A on the back and say:

"well done lad, that was a brave show of heart - you exposed Kid'B's 'frailty' and he fucking deserved it"

Bullying isn't football - I don't care how fucking northern you are.

Conversely, Arsenal were painted as being 'frail', 'lacking spine' and 'maturity', 'top tier totty', 'soft underbelly' and let's not forget, the 'soft touch of the big four' - these worm-ridden platitudes are intended for you to repeat down the pub with your mates - thus giving credence to the lies.

The sports 'journalists' who chug out this shite should be fucking ashamed of themselves... in a desperate effort to apologise and cover up for what was obvious for all to see i.e. a corrupt and fixed game of football; they write nothing but positives and praise for Stoke and nothing but negatives and derision for Arsenal... this is possibly also a way of selling future corruptions i.e. look Arsenal are frail, they are disunited, they will never win anything, believe me, repeat... these aren't the droids you're looking for.

A few of them have painted Wenger as 'a man obsessed' with playing decent football... well - hmm... so he's a nutter because he's a football manager who wants to win by playing the best football he can?

Expect the 'Wenger is a deluded nutter' line to be span out all season long to undermine any observations and/or facts that he shares with the media in his press conferences. You will read it and you will believe it and you will say to your mates down the pub:

"we need more experience - why doesn't Wenger spend some money, these aren't the droids we're looking for!".

If truth be told, in a match like the Stoke match - we could have Jackie Chan and a crack SAS squad across the midfield and defence and we would still have the shit kicked out of us... after all, a boot is a boot and an ankle is an ankle - unfortunately football isn't football.

Not one of the 'respected journalists' points out that Stoke should have had 6 players sent off... where as what actually happened was that Robin van Persie got sent of for a petulant shove... straight red no less - where as the several potential career ending 'tackles' (deliberate violent assaults) that went it didn't even warrant a yellow in the eyes of Styles? No, no - the Stoke lot are brave and have heart... well - I ask the Stoke players to try that shit on with Man U and Chelsea and see what the ref fucking gives you... and what the media gives you. You will be painted as dirty, violent, talentless, shitkickers which, make no mistake - is what you are. And what was with all the Stoke fans - jesus, if I was supporting a team that was a dead cert for relegation I would at least like to see a few good games before we went down.

"at least we beat Arsenal" - the sad deluded, shitkicking fuckers will tell themselves... with their stupid fucking hats.

Does nobody remember Eduardo... there's more at stake here that 3 points!?

Stoke fans - your team is the equivalent of Hacketts abused scrap yard rottie, and when you have served your purpose you will be put down without so much as a pat on the head and a bonio for the road.

When are Stoke coming to the Emirates - I am so fucking angry with them!? Divert the coach and send those cunts to Hackney Marshes instead... I know a few boys who would bung the ref some beer tokens to give them a good game. Things are going to kick off big time in the return leg if they are allowed to get away with that at the Emirates...

Still Wenger's reaction confused me - he seemed quite unusually calm and seemed to suggest that this was the 'English game'... we can read into that what we wish; I think possibly a nod towards the ESL with matches like this only adding fuel to his cause - The EPL is a dying brand, it's turned itself inside out and revealed the rotten core - does anyone really believe in this league it any more as a fair and open competition?

Last season Wenger would have been livid, slagging off Styles and facing a fine and a touchline ban. What is Wenger up to? Post the 'derby dissapointment' match he made the cryptic statement in response to the title bid:

"We know the truth on the inside and that is not what has been projected on the outside. We know what we have to do."

This is a different Wenger and a different Arsenal.

Man, as an aside - I'm typing this while watching the Liverpool V Atletico match... what a fucking joke of a penalty - does anybody take this game seriously? I like Gerrard... but - he's a little cheating fucker in a Liverpool shirt - make a note of that ref! Gah - where can I find the ref - BBC have taken it down... and none of these post match talking heads are giving his name out?! Why.

Ahhg... got dragged into a 606 discussion about Wengers delayed response to the Stoke match - maybe he had man-flu too, he nailed it. I need not continue... you know, It depresses me the modern day fan - watching them in the kop in the Liverpool game as Gerrard took his 'penalty' - all looking nervous as if it meant something... in their scalfs... and hats.

Sad deluded losers... like me.

Right - I'm off to defend Wenger on 606!

Oh.. it appears that:

"This article has been temporarily hidden, because a member of our Moderation Team has referred it to the Community Team for a decision as to whether it contravenes the House Rules in some way. We will do everything we can to ensure that a decision is made as quickly as possible."

Whoops, my fault.

FYI - the ref was 'Mariano Pernia'... hang on, isn't that the area between the cunt and the arsehole?

...no - that's perineum, but close enough for me.

*UPDATE* - my mistake Pernia was the player, the Ref was 'Martin Hansson' - curse you BBC's 'as-it-happened' text feed!

I'll meet you on the other side, I'll meet you in the light

I'm still pissed off about Wednesday night but I'm starting to calm down now... it was a bizarre day and night and the whole thing is going to take a while to settle in. I meant every word I said – that was the anger I felt immediately after the match. I live 3 minutes from my seat so I got the laptop out the second I got home and vented it.

This is, in a way, is the pain of supporting Arsenal... although this was a new type of pain to me.

I know that Wenger has done a lot for our club and I understand and have to accept the way he works... although part and parcel of that is that Wenger is in it entirely for himself – this is no bad thing as his motivations are for the good of the club – he wants to play the best football, he want's to keep the club economically viable and he wants the team and the club to win trophies... above all, it seems, he want's to change the face of football, not for us – for him and Arsenal is his symbiotic vehicle. This is diametrically opposed to the parasitic type of 'self motivation' that can be laid at the feet of Harry Redknapp and his style of football management.

For this reason Arsené is a living Arsenal legend up there with the likes of Chapman and he deserves his bronze bust and future pubs in and around the area to be named after him.

What I have heard from many supporters of the club over the last few days is the desperate need to rationalise and deny the events of Wednesday night... a popular and recurring theme is that foreign players do not recognise the importance of a derby match. This is not true... Henry, for instance, absolutely knew the importance of the games against Tottenham – one of my favourite pictures if of him sliding on his knees at the Tottenham crowd, his face exploding with adrenaline; giving each and every one of them the eyeball. Despite the fact that he was one man and they were the epitome of the 'angry mob' (and the Tottenham mob isn't shy do dish out a bit of violence) – he shone out with invincibility and they all knew that they were beaten. It was real and happening. You can see in the picture that some of them, grown men, are crying... this is the beauty of tragedy – his brilliance was undeniable and in the face of it the mob were left mute, atomised and powerless to touch him.

That's what the north London derby means to the fans – and this is the tribal nature of football. This is the soul of our game and this point of crossover from our animal instinct to our human reason is the essence of enlightened competition. This is something that anyone can understand regardless of their nationality or upbringing. I work with English, Nigerian, French and Chinese Arsenal fans and English, American, Israeli Tottenham fans and they all understand and subscribe to the importance of the derby. These are the people we work with, the people we see every day and when the season ends these are the people that we have to rationalise, compare and brag about the relative merits of our game. If we win nothing this season then at least we can say that we gave Tottenham hiding that they were due (and vice versa)... although sadly – these days I seem to work with as many Manchester United and Liverpool fans as I do Tottenham and Arsenal... strangely – not many Chelsea fans though as they all seem to drive white vans and taxi cabs for a living.

I had a dream Wednesday night, a strange dream; I dreamt that I took two new born babies out of my freezer to thaw – they were twins and one was stillborn and resigned to death while the other became animated and returned to life as I poured warm water over him – he had a strength that wouldn't die and wanted to live to be with me.

I don't know what that means... but I know it means something.

Before the game I met up with PieFace and various members of the Intelligentsia group in the Herbert Chapman for some beer and singing. The place was alive and heaving; the bouncers were checking everyone for colours (something that they don't normally do in the Chapman on match day as it's so deep in Arsenal territory), I was greeted with:

"Are you To… I, Err - Are you Arsenal? Show me your shirt!"

The Bouncer, and enormous skinhead form somewhere Eastern Europe, realised that he nearly accused me of being 'Tottenham' but, besides towering over me (and I'm 6 foot & 14 stone) and having 3 geezers as backup stood behind him; he looked appologetic, nervous and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the potential incendiary of a faux pas, that was thankfully caught in his throat, in what was the 'tinderbox' atmosphere of the Chapman that night.

A firm was in and nobody was going to fuck with those boys... I've never seen them before but ColonelDecker told me that he saw them at the West Ham match they tried so start a fight with the Hammers lot and when that didn't work they went for the police, Decker saw one of them (the ringleader it seemed) nick a pair of hand cuffs off a policeman, maybe it's a trophy or something - the gooners, the herd; I don't know who they were, maybe a new lot? I think we'll be seeing a renascence in hooliganism and violence on 'what were' the terraces over the next few years... times have changed and people are getting angry.

Personally, unlike a proper riot, I think that hooliganism is all a bit homo-erotic... grown men struggling to come to terms with their sexuality and masculinity need an outlet that gives them that man-on-man contact that they so desperately crave... It wouldn't take much for a pre-arranged fight between two firms to turn into a gay orgy – just throw in some KY and poppers. Would that be so obscene? Would it be more obscene than them kicking the shit out of each other? And what would the riot police do to break them up – there wouldn't be anything in the training manual, that's for sure?! Afterwards they could compare fashion tips and the relative merits of Stone Island cardigans verses Aquascutum overcoats in a bundle. Hey – maybe that's what the handcuffs were for – a proper kinky cuffed up man love session post match!

Of course - I'm not going to tell them that, no sir – they are big, angry and proper scary geezers and I'd end up in the Wittington eating soup through a straw.

We left the Chapman at a bad time – it had pretty much cleared out as everyone was making their way to the stadium, we emerged to quite a bizarre scene. I was on the pavement on the Holloway road that I have trodden a thousand times before... except I was surrounded by the aforementioned firm singing some anti-Semitic Tottenham song. There were many police mulling around trying to shepherd them off towards the stadium for kick-off. Suddenly – it all did kick off. These boys knew the route that the Tottenham fans were taking on the way to the stadium and it was right past the Chapman, that's why they were here – and I swear that I have never seen the away fans come this way before as the away supporters pub is the other side of the stadium, Drayton Park way... I think this lot were marching down from Seven Sisters and they were led and followed by riot police vans and flanked by coppers.

On cue – the Arsenal lot went mental and attacked them with a stash of glass bottles that had been gathered from outside the off licence and bins. Bemused and fascinated I just stood there and watched – the energy was amazing... and it's always fun to see a riot copper take a half empty bottle of WKD blue to the face – after all, nobody becomes a riot policeman for a quiet night out and they seemed to love it as much as the two groups of opposing fans... the Tottenham lot looked a little concerned – but they had a plan and moved to flank the pub to cut us off. I turned around to see PieFace and the rest of the ASI doing what can only be described as 'getting the fuck out of there' – at that precise point all the cops who were mulling about organised themselves in a rear guard line behind the trouble and whipped out their extendable batons, holding them aloft in a 'I'm going to fucking twat you with this' gesture... they had a little metal bobble on the end and I was in no doubt that they would proper fucking caine if you were struck with one. Fascinating and addictive as it was from a socio/animal, and indeed, military perspective, reason kicked in and I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and stuck my back to the shop window of 'Franchi Locks and Tools' and snaked my way around the corner past the coppers and shuffled off towards the stadium... It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognise danger when it is close upon you.

That's what the north London derby means to the fans.

So – what happened next on that Wednesday night was well... a bit of a let down to be honest. We gave it up and let them draw and it seemed that key members in the team were in on it. The jury is out on RvP and Walcott as they seemed to have been taken off for trying too hard. But as for Almunia, Gallas, Fabregas and Adebayor... well – I know what I saw and there had better be a good reason. Wenger must have given the orders... after all – this wasn't a case of a rouge agent, at the end of their career dropping the ball accidentally on purpose two matches in a row before being dropped for the rest of the season and sold on... Lehman.

At the end of the game Gallas and Almunia might as well have stood either side of Lennon and held his hands before swinging him '1, 2, 3 - wheeee' toddler style at the ball to give Tottenham the equaliser. It was clear that nobody cared, and nobody was trying – it was a bit of a jog around goal fest in which nobody gets hurt... fucking theatre – the trouble outside the Chapman was the only competition I saw that evening; I might as well have stayed home and watched East Enders... at least the acting would have been slightly more convincing.

Now – I can take an agreed draw under certain circumstances i.e. if we are in the group stages of a cup competition such as the Champions League and both teams only require a point to go through to the knockout stages. It makes sense to save your energy for the league; it's a dead game so if everyone is in agreement get the draw and keep something in the tank - like when we played Porto in the CL 2006 giving CSKA Moscow the Wafer cup spot... but in the league, well – one wonders what we were promised in return for making 'Arry an instant fucking hero with the deluded mug scum at our expense... one of the only up-sides to that game was that all but 3 of the Tottenham supporters in the away end had fucked off home in the 85th minute so they couldn't really rub it in. It is a busy schedule, yes, and we have Stoke away with Rob Styles officiating next which may be a physical and bent match... so I would guess a training session (with a spectacular goal count to give everyone a 'good show') for 1 guaranteed point here, in return for 3 in the return match at the Lane, might be the logical and long term route to the title?

We play Tottenham away at an interesting point in the season (see some previous post regarding Chinese New Year) so, I suppose, mathematically it would make sense with regards to a title challenge.

But that is not the point – the point is that the game on Wednesday night, regardless of winning trophies, is one of the matches that we all look forward to and it was reduced to the level of Pantomime...

...Wenger had better have a fucking plan up his sleeve to erase the memories of that game from my mind. This kind of corruption, however well intended is a slippery slope on which the idealism in the young players and fans disappears – it's seeds like this that can grow in a their minds throughout their adulthood and bloom into something ugly.

If this is the game that we are now playing then, quite frankly, the pretty football just isn't enough... the reason has overbalanced the instinct at the expense of the competition.

If this is the way we are going to play it, I want to see actual results or I'm leaving... and even if we do win something this way – the taste of victory will be a bitter/sweet moment.

It really shouldn't be this cold in summertime

Utter fucking shit.

If you needed any more fucking proof that my suspicions were fucking correct then look no further than tonight - we sold out and we sold out in style. The first half we didn't even try - the body language of the players was non-committal and the when Tottenham got the goal nobody gave a shit... not even the Tottenham players.

We scored whenever we wanted... but we didn't want to score that much.

I said to PieFace before half time:

"we are throwing this, we are scuppering the HT/FT and the AH buy on Arsenal"

That was fucking optimistic... I was still convinced that we were playing a 'bent' match with Redknapp having a word that nobody would try for 45 minutes then we would see some competition second half - I was wrong. It was an agreed draw - we could have shat on them 10-0 but we let them get 2 goals in the final minutes of the match. When do Tottenham score 4 against anyone? When do Arsenal ever concede 2 goals in the last minute?

I bet the bookies were wanking themselves silly over that.

It was a fix. We threw it... I thought the Liverpool/Pompey game would be the one of the big 4 multiple (that was so heavily pushed by the afformentioned bookies) to fail - but no... it was us and we were complicit in it. In fact - the game was structured to bring in maximum 'mug money' in play!

We are no better that fucking Man-U... at half time I was trying to reconcile that maybe Wenger was just making a deal for the busy schedule... maybe he agreed wit Redknapp that we would keep it level and only play one half - I would have still been ok with that. I could have seen some competition, some return for my support - some return for my fucking season ticket!?

When we were at 4-3 and Fabregas was taking the corner I stood up and shouted at him:

"Fabregas - come on play like you want to fucking win!"

He heard me and ignored me... I had a pang of guilt that I was reading it wrong - then we flushed the game down the toilet for Kroneke, for Redknapp and *whatever* we were promised in return... I don't care if we win the fucking league if this is the way we are going to do it - I really don't. Fuck you Wenger!

We are shit... and overall, instead of being 80 quid up I'm 30 pence down on my bets last night - why the fuck did I stay away from the Liverpool match? Jesus - disillusioned or what? I lost 30 pence and my fucking faith in this team... which is worth more Wenger, Fabregas, Gallas - take my 30 fucking pence - well done, I'm robbed!? If I can't bet my fucking bottom line on my team then who can I bet on? That's money out of my pocket, that's money I can't spend on my kids. And that's one generation that I will ensure will not grow up buying into this shit!

Sell your season tickets to the idiots in the suits who can buy into this shit... the soul has gone - wake me up when you want to fucking compete.

SHAME ON YOU ARSENAL - UTTER FUCKING SHAME!!!

I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Well – I was almost right! I think I underestimated the Hammers defence a bit – and in particular, their keeper; Green. He was having a blinder... well – apart from when he, clearly for everyone but the linesman, to see, handballed it to stop Bentner's one-on-one attack – It always makes me wonder why he isn't in the England squad instead of that clown James? Almunia was also having a blinder... again – why isn't he in the England squad instead of that clown James?

:-D

I have no real complaints on the officiating – I saw the first half on a ropey internet stream where all the players were in an acid-flashback 'negative Yellow/Magenta/Cyan/Black' colour filter/error - so it was difficult to judge what the fuck was going on... nice purple pitch though. West Ham, fair play to them, had a reasonable plan – defend hard and counter attack... they even tried to play a bit of footie and it proved for a very frustrating match where, despite a few good chances, we just couldn't seem to score. West Ham were pretty good on the break and there were some very worrying moments where we had, in a bid to get the three points, almost overcommitted in the attack. West Ham, however, despite Zola's proclamations on wanting to emulate the Arsenal approach to his style of management, slowly reverted to shit-kicking form (even more so after the deadlock was broken with the own goal) and proceeded to give us a bit of a hoofing... bit of advice Zola - you can't unsettle a team like that deep in the second half when they are playing you off the park – you just look bit desperate, unfit and unsporting. Wenger's answer was classic – you want to kick us off the ball, ok – then we'll stick on Ade to run at you and play in a few long-balls... despite the fact it was an own goal – the first goal was all down to Adebayor and then, not long after that we saw the quite unfamiliar move of one blinding over the top pass from Bentner in his own half followed by an almost sexually arousing first touch from Ade to set himself up for the shot and defy the brave keeping from the stretching Green. Adebayor made no mistake in killing the game dead.

Where are all the Adebayor haters now? Whatsat you say? Lazy..? Greedy..? Or just fucking excellent!?

I love it when we change styles and try something new – we saw it experimentally last season as an answer to teams that try to rough us up and get a point... 'total football' is nice (and glorious to watch when it's clicking) but if it's not happening on the ground then we have got to have the skills in the air... it's that kind of flexibility in attack (and the ability to flip it) that will eventually win us trophies. Wenger isn't running short on ideas and there is a lot more to come from this team in terms of changing the way the English game is played and 'leading the way' in the quest for proper football...

The rest of the 'Big 4' showed their class in two of the most dodgy games I ever did see.

"if you had offered me a draw before the match I would have taken it" - David Moyes

Ahem... well, no comment – nice one Wiley; good shooting Ronaldo – you go get that 'player of the year' award with a straight face, you earned it! And as for Liverpool/Chelsea... all I can say that if I were a betting man then I would put money on there being a fat stack of oily roubles on the reds.

Luckily I am (or have now become) a betting man and that's where my cash was also... although I was a bit timid and only put six quid on it – still, a fair return! In fact – I couldn't give my money away this weekend and I was forced to withdraw another £100 from my account – that's the second time this week!

Maybe I'm learning, this w/e was a milestone for me as I am officially in the black (P&L) for my entire gambling history – in the last 3 months I have erased 2 years of 'leisure punter' activity and got into the profit zone. I've worked hard for it, and now the cash that I have spent has been withdrawn with interest - I'm going to try and build up a profit stack and take this more seriously... I've also noticed that I don't get excited about betting any more, to be honest it's a relief as I never liked that 'risk' feeling in the pit of my stomach anyway – now it's just business win or loose, a means to an end. I will understand the dark side of this game one day and this dark path is the only way to tread... and with every win will I take another step forwards.

The Joker, before he left this plane of existence, used to tell me that the perfect crime always left traces... and it does – in a way. Let's look at the media run up to this weekend's games. Chelsea were being painted as being undefeatable at the bridge and even emulating Arsenal's unbeaten run (Scolari you have no shame) – Liverpool were kept off the back pages and expectations played down – I was even noticing that the little Paddy-Power and Ladbrokes logos where being placed in-picture in certain newspapers – usually with a shot of a John Terry goal celebration with a 'I've just hit the vinegar-strokes' look on his face... Laying Chelsea was the obvious bet – but I backed Liverpool simply because with these games (that usually end in a draw) the bookies will want cash on both teams... I wouldn't have spotted it if it weren't for my oldest friend, Stinky who – to my concern, opened a BetFair account on Friday and put on the following:

Everton V Man Utd – Draw
Chelsea V Liverpool – Liverpool
Arsenal V West Ham – Arsenal

Talk about 'beginners luck' - I told him he was mad... but it got me thinking and, after reading the back pages, I got on the Liverpool bet too. FYI - My bets for the w/e were:

Chelsea V Liverpool – Liverpool
Arsenal V West Ham – Arsenal (I went LARGE on this)
Portsmouth V Fulham – In game lay-bet on Pompey immediately after they scored.
Real Madrid V Some losers I hadn't heard of – Real Madrid

So 4 for 4, result, I got on Arsenal as we too were absent from the back pages... the media spotlight seems to fall on the mug money while the smart money lurks in the shadows. This cannot be a coincidence. If you take your positions based on the fact that the game is bent, a gambling sport and the media are complicit then you can't go far wrong... but you have to spot the signs and detect the traces; the silken threads, quantum entanglements of reality that cannot be comletely removed from the slight of hand and fantasy. I was also tempted to get on Tottenham to win – but couldn't quite bring myself to do it.

Talking of Tottenham... Harry Redknapp? Are you sure? That's the funniest thing in the world ever – all the deluded fucking spuds will now start crowing about how they have a 'proper manager'... when will they learn – still, it gives me another good reason (as if I needed it) to hate Spurs; it's a match made in heaven if you ask me... in the dodgy stakes; Spurs are now our perfect 'yin' - what are the odds he brings in a keeper/clown 'he can trust' like James to replace that hapless free-agent liability Gomez? The main thing that pisses me off though is that through a sustained internet troll campaign of undercover gooners on Tottenham discussion boards and groups to whip the Spuds up into a protest on Sunday; it all came to nowt... damn – I was really looking forward to seeing them with all their home made, badly spelled banners, laughing my arse off to the chants demanding that the board and manager gets sacked and replaced with the likes of Terry Venables, Teddy Sheringham, Gazza and Glen Hoddle right before the 'make or break' game of their season... it was worth a try and we had fun doing it.

Ce-la-vie.

Bring on Wednesday!

[27/10/2008 09:16:41] DogFace says: geeezer
[27/10/2008 09:19:04] Stinky says: ello

[27/10/2008 09:19:45] DogFace says: so come on then - how did you make £45 on £2 minimum bets!?
[27/10/2008 09:20:58] Stinky says: no they were £3.50 bets but I figured it out wrong. I deposited £10 and they gave me £10 win or lose so that was £20 right of the bat.Then made the rest on the bets
[27/10/2008 09:21:18] DogFace says: cool!
[27/10/2008 09:21:49] DogFace says: so - it was £10 back if you bet £10... result - have you withdrawn your original tenner?
[27/10/2008 09:22:58] DogFace says: I withdrew £100 yesterday - and £100 the week before... I still have £23 left in my account :D I got all 4 bets correct yesterday, I couldn't give it away!
[27/10/2008 09:23:25] Stinky says: I have withdrawn my tenner and the tenner they gave me coz I still have £28 to bet with ;)
[27/10/2008 09:23:52] DogFace says: I was on Liverpool to win, Arsenal to win, Portsmouth (lay) after they went a goal up and Real Madrid win.
[27/10/2008 09:24:49] Stinky says: cool
[27/10/2008 09:25:28] DogFace says: I wish I had gone on Manu/Everton draw too! I don't know how you picked those results man but - good call!
[27/10/2008 09:25:59] Stinky says: Like I said I just had this feeling about the results
[27/10/2008 09:26:33] DogFace says: The Manure game was so obviously an agreed draw...
[27/10/2008 09:27:14] DogFace says: So - what about Wednesday then?
[27/10/2008 09:34:51] Stinky says: just a couple of minimum bets as nothing seems clear cut to me. I have gone for a Hull win although I think it may be a draw. I think that was about it
[27/10/2008 09:38:53] DogFace says: Hull are getting fucked. Here's the schedule: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
19:45 - Newcastle v West Brom

Wednesday, 29 October 2008
19:45 - Aston Villa v Blackburn
19:45 - Fulham v Wigan
19:45 - Hull v Chelsea
19:45 - Stoke v Sunderland
20:00 - Arsenal v Tottenham
20:00 - Bolton v Everton
20:00 - Liverpool v Portsmouth
20:00 - Man Utd v West Ham
20:00 - Middlesbrough v Man City
[27/10/2008 09:39:01] DogFace says: Hmmm....
[27/10/2008 09:39:12] DogFace says: Well - West ham are also getting fucked.
[27/10/2008 09:40:06] Stinky says: not so sure

[27/10/2008 09:40:06] DogFace says: Really?
[27/10/2008 09:40:14] DogFace says: I would say that's a nailed on win for Manure.
[27/10/2008 09:40:31] DogFace says: I would also say that Tottenham will loose.
[27/10/2008 09:40:38] Stinky says: yeah ... again just a feeling they might pull of a 0 - 0 draw
[27/10/2008 09:40:52] DogFace says: Well - they have a good keeper...
[27/10/2008 09:41:00] Stinky says: or is that a deep down hope that they do!
[27/10/2008 09:41:08] DogFace says: ...but - Manure will 'get a penalty' if needs be. [27/10/2008 09:42:55] DogFace says: I reckon that Villa should win.
[27/10/2008 09:43:18] Stinky says: yeah I think that I have bet them to win .. not much return but should be a win!
[27/10/2008 09:43:36] DogFace says: Liverpool... hmmm - that might be worth getting on the draw.
[27/10/2008 09:44:05] Stinky says: nah got Liverpool on the win!
[27/10/2008 09:44:14] DogFace says: It's goint to attract a lot of mug money I reckon...
[27/10/2008 09:45:46] Stinky says: yeah but I still think that Liverpool are just looking too strong at the moment even without Torres who should be back for the pompey match. Plus Pompey don't have a manager not that that mug rednapp has joined spurs for some obscure reason!
[27/10/2008 09:45:58] Stinky says: nah think Hull will do the business!
[27/10/2008 09:46:37] Stinky says: they are playing really well at the moment and Chelsea did not play at all well yesterday!
[27/10/2008 09:47:50] DogFace says: I reckon Chelsea lost on purporse! OK - off the top of my head: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
19:45 - Newcastle v West Brom - West Brom

Wednesday, 29 October 2008
19:45 - Aston Villa v Blackburn - Villa
19:45 - Fulham v Wigan - Fulham
19:45 - Hull v Chelsea - Chelsea
19:45 - Stoke v Sunderland - Stoke
20:00 - Arsenal v Tottenham - Arsenal
20:00 - Bolton v Everton - Draw
20:00 - Liverpool v Portsmouth -Draw
20:00 - Man Utd v West Ham - Man Utd
20:00 - Middlesbrough v Man City - Draw
[27/10/2008 09:48:06] DogFace says: I'm not sure what I'll get on though... there must be some bankers in there. Villa, Chelsea, Manu and Arsenal maybe?
[27/10/2008 09:49:19] DogFace says: It looked like ManUre threw it down the bog too... which makes me think that they'll be looking for a win on Wednesday.
[27/10/2008 09:50:29] DogFace says: And the only other one of the big 4 would be Liverpool/Pompey which could be iffy... or us - but us not beating Tottenham is too horrible to think about... besides - we are the earlier kickoff.
[27/10/2008 09:51:27] Stinky says: you going to the game?

[27/10/2008 09:52:09] DogFace says: Ha!
[27/10/2008 09:52:21] DogFace says: Did you seriously ask me that question?
[27/10/2008 09:52:30] Stinky says: is PieFace?
[27/10/2008 09:53:09] DogFace says: I would have said so... why - you in the market for a ticket?
[27/10/2008 09:53:27] Stinky says: it would be a great game to go to!
[27/10/2008 09:53:40] DogFace says: Oh yeah - as long as we smash them!
[27/10/2008 09:54:10] Stinky says: I am off on Thursday too so don't need an early start!
[27/10/2008 09:54:43] DogFace says: Nice 1 - get the beers in :D
[27/10/2008 09:54:56] Stinky says: only if I can get a ticket!
[27/10/2008 09:56:21] DogFace says: I'll email PieFace and see if he can make it... [27/10/2008 09:56:33] DogFace says: ...I can't see him missing it though.
[27/10/2008 09:56:49] Stinky says: let me know
[27/10/2008 09:57:17] DogFace says: (y)
[27/10/2008 11:20:27] DogFace says: PieFace is going Wednesday; 100,000,000,000 % going apparently....
[27/10/2008 11:25:25] Stinky says: doh ... oh well will just have to watch it on the TV