No more snowmen at Arsenal please!

So here we are. The day of reckoning on the transfer front has arrived. 

The Theo Walcott transfer saga has continued despite the best efforts of Arsene Wenger to put the matter to bed. If he really wants to do that, he needs to tuck Theo up with a teddy bear stuffed with a £100k-per-week wage packet plus a hefty signing-on fee plugging up his hot water bottle.

If Wenger doesn't and just insists that Theo should stay a good boy and remain in bed, the diminutive winger could end up getting whisked off somewhere like that kid does in 'The Snowman'. For some strange reason, it's quite easy to imagine Theo singing 'We're Walking In The Air'. The next line would surely be, 'I'm flying down the wing'. 

But if Wenger is serious about Theo staying, he should make sure he's flying down the centre. That's where Theo wants to play and Wenger always says he sees the England international as a striker, eventually. Well, after no goals scored in our first two games, now would be a good time to start trying him out there. The future starts here! 

Apparently, Wenger spoke to Theo personally, after the 0-0 draw against Stoke, and Le Boss was expecting to have to deal with a petulant over-age teenager, sulking about being dropped. But as I've said before, Theo's attitude is refreshing. Although, Theo's chin was touching the floor, apparently, due to his disappointment at being dropped, he still professed his love of the club and Wenger was pleasantly surprised to hear that he wants to stay. However, it still seems a tad risky not to sell Theo, if he's still refusing to put pen to paper on a new deal.

Although some reports suggest a short-term deal has been agreed, I find this hard to believe as no specific details have been revealed. And even if it's been agreed, it doesn't mean it's been signed. Unless you get the deal signed, then you can't rely on a gentleman's agreement protecting your interests. Remember when chairman Peter Hill-Wood said he had a gentleman's agreement with Barcelona over Cesc Fabregas. Next thing you know, the Spanish version of 'The Snowman' whisked one of our 'kids' off into the Catalonian night.

Please Arsene, we don't need another performance of 'The Snowman'. Once in Spanish was enough.

Meanwhile, we now know our opponents in the Champions League: Schalke, Olympiakos and Montpellier. None sound that easy to me. Schalke have lost the ageing Raul, but still have Klass Jan Huntelaar to worry us. Olympiakos are never easy to play against, but if their Drama-born superstar, Ioannis Fetfatzidis, is that theatrical maybe he'll get sent off or something. Or perhaps he'll win a penalty, which would be worrying, if it were against us. Then there's Montpellier, Olivier Giroud's old club. I wished we'd signed their number 10, Younes Belhanda, as well as that would make them even weaker.

I'd been hoping for Malaga, Anderlecht and Braga, so Group B is much more difficult than I was hoping for. Strangely, I predicted we'd play Schalke and Olympiakos. It was just a guess. I didn't have any inside knowledge. Honest!

Back to the transfer front, for a moment: there are strong rumours that we're about to sign Dentinho for 8.5m euros. He sounds like a Brazilian chewing gum to me, but I know we've been linked with him before. His agent is Ben Thorne, who represents three Chelsea players: David Luiz, Oscar and Lucas Piazon. So perhaps Dentinho will join Chelsea instead.

TalkSport have re-ignited rumours that we're about to sign Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax. I hope not, as I wasn't impressed with his performances for Holland at the Euros. Arsenal's chief negotiator (AKA a man with importance but without a job title), Richard Law, wouldn't confirm or deny this rumour.

I don't really believe TalkSport much these days, but they're sure to get something right. They claim Arsenal are chasing 6 players: 1) Yohan Cabaye (yes, Arsene, please get him, even though it was me that started this story, just like Olivier Giroud!), 2) Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), 3) Yann M'Vila (Rennes), 4) Cheikhon Kouyate (Anderlecht defender),  5) Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), and 6) Milo (Haras El Hodood). I'll take a number one and a number five please!

The Daily Mail claim we have asked Chelsea if we can have Michael Essien on loan, which is a bit like getting Yossi Benayoun from them last year. Who would have predicted that? Not me! Other sources say we're trying to get Daniel Sturridge on loan too. Why stop there? Why don't we try to sign the entire Chelsea reserve team? They would rather sell Sturridge for £15m, so I guess we can forget about that happening.

One semi-confirmed signing is a new goalkeeper. But don't get too excited. He's 17. He's Macedonian and his name is Dejan Iliev. Apparently, he's joined our youth set up from FK Belasica. Great! Maybe he'll be pushing for a first-team place by 2020!

Why don't Arsenal sell players who won't re-sign with 2 years left on their contracts?

As the closure of the transfer window trundles ever closer, I thought I'd have a quick look at one sale that might or might not happen. Well, everyone else is doing it, so why not jump on the bandwagon?

For most clubs, one transfer saga would be enough. Not for Arsenal, though! As if Robin van Persie long-protracted departure wasn't enough, we've had the speedier departure of Alex Song, and now there's speculation about Theo Walcott's future.

I've always maintained that Theo would stay. He seems happy enough, which is strange given the undeserved flak he gets sometimes. The guy is match-winner getting played out of position. As a young striker at Newbury, he scored over 100 goals in a season. Yet some Gunners 'fans' claim Theo can't finish!

I admit that Theo lacks the 'football brain' of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Theo has a good attitude and will learn, if he gets the right coaching. The problem is how many wingers have Arsenal developed into better widemen under Arsene Wenger? I can't think of any. All the good wingers were good before they arrived. When they left they weren't much better than they were before they arrived, unless you include Thierry Henry, who ended up playing as a striker. Marc Overmars and Robert Pires didn't improve a lot at Arsenal, although the latter took a while to adjust, as they were already established internationals. Jose Antonio Reyes regressed at Arsenal, but I blame that on overzealous Premier League tackling. Freddie Ljungberg may have improved at Arsenal, but I didn't see enough of him before his arrival to be sure of that. Besides which, Freddie wasn't a traditional winger in the 'hugging the touchline' sense of the word.

So, I'm concluding that Theo's best chance of developing as a player at Arsenal would be to switch to the Thierry Henry role. Why does Wenger say he sees Theo as a striker and then not play him there? It seems like he's setting him up to fail.

How on earth Wenger can experiment with Gervinho as a lone striker is beyond me. The Ivorian is a tricky customer, but rarely looks like finding the net. It must be so frustrating for Theo, waiting in the wings (pun intended!).

If Theo does leave, I will lay a lot of blame firmly at Wenger's door. He's the one constantly playing Theo out of position. The rest of the blame will rest with the unappreciative fans. I guarantee that if we sell Theo to a Premier League rival that decision will haunt us.

Having said that, I'm not advocating we give in to all of Theo's demands. Our negotiating team of Ivan Gazidis, Richard Law and David Miles should give him £80k per week. Surely Theo deserves to get the same salary as new signings Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski? Our current offer is £75k plus a £5m signing-on fee, apparently. I'd up the signing on fee to around £7m, if necessary.

But then again, if Wenger's planning to only deploy Theo as a winger, it may be time to cash. There's still time to change Theo to a striker. He's still only 23, so probably 4 years away from his peak, lest we forget.

The club have to use these past two summers as a wake-up call. Last season, we were forced into selling Samir Nasri, more or less, has he entered the last year of his contract. Why do we continually let this happen? If the club refuses to be more transparent about these things, they will inevitably attract a lot of the blame.

Why don't negotiations begin when a player has two years left on a current deal? If the player won't sign then, we should start looking at offloading him. If that were the case, we should get more value-for-money for any subsequent sale that takes place, as we'll have more transfer windows to play with when it comes to finding the right deal.

The only other way of doing it, I can do it, would be to have a clause written into contracts, whereby the club can re-sign a player for an extra year when he's entering the last year of his contract. Manchester United did that with Dimitar Berbatov, see this article in the Guardian written back in February.

The club have to learn, as even though this summer was better than the last one (as we actually did some significant buying relatively early), we can't look back fondly on the departure under a cloud of two or three first-teamers. A change would make financial sense, I think, so hopefully our economics graduate of a manager will insist that the same thing doesn't happen again.   

Cerezo Osaka backed by Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack et al

I have a confession to make. Please try not to be too shocked! My local football team when I was growing up was Dulwich Hamlet. One of the coaches lived down my street but, instead of watching the pink-shirted part-timers , I ended up watching the professionals at Arsenal and Millwall. Other than the odd goalkeeper, I'd never seen a self-respecting pro' wearing pink at home! Maybe I should rephrase that, but I won't!

Anyway, it was high time I saw past the pink prejudice and took a look at Cerezo Osaka, named in honour of Japan's famous cherry trees. I've been known to wear the odd pink shirt, but could I find a macho-ish cotton shirt at Nagai Stadium? The answer to that was 'no', as Cerezo weren't playing at Nagai. Instead of that 14,000 crammed into the smaller ground next door, Kincho Stadium, to watch a game against Yokohama F. Marinos that they needed to win to ease their relegation fears. 

I hoped the action would be a bit better than the Cerezo merchandising, which was a tad disappointing to be honest, as I was hoping to get a blue and pink shirt, as opposed to a pink and blue one. To some people, there's not much difference, but I just couldn't face walking around in mostly pink, especially with some cutesy/girly manga-style design. I mean, I might as well buy a white handbag and dance around it, if I'm going to go that far. Well, that's what I thought and, as I'm in confessional mode, I thought I might as well let you know!

Not that I was worried about getting picked up or anything! Alan Gibson, president of JSoccer Magazine, had made sure no one would want to get within 2 miles of me after some pre-match gyoza. After eating that, I'm sure I smelt a lot stronger than Patrick Vieira did when he was accused of having 'garlic breath' by West Ham's Neil Ruddock back 1999. And although I didn't even knowingly spit it anyone, I can assure you no one would have got within spitting distance of me without a face mask of some sort. Not that the latter items are in short supply in Japan.

Anyway, my garlic aura was bound to ensure that fanged insects would keep their distance, surely. After a couple of mosquito bites at Kyoto Sanga, earlier in the week, I was hoping there wouldn't be a repeat performance. 'Don't worry, wally,' Alan informed me. 'There aren't any insects at Cerezo's ground. They're sponsored by an insecticide company.'

Well, that was news to me, so I paced on ahead of him, anxious to get to the impressive arena looming ever larger in front of me. Suddenly, I heard Alan's voice behind me: 'Where are you going, wally?'

'To the stadium.'

'That's the wrong stadium, wally. Turn left and you might find it.'

I did, and saw the much smaller venue, Kincho Stadium, much to my disappointment. I also wondered if I should rename myself 'Walter', seeing as Alan was continuing to call me 'wally'. If I was 'Walter', I could 'capitalise' on his mild abuse. 

Luckily, the Cerezo staff didn't call me 'wally. They were just as friendly as you will find at any other stadium in Japan. 

I went back outside to hit one of the merchandising stands outside the ground. 'Have you got any blue cotton shirts,' I asked.

'Sorry. Cerezo play in pink, so we only have pink shirts.'

'What about their away kit?'

'I'm sorry, it's only available in nylon.'

Yep, I was disappointed again. Yet Alan was right about the lack of insects. On entering the stadium, I looked up expecting to see cicadas and other flying insects congregating in front of the floodlight, but the sky was completely clear. It was so clear that I could see a garishly-lit love hotel called 'Manhattan' almost overlooking the ground. 'Wow! That must be fun,' I thought innocently. 

Rather than contemplate what goes on in a place like that, I focused on matters on the pitch. The Cerezo team came out, with the mascots, one of whom looked like a cauliflower. Maybe the other one was a sprig of garlic, I couldn't tell. But I couldn't help but notice how blue Cerezo's shirts were. 'So much for pink', I thought. 'Rarer than "sticky-safe hands" Lucasz Fabianski-branded goalkeeping gloves,' I added privately. 'I could "stomach" that shirt! By "stomach" I mean insert my belly inside a tight-fitting semi-macho football top, if necessary. As long as it wasn't pink and it wasn't nylon.

Before I could wander back down to the mechandising area, the game had kicked off. Both sets of fans were in full voice. I thought the Yokohama crowd took a while to get going, but once they started they didn't stop. Never mind the scoreline, J.League fans want to sing and wave flags, so that's what they do. Once again, this was another incredible advertisement for football in Japan. 

The action was hotting up on the pitch as well. Cerezo's two Brazilians in the starting XI, Simplicio and Kempes looked in fine fettle, with the former supplying the pass for Kakitani to shoot wide early on.

At the other end, Cerezo's South Korean international keeper, Jin-Hyeon Kim, was also on his toes, keeping Yokohama at bay. He was beaten once, when Oguro scored from a Nakamura corner, but it was ruled out for offside. The relieved Cerezo fans immediately rejoiced by singing a song that sounded like 'Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)'. To me, the lyrics should have been: 'Jin-Hyeon, You're the reason we're not conceding'. Or something like that!

What a selection of songs this crowd had. It was like logging into Spotify being here! Next up was 'It's A Heartache', made famous by Bonnie Tyler. Then it was a trip to Disneyland, or 'desu ne' land if you prefer in this land of the rising question tags, as the crowd launched into a song that sounded like 'Colonel Hathi's March' from 'The Jungle Book'. 'In a military style', it seemed to go. I thought that was quite ironic, given Japan's lack of armed forces. 

However, the regimented nature of the supporting made it seem quite apt. And whatever the fans were singing, it all added to the atmosphere which was as electric as anywhere else in the J.League.

But Yokohama were making a fist of this game, with Oguro and Ono beginning to impress. Then a strike out of nowhere. Yamaguchi's shot seemed to fly past Yokohama keeper Iikura faster than the speed of light. The crowd sang 'Na na na, Heathrow'. Or did it imagine it? I certainly didn't imagine what Alan said. 'Why couldn't he do that in the Olympics?'

Yokohama were there for the taking now, as they slowly began to fall apart. Indiscipline was showing and internal dissent. Both of those seem so rare in the J.League, so I was shocked to notice Ono berating Hyodo, after the latter's poorly-placed crossfield pass.

Right after that, another stray Yokohama pass was pounced upon by Katikani, who seized the night as opposed to the day and wrapped up victory for Cerezo.  'More goals please' said the scoreboard, but Cerezo had to settle for two.

Still, it was another great night of J.League action and well worth riding ten stops from Umeda for. Had Jim-Hyeon made ten stops too that night? I don't think so, but he's one of the reasons that Cerezo fans can start believing that they are destined to stay up. They might even get more than they bargained for, like a 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

Theo v Gervinho, Hayes v Robbo & give Henderson another chance!

Morning Gooners!

I had a look at last week's game again and had a think about what went wrong? Obviously, a point wasn't a disaster, but three would have been considerably nicer!

Tim Peters commentated and Martin Hayes summarised on Arsenal Player and, on a personal note, I have to say I miss Stewart Houston. Will he ever come back? I hope so! Hayes called Andrey Arshavin 'Anchovin', at one point, or at least that's what it sounded like to me! The anchovy had a much better game than he got credit for. Yes, he made a couple of stray passes and gave away one silly free kick, but that's all he did wrong. He did a lot right in his 17 minutes (including additional time) on the pitch. He did a lot more than Abou Diaby, who gave the ball away unnecessarily far too much, and Aaron Ramsey, who looked reasonably sharp, compared to the end of last season. And don't get me started on 'Corporal' Carl Jenkinson. He didn't do anything majorly (see had to get an army rank in there!) wrong, but he also gives the ball away too much.

Hayes was waxing lyrical about Gervinho, but I didn't see much end product from the Ivorian. He ran down some blind alleys at times, running the ball out of play on at least one occasion and running into trouble on many more. He was much more involved than Theo Walcott, but the latter looked a more likely goalscorer or goal provider, even having a header on goal. Anyway, looks like Hayes will slag off Theo just as much as Robbo used to in the summariser seat, judging by this comment about Theo: 'barring one run, he's not been allowed to have any impact'. Anyway, I liked Gervinho's endeavour and I'm not suggesting he played badly at all. I'm just saying he wasn't any better in terms of impact than Theo, that's all. Probably a bit worse.

The star man was clearly Santi Cazorla. He makes everything look so simple. He has immense skill and is not afraid to work hard. I was watching Sunderland's Lee Cattermole, who we've been tenuously linked with in the past, and he made sleepy Song look industrious in comparison. I don't know if he was carrying an injury, but I didn't see him running off the ball much or marking up spare players. Other than that, he had a sound game, but I certainly wouldn't sign a defensive midfielder lacking in the effort department, so I hope Arsenal don't.

I was alarmed to see Sir Chesney (Wojciech Szczeny) nearly losing his knighthood coming out for a ball that new skipper Thomas Vermaelen tidied up. When will our Polish knight learn to stay on his line? It seems to be an Arsenal phenomenon. Have a word with our keepers please, Gerry Peyton!

Anyway, the knight kept a clean sheet, so we've got to be happy with that. But the star keeper of the week has to be James Shea. His heroics against Bolton's U21 side have to be seen to be believed. A triple save kept the Trotters out when Arsenal were a goal and a man down.

My favourite young player, Conor Henderson, also got the plaudits for a fine goal from a free kick. The senior professionals could learn a thing or two from this dead ball specialist, who also scored from a penalty. Give a Conor another first-team chance please Arsene, don't loan him out!

The U21s victory made up for the U18s getting slaughtered by their Bolton counterparts. There were few pluses. Jon Toral scored a good goal and, at times, reminded me of (dare I say it?) a young Robin van Persie!

Anyway, the future's bright at Arsenal judging by the U21s, at least!

English Premier League predictions

Okay, I got 4 out of 10 right last week, have a butcher's a these:

Stoke v Reading - drew at 3.35 odds - nice little earner!
West Ham v Villa - home win at 2.30 - not bad!
Wigan v Chelsea - away win at 1.64 - lousy odds but a dot on the cards!
Man C v Southampton - home win at 1.21 - hardly worth a punt!

This week, I'm predicting the following:

Swansea v West Ham - draw 23/10
Villa v Everton - draw 12/5
Man U v Fulham - home 2/7
Norwich v QPR - home 5/4
Southampton v Wigan - draw 12/5
Sunderland v Reading - home 17/20
Spurs v WBA - home 1/2
Chelsea v Newcastle - home 1/2
Stoke v Arsenal - away 11/10
Liverpool v Man C - away 13/10

It's notoriously difficult to predict games at the start of the season, so don't say I didn't warn you!

J.League Predictions

Here's my latest J.League Predictions (in conjunction with Alan Gibson of JSoccer.com). I've got around a 50% correct prediction rate so far, so let's hope I continue in this rich vein of form.

I'll start with what we disagree on:

Omiya v Sendai - Alan's gone for an away win at 10/11, but I'm backing the draw at 12/5.

Cerezo v Yokohama F. Marinos - Alan's gone for the home win at 2/1, but I'm backing another draw at 11/5.

Gamba v Sapporo - I've begged to differ and gone for another draw. Gamba should win, but will they. I think a draw is worth a cheeky punt seeing as it's priced at 9/2! Alan's gone for a 2/7 home win, not surprisingly!

The rest we agree on:

Shimizu v Urawa - home win 6/4
Kashima v Niigata - home win 4/6
Kashiwa v Iwata - home win 5/6
Kawasaki v Nagoya - draw 21/10
Kobe v Tosu - home win 11/10
Hiroshima v FC Tokyo - home win 8/11

Will Arsenal add to their Lucas collection?

Of course, one of the names that Arsenal fans have been talking about this summer is Lucas Biglia. We've been tracking the Argentina international midfielder for some time, apparently, and this summer we saw him in action for Anderlecht in the pre-season tournament down at St Mary's.

I wasn't particularly impressed, to be honest, but some say you can't read too much into friendly games. I mean, Lukasz Fabianski had a nightmare against Barnet in the first game I saw him play. And what's he been like since? I'll keep quiet on that, I think!

Lukas Podolski, meanwhile, was electric against his former employers, Cologne. So we're expecting big things from him, without wanting to heap too much pressure on his Teutonic shoulders!

Anyway, I think you can gather that I think some information about a player can be gleaned from a friendly. Based on what I saw, Biglia will do an okay job in the Premier League. He'll be an adequate replacement for Alex Song, but I'd like to see us aim higher than that. Yohan Cabaye would be a step up, but if we get Biglia it will be a step sideways. And maybe we can expect a lot of crab-like running and passing too!

Inevitably, Southampton have been linked with Biglia too. The theory being that they've had a good look at him in pre-season too, so must be interested! The story goes that Biglia wants European football, so that rules the Saints out. The same goes for Everton, who judging by their purchase of Kevin Mirallas, like to buy Arsenal transfer targets!

Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Paris Saint Germain are reportedly other options for the 25-year-old midfielder, who's only going to cost £6.3m. Maybe he's worth a gamble for that price, but I won't be jumping up and down celebrating if we get him. He might find himself walking in Ju Young Park's shoes rather than walking in the park playing for Arsenal!

Where next for Arsenal's Chewy?

Our old number 9, Chu or Ju Young Park, AKA Chewy, is still looking for a club. Celta Vigo could be his next port of call, apparently. Well, that's according to Inside Futbol.

One thing's clear. Chewy will be off. He's suffered a severe loss of face by losing that coveted shirt number, so he needs a move desperately now. Imagine dropping from number 9 to number 30! It must have been a bitter pill to swallow. But Park helped his country win a bronze medal at the Olympics and now there are some suitors for the South Korea international striker.

It could be that he'll end up in the UAE, playing for Al Ain. Gulf News have reported that Park will be signing before Ain's Super Cup game against Al Jazira on 15th September, if all goes to plan. I'm not sure if the Middle East has an extended transfer window or not, but if not, they need to get their skates on!

Who's won the Nuri Sahin race? Other options for Arsenal?

It's anyone's guess, The Independent reckon Sahin's bound for Arsenal, as does De Bild. But the Daily Star and The Guardian disagree.

I thought Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho didn't care where Sahin headed, so it's a bit mystifying to hear he's chosen Liverpool, given the player's supposed preference for Arsenal. Islington has some of the best Turkish restaurants in the country, so surely he should have chosen north London!

It sounds like it's a money thing as usual. Arsenal were offering to contribute less to Sahin's £120k per week wages than Liverpool, so clearly Real would be stupid to loan to the lowest bidder! The move was complicated by the 'fact' that Arsenal wanted the chance to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for a fixed fee. Of course, that would involve more risk for Real's point of view, as if Sahin excelled in the Premier League and then had to be sold for, say £14m, they'd end up with egg on their face. This way, they're more likely to be winners as if Sahin rips up trees in English football, his sale price will rocket. And apparently, he'll be virtually guaranteed playing time at Anfield, so that's another plus as far as Real and Sahin are concerned. Of course, we missed out on Kevin Mirallas for same reason, as he opted for Liverpool's local neighbours Everton with the promise of more 'game time' than he would get at Arsenal. Maybe Arsenal's negotiators need to 'sweet talk' players a bit more to get them to sign on the dotted line!

We've not been able to do that and missed out on Everton's Phil Jagielka, apparently. Our first approach was in 2010, so the story goes, but we just can't get him to come 'down south'. Sounds a bit unlikely to me, but perhaps there is some truth in it. He's the kind of player I'd sign, as he's versatile enough to even play in goal, if required. Anyway, I just can't see it happening.

The same goes for Newcastle's Chiek Tiote. I saw a rumour on a Newcastle website and next thing the media were running the story that Arsenal are chasing him. If we were chasing his midfield partner, Yohan Cabaye, I'd find that a lot more believable, as he's a class act and won't get booked every other game like Tiote.

Anyway, it's all a bit worrying, as we expected Sahin not Tiote to fill the 'void' left by Alex Song's departure. We were pinning our hopes on adding to our central midfield ranks, so I'm not sure why some media sources consider winger Jesus Navas as a replacement for Song if the Sahin deal falls through. Navas might be a good use of the money burning a hole in Arsene Wenger's pocket, but he'd only be a like-for-like replacement for 'contract rebel' Theo Walcott. I write that epithet in inverted commas as I think it's a bit premature to call Theo  names given that it's by no means clear whether or not Theo will be walking the Mathieu Flamini walk to another club on a free come the end of the season. I suspect he will stay or be sold. If I had to bet on it, I'd say Theo will stay. But then again, if he feels unappreciated by our fans, who knows what he'll decide to do. If I took the flak he's taken, I'd be tempted to leave on a free. His pace makes him a saleable asset, but once again the club have been remiss in allowing his contract to run down.

Arsenal have to do something to ensure that history doesn't keep repeating itself. It's embarrassing and counter-productive to have our first-team players leaving every summer under a cloud of controversy.

Nevertheless, I don't completely buy into those stories about Song being 'dying to sign a new contract' before his sale to Barcelona. Yes, he probably wanted more than the £55k per week he was on. But his 'dying' wish was probably to feather his own nest. It never seemed to me that he was 'dying' to stay at Arsenal.

I know I've been hyper-critical of the board at times, but I can't imagine anyone feeling the need to 'cover his a***' when it comes to the Song sale. The club did the right thing. Song had 3 years to run on his deal, so why should the club sit down and discuss a new one? Why did Song's representative try to renegotiate six times with Arsenal? I'm not anti-football agents or anything, but this kind of thing smacks of greed. Good riddance, I say!

Wise to cash in on out-of-tune Song

Hello again Gooners!

There's been so much written about Alex Song's transfer to Barcelona that I feel compelled to join the party! Except it's not so much of a party. It's hardly a celebration of what he contributed to the team's fortunes, although I have seen a writer or two who would beg to differ. Talking to various football fans, I'd say valuations of the player vary from £5m to £20m. So for us to get £15m seems  a bit of coup, bearing that in mind.

There's been a lot of talk about Song's questionable attitude. We'll never know the truth, but there's two sides to every story. I heard that Cesc Fabregas refused to play for us in friendly games prior to his transfer away to Barcelona. I didn't believe that at all. Like Song, he was on a long-term contract and in no position to call the shots. If he did that, he could be fined by the club and end up being parked in the reserves. I understand that Cesc had a gentleman's agreement with Arsene Wenger that he could leave if and when Barca came calling, so when it happened Le Boss felt he had to let him leave.

With Song, it's been completely different. Even on a good day on the pitch, he came across as lazy and nonchalant. He could never match the work-rate of Cesc, let alone be able to take a game by the scruff of the neck like the Spanish maestro. If Song still harbours delusions of playmaking grandeur, his move to Barca should dispel that myth immediately. There he will be arguably the poorest passer of a ball in the team! At Arsenal, of the first-team regulars, only Mikel Arteta was head and shoulders above him in that department.  However, Song's positional play was sound, his versatility useful, so in some senses he will be missed. Not greatly, but missed all the same.

I had to laugh when I read a blog written by Jamie Sanderson claiming that Darren Dein had made millions ripping 'apart the heartbeat of the club's squad'. I really enjoy Jamie's writing and his informed views, but this line struck me as a tad hyperbolic! If sleepy Song was turning up late to training and so on, as has been claimed, then you'd have to say he'd become so laid back that he was horizontal. In anyone's terminology that would make him deadwood. As I said, a Song 'on song' would be a useful but uninspiring plank on the good ship Arsenal, to my mind. An 'off key' Song had to be offloaded before he got the rest of the team singing out of tune.

I'm not expecting Song to be a great success at Barca, at all. I said the same about Alex Hleb, and look what happened to him.

 

 

Arsenal's alternatives to Sahin

I'm quite distrubed to hear that Liverpool are in pole position to land Nuri Sahin as, although I haven't seen him play that much, he sounds like the sort of player who will be just what the doctor ordered. Especially as Alex Song is probably heading to Barcelona for around £17m. If we can get Sahin on loan, that sounds like an excellent piece of business.

The story goes that Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid boss, would prefer Sahin to join Liverpool. Of course, 'The Special One' knows Reds manager Brendan Rodgers well, so wants to do his old buddy a favour. It sounds a bit far-fetched. But maybe Sahin thinks he'll get more playing time at Anfield, so I can imagine him making a choice based on that.

So if we don't get Sahin, what are the other options?

1. Yann M'Vila - Arsene Wenger has been distancing himself from the France international, so I'll be a bit surprised if we swoop for the 22-year-old Rennes midfielder. With 22 caps for his country, he's got to be a good addition. Then again, Abou Diaby has got 15 caps, so how difficult is it to get in the France national side nowadays?

2. Etienne Capoue - On paper, this sounds more like a Wenger-type signing. He's a bit more off the radar and has only been capped once by France. Maybe he could develop into a better player at Arsenal, but at the age of 24, he's running out of time to improve.

3. Victor Wanyama - I can't see this happening at all. The Celtic midfielder is a bit on the clumsy side, although he's great in the air.

4. Lucas Biglia - We saw the Argentina international at close quarters in the recent friendly versus Anderlecht at St Mary's Stadium. I wasn't impressed, so I'd be surprised if we make a bid for the 25-year-old.

5. Kara Mbodj - I can't believe that ex-Gunner Lee Dixon has said that a central midfielder from the Norwegian top-flight will be a midfield panacea for Arsenal, as has been reported on some websites. I've not seen the 6ft 3" Tromso star yet, so I'll reserve judgment for now on the 22-year-old uncapped Senegalese midfielder.

So who would I choose from the above? None of them. I would have tried to bring Mathieu Flamini back, but he's re-signed with AC Milan. Failing that, I would have gone for Miguel Veloso, but he signed for Dynamo Kiev last month.

Another overseas alternative could be Athletic Bilbao's Javi Rodriguez. The 23-year-old Spain international is 6ft 3" and Barcelona wanted to sign him before they'd turned their attentions to Alex Song. How ironic it would be, if we ended up using the Song money to get Rodriguez! Barca would be green with envy! Bilbao might have put the price up for Barca, as they are playing in the same league, of course. Just a bit of wishful thinking, but stranger things have happened in football!

Slightly more realistically, I'd be tempted to look closer to home and try to sign Marouane Fallaini from Everton. But now the Toffees have sold Jack Rodwell, they're unlikely to sell another one of their stars. And if they did, they'd want a lot more than the £15m they shelled out for him in 2008. He signed a new 5-year deal less than than a year ago, so we can forget any ideas about getting him on the cheap. I'd break the bank to get him, but Wenger and the board are not going to do that, unfortunately.

The cheap option is to give the youngsters a chance. I reckon Francis Coquelin could become every bit as good as Alex Song eventually. I'm not sure if Coq-au-vin is ready to play in every game this season, but you never know. Aside from a marquee signing like Fellaini, I think Coq's our best bet.

Arsenal's expected line-up v Sunderland

It's so hard to predict the starting XI v Sunderland that it makes me think we've finally got strength in depth!

I keep looking for clues from the Cologne friendly, but there aren't many to be found. Anyway, for what it's worth, this is how I expect us to line up:

GK: Szczeny - 'Sir Chesney', as an increasing number of commentators are calling him, is our undisputed first-choice keeper. Mannone's non-stick gloves put paid to any chance he had of ousting our number one Pole for the start of the season.

RB: Jenkinson - 'The Corporal', as Marc Ollington calls him, might be hard pressed to continue as Sagna's understudy with Nico Yennaris breathing down his neck. I'd go for Yennaris, personally, but I'm sure Arsene Wenger will start with Carl Jenkinson.

CB: Koscielny - Despite ESPN pundit Steve Nicol's reservations, Kos has put his 'wet lettuce' days behind him. He's now a 21-karat (carrot?) defender! He faces a late fitness test on his calf and if he doesn't make it then Mertesacker will step in with his size 12s.

CB: Vermaelen - The new skipper has mostly been an inspiration since his arrival. He's ready to lead this new-look team to success.

LB: Gibbs - The Englishman is a bit more reliable defensively than our other option, Andre Santos. I'd consider playing the Brazilian though, as he's too talented to leave out.

RM: Walcott - If he's recovered from his thigh knock, he has to play. He has to sign a new contract too, or gawd knows who we will sell him to! The club has to stop letting this sort of thing happen!

RCM: Arteta - I predicted he'd be our new skipper, but it makes sense to give it to Vermaelen, I suppose. We rarely lose with Mikel in the team.

CM: Cazorla - This guy has got to play! He looked amazing against Cologne. He could be the signing of the season!

LCM: Oxlade-Chamberlain - If he's recovered from his ankle injury, he may be selected. Then again, Wenger might opt for someone more defensive like Francis Coquelin. I can see the logic in keeping the Ox on the bench to use as an 'impact' sub.

LM: Gervinho - The Ivorian has had a good pre-season, so I can't see Wenger leaving him out.

ST: Podolski - His performance against his old club justifies his selection. He simply has to play, but Wenger might stick him out on the left wing if he play Giroud.

Prediction: 2-1 to Arsenal: Goals from Arteta & Podolski!

Premier League & J League match predictions

I'm starting to labour under the illusion that I'm good at predicting football results, as my success rate is 50% when it comes to the J League. Not sure I can do the same with the Premier League right now, as there's no form guide, unless we consider momentum or lack of, from the previous season.

So for what it's worth, here are my predictions:
Arsenal v Sunderland - HOME (narrow victory though!) 1.44 [best odds]
Fulham v Norwich - DRAW 3.82
QPR v Swansea - HOME 2.10
Reading v Stoke - DRAW 3.35
WBA v Liverpool - AWAY 2.00
West Ham v Aston Villa - HOME 2.30
Newcastle v Spurs - DRAW 3.45
Wigan v Chelsea - AWAY 1.64
Man City v Southampton - HOME 1.21
Everton v Man Utd - AWAY 1.91

J League
Consadole Sapporo v Vissel Kobe - AWAY 1.75
FC Tokyo v Omiya Ardija - HOME 1.71
Vegalta Sendai v Kashiwa Reysol - DRAW 3.52
Urawa Reds v Kashima Antlers - HOME 2.70
Yokohama F. Marinos v Kawasaki Frontale - HOME 2.03
Albirex Niigata v Sanfrecce Hiroshima - DRAW 3.54
Jubilo Iwata v Cerezo Osaka - HOME 2.05
Nagoya Grampus v Gamba Osaka - HOME 2.14
Sagan Tosu v Shimizu S-Pulse - HOME 2.44

Last week, I only got 3 out of 9 correct in the J League, but I used the Osaka 'derby' as my banker and doubled up my stake. That meant I didn't lose any money! I got good odds on Vissel Kobe beating Urawa Reds too! Only even money on Kashima Antlers defeating Jubilo Iwata though. In previous weeks, I've got 5 out of 9 correct, so in the 4 weeks I've been doing this I've got: 18 out of 36 right.

Egg-on-face Premier League prediction time? Arsenal 3rd in league?

Morning Gooners!

It's finally D-Day! Our season starts here!

Last season, I won a tenner, predicting we'd finish above Chelsea. Once again, I'm predicting the same. We might be even further off the title, but I think we'll be a better cup team and finish third again.

Here are my predictions, plus brief explanations as to how I came up with them:

1. Man City - I predicted them to finish top last season, but didn't think they'd leave it until the last day. It's going to be another two-horse race, I reckon. Jack Rodwell is a good addition, but they've got a great squad already so didn't need to tinker with it much. Given the talent at his disposal, Roberto Mancini underachieved. I think he'll have learnt a lot from the last campaign and put it to good use.

2. Man Utd - I'm not sure Robin van Persie will be a catalyst for success the way Eric Cantona was, but I can see why Fergie is comparing the two. Nick Powell looks like a good prospect for the future and Shinji Kagawa could be a good acquisition once he settles. Having midfielders like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes harks back to former glories rather than present ones so, unless these two are adequately replaced, I can't see United winning anything this season. Having said that, Fergie's teams are never weak, are they?

3. Arsenal - I'm expecting a stronger start than last season, but a weaker finish. Upfront, the goals will be more evenly spread across the team. All three new signings: Olivier Giroud, Lucas Podolski and Santi Cazorla will chip in with goals and I'm expecting a cup plus Champions League qualification. Alex Song will be no great loss if he goes, and Robin van Persie has already peaked, so it was time to sell.

4. Chelsea - I think fourth will be hotly contested, but Chelsea might just edge it. They're a team in transition and will miss Didier Drogba. Eden Hazard and Oscar may take time to settle.

5. Spurs - I'm not sure how long Andre Villas-Boas will last as boss, but I'm sure he won't do as well as Harry Redknapp. Luka Modric will be missed when he leaves, but Gylfi Siggurdson may dispel some of the gloom post-Luka.

6. Liverpool - Brendan Rodgers could squeeze his new team into fourth, but a lot depends on how well the senior professionals get on with him at Anfield.

7. West Ham - Sam Allardyce's team are going to be a nightmare to play against this season. They may push for fourth too, so I think the locals at the Boleyn Ground will keep back a successful team even if the football is prosaic at times.

8. QPR - Mark Hughes' new charges have a lot of flair and when you add that to Adel Taarabt, it's a heady mixture going forward. Plus, Robert Green in goal is hardly the type to throw the ball in his own net. It's onwards and upwards for Rangers and I'm not ruling out fourth.

9. Sunderland - If Martin O'Neill can get the best out of Carlos Cuellar and Louis Saha, it's going to be a good season for the Black Cats. If he can add Steven Fletcher as well, Sunderland could have a strike force to be reckoned with.

10. Newcastle - Alan Pardew worked miracles last season, so it's hard to see him doing the same again. The new signings are relatively unknown, but scout Graham Carr has a good record of uneathing rough diamonds, so perhaps he's done it again.

11. Stoke - Rumours of the Potters' future demise are always over-exaggerated. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future with Tony Pulis in charge. Michael Kightly is an astute signing.

12. Everton - Recruiting the two Steves, Pienaar and Naismith, is probably good business, but not enough to save the Toffees from mid-table medicrity. They'll be difficult to beat, but won't qualify for Europe.

13. Wigan - Ryo Miyaichi may get some more Premier League minutes this season, but they need to be careful that they're not sucked into a relegation dogfight. I'm predicting a good season for them becaause Dave Whelan is a great chairman, giving the club stability and backing his manager to the hilt.

14. WBA - Steve Clarke might be a good number two, but how will he fare as a number one? I'm not sure. Ben Foster's a good keeper, though, so they won't concede many.

15. Norwich - Chris Hughton's will need to use all his managerial experience to keep this hard-working squad on track, especially if some players follow Paul Lambert to the exit.

16. Aston Villa - Paul Lambert will have his work cut out to transform the fortunes of this 'sleeping giant'. His new signings don't appear to be that inspiring so far, but if he can raid his former club, Norwich, he may be able to move Villa up the table.

17. Fulham - Martin Jol has already lost Andrew Johnson and Danny Murphy, and he may lose Clint Dempsey as well. I'm banking on Jol's experience to keep the Cottagers up, but it's going to be tight unless there are more additions to the striker force.

18. Southampton - Nigel Adkins has done a great job bringing top-flight football back to the south coast, but he needs more players with Premier League experience to keep the Saints there.

19. Swansea - I'm not sure Brian Laudrup will find working in the Premier League as easy as many are predicting. Joe Allen's gone and new signings from La Liga may take time to adjust. Plus, the Swans won't be the surprise package they were last season. Kyle Bartley may be looking forward to playing the ball from defence, but I'm not sure Swansea will be able to play attractive football again without Brendan Rodgers' management.

20. Reading - Despite signing Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie, I think it's going to be tough for the Royals.

Just for the record, last season I got the top 3 correct. I usually get 2 out of 3, when it comes to the bottom three. Let's see how I do this season!

Arsenal FC transfer round-up

Welcome to The Loose Cannon, or WTF as some rude cyber warrior would rather call it. Now I know how Arsene Wenger must feel when he gets stick! Serves me right, I suppose for being so critical of his team and transfer policy. However, I don't feel so critical this season as we've already bought wisely and it looks like we may continue to do so.

Everyone is asking the latest about Nuri Sahin and his prospective loan move from Real Madrid. It seems that there are a number of other clubs in the hunt for the Turkey international, and Arsenal appear to still be in pole position. Yet if Manchester United come calling, it's hardly a foregone conclusion that he will move to the Emirates Stadium. AC Milan and Liverpool are also reportedly interested. Spurs, apparently, made an approach but it was rejected by Sahin.

Another player we could be signing is Malaga's Isco. Spanish club are ready to sell all and sundry and by all accounts we could do a lot worse than sign this winger for £8 million, especially as the Walcott is continuing to be linked with a move away to his boyhood favourites, Liverpool. For that would be "one in one out", if it comes to pass.

Something similar could happen with the Alex Song situation. Barcelona clearly want the player, as otherwise why would some many of their footballing stars come out and say that they want him? If Song does go for £20 million, which would make him about £8 million overpriced in my book, then most of the media are claiming we would sign Yann M'Vila to replace him. This is a little strange given that Arsene Wenger has denied being interested in the France international. Then again, he said something similar about five months before signing Andrey Arshavin, but some Arsenal fans have pointed out the Russian may been foisted upon him by the board of directors. I can't believe that Wenger is not in control of team affairs, which would include selection of players to join his squad, but anything's possible in the world of football.

Other players leaving the club include Nicklas Bendtner, who could be about to sign for AC Milan, according to the Corriere dello Sport. Interestingly, the paper goes on to say we will receive cash plus long-term Arsenal transfer target Philippe Mexes, who is reportedly earning €4.5 million per year. France international is now 30 years of age, which is normally a bit too old for Arsene Wenger's liking, so this still sounds like pure paper talk to me.

One deal that is incredibly more likely is that taking Carlos Vela to Real Sociedad. In fact it's so likely that it is a done deal! Finally the club have confirmed that it's happened, about a month or so after we read in the newspapers, and once again the transfer fee is undisclosed.

One transfer fee that won't be undisclosed perhaps is the amount Arsenal receive for Robin van Persie, should he leave. Manchester United are going to have to pay £20 million or he will be going nowhere, it seems. However, Manchester City and Juventus haven't given up the chase complete yet, no matter what Roberto Mancini says to the contrary.

I'm not quite sure why the media claim that Alex Ferguson missed Manchester United's Hanover victory on Saturday night to close a deal to sign Robin van Persie and then next thing you know is the want-away Dutchman is playing in a friendly in Cologne. Surely it would make more sense for Fergie to just wait until that match was over and then approach him.

There is still the school of thought that believe van Persie. Like Wayne Rooney's transfer request, it the Dutchman's refusal to sign a new deal could just be a cry for help. I'm not sure I buy into this theory completely but it remains a possibility. After signing three quality players in this transfer window it's about time the U-turn happened. As if it doesn't soon, we can kiss hopes of van Persie staying goodbye.

Santi dots his 'i' and crosses his 't' for Arsenal!

This Dragon software never ceases to amaze me. Today "Hello again Gooners (I had to type that)" became "hello again goodness" and "The boomers"! Yes it's not doom and gloom it's now zoom and boom, or va va voom as Thierry Henry used to say. But thank goodness it looks like we're about to sign Santi Cazorla. All he has to do now is dot the "i" and cross the "t" in his first name and we should be there. Virtually every football website in the world has announced the signing except for Arsenal's official one.

Perhaps this latest signature is a statement of intent and Robin van Persie would do well to recognise that this club could be going places. He, of course, could be on the same plane with Santi Cazorla, as the team travel to Cologne. But when he comes back don't be surprised if he ends up in Manchester, signing for United for £20 million. City seem to think they have no chance all of a sudden. It makes you wonder what goes on behind closed doors.

Still, the media are lining up plenty of replacements, surely not all of them are incorrect. Kevin Mirallas sounds like he fits the bill, as it's a very small bill that! £6.4 million for a striker who scores goals is peanuts in this day and age, so perhaps Arsenal will be tempted to sign the 24-year-old Belgium international striker from Olympiakos.

Ganso, meanwhile, is not as tempting as the Santos president Luis Alvarez de Olvieira Ribeiro says the player won't be sold for anything less than the amount of his huge buyout clause. The player himself is saying is under contract in 2015, so I see no movement on that front at all.

If we want to buy more players we could do worse than raid Malaga again. Former Arsenal transfer target Salomon Rondon has just been sold to Rubin Kazan and has signed a four-year deal. Apono has just joined Real Zaragosa. Spain under 21 international winger Isco looks set to move to Manchester United, while Joris Mathijsen is also up for grabs. I'd consider putting in a bid for Jeremy Toulalan, Joaquin, and Carlos Kameni. The latter would certainly put "the cat" amongst the pigeon-like flappy goalkeeping-types at the club!

But none of the above really sound like Arsenal Wenger style signings. Instead, he's more likely to go for someone like Luke Shaw of Southampton. The 17-year-old is highly rated and the Saints rejected a bid from Chelsea, so if we're going to get him were going to have to pay in excess of the Blues' offer which was £4 million. It wouldn't surprise me if we did, if the kid is as good as people say. I haven't seen enough of him to comment at this stage, but I'm very pleased with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so I'm assuming that Southampton are very good at producing young football players. Although, of course, TV pundit Stewart Robson doesn't really think Theo is a footballer as such! I totally disagree, but I like to hear Robson's views nonetheless and for all his faults I think Robbo's technical analysis is very sound. It's always refreshing to hear and speak his mind, even if it is critical of the club.

It's far better to listen to pundits like Robson and Paul Merson, and hear some of the tripe that masquerades as news. For instance, who came up with the story that Arsenal were interested in Gregory van der Wiel. I can't see the Dutchman's transfer from Ajaz to Arsenal happening in a million years. He had a poor Euro 2012 and he was involved in a Twitter controversy, that might endear him to the Twitteratti at Arsenal but is unlikely to impress the likes of Arsenal Wenger. The full back really shouldn't have been posting pictures of himself with Lil Wayne when he should have been on international duty with Holland. He had been excused international duty on account of concussion, so going to a rap concert would hardly be medicine or recuperation, in this case, for most sensible players. And Wenger usually buys sensible players, which is why I'm ruling this particular deal out.

Of course, Arsene Wenger never seems to keen on players that are ready to speak out. Andrey Arshavin has suffered in this regard, and reports suggest that he could end up at Queens Park Rangers on loan initially with a view to a permanent move. I will be very upset if this happens, but perhaps it's inevitable that the talented mercurial meerkat will move on soon.

Finally, I have to thank Manuel Almunia are for making me chuckle. He said he thought he would win trophies at Arsenal! What did he mean? Reserve team trophies? I think he was lucky to become our number one, but he wasn't too bad as a stand-in keeper, in my opinion. It'll be interesting to see how many cups he wins at Watford. He's already played his first game for them picking the ball out of the net against Spurs in a 1-0 friendly defeat.

That's all for this time. Until the next time, up the Gooners!