Rumours Rampant

Now, the rumours are getting better: Obafemi Martins. Carlos Tevez. These are some strikers I can get excited about. None have the singular brilliance of Thierry Henry, for sure. But as we were discussing yesterday, perhaps we need a brilliant striker who still leaves a little room for others on the team to be brilliant in.

Others say get Michael Owen. I don't know. The bum knee and all. How about Ruud van Nistelroy as long as we're talking about older strikers who still have game. That'd certainly make for a sporting match-up with the Red Devils.

And what to make of the spectacular, some might say, Galactical mess that is the team formerly known as Los Galacticos. They win the league for the first time in four years and of course, they fire the coach.
Said RM Sports (mis) Director Predrag Milajotovic:

"we felt he wasn't the most suitable person to carry out what we plan to do" over the next couple of seasons.

Apparently, those plans don't include winning...

And then, finally...
The Washington Post is reporting on a historical
constitutional crisis and power grab in the administration, the Middle
East is still on fire, global warming continues to cook the planet, and
still the  found room on the front page for an informative article about ketchup! I am in the wrong business.

Off-Season Madness Continued

David Feltham at Arsenal World has a reasoned and optimistic take on Thierry Henry. Regardless, of whether you buy the argument that losing Henry will open up the rest of the squad, one player, no matter who he is, does not make the team. I think you also have to agree that securing the services of Wenger long-term is the priority right now.

In other news, Arsenal's Chairman is hoping Arsene Wenger will sign a contract extension. Meanwhile, Arsene's friend and colleague says you'd have to throw AW out of Arsenal FC, because he won't leave on his own volition.

And, here's an interesting piece on foreign ownership of EPL clubs. Being an American, I've never been worried about Yanks buying their way into English clubs. In fact, there's a part of me that feels that if Stan Kroenke gets a majority share of Arsenal, I, as a fellow American, will have a stronger tie to the club. (At the very least, I'm hoping this'll mean Arsenal will play some games in the U.S. - Hey, a guy can dream can't he?)

Plan B??

Nick Anelka is Plan B?? Wake me up from this nightmare. The only EPL team he showed he could score against last season was Arsenal.

And Henry says he will always be a Gunner at heart. Thierry, I think it's time for us all to move on. Let it go and let us get on with our lives.

Meanwhile, xx over at Arsenal World had a good take on the entire TH will-he-or-won't-he saga. I agree with most of his thoughts. With all the questions around TH, he has been a Gunner with an asterisk on his back the last 2 seasons. Better to have players who want to be at the club.

Henry No Longer Gunner, Just Goner

Well, that's it. Henry is gone. Off to FC Barcelona. He cited the departure of David Dein and his uncertainty over Arsene Wenger's future.

That seems strange and somewhat unprofessional. But it's hard to say what else is going on at the club. If I were Henry, I would think I'd be more focused on the club's lack of big player signings to bolster Champions League chances. But, oh, well.

I had thought that I'd panic and cry and generally have fits if this day ever came, but I'm handling it well. Here's why. Arsenal football (or Arsene football, if you prefer) is a style you fit players into and Henry fit into it well. With the right cast of characters around him, Henry was a prolific and dangerous striker. He will continue to be so in Barcelona. Thierry's success at Arsenal, however, does not preclude other strikers from being successful. Not in the least. The issue is who they replace him with.

Will the club rely on Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor? Or will they add a big name striker to the club?

In some ways, I think the more central player is Cesc Fabregas...and perhaps Gilberto Silva. Cesc would definitely be harder to replace.

Secondly, I am a Barcelona fan as well. So, this makes Barcelona stronger and more attractive. (Although, playing time could become an issue with Eto'o, Messi, & Ronaldinho already wearing striped shirts) The problem is that the Spanish League is hardly ever on TV, so I will rarely see Msr. Henry play again. That sucks.

All in all, I think the bigger question hanging over the club is what the directors' plans are for player acquisition and development, and holding on to Arsene Wenger. My hunch is that Arsene is a goner, too...

Vieira Speaks

You have to wonder whether former Arsenal and French teammate Patrick Vieira isn't speaking for Thierry Henry when he says bring in some top-drawer players or Thierry walks....

From the Nut Bin
And when some jackass actor says something along the lines of:

“I don’t disagree with anything Tom says,” Travolta says in the July
issue of W magazine, on newsstands Friday. “How would I have presented
it? Maybe differently than how he did, but it doesn’t matter. I still
think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun
control. It is (psychotropic) drugs at the bottom of it.”

We should care, why?

Ughh.

Say it ain't so, Arsene. If this report is true, Henry's exit seems assured.

More Henry Rumours

This is the sort of crap we're going to be subjected to for the next two months (at least). When I first saw the BBC headline, I nearly wet myself. Then, come the strong denials. And here.

But Jeff Weston, from the SEM Group which looks after
Henry, told BBC Sport on Tuesday: "No such meeting took place. That is
absolute rubbish.

"There's never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season."

Henry himself says B.S. But, he does note that the board should get busy trying to get David Dein back.

"David Dein's departure was a mistake," added Henry.

"I have said it before and I will say it for the next 20 years. If there was one person who had to stay at Arsenal, it was David Dein."

Time to get out the Thierry Henry Prayer Beads

This is going to be a long, nervous summer. It sounds like Thierry Henry is serious about a look away from Arsenal. Reports this morning that Henry is pleased with interest from AC Milan.

Sayeth Henry:

"Although no one is bigger than the club, Arsene Wenger and Mr Dein are really close to being Arsenal.

"So if you ask me if there was one person on the board I would not like to see leaving, I would have said Mr Dein.

"Unfortunately it is out of my hands. I don't agree with
what has happened but sometimes that's the way things are. We just have
to move on."

Gulp.

On an etymological note, I have long been a fan of the song Walking Spanish, by Tom Waits, off the great album . I had an idea of what the phrase meant, but today got curious enough to Google Around and found the following:

Walking (someone ) Spanish [Walking Spanish ] 1. To force someone to leave,
usu. from a public place, by lifting him by his coat or shirt collar to a
walking position and propelling him toward the door (Dictionary Of American
Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner ) 2. Being in the act of doing something you don't
want to do. So, to paraphrase the example Waits himself gave, a guy reaching for
his wallet after being told to do so by a mugger would be "walking spanish" as
he did so. (This example from the publicity LP release of Rain Dogs, in which
Waits talks about the theme of each of the songs in turn.) In the instance of
the song itself, then, the guy is on death row and is only walking to the chair
because he has to: hence he's "walking spanish". (Tom Waits Digest, Seth
Nielssen ) 3. To make a man walk Spanish is to give him the sack; to give him
his discharge. In 1885 one of the retired captains in the Trinity House
Establishment said, "If I had to deal with the fellow, I would soon make him
walk Spanish, I warrant you."

: ("The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", E.
Cobham Brewer. © 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd )

As Waits sang, "Even Jesus wanted a little more time, when he was walking Spanish down the hall."