Morning all.

So the man who stitched up Arsene Wenger back in 2008 is back at Arsenal having signed for a second time yesterday. No Arsenal fan would have been surprised by the news about Mathieu Flamini.

It feels good to be back home.  I have some unfinished business with Arsenal so it’s a great feeling to be back. Once you’re a Gunner, you’re always a Gunner.

What poppycock.

True Gunners don’t run down their contract and leave the club simply for money do they? True Gunners are players like Dennis Bergkamp who accept a rolling one year contract just because they want to stay and play for the club they love.

Players like Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Ian Wright, Ray Parlour – the list is endless, they are true Gunners. Flamini isn’t a Gunner at heart, never has been and never will be. This move is just like his move to Milan was, for money and Arsene Wenger has duly obliged….

When Big Sol, Mad Jens and Thierry Henry came back, fans welcomed them with open arms as they were class when they played for us, Flamini had one good season after which he focused on one thing, a move to Italy. All through that final year of his contract, Wenger believed he would sign on and stay for a few more years, well he didn’t, he walked out and quite slyly too….

I don’t blame him for re-signing, who would. Just hope he proves his worth for Wengers sake and of course, for the good of Arsenal.

Flamini signing wouldn’t seem anywhere near as bad if we had already signed a few top class players but as the days pass by, that is becoming more and more unlikely. Yes, I’ll eat my words publicly if Wenger proves me wrong.

Wenger is thrilled though:

The best years are in front of him (Flamini) now – the next three years. Physically, he is perfect. He was tested, prepared and he is physically in fantastic shape.

He knows how we play football, knows the club and had a huge desire to come back.

He was available because he was out of contract and he is a quality player, and a focused player, so those were all the reasons that pushed me to make that decision.

Of course it has nothing to do with him being free does it…..

News went from bad to worse as the Champions League draw saw us grouped with:

Marseille

Borussia Dortmund

Napoli

That has to be the toughest group we have been part of for many seasons and as the squad stands today, I really can’t see us progressing further than the group stage. No, that’s not me being negative, just realistic.

Sign 4/5 top players and I’d maybe think differently but I see 3rd place at best…..

As if it couldn’t get any worse, Arsene Wenger confirmed that Lukas Podolski will be out for up to ten weeks. In Arsenal terms, that’s 3-4 months….

So all in all, yesterday was not a day for good news…

Maybe today that will change….