Saturday Night’s Alright For Writin’
Jan 29th, 2011 by 'holic
You can probably guess by the time that this preview is hitting the web that it may not be my most lucid piece of work. I am a boxeater steak (no, it’s the shoulder actually!) and several pints of Cornwall’s finest to the wind.
Before going further can I thank everybody for your response to the last blog. Today was difficult, but also rewarding in many ways as memories came flooding back. Sadly I didn’t find the 1930 FA Cup Final programme, but I do now have ‘holicdad’s RAF logbook so can tell you pretty much where he was day by day from 1941-45!
How fitting that Huddersfield, the team we beat to win our very first major trophy in that final, provide the opposition in the fourth round of this season’s competition.
Herbert Chapman guided the Terriers to a hat-trick of consecutive Championship triumphs before taking charge at Highbury and setting the Gunners on the way to repeating that achievement.
You can’t help but feel he would have approved of the strides forward taken by his old club under the reign of monsieur Wenger. The coincidences go on.
Now I can’t tell you very much about the modern day Huddersfield. I’m afraid I haven’t had the time to research them. Lazy ‘holic. I know they are third in League one, have won five away games in the League scoring and conceding twenty goals in the process, and our young prospect Benik Afobe is on loan there but ineligible for this tie.
Historically there is a little in the memory. I reminded you in the week they were our first victims in a League Cup semi-final, back in 1968. The other vivid memory is of a rare defeat there in January 1971 as we were heading for our first double. I can still see Frank Mclintock giving away the critical penalty with a poorly disguised handball at the edge of the area.
I could bleat on again about just making three or so changes from the side that took us to Wembley against Ipswich, but it looks entirely possible there could be more. That must have a bearing on my prediction as I look to land three in a row for the ‘holic pound.
Now we have all seen these games down the years, haven’t we? One of two widely differing outcomes is possible. Should The Arsenal score early, then it could certainly be a drubbing to follow. I have a feeling a side that has done so well in a very competitive division will make life tougher than that.
Add that to maybe a much-weakened home side and you have the potential for a really nervy single goal triumph, with a late goal from a hastily summoned first-teamer from the bench. Bet365 offer a tasty 11-1 against 1-0. Outstanding value that, in my view.
So there you are ‘holics. Tell me what a pessimistic old soak I am this evening, then go and roar the boys on to the crushing victory I should have punted on.
I have a feeling I may be viewing it at a pub in the vicinity of Bristol, but wherever you are watching be patient, be vocal, and enjoy.
Cheers ‘holics.
70 Responses to “Saturday Night’s Alright For Writin’”
Get in!
I wish you all the best and will think of you during tomorrow’s game.
Well played Dazza.
Thanks Adam. Today I think marks the end of a chapter and we can move on.
I hope I’m wrong about the nervous 1-0 too. I could easily be.
Like so many others I was incredibly moved by your previous post, possibly the more so as I read it, late, on Friday afternoon. There was so much I could have written but chose not to mainly I think because I didn’t want to intrude (I know that must sound a bit odd, but hope you understand). I have my Dad, still around in his 80’s, full of stories as yours was, providing a precious link with the Arsenal of a bygone era. And, like you, he brought me up well, in the way of things Arsenal.
On behalf of all those, like me who read your words but were unable to write a response despite wanting to – thank you again for sharing all of that.
Go easy on that West Country ale now (probably too late!!) – it’s an early kick off tomorrow; I think we have sufficient momentum to carry us through with relative ease.
To be honest, I’m more worried about Everton, despite their inconsistency …
All best to you.
‘holic,
Sublime linkages between Huddersfield and the Arsenal via the old mastermind Herbert Chapman and between masterminds of old (Chapman) and new (Wenger). I’m sure the squad that Le Boss sends out will get the job done tomorrow no matter who is sent out so I’ll focus a bit on the league without overlooking Huddersfield too much.
BtM & Snir,
I’ve done a little researching about that ‘gurgler’. Here are the key dates I’ve picked out:
Arsenal:
Apr 16 Liverfool (H)
Apr 30 ManU (H)
??? Spuds (A)
ManU:
Feb 12 ManC (H)
Mar 01 Chelsea (A)
Mar 06 Liverfool (A)
Apr 30 Arsenal (A)
May 07 Chelsea (H)
We certainly have the more favourable remaining schedule no doubt. Also notice how close together some of the key matches are for ManU and that three of them are on the road while we have just one of these key matches on the road. ManU have a very interesting stretch coming up that sees them playing three staight EPL matches on the road (beginning on Feb 26 at Wigan and ending with that game at Liverfool). I believe a lot of folks out there, but not on this site, severely underestimate The Arsenal’s EPL championship chances.
TvN
In addition, ‘holic Nation, please note that that three game road EPL stretch for ManU will take place within the span of 9 days. I can hear that gurgler rumbling up now. And I can hear it loud and clear from across the pond no less.
TvN, But we had a “favorable” schedule last season too, but we spectacularly fucked it up..when it mattered.
I wont buy into the easy schedule thing ..as we found out against WBA etc.. there are no easy games in the Premiership.
Man Utd are firm favorites to win the title though. Everything is going for them.
i think the swings of 1-0 to a drubbing are about it. clean sheet on our end should be likely, regardless of how well our front six play. almunia in goal, anyone? hmmm, maybe not.
cheers, ‘holic, and an afternoon sierra nevada celebration ale for me, please.
3 in a row ? Now I’m confused, I was convinced Robin had let you down in the end last Saturday.
Nightcap for me please
One-nil to the Arsenal will make me nearly as happy as you ‘holic as I won’t have a pound on that or any other score, the management being quite parsimonious chez bt8bbnn. But is this the week for a virtual bet on Arshavin to score on a 35-yard screamer?
Ollie knows. The most industrious sub-editor on the web is correct. I got Leeds and Ipswich bang on. Wigan went pear-shaped.
Did I not say third cup-tie ‘holic pound in a row ? 😉
Here’s a little Herbert Chapman history on this FA Cup tie. Chapman won the FA Cup with our opponent, Huddersfield Town, in 1922. Then, in 1930, Chapman won the FA Cup with Arsenal against Huddersfield Town 2-0.
Sajit & other ‘the bottle’s half fullers’,
I never said the schedule is easy and points can be dropped by any team anywhere. But there is no doubt that our schedule is more favourable than ManU’s and that the reds have been devilishly lucky quite often this campaign.
Ya gotta believe ‘holic Nation! And Arsene’s favourite word is ‘belief (with French accent)’.
Evening or morning shall I say Holics,
1:0 is a very interesting prediction Holic, I’m thinking we will go with a side that hasn’t played together that much and that includes Diaby too. I wonder where I should put my money for this one?
All the best to you and your family fella, we’re behind you all the way!
Now come on you Reds!
Ah nothing about bottle being half full or half empty here. 🙂
all Im saying is that the momentum is with Man Utd. When you are on a run , the kind of run they are on, there is real self belief within the team.
The longer the run goes, the players fihgt harder to remain unbeaten.
I wont put it all down to luck, they’ve been up against the wall at times but they have come through..
I hate them. I really do. But credit where its due.
Having said that, I dont mind them going unbeaten…as long as we win the title 😀
Weird, I’d sooner they were beaten. I think out unbeaten season should be unattainable by anyone else. Cheers ‘holic, would love to have a read of your Dad’s RAF log book some day.
My guess is that the team that plays on Sunday will be very different to the one that plays on Tuesday evening. Must admit, I wish we did not have so many out on loan. It would have been nice to see some of the kids get an airing in a game like this. But needs must I guess.
I think your 1 nil is slightly pessimistic Holic. I am going for a 3 nil win with a home tie against the O’s to follow.
Keep the faith.
Agreed. I think the team selected will look a lot like the team we had @ Wigan during the festive period. A veritable B team if you like. But a league game being so close after today’s (just 1 day’s rest) necessitates squad rotation. If the B team can’t beat a third tier side at home then we quite honestly don’t deserve to advance. No excuses and no replays this time.
Cheers ‘holic! All the best mate.
Just a side point – Young Afobe must be well thought of to be sent out on loan at just 17. I’m sure we normally keep hold of them at that age? Maybe he has been earmarked for rapid promotion?
Anyone know how he has been doing?
Harsha – glad you enjoy the posts, although must say that you clearly have a low satisfaction threshold! Morning here, lunch for you, so you may hel yourself on my account….
We’d win 3-0.Arshavin will play rubbish bt he’ll assist one and score one.read ur last post and was moved.u guys dont know how lucky u r to b english and have a heritage lyk dat.My dad only plays draughts…and most pple in nigeria r weekend fans.is there any ‘holic nation on any social network?
I’m going 16.zip as Chippys feeling Chirpy 😉 on a serious note 3.1 !!
Not you, Nasri.
NOT YOU!
This rotation business (though understandable this time with the game on Tuesday) really doesn’t suit us huh. We’re through at least, though some costly injuries/suspensions.
Afternoon ‘Holic & ‘Holics,
Good job ‘Holic especially considering the difficult circumstances. I’m sure you’re right, Chapman would have been very approving of Arsene and the continuation of his pioneering ways.
This afternoon was ugly and showed some obvious weaknesses but how often have we been complaining that we can’t win ugly like Manure do all the time? Well, we just did and we beat a very decent team, in high cup form, with 10 men who haven’t had the opportunity to play together and click as a team in the heat of battle.
A word of thanks for Almunia too please who came in after a long “rest” but managed to keep us in this tie – well played sir and gracias!
A victory is a victory so let’s at least raise a glass to the 5th round of the FA Cup and still being in contention for 4 pieces of silverware.
Let’s also drink to a speedy recovery for Nasri and pray for no injuries to DJ or Kos! 😉
RVP,
It’s a blow to lose Nasri, no doubt but we have options there.
Thank god DJ & Kos are still fit for Everton otherwise we’ll be looking at Song to fill-in.
Looking forward to a fine exhibition of first-team Wengerball on Tuesday 🙂
Get in.
Immensely happy.
No Nasri for Barca – Devastating.
Did Fabregas actually kiss the crest today? Well , I sure dont know what to make of that.
Snir, right now lets jsut think about Everton. And Nasri alone may not have made the difference. If all 11 of them play well, there is no reason why we cannot beat Barca..
Sajit @ #31
I’m with you on that. Time for the little Russian maybe to regain his top form and step-up to the plate (as we say in England)?
IMHO, The first team without Nasri (still be be confirmed BTW) but with an on-form Arshavin (or Rosicky) firing on all cylinders has a decent chance to beat Farca over two matches.
Not the prettiest of wins but great to respond to adversity as we did and good games for AA, EE. As Arsene said postmatch we have only 48 hours but it’s easier to recover after a win. Always looking on the bright side of life … Barman a tempranillo please in honour of our Catalan maestro, and more for all in the bar.
I hate this..just when you need all your influential players available for big clashes we get an injury like this.
Get well soon Samir!
Denilson and Eboue have become very poor. I am worried Eboue will be in real trouble against Barca..
“I have a squad with 25 players of same quality” – Funny how Arsene says that with such authority and confidence…
A win is a win…I’ll drink to that
Wow! What a tackle by Arahavin! He was good today, he’s regaining his sharpness and was IMO our best player.
As for Bendtner, he missed three ou four sitters a CF shouldn’t waste. Even the goal was lucky. I really hope he becomes more consistently clinical, as we can’t afford to miss all those chances against tougher opposition.
As for Eboué…well suffice to say that he IS Eboué.
Anyway, a victory is a victory, and you don’t hear the nance complaining when their team grinds out a scrappy win, otherwise they’d be complaining all the time 😉
Come on Arsenal! Come on Arshavin!
Bloody hell! So many typos. Thank you iPhone keyboard, and thank you Erdinger.
When I saw Nasri’s name in the line up, I felt physically sick, and my nausea was well justified. It wasnt worth the risk, Roscisky could have started and if everything turned to rat shit, bring on the big guns after 55 minutes (although Wenger seems to prefer to wait for 65 minutes).
Even though his final ball was off, at least Arshavins work rate was way up there. That was a vital defensive tackle he put in. Surely its only a matter of time before he regains his form.
Bendtner, not good, wasted three great chances?
I thought Almunias save from that header was great, he did ok considering he was out for so long.
Hope we get Brighton in the next round coz thats where I live.
Holic ’til the end.
Need a clarification Holics. Wenger said SS is out for 3 games? How is that?
I thought it was 1 game ban for a professional red card and 3 games for red cards because of physicality?
@Stoneroses
I hear what you’re saying, but there’s always going to be a dilemma. If we rotate too much, and say if we had rested Nasri fir this game, some fans would argue that we rotate too much, and ar either being overprotective of our players or downright disrespectful to our opponnents. Whereas if we don’t rotate much, this is what can happen.
Whatever Wenger does, he’s always taking a risk.
well – away to the O’s – my dad would have been pleased
lucky manure hosting Crawley
@RVP
Its my nature to be risk aversion.
Away to Orient, I say rotate everyone!
Good luck to Brighton, they will try to play football while Stoke kick the shit out of them.
Away to the Os? terrific draw!
A school-friend of mine was an Os supporter so used to go to with him to a few games at Brisbane Road (aka the sh*thole) back in the day when Glen Roeder (spelling?) was their best player.
So, looks like Manure and us are both going to go thru’ but this is the FA Cup so who knows?
I have a feeling that we’ll meet the Red Mancs in the semis or the final this year.
COYRRRs
Sajit @ #38
It was a straight red
TS – Wenger was wrong.
It’s 1 game out.
It’s a proffesional foul. 3 games out is for violent behaviour.
@ StoneRoses #37,
It’s way too easy for us armchair managers to criticise on that point.
If Nasri’s hammy was about to tear it would have happened sooner or later anyway. Would it be better for it to happen in training or vs Everton? Then he’d be even more likley to miss the Farca match(es). Le Boss admitted it was a gamble that failed. IMHO, with all the rotations today we needed the class of Sami in midfield to help us beat Huddersfield and so IMHO it was a good call to start him.
Raise a glass with me to a speedy recovery?
Snir
Delighted to be corrected for better news. Thanks!
Whoops, The Neighbours!
Hilarious 🙂
Sajit, I don’t mind concentrating on Everton but I definitely feel we should be able to beat Everton at home without Nasri, that goes for Newcastle away and Wolves at home as well.
As for Barca, he’s a very key member, in both sides of the pitch, he’s in better attacking form than AA and he help Clichy much more in defense (and that’s Messi’s side :\).
The Barca game is 17 days from now, I have a feeling he’ll play.
Fulham 3-0 vs you know how.
Get in.
@true storey
Hmm, its gone 5 pm. Certainly time to toast a glass of amber to Samirs hamstring.
Nasri’s injury is obviously the major disappointment today – of all our players, only Cesc would have been a greater miss.
Whilst we contributed to it, you have to give credit to our visitors today who played very well I thought , particulary after we went down to 10 men.
We showed a lot of spirit to go on and win, in the circumstances, again a sign that our team are developing their mental strength.
Glad to be in the draw, wanted a home tie, but could have been worse I suppose.
And just listening on BBC to the description of the 1st half performance by those LWCs is just making this round of the cup one to savour. 🙂
Playing 5 a sides in an hour barman, so just a mineral water for me. A pint on my account for all the other regulars though 🙂
I have the feeling there’ll be a fire drill in the away end at Craven Cottage. at half-time.
😀
4 nil – ha ha
Delightful spud smashing half by our West London agents … C’mon the Fulham!
Juss back from ‘t Emirates which was well filled with tykey types.
Decent support they were, if a little unaware of the laws of the game at times.
We were singing oft and loud at Mark Battenberg “you don’y know what you’re doing” , but after ‘Uddersfeeeld and Leeeds of late, could we maybe try “we don’t know what you’re singing”.
Am I the only one who can’t understand them?
Still after many strange refereeing decisions and some decent fight by most of the Arsenal team – Denilson excepted – Huddersfield were unable to have their cake and eat it, when Captain Cesctastic showed lesser protagonists of the art, how to convert a penalty with a shuffly, stumbly run-up.
Too many changes made hard work of what should have been a much easier job – let’s hope Na Na Na Na etc recovers for Barca – hopefully the selections will be vindicated against the Toffee puddings an Tuesday evening.
It remains only for me to thank the chap who sits next to me at ‘t Emirates, for letting me in on the fact, pre kick-off, that he used to go out with a girl from Huddersfield.
This, of course, allowed me the chance to reply that “she wasn’t very good looking, but she did like her udders feeled”.
Right, well, I’ve now been regionalist and sexist, and at the end of this of all weeks, I’m probably about due to be thrown out.
Trev you may deserve the sack but I laughed anyway. Ladies and especially those of the lovely Yorkshire persuasion, please pardon my good natured friend.
Harsha and RVP’s right foot @#34 AND 35, Eboue looked to me like one of our better players today. Where did he go wrong in your eyes?
Trev, I agree about Denilson he needs to do much better. At times in the past he and Diaby looked great together but they both need games and barring numerous injuries where are they going to get enough this season?
Can anyone explain to me why Lansbury and Ramsey are on loan and we get left with Denilson he’s hopeless At least with Gus we could see he was trying 🙂 What a strange game but we are through and that’s all that matters at the end of the day and we got a nice draw. Let the run continue 😉
Today’s Squillaci red card just shows we are taking a huge risk by not buying a center back cover for Djourou and Koscielny. At the end of the season it will be hard to swallow if we miss out on a trophy because we don’t want to spend money on this transfer window.
Chippy – good point re Lansbury; he would be ideal cover across the midfield. If not now, when?
I like Denilson, but he has gone backwards this season, I feel. A shame.
TV5,
If not a centrehalf I’d like to see another big DM bought in as if the worst did happen and Song did need to play at the back at least we’d have adequate cover in Midfield.
CG,
Just seen a wenger interview saying him and JET maybe recalled, From what I’ve heard and the little I’ve seen he’s having a very good run and in my view would at least bring the energy and a tad more tenacity than the Brazillian delivers.
HeHe good to see Adebayors Madrid carear has got of to a losing start not sure how big madrids dressing room is but it must be fairly large to fit Mourinhos and Adebayors egos in it 😉
Was just about to say the same Chippy!
Glad to be able to see both Mourinho, Adebayor and Ronaldo be depressed all at the same time. Still got a soft spot for Özil though.
I, well – WE, Surely will miss Na na na na, but we’ve got enough players fit at the moment to be able to survive without him a couple of weeks. If we can hang in there, which we can with Walcott, Persie and Cesc firing, he will only be fresher for it come Mars.
I won’t let anything get to me on a day we went through to the quarter finalsin the FA-cup, with everything still to play for, with Spurs losing by 4 goals and Man City drawing.
Oh and Adebayor getting the start he deserves.
Chippy
I see you point but I wish AW had spent the money for a centerhalf cover than break the midfield trio that is working so well. Of course the boss may prove us all wrong as he did with the goal keeper
issue.
what a cracking weekend, 2 great nights out involving plenty of alcohol & great company, Gunners safely through to a 5th round tie which SHOULD see us reach the QF’s, Stratford Hotspur crash out in humiliating fashion, only 2 days till my next visit to the blackstock arms N5, & hopefully another 3 pts vs the sock robbers from the north west;
all in all a very satisfying weekend. And to top it all, Arshavin puts his friggin foot in where it hurts and makes a goal saving tackle, miracles never cease!!
just hoping sami recovers quickly & Aaron gets a recall, or is that too much to ask!
Oh, and of course, we’re in the last 16, not in the QF:s. Got a bit over-enthusiastic there!
Slighty (and when I say that I mean quite) drunk now, been downing pints since 10 in the morning – but we won and my bad run has ended!
True Storey: funnily enough, I was thinking the same re: Nasris injury. It would most likely have happened in the next game anyway since that is only 48 hours away. I don’t hold that one against Wenger at all.
It is both a worry and a joy to see how the whole team gets more confident the second Cesc steps on the pitch (and also the fear he instills in the opponents). It took him about three seconds to create an opportunity and all of a sudden Rosicky looked almost like a footballer again. But why can’t the rest of the team be confident without him? This is getting increasingly (and worryingly) like Thierry Henry in his last two seasons, you know the “oh, it’s not working today – just give it to Henry and he’ll sort us out” thing. We can’t have that, don’t just let Cesc do all the work!
And while I generally don’t like to whine too much about referees – what kind of drugs were Mark Wankerburg on today??? Squillaci gets a red when there is everything but an obvious goal-scoring opportunity 30 yards out, but when Bentner is brought down when he is just about to roll the ball into the net from less than 10 that’s only a yellow??? And what about bringing Cesc down when clear through and just over 16 yards to go??? Fucking hell, I could just not believe my eyes! But my favourite moment was when he blew his whistle to give Hudds a free-kick just after we had gone ahead again and both teams just looked at him going “now what???”. The tell-tale sign of a really, really bad ref is when not one player on the pitch understands his decision.
Fucking wanker. Sorry about the language, but you have to call things by their proper names sometimes.
And a big fuck you to the Hudds fans (which actually was about 99% of them) who cheered when Nasri was injured. I mean, yeah, if he had been taunting them or behaved like a prick towards them in any way I could have understood it but he had done absolutely nothing to them. To see them standing there going “cheerio” and wawing made my blood boil. Unless the injured player is Cashley Cunt (or said player has been acting like a cunt all game) you just don’t do that. And even then it is bordering on the forbidden.
Arshavin still has a long way to go before finding his form again, but you can’t fault his effort today. And the way he tracked back to prevent an almost certain goal was really, really nice to see. Great awareness there, and despite being so, so out of form he is now working incredibly hard to find his feet again.
There’s probably a lot more I can say but now I shall go surfing the web to catch up on what else has happened today. In particular, I shall go to, for example, http://www.guardian.co.uk/football to see if that game I saw on the telly at the Golden Heart pub (just off Commercial Street down near Brick Lane, a nice place – they had John Smiths Extra Smooth on tap which is always a plus in my eyes) really was for real. I mean surely, Fulham can’t have walloped the almighty Spudians 4-0??? Nah, that can’t be – they have The Magnificent Twitchy managing them and I’ve been told by the media for years that they are better than the Arsenal so that was probably only in my mind.
Mr Barman, a pint of John Smiths please!
Mr barman, I want whatever Lars has had today 😀
Lars & Trev,
T’riffic match reports both of you. Really enjoyed reading them for very different reasons.
Trev, great humour, I doubt anyone would be really offended by that. Keep up the good work ee by gum lad!
Lars, what happened to you??? Hugely offended by your gratuitous expletives 😉 Should we meet after the Everton match we’ll get along just fine. If the Huddersfiled supporters were cheering when Nasri went off then they are indeed a bunch o’ flat cap wearing, whippet worrying, Northern C*nts and f*ck them! Oh, and Mark Battenburg, f*ck you too – heh!
TV5, stand firm, have faith and we can all judge things properly at the end of May. There has to be a plan in place. Buying-in players, unless there is an emergency doesn’t seem to be our way anymore…. I don’t understand it anymore than you but I want to see what happens between now and the summer before I make my mind up.
Barman, drinks for these fine Gooneers and for all the other usual suspects please too, ta!