From Max: Fabizczesny
One question for you Myles.
Has there ever been a league champion, in any major division, within living memory, where the manager doesn’t know who his best goalkeeper is?
Arsenal’s title bid is built on sand.
From KLV : Nothing new
Dear Myles,
I totally agree with you that we have nothing new to add.
Too much of the same happened in the last 5 months. Too many promises, too much broken records going round and round, too much talk on this group will win this and that.
I don’t mind listening to promises, especially as football is hugely predictable and yet can be the opposite, but problem is, we have heard much the same and seen much the same on the pitch.
I don’t do many New Year’s resolutions, save when I was a teenager, and yet this time round, I have a resolution, that is to watch Arsenal play at my convenience. I shall no longer go out of my way to adjust my personal and family activities to watch Arsenal. Arsenal has moved on, so have I. Sadly, Arsenal did not move on towards something we were promised. Arsenal will still be around a long time, but I will not.
Arsenal has changed many times for the last 30 years since I supported them. Now it is my turn. I will still support them, but my priorities are different now.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you!
From Jeff Goldstein : How to win the league in three easy steps !
Buy Christoper Samba, Leighton Baines and Andy Caroll.
All can play in Europe and have Premiership experience.
Let’s say they can be bought for 5m,15m and 20m.An outlay of 40m.
To fund this sell any of (all with a bit of luck !!) Almunia,Clichy,Bendtner,Walcott,Eboue,Denilson,Vela.
Then put your hand in your pocket for the rest Ebeneezer Wenger.
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Wikipedia says : Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens’s 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol.
At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness. Dickens describes him thus: “The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice …” His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy, traits displayed by Scrooge in the exaggerated manner for which Dickens is well-known. The tale of his redemption by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday.
From Ken : Thanks for the Bearzot link
I’d missed the obit. Brian Glanville’s the finest football writer I can think of. His 50 years of writing give his work a perspective that is lacking in so much of today’s journalism, where today, and this season, are the only thing that matters. He wrote a lovely piece about former United captain, and great football man, Noel Cantwell, which I can’t find. However, I did find James Lawton’s obit, which is well worth reading from the same perspective
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-cantwell-dream-contrasts-sharply-with-reality-of-todays-imploding-discipline-507576.html
Myles repliesJust called Brian and read your email to him.
He said, “How sweet !”
Myles says:
Just called Brian and read your email to him. He said, “How sweet!”
Brian is as sharp as ever and told me a lot of interesting things, including a Sicilian saying which translates as “One hand washes the other.”
From Paul : Hello from Edmonton
Hello there, Myles
Being from Canada I do not get the same amount of exposure to football as one would from another country.
I really only started paying attention to Arsenal when they lost 6-1 against ManU. I knew ManU was a big name but did not know who Arsenal was.
I then looked up the team on the internet and came upon your blog. Ever since then I have been an avid reader of ANR ever since.
You are so right on so many levels with regards to the current make-up of the team. They really only have three world class players at the moment: Fabregas, Vermalen and Nasri (maybe Wilshire in the future, but who knows). Most of his other prodigal talents have not lived up to their billing or are simply made of glass and break the moment anyone touches them.
but at the same time I also understand the difficulties that the boss must be going through. He may not say it in the media, but I am sure that he is envious of a team like Liverpool being able to get Torres, Barcelona getting Villa or any other big team being able to get an established player knowing that the financial restraints of the club do not allow him to make similar purchases. Maybe I am wrong and he is so close minded and narcissistic that he thinks that he can build a team out of hopeless French men.
If there is a year when the team can win the title it is this year. Arsenal may not have the strongest team but Chelsea are aging as we speak, Manchester United are not the same as the were with Ronaldo there, Manchester City are imploding and Spurs are just spurs. The race is close because the other teams in the league are just as flawed as Arsenal.
However the one thing that Chelsea and ManU have over Arsenal is the mental strength to fight to the end. I have not seen it yet and am not sure that I will ever see it. Its not good enough to have talent. You need to have the will to win and I am not certain that I see it in this group of players.
Who knows what will happen in May. However, I will be extremely distraught if the club does not win the league cup this year. To most it is a Mickey Mouse trophy, but it is a trophy nonetheless and I expect that Arsene’s drive to end the trophy drought will make him field strong sides for the remaining three matches of the tournament.
Anyways that is my rant. Look forward to your reply and I look forward to 2011 from ANR.
And remember, it’s only football.
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Myles says :
I remember the 6-1 …and the 6-2 George had
Lee Sharpe.
The first goal was a free-kick and the charger was….. Limpar ! How silly was that, George?
Limpar makes sure a shot never hits him. The charger has to be a Scholes, a Ljungberg, a Dixon.
George told us (reporters) that the result was meaningless. Had no significance. It was just one of those occasional games when every shot by the other team goes in.
George said : We had a game like that when we won the Double in 1971. Stoke beat us 5-o, same thing, every shot they had went in. Didn’t mean anything.
From Colin in San Diego : Good stuff the last few days….
Just a quick note to say hello and thanks again for all the enjoyment your writing has given me down the years.
Nice piece on Bowie, never been one of my faves, always thought he was a bit of a poseur, and this coming from a former Mod. He does have some great songs though, and that interesting, lilting voice of his that is both fragile and powerful at the same time is for sure a one off. I’m sure the cozy venue was perfect and good to see his humour is back. I saw him do a perfectly dreadful show in LA in the 90’s, but he was out of his gourd on the Peruvian marching powder at the time, as you well know.
You and Dexter, a couple of cool old cats hitting a Bowie show on a cold night out in Londontown… What a life! Seen it all! Done it all! And what stories I’m sure!
Oh, and the mention of The Grimster brought a smile and a chuckle. The poofy hair, the anxious and far from insouciant countenance of his Gallic face. The spirit, balls and bottle, for a French dude, mind you. No Gooner or England fan could ever forget his headbutt on that nasty piece of work; the “neuvo’ Diego Simeone in Rome all those CL nights ago! And MP, you might recall that Le Bob scored an absolutely stunning goal on the break that night as we did a smash and grab job on the odious Sven’s (from the deep dark woods of Torsby) Lazio. Could well be the best goal one of my all time favorite footballers ever scored in the red and white.
Merry Christmas old boy and all the best….
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Myles says :
That gig was years ago, Colin. David Bowie’s gig at the Astoria was in the 20th century.
The Astoria has shut and will be demolished as the Crossrail project begins, linking West London with East London.
I found the old review on my computer when I was looking for something else.
Note the line : he was close to his best at the 2000-capacity Astoria in his last British concert of the century.
From Graham Taylor : Palmerisms
Hi Myles
Greetings from your correspondent in a freezing Cornwall.
I have to congratulate you and the team for the dramatic change to ANR in recent weeks.
The expansion of interplay between yourself and your readers makes it a “must read” site once again – it even seems to have improved your humour with The Arsenal. I have again begun to believe that you might even quite like the club. After all, in the Wild West that is the Premiership I really do think Arsene, for all the mistakes and stubborness, is a cut above the rest (Sir Red Nose and Carlo excluded) – why he continues to do the job beats the hell out of me though.
Anyway, to the point. I today received a Christmas card from No. 2 son which enclosed a picture of 3 year old grandson, Finlay, neatly attired in the current season’s kit, and bearing the message “THE COLNEY CRECHE – latest signing”. I hated that smart remark of yours – but it has become a family expression, damn you! I suppose you are entitled though because 5 years with no silverware is not acceptable for London’s premier club. However, perhaps Arsene doesn’t get sufficient credit for his quiet revolution and the subsequent improvement in the standards of others. Check out the frequently appalling defending of other teams in our medal-winning years. Oppositions can get smarter too you know!
Have a good Christmas !
Myles says :
Thanks, guys. And Mandy.
Thanks for reading the old beatnik again this year.
Tried to find a link to A Night Out With Jeff Dexter.
Couldn’t find it. Instead found a Playlist for Counterpunch in January 2006 . Which mentions Jeff.
Merry Christmas Jeffrey, Jesse and Randy !
Must dash.
Jan’s just gone out to find a turkey, so I’m gonna run downstairs and wrap her Xmas presents.