Sol Campbell To Rejoin Arsenal

The news comes as a bit of a surprise but shouldn't really, but Sol Campbell looks to be close to agreeing a short-term deal with Arsenal.  Arsenal have obtained a special registration which will allow Campbell to take part in a reserve team match against West Ham reserves tonight.

Campbell has been training with Arsenal in Hertfordshire since soon after leaving Notts County and will act as cover for Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas until the end of the season.  This strikes me as a good signing as Campbell is a first class defender, and was key to Wengers 2003/04 Invincibles Team will provide confidence in the event of absence or need for rest to Wengers key centre-halves which will lend Wengers title chances more credibility.  He is also available for registration in the Champions League which again is an added bonus.  For Arsenals blossoming young players he is a hero of recent memory and will likely act as positive motivation and as another source of leadership.  His experience will benefit the team greatly.

There is also the potential benefit that if Campbell somehow finds himself in an extended run of games before the summer there is another solid defensive option available to Fabio Capello who will surely take a good look at Campbell now given his experience of two prior World Cups.

Wenger would be hard pressed to have found a better signing if he had of opened up the cheque book and spent big. 

This certainly spells the end of Philippe Senderos' Arsenal career, and he will be regretting not joining Everton in the summer.

Arshavin At Anfield

Team selection update: Guess who ees complaining

How can you not love the Voyeur when he comes out with such gems as this

And all because Hull got a Wednesday off and he didn't

It's Hull, Wenger, at home, grow up (oh, and please win, I have money riding on this)

"We have some teams who do not play at all. We play Sunday and Wednesday away and at home on Saturday against Hull, who have not played all week."

By 'some' he means two - Hull and Stoke get a week off because Everton and Fulham have Europa league commitments

This does of course mean they will have to play catch-up at a later date, but really Wenger should be taking this up with the ridiculous Europa league -  and every year we get six games in December, how long does it take a Frenchman to get used to this?

I would also like to point out that Hull played an extra game on the 25th November, as did Everton, Blackburn and Fulham - this was not Hull's fault, but Arsenal got a mid-week off (then lost at home to Chelsea, while Hull got a point at City...) - did I here anyone complaining (well yes, David Moyes, but that's a different story)

Of course, Arsenal do play in the Champions' League - but for the purposes of this argument Wenger is sticking to the concept of league fairness - presumably then Hull shouldn't be playing extra games in November to benefit Everton? I didn't hear Phil Brown whingeing about City getting a week to prepare while he had an extra game to deal with

But wait, there's more!

Wenger went on to criticise Mick McCarthy's decision to rest players against United

"We will have to compete with Manchester United over 37 games instead of 38," said Wenger.

As I mentioned earlier - were Wolves expected to get anything at Old Trafford - did I miss that hot tip? If we are going to subjectively judge Wolves' team as worthless then there's no reason for me not to state categorically that United were always going to win that match, I guess it's ok to send out the reserves as long as you keep it to one competition eh, Arsene?

And let's be honest - you're competing with Chelsea, and you're really just narked that you lost two points at Burnley because your team doesn't have staying power

Truly, the Voyeur is worth every penny Arsenal pay him (especially when he's taking his team up north mid-week) - and I can't resist posting this:

What Ever Happened To Applying A Cold Wet Sponge?

I chortled my sizable behind off when I heard this news on the radio this morning.

Robin Van Persie (RVP) is off to see a specialist about his ankle injury that is keeping him on the sidelines until Christmas.  It isn't the bloke in America that Shearer, Owen and Hargreaves flew off to see, and he isn't in Harley Street.... In fact, he, is a she.  In fact it is the not so well known Mariana Kovacevic from Serbia.

Theres more.

RVP on Sky Sports:

"I will fly to the Balkans to meet with a female doctor who helped [PSV Eindhoven midfielder] Danko Lazovic.

"She is vague about her methods, but I know she massages you using fluid from a placenta.

"I am going to try. It cannot hurt and if it helps, it helps.

"I have been in contact with Arsenal physiotherapists and they have let me do it."

Pardon, could you say that again please?

"placenta"

OK great; thought that's what was said, just checking...

Perhaps Arsene Wenger's ever decreasing average squad age has pushed an old man like Van Persie to drastic measures and the mere mention of placenta fluids got RVP all excited.  Or, perhaps RVP has sussed that the older a person gets, the less they smell like an infant to Wenger; and ipsofacto the less likely you are to be included in the current Arsenal squad?  A little Placenta fluid could add years onto his Arsenal career.

Run it off lad!!

Wenger Insists No Deal Is Done For Fabregas

I wonder if the line about doing a deal in a year in advance is a sly dig at Sir Alex after the rumours that the deal was signed a long time back?

Premier League Title Race Opens Up

It was a big weekend in the Premier League with a solid victory for Liverpool at Old Trafford stunning the Man Utd faithful and with Chelsea winning against Man City.

Man Utd retain a 4 point buffer and a game in hand. United have lost big games in Championship run-ins before and held on to win, last season they lost to Chelsea but held on to clinch the title on the final day. Their performance in the next few games will be telling, with any signs of a let up will be seized upon.

Liverpool were good value for their win. Torres made Player of the Season candidate Nemanja Vidic look slow, and Goalkeeping giant Edwin Van der Saar looked ordinary.

The Battle for fourth has gotten more interesting with Arsenal moving back up into the Champions League spots for the first time since December, and Aston Villa losing at home to Tottenham. Everton's Victory moved them to within 4 points of Champions League football as well.

Walcott Warns Rivals

Theo Walcott has sounded a warning to rivals that Arsenal are going to end the season strongly.

Walcott says that defeat for Arsenal last night against Roma would have been disastrous, but that "The dressing room after we won was like we had won the World Cup".

He added, ""We have got a lot of players coming back towards the end of the season."

"We seem to have had our bad spell. Now hopefully we can have a good spell and push for those Champions League spots."

Walcott will have has Aston Villa in mind when issuing his rallying call who are now just three points ahead of Arsenal in fourth.

Arsenal play Blackburn at home on Saturday and Villa play Tottenham at home on Sunday. The race for the Champions League may intensify as it is Second and Third placed teams Chelsea and Liverpool who have the toughest tests this weekend.

Liverpool face a lunchtime kick off at Old Trafford, and Chelsea host unpredictable Man City on Sunday.

Fabregas May Leave Arsenal If Wenger Leaves

The Daily Mirror has a story that Arsene Wenger tops the Man City wish list for new manager, ahead of Jose Mourinho, Slaven Bilic and Diego Maradona.

And in a related article they quote Cesc Fabregas as saying that he would quit Arsenal if Arsene Wenger left in the summer. Cesc Fabregas has repeatedly been linked with Real Madrid and would have no problem finding a big money move.

Arsenal are out of the title race again this year and Arsenal fans are starting to question Wengers strategies for the first time. Contract negotiations are taking place with Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott who may also have their heads turned if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League next year.

Arsenal Takeover Close?

Red & White Holdings Limited have upped their stake in Arsenal to 25%, just 5% below the stake that would require them to make a formal takeover bid under the rules of the stockmarket.

The holding company is owned by Russian Millionaire Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri. The investors confirmed that the move was in line with their previously stated position to protect their position in the club.

The holding company was formed after the departure of David Dein in August 2007 who sold his the 14.5% share in the club. Since then Usmanov has been upping his stakes gradually.

At present, the other members of the Arsenal board have a lock-down agreement in place preventing any short term takeover bid. But it looks like should the chess pieces shift, Usmanov and Moshiri will be in a prime position.

Tottenham v Arsenal - New Signings

Keane Starts for Spurs

Arsharvin on the bench for Arsenal

Arsenal team: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Song, Denilson, Nasri, Adebayor, Van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Eduardo, Ramsey, Djourou, Arshavin, Bendtner, Gibbs.

Tottenham team: Cudicini, Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Keane.
Subs: Gomes, Bale, Zokora, Huddlestone, Bent, Taarabt, Chimbonda.

Referee: Mike Dean

Feel free to leave your score predictions in the comments box.

Calling Chelsea Fans, Whats Going On?

Chelsea earlier today drew, at home with Hull 0-0. Hull, who got off to a flying start early in the season have more recently reverted to form more associated of a recently promoted team. Yet Chelsea, in their once fortress of Stamford Bridge could not find a goal today. Their Premier League Challenge looks, probably over.

Aston Villa went third today, two points above Chelsea and just three point behind Liverpool with a convincing away result, a 2-0 win at Ewood Park. If Arsenal win their game in hand, they will be just 3 points behind Chelsea, and the prospect of not qualifying for the Champions League could haunt Chelsea's run into the end of the season.

I would like to hear from Chelsea fans in particular as to what you feel has and is going wrong of late, and what you think needs to be done to get your respective challenges back on track. Other fans opinions of course welcome, please let us know your team when stating your point of view. Did Big Phil get it right in the January Transfer Window, is he the man to turn things around?

Captain Keano

Harry Reknapp has confirmed to Sky News that Robbie Keane will be handed the captains armband for the big match against Arsenal this weekend.

Ledley King is sidelined with injury, so Keane will get a run of games as captain. King will remain club captain for now.

Redknapp says "I said to Robbie that if I brought him back that I would like to make him captain. I think it was important to him, to come back and lead the club.

"They [the squad] are all pleased to have him back, and they know what he can do."

"He is a leader and has the personality to be a captain of Tottenham."

Some Tottenham fans have had mixed reactions to the return of Keane, and those who were not happy will be less so with this announcement.

The derby game may be missing Arsenal new boy Andrei Arshavin as he needs to prove his fitness to manager Arsene Wenger to be included in the big game.

Arshavin To Arsenal (Finally!)

Andrei Arshavin has finally sealed his move to Arsenal fro Zenit, both clubs have announced today. The saga has been drawn out through much of January, mostly because of Zenit's demands on getting the whole transfer fee, £15m worth, upfront.

Arshavin will lend some creditability to what is at the moment looking like a light-weight, injury plighted Arsenal midfield. The prospect of seeing Arshavin, Fabregas and Walcott in the same midfield will have Gunners salivating and the signing may be the impetus on the squad that is needed to secure that vital fourth spot in the league.

The deal was done Monday, but the Premier League could only confirm all of the paperwork was completed, approved and filed today after an extension was granted on clearing the administration after poor weather conditions hampered negotiations for players, club reps and agents as they struggles to get around the country. Many of the Premier Leagues own staff were absent adding to last day pressures.

Arsenal Granted Work Permit For Arsharvin

Arsenal have been granted a work permit for the signing of Andrei Arshavin. The fee is reportedly not agreed between the two clubs, but the deal is likely to take place given the high profile nature and Arsenals need for a quality signing in midfield.

Arsene Wenger has said today that he would like the deal done within 24 hours.

Breaking News - Cesc Fabregas Out For Four Months

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will likely be out for four months with damage to his medial ligament.

The news is obviously a blow to Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans. It also raises a number of questions.

Will William Gallas be asked to stand in as captain in his absence?

Can Arsenal achieve a top four place in the Premier League without their most influential player?

Will Arsene Wenger now spend some cash in January? Who is available? Or will Wengers youth policy supersede the need for a purchase and govern who will fill in?

Can Arsenal expect to progress past the first knockout phase of the Champions League against Roma?

And of course, in the event of Arsenal failing to qualify for the Champions League, will Fabregas be happy to stay at Arsenal next Season? - Especially as Real Madrid will inevitably launch their annual campaign to sign or unsettle the very best talents in the Premier League?