Morning guys.
Thursday night football brought the worst start to this international break with the news that Kai Havertz has a hamstring strain and it’s to the same leg as last years. His injury hasn’t been confirmed by Arsenal yet but whatever it might be, I hope it’s not one which will keep him out for months again. Regardless of whether you or I think he’s our best option up front, Mikel Arteta clearly does so he’s going to be immensely disappointed.
My fingers and toes will be crossed, hoping that neither Viktor Gyokeres or Mikel Merino pick up any kind of injury over the next couple of weeks otherwise we really are going to struggle up front.
I still find it odd that our highest goal scorer of last season has been given limited minutes so far but that might have to soon change. Unless of course, Arteta opts for his namesake up front instead which would in my opinion, be a strange move.
In other fixtures, on Thursday, Jurrien Timber didn’t take any part in the Netherlands game. His brother Quinten did though and in case you didn’t know, it was he who caught Havertz with a high boot before our forward left the pitch. Whether the two were connected I’ve no idea. Martin Odegaard put in a fine performance for Norway, picking up a couple of assists and Christos Tzolis scored for Greece. Summer signing James Scanlon played 45 minutes for Gibraltar the night before.
Yesterday, Viktor Gyokeres, Bruno Guimaraes and Riccardo Calafiori were in action. Gabriel was an unused substitute for Brazil. Viktor got his name on the scoresheet.
Tonight it’s Spain v England with seven Arsenal players potentially involved. Bukayo Saka, Ebe Eze, Ezri Konsa and Myles Lewis-Skelly on one side, Mikel Merino, David Raya and Martin Zubimendi on the other. It’s not a friendly, but I hope it’s played like one.
The biggest news to come out of English football yesterday though was that Man City had been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the FA. As expected, City is appealing the decisions made. One would like to think that considering the amount of time this case has been mulled over, certainly post hearing, any appeal would be futile. The news kick started guessing about what City’s punishment might be but I just hope they get the book thrown at them. Just as I hope the clubs owners are booted out of football in England because quite clearly, they and their money have been behind all which has gone on. They clearly should not be considered fit and proper owners.
This will no doubt rumble on for a while as the appeal process takes place but hopefully, not for too long.
Catch up later.
New post up guys.
Potter, the government may back the city owners, but will the other clubs stand by and do nothing
I hope the City owners are thrown out of English football. They certainly deserve to be if the guilty verdict remains.
I still don’t get the connection Dennis? What Wenger earned might have been more but in all likelihood, only on paper. Mancini probably had an “alternative” pay packet as well as the one which was on the books. Isn’t that one of the reasons City are in this mess?
Geoff the tax office will be instructed to go gently because Sheikh Mansour is the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and will undoubtedly have a say in the nation’s foreign policy, with the Middle Eastern state part of the Gulf Cooperation Council and currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the UK. “The Gulf state is the UK’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East, a relationship that helps to sustain tens of thousands of British businesses.
Undoubtedly this has been the reason for the protracted time taken on the decision .I would be surprised if there has been no political pressure on the F.A who have had no alternative on finding them guilty but are being pressured on the punishment.
Not sure on England tax rules but if City is guilty, will the English tax office get involved and go after unpaid taxes.
The book has to too be thrown at City or the other premier league clubs with seek legal advice about the penalties they received for breaking rules.
Bah Humbug to you both Cicero and Rico!
I thought a breakthrough had been made, and I tentatively asked Cicero what I thought was a reasonable question, with no added agenda.
And the only reason I asked the question is because when Cicero posted the figures of Mancini’s salary, it seemed incredibly low compared to the reported salary Wenger was on at an underperforming Arsenal.
It was a genuine question, asked because I was curious and can’t remember a lot of things from 15+ years ago.
Maybe if you took the question on face-value and didn’t go to your default setting of going all defensive, we’d have healthier friendlier discourse.
Lighten up old man.
I’m not so sure, I think they will get the book thrown at them if their appeal fails. Too many eyes are on this and too many stated cases involving other clubs who have breached the rules..
Well that’s pretty clear, they are guilty but there won’t be any sanctions before Hell freezes over.
https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4727779/premier-league-statement-manchester-city-fc/
And there lay the problem..
Saka starts, Konsa and Eze on the bench.
I very much doubt that he would have got that ball from Saka or Madueke both of whom would have tried to score themselves or pass across the box or tried a one – two
https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/video/02a9-21b3d91c78e6-ac7829444cd8-1000–watch-viktor-gyokeres-seal-sweden-s-win-against-poland/
“And then the ball is centred and at the far post he meets it first time and plays it back across the keeper and Sweden are 3 – 1 up . Gyokeres scores . But that’s what he does.”
Absolutely agree, feed him and he will score…
Finally, The Premier League has confirmed that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
An independent Commission found that during that time period, the club arranged “sham contracts” with a number of its commercial partners, as well as “relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs”.
The statement also said that City were guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate, but an exact figure was not given.
Afternoon guys.
I would imagine most deals City completed had a whiff of fish about them.
It’s nice to be home..
Wenger and Mancini’s wages? I see no connection between the two either. Wasn’t Wenger one of the first to express his concerns over clubs like City etc? He was right but scoffed at at the time because “people” just thought he was moaning about something else. Shame no one took him seriously..
Good to see Viktor scoring some goals
I see no relationship between my comments on one of City’s 115 crimes and Wenger’s wages.
How does Roberto Mancini’s salary compare to that of Wenger’s, Cicero?
I’m sure Wenger was on much more at Arsenal, and he had long since stopped delivering anything of note.
The argument could be made that Wenger was established and more experienced whereas Mancini was looking to make his mark as one of the new-breeds, but he did win their first title under the Saudi ownership.
I admit, I was extremely jealous of them having Sergio Aguero.
Former City manager Roberto Mancini was paid, officially, a salary of £1.45 million. He has neither denied or admitted that he received a further £1.75 million off the books. He is quoted as saying “the alleged double contract is not my concern. It is their (City’s) issue not mine”.
Why am I not surprised
seems the Haaland deal to City was fishy and dodgy. Its now reported that financially it was around 250M. But Dortmund directors were told to keep their gob shut while some reporters were paid not to disclose the official amount of transfer fee.
We wait and see.
Good morning everyone.
And then the ball is centred and at the far post he meets it first time and plays it back across the keeper and Sweden are 3 – 1 up . Gyokeres scores . But that’s what he does.
That’s football apparently , I wonder if next time he plays we could get Dan Smith or Martin Taylor out of retirement
I looked at the video of Silva’s off the ball assault on Odegaard, it looked painful but I don’t think it was too serious. I imagine he will sit out at least the next game, however if it is more serious than it looked he should be on the next plane back to Blighty.
Let’s hope all his medals are nothing more than worthless scrap metal, Kev.
I see that Bernardo ‘cnut-face’ Silva deliberately kicked Odegaard on dodgy ankle after the ball had gone, so we might have Eze and Gyokeres starting vs Leeds
I mean, you’ve done a City by having the answer right under your nose, Devil!
Well done, Devil, having an Arsenal Almanac definitely helps.
Without that, it may have stumped you for a bit longer.
As for your request, there’s more than enough folk lavishing praise on him here already, which is more than enough to compensate for my negative vibe about him. Maybe if he can do what his fellow-Spaniard Luis Enrique has done (3x CL winner).
He’s a PL champion, but he’s got a long way to go before we compare him with Chapman, Wenger or even George Graham.
And as you know, Devil, the richest clubs are scooping the biggest prizes.
Since City have the same ownership model as PSG (and latterly Newcastle), if City have financially cheated their way to all their recent success, the same questions have to be asked of PSG in their pursuit of the CL. They had Mbappe, Neymar and Messi in the same team, PSG are in a chronically poor league that no-one is clamouring to watch, so quite how they stand with PSR is anyone’s guess.
As for City, throw them out into the National League and make them start again.
Strip their assets, and ensure they abide by the National League’s spending limits.
They might climb back up, but it will take considerably longer if the rules are enforced and they aren’t granted any special favours.
so Heroes what’s the prize for guessing.
If I were to chose one I would go for you praising Arteta for the next decade. lol
Good afternoon Rico and all.
Thanks for the post Rico. a good summary of international games concerning our players.
well i cheated but did not google it…..since I have the Arsenal history book.
It was Grimsby who won 4 home games at home against Arsenal…..3 Oct 1931: Grimsby 3–1 Arsenal. 3 Sep 1935: Grimsby 1–0 Arsenal. 6 Nov 1937: Grimsby 2–1 Arsenal.
21 Feb 1939: Grimsby 2–1 Arsenal
I don’t know but looking at the league 2 table , I would guess York City.
How well do you know your Arsenal?
(I think Potter and Cicero might know this, maybe Kev too).
*PLEASE NO GOOGLING*
(Only you will know if you have to google the answer).
During the 1930’s, Arsenal were beaten four times in the league, by a current League Two side.
Who are they?
First Havertz and now Odegaard , no wonder Arsenal likes a good International break
A builder friend tells me that there are not enough bricks after we closed the factories near Peterborough and just recently 120 jobs are going at Cantley with the sugar beet factory . Just imagine all of those lorries fully laden queuing up on the A47 to Kings Lynn , can’t be cost effective and when the farmers give up , no doubt we will get more solar farms that Milltwat and his mates are so fond of. I am getting so cynical about the country and it’s politics , it’s depressing.
We don’t have the skilled labour needed to build a fraction of the houses promised by the Starmer government, we would need to import thousands of craftsmen (and women) to even scratch the surface of the requirement. But then those workers would need somewhere to live so it would be a job like painting The Forth Bridge, never ending.
I pray it doesn’t come to that Kev…
Unfortunately large swathes of the English countryside are becoming building sites . The governments obsession with trying to use the building trade to get growth is coming apart at the seams . Firstly there are not enough building materials available and probably , if there were , people to utilise them after years of Blair’s university graduates finding that computers can’t lay bricks or solder copper pipes.
As Norfolk’s farmland is being covered with large housing estates , windmills and solar panels coupled with battery storage sites and sub stations processing plants for fruit and vegetables are closing losing their jobs along the way. But this is the green revolution.
It seems to me that come springtime, the whole of England is a garden. After the bleak winters one suffers there, your spring is so pronounced and nowhere in the world have I seen such loveliness. “O to be in England in the springtime”.
Back home here in Kerikeri, we have had some frosts in August, the first time in about 15 years that they have occurred. And our garden and orchard have so appreciated them, the blossoms and bees are just heavenly and if our equinoxal winds are gentle our summer and autumn will indeed be “seasons of mellow fruitfulness”.
I remember Kent for its windmills and for being a gateway to the continent. The West Country, Somerset in particular is my favourite area, tho’ the Cotswolds and the Yorkshire Coast runs it close.
Yes Rico, those ‘elites’ who despise the working class would of course expect those same self plebs to rush to the recruiting offices to fight for this country although I suspect that they might be a little disappointed this time. Andy Burnham staring out from a poster and pointing his finger whilst the words ‘Your Country Needs You’ may have a quite a hollow feel to it nowadays…
Why on earth would young working class lad fight for the traitorous political class?
https://dailycannon.com/2026/09/ceadach-oneill-media-praise/?callback=in&code=ZWVLZJCYZDKTMJG1ZI0ZYZLMLWFIYZQTZJFLYWEZZGY3NDEZ&state=14b8b64453c74fc0abf8bfcccf6a0282
We wouldn’t have any defence if a world war kicked off now. Scary thought considering…
A totally different world back then Cicero, a horrid day to day living.
I tried to watch the drama Jamaica Inn on television but could hear what the actors were saying. Really poor filming.
That must have been scarily dramatic, Cicero.
What a generation of brave, heroic people we had serving us during the dark years of war, and barely 20 years between the two.
Men and women of all ages making huge sacrifices on a scale you just couldn’t imagine happening now.
My maternal grandmother along with three of my aunts were picking hops in Kent whilst the Battle of Britain was fought out in the skies above them.
Kent and hops are synonymous with me, plus apples, pears, cherries and filberts.
I knew among us there would be some efducated well-informed folk to cover my cultural ignorance.
My favourite author, Charles Dickens.
Of course, Potter, I totally forgot about all the smuggler’s caves and hide-outs.
Everyday’s a schoolday.
Cornwall was the home of pirates , smugglers and sandbaggers with fishing boats that caught more than fish and then drank the profits in Jamaica inn.
You are right re Kent Kev, home of the strawberries and Dickens I believe although the latter was born nearer to where I now live.
Never too old for sandcastles Dennis, although it’s a bit mizzly this morning..
You know what Kev, as I was writing, I was thinking of Kent, so I think you’re right.
Could it be the rose in England’s garden?
I’m sure it’s something of that nature, but I’ve embarrassed myself enough, I shall go away and get the tool-box out to work on my malfunctioning brain.
Long overdue, I know.
I think the ‘Garden of England’ is actually Kent, but maybe I’m being pedantic HH.
Hi everyone.
I hope you had a nice holiday, Rico, Cornwall really is England’s jewel in the crown, ‘The Garden of England’.
Such a lovely place to visit.
I hope it was refreshing, re-energising, and you got most of what you wanted.
I’m only guessing, but I imagine you’re probably just a bit too old for sandcastles…
Morning Kev, Cicero, Dennis, all.
Jumping to conclusions Dennis, surely not. 😜
I didn’t give it a thought Kev but it’s worked out well. lol
Home tomorrow though.
Ha ha Stuart, in this case though, I think chump was correct..
The latest on William Saliba’s recovery from a back stress-fracture is him returning in the middle of December if everything goes well…
Morning Rico, morning Cicero you disruptive devil you and morning Gooners…
I’m quite enjoying this break from domestic football, there’s still plenty of podcasts to listen to and it’s allowed me to focus on work with no distractions safe in the knowledge that the madness we love will soon kick-off again soon.
Rico was it by accident or design that you picked this period to go on your vacation?
Seems to be a lot of chatter about a January move for Kevin Schade, who is in a rich vein of form and will be expensive. Also Real Madrid have it seems got bored already with their shiny new toy from Merseyside T.A.Arnold, or ‘Trent’ to his many media friends, although a return to Blighty would I reckon mean a return to the North West.
Good morning all, our three amigos sat out last night’s match as unused substitutes.
D’oh
The penny just dropped, Rico.
When you said ‘HH was playing Cicero up yesterday..’, naturally you were referring to the blog.
I completely misread it, and in a moment of madness rivalled only by King George, I typed my rantings below.
I’ll get my coat..
*All of this should be celebrated…
Hi Rico and fellow patrons of The Arsenal.
I wasn’t playing up Cicero, Rico, I’m defending my right to have opinions on Arsenal that may not always align with his, and not looking down your nose at other people’s comments.
People are welcome to challenge my opinions in a respectful, intelligent manner.
Many of us have followed Arsenal for decades and we know them to be a quirky, unorthodox club who do things differently to most other clubs. Some of this s tied in with our historical journey with contrasting Conservaltive owners, the free-spending of Henry Norris to the far more cautious spending often to our detriment, of the Hil-Woods.
There have been large parts of Arsenal’s history, particularly after WWII, that success wasn’t seen as a pressing need, and from the 1954 through to the mid- 1980’s, Arsenal won one title (the ‘Double’ in 1971).
Effectively the club were allowed to drift with a succession of poor, uninspiring managers who just maintained the status quo of First Division football.
Credit to Bertie Mee for the Fairs Cup and the Double, but he quickly broke that team up and again Arsenal drifted.
Arsenal’s ideosyncracities are probably the most fascinating story in English football
So we all know exactly who our club are and how they behave, and it can lead to some great debates if people are open-minded and respectful enough to share their thoughts.
It isn’t always about being right or wrong, it’s more about the path of learning and understanding.
Arsenal are a wonderful football with a fantastic history who have stretched all our emotions through time, delivered huge moments of unadulterated joy and immense pleasure, equally they’ve taken us to the depths of despair.
Many of us will have experienced those emotions together in the same time-frame as well as own personal ones.
All of this should be , rather than constantly bickering, sniping and pointless point-scoring.
We are supposedly mature adults (allegedly).
Spotted another mistake, Rico. “Chump” should be “Champ”.
Maybe we did Kev but the brown envelope sealed the deal.
Rico, I think if we’d thought Monga was a sure fire thing we would have matched City’s offer
Even considering all the players’ they’ve signed, banning them for 5 years is a long time, things change, players get injured, they lose form, it means their competitors have free hand in signing players they cannot.
I wonder if a brown envelope made sure Monga signed for City rather than us. After all, he was meant to be joining Arsenal all summer.
Afternoon Cicero, Geoff.
HH has been playing up Cicero, then it crashed yesterday.
I read the appeal process must be concluded within 12 weeks and there is little to no chance of City being successful. Makes sense really bearing in mind how long this case has gone on for.
114 of 115 that should read.
Potter with 149 charges to be appealed, they’ll all be reaching retirement age by the time the whole process is completed.
Anticipating a transfer ban with a few other bits of their punishment ?
PlayerAge Signed From Reported Fee Bouaddi18Lille£81.4m – £86mMathys Detourbet 19 Troyes €25m (~£21m)Sverre Halseth Nypan 19 Rosenborg£12.5m – £15m Jeremy Monga 17 Leicester City £10m – £12.5m Pierce Charles 20 Sheffield Wednesday£3m Cavan Sullivan 16 Philadelphia Union Undisclosed (Structured deal) Mishel Nduka 16 Arsenal Free / Academy Compensation .
Stacking up for the future , All in the last 6 months
Morning Rico and all,
Limey, I would pick Gyokeres, I still don’t get why Arteta has cast him aside, hopefully he gets a chance and takes full advantage of it,
Of course Potter,I saw it on twitter anyway,if the appeal comes through(cough) we might have to re think that.
Good morning Rico,
I hope this comment gets through, none of mine have since Thursday.
Man guilty !,…….. I like that , may I use it elsewhere.?
Gyokeres or Merino? Gyokeres for me,we have an insane schedule coming up anyway so both will probably get a chance.
There was a story recently that Man Guilty have spent 100s of millions on lawyers to delay this process,we can expect them to double down on that now.
The Leeds game is only 2 weeks away,right now that seems a long way off…
Maybe someone in France could have a close look in the PSG model?
I can’t get excited about the 114 guilty charges because City will throw a shed load of legal cash at this verdict, I think that the authorities should go in massive with its penalties because the appeals will get them reduced so go in OTT and you’ll end up with close to the penalty you actually wanted.
After the appeals shenanigans, I’d like to finally see a transfer ban covering the next 10 windows so basically the next 5 years and a 150 points deduction spread over the next 5 years so 5 years from 2027/28 where City start 30 points in arrears therefore hampering European qualification without actually banning them from Europe.
They could still qualify through winning the FA and League Cups but not the Champions League.
Then Etihad and the fit and proper ownership rules and regulations, could they be forced out and not to another family member or friend?
Off to sunny Falmouth so catch up later..
I’ve corrected it now, what a chump I am. 😜
Morning Kev, 4 weeks out apparently which might mean 4 months so yes, hold that contract. Lol
Morning Rico, the same hamstring is a bit of a worry, maybe that new contract should be put on ice?
Has Zubimendi changed his name ? Anything to get a game ? ( Joke )
As usual the most dangerous time for us is international breaks
I finally spotted it, thanks. Autofill is too used to following Martin with Odegaard.
What about him?
Martin Odegaard ❓❓❓❓❓