and I certainly hope he is “The new Ryan Giggs” (minus the dirty belly hair of course) but until I see him in action, he’s just another teenager.

Greetings all.

Been a while since I’ve contributed anything of note to the site (primarily because there has been very little to talk about) but Mean Lean has threatened to come round my house and destroy all my Pal Lydersen memorabilia. This despite the fact he has no idea where I live. Mean Lean that is. Not Pal. Me and Pal are like that (I’m doing the cross finger thing that people do to imply social familiarity). Ok, that’s not strictly true. Pal has no idea who I am and I don’t think I actually remember ever seeing him play…

Anyway…

The somewhat big news today is that Arsenal have apparently won the race to sign Aaron Ramsey, The Welsh WonderkidTM; apparently the best thing to come out of Wales since Charlotte Church’s cleavage(try saying that 10 times on a hangover!).

A lot of people seem to think, provided the story is true, Arsene has pulled off a massive coup here. At 17, Ramsey is still developing. If he’s got the talent, he’s still very much in the nurturing phase and how Arsenal utilise him over the next 2-3 years is crucial. Rumours are that the terms of the deal don’t include a loan back option which would have probably been best for the lad. I’ve been told he’s far too good for reserve team football but it’s highly unlikely Wenger will play him in the first team for at least a couple of years so how will only a few Carling Cup appearances affect his development? With very few exceptions, how many teenagers have walked straight into a top side and make an immediate impact? Rooney? Messi? Ramsey will have to go some way to matching the achievements of those players.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not overly excited about this signing. Good luck to that lad and I certainly hope he is “The new Ryan Giggs” (minus the dirty belly hair of course) but until I see him in action, he’s just another teenager.

Of course, we’re still all waiting for confirmation from The Arsenal so it might not even happen. And besides, he’s not even on Youtube. He must be rubbish!

Gilberto has been all about the positive talk again. While I’m certainly not his biggest fan as a player, His level of professionalism is second to none. Despite being overlooked for captaincy and only playing a minor role this season, Bert is encouraging the team to stick together and warning players that the grass isn’t always greener. On wages and pay-rises, he basically says that the team needs to earn their money. You can’t expect pay rises if you aren’t winning things. It’s like a Rock Star asking to play Wembley when he can’t even sell out his local student union. Or something. There’s probably a better analogy than that but I’ll be damned if I’m going to rack my brain to think of it.

Carlos Vela has inavertedly mugged off Spurs which is always funny. Speaking of his Mexican colleague and future Spud failure Gio Dos Santos, Vela has tipped the Ronaldinho wannabe (Ronabee?) to use his opportunity at SHL to get a move to a bigger club. Hilarious. Didn’t someone tell wee Carlos that Top4 Hotspur are a big club who once won The Peace Cup?

Euro watch: Very little in the way of Arsenal interest thus far. Last night saw RvP and the in-coming Samir Nasri make cameo appearances for their respective countries. Robin looked lively for the 20 odd minutes he was on the pitch but the game was already over as the Dutch hammered Italy 3-0. Nasri on the other hand was largely ineffectual coming into what has looked like the poorest France side for many a year as they draw 0-0 with Romania. I know that as an Arsenal fan we’re supposed to have some sort of affiliation with Les Bleus but this time around, I actually couldn’t care less. Hopefully they go out in the group stages so Nasri can get back and sign that contract.

Tonight it looks like Cesc will have to make do with a place on the bench for Spain against Russia which I think (takes off rose-tinted glasses) actually is fair enough. Xavi has the experience and is probably just marginally a better player. No doubt we will see Senor Fabregas at some stage before the tournament is through.

That’s yer lot for now.