isnt squillaqi banned for 3 matches?

Cool post I hope Squillaci comes in to the team for any of our two centerbacks as both have been playing flat out since January. Whats the situation with Vermaelen? really do miss the guy.

Well from what I have heard from my inside sources.. well actually from Arsene's press conference I think.

Verm is training and isn't suffering from any ill effects from the injury and is working on his fitness before being brought back to the squad.

Would anyone bring him straight back in once fit? If so who would you drop?

I am sure it was a one game ban

For a professional fouls you only serve a one match ban

Don't forget that Barton is actually a bloody good footballer too. He worries me more for that reason than his occasional insanity.

Personally I hope we continue with JD and LK at the back... don't fuck with a defence that is working, I reckon.

Anyone seen this article?

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Nicklas-Bendtner-has-stunned- Arsenal-s-sports-psychologist-with-the-highest-self-confidence-rating- ever-recorded-article690591.html

This explains a lot! Self-confidence is important for anyone and, yes, it provides him with resilience so that he won't 'go under' if things go wrong for him. HOWEVER, to score THAT highly on the scale isn't actually that healthy... it suggests Bendtner isn't actually reflecting on what he could do to improve his game. If, when he misses a chance, he attributes it all to either bad luck or external factors then he isn't acknowledging his role and what HE could have done differently - even if it's only part of the picture. That is a problem, as it will prevent him from developing as well as he might. Someone needs to 'av a word, like.

I have a feeling about Diaby today, too. Not a sexual one. You know what I mean.

Haha. Each to their own and all that

I shall have a read of that in a bit, thanks for sharing. It is very difficult to totally know what Bendtner could become. Flashes of excellence but then the opposite. Will he reach a position when he can a long stretch of games to see his best? Or will he always be back up and eventually leave?

"Each to their own" sounds like the motto of the masturbation society

Haha very good

What a pass from Arshavin!! Get in! Theo!!

Hahaha!! 2-0 after 3 minutes

3-0! Started by Szczesny side stepping an attacker and playing a ball in between Newcastle.

Total football!

Told you I had a feeling about Diaby.... Except I thought it would be positive.

My son is called Charlie Adams and his (almost) namesake has just made my day ha ha ha ha ha ha

Is there a worse referee - ever?
I'm just so angry at the moment I can't speak.
If I had the money, I'd take out a contract on him.
Despicable display of bias.
Barton was allowed at least 15 tackles from behind.
If he comes to the Emirates again, I hope he gets all the abuse we can muster.
Disgusted.
And Robin's hat-trick denied when he was level.
Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean the bastards aren't out to get you.

Great Play From Arsenal......
But the Entire Team Spirit Was Destroyed by this Dick head Rat cunt ABOU DIABY.
For what the fuck he hit nolan n barton even though it was a reckless challenge...He is not even fit to be in the bench for arsenal...He should b Angry if he is really a great player but he is the sickest player with poor skills.He spoiled Arsenal's Attacking flow,Possession,Team Spirit,Desire,Ability n i think arsenal had just about 25% of the possession n the second half.It's all because of this mother fucker Abou Diaby.
I could not take this result because We were 4-0 up in the first half n 4-4 in the second half nly because of the red card?This is insane!!!
Pls pls Sell this cunt diaby n i don't even like to see his rat fucking face....HE IS THE ONLY MAN TO BLAME FOR OUR MOST MOST MOST DISAPPOINTING MATCH.
At last,
FUCK OFF DIABY!!

yes diaby is the man who started it all, dumb fuck. i hate to say it but barton went for the ball on that one, a bit strongly but i've seen much worse, and then this dumb bastard starts begging for a red.
and if you still don't believe this league is rigged from the start you are deluded. it's already over, we were the last contender.
they fucked city out of the bid with a penalty, they fucked us up today after cesc's supposed comments and they did it in clear daylight, something to learn boys. shut your damn mouths, play the game.
i will tell you this much, it's more than over, you can't recover from this.
manure will have their unbeaten league at last, the one thing wenger has that he covets. he will get it any way, and he doesn't care if it is by cheating. chelsea second, man city third and us fourth by the skin of our teeth.
fuck this shit.

Absolutely fucking gutted. I feel sick. I feel as sick as I did in the 97-98 season when we drew 3-3 with Leicester.... and we went on to win the double that year. There's still a long way to go. Even if they end up 7 points clear of us after this weekend, the league is very much doable. Have belief.

I think those slamming Diaby need to think about what he has been through in his career. He has had his ankle shattered by Dan Smith and that has messed up his career so far.

Robinson hacked his leg earlier in the season and Essien recently stamped on his ankle.

How you think Barton went to play the ball is beyond me. He clearly followed through and could have easily snapped Diaby's ankle. Watch the replay again!

Yes he should have controlled himself, I wish he did but I totally understand why he snapped. He is human after all.

The rest of the team should have stepped up, we didn't. The team collapsed from 4-0 and that is madness. But what on earth was Dowd playing at?

Can someone explain why..

* Barton got away with a reckless challenge
* Diaby was sent off for throwing Barton
* Nolan was not carded at all for getting our keeper in a headlock and push
* Soft first penalty
* Non existent penalty for the second.
* RVP was onside but flagged off

I am utterly seething right now. Wolves are winning 2-1 as I am writing this but I just know that the Mancs are going to win.

My weekend has been destroyed! AARRGGGHH!!!

You are not Arsenal fans. The guy had a brilliant first half. Yes, it was dumb to retaliate but when Barton is running round the pitch getting away with blue murder, in the absence of any protection from the referee he's entitled to defend himself.
I hope Wenger makes it quite clear to the FA that he will object to Dowd refereeing any more Arsenal games this season. That was not bad refereeing - that was clear and deliberate bias. He's been paid.
That said - we still shouldn't have lost it.

Yeeessss!!! The Mancs lost. I feel ever so slightly better now

Wolves hung on.
I can't quite decide if that makes today's events at St James Park easier to handle or more difficult.
If you go around the blogs, quite amazing how many people expressing the same sentiments I did on the 3rd line of my post at 17.04. I take it back of course - heat of the moment and all that.
But it could be dangerous to be Phil Dowd for the next few days - there's some mad f***kers out there.

I felt exactly the same as you at 17.04.

Before 3pm I would have taken the results, especially as the Mancs lost but it still cuts deep. I would love to hear what Wenger actually thinks about what is going on.

Guys,

You cannot believe how happy I feel right now!!! Not because of our game though. The first half was so terrific and sensational, I actually tought we were going to score 10 goals today. Everything was just clicking nicely. We also started okay during the second half until Diaby happened. Yes, it was wrong and totally stupid of him to retaliate. That was exactly the spark they needed. I'd bet you their manager told them to tackle hard and not give our guys any space at all at halftime. I understand Diaby's frustration and action even though I do not condone it. He should have known better and used his head. Up until that point he was actually dominating the midfield. Please give the poor guy a break here. He has just returned from a long injury layoff and given his unglamorous injury record, how can you honestly blame him for losing his cool? He just about had his leg and ankle snapped in half. He was very lucky to still be walking. He was really pissed that Fucking Joey Barton got away with a leg-breaking tackle like that. What a horrible referee that motherfucking Phil Dowd is!!! Barton has done the same thing to Arshavin earlier when the latter was spinning away from him and got away with that too. Diaby chased him and got a piece of him. I actually thought that Diaby was going to get booked at that moment but he was lucky to escape. Maybe he should have been booked then. That way, he would have thought about going after Barton. Still with 10 men, I still believed we could dominate possession and score more goals. We are the Arsenal, and we have done it before. The turning point for me wasn't the Diaby red card. It was the Djourou injury. What exactly happened to him? Once he came out and I saw Squillacci go in, I said: "OH CRAP, NOOOOOO...." And I was right. He was totally invisible in Defense. He couldn't run, he couldn't head the ball away to safety, and the understanding between him and Koscielny was non-existent. Poor Kos didn't know what to do exactly with this stupid clown next to him. I just cannot believe that we finally got rid of Sysvestre, only to bring in his "clone". What a waste of space he is. He lost us that game today along with some very very biased refereeing. Looking back, maybe Arsene Wenger should have brought in some very solid defender who is good in the air, because we after Djourou left the pitch, we could not win a single header. We collapsed time after time again and knowing that all they had to do is lump the ball inside our penalty area (especially with Dowd in their back pocket), they did so at every opportunity. I was starting to believe that they were going to be awarded a penalty each and every time our players try ANY type of defending in the area. Such a huge bias against Arsenal. The FA really needs to look into it after 2 games in a row, but we all know they won't. Be that as it may, our whole defense needs to be sorted out quickly. Too bad there is no other option but to play Squillacci. I sure hope Djourou is not seriously hurt, because with that clown in defense, we are DOOMED! If you don't believe me, watch the match again, if your heart is strong enough to handle it.
Having said all that, my day has just brightened up tremendously. As pissed off and mad like a fucking lunatic as I was (I almost released my anger on and beat the shit out of my poor 6-year old son, just for nagging me to help put his shin guards and socks on, it really is an emotional rollercaster to watch this Arsenal team play and it is sometimes unhealthy and dangerous), I mustered the courage to turn on the TV just to see what was going on in the Man U game and I couldn't believe my eyes! As bad as our result was, we actually gained a point on United. Wolves actually managed to do what most teams couldn't do for so long. They beat Man U! No more unbeaten season. The INVINCIBLES live on!!! What a day! My mood changed considerably after that and I started looking at things on the bright side again... I hope Liverpool can shock Chelsea at the Bridge tomorrow and everything will be rosy in Arsenal world once again.
Now, we need to quickly forget about this game and concentrate on the next one. No more excuses! Just keep a level head and do what you are meant to do, guys. You know you are better than most, if not all of the other teams. Wenger always talks about mental strength and all that crap. Now is the time to actually prove it.

UP THE GUNNERS!!!

As if this day just couldn't get any worse, now there is confirmation on Arsenal.com that Djourou has suffered a knee injury. It is not know yet how long he will be out for. NOT FUCKING GOOD AT ALL! We are so screwed now with fucking Squillaci alongside Koscielny and no backup at all.
Just GREAT!

DKG Spot on! Not a dot or comma could I disagree with, Except I would ask that Dowd never officiate in any capacity at anything to do with Arsenal ever again! And yes despite it being 10 against 13 or 14 we should've hung on!

That was always the worry! Its why I had hoped Arsene would sign any defender, even on loan. As he couldn't and Djourou needed a rest I then asked for Arsene to promote a defender from within because I feared that without Djourou we'd have a problem. Now I'm sorry to say that we have that very problem. Squilla played O.K early season alongside Djourou. Its a fact that Squilla and Kosh can't play together how Arsene can't see that is beyond me. Like you I winced when Squilla came on, down to 10 we were coping, but down to 10 with Squilla and Kosh, I knew we would struggle, and struggle we did!

Just watched the rerun on MOTD and I've had to listen to filth from Lawrenson saying that Bartons tackle was strong but there was nothing wrong with it, in slow-mo it was a blocked tackle that smashed into Diaby and the follow through I believe was it was calculated to cause harm. We all know Diaby shouldn't have lost it but yet again I can't stomach the reaction from our own (Own I have to Question?). Considering what poor Diaby has been through injury wise and considering he was gonna get red carded by the crooked Dowd, I would rather he gave Barton what he deserved either a left hook or a right cross!

LZ I understand how that result hurts and yes Barton went for the ball but his follow through blocked tackle was in my humble opinion calculated to cause damage. That it didn't was more luck than judgement, and considering what Diaby has suffered at the hands of others I think pushing was amazing control of himself. Personally I'd have decked Barton and still I'd of felt hard done by getting red.

Just got back in after a night out with my wife and FUUUCKKIINGG YESSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cunts' unbeaten run is ENDED and what looked like being two points dropped turns out to be one point GAINED. Love this game. Too pissed for MOTD now, will have to watch tomorrow morning when I am sober enough to savour. Hic.

Considering the treatment Diaby has had to suffered I would've rather he smashed Barton on the chin and took the red. I can't stand it when our own can't stand up for our own!

Because last time out Cesc rightly called the Ref's honesty into question. I believe Dowd was determinded to prove him right not because he'd taken a bung but to show how a Ref can do whatever he wants and change a game.

We not only need to put this match behind us but we need to lift our team because that result will be hard for the team to take. Moreover Kosh & Squilla are not any sort of defensive partnership and Arsene needs to wake up to this pretty damed quick and either promote from within or change something quickly.

Against Everton I couldn't praise Arsene's substitutions enough but yesterday unfortunately he got them all wrong, especially introducing Rosicky into such a game when we all know he's having a really bad patch. It put everyone Rosicky included under even more strain.

i agree on most accounts with gino92, but i have to disagree on one thing, nobody is worse than silvestre, i'd take squillaci any day of the week over him, i'd rather have carlos vela in central defence. nobody could have seen it coming, what happened today, but they should have known better, they should have known a penalty or a red was very likely since we were so far ahead. even so, i have never seen any ref influence a game so much, and it was clear retaliation for cesc's comments on the everton match, and they are trying to fuck us, and they are succeeding, they did us today. a bit of karma worked in our favour since manure lost. only arsenal are unbeatables, it was offensive hearing this utd team compared to our invincibles, they have 3 or 4 very good players, the rest could play in stoke or fulham. we have the best team in the league and that is why it is so frustrating seeing all the injustice and bias against this team. this should be our year but i'm not completely sure it will be, we are on thin ice, if djourou's injury is bad then we're in the dudu. most of our bench is innefective. in perspective it could have been much worse, we could have lost and ut won, then league over. time for the leaders to rise if there are any, i didn't see them when we had ten men, and it's time to be smart and stop doing these stupid mistakes.

WTF , we could have 3 points in our bag. No matter how well we pass the ball if you have non-existent defending and give goals like that away. Having raced into a four goal lead within the opening 50 mins helped cushion us comfortably , it has to be said by some poor defending work of clown like squillaci and cunt faced Diaby sent off.

Some of you guys are just so depressing. Bunch of f-ing know-nothing losers. Anyone would think we were 4 points above the relegation zone rather than in second place 4 points off the top. All of those calling for Wenger to go are trolls or morons. And anyone who couldn't see what a fantastic first half Diaby had - well, there's no hope for you. OK, so he lost his rag under extreme provocation - who hasn't done that?
The team do need to wise up to these players who's one goal is to provoke and get someone booked or sent off. Arteta did it to Jack the other day too. And we have another bunch of fouling bastards coming next week. This is the big danger now - no protection from referees and risk of more injuries. So it's important to stay cool. That goes for us too. Let's get behind the team and the manager.

well said dk ..unfortunately too many plastics getting manipulated by webbmanurechsleki sky consortium ...english refs are f*cking arsenal ..time for the fans to stand up and protect their team and manager

Another offside goal - Carew vs Sunderland:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/john-carew-sunderland- 8409396/
The linesman? Well, whaddyaknow - our friend from the Everton game.
You couldn't make it up, could you?

And this from John Terry, 2/2/2011, after the signing of Torres and Luiz (both played today):
"From a club point of view, reading things like the Bolton quotes that they didn't fear Chelsea no more – we say don't fear us at your peril."
Now I'm off to a Chelsea blog.