Beast 0 Beauty 2
Jan 17th, 2010 by 'holic
The Reebok has often been a difficult place for visitors, and this afternoon was no different. Lifted by the arrival of a new manager in the shape of Owen Coyle, Bolton started both halves brightly and produced the expected battle against a superior force.
Not since Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett has beauty been so expected to finish on top of the beast, and Arsenal didn’t disappoint. Goals in each half secured the points, and the margin may have been greater had the referee had the benefit of the view from the camera behind Wanderers goal as twice Cesc Fabregas was felled in the box.
That is not to say that the home side didn’t have chances of their own, but let’s put this into context. Whether it was 0-2, or the 2-4 that the ‘holic pound demanded, a much-weakened Arsenal side were good value for a two goal triumph.
The morning revelation that Samir Nasri had been ruled out meant that if Tomas Rosicky and Andrey Arshavin partnered Eduardo up top, and they did, the Gunners would not have a recognised midfield trio and would have to promote another of the youngsters. Craig Eastmond was handed the difficult task of filling the holding role vacated by the absence of Song, Denilson, and Ramsey. He was caught out a few times, and was perhaps fortunate to escape a card, but all things considered he will be pleased with his 63 minute Premier League bow.
Once again though the plaudits will be for the skipper. After his side had withstood the early storm it was Cesc who coaxed his charges forward, always available to receive the ball and weave intricate patterns with those around him. It was no surprise then that it was he who applied the finishing touch to a stunning passage of play that began with Rosicky working back to win possession, and ended with a delightful exchange with Eduardo. One nil to the Arsenal.
A series of physical challenges designed to rough up the goalscorer did nothing to diminish his appetite for the battle. Not surprisingly he continued to lead from the front, and perhaps surprisingly spurned a golden opportunity for a second as the half drew to a close.
Bolton’s best spell came in the opening half of the second period, and an equaliser was threatened by Taylor twice, but the arrival of Fran Merida, a second Spanish midfielder, signalled the end of their purple patch. The clincher arrived when Cesc carried the ball purposefully to the edge of the box and freed Eduardo to cross for Merida to finish with some style. “One Gary Megson, There’s only one Gary Megson”, the magnificent travelling Gooners had a bit of fun at the cloggies expense!
What will possibly be a concern for our title rivals is the fact that we are not only carrying a huge injury list, but also have a number of players yet to reach the peak of their form. Almunia, Traore, Eduardo, even Arshavin have come in for some criticism of late, and did so again today from the so-called ‘experts’ in the warmth of the Sky box.
A repeat performance when the same opponents visit the Grove on Wednesday will see this much-maligned Arsenal side taking pole position in the Premier League ahead of a four match sequence that could tell us everything about our ability to be there at the season’s end.
You can’t help but think we will need more of a cutting edge up front for those particular challenges, but this wonderfully spirited side continues to defy the logical, and the critical. Well played you Gunners.
Thanks again Arsenalist for the goal clips.
65 Responses to “Beast 0 Beauty 2”
Bolton Beast’s blistering bravado as they bolted out the box, beggared belief. An early off-side opener lifted hearts momentarily into mouths before the unfurled flag of the fourth ‘ficial fluttered flowingly to flatten fans’ flatulence. Squeaky bum moment indeed!
Bereft of real talent, the home team settled down to their traditional thuggish thuggery in a ‘tempt to throw off our talisman’s tempo. This included a killer by their keeper to keep our kid’s killer kick kind of quiet. A blatant penalty, by any other name.
Cesc rewarded this physicality professionally, with a pounce of particular pulchritude, after some exquisite Eduardo elegance enabled a deft dab deep into their dungeon. One nil to the Arsenal sang our happy wanderers as Bolton wandered if they had anything in their knapsack to help them along a track that was looking increasingly mountainous.
Only moments later Cesc nut-megsoned them again and old king Coyle thought, “this is turf, I’d rather be back at the moor!”, as the Catalonian Comet’s crisp clip clipped the upright and cruised past. Cue another World Wrestling Federation moment, as one of the thugs practised a flying knee press on the neck and lace drag across the face combo, on the best youngster in Europe. Again, astonishingly, no penalty! But could they dim the fabulous fluorescent flashes of our Fab four. Not a chance.
After a very solid debut, Craig Eastmond was replaced by Cesc II (Fran Merida). Gael Clichy made a very welcome return to calm some of the agony being suffered down our left flank by Armand T. And, Val-de-ree, Val-de-ra, Val-de-Vela ventured on to add his version of verve. Somewhere midst all of this change of cast, Catalan’s Cesc II, cool as a cucumber, cracked a cracker into the corner for 2-0 to the Arsenal Beauties and game over. Beast conquered.
Were we perfect? No! Two points at Bolton without Robin, Denilson, Song, Theo, Nasri, Ramsey and Bendtner – I’ll take that every day of the week. We played with great spirit and the hand-brake nearly off, after all.
A refreshing whisky on the rocks please, barman.
We could have had a hatful this afternoon and should probably have had one, if not two penalties. I thought we played with a level of maturity that has been lacking sometimes this season. I have to confess to thinking Arsene was making an error in bringing off Eastmond as it took a good 4-5 minutes before Diaby dropped deeper, which left us a little exposed, but Cesc also dropped back and between them they let Merida have the free role. It turned out well in the end.
Thought Rosicky looked excellent today as well, always hungry, always looking to drive forward and genuinely disappointed to be subbed. We have missed that drive and experience in my opinion.
A large glass of red please barman.
PS. Not trying to overlook the contribution of Captain Fabtastic, but just don’t have the superlatives in my locker.
😉
Seems Cesc and BtM are both on top of their game today…
It’s always great to beat the Orcs of the North. It’s even nicer when they resort to cunts tricks that don’t come off. Vermaelen made Davies his bitch, and I’ll back him to do so again n Wednesday.
Onwards and Upwards.
Good win today. Solid performance.
Cesc Interview
Reporter: Do you believe you can go all the way this year, you are only 3 points behind?
Cesc: Well, there are many teams who will say they can go all the way and win the league. But nobody wants to win it more than us, thats for sure!
Classy player, classy man.
I am nursing a hangover today, so just water with no ice please ‘holic. cheers.
Two stuck-on penalties denied and we still won comfortably. A really, really good result today. We might just win the league you know…
Funny how you have failed to mention Rosicky’s off the ball foul that would have seen him walk had he not been playing for a SKY4 club.
Yes we ‘roughed you up’ but as per usual with Arsenal fans, what do you expect teams the size of Bolton to do? Stand off and admire?
I’d like to just put it on record that Almunia made at least 4 crucial saves that kept us in the lead and kept the momentum and belief going.
I’d like to see some credit being dished his way since he rarely gets any recognition for his positive contributions. Big Al was solid as a rock today.
craig eatsmond was hailed in swedish tv saying he had great positioning, he always made himself available for a pass you have to remember it was his 1st premier league game so i think he did very good. Matt taylor has to be suspended for the fabregas incident it was disgusting
what about playing football, james?
Beautifully summed up ‘holic!
Bolton are such a unedifying bunch of cloggers…aren’t they?? And we did fantastically well to withstand what was a very physical challenge.
Cesc was quality….and there are a whole bunch of other players that deserve a mention……Almunia, Rosicky, Diaby, Verm.
Great day all round….keep on believing 🙂
A cold San Miguel for me please barman!
Re Snail, I was also really happy with Rosicky today – so efficient with the ball, I personally can’t remember him putting a foot wrong. Glad to see Eduardo playing through the middle today, giving Arsh the freedom to scare the fullbacks. Eddie had another really good game, doing very well with the very little he had … two assists, the first sublime – wasn’t that a great goal!
Bolton put up a good game today, but really lacked the quality to convert any of their numerous chances. Taylor … sigh.
Do you stock root beer?
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Fantastic performance from the boys today. Great to aggression in the captain. He really has learnt how to transfer that to his game and do the talking with his feet. Long may it continue.
Not to heap praise on the boy, it must be said (glad that it’s been picked up on in the drinks) the kid Eastmond had a stormer. Sure a couple youthful mistakes here and there but he seems to be quite an intelligent reader of the game and gets on with the job he’s given.
Adding again to what has been said above, I get such a kick out of seeing Tomas enjoying his football. It’s so good to see.
Not that I like wishing a team bad luck, nor to stunt Eastmond run in the team, but here’s to Cameroon having a ‘mare tonight and getting our the one and only Song back.
March on to Wednesday!
james, stop the poor me poor me bleating.
taylor had plenty of chances, you are a poor football team.
that is the bottom line.
I know it’s a bit boring and possibly verging on the paranoid to bang on about Sky’s coverage all the time, but was I the only one surprised at how uninterested they were in the assault on Fabregas which involved:
Pushing his head into the ground with the shin.
Pushing his face into the ground with the hand.
Pulling his hair.
And all this at the end of an incident that was a clear penalty against Fab4.
Can you imagine how much coverage they would have given that incident if it had been one of the English ‘untouchables’ on the floor (like Gerrard) and a foreign defender (eg Vermaelen) perpetrating the attack.
There would have been a big studio discussion about whether Vermaelen should have been sent off, or if he would now face an FA investigation and subsequent ban.
And Twitch Jnr threw in a considered thought at the end of the coverage: namely that Eduardo is being carried by the rest of the team. For two excellent goal assists long may he continue to be carried…
PS: A winter ale for me please…
James, if you come here more frequently, you’ll find our gaffer ‘Holic is, in fact, a big admirer of the style, attitude and class of play, that Owen Coyle developed with Burnley.
You won’t beat Arsenal by trying to kick them up in the air. As they did today, they’ll just take the piss and put two past you. So, what to do? HOPE – that Coyle can try and have you playing football and not wrestle-rugby. Then you WILL be able to stand back and admire. Burnley managed a draw against us at home with more meagre resources and didn’t need to resort to a mafia vendetta style of play more appropriate to silly Sicily than silly bill Bolton.
Having one of your thugs knee on Cesc’s neck and pressing his face into the pitch won’t get it done. Playing the beautiful game the beautiful way just might. If you can’t, please get relegated. the EPL doesn’t need Mick McManus to beautify it’s beasts.
For wisdom on how to ply, pleae contact The One and Only Arsene Wenger, c/o London Colney.
Jumping Jupiter, my apple keyboard (or is it these eyes of mine?) must be playing up. Please play “what did he mean to say?” with number 16 while I go and polish my John Lennon National Health’s. If that doesn’t work, I’ll give Bill Gates a bell.
Magnificent travelling support??????
Dear oh dear. I didn’t hear a squeak out of you till the first goal went in!
Decent performance from your fellas though. Always a good team to watch. Can’t understand the ‘Bolton Thuggery’ comments. Didn’t think there was a bad tackle from one of our players in the game. Rosicky on the other hand….!
Kudos to Manuel Almunia. He has been really poor of late but he put in a near perfect shift today that will have given the defence some confidence.
Sorry BWFC – the travelling Goons were coming through loud and clear all game long on the telly. There was a sort of high pitched collective roar from your lot during those periods when you were pressing, but that was all…
Fabregas may be good, but he’s a big soft tart, spends more time on his arse………..diving around, whats wrong with you guys. As for noise, sorry guys, again heard you at the atart of the match, then again at the end…poor show, lots of empty spaces in your end, again…Chelsea brought more than you
maybe rockylives could fill one next time?
BWFC and nm, the President of Haiti has even thanked you for your ninety minutes silence today.
Go watch the coverage again.
Can’t get to all the away games so have to choose them carefully. Now let’s think… ManU? Man Citeh? Liverpool? Villa?….. or Bolton? Ahem, not difficult.
Goooooooooooonerholic, dont need to, travelled 600mile round trip to be there……see you at your library
Serious question…are you not a little embarrassed when your players are diving around like fairies? Good players but come on…….
We won’t agree about today fella. Much as I hate Allardyce’s Bolton I wish Coyle no harm. Shock coming your way though when the poor fucker tries to get you playing on the deck and actually passing the ball. Enjoy the ride.
Classy ‘holic.
Who knows, we may even come to love ’em for their pass-and-move game at some unspecified point in the future…
Did not want to answer the question hey! I suspect come the end of the season we will win as many trophey’s as you, the only difference being we dont think we have a devine right to win anything
Do you really want to be known as a good pasing team who wins nothing? honest question
Come back in May fella.
Care to compare who has won what down the years?
Looks like we have a good old fashioned troll here tonight! We may yet end up with as many trophies as Bolton this year nm but unlike you, we’ll at least be in the Premiership next year.
you will find it’s “divine”
have a nice evening.
Play nicely, boys. Thank you.
nm are you a spud?
do you really want to be known as a poor passing team who nearly gets relegated?
NM
No the difference is we won’t be getting relegated… what an embarrasing word, never associated with The Arsenal in it’s entire existence. So go fish!
Back on topic: Was glad to see Arsene play a youngster as DM in his more natural position, rather than an established player out of position (fair to say his hand was somewhat forced by injury though). It would be great if we could rely on Song to play 50 games a season every year but unfortunately that is unrealistic – if he’s not going to buy then it’s good to see the alternates getting a run!
Incidentally how did Diaby do in the last 25 in that role?
jt, he done ok as DM… he had a pretty untidy game until he went back to DM following the withdrawal of the admirable youngster eastmond.
i am baffled le coq has been overtaken so convincingly by eastmond… although it was nice to at least see him on the bench.
i dont watch much youth/reserve action.. but eastmond must have done wonders to get so ahead of le coq, in such a short space of time.
eastmond is more of an elegant positional DM, as opposed to the high energy, hard tackling le coq.
very interesting times ahead.
1. Almunia wasn’t as great today as some may choose to believe – he got a few glares from Gallas and rightly so, because with him you don’t know whether hes coming or going, and neither does the defence. I reiterate that we need to buy or promote from within as regards the goalkeeper situation at our club, because Manuel will always be just the little bit Fawlty.
2. Other than the youthful mistakes, and the fact he doesnt have Song’s frame yet, i thought Eastmond was very very encouraging today. Those mistakes are part and parcel of learning and i know i prefer him immediately to Denilson as regards shielding our defence. Give him less time than Song and Denilson have had, and this kid will be a fantastic backup to Song who will grow into his successor.
3. Bolton are a bunch of wankers. Simply put there is this culture of small minded racism from their fans who believe their long anti football tradition perpetuated by that odious turd allardyce is something to be proud of.
You can see when we were moving the ball around against them that some of our players were in a real hurry to get rid of it – this is because you know one of their dirty ogres is going to come in and show “grit” by breaking somebodys neck.
As long as their fans continue applauding it, and the media continue not to highlight it (as in Taylor’s case) then it will continue and they’ll never be a real football team, which is a pity because Klasnic Cahill and Jaskalinen are class players and they have a manager who knows about football. As for Fabregas “roling around” as some inbreds have put it did you see the guy who rosicky should ave been “sent off” for kicking? – he must have rolled over 14 times.
If cesc highlights boltons GBH by embellishing his fall, then so be it because a yellow or red card for one of their players is the only way hes going to keep his legs intact for the rest of the season. Taylor Davies Knight and all the other trolls belong in the championship where there are plenty of yeti wankers ready to get into a kicking match.
In the premiership we play football.
Fk off back down where you belong you bunch of mugs
Heres to a repeat performance on wednesday, and the long overdue relegation of these muppets.
COYG!
I agree with Darius Stone. I’d rather have Fabianski in goal, but credit where it’s due and not only did Almunia make some outstanding saves, he claimed just about every ball that was crossed into his box.
Funny seeing some Bolton comments on here. Diving fairies blah blah blah. Big soft tarts blah blah blah. But ooh ooh, that nasty man Rosicky almost broke one of our players toe nails??????
I remember a Bolton game a few sesons back. I was enjoying a pre match pint or 2 in the Auld Triangle. There were a few Bolton fans in the pub. No problem at all. I actually got chatting to one of them. I ended up buying him a pint and shaking his hand. He travelled to almost every away game. I was humbled by this great man. I said to him that anyone that goes and watches that shite week in week out is a true supporter. That or he needs sectioning. I had total admiration for the man. I am guessing that he is not one of you that is moaning on here now? And for your info we sold out our allocation of tickets over 2 weeks ago.
Today was a great battling and spirited performance. We are down to the bare bones and I do think that Rosicky was taken off to preserve him for Wednesday. Traore is a worry and it was great to see Clichy back. Diaby I actually thought looked better when he was asked to drop back. Before his passing and control let him down. When he went back I thought he put in a very mature performance.
Eastmond coped with the game well. Eduardo is growing in confidence but we are still light up front. My one fear from today’s game is that if we gave those chances to a Chav or Manc side we are likely to be punished.
With an almost first strength team missing there are many possitives from today. We really aint that far away.
Roll on Wednesday night.
keep the faith.
A nice away win and a moral boosting clean sheet for the lads. Not only does it keep us nicely in the mix for top spot, but it also gives us a healthy gap between us and the new pretenders for fourth place.
A pint of cider for me please sir.
Cheers.
ps Bolton fans commenting about noise levels and atmosphere in stadiums..!?!……………………..Really????????
It`s half way through Monday where I am so my head is beginning to clear.
From all reports the line up was a bit of a surprise selection but it worked.
Merida seems to have thrown down the gauntlet and Rosicky is making his presence felt.
Wednesday is a bit of a concern if Bolton continue in an aggresive frame of mind and a vigilant referee would be appreciated bearing in mind the games that follow.
A win by a Bolt from the boot of Cesc as he waved his Wand majestically. Fairytale stuff.
I agree with previous comment about the top tier teams punishing us if we gave them those sorts of chances like todays. one big mistake we seem to be making lately is not keeping a tight line when were trying to step up for offsides, and we seem to be allowing strikers runs behind us and any clever pass or quality ST will punish us.
the lads also seem to start extremely slowly at the beginning of each half. we need to be the aggressors , set our tempo and style immediately to avoid scrappy bits of play which favors the less talented opposition. theres been many a match this season where we have started sluggishly and have gifted the opposition with a
host of chances.
Sick and in bed today, so this will be short.
Great write-up, both from The Hol’meister himself, the regulars and the newer ones. Even the Boltoners needs some credit for adding some crude form of humor to this here retelling of the game.
I’ll try to touch on a few points previously left (close to) untouched and I do not mean Allardyce’s Private Parts.
First of all – the spirit of the team when it comes to hand-bagging (not night-clubbing, that we do know Bendts is poor at. Bless!)
This team has heard, time and time again, that they can’t handle getting kicked about. That they start to sulk, stop playing. Probably read it in a paper or two and definitely heard it from big lumbering hulks out on the pitch, right after getting their legs kicked of. Now, I’m a man who likes us to spend our 92 or so odd minutes (97 if we’re playing at Old T) scoring goals.
But IF we start getting kicked I must say I’m glad to see the team deal with it pretty much in the way we are at the moment. That is mostly concentrate on playing even better football and score even more goals but also crunch in a few of our own.
Street kid Nasri has showed some real attitude as of late and with him being injured as much I’d almost forgotten how More-CHOPin-than-Little-Mozart loved to get stuck in (Strange I really was under the impression he was made out of glass but now the memories are coming back to me of him actually being some bully at times. Lovely!).
The point is – I do not, like any adult human being, enjoy mindless violence, especially not on a football pitch, but this team is giving back what they get, and not only in personal vendettas, but as a team, they are standing up for each other and this I love to see.
Secondly, Eduardo.
I think the man is right in the beginning of a real purple patch. The similarities with early-season Van Persie are huge at the moment. A few not-so-good-games followed by more and more assists. He is really getting involved in our game now, but mostly with his back towards the goal, perfecting his laybacks and short crosses and we are reaping the goals for that. Soon he will get the balance right and start scoring for real as well (I know he’s had a few but I’m still waiting for those real Eduardo-goals and I’m sure he will get them soon).
Stand by him, supporters, he will come good. He isn’t going missing anymore and that is a huge first step. Now it’s all about getting the ball into the net, and for all of us that has placed a ball into the net from 10 yards, it isn’t that hard, really, is it? It’s not the physical act in itself, it’s just being at the right place at the right time, and that my friends, Eduardo is at the moment.
Some coffee please! Black as Allardyce’s soul.
wow, seems like I might have joined the party a bit late, Arsenal fans are at full tilt already! You are the only team we EVER play who come away whining about how we’ve ‘roughed you up’, literally the only team. Arsenal are undoubtedly a good team but you always come away feeling cheated after you play them, not always by the referee but just in terms of not taking advantage of a relatively weak defence (you could really do with Cahill).
Anyway the main reason I even came onto this article was to see if maybe just once I was going to read an article by an Arsenal fan that wasn’t unbearably smug and rude and to the opposition, obviously that wasn’t the case. I really don’t see the need for Arsenal fans to be such unbearable wankers, you are a big club, you have good players, WHAT are you so bitter about that you have to criticise opponents who are in reality no threat to your title bid or anything to do with you at all really? Classy Arsenal maybe, but the fans (and the players when they dive, which they do by the way, just face up to that one guys) are absolutely classless.
P.S Thought Lee Chung-Yong was a revelation, he is tackling now and has unbelievable teckers.
hmmm, sorry to do an additional post but I just read toby’s latest post and couldn’t let this one slide. He refers to Bolton players as, “big lumbering hulks”! Now could it be the case that he is so badly afflicted with the Arsenal complex (moaning no matter what) that he didn’t even look at the facts before smashing out his ever smug comments? WHICH PLAYERS ARE YOU REFERRING TO?!?!
Apart from the obvious one man wrecking ball that is (super) Kevin Davies, could he have been referring to the behemoth that is Lee Chung-Yong, or perhaps the man mountain Paul Robinson, or how could I be forgetting our resident hard man Ricardo Gardner? In reality toby those days of Allardyce and beating the opposition to death and long over, we’ve had three other managers since then. Anyway, I know I’m fighting a losing battle against Arsenal fans who will always be stuck in their opinions about other teams and fans, good luck with the title bid, maybe winning something will be that thorn out of your side that you need and you might even get some grace out of it… if OC can get us playing a passing game, anything can happen.
Gretski!
Welcome to ‘Holics bar, may I get you a beverage? Sounds like you are going for a bitter but perhaps a lager is more to your fancy? Sorry for the pun there, I really do mean welcome.
First, I’d like to clear up the misunderstanding of the “big lumbering hulks”. I did not at all refer to Bolton or any players of Bolton. I was referring to the the (and this makes it even more funny) misconception of the press that Arsenal are 1) the smallest team around and 2) All other teams got muscle men and 3) that the muscle men always fruitfully kick around the boys. If you haven’t read that the last few years you haven’t read an article about Arsenal. So you see? First of all I meant that our players must be sick of hearing it from lumbering hulks in the past, and then I even said that I don’t even believe this picture to be correct.
What I did say and what I do stand by is that Bolton did try to kick Arsenal. And of course us Arsenal fans aren’t going to take kindly to opposing players pressing down on the neck of our captain? But Arsenal did kick back after a few incidents and I’m all up for calling it even now. Rosicky’s little incident wasn’t pretty but it was coming. ’twas not the act of a saint, but I will continue to hold for true that he stood up to the sinners.
Can we agree on this then? Bolton played “physically” and Arsenal did answer with the same and two goals? Are we on the same page now?
And regarding smug comments about Allardyce, I really did think I’d get the Bolton fans with me on those? Sure, he got you a measure of success but on the other hand, you just sacked his successor for trying pretty much the same thing, in favor of getting a coach that wants you to play football. I really do mean this, good luck with that! I’m sure that with some players you’ve got, some additions and Coyle you might well produce some nice football the coming years.
Lastly, a team blog will always look smug from the outside. That is kind of the point. Here, we have fun, as I bet you do on Bolton blogs. If I ever went over to a Bolton blog, or did throw in a comment on neutral ground, I might well be a tad more polite, but since this is an Arsenal blog (which by the way is very open to fans from other teams as long as they can accept it is an Arsenal blog) I really will not think too hard before posting things that might offend the grandmother of someone in Hull or whatever.
So, what will it be, a lager or a bitter? Cheers
Ps. Lee Chung-Yong did have a good game.
We will agree about one thing, Gretski. Bolton have no big men at all. It’s not big to kneel on the neck of a grounded opponent. It’s not big to kick his head before he can defend himself. It’s not big to pull his hair while he is still prone. In fact those are the actions of a very small man indeed.
You seem to have missed me acknowledging your good start to both halves, and the fact that you had chances of your own. Sorry about that smugness.
I didn’t complain about your tactics, because I accept a side with your obvious limitations will have to resort to the illegal to stop proper sides from playing football, but mentioned the treatment of Fabregas to demonstrate the maturity of one of the games great talents. It was evident to anybody neutral that the home players were taking it in turns to clatter him so as to avoid losing anybody to a red card. That he just got up and made mugs of you all was to his credit.
Welcome, anyway. I’ve no problem with people expressing different views to mine when expressed with reasonable clarity. I’ll resist the urge to be abusive back to you, because actually very few Arsenal supporters are ‘unbearable wankers’.
Ha, fair enough. Just got a bit sick of hearing how we’d been trying to rough you about (tried doesn’t even come into the equation).
I don’t get this whole ‘rough Bolton’ thing though, these are just good, committed, English players (mainly referring to Davies, Muamba, Taylor, Cahill), maybe that’s something that you don’t get if your team is predominantly foreign players. Anyway, round two on Wednesday, to be honest can’t see any points there either. Good luck with the title anyway, anyone who beats United to it is all right in my books, thanks for the well wishing on the whole Coyle era thing.
that was in response to toby by the way
Yes, because Englishmen are, genetically and culturally, more committed than people from the rest of the world?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8464612.stm
Give this man three minutes. I have hardly seen a more committed man, and he can surly give a lesson to everyone (myself included) about how to behave and not let good nor bad expectations get to you.
Seriously, if there is anything Arsenal Supporters are good at, it’s accepting people from all over the world and realizing that we are mostly the same. We all want to succeed, do well, be acknowledged by our peers, improve, live a good life and – oh not get strangled by a knee to the neck.
Bored of you now Gretski. Can’t you Commit (with a Capital C) to staying on Bolton blogs with pure born and breed Englishmen now? God Save The Queen! Seriously, how you can even think about accepting Owen Coyle who is actually from Paisley, Scotland, is beyond me. But I’m guessing that the further north you come the more proper the people?
I’ll take difference in opinion every day and I like to have a proper chat with someone with a different viewpoint than me but I just don’t have the time for small mindedness.
Why on earth would people from other countries, people that have played for Arsenal FC for seasons, living with their families and kids in England, doing what they love for a club that loves them back not be committed? If they aren’t it’s down to personality, not country of origin.
Now sod off.
wow, think i’ll take that offer thank you very much (didn’t realize I was talking to some sort of hysterical psychopath)… anywho, that offer of the Bolton blog sounds nice, where people don’t just flip out. Bydy Bye
Gretski #53…..interesting that you mention Muamba in your list of good ol’ ‘committed’ Englishmen. I’m sure you’re aware where he spent his youth career….??
The history of moaning is simply down to the antics employed by Allardyce…..which, from what I saw in the game yesterday, have still not been forgotten. So you might be on your umpteenth manager since he whistled away from your place but we football fans have pretty good memories. We’re simply wired that way. I’m sure even some of your lot are.
Owen Coyle is, over time, likely to completely change the whole culture at Bolton…..right down to the way you ply your trade on the pitch. By which time, I’m highly confident you’ll begin to see it our way.
Ciao fella 🙂
Almunia did have a solid game – there was one corner conceded where he took his eye off the ball momentarily, but made amends with a confident catch from the resulting corner.
Some earlier comments – and a couple of other blogs yet again try to find more to criticise and mention the Gallas “stare”……just because Gallas tries to shift blame when he makes an error by glaring at Almunia (or other occasions another defender) doesnt mean it wasnt Gallas’s error. On that occasion the ball was way out to the side of the penalty area and Gallas was close to it – clearly his ball – and had Almunia gone wide for it everyone would have questioned what the hell he was doing there. Let’s hope his improving form continues….
Fab was Fab – and other than Traore everyone looked solid, although Eastmond did fade a bit prior to being subbed (but suggestions in some reports eg the Times that he “repeatedly” gave the ball away are hardly consistent with a pass completion rate of 83%, whatever the imperfections of such stats!)
Nicely put Johan. I completely agree re Almunia. Credit where credit is due!
And well put about Eastmond. He faded, but looked generally composed and confident – ridiculously so for a 19-year-old making his PL debut.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen I salute you. I have been pleased with the camaraderie displayed on this blog in the face of such utter tripe. This is more like it!
But, you know and sorry in advance for this ‘holic Bolton really are the biggest bunch of c*nt buckets around. Plan a) kick Fabregas. Plan b) kick him some more. Plan c) did I mention plan A?
Gretski – I wish upon you and your computer the most pernicious malware known to man. See you soon.
Just a thought – Bolton fans having a go at Arsenal travelling support? How many Bolton fans were compensated for missing out on the postponed game?? 300? They could pass the hat around at training for that one..
I had a good laugh reading this report I must say. Great report and great comments too. Great result also!
Totally changing the topic, I found this bit of explosive news today: it looks like our new recruit (Samuel Galindo) has been cheating on his age. According to his passport he is born in 1989 and not in 1992.
flamster heading to man city :0
“Just got a bit sick of hearing how we’d been trying to rough you about”
And I’m sick and tired of hearing how you northerners have bigger balls than we southerners just because your ONLY solution to playing halfway decent football is thuggery and assault.
Just EXACTLY wtf was that CRAP that Taylor was doing against Cesc? Crushing his neck with his knee, trying to kick his head — all while he’s down on the ground. Just because he was making you scumbags look like the football sh!t you are?
Oh my, how BRAVE, how COMMITTED, how MANLY! Takes really big dicks and big balls to kick and injure players WHEN THEY’RE DOWN ON THE GROUND ALREADY STRICKEN.
That’s all you Bolton fans have to use as ammunition — “let’s kick those southern pansies” — that’s it, that’s your entire strategy, you have nothing else.
What sickens me esp. about you Bolton fans and your players is that there are teams in the PL without top class players who’ve beaten us (or at least drawn) PLAYING FOOTBALL — Hull, Boro, Sunderland. They’ve all proven they can give us a hard time, and even beat us, PLAYING DECENT FOOTBALL, and without resorting to persistent brainless thuggery. Heaven forbid you think of any other tactic.
Even that is too much to ask of Bolton, the team whose fans are so few in number on their home ground that they make opposition fans sound like the majority in the stadium (and sometimes they are); the team whose opposition fans invented one of the dummest rituals ever — constant drums punctuated by yelling “cheat! cheat!” every single time an opposition player falls on the ground, totally ignoring your own players when they fall down of course.