Remember when one of Arsene’s motivational letters to his team was found in a hotel, discarded by a careless player? (Reported here in the Guardian.) I immediately wrote this which was printed in The Gooner issue 189. Around the same time, interim Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear lost it completely in a press conference – so…
My recent post on Arsenal’s finances generated a lot of interest. Following this, John Pickford has delved deeper into Arsenal’s recent balance sheets to look in particular at the amount of cash the club holds. If you’re interested in the ownership of Arsenal, want to know more about Arsenal’s finances or just want to ensure…
As we face Man Utd today, here’s a piece about mind games I did for The Gooner issue 155 way back in 2005. Fergie was the king of mind games then and he still is. Wenger’s own mental strength is not on the same level as it used to be, I fear. I’ve got to…
I do like to take the mick out of Spurs. I can’t help it. This was some mickey-taking I did for The Gooner issue 166 back in 2006. It’s still largely applicable, though they have made an appearance in the Champions League now and obviously we haven’t done so well for trophies ourselves lately. For…
I’ve noticed there’s a lot of rubbish on Twitter about Arsenal’s finances. If you’re too busy to sort the wheat from the chaff yourself and you don’t know which tweet is fact and which is fiction, here’s a simple bullet point summary. A quick edit on 22 Jan: this post was read by over 18,000…
Peter Drury is an ITV sports commentator. The words ‘ITV’ and ‘sport’ go together like violin and custard in most people’s minds, so to be an ITV sports commentator is not necessarily something to be proud of. Nevertheless, if I were also an ITV sports commentator who had gone into the occupation with eyes wide…
I wrote this for The Gooner issue 215 in 2011. As we’re back in the transfer window and spending money is once again at the top of the agenda, I was reminded of it. I think it’s time Peter Hill-Wood retired. What do you think? Another Successful Year! I would like to open by saying…
In celebration of the unveiling of TA’s statue outside Arsenal Stadium on 9 December 2011, here’s my tribute to him at the time of his retirement in 2002, printed in The Gooner issue 124. If I’d been writing about the career of Tony Adams at the time of his first testimonial in 1994 the article…
I was tempted to call this piece “Moneyball: moneybollocks!” I haven’t seen the film starring Brad Pitt, who I only mention for the purpose of search engines, but the concept is simple enough: beat your richer opposition by being smarter with your resources. Well I think we all agree that Arsène Wenger does that –…
I was inspired by a picture of Arsenal’s 1975 squad, featuring Brian Kidd. He had a lot of hair. Far more than was sensible. So I had a look to see who should join him in a Bad Hair team. 1 David SeamanWho else could it be in goal? Honourable mention to the wavy 1970s…
angryofislington 