Daily Bits and Bobs

A Goon with a bit of Spike…..

Posted on by rico

Good Morning/Afternoon and Evening to all the night crawling gooners.

I had been invited to write a piece for this blog a while ago. So far I have declined the offer, either too uninspired, our dreadful performances (heh) or too shy, but suddenly something has touched a nerve.

The ‘Goldenboy awards’ were presented the other night, to honour the best of young, European footballing talent (irritable Bale syndrome not included).

As a 30-year-old Essex lad brought up by two generations of top flight Goons, I feel obliged to ‘have a say’.

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli won the aforementioned award, just a place ahead of Frodo Wilshere. ……..

Now, Mr Balotelli has now stated, and I quote….

“What is his name? Wil…? No, I don’t know him but the next time I play Arsenal, I will watch out for him. Maybe I will show him the Golden Boy and remind him I have won it!”

Charming!?

Bringing me on to my piece, and the subject of my reply, I once read a book by the late great Spike Milligan (his tombstone inscription reads – ‘I told you I was ill’). I believe the book was titled ‘Hitler, my part of his downfall’.

The book is Spike’s reminisces of the 2nd world war, and in one chapter, whilst serving in North Africa he recalls a friendly football match between his battalion and a local team, who in fairness and barefoot made the British contingent look quite ordinary.

The Short stocky Yorkshireman at left back with short ‘crew cut’ hair was being given a torrid time by the seven-foot nippy African right-winger, who on every time he took the ball past him, quipped ‘ Stanley Matthews, eh, Stanley Matthews!!!.

After being ‘skinned’ by the winger several times, the left back took both man and ball with a sickening thud! And whilst leaning over the prostrate winger, calmly said ‘WILF ‘F*****G COPPING’

As far as I remember from the book I don’t think the winger got another minute on the pitch let alone a touch.

I would like to add at his point that the book was read a long time ago and memory is quite hazy, but I do thoroughly recommend reading it.

Wilfred Copping, pictured above, was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 1934 for £8,000, as a replacement for Bob John and immediately took a first-team place at left half. He made his debut against Portsmouth on August 25, 1934, and was an ever-present in his first season for the club, until suffering a serious knee injury in the third-last match of the season against Everton. Copping soldiered on and remained on the pitch to ensure Arsenal won the game 2-0; this ensured the club won the 1934-35 First Division title.

Copping recovered from his injury to continue playing for Arsenal, making over 35 appearances in each of his first four seasons with the club. During his time at Highbury, Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1935-36, another League title in 1937-38, and two Charity Shields. His England career also continued, and he was one of seven Arsenal players to start England’s match against Italy in November 1934 (the “Battle of Highbury”) – a game for which he named man of the match. In total he won 20 caps for England between 1933 and 1939.

Now, I know for a fact, Jack Wilshere reads Arseblog.com, and I hope blogs from the Arse read the excellent ramblings from this site. So Jack, Frodo, Bilbo, if you do come across this post, on the 5th of January, let ‘Super Mario’ know exactly who ‘super, super Jack’ is…

Can I just take this moment to thank all Highbury House readers and posters big time, especially the lovely Rico for all the time, effort and pride.

Happy Christmas, 3 points off the chavs and a Happy New Year!!

Written by Rocastle

rico

111 thoughts on “A Goon with a bit of Spike…..”

  1. rico says:

    Morning all

    Thank you Rocastle for the post, cracking read and it’s made me smile on a grotty winters morning. Let’s hope Jack shows the Italian exactly who he is, a Copping tackle would do just nicely, within the rules of the game of course 🙂

  2. Rocastle says:

    Morning Rico, all.

    Superb title Rico!!!

    I see TV5 is out until February, not great news. AW either needs to buy a CB in the sales or hope there’s more postponed games!!

  3. rico says:

    Hi Rocastle, i hoped you would like it 🙂

    Samba, we should go for Samba, we cannot afford to wait for TV to be fit….

  4. rico says:

    6′ 4″, EPL experience and shouldn’t cost too much, if we don’t go for him, you just know Arry will….. He may not play for France but he was born there 🙂

  6. Rocastle says:

    If it were me Rico, your wish would be granted, unfortunately I cannot see him buying anyone.

    Same old same old.

    Right, I’ll be off for a while to attempt some shopping, slip in the ice, get infuriated by the queues and crowds and end up in the pub by midday cursing Christmas

    Bah humbug!

  7. rico says:

    I’m hoping his u-turn will see us sign a CH at least Rocastle…

    Have a good day at the shops, don’t bother to get mine wrapped 😉

    Bah humbug indeed, are you wenger in disguise 😉

  8. Red Arse says:

    Morning Rico, Rocastle, 🙂

    Really good and unusual Post, in memory of a great player and with a little plug for a very funny man. Spike I mean, not Wilf. 🙂

    Glad you got the email eventually Rico, the innocent penguin in the final scene still makes me smile too! 🙂

  10. kelsey says:

    Morning all.

    I love a bit of nostalgia, rocastle. They made the book into a film with jim dale (remember him).

    Samba, not so sure rico.When did AW last buy a player from within the PL,I can’t remember as Sol came as a free.

    Baptiste to spurs and possibly Reyes.What is it with old brown envelope and our players 😉

  11. Siena Denton says:

    Mario Balotelli is an arrogant oaf and I am surprised he was even nominated in the first instance. His onfield behaviour leaves a lot to be desired and that pouting bad attitude he has brought with him from Inter Milan.

    So he was rewarded with an award for a #RedCard on a dangerous tackle that looked quite deliberate. Disgusting.

  12. rico says:

    Morning kelsey,

    i remember Jim Dale, carry on actor and funny man..

    it’s about time he changed his ways, samba would be a good addition and his price won’t be over inflated as he’s not english 😉

  19. SD-London says:

    Okay guys, Jack is not that popular yet world wide but Balotelli has no excuse and just wanted to have a dig at Jack.

    Balotelli ? Rude boy- It is just like Teenage Nike Tyson playing football.

    It is certain that Macini and him will soon have an on field altercation and he will get so benched that he will be sold to some mid table Italian team.Man City will never sell him to AC Milan.

    I think Balotelli knows Walcott well enough and kudos to him so W.Jack should be spurred on my Mario’s stupid comment to be a better player.

  21. Steve Palmer says:

    Morning all,nice post, good player good comedian,
    Don’t like to put a dampener on the Wilshere story, but if Jack does read these blogs i would just like to say, Jack let him find out about you on the field and not for your stupid off field antics you have a gift son use your brains, and use it.

  22. SD-London says:

    Wao Steve P, a little Bit hash, JAck is 18 years of age , i will say he is very much matured for is age.

    Can any one remember what we were doing at the age of 18 ?

  23. kelsey says:

    Fopr balotelli read Adebayor.if city want to waste their money,that is their problemThe will most probably offload Ade ASAP then balotelli,as they have endless funds and will eventually buty the league,not for profit just for prestige in the western world.

    As far as jack is concerned he got a tad too cocky at 16/17 and i believe part of the reason he was loaned out to bolton was to get him away from the bright lights of London.he is a rare talent but needs a firm hand as to guide him in the right direction.

  25. rico says:

    SD, but we weren’t professional footballers, i’m a little with steve, he needs to give the playboy image a bit of a break 😉

    Hi Steve…

  26. rico says:

    kelsey, too right, he’s just another trouble maker and like many have said before, if jose couldn’t sort him out….. who can..

  27. Steve Palmer says:

    Morning Rico, i am not trying to knock Jack but even at eighteen he needs to understand that an Arsenal man wears the shirt on and off the pitch, if you want the limelight get it doing something magical

  28. Gunnernet says:

    hi guys, a bit quiet day isn’t it? Wenger said he might enter transfer market. What we really miss is TV, but when he comes back he will be like a “new signing”, so i don’t expect anything. How is the weather today?

  29. SD-London says:

    Rico et el, what i meant was that his behaviour is expected of a teenager . If you notice , J.Wilshire had that night club problem just a week after signing a new contract (£35 000) a week or something like that.

    Check it out 18years with an EPL contract, what will you all do?

    But i am not worried about J.Wilshire because he is in good hands (Wenger) and he is from a good background.

    Balotelli just emits total wrongness and probably a damaged good that Man City cannot tame. God help them.
    I cant wait for him to give Tevez a punch on the field.

  30. rico says:

    steve, i agree a tad but i also agree that he’s young and can’t be expected to stay in playing play station every night. silly thing like the brawl and subsequent police caution need to stop but as long as he goes out, doesn’t get drunk and end up over the front pages of the newspapers i’m not too bothered…

  33. rico says:

    SD, i think my 1220 comment clears up my view on jack 🙂

    i don’t want him going off the rails, wenger gets rid of players like that. i don’t expect jack to be anything other than a pro from now on, he’s the future ‘face’ of arsenal 🙂

  35. Red Arse says:

    Thing is Rico, Arsene has said he will only buy if he sells someone because he has a full squad, won’t buy a replacement for TV (who may be out for the rest of the season) and has refused to sell Bendy or Denilson (I think), and wants Almunia to stay.

    Very confused messages.

  36. oliver says:

    morning all…good post…who is balotelli anyways? just what exactly has he accomplished? i thought so.

    i don’t think jack will become another jermaine pennant, but he really should knuckle-down and focus on his football…

  37. rico says:

    RA, wenger always sends out confused messages – i prefer it when he says he won’t spend, at least then anyone in is a pleasant surprise 😉

    I still think he will get cover for TV, he said if we ‘lose someone’ well, we’ve lost TV for another month 😉

  38. kelsey says:

    So if he sells Almunia how much is in the kittty. ….exactly.Vela might go as well,most probably both to Spain.How much did Vela cost,by the way.

  39. kelsey says:

    Vela attracted interest from a number of European clubs, and eventually Arsenal won the race for his signature in November 2005 on a five-year deal for a £125k fee that will rise to £550k if he plays 50 first-team games.

    just answered my own question,i was quite surprised,that is cheap,cheap 😉

  41. Steve Palmer says:

    Before we can buy anybody surely we need to sell, who do you suppose we sell, and for how much, and for what reasons?

  45. kelsey says:

    Then of course we have contracts running down in the summer.nasri,arshavin and eboue.i think mozart will go by then with ramsey and jack both becoming regulars.

  49. oliver says:

    morning erick…seems like ages since we had an actual game to talk about….nothing but who is injured and who will not be signed, over this past week.

  52. rico says:

    kelsey, thats why i wonder if a few will go, if they won’t sign a new contract then we must not lose out on a few million…

  53. rico says:

    the whole blog world is slow oliver, no games, no real news and everyone is doing the last minute Christmas shopping…

    Erick 😆

  55. oliver says:

    yeah, i saw that this morning. what odds he replaces arsene? i make him favorite, with fat sam a close second. unless inter decide to snap fs up, that is…

  56. rico says:

    oliver, i don’t think he will replace Wenger, he spends and wastes too much money….

    you are of course teasing about FS…

  57. rico says:

    Steve, a CH and DM would do, who though i don’t know, Samba would be a good CH, Cahill would also do but as for the DM… i don’t know

  63. Rennie says:

    Nice post Rocastle & thanx 4 enlightening me about an ol’ Gunner great like Copping… Kudos to Rico too 4 continuing to give all Housers some amount of respite from the boredom injected into the Arsenal world by the ongoing Winterlull!

  66. rico says:

    Hi Rennie and KT – Rennie, stop it 😉

    Maybe that’s a theme I could introduce here on HH, once a week we have a post on one of the really old boys??

    Thoughts on a postcard? 🙂

  69. rico says:

    kelsey, that news is sad, i know it doesn’t alter the situation on the board etc, but it’s bloody sad to think his life could possibly be coming to an end….

    He’s an Arsenal man, through and through isn’t he?

  76. agirlagunner says:

    Just in, rico. 🙁 Christmas party at work… Always a greatly embarrassing affair. 😉

    Rocastle, great write. I must admit, I had never even heard of Copping. Yikes.

  79. rico says:

    What a load of tosh this is…………

    Arsenal will make an improved offer for Dinamo Zagreb defender Sime Vrsaljko after having one bid rejected already, according to Talksport.

  80. agirlagunner says:

    How are you, rico? Gearing up for all the preps tomorrow?

    Well, it was pretty fun! Hardly naughty. Too many stodgy old bankers. 🙂 Oh and I won a coffee maker, a toaster, and an LCD TV. Haha. Shame, I didn’t get the overseas trip thingie. 😉 But I should count my blessings, I think.

  81. allezkev says:

    “Never even heard of Copping”. Try getting hold of ‘Forward Arsenal’ by Bernard Joy, or ‘Cliff Bastin Remembers’ by Cliff Bastin, two of the best Arsenal books i’ve read and very good info on our great 1930’s teams.

  83. rico says:

    agag, i’ll email you …..

    but yes, getting ready for the day, although a quiet one this year.. what about you and your family?

  85. agirlagunner says:

    Staying at home. 🙂 Will sleep sleep sleep until Noche Buena (midnight feeding frenzy). Where’s oliver, he would know all about Noche Buenas? 🙂

  87. Rocastle says:

    Thanks all. Much appreciated.

    Shopping went as expected, got wound up and ended up in yates’.

    Decided everyones getting a nice carlsberg glass for Christmas.

    Kids love beer mats anyway……right?

  92. agirlagunner says:

    I should hope so, rico. 🙂 🙂 Ican’t think of anyone in particular though. VDW, I guess. And that’s solely for footie reasons. 😀

  95. agirlagunner says:

    Hahaha, rico. 😀 And it’s not exactly RB that needs strengthening. Well, we can play AW centrally. Like you always say, AW does like square pegs and round holes.

  102. rico says:

    Wenger has said no to Golden Balls and just read the ‘Goldeny Boy’ has been dropped form the City side, Mancini is fed up with his attitude 😆

  103. Rocastle says:

    No, I was responding to the first statement.

    My head hurts. Why oh why do I do it to myself.

    Now I’ve gotta get out and pick up a big fat horrible bird.

    Then were gonna collect the turkey…haha!

  107. Rocastle says:

    No, it’s lovely stuff. In fact every now and again….I can still taste it this morning. Admittedly it doesn’t taste quite as good as it did last night…..

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