After a couple of days being concerned with issues around the club, back to where it really matters and event on the pitch. Bit of transfer news to catch up (or gossip would be a better choice of words).

Ralph found himself at the centre of a “tug of love” between football’s favourite Barrow Boys, West Ham and ‘Appy ‘Arry. The former were in the driving seat for a long time but blew it. Meanwhile, ‘Appy ‘Arry was looking to do his bit to blood a bit of youth in his squad by purchasing Ralph’s services, which should bring the average age at Play Up, Pompey to just below seventy six. Lurking in the background in a manner not dissimilar to Martin Edwards in Hotel Conveniences were Real Sociedad and my hunch for his final destination of Sevilla, depending on which media outlet you read and which day of the week it was. The latter had the pull of a return to his first major club and the area in which he grew up, something that I thought that may prove too strong to resist but that just goes to show what I know.

Moving to Portsmouth is probably better than the relegation dog-fight in which West Ham are involved. Perhaps it was the carrot that persuaded him to move to ‘Arry’s Retirement Home For The Mature Footballer. I cannot shake the feeling that this transfer is too soon for Arsenal. I know, and acknowledge, that Hoyte and Eboue have done well in his absence but the experience that Lauren has is irreplaceable at the moment. Phillipe Senderos may believe that his “bags are getting heavier” in that department but Ralph has been there and done it, something that could be invaluable later in the season. However, Arsene’s philosophy in this area is well reported, refusing to restrain a youthful career to prolong one of longer-standing but I hope that this one does not come and bite him squarely on the you know where.

It seems incredible to think that Lauren’s contribution in the early days was under-appreciated; he is one of Wenger’s success stories in converting a player from one position to another, a template for Kolo Toure’s regression down the pitch from central midfield if you like. Lauren was originally a right-sided midfielder, albeit defensively minded, whom Le Boss converted into one of the best right backs in the Premiership. His first goal for the club in a 2 – 0 win over Liverpool but his best remembered goal has to be the scuffed penalty (very possibly one of the worst ever scored) against Tottenham in 2002 at Highbury.

He looked cool when he took the spot kick but I would imagine that for five to ten seconds the bottom felt like it would fall out of his world (or is that the world would fall out of his bottom?) but seeing the look on Teddy Sheringham’s face afterwards made it all worthwhile. Until last year, he had been relatively injury free, two hundred and fifty-ish appearances in five and a half years attest to that.

The last twelve months have allowed Eboue and Hoyte to leapfrog him in the queue for Right Back and I guess Arsene has not seen anything in training to persuade him that it was worthwhile putting Ralph back in the side at either of their expense. A genuine success story in his time at the club, I feel a certain sadness with his departure. I wish him well in his spell at Fratton Park.

On the subject of Justin Hoyte, the club have started contract negotiations with his Mr 15% which hopefully will be brought to a swift and successful conclusion. Similar discussions are apparently scheduled for Nicklas Bendtner whilst Sebastian Larsson seems to be on his way to St Andrews permanently. Another one rumoured to be off is Jeremie Aliadiere, of whom Middlesbrough are reportedly so enamoured that they have returned to Arsenal with an improved bid. Not sure if the Bendtner and Aliadiere stories are in anyway related but my suspicious mind sniffs that some journalistic licence may have been involved. We shall see.

Emmanuel Eboue has declared himself fit for the game although given the consistency shown in Justin Hoyte’s recent performances, it is not inconceivable that Eboue may find himself sitting down for a large portion of the game although a theatrical throw to the floor or two during his warm-up routines should not be ruled out either.

The official site has contradicted a report in The Sun Says with the news that RvP may indeed be fit for Sunday with his injury not being as bad as was first feared,

“At the moment we think it is a very short-term problem…He is going for a scan and after that we will know more about it. He still has a very good chance of being available for Sunday.”

No surprises that the media have got the reports wrong and whilst we are in the market for no surprises, neither Freddie nor William Gallas will be fit for the match so it looks like it will be pretty much the same sixteen who travelled to Blackburn, making up the squad for Sunday with the obvious exception of the suspended Gilberto Silva. I won’t speculate at the moment as to who will replace him but my usual inaccurate team selection will be in Sunday’s preview.

I did lie in the opening line of todays post – no surprise there, big fella I hear you cry – as the club have released a statement concerning the Tiny Tots ticket allocation. You can read it in its full glory here and I pass no further comment on that having had my say earlier in the week. I will vent my spleen however at the imposition of a pricing structure by the Football League, set at Category B rather than the A that Tottenham’s Mr Money wanted. My reactions is, “How dare they!”. Frankly, I fail to see what business it is of theirs as to what price Arsenal charge for tickets. There is an established pricing precedent at Arsenal and it is extremely galling to find that Tottenham have been able to influence the FL Management Committee into throwing that out of the window, at least the club have managed to obtain concessionary charging for the usual suspects. And finally a line is drawn under the whole affair, the events on the pitch now take precedence.