Following what has appeared to be the longest interlull in the history of long, crap international breaks, we have Sunderland away.
Before I go on to preview that, a few words about the inate shite-ness of international friendlies and their continued ability to rob us of in-form players.. RVP in Belgrade getting Horse placenta rubbed on his ankle ligaments (are you telling me NO-ONE in Holland has ever done that sort of thing in porn??), Kieran Gibbs with a suspected fractured metatarsal - turns out it's only bruising! How often will these meaningless friendlies cost us?? Why can't Arsene start pulling players out of these citing "knocks" a la Purple Nose... just asked Ryan Giggs!
Finally, Thierry in new "Cheatgate" storm; I really fail to see what the fuss is on this one - if it had been Gerrard, Flumpard, or Shrek doing this the media would have been calling for immediate canonisation followed by sainthood, and possible deification! I am only glad he's no longer playing for Arsenal as I'm sure a 5 match ban for cheating would have followed (have we been awarded a penalty since Eduardo's tumble vs Celtic by the way??!!
As it is, there is more chance of Rooney winning the Nobel prize for literature than there is the Irish getting a replay.... I'm sure Blatter, Platini (***spits***) et al were, shall we say, not too disappointed with the final result...
Talking of Purple nose.... his touchline ban kicks in in time for the potentially tricky visit of Everton... no wait, wait... the FA have cited a little known clause in the rule book called "the Ferguson ruling" that says the ban doesn't start until 14 days after the disciplinary hearing which means he will be in the stands for.... the visit to Pompey and the Carling Cup time vs The Spuds!!! Well that's ok then, consider that more than adequate punishment for his persistent criticism of refs that sometimes fail to toe the Man Utd line. I'm sure that's a lesson well learned and he won't do it again.
So Sunderland away today.... the ironically named Stadium of Light has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for us one way or another in previous seasons, and we are well overdue a spanking win with no broken legs or sendings off, although with another of Fergusons Sith apprentices in charge I'm pretty sure we will see a rupture or sprain come final whistle. And if any of you Star Wars geeks want to remind me that the Sith can only have one apprentice I will retort with the fact that Ferguson makes his own rules. Even in Galaxies that are far, far away.
No RVP, Gibbs, Diaby, Denilson, and of course Bendtner or Clichy, but Vela and Walcott are in the squad, leaving us with fishface at left back I suspect. Or Eboue of course. I think the rest of the side pretty much picks itself - I think Eduardo will come into the middle and am really hoping to see Arshavin, Rosicky, and Fabregas play 90 minutes together. That is a combination that excites me more than seeing 2 lesbians massaging each other with Horse placentas frankly.
Sunderland have Cana fit (who a lot of Gooners were hoping we would sign in the summer - personally I know nothing about him so am interested in seeing if he's the real deal or not). No Kenwyne Jones is potentially a bonus for us - he's an awkward lump in the mould of Adebayor, except of course he's not a greedy, money-grabbing cunt and can stay on-side.
I'm going for a 2-nil win for the Arsenal.
Anyway, that's enough from me. I'm about to don my painting gear and put the finishing touches to my kitchen. It's only taken me 13 months to get this far.... I REALLY shouldn't spend so much time blogging!!!
Keep it red'n'white my brothers.
Clockender.
