Last Time We Get The Best Porcelain Out For That Shower
Nov 9th, 2015 by 'holic
The pre-match slight whiff of tension was palpable. A police presence outside the pub and queues to get in. Those squashed inside relayed the news of Villa’s draw with Citeh. “Win today and we go top”.
Inside the ground a more sombre tone was rightfully set as the dead of past conflicts were remembered. The whistle introduced the latest North London derby, and almost immediately the neighbour-for-the-day spotted Mathieu Flamini warming up. It transpired that Santi Cazorla had fallen ill before the match, and in fact after he was unwell again at half-time so was replaced by Flamini for the second-half.
That is one explanation for the grip that Tottenham were able to exert on our midfield. The visitors, it has to be said, controlled the match for long stretches, but fortunately for us they lack something up front, an end product to the pretty patterns they tried to produce. Sound familiar?
They got the lead they deserved when, for the second time in a week, we attempted a suicidal offside trap. On Wednesday Gabriel was the culprit, and this time it was his replacement, Laurent Koscielny. Kane was left to latch on to Rose’s through ball and slot it inside Petr Cech’s far post.
After the break the introduction of Flamini gave us a foothold in midfield and a more even contest ensued. Joel Campbell and Eriksen traded near misses before the first of a pair of headers from Olivier Giroud flicked against the crossbar. Mesut Ozil was becoming a significant force and from one of his corners Giroud headed wide and the crowd audibly strangled screams of delight for what should have been the equaliser.
It was one of those days for the Frenchman, and he deserved a goal for the way he battled with Vertonghen and Alderweireld throughout. The latter brought a fine save out of Petr Cech from a corner after the Arsenal ‘keeper had denied Eriksen again. It was starting to look as though it was Tottenham’s day, and certainly I cannot recall seeing a better performance from the visitors at our place for many a moon.
Surprisingly, although this derby was not as combustible as some down the years, only one yellow card was brandished all match, to Lamela. Some might offer congratulations to Martin Atkinson, although others were somewhat confused by his failure to deal with the serial offender that was Dembele. It is a sign perhaps that Arsenal lacked that combative edge we have come to expect in this fixture?
Arsene sent on Kieran Gibbs for, somewhat surprisingly, Campbell. A weary looking Alexis was sent to the right flank and Gibbs slotted into the left. All of a sudden Tottenham were on the back foot. Ozil, pick of the Gunners midfield, sent a delicious cross to the far post and Gibbs, of all people, was on hand to beat the scrambling Lloris. Arsenal definitely finished the stronger with Giroud, having one of those days, hitting one over the bar and forcing another save from Lloris.
And then it was over. It was a strange feeling too. Most back at the pub agreed Tottenham had been the better side for more of the contest, but we had spurned the better chances to win it. So an air of relief that we had got a ‘come from behind’ point was tempered by the frustration that we might have really riled them by nicking all three points instead of just one.
Then of course there was the photo they sent around on social media sites before kick-off. It isn’t the first time they have done it at our place. In fact it is every time they visit that some degree of damage is caused to the toilets and seats. Yes I know some of our idiots tore down a £200 cardboard hoarding at their place, but think of the timing and scale of this latest piece of pure vandalism. Before the kick-off. They forced their own to wallow in their own filth for the rest of the match, and landed their club with yet another massive repair bill. Mindless morons. Say no more.
108 Responses to “Last Time We Get The Best Porcelain Out For That Shower”
Cheeky first?
I’ll be first then and quickly say that I mostly agree with Homer in the last drinks.
UTA.
First, second, meh. Well in GSD.
UTA.
Cheers H
Could’ve done with your wisdom at the point that rum entered into proceedings. Some bad influences yesterday weren’t restricted to the Swampies.
A point gained – thank god for the interlull (for once).
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/480/amz/vivo/live/images/2015/11/9/tweet-663651301021122560-2.jpg
Just a reminder!
Time to put CCTV in the bogs and ban the culprits for life.
Not sure how much wisdom remained by the time I departed Dr z. Rum is never a good idea, particularly as the short of choice at the end of a long day! 🙂
Gibbs and Flamini changed the game. Props to Wenger for those unlikely super substitutions.
Also props to Martin Keown for being the ONLY pundit to praise our “stubbornness” – We just refused to lose a game that in all honesty we should have lost…that is “Championship Quality” in other teams according to the media but never gets applied to Arsenal.
“Quality of Champions” ^
Cheers for the report H.
This game provided me with one of the oddest football-watching experiences that I have had in a long time. I warn you all that my report is a LONG one. I dedicate it to Wind.
I was out in the sticks. In a small town in the English countryside. I had to delay my return to the big smoke as it would have left me traveling during the game. So I entered the local pub with the Sky Sports signs in the windows. I made my way to the bar just as the teams were being shown. As I waited to be served I was greeted by a slightly drunken pair of middle-aged women at a table and their embarrassed mid-twenties companion. I said hello but did not volunteer much to the conversation, only being there for the football. But they stood up and came over anyway. They started asking to play with my hair (not a usual style in the middle-of-nowhere) and began a series of clumsy insinuations that it was their mate who would really like to do so. She cringed into her drink. What are mates for, eh?
I was able to buy some crisps and a (soft) drink and gently moved away from this unecpected attention to find a space in the corner to stand and watch the big projector-screen thingy. High tech indeed. A woman at the table next to me asked if I ‘was the band?’ Err, no. I’m just here for the football.
After about ten minutes an old boy went past to go outside for a smoke. He paused when he saw me and came over. He introduced himself as Mike. We shook hands and I gave my name. He then gave me an intense stare and said “I saw you, and I can always tell like-minded.” I nodded and smiled and wondered what the hell he was on about. Presumably it was an Arsenal reference as I thought I heard him cry something about ‘go on you gunners’ earlier. I couldn’t be sure and I had nothing Arsenal-related visible on my person. He followed up by gesturing down at his clothes (he looked like a spark or plumber on the job) and said “you couldn’t tell now ‘cos I’m on the road, but I can always tell like-minded.” He went off for his fag. I stared, slightly dazedly, at the match and tried to re-focus on what I was actually seeing.
The women went past for a smoke, tittering. The leader turned and told her younger mate “It’s alright Soph, he’s still here!” Soph looked mortified and managed to look up at me and say “I’m really sorry.” I smiled. Then carried on watching the match.
By now it was clear that Mike was a Gooner as he began shouting more animatedly at the TV. It was not a high level of analysis. Every time we committed a clear foul he screamed the air blue that it was ‘never a foul.’ He opined many a time during the game that we can ‘do everything apart from score a bloody goal’ and exhorted our boys to ‘give me an effing goal’ (he did use the proper words). He asked me why we could do everything apart from score and was quelled slightly when I replied that we hadn’t looked much like scoring yet today but I was hardly worried it was a long term trend given we had scored three in our last three league games.
It was at this point that the barman came over to the table I had moved to and asked me if I minded moving as he had to move the table to ‘setup for the band.’ Okay. No problem sir. I went to sit at Mike’s table, the pair of us sandwiching the old gent who had been intermittently mumbling and shouting into his own pint since I arrived. Soon after he said something unintelligible to me which caused Mike to tell him to “shut-up you daft old fart.” He said nothing and supped serenely at his ale. A few minutes later after a couple more awkward and self-conscious sallies past me from the ladies (who seemed to assume that I stopped watching the football and studied them Attenborough-style every time they exited for a cig) Mike went over to the steamy window saying “I just have to clean this window” and winking inexplicably at me. I wondered if he was a window cleaner. But no. He wiped it clear with his forearm and carried on grinning at me as he exited the building. A moment later his face appeared at the other side of the now transparent window, a fag nestled contentedly in his jaw and a huge grin spread over his face at the ingenuity which had led to his not missing any more of the match than necessary. Fair play.
Whilst he was outside the gent next to me said audibly “daft old fart, eh?”. I chuckled politely, unsure what response was expected of me in this Royston Vasey community. Mike returned shortly after and came over to me, asking me who I wanted to win the match. My reply of Arsenal earned me another grin and another handshake. I was now even more confused as to what he had been on about earlier. In what way was I like-minded? How scared should I be?
Some geezer came in had a conflab with the barman then disappeared. He came back a few minutes later with some sort of sound equipment and began shuffling it about. The band had arrived. So had half-time. I picked up my bag and left the pub. I needed some fresh air.
I returned for the second half. As I resumed my seat the old boy next to me ranted loudly to himself about whether it was five o’clock yet or not. I had no idea what the significance of this might be so I kept schtum. More sound equipment filled the space to my left and some goth/rocker types had begun to fill in. Baggy jeans, Maiden tee-shirts, piercings and died black hair. Country living can be very polarizing as all the teenagers pick a category and then you’re either in or you’re out. So they stick with their choice come hell or high water. Even when visiting Leicester.
Three of them went to sit in front of the projector-screen but, as much I felt it was bad bar etiquette, I was playing away so I said nothing. They were mostly under it anyway. A few minutes in to the second half one of them started making shadow puppets. I shouted something at him including the phrase ‘behave yourself.’ He apologised and deceased. Now two away teams were one-nil up.
After about an hour of the match the geezer with the guitar standing about six feet to my left in the area that had now become ‘the stage’ leant into his mic and introduced himself as someone-or-other. He then informed us that he was starting with a Jimi Hendrix song before launching into ‘All Along the Watchtower.’ Which is not a Jimi Hendrix song. I sat, amazed, as I looked from the side of the room over to the other side where the match was on while simultaneously the bloke at the front of the room performed loud rock music to the appreciative patrons who had slowly been filling up the back of the room. Until this point I had foolishly thought that the start of his set would coincide with the end of the derby. You know what they say about assumptions. Next in this carnival of insanity came a barmaid who I had not seen up till this point who tried to shout over the noise to those of us still determinedly watching the footie that she was packing up the projector but that there was still a screen at the other end of the pub, by the bar. Of course there was. Right next to my favourite table of ladies.
So I decamped that way and pretty soon Gibbs had scored. I let off some steam in my enthused celebrations. So did a few others. After calm had been restored one of my, now fully drunk, lady friends turned and asked me if I was an Arsenal fan. Indeed I am, Sherlock. She then decided that she would show solidarity by becoming the most die-hard Gooner she could be for the next twenty minutes. This mainly involved a lot of unintelligible screaming through a pair of lungs substantially better equipped for the task than I would have guessed. Her younger mate, who to be fair was perfectly pretty in a small-town-spends-a-lot-of-time-at-the-salon-trying-to-achieve-the-magazine-look sort of way was engaged in an amusing dance between checking me out and trying to ignore the increasingly lude suggestions of her partners-in-Sminoff-Ice.
Then a Spuds fan with a London voice came over drunkenly and told me that he had no grudges against Arsenal, despite his own allegiance, as ‘I’m a football fan and they play good football’. I graciously accepted this compliment on behalf of all Goonerdom and did not mention a single one of my own feelings about his club. He then asked me if I knew what had most annoyed him about our equaliser. I confessed my ignorance, eyes locked all the time on the screen. He then told me (and at this point I will confirm that all of this is true) “Well your player who just scored is Kieran Gibbs. And my name is Kieran Brown, so we’re both Kierans and that just winds me up. Easily the most annoying thing about that goal.” I turn to look into his eyes and see a man completely in earnest. It takes all sorts.
Just as I began to question my own sanity, what I was doing in my life, indeed, the very nature of existence itself, I felt a squeeze on my shoulder in what I could tell was a make-or-break moment. I turned to see my old man smiling at me. “Good. Your lot have scored.” I felt the relief flood through me. At last I had an ally against this grim horde. He bought a pint I and positioned him between me and my lady-friends. He raised an eyebrow as he heard some of their lines but wisely did not comment. He gave me his eyes for a moment. Sometimes a look really is worth a thousand words.
At this point the die-hard gooner (for twenty minutes, anyway) decided that she was not getting a good enough view from her seat and went to stand in front of the only screen in the room. It was an amazing performance. I have rarely seen anyone expend so much physical energy living and breathing every moment of the game. Like Steve Bruce on Billy Whizz she was. People would have paid good money in an exercise class to be lead on such a varied and energetic set of movements. I doubt there was a muscle in her body that didn’t feel the strain as she ducked and jumped and swivelled and side-stepped. Thank God she didn’t have her drink in her hand or she would probably have started a mass brawl.
The final whistle went. Me and the old man bee-lined for the exit. We left with our belongings and, just about, our sanity. As other commentators have observed, if from a slightly different standpoint, ‘Given the circumstances, I’m happy with a draw…’
I am not sure of the quality of champions part, not based on yesterday’s performance. Agreed on the stubbornness, borne more out of desperation but thats the only thing we can console ourselves with.
We were average, no two words about it and it maybe because of fatigue, injuries and what not but it was clear that we did not turn up. The word lethargic summed up our first half performance. The goal was a result of yet another Per Mertesacker’s positioning mistake as well as Kos trying to play the off side line. Per i am sorry that i am repeating myself is not the player he was. His zeal to the game seem to be over after the world cup win. It is impossible to expect him to be quick but at times it is pedestrian and that in the league is suicidal.
Campbell left a lot to be desired but it is too early to judge him. Yesterday was one of those days wherein he along with a lot others were just not in the game.
What hurt me was spurs played the way they were expected to, we did not know how to break them. The apparent lack of pace was evident and bellerin and theo were glaring absentees. Ramsey’s industry was missed as always but it just was a game wherein we did not have the hunger to win the game at all cost. The reason i feel this was 2 points dropped than a point gained is because the injuries are piling up, the fixture list will bunch up and we have the dreaded december coming up. The points gained now will be the insurance to the ones we are likely to drop during that time. Yes so will other teams but they have a better backup than ours.
The break has come at the right time and i hope we do not have anyone playing out there. We need bodies back and the sooner the better.
Great write up, Holic.
Re: the toilets, has anyone considered that maybe the LWCs are simply unfamiliar with indoor plumbing, and regard it as witchcraft?
I suggest an airdrop of leaflets over the flame-charred patch of irradiated wasteland that constitutes their high street explaining the form and function of a basic urinal.
We could also use the opportunity to let them know that the “gods” do not require regular sacrifices by fire of local branches of footlocker, and warn (albeit too late) of the dangers of inbreeding.
COYG
As one of those who had to queue to get into The Tollie you do start to wonder if it’s going to be your day.
We were poor for most of the game. I thought we played well for the first and last 15 minutes. The bits in between left a lot to be desired at times. Seeing Flamini warm up in front of us before kick off brought a flood of ironic laughter. Only Arsenal could have subs warming up before a ball is kicked.
The defending for their goal was non existent. The half time stats made for poor reading.
I know Alexis looked shattered but I felt taking Campbell off was the right call. He had worked hard at times but on other occasions was just standing still as the game passed him by. With the exception of one shot he contributed very little and looked a tad out of his depth.
The one thing Gibbs gave us was pace. That and knowing not to fly into needless tackles giving away cheap free kicks made a big difference. In the end a draw was a fair result.
Back in the pub (no queuing this time) for the de-brief with Bath, TS and others. Must have missed you somehow H?
A win over the spuds to put us top would have been something to shout about, but we all know it’s early days.
Until the next time.
Vinay-
I beg to disagree with you. After Wednesdays game, I think getting a draw from that match was a point earned. Yea, I know some people will say Spurs played on Thursday, but playing against Anderlect and Bayern is a whole different ball game, even more considering the fact
that we lost miserably. Spurs played okay, and maybe should have scored more but they didn’t and towards the end we looked more likely the one that might win the game. Today it might seem like 2pts lost but later on in the campaign we might look back and see it as a point gained.Injur might be our greatest problem if we don’t win the league because nobody looks like running away with it. Mancity couldn’t even beat Villa, now that’s 2 point lost.
Usual excellent summary of the game, I’ve watched the highlights this morning and both sides missed some decent chances so can’t be too upset at a point earned at the home of the form team of the moment. As for the scum who damaged the toilets again, they are a disgrace to my club, enough said.
Nice match report, Guvna.
The most frustrating thing about the day is our failure impose ourselves on the game apart from the last 15 minutes or so. The accumulation of injured first-teamers, the psychological damage from the battering midweek and an ailing Santi no doubt explains that deficit.
However we almost stole it in the last phase of the game thanks to the sterling display from the best buy of the summer. If our wounded can get back to full fitness for the rest of the season, Cech will be helping us take all the points rather than ensuring we remain in the game.
The marsh dwellers really are unpleasant visitors. It’s a pity that we are compelled to let them in. In future, perhaps we should lock up the toilets when they visit and put a few Portaloos in their section.
Finally, great tale GSD. I have visited some dodgy rural pubs in my time but nothing as surreal as that one.
GSD, what a story! Thanks for sharing, it gave me a much-needed laugh during a busy day (although very productive) at work.
Steve: agree about the subs being the correct decisions. Alexis also scares opponents just by being on the pitch which opens space for others. And if there is one thing Gibbs has always done well, even when playing left back, it is runs in behind the defence.
SanAntonio: they also played at home both on Monday and Thursday, and a few who started yesterday did not start on Thursday.
I can never be happy with just one point against that lot (well except for, say, drawing 2-2 to secure the title at their place!) but it could have been worse. And while Totnum certainly played one of their better games of the season, they still couldn’t beat us despite us barely being able to scrape together eleven players towards the end of the game.
Anyway, back to work…
There’s a joke to be made about shits, toilets and smashing up their own home but I can’t quite get the wording right.
Brilliant, GSD.
Did you give that bloke his eyes back or leave with them?
Or with Soph?
Kevin and I left the Hemmingford with great expectations having seen the last 30 mins of the Villa/Citi game. Sadly the Gunners misfired from the start and found the opposition playing at a pretty high level.
With Santi off form, the midfield was totally ineffective and the Spuds got complete control of the game in the first half.
Following the half time substitution we got into the match and could have nicked it it had we put away the chances created in the last quarter but Giroud had one of his off days.
I think we all agree that we did not do enough to win the game and gave ourselves the problem of having to come from behind after another flawed attempt to play off side. However, with the limitations on the bench we did pretty well to come away with a point.
A lost opportunity to go top of the league but with the Interlul ahead and hopefully a few fit bodies back from the sick bay we can pick ourselves up. Fingers crossed all our internationals come back in one piece.
COYRs
GSD?
Wonderful stuff even though I sensed a climax of some sort ( oo-er) .
I have occasionally wandered into pubs and felt very alone and friendless. Once in Soho I wandered into what I assumed was a Biker’s pub with lots of men in leather. I got that badly wrong.
Very fair report Holic. Those pictures are damning but we have a lot of idiots who will respond to that picture by trying to do the same when we next play at the Swamp.
I came away much more content than I usually am with a home draw. It was primarily because we were trailing for over forty minutes and partly relief that we avoided the latest video nasty from the Swampies on an epic victory.
I wrote about frailty on the morning of the match and I saw it yesterday although there was plenty of fight as well at other times. When Dier had a free header at a set piece in the first half everybody in our row was shouting at the defence to mark him. Aldi whatever had a header from about six yards at Cech that should never have been allowed and the goal they scored was such an elementary error . Do we practice marking at set pieces in training? I asked it after Kouyate and Zouma’s goal and asked it again yesterday.
The BBC suggested we did not have any Englishmen on the pitch who understood what the game meant. One who did came on and scored. The reason, Mr Chapman was that it is November and none of our Englishmen, or the Welshman, are fit. Come back in February they might be back then .
@ TTG
Was it this bar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlGclIZV5JQ
Cheers for the report Guv, topnotch as always.
A very nice tale that GSD.
However;
‘All Along the Watchtower.’ Which is not a Jimi Hendrix song.
Even though it was penned by Dylan, Jimi did a pretty famous version of it, cut the bumpkins some slack. 😉
Heh @ N7
Looks like a typical evening out for JPs, allegedly. 🙂
Well, turns out a point was an acceptable result, after all.
I must admit that if any of the teams were expected to be running on fumes, my guess would’ve been on our guests, following the midweek fixtures. Unfortunately our performance yesterday was far removed from the blitzkrieg we unleashed on Man Utd. There was a torpor about some of our players, and our inability to move the ball quickly throughout the side, meant there was little to cheer in a first half that left Lloris pretty idle.
There was also an irony that the one source of good news on the injury front, pre match, ended up making a rare error of judgement, that let them in. Thankfully, they only found the target once but at half time I would’ve chewed your hand off for a share of the spoils.
Despite what I may have said in the lead up to the game, it would be churlish not to recognise that Tottenham have finally chanced upon a half decent manager, and he has got them playing consistently and to a system. And yet, as ‘Holic alludes to above, by the smallest of margins did they too escape with a point. Taking one of the chances that came his way, Giroud could’ve seen to it that the toilet-busters departed deflated, their reptilian tails between their legs in time honoured fashion.
As it is, they will see a point as evidence yet again of the power-shift they’ve been predicting for eons, but if I were them, I’d keep the bunting in the box for a bit – their inability to beat a team ravaged with injury and consequently, overworked regulars, and playing as poorly as we did at times, suggests that gap-minding will remain exclusive to the Red side of North London.
So we go into the international break with hopefully a chance to get some of the guys out of the ward and back onto the pitch. I guess a mild case of Arsene flu for the fit would be too much to ask?
On a personal note, it was great to see at least some of the usual suspects at Brolly-central yesterday – glad you hadn’t forgotten what I looked like! I’d like to promise to be back sooner than later but kick off times for the foreseeable is pretty cack.
A bientot.
UTA.
Exactly as I saw it from my Mourinho seat, Holic.
Mindless morons. Indeed. Didn’t expect anything other. Some of the close up shots of them during the game were X-certificate stuff. “it’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.”
Excellent report Holic. After the first half performance I think we all settled for a point at full time. Hopefully the Interlull will work in our favour for a change with a return of some of the walking wounded.
GSD @ 10 – quite a tale, seems like you did well to come out the other side intact.
N7 @ 12 – many hehs – brilliant.
TTG @ 24 – lucky not to be taken for a ride.
Dr Z @ 26 – the toilet busters nearly ended up a busted flush 😉
Great tale, GSD. Glad you got out with everything in tact. Just imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t turned up in mufti.
N7
Very much like that?
What made it so odd was that one of my friends insisted it was a great place to drink. He took a long time to live it down!
Bath
A bit tame for a JPs’ knees up!
2015/16: The season when the Interlulls will have a positive effect.
2016/17: The season when Arsenal will not have an injury crisis.
Enjoy them because in each case they only occur once every century. 😉
Tottenham have finally chanced upon a half decent manager?
Maybe so, but if so then he is sure to be hit by a bus on the morrow. 😉
gsd, that’s the best drink i’ve read here in a few sessions, easily. just beautiful. thank you.
ned has it right; it might have been the mufti the ladies were longing for 🙂
gsd, i enjoyed that story too but was worrying you might have suffered more dire consequences for a while there 😀
Just been musing about how quickly things have changed from:
“foreigners not tough enough to play in England”
to:
“club’s fragile English core decimated by injuries again”
GSD @10 – I enjoyed your write-up very much. Well done.
BMBD
Thankyou for all the kind ones. An unusual experience indeed. Writing that up may have been very therapeutic.
Lovely tale GSD,
As to the Game,2 points dropped or 1 pt gained. ??
I may be one of the few that viewed the game in a different light to the majority.
To say we were underwhelming for the first hour,is putting it mildly.
With Santi obviously off colour at one end,and without our speed merchant up front,their defence was never threatened.
At times it appeared as though our Neighbours were the home team,such was their dominance all over the pitch.
At times we couldn’t even get out of our own way,such was the excellence of the Spuds pressing style.
And yet,and yet,despite that dominance,our esteemed new keeper,
[ Thankyou Roman ] never really had to make any top line saves.
Apart from the gift goal,and a couple of near misses,everything else that the Spuds managed to direct on target,was fairly routine for a keeper of Cech’s stature.
All the real chances were being created at the other end of the pitch,unfortunately they all bar the equalizing one,fell to the frustratingly, consistently inconsistent Frenchman masquerading as a striker.
It has been little commented on here,but worth pointing out, that the players had adapted to a new system of playing when Theo was up front,which was working very smoothly with the ball very rarely airborne,and the results were there for all to see.
Theo’s pace was making defenders sit much deeper,allowing our creative players more room to work with in the middle of the park.
Now he is injured, [ and rumours suggest he won’t be back Match fit till mid December ]means the players have had to re adapt back to the earlier system where the ball is more in the air than on the floor because of Giroud’s lack of pace,making it much easier for the opposition to play a higher defensive line and compress the space in midfield.
Something our Neighbours did to perfection for most of the match.
That all changed the moment Gibbs came on as a sub,his speed caused all sorts of problems down the left side,and completely unbalanced their defensive strategy,and it was no surprise that that was the side where the equaliser came from.
Considering the same core of players has just played Bayern/Everton/Swansea/Bayern/Spurs,all tough games physically and mentally,we have come out the other side still joint top of the league,and still in with a shout of qualifying for the CL.
That to me is a great credit to the players, considering how many of our squad are absent through injury.
So to my question at the top of my post,
For me it is 2 pts dropped,Arsene knows it too,even though through forced smile he said that a draw was a fair result,but he knows that with an A grade striker up front,despite being outplayed for long periods,we would have won the match.
But for all our angst at the Events that unfolded at the Ems on Sunday,it is worth pointing out that this time last season we had just lost at home 2-1 to Utd, and had only 17pts from 12 games,and had conceded 15 goals.
Looking at the table now,what’s not to like.
With WBA/Norwich/Sunderland and Villa as our next 4 league games,by the time City come to visit on the 12th Dec,it should,fingers crossed,be a blockbuster top of the table clash at the Ems.
dino
top 🙂
top stuff
wind would be proud too
long tale
but
who can forget
wind’s last minute brain-walloping
scarf/shirt decisions ?
.
indeed
pubs are mad
sunday hungover attempt at a pint
not used to the decadent ways
of an ordinary london boozer
remember once
stripper put a boiled egg
exactly where you’d imagine
but
bald not de rigueur
at that time
so
brian blessed having a ploughman’s
came to mind
as it does now
oy vey
.
slainte
Oh, here comes Lord Percy Percy…drunk as usual.
“not the boiled egg in that transaction”
40 see 41
run outta thumbs ?
Lovely stuff GSD. Having watched the match propped up in bed eating my full English breakfast (as I treat myself on match days) the only part of your experience which might have enhanced the experience is the the attentions of Soph, but enough of fantasising…
Anyway, I was reminded of the occasion back in the day (late ’50s) when a friend and I wandered into a London pub we didn’t know in a district we’d never previously visited. After settling against the bar and ordering beer we were approached by a very large, very ugly looking West Indian who stuck his face into mine and demanded to know … “Do you believe in the colour bar (as it was known then)?
Looking around it dawned on us that we were the only white guys in the place, so naturally we denied any such prejudices, profusely. “Well WE do he replied, “Fuck off!“. Which we were not slow in doing…
Oskar
Livin’ la vida loca, me.
*’the attentions of Soph’ you imply you rejected, that is…
Oskar
GSD – thanks for the write up. Why travel to England when I can get such an authentic pub experience from you? I do worry though that you caused one of the patrons to become “deceased” by shouting at him. Do your powers of wizardry extend to football trophies?
45
i suspect you aren’t
.
SCG@33: as Soph might have said, is that a dinosaur’s tail or are you just pleased to see me?
Clive @38
Very good post with fine point about Theo
But we are in decent shape- if only we were in decent shape.?
Very relieved to have an interlull and I don’t often say that.
GSD, let me know the pub by private communication. 🙂
Ah, there’s cba. How the divil are ya my friend?
So sorry to have missed some post match as I was in the next door garden. At least I made it home sober, not in Bristol puddled!
where you fleet of foot oskar ?
love that phrase 🙂
fleet of foot
.
.
anyhoo
just prompted me
unrelated
racism
sectarianism
had experience of racism in london *1
had experience of ‘good racism’ in london *2
had lifetime experience of sectarianism *3
had lifetime experience of ‘good sectarianism’ *4
.
ain’t life a crazy cunt
.
racism is a lazy ism
sectarianism is an ism ye have to concentrate on
iffin ye don’t like a black person
iffin ye don’t like a brown person
iffin ye don’t like a white person
yer golden
yer small mind is satisfied
sectarianism ?
ye have to put the effort in
here ?
APART FROM THE OBVIOUS name thing
there’s the polite first measure up
what colour hair ?
how tall ?
what do they call things ?
what school did they go to ?
what beer do they drink ?
where do they live ?
.
racism is a lot easier
.
howdy ‘hol
i’m grand
i try not to fuck up
and yet
yer bouncers divert me other thithely
.
J’ACCUSE
🙂
No bouncers here maestro.
Just crazy fellas at right angles to each other looking to square the circle.
I have you to thank for that, I think…
Fleet we were, cba, positively precipitate in fact. Certain ejaculations were inevitable of course, considering our pleasure was interruptus and our withdrawal premature, but these were necessarily contained until a safe distance from the scene.
Oskar
Fleet of foot Oskar, or of something else? 😉
Could Arsenal really be planning to bring back Ozyakup? I don’t recall whether his best position really is in the defensive midfield but did see him play against us for Besiktas last season and was positively impressed even if that was another of our subpar European performances. He has an Arsenal pedigree and still has some of his best years in front of him? Good tandem with Coquelin?
http://talksport.com/football/arsenal-transfer-report-gunners-preparing-move-re-sign-ps8m-midfielder-oguzhan-ozyakup?
I see that Silent Stan doesn’t only not like to dip his hand in his pocket for the benefit of anyone other than himself but he also isn’t able to jimmy riddle in the presence of another human being either.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/social/arsenal-owner-stan-kroenke-cleared-out-a-public-toilet-so-he-could-use-it-in-private-pictures-tweets/?
GSD
That was classic what can I say 😀
BT8 B
The last time we did something like this was when we resigned Keown and that was a good decision but it does suggest some muddled thinking at our end.
We had all the costs of developing him, which were only partly recompensed by Besiktas and now pay them a premium for taking him back. And will he start for us in his position any more often than he did before ? ( notwithstanding injuries !)
bt8b: Ozyakup plays as a central or attacking midfielder for Bestikas, much as he did when he was with our U-21s. So more attacking than Flamini and Arteta as is reflected in his stats: 15 goals in 114 games for Bestikas in all competitions, with 30 assists versus Flamini’s 13 in 223 Arsenal games with 10 assists and Arteta’s 16 in 145 with 10 assists.
Ozyakup also took a dive to get Ramsey sent off when we played them.
Some interesting stats published by CIES Football Observatory about home-grown players making it to the first team, given the earlier posts about Ozyakup.
Across the top divisions of the 31 leagues within UEFA — comprising 460 clubs with 11,335 first team players between them this season — only 19.7% on average were home grown (with the club for three season between ages 15 and 21). Of those 11,335 players, 20 came out of the Arsenal system.
Seems a bare handful, especially how focused on ‘youth’ the club has been, but that number still makes ours the joint 10th most productive academy in Europe in terms of top-flight professionals produced.
Barca (44), Lyon (35), Real Madrid (34), Man Utd (31), Rennes (27), Bilbao (24), Bordeaux (24), PSG (24) and Toulouse (23) are ahead of us; Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Monaco, Nantes, Real Sociedad and Valencia are on par with us.
Of the 20 first teamers we produced, six play for us (30%), 14 for other clubs. That ranks us at ninth among the 20 most productive clubs for the percentage of those who make it to top-flight football making it with the club that trained them.
Bilbao (75%) and Real Sociedad (60%) top that list.
We have the highest percentage of any club in the top 20 of UEFA’s club rankings. By comparison, the percentages of players trained at Bayern (4 out of 18), Barcelona (10/44) and Real Madrid (8/34) making it to their first teams falls in a narrow range of 22.7-23.5%.
The study provides no measure of how may youngsters go through all those academies, but it is a fair bet that breaking through to the first team of a top club remains hugely difficult.
I would guess that for our six that made it, and even for the 14 that made it somewhere else, there are at least a couple of hundred more who didn’t — and these numbers suggest Arsenal trainees get a better shot than most.
http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr09/en/
BBC skim of the same report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34767964
Ozyakup?
The sound of that reminds me of this bloke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJVmecTLQ0k
I made the mistake of reading Untold Arsenal this evening and getting into a debate with the zealots! Blimey- Arsenal is a broad church and they are at the nutty end of it!
I thought I was sensitive about the Arsenal but they take it to another level
By the way, great stuff as ever Ned. That’s a very interesting piece you have highlighted. It’s interesting that having a grandson who is being courted by a few clubs at the age of seven one starts to fear lest he doesn’t make the grade. He’s currently training with Brighton and one of his mates is training with Brighton and Arsenal. It’s such a long road but it’s all he wants to do and who can blame him looking at the rewards top players receive? I know several lads rejected by clubs in their early teens who have never kicked a ball again
H
you have mail.
Stan taking the piss Bath? No one will be surprised.
🙂
Evening gents. I trust we are all ticketyboo?
Evening H. All spiffing in The Weald thank you. And your jolly good self?
From tonight’s Standard.
“World and Olympic long-distance champion Mo Farah wanted to name his son Arsenal but his wife Tania “wasn’t having it”. The 32-year-old is a long-standing Gunners supporter.”
54 ‘hol
what attracts people here
be they knuckle draggin eyebrow lickers
or
“I think you’ll find” gooners
is the fact that
there is mostly nowt from column a
and
entertaining propers from column b
my bullshit is of no import
on statistics
“Ned ? ”
“I hear you knocking”
.
and
ps
*RASPBERRY*
*hol’s internet footfall surges post cba-fuck-off *
*knows where he’s not wanted*
*flounces off to the sound of his own aberdeen anguished moooos*
“McMooooo”
see 73
ditto
shower o feckin shites the lotta ye !
yeah
etc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkC_leNM7M
CBA – Spot on re Sectarianism -and racism
You’ve done the research – lived it too
Sorry you experianced racism in London
We are basically a pack of cunts,but we’re not all bad
Lived in NYC for a long time
Lots of Ulstermen there
Irish sectarianism eats them alive
Mostly green but met a few orange ones too
Matters not one jot to me
I’m colour blind
Cant we all just get along?
Only ism I am in favour of is idiotism
Slainte!
Whens the book coming out?
@10 – That was indeed an homage to Wind. Speaking of which, where the blue blazes is he??
I was nursing a migraine and a scratchy throat before heading down to the pub to watch the Derby, and was crossing my chest a few times before the match began.
On a night where the pub folk were in fine voice, I couldn’t join in for 50% of the chanting and singing, even though I did manage a huge “F*** OFF!” when the wankers went to see Pope Francis.
Gibbs bundled in a goal that saved us wallowing in misery for a week or more. So I’m thankful for that at least.
Side note: I think this is the first time in a long time Alexis been so anonymous in a full match. Correct me if I’m wrong, of course. I hope he gets some rest soon or he’d be in the treatment room.
Morning Steve-o,
Young Wind is, I am afraid to say, smitten by the discovery of a fine young lady.
He is…
Bewitched.
Pray for him. 🙂
Is that all that is, ‘olic??
My my, can’t begrudge a young fella from his hormonal instincts.
Are you keeping well? Will you be around for the Citeh game?
Not Citeh I’m afraid. The move to Monday night makes it a no no for me. Bloody television!
One of the strands of pictorial evidence for Chelsea’s extra eight thousand in fines compared to West Ham: the exact position of John Terry’s upraised finger: two and one-half inches in front of, and one inch above, the nose of referee Jonathan Moss. The authorities have correctly deemed this to be a threatening gesture.
That is all. No hyperbole, just the facts.
Link for the above:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34781213
Revised fact:
Chelsea’s extra ten thousand in fines, it shoulda been.
Extra ten thousand, it actually was.
Others may supply the Hyperbole about John Terry’s supreme evil.
Not to suggest that anything somebody else would say about John Terry’s supreme evil would necessarily be Hyperbole. In no way did I mean to suggest that. These possible cases of Hyperbole would have to analyzed on a case by case basis. Certainly the extent of John Terry’s supreme evil is open to debate, although many if not most rational people would most likely disagree with my last statement.
Disreputable.
Dishonorable.
Evil. *
*not necessarily “Supreme Evil”; someone else will have to make that suggestion.
(Wonders if Jonathan Moss’ match report included the phrase “supreme evil”)
Time to put CCTV in the bogs
The last person I read about who did that was a GP and he got struck off 😉
*goal hangs*
TTG@66: Good luck to your grandson. The odds are hugely against him making it, but if he doesn’t try he will kick himself for life, so to speak.
*hides behind Esso*
**observes large, green dinosaur-shaped penumbra behind Esso**
The referee puts the whistle to his lips… >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What ref?
Play on!
He scores when he wants. He scores when he wants.
The ref can go do one. He scores when he wants.
Fucking hell, what’s that up there?
*taps it in*
Bastard goal sneak.
*celebrates wildly in front of a bemused Cynic*
Ref has no option. Yellow card! 🙂
Evening all,
Finally a chance to catch up with the fine, measured report and drinks after a completely knackering first half of the week.
Excellent drinks from GSD, zico – good to sse you on Sunday with one or two other fine Holics – TTG, Clive and NED, super stats on the youth players breaking through, or not, as the case may be.
Not worth adding anything about the match itself on a Wednesday evening but the ohoto of the smashed toilets is, maybe, a different matter.
It’s not the first time that has happened, or that the padded seats installed in the away area have been slashed by Tottenham fans. I had to leave The Tollie fairly early on Sunday, to return an extra borrowed ticket to it’s owner. As I left and headed up Hornsey Road, I heard a lot of chatter from fans heading towards the pub, about an imminent attack by Spurs fans, expected in the area. There had certainly been an unusually big police presence in the steeets around The Tollie when I arrived there.
I didn’t see any trouble materialise but Tottenham is the one fixture I won’t take my daughter to (apart from Galatasaray) as there is always that chance of something getting out of hand.
It’s also been interesting to note the complete absence of any mention of the damage done in the stadium on Sunday, compared to the publicity given in the press, to a few Arsenal fans tearing down what were described to me as a few “cardboardy posters” at White Hart Lane.
Given that they will smash them up again anyway, maybe Arsenal should remove all the toilets from the away area before the next Tottenham invasion.
No offence, Dave, if you are dropping by and, yes, I know a lot of very decent Spurs fans, but there is an element down that end of the road that is not nice at all.
New post is up – in case anyone else didn’t know ?
================================>>>>>>>>
Trev, see 98…