They Won The League In Black And White
Jan 3rd, 2008 by 'holic
The beauty of the first week in January is that we can put the Premiership to one side for a week and concentrate on the domestic cup competitions. It is an added attraction for us to be anticipating the fielding of two completely different sides in those competitions.
Given the importance of the FA Cup, and the quality of the opponents , we will obviously be fielding a stronger side at Burnley in Sunday’s televised contest. The younger squad members proved last year that they have enough in the locker to see off the opposition in the Carling Cup semi-final!
All joking aside, the similarities between the clubs we will face in the coming week are striking. They secured their second, and last, League titles a year apart at the start of the sixties. Both found themselves relegated in the seventies, although it is fair to say Burnley didn’t handle the reversal in fortunes too well, and when automatic relegation was introduced from the old fourth division in the eighties the Clarets needed a last day reprieve to avoid the unthinkable drop to the Conference.
There is one other striking similarity. Neither club has beaten us in this century, although to be fair to Burnley they have not had the opportunity to play us since 1975!
The Turf Moor club are currently not enjoying the best of form. They are without a win in six games and crashed 3-0 at Blackpool in their most recent outing, but a look at the squad reveals a host of familiar names. As well as the likes of Gabor Kiraly, David Unsworth, John Harley, Robbie Blake and Ade Akinbiyi, the squad also includes former young Gunner John Spicer.
Arsenal will include Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue before the pair depart for the African Cup of Nations, and it is likely that Manuel Almunia, William Gallas, and Gael Clichy will be rested.
There will obviously be more team news coming tomorrow so I will keep my powder dry on the ‘holic prediction until then.
Gilbert Is Back
Sky are reporting that Kerrea Gilbert is returning from his loan spell at Southend. Following Cardiff last season it is the second spell away from the club that hasn’t quite worked out for the young full-back who looked so good a couple of years ago.
At this stage it is not clear if he is returning to the fold or perhaps another loan option is being sought. Whichever of those options, I hope Kerrea makes the right choice and knuckles down. He has too much talent to waste.
3 Responses to “They Won The League In Black And White”
Kerrea seems to have developed some kind of bad attitude (so it seams), hopefully he’ll grow out of it.
He’s kinda short tho, ain’t he, ‘holic?
I lived in Burnley for a couple of years at the end of the 80’s. I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for them. Watching them play Blackburn was good fun, their fans are similar to ours, they enjoy taking the p**s. Not thick and continuously missing the point like Manure fans.
Don’t wish them any luck at the weekend, but apart from that I do.
Gilbert is a bit of a tragedy. The lad looked like he would break into the Arsenal side, but we now have enough RBs in Sagna and Eboue. This is the 2nd season in a row, with problems for Gilbert – he apparently went AWOL when on loan with Cardiff, and now this tiff with the Southend manager. I’m sure this will not be looked at kindly by Banfield, Rice & Wenger.