Morning from a wet and dreary Dublin. I was really hoping for a bit of an Indian summer in September but it turns out the Indian summer is just another Irish summer, except a bit colder.

A few bits and bobs to talk about but as we are still in the midst of the Interlull it's all a bit quiet overall. Samir Nasri is settling in nicely and is rather enjoying himself at the Arsenal. He says:

I'm setting in nicely and I'm rather enjoying myself at the Arsenal.

But really he says:

I am very happy. I have been able to regain my place in the national side, there is a good atmosphere at the club, and we have a very young squad that shares my excitement.

He's played down talk of him being the 'new Pires', and rightly so. The lad has made a very bright start to his Arsenal career but it's a career that spans a whopping three or four games at the moment. He has been the bright spark amongst all the current darkness though. 

Gokhan Inler says he deliberated for a week about whether to move to Arsenal or not. Get to fuck you scaldy cunt. If you need a week to decide you want to move to Arsenal then you're a stupid scaldy spoon of a cunt. Maybe he likes Italian food though. And there's no better place to get Italian food than Italy. I've never been to Italy. Anyway, the point is Inler is a cunt. We never needed you anyway, bastard! That part may not exactly be true but I'm just bitter and lashing out.

Arsene Wenger says the appointment of a new Chief Executive will be made soon. The boss says:

I am involved in it and I am consulted for it but it is down to the Board to make that decision. Having consulted me, they will take the responsibility to name the right person. I think the decision will be made soon but I don’t know exactly when.

You know who would make a good Chief Executive? He-Man singing 4 non-blondes. He'd certainly bring some campness to the club which, frankly, we've been missing since Keith Edelman and his revolutionary 'Your own dress Friday' edict, which meant suits and ties were thrown aside for one day and everyone had to come to work in a frock. Failing that someone with business acumen and knowledge of football would do.

Beyond that there's not much to tell you so let's get on with this week's Arsecast. On the show I chat to Kevin Witcher of The Gooner about the transfer deadline day lack of business and the implications for the team and the manager, The Man in the Bar has a player history, there's a tale of the unexpected, Eboue and more.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, the direct feed URL is here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

And, as we're talking to Kevin from The Gooner, don't forget his book Arsènal - The making of a modern superclub is still available at a discount price to Arseblog readers.  To buy the book online, simply click here and select ‘buy now’. In the window that opens enter the word rocky in the promotion code box and your £2 will be discounted when you press the ‘go’ box next to it. The money you save will be donated to cancer charities so it's well worth it all round.

Right so, that's about that. More tomorrow, no doubt.

So here we are Arsechums. We're now officially in the lull. The international lull. I shall christen it the Interlull.

Of course this should be put in context and we've just experienced the Transfer Window Peak, now known as the Tranpeak. After the huge interest in the Tranpeak, which was massively anti-climactic because of the fact we didn't bring anyone in (a NonSigTranpeak), it just makes this Interlull seem even more lullsome.

Had we managed a signing we would have had a YaySigTranpeak which would have enabled us to put off the effects of the Interlull for another few days as we discussed the merits of the new player, or indeed players, who arrived at the club. Now though everyone is just a bit down in the dumps as we don't have any football to take our minds off the NonSigTranpeak and the fear that Eboue might be thrust into action as a central midfielder (EbTerror) is affecting people badly.

Nevertheless we just have to make do and try and help each other through these difficult times. The Interlull is like a full moon for football supporters, allowing them to change and morph into fur covered beasts (WereFans). Bewildered and upset they try and find a partner, often attempting to mate with other WereFans whose families disapprove of their union and it is not unkown for the pair of star-crossed lovers to take their lives as they cannot cope with the situation (WereForeArseFans).

Difficult times, I'm sure you'll agree. I suspect the lullstrousness of this Interlull will be greater than any other in history. We all want to just get on with things now. We're resigned to the fact that the squad we have can't be augmented until January but the last thing we want is a load of our players off on international duty. We only have each other though. Together we can muddle on through and soon we'll have real football back again with the Arsenal and we can all take it easy (RealArseastion).

In a quick round-up of the news that is out there Carlos Vela says he's really looking forward to making his mark in the Premier League. Speaking to Four Four Two magazine, the Mexican striker (StriMex), says:

In football there's always pressure. That's part of the game. I don't fear it. I prefer to talk about motivation: you want to give 100 percent and I'm just longing to give 100 percent for Arsenal.

And that's about it. Told you it was a quick round-up. There will, of course, be an Arsecast tomorrow so I shall toddle off, get some breakfast and have a think about that.

Till then.

With everyone away at the moment Arsenal news is thin on the ground. I don't really want to go over the stuff that was on Arsenal.com yesterday.

It's almost like someone gauges the mood of the fans then puts up some articles which take the piss a bit. We're the angry wasp trapped in the glass which is given a good shake every now and again. Every Arsenal fan wanted us to sign a midfielder, they publish a story about how Eboue is a pass master and has done well in midfield. We bemoan our lack of experience, they publish stories about how great our 16 year olds are. I swear they're doing it on purpose.

I'm still absolutely baffled by our failure to bring in a midfielder but at this point I don't see what talking about it any more will achieve. What's struck me in the last couple of days is how inward looking we all are at the moment. By that I mean it's Arsenal fans v Arsenal fans. Online arguments and debates are raging, insults are being hurled and our ire is directed at each other. Of course none of us are going to agree all the time but to me it's just a bit sad that the squabbling is going on between Arsenal fans.

I miss when our collective spite and disdain is focussed on somebody or something truly horrible. Like Sp*rs - who seem to be getting away with being complete pussies over the Berbatov thing. It's all well and good for Levy to say the Premier League needs to review the transfer/contract system but twice this summer they've had players illegally approached yet have taken a few extra quid not to bring charges against those clubs. Pathetic.

What about Man United who have acted appallingly over the Berbatov transfer? I had some sympathy for them over Real Madrid's media led pursuit of Ronaldo but then Demento collects Berbacunt from the airport when they had not been given permission to even speak to the player. Seriously, can you imagine how angry and red faced and bleating like an old fucking Scottish fishwife he'd have been if Calderon had picked up Ronaldo from Barajas? What a pack of hypocritical cuntmashers.

Or even referees, bad decisions, FA intervention or lack of it, contentious decisions, red cards, bad behaviour  or countless other things that will, if not unite us, let us at least stand shoulder to shoulder against the rest, because let's never forget that the rest of them are fucking poxy cunts.

The strange thing is that to a man, woman and child, no matter what age, we're all disappointed by the failure to sign anyone, yet this is what's sparking the arguments. We all agree, mostly, but still we're fighting. Some of the stuff I've flicked through on other blogs and forums (mostly in the comments, I have to say) has been truly awful to read. People saying they hate the manager, they're giving up their season tickets and such. There was just so much expectation, fueled by the online community which is, I believe, healthy for the most part, but when that expectation isn't met it produces a collective anger which is hard to dampen. And when people are angry and there are dozens of other people sharing that anger I think it allows them to go a bit over the top in their criticism. 

Maybe I'm not making my point very well here. With the international break it's going to be a long 10 days or so. No football Arsenal to take our minds off the non-signing Arsenal. All I'm trying to say is that like it not there's nothing we can do about the state of the squad now. The proof of what's happened will be in the pudding and the pudding will be on the pitch. If results are good then the vast majority of Arsenal fans will be happy (although I honestly believe there are some people now who want us to fail no matter what). If results aren't so good then the criticism levelled at the manager will be justified and I'm sure Arsene knows that. But there's a team that's needs to be supported at the end of the day.

Maybe I'm being a bit too idealistic but look at what's out there. United, Chelsea, Sp*rs, Bolton, Joey Barton, Didier Drogba, John Terry, Ashley Cole, David Bentley, Rafa's goatee, Mike Riley, Richard Keys and cronies at Sky, Alex Ferguson, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Usmanov, money grabbers like Robinho and Berbacunt, football agents, WAGs, Sepp Blatter and so much more. That's where the hate should be, not on each other. 

It should be possible to argue, debate, disagree and offer opinions without it turning into a slagging match but at the moment we seem to have forgotten that. At the end of the day we're all Arsenal fans, we want Arsenal to be successful. Yes, we appear to have made it much more difficult for ourselves than we should have, and I think it's absolutely right to question some of the decisions the manager has made this summer. It doesn't mean we have to turn into snarling beasts snapping at each other all day long though.

Till tomorrow. 

So transfer deadline day has come and gone with seemingly no activity from Arsenal. I'm told that we were in negotiations with Liverpool over the signing of Xabi Alonso but as yet no announcement has been forthcoming and at this point it seems unlikely.

Had a deal been reached then we'd probably have heard about it by now. It was, by any standards, an extraordinary day yesterday. The image to your left shows the traffic to Arseblog over the past 7 days. You can see what sort of a spike there was yesterday. There were over 3,000 arses, a huge amount of comments from people all waiting to see if we'd make that transfer before the midnight deadline.

The non-stop Sky Sports hype drove people into frenzies. Honestly. I watched bits of it yesterday evening and had Berbatov and Man United not been so determined to consummate their union of cunts and Man City been bought by some people who apparently have ten times the wealth of Roman Abramovich then it would have been a very quiet day indeed. It wouldn't have stopped the hype though.

Sky Sports News presenter - "Oh my God! I'm just hearing that Reading ARE NOT selling Stephen Hunt to Everton"

World - "Yaaaaaaaawn"

From an Arsenal perspective I have to say it is disappointing that we haven't managed to bring anybody in. I think we're weak in central midfield and I think a signing like Alonso would have really improved us. Last season there was a lot of hindsight going on when we lost the title. People were insistent that we should have bought in January which I always felt was slightly revisionist. In January we didn't need signings. We had no idea Rosicky would be injured for that long (a few weeks here and there we expected), nobody could have foreseen the Eduardo injury and I've always said we'd have won the league if he'd stayed fit/Birmingham hadn't happened.

So it was easy to turn around after the fact and say we should have bought. Now though there's no doubt in anyone's mind that we should have strengthened the squad and the manager is going to have to live with the critics who will be more vociferous than ever should things not go right. I'm told that Alonso desperately wanted to join us but there was a difference in the valuations the two clubs had - to be honest if I was Liverpool I'd have been very reluctant to let Alonso join a rival team, especially when he would so obviously improve them. Of course you can suggest that Arsene should have tried to bring in somebody earlier than deadline day but it's not going to change anything now, is it?

Last season not one of us would have predicted the emergence of Mathieu Flamini as Cesc's midfield partner, I suppose now we have to hope that somebody within the squad takes their chance and blossoms in the same way. It's hard to see who that might be though. Denilson has done quite well but is young and inconsistent. Diaby is always injured. Alex Song is a centre-half one week, a midfielder the next, and Aaron Ramsey is just 17. This is, without question, the weakest midfield we've ever had under Arsene Wenger and I'm worried about it. I find it hard to believe that Arsene wasn't able to find anyone who might have improved our roster and the real worry for me is that Flamini's emergence last season was based on competition for his place. He had Gilberto and Diarra vying for his place and one of the men we're hoping can fill that gap wasn't even considered for that role and ended up playing wide left when he got a game.

I dread an injury to Cesc, who must be wondering why the club hasn't brought in the top quality player we all know we need alongside him, and talk of Eboue as a 'pass master' is almost insulting. Yes, he's done well enough this season but to even hint he might be the answer to our central midfield issue is beyond the pale. I think Arsene has taken a massive risk but at this point we have no option but to get behind the players we do have. They're going to run out in our shirt every week, they deserve our support. So while it's disappointing and frustrating the football still goes on and we'll still put an Arsenal XI out every week. Whatever you might think about the manager's reluctance to spend the players have to go out and win games and they need our support.

Overall though I thought it was a pretty weird day for football and not necessarily a good one. We've seen money talk yet again. Manchester United behaved despicably yet still landed their man Berbacunt in a £31m deal. And Manchester City? What the fuck? From being on the point of collapse a couple of weeks ago Arab investment has now seen them with ten times more spending power than Chelsea - and nothing illustrates just how powerful money is when a player like Robinho leaves Real Madrid for Man City. It's just mad. I don't suppose it's any coincidence either that the two big deals, Robinho and Berbacunt, have involved two players who have behaved like complete and utter babies and despite my disappointment that we didn't sign anybody there's a big part of me that's glad we weren't involved in a scene like that.

It's just so utterly distasteful. Footballing sugar daddies come in all flavours. You have the guy at Villa who seems relatively decent then the likes of Abramovich whose finances make most people uneasy to the new consortium at Citeh who you just know are going to try and make the club the gold plated Rolls Royce of English football. It's obscene, grossly ostentatious and downright mercenary. It's not something I can relate to at all and while I do wish Arsene had spent a bit of money I'd rather be aligned with Arsenal's decency and temperance than that kind of thing.

I think yesterday will be the day people point to when football went completely crazy. Rules are ignored, ambition = money and bad behaviour and tantrums gets you what you want. It's the sporting equivalent of the spoiled child. Toys are thrown out of the pram and soon that's the way everyone will have to behave. In that case I'd rather not keep up with the Joneses, especially when the Joneses are such tawdry, vulgar cunts.

No doubt there'll be plenty to discuss today. Have at it.

Morning all,

it's a very quiet start to what we all hope is going to be a very busy day. It's transfer deadline day and clubs have until midnight tonight to bring in new players before the window shuts and they have to make do with their squads until January.

Obviously we're all going to be watching anxiously, breath bated, to see if Arsene gets his chequebook out. In the last couple of years we've done deals just as the window is about to close so it wouldn't be a big surprise if we left it that late again. I'm hopeful we'll bring in one, at least, and I'd love to see a couple come in. Who he/they might be is anybody's guess though. I have a sneaky feeling Xabi Alonso is high on the manager's list, whether or not that happens with Gerrard currently injured remains to be seen. If I was Liverpool I wouldn't sell us Alonso but football is strange.

Gael Clichy had a few words to say about Samir Nasri and Joey Barton. The left back said:

We know the guy. He wanted to make something for his first game back, but Samir did well and I'm proud of him.

I wonder did Nasri know who Barton was. Let's face it, outside of the Premier League he's a nobody. Maybe he was told beforehand but the way he refused to be intimidated was just brilliant. I suppose he'd better watch out though. Next time we play Newcastle Barton might try and put a cigar out in his eye before battering him senseless. Hey, that's just the way he plays football, right?

So now we go into a two week international break as many countries begin their World Cup qualifying campaigns. Despite the hype there's not much excitement about crap like England v Andorra and the only thing I'm looking forward to is to see what kind of root vegetable the tabloids photoshop onto Fabio Capello's face after another disappointing result or performance.

So that's really about it. Busy day here, still unpacking as you might imagine, but we've got to back to the old house and give it a proper cleaning. Oh joy. Keep your eyes peeled on the news tickers - you never know what might happen today.

Till tomorrow. 

Arsenal's post-Fulham rehabilitation continued yesterday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle. Since that black day last week we've won two games, scored seven goals and kept two clean sheets. Not bad.

Of course you have to take the quality of the opposition into account, and both Twente and Newcastle are poor teams, but you can only beat what's in front of you. We started very brightly. William Gallas somehow missing at the back post and Shay Given (who made three or four outstanding saves as he always does against us) kept out a low Kolo Toure shot.

The first goal came from the penalty spot. Adebayor's cross was handled by N'Zogbia and Robin van Persie slammed home his first goal of the season. It was the Dutchman who got the second as well. Eboue broke forward from midfield, got into the box after swapping passes with Adebayor, he then played a crafty little back heel and van Persie lashed it home from close range.

The only trouble Newcastle caused us was the series of borderline challenges by Nicky Butt. One, where he raked his studs down the side of van Persie's leg should have seen him booked at least. He got his just desserts later on though when his looping header hit the bar. In the meantime Almunia had been called into action a couple of times as Newcastle had a period of pressure but he was solid and made the stops.

Not long after Butt hit the bar we got the third. Nasri played it in the box to Adebayor who could have shot but saw Denilson's run around the side of the defender, gave him the pass and Denilson finished to kill the game. Not long afterwards we might have had a fourth but van Persie's shot hit the bar and he seemed to have his foot stamped on requiring him to be replaced. Fingers crossed it's not as bad as they seem to think it is.

There was some fun late on when scumbag convict Joey Barton was brought on. His first action was a crunching, and quite fair, tackle on Samir Nasri, but it was physical. Nasri then sparked outrage from Kevin Keegan for an off the ball challenge on Barton which he got all out of proportion. Just to let the scumbag convict know he wasn't going to take the crunching tackle, he gave his ankles a little tap and sent him flying. It hardly merited the ranting from Keegan but then I suppose if you'll pick someone like scumbag convict in your team then your sense of right and wrong is a little skewed anyway. As all this went on the Newcastle owner, his belly wobbling in the late summer sunshine, slugged back pints of beer in his replica shirt. A classy lot, no doubt about it. Anyway, the point is Nasri won't be bullied and is verging on awesome already.

So another three points and, as I said, a good response to what happened at Craven Cottage. Sometimes a team does need a slap in the face to wake them up and that's what they got last week. I thought the performances and the commitment were so much better. Obviously the return of Fabregas helps us play better football, but van Persie was more involved, Adebayor ran his socks off and had a very good game, Eboue had some end product, Denilson got himself a goal and in Nasri I think we've found ourselves a player. He always looks dangerous, he's so confident on the ball (one turn leaving three or four Newcastle players looking the other way was just classic), and he's giving our left hand side that attacking threat we've really missed since Pires left.

Afterwards the manager said the improvement came from a change of attitude and also spoke about new signings, saying:

We are trying to buy but the problem is availability, as well as the fact we have to find players better or as good as the ones we have.

With the players now away on international duty for the best part of two weeks - our next game is away to Blackburn on Sat 13th - the boss has time in the next couple of days to do that. Anyway, it's good to go into that break on the back of a much improved performance and three points.

Looking around the Sunday newspapers there are a couple of things. The People links us with a loan move for Real Madrid's Christoph Metzelder. He certainly has a beard worthy of the Arsenal. Meanwhile the Sunday Mirror says West Ham are ready to pay £8m for Johan Djourou to replace Anton Ferdinand who has gone to Sunderland.

The deadline is tomorrow night at 11.59. What's the bets if we sign anyone it'll be at 11.58:47?

Other than that I am now blogging this at you from my new house. Moving yesterday was hard, hard work and I celebrated with some Thai food, a load of beers and about three bottles of wine. As you might imagine my head is saying *boilk* but my stomach is saying something much more gurgly than that.

Thanks to Tom for filling in yesterday. A slight breakdown in communication meant he forgot all about it but nevertheless he came up with the goods. Next time I'm going to send him a message via carrier pigeon. Nobody can ignore a pigeon with a message.

Right then, have yourselves a good Sunday. More tomorrow.

Well, first of all, you may have noticed that I can no longer post as Tom, so I came up with this very witty moniker, but I can assure you that it is actually me (which may or may not be a good thing).

Secondly, due to a communications/brain fault on my part, and a memory like a sieve, I'm afraid I completely forgot that I had to write today's blog, despite it SAYING ON YESTERDAY'S PAGE THAT I HAD TO WRITE IT. So sorry about that.

Plus I'm monumentally hungover, so, well, you know what it's like. *boilk* Ssssh. Stop shouting.

So, anyhoo. As Blogger mentioned yesterday, today I shall be updating you on who we haven't signed, who we aren't close to signing, and who else has left and whether the lights are still on. Well, I think I'll leave the list of people we haven't signed because that list is quite large.

I'm afraid the second list (who we're close to signing) is pretty short too. In that it's none. As far as I know, the lights are still on, and no one else has left, unless they snuck out as Gunnersauras (please, Eboue, find that a funny idea).

My take on the whole transfer saga is that we will get someone, probably on the last day. We all know Arsene, like the rest of us, believes transfer fees are absurd, wages are absurd, and that the club must live within its budget. I don't speak on behalf of the manager, obviously, and I expect as an economist, he would probably say that supply and demand dictates that transfer fees and wages are what they are because they are. And while both fees and wages are absurd relatively speaking, it's hard to argue with that.

Anyway, I think even Arsene, wearing one of those little sleep masks you get on a long flight, in a dark room, on another continent, with earplugs in, could see that we desperately need at least one central midfielder. I think what's happening - and I have no basis for saying so other than pure speculation - is that we have made enquiries for one or two players, maybe more, but that to drive down their transfer fee, we're waiting until the last minute to make an offer.

What? It's something to cling to!

Take the reported interest in Gareth Barry, for example. If Liverpool were quoted £18m, baulked (rightly, in my opinion), and we offered £15-16m on the last day, Villa would be much more inclined to sell. All just my opinion, of course. Alonso too. I'd be absolutely delighted if we signed Alonso. I know some Arsenal fans are less than impressed with that idea, but I think he'd fit well, and frankly, to have him and Cesc in there, for Arsenal and for Spain - that could help us keeping Cesc for a long time, something I think every Arsenal fan wants. 

Of course, this waiting until the last minute works both ways - you might have to pay over the odds, or not get anyone at all. Which doesn't bear thinking about. 

Anyway, enough of that. I prefer to think that we'll get someone.

Arsene hints at late transfers. Alonso - please. Apparently the boss has also been sticking up for Adebayor. I don't know if these are repeats of comments he's already made, or new ones, but like everyone else, I'm pretty disgusted with Adebayor's behaviour over the summer. I don't think we should be booing him, but then I don't think kissing the badge was entirely tasteful either.

On to today's game against the Barcodes. Apparently Gallas and Fabregas will stay in the team having recovered from knocks midweek, but Fishface is still out injured (unless that bloke wins the Champions' League for us, against Man Utd, with a 35 yard screamer, I'm always going to hate him - sorry). Samir Nasri has got over a virus so he'll stay in the team, along with Theo (who I thought did absolutely brilliantly the other night; he looked composed, his pace is frightening, and most of all, I think he's growing up, knocking defenders off the ball).

The Barcodes, on the other hand, are without Martins, Duff, and that Fat Australian Cunt. They do have Michael Owen though, the wee fuckbag, so whoever we play alongside Gallas at the back will need to put in a few ligament tearing tackles on him. God I hate him.

So that's your lot. Apologies again for the late blog. Maybe you see you tomorrow if Blogger's move hasn't finished.

Come on you reeeeeeeds!

Let's start with the Champions League draw which was made yesterday in Monaco. I didn't see it but I assume it was the usual crack of 2 hours of utter shite before they lash out the draw in five minutes then all fuck off to have a Prince Albert, or something.

Anyway, we've got some travelling to do as we drew Porto, Dinamo Kiev and Fenerbache. Thankfully the first game is in Kiev on September 17th, meaning we won't have to combat the elements like we usually do when we go that far east. As draws go it could have been better but it could have been worse too.

Arsenal's largest shareholder who isn't a fat, disgusting, Manchester United supporting oligarch cunt, Danny Fiszman, spoke afterwards and he revealed that the club does have money to spend but Arsene Wenger simply chooses not to. He says:

I hear all the time that we have no money, but I just wish someone would take the time to look at our accounts. We do not need extra investment. This is a proper business which produces its own cash and lives or dies by its performances. If Arsène said he needed £30million for a striker, he would get it, no problem at all.

So stick that up your Fat and Orange holes, is essentially what he's saying, while at the same time reassuring fans the money is there. And that message has been constant from both the club and the manager despite the fact we're wheeling and dealing like barrow-boys. One of the reasons Wenger has been so successful at this club is that he has had a board that has allowed him absolute freedom to do what he wants from a football point of view, and Fiszman says that will continue. However, he does acknowledge that it's time we won something but suggests the manager won't change his policy of bringing through young players.

But that does not mean all we are interested in is the artistic achievement award. We are not settling for second-best. We want to win trophies and I think it is time we did, but Arsène also believes in creating teams with a certain style.

Style is wonderful and when Arsenal click it is exceptionally pleasing on the eye but ultimately it's about trophies. That's the bottom line. If you can combine style with winning silverware then you are truly a God amongst men, often though you have to sacrifice a little of style or principle to win things and at the moment Wenger doesn't seem willing to do so. That we have so much money and have completely failed to replace the players who have left in central midfield makes it all the more frustrating.

Perhaps the best thing that could happen is the appointment of a new Chief Executive. Someone to replace Keith Edelman and someone who, while not interfering in the football side of things, might challenge Arsene from time to time and maybe shake him out of the comfort zone he seems to be in. There are just three days until the end of the transfer window, there's money to spend, it should be spent. At the moment we're like a car driving around with a broken window while the owner sits staring at a suitcase full of cash.

'But this young window has so much potential. If I bring in a new window to replace it then all the time I spent with that window will be for nothing'.

'Fuck the fucking window'.

The team needs a new player, or two. Arsenal needs a new player or two. Abou Diaby might not need a new player or two but frankly I don't care about Abou Diaby. I care about Arsenal. I don't care about Bischoff, I care about Arsenal. I want us to have the best team possible, I'm not asking for a superstars or £30m signings, just a good player, or two, to help us win the trophies that we want to win. Anyway, let's see what happens between now and Monday night. Something, I'm sure. I just don't know what. And is nothing something? That way I can be right either way!

There's a new column from Safety in the columns section called Brave new world. Go read. 

Gael Clichy talks about William Gallas and Adebayor. He's a very clever young man.

Philippe Senderos talks about his move to AC Milan and, understandably, he's delighted with it. Right, Arsecast time.

On this week's Arsecast I chat with GilbertoSilver from Gunnerblog about Twente, Fulham and the state of things at the moment, the Man in the Bar has a player history, there's some poetry from Tony Adams and more.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, the direct feed URL is here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Finally for today as I'm moving house tomorrow things here are a bit hectic. There's all the packing and cleaning and throwing stuff in boxes and bags at the last minute. So I'll be offline from tonight. But fear not, the blog shall go on and Tom will be here to update you on who we haven't signed and who we're not going to sign.

I should be back on Sunday but you know how these things go sometimes. Until then have a good weekend, fingers crossed for a Twente-esque result against Newcastle. See you on the other side, Arsefolk.

Well that was much more fun than the last few days, wasn't it?

We secured our qualification for the group stages of the Champions League for the 11th successive season with a 4-0 win over FC Twente (goals here via 101 Great Goals). The boss mixed the team up a bit. Bendtner came in for Adebayor, Fabregas replaced Eboue and Djourou came in at the back (heh) in place of Kolo.

What was immediately apparent was that Twente are pretty rubbish which kind of created its own pressure. Had we not scored a good few goals there'd be some complaints but in the end we scored the goals. The first came from Samir Nasri (that's two in two at home for him this season) after Theo Walcott had skinned the left back and pulled the ball back. Robin van Persie lunged, got a toe to it, Nasri shaped to shoot, took it on his left and it went in with the aid of a deflection. I think it was going in anyway.

The lunge was about the only thing Robin did right all night and he was guilty of an incredible miss a few minutes later. With the goal at his mercy and the ball on his favoured left foot he conspired to put it wide somehow. He'd earlier skied a half-decent chance and he does look out of sorts at the moment. To be honest though I'd rather he started slowly this season and lasted the pace rather than come out of the blocks flying and only get a couple of months out of him. That's the way it works, isn't it?

The other three goals came in the second half. Gallas took the ball forward and eventually it broke to Bendnter who shot. The rebound was tucked away by Gallas who must have strapped his cock to his left foot last night.

Theo got the third and it was rather a lovely goal. At half-time Alan Hansen on the BBC was moaning (as he always does when forced to watch Arsenal, still bitter about 89, you see) about Theo's lack of composure. There was no lack of it with the finish which was reminiscent of Henry in his pomp and overall I thought Theo had a good game. The goal will certainly have done him good and Hansen can go put a nobbly stick up his hoop, the cunt.

The final goal got Nicklas Bendtner on the scoresheet for the first time this season. He had a night when not much went right for him. Too many touches, the ball breaking the wrong way, passes hitting him in the back and it looked like he wouldn't have scored if we were still playing now but late on a crafty Denilson backheel gave him the simplest of chances and he put it under the keeper to make it 4-0.

A result that was just what the doctor ordered. Goals, confidence returning after Fulham and ahead of Newcastle, and the successful return of Cesc to the team. You can see what a huge difference he makes to us. He was involved in most of our good stuff in the first half and hopefully he'll have had no reaction to his injury and has enough in the tank for Newcastle on Saturday. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

It was a big game for us and I felt we were well organised, disciplined, focused and basically never really under threat from FC Twente. I felt the whole team was sharper and physically we were much better than on Saturday afternoon.

So the boss got the response he needed from the squad and we go into the draw for the group stages which takes place this afternoon at 5pm. The win and the goals will raise spirits amongst fans. Fans spirits would be raised higher than a ghost on the never ending escalator though if the manager got his chequebook out before the deadline on Monday evening. We were much, much better than against Fulham but then Twente were a lot worse than Fulham too. Still, today's a day for enjoying a fine victory and nothing more.  

Nevertheless, to get us all a little bit excited by mentioning a player we're never going to sign (see what I'm doing here?) The Sun links us with a move for Feynoord's Jonathan de Guzman. They describe him as an 'enforcer' and 'the Dutch version of Owen Hargreaves', the first part of which is absolutely great, the second rather not so as that floppy haired Canadian cunthound does my fucking head in. A new name on the radar though, that's got to be positive. 

Meanwhile a move for Xabi Alonso looks ever more distant as Gareth Barry has confirmed he'll be staying at Villa and you have to think that the two deals were interlinked. Oh well.

Right so, busy times here at Blog Towers. Lots to do today so I'd best get on with it. More tomorrow. 

Perhaps some football tonight can take our minds off all the stuff like ...erm... football. Er... it's the return leg against Shteve McClaren'sh FC Twente and the good news is that Cesc Fabregas is fit.

The boss says he doesn't know if he's going to play him from the start or not but I think he will. I mean, what alternative does he have? We really don't have any central midfielders and if Cesc is fit then giving him as much time as possible to build up his sharpness and match fitness is vital. The manager knows a big peformance is vital after the Fulham debacle, saying:

I know my squad is good, my team is good, our spirit is good. We are intelligent enough to know we did not play well, but we know as well we have the needed quality to respond. We were not good last Saturday and lost. It’s as simple as that. We completely understand the criticism. It hurts terribly to lose like we did.

There's no question there's enough quality in the squad to get a good result and a pull out a decent performance tonight but it doesn't alter the fact there's a lack of midfield quality in the squad. The manager won't be panicked into buying though, saying.

I hate the idea that, whenever we have a bad game, the solution is to go out and buy. People still speak of the Invincibles but don’t forget that last year we lost only three games. We still have those players, so why should we not be capable of repeating that?

Here's the thing though. We don't have those players. We don't have Gilberto, Hleb, Flamini, Senderos or Hoyte, who all played their part during last season. And if you lose three quality central midfield players over a period of 6 months then replacing them, or even one of them, is not panic buying. It's common fucking sense.

It just seems that the more people suggest to Arsene that we need signings the more reluctant he is to do it. To be fair to him he hasn't given up on the idea and says:

If I can find one more player before the transfer deadline, I will take him. But one more player will not make that much difference. If we don’t get him, we’re still strong enough to deal with all the competitions.

To be honest I'm amazed at that statement, I really am. Another injury to Cesc and our midfield is essentially decimated. To say we're strong enough without a signing to cope with the league and the Champions League is just wrong, in my opinion. We weren't strong enough to cope with Fulham. How are we possibly strong enough to cope with Europe's elite? And here's the thing. Nobody has ever said they want Wenger to go out and spend £20m or £30m on any player. We saw last season that you can bring in quality like Sagna and Eduardo at good prices, and those are the kind of signings people would have been more than happy with.

To me the most disheartening thing is that I really, honestly felt we were just a couple of players away from seriously improving the squad. Last year we were so good for so long and I thought a couple of canny additions to the squad would make all the difference. They'd give us that bit of depth and experience we missed at vital times last season and help us win trophies. But we've let so many players go and not replaced them that it seems like there's more work than ever to do. One step forward, three steps back. It's sad.

The midfield has absolutely no depth whatsoever. Go beyond Fabregas and it lacks depth and quality. It's incredibly frustrating that the manager seems unwilling to acknowledge this. Now, perhaps he's just trying to talk up the players he's got available to him now. They probably do need a confidence boost after the Fulham result so that's the little ray of hope I'm clinging to but let's not forget the manager said something would 'certainly' be done in terms of a signing before this game. Now we don't necessarily need one.

Anyway, I'm reminded of a broken record and I'm sorry for going on about it but every day there's something new and every day I find myself increasingly frustrated and anxious about the season ahead. I don't want to criticise but ultimately the blog is about my opinion and at the moment I'm really worried about this team. Still, let's try and focus on the game tonight. A good result and a good performance would definitely lift the clouds a little bit - a new player or two would bring the sun out though.

The manager also explained the decision to let Philippe Senderos go to AC Milan. He says he hasn't decided whether or not it will be permanent or not but I don't think we'll see him in an Arsenal shirt again, which does make me a bit sad.

He's also defended William Gallas saying we win as a team and lose as a team. Which is exactly what he said after Senderos made those errors against Liverpool last season. I sincerely hope he gave Gallas a proper chewing out for his crap defending against Fulham but you can't help feel some players are given more leeway than others. Meanwhile Lee Dixon, a man who knows a thing or two about it, has bemoaned the captain's lack of leadership. I do like Dixon as a pundit, he's not the usual bland, halfwit 'He's hit it and it's gone in' ex-footballer. When he talks about things like this, and it's not the first time he's had his say about Gallas, I think it's worth listening to.

Right, that's really about enough. I'm honestly hoping we can get things back on track tonight because whatever criticisms we have at the moment the 11 players who go out in our shirt tonight deserve our support. Yes, even him :big fuck off smiley:

More tomorrow.