Jonjo Shelvey is a wonderkid from Romford.
A goal-scoring second striker who is 17.
Wenger wants him, Chelsea want him. I gather the kid will not be at Charlton for much longer. A reporter pal has seen him play : “He’s good, very good. He’s powerful, got a big frame, no hair- he’s got alopecia.”
I hope Arsenal sign Shelvey for £3 million. And I hope he’s better than Walcott
Other Arsenal transfers?
Impossible to say what’s going on and I don’t follow the signals from hour to hour. We can only guess. My guess is that all the club’s money is tied up in the flats at Highbury Square.
Fans insisted Wenger bought a centreback, so he bought Vermaelen for £10 million and he’s now done his money. He needs to sell to buy and none of his babies is keen to leave the comfort of the Colney Creche and move into the real world. Especially as the boss loves to give pay rises to mediocre players who have won nothing.
Talking to friends about Michael Owen going to Man United, a couple think he will be a success there.
One reckons Owen will score 15 goals next season.
I’m baffled and shocked. Why has Sir Alex signed Owen now when he had so many chances to sign him in the past? Owen going to Old Trafford on a free has shocked me more than any football transfer since Ardiles joined Spurs in 1978.
I’m convinced that Owen is past it. He can’t run. He’s a box striker now, a Gerd Muller. I last saw Owen play against Arsenal in August when Newcastle were beaten 3-0. He was stranded on the halfway line because he could not run away from Gallas or Toure and he never attempted to do so. He was impotent. He never had a kick. Fabio Capello was there that day and his verdict was similar to mine : Forget it !
Yes, Owen can concentrate, sniff out chances, and is still hugely ambitious. He’s gone to United on £20,000-a-week basic because he hopes to get back into the England team with his mate Stevie G and win the World Cup. A commendable ambition but England will NOT win the World Cup without a goalkeeper.
Roger wanted 15.
Roger Federer wanted to beat Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand slams. And Pete had told him that if he ever had a chance to do so, he would be there to see it.
Pete and his blonde arrived at 2.15 pm when the score was 2-1 to Andy Roddick in the first set. He sat in front of Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England.
Tennis players used wooden racquets and then titanium and then graphite. They’re all baseliners now because the money is so big that coaching has become more defensive. Serve-and-volley has become serve and serve and serve and serve and serve again.
That’s what Roger Federer and Andy Roddick did in yesterday’s marathon final, the longest grand slam final in history. The fifth set was threatening to become the first two-hour set in tennis history.
But I enjoyed it. I love to watch athletes with talent and character and bottle. I love to watch the best play the best and bring out the best in each other. Since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed seeing the best compete with the best, it’s been a constant in my life.
I really love Andy Murray and will make time to watch him in the US Open from August 31. He was 22 in May and is still improving.
At Wimbledon, Roddick beat Murray in the semi by serving better and having a superior game-plan.
When Roddick was about to serve the first game of the final, I heard myself say, “If you win this, son, you’ll be on the cover of Time magazine.”
It was bang! bang! bang! and 4-4 in 21 minutes. Then Roddick broke serve to win the tie break 7-5. During the second set, Tim Henman said it was very different from any Federer-Roddick game he had ever seen. The next three hours proved Tim right.
Roddick had four set points in the second set tie-break but Federer levelled to one set each by winning six points in a row and Roddick was so dazed & confused that after they sat down, he went to the wrong end. But the Yank recovered well and played boldly until his legs went in the last three or four games. That’s when he wished he hadn’t been chasing the ball so much in that exhausting five-setter against Lleighton Hewitt. At the end Federer was holding his serve to love.
Everybody felt for Roddick, who played superbly. He didn’t lose his serve in the first three sets, which all went to tie-breaks. Then he won the fourth.
On Saturday I had a Wimbledon bet.
I put £50 on Serena to beat Venus and the odds were surprisingly good. Then I watched the British & Irish Lions’ third Test against South Africa and they won by 28-9 in storming style and when I switched over to BBC, Serena had won 7-6, 6-2. So I got £115 back.
Wish I won £65 every Saturday.