Kolo and Eboue could miss up to 10 games in Jan/Feb, whats come out of the AGM and more!

So I got home last night at 7.30, hoping that Eurosport or some other funky European channel would be showing a live qualifier. I found out that Eurosport had a highlights programme later in the night, and as I sat down to watch it they were showing Holland. A chance to see Robin continue his good form of late, I thought. The Dutch were awarded a corner but nothing came of it, and then the camera cut to Robin on the floor wincing in pain. I let out a very audible “nooooooo!” which nearly woke up everyone else in the house. The replays showed that he went down very awkwardly and twisted his knee in the process, a bit like Michael Owen in the last World Cup against the Swedes. Thankfully it wasn’t a stretcher job as he managed to hobble off. He goes for a scan later today to assess the extent of the damage, but I can’t see him making the Bolton game, and with Liverpool and the Mancs coming up there is no point risking him either. Just goes to show why I hate internationals so. He was on fire, grabbing 4 goals in 3 games, all of which were vital too. Fingers crossed it isn’t ligament damage. I guess Eduardo will now get a chance; the Croats didn’t play last night so he should be quite fresh, as will Ade who hasn’t played since last Friday.

The official website has just reported that Kolo and Eboue could miss up to 10 games in Jan/Feb, depending on when they join up with Cote d’Ivoire and how far they progress. Yikes. Why on earth the Africa Nations doesn’t fall in line with the rest of the world football calendar I’ll never know.

Tabloid rumours say that Carlos Vela may be back from his loan spell in January now that he has gained/will gain a European work permit. Given what happened last season to our strikeforce, I think we need all the reinforcements we can get, certainly don’t wanna end up with another Aliadiere-Baptista situation. Because its a red-top reporting you might dismiss it as hot air, but Le Boss has said how he likes foreign players to have a six-month settling in period, so I wouldn’t be too shocked to see him arrive. Has anyone seen him play? All I’ve heard is that he tore it up at the recent Under-17’s World Cup, any Spanish Gooners (or Spaniards in general) who have seen him play feel free to give your opinion on his game.

It’s AGM day today. In fact it may even be taking place as you read this. With all the Dein/Kroenke/Usmanov goings-on since the last AGM, it should be interesting to say the least. If Dein is there, I propose a WWE-style “First Blood” match between him and Peter Hill-Wood to see who bleeds redder (and therefore more Gooner) blood. Odds are that Dein actually bleeds white blood and is a closet Spud who has been planning to bring the club down from the inside for the last 20 years. Or maybe not…

BREAKING NEWS:

Looks like the AGM is over. Here’s what has come out from it:

* the lockdown period of no-selling of shares by the Board members has been extended a further year to April 2009 (apart from sales to family members).

This dispels the notion that Lady Nina was going to get rid of her shares, for the time being at least.

* for the remaining years (i.e. from April 2009 onwards – the deal has been signed until 2012), if any other Board members do not want to buy any shares that fellow members are selling, then they can be sold to anyone.

Hopefully Usmanov will be so bored by share movement inactivity at this stage that he has stopped being a pain in the Arse.

* the agreement can be terminated in April 2010.

This sounds ominous. If he is still hanging around at that time then he may be in with a sniff.

From what it looks like, the key period is between April 2009 and April 2010. For the next 18 months or so we look safe, but after that if Lady Nina, for example, feels like selling her lot and if Fiszman, for example, doesn’t want to buy, then she has every right to sell to Usmanov (I’m assuming that Kroenke is not part of the Board’s agreement). Let’s hope the team’s continued success on and off the pitch doesn’t give the Board any reason to terminate the agreement in 2010.

More tomorrow.

Squid Boy