NJS

As i said in the match thread - Tony Adams is still an Arsenal legend despite an extremely serious drink driving case which imo is worse than what Barton did. You can add Merson in as well. I also saw people carrying trays of beer in the seats yesterday so either it was non-alcoholic or the stewards didn't care too much.

Just something else on the "football is ruined" angle which I was talking about with my mates after the game: The goal celebrations by their fans were quite muted (nothing wrong there - we sometimes have done the same in the past when we've played a lesser team and recognise that a goal will be one of several) but there was a moment after the second goal where it was replayed on the big screens where large sections of their crowd broke out into what could be best described as polite applause for the quality of the goal. It felt to me completely out of place at a football ground and just made me think that they may as well have been watching it at home. I think it was a glimpse of the future and it sickened me.

On Barton: My thoughts on Arsenal fans was that I see a bit of hypocrisy in how they welcomed back Tony Adams. - not so much the fact that he went to prison but that he demolished a wall with his car when he was completely pissed to get there - the wall could easily have been a person and I consider drink driving (getting in a 2 ton chunk of metal with little control) to be a worse crime than throwing a few punches which didn't cause that much damage. In general I think Keegan backing him probably makes him a better man than me but I liked the majority's "fuck you" response of cheering him.

Just got in - huge headache from too much cider, sun and walking too far - threw up in the bushes outside the train station and off to bed to quietly die in a minute. Started well - what looked like a joke of a penalty but at the end glad it was only 3 - could have said that about so many trips to Arsenal - a good team full of cheats. Two hopes - Shola's last game and that its a wake up call to Ashley as to where we are - my mate was sitting quite near him and reckon his lads had to discourage a few people wanting to put their point over a bit forcibly "How man we're shite - I know" supposedly summed it up.

The article just about sums up how I feel - before KK came back I'd just about fallen out of love with football due to all of the shit the bloke described (as well as the best efforts of Messrs Souness, Roeder and Allardyce and a supporting cast of utter, utter twats). As I said about the derby last year which was my only home game, I couldn't believe how many people simply refused to become animated about playing them and instead exhibited all of the "Sky boy" stereotypes instead.

That's the one thing I do have against the man - he wrote off a season in January which I don't think was fair on the fans as well as selling a real hero of mine. Football has changed a bit since then before someone says that all seasons are semi-pointless now.

Can anyone guess why "in for 4 or 5" translates to "see where 2 or 3 go" - does that mean offers are in which are unaccepted but still on the table which we might get a callback for?

12m is a fucking joke with one downside - some of it will be finding its way into Ken Bates' pocket.

I take perverse pride in the number of teams I have rational and semi-rational grudges against and I have to say Mansfield aren't on the list. Having said that I didn't come up for that cup game so you probably had a close escape.

I have done that, its nothing thats going to do damage here, ie its nothing sepculative its actual work on site. It can vary - from the obvious of not contacting or working for competitors to a ban on anything at all - fair enough if you've checked.

Like everything else I think quality is worth paying for up to a certain point - the price difference for gold interconnects is pretty nominal to make not doing it pointless but I'd definitely splash out on speaker cable - try bi-wired.

It might also be worth checking your employment contract to check you aren't prohibited from doing external work.

Anal reckons it was the supposed bid from Villa that prompted milner to say that id he was worth £8m then he should be getting paid more - possibly a fair point but still doesn't let him off in my eyes.

I would also add that theres a lack of an odious agent to blame so you can either assume the PFA are just as slimy or surprise, surprise players are the shitbags we all think they are.

The sad thing is that once you get beyond what is obviously enough to have a damn good lifestyle on (say £10k pw) footballer's salaries simply become ego/cock measurements = see Cole/Lampard as the obvious examples taken to a ridiculous degree.

The internet is built on opinions - that's why we're here - I don't get why its a problem. They rate Milner more than I do and have a right to say it. I think Steven Taylor is overrated garbage and would shed no tears if he never played again - its all just opinions. I would also say that like me Biffa comes from a time when all we had to cling on to were players who gave 100% - the fact that we now have seen good players and also have had to endure wasters as they mention doesn't mean that the instinct can be dismissed - see how people have taken an instant shine to Guttierez because of his workrate as another example. I don't think workrate and attitude excuse mediocrity (see Milner and Taylor) but its still laudable up to a point.

Exactly how I feel with added concern about lack of squad numbers even if we sign another player.

With him being an Argentinian defender, I'm disappointed he hasn't hurt anyone yet - otherwise looks good.

Mine came today - maybe the general panic was a bit premature but it still looks bad imo.

I know a lot of fans lap it up. I can't stand it personally. If he's had a shit game and someone else has been immense, he's still there lapping up the other man's applause until the fat lady sings. I was amazed he didn't join Shearer for his lap after the testimonial. It only bothers me if support has been special and its not acknowledged - Cardiff and the first Barcelona game being the two that come to mind - run of the mill games I think players sometimes play up to it too much - Taylor not being the only one.

I'm not that anal - just an impression - but the goal against Mallorca was down to him losing his man.

I don't think in his case its gesture politics and it can be appreciated but it should not be allowed as a magic bullet to exempt him from criticism. I think Taylor has promise but has been just a prone to stupidity as Titus ever was If Faye hadn't left I'd have been happy for him to be reduced to occasional bit part player.

My mate used to apply for a few away tickets on all our memberships which we either used or passed on to people we knew. A couple of years ago as demand reduced a bit he stopped using all of them mine included which I didn't mind as I never missed out. It'll be interesting to ask him how many he has when I see him on Saturday as I know that about 7 years ago we were all grouped at about the 100 position in the list they used. At the moment I have 174.

Okay in Firefox for me.

I usually get mine at least a day after the NE anyway (what happened to first class meaning next day?) so I've resigned myself to having to get a replacement on Saturday morning.