Not only do we have stupid rules in place but those stupid rules are not even consistent. This is not even solely the FA but look at what happened to Eduardo. It seems as if he was and still is the only footballer in Champions League history to have dived. UEFA attempted to ban him for it. But hey, let us all sweep that under the carpet and pretend that it just didn’t happen and we can all giggle at Real Madrid

Happy Friday 13th to Gooners out there,

Not quite sure what is actually happy about that or indeed not happy. It is just another date in our calendar. We are supposed to be spooked out about today because we are told so. Why exactly? A little like refereeing decisions being evened out I guess. embedded so deep within our psyche that so many do not question it.

Which brings me very briefly onto the Football Association and the Mario Balotelli incident. I won’t go into much detail because I am late for one and secondly people like Arseblog and 7am kick off have spoken so well over the issue.

Clearing through all of the crap for a second and there is a whole waste site full of crap, I would like to know why the FA are pretending that nothing can be done due to these stupid self imposed rules about a referee seeing or not seeing the incident. If that is the case then why exactly did the FA select to punish Ben Thatcher for his right arm smash? He was booked so nothing else should have been done about it right? Nope the FA decided to write a temporary rule book that dissolved after that particular incident.

Not only do we have stupid rules in place but those stupid rules are not even consistent. This is not even solely the FA but look at what happened to Eduardo. It seems as if he was and still is the only footballer in Champions League history to have dived. UEFA attempted to ban him for it. But hey, let us all sweep that under the carpet and pretend that it just didn’t happen and we can all giggle at Real Madrid and Barcelona falling all over the shop and turn a collective blind eye to it all.

The game is quite frankly one big mess. Underneath all the lovely technique, speed, goals and eye catching saves we have a complete shambles of double standards, lack of common sense and ineptitude from the so called powers that be. I am tempted to go one step further but hey, I will let others come to their own conclusions.

A good friend of mine decided to walk away from the game due to the way it was heading. I didn’t know what on earth he was talking about but I am understanding more and more. Not that I could detach myself away from Arsenal but if it wasn’t for my club then you would simply have to laugh at the sport.

Just like Friday the 13th is most certainly unlucky and stuff, referees are likely to shy away from awarding a crucial penalty to the opposition at Old Trafford. Not because it is in the rules but because that is what we all think is supposed to happen.

Across the board, the game has to be sorted out, cleaned up and taken forward. It needs to be transparent and the obvious need for technology must come sooner rather than later.

Onto real football, Arsene Wenger had his press conference earlier today ahead of Monday nights game against Wigan. The early team news is that Kieran Gibbs and Gervinho could be back in the squad which is great news. It will be interesting if Yossi continues to keep his place in this type of game.

Yossi Benayoun has really impressed me and I am sure many Arsenal fans. He has been a total professional during his time at the club and although I cannot see him wanting to extend his stay at the club, I would love it if he signed on at the end of the season.

He has helped shore up the team and made us more compact, his work rate is a great example to the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the rest of the youngsters at the club. But we have so many wide forwards and midfielders, some on loan and some about to spring up from the treatment table so it looks like he will be pushed out or even jump ship in search of first team football and you cannot really argue with that at his age.

It is a shame that his season has started so late, and the same could be said for many of the players after having been brought in so late last summer and having to adapt. This is why many are quietly confident about next season but unfortunately next season is likely to be without Yossi. If he does leave and we face him, I hope our fans can give him the applause he deserves regardless of what team he plays for. Yep, even that lot should that happen. Yossi has won my heart i’s tells ya.

Speaking of next season, a journo asked Arsene today about Sol Campbell’s comments about spending money. Arsene’s response was typical Arsene.

He said that Sol had plenty of money and that he would welcome any gifts from Sol. Arsene then went on to talk about how the two major trophies are the most important and the main aims of the season. I tend to agree with that especially nowadays. I expect many to disagree with that opinion but how much of an achievement is winning the Carling Cup? Liverpool beat Cardiff City in the final and that just says it all.

I was down like every other Arsenal fan last season against Birmingham City but really and truly after a few days of celebration it is only the Carling Cup, the competition that many teams field reserve players in the early rounds.

I have enjoyed cup success in the past, it is part of my football supporting childhood and obviously we would rather win those cups than not but winning the league title is where it is at. I would say even more so than the Champions League because at the end of the day, it is another cup competition but it is the biggest cup competition in the domestic game.

We are a big club and our main focus should be building towards winning the league. Arsene is already looking towards that by his comments today, He wants to see where we finish in the league before assessing where we need to strengthen in the summer.

Plenty of names have been passed around but I think we should just wait and see what happens. If rumoured names were always concrete then we would have Chris Samba, Gary Cahill, Sébastien Frey and a whole host of others on our books.

Before I go, I want to point you in the direction of a Q&A with Piers Morgan that was hosted on Arsenal Vision yesterday if you have not already read it.

Right, stuff to do, places to go but back again tomorrow at some point.

Enjoy your Friday. Remember, it is just like every other Friday.

’till tomorrow.