Right a bit of a brief post - by my standards anyway - as the home broadband has gone tits up and the ISP are too useless to fix it. Aren’t you, Orange.

Arsene reckons next season will be his biggest challenge yet and he is desperate to nuture the talented youngsters through so that they will reach their full potential. Personally, I think he has more time than he believes although he has been careful not to look too far into the future. The Press will store this one away and nearer the time use it start spurious rumours about how he will not be renewing his contract, no doubt. Interestingly, he thinks this team will mature quicker as they started earlier in their first team careers. Now I cannot wholly agree with that assessment because each individual matures at their own rate although I do see his logic. Whether that happens, only time will tell but with the return to fitness of his leading strikers, I am optimistic about next season.

Everyone’s fantasy swap of centre-halves won’t be happening with Jonathan Woodgate signing a four-year deal at Middlesbrough. Much as I like him as a player, we have enough injury-prone defenders as it is and despite Gallas’ mouth upsetting people, I think next year he would prove the doubters wrong and build a good partnership with either Toure or Djourou, depending on who is fit and not suspended. It is worth remembering that Toure has been relatively injury-free for a long time so the Law of Averages suggests that this may happen at some point in the future, not that I am wishing it on him you understand.

Talking of spurious rumours, the press are running with Dein in talks to sell his shares to Stan over in the Good Ol’ US of A although no-one has come up with any concrete evidence of this whilst Danny Fiszman has put out an official denial on Pravda that he is not selling his shares to some Russians. If Lord Peter Whimsey is disapproving of American investments then goodness alone knows what he would make of an Oligarch whose murky dealings have made him a massive fortune. Lots of small holdings are changing hands on the PLUS Market this week - I make it about thirty that new owner(s) - but until Kroenke agrees to buy Dein’s shares, I doubt that the Board will even entertain listening to much that he has to say. Once he gets to about 27 - 28% of the shares then they would be incredibly naive not to open dialogue. That said, I would be surprised if they weren’t already in serious discussions to try to smooth over the PR disasters from the Chairman in recent weeks.

Back to the playing staff. Julio Baptista is supposed to have been told that he will be back in Madrid come the summer whilst Jose Antonio Reyes has been told that he won’t be wanted in Madrid after the summer. Which makes things all rather messy and one would suggest that his agent needs to get his finger out and find his client a new club PDQ. I cannot see that Reyes would be particularly welcomed back by the support, good player that he is, due to the shenanigans last summer before the loan swap and his comments since.

Back tomorrow by which time, hopefully, the useless sods will have sorted out my problems.

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