To start off with today, a worthy cause to make you aware of. Rocky 7 has been set-up to raise funds in memory of David Rocastle, the seventh anniversary of whose untimely death falls on Monday; his passing a reminder of the fragility of life.. Amongst Arsenal supporters over a certain age, Rocastle holds a special place in our hearts. All of us have our favourite memories of the player or a favourite goal. I think the latter will be a toss-up between two in the League Cup, either in the semi-final replay in 1987 at White Hart Lane or two seasons later at Anfield, a cracking twenty yard strike that left Grobelaar grasping at air. T-shirts have been produced and profits will go to Treehouse, Arsenal’s chosen charity for 2008-09 season.

So to the other matters which surround the club. Firstly, Arsene has stoutly defended William Gallas, which has surprised some people for reasons that I do not understand. Arsene said,

He has my full support and my full backing. I am completely behind him and behind the team as well. People have questioned him but you still have the same William Gallas. And the same people said it was a good choice to make him captain when we were five points ahead

His defence of his compatriot is two-fold; he has never to the best of my knowledge openly criticised a player in the past and secondly, this season’s mantra has been ‘I have faith in the squad’ and to remove the captaincy from Gallas would contradict that view and undermine Arsene, with the squad looking at him and in my view, rightly questioning what he has said previously. Misquoting and unsubstantiated comment is rife in this internet-age – yes I am aware of my own culpability – which Arsene highlighted,

I believe that the article where Theo was criticised was from an article made in GQ about Wayne Rooney. I read what William said in this article [about Theo] and I agree completely with him. He said Walcott could be the next Wayne Rooney, but he has to work. What is wrong with that? You want, at 18 years of age, not to work?  I read it really carefully; it didn’t say anything wrong in that. After the way it has been turned, yes. But if you want to win the World Cup you have to accept that your players are highly exposed and you have to accept that you have to work. Is it an insult to say somebody has to work? I don’t think so

Such deliberations in his own mind suggest that Arsene was right to confirm he has no political ambitions although the diplomatic core should not be ruled out. After all, if one of the Spice Girls can be a UN Ambassador…

Back to the captaincy. For those who hark back to a golden age with Tony Adams at the helm on the pitch, let us not forget the tribulations that he endured; the experiences that made him the captain that he was. Let us not be too quick to judge, too harsh in our assessments. So, gentlemen of the media, can we let the matter drop?

And we move on today’s game at The Reebok. In days of old, one might have considered this to be the meeting of The Good and The Bad (as well as The Ugly but that was a trio and Sam Allardyce has now departed the scene). Bolton have to win to aid their fight for survival whilst Arsenal need to do the same to prove Avram Grant right and show they are not out of the title race. There will be changes to the Arsenal team today with the main one being Arsene’s decision to rest Emmanuel Adebayor ahead of the Liverpool matches. The decision was to rest; not drop permanently as some would hope, merely a rest, acknowledging the hard work that the Togolese international has put in so far this season. How much of a rest remains to be seen and depends on the shuffling of the pack. Bendtner, fresh from his goal in midweek – Gunnerblog has a link to it will no doubt start to add a bit of height up front to make the Bolton defence feel right at home. With Sagna out for three weeks which for todays encounter leaves the door open for either Theo Walcott or Justin Hoyte. Personally, I would leave Walcott on the bench as a late replacement for van Persie and have Hoyte / Eboue down the right.

In the rest of the midfield, I would expect no further changes. Defence though will be under the microscope and Kolo Toure believes the problems can be solved. That they certainly can; concentrate for ninety minutes and defend from the front.

I would expect the team to be

Almunia; Hoyte, Toure, Gallas, Clichy; Eboue, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb; Bendtner, van Persie

With a bench of

Lehmann, Senderos, Gilberto, Diaby, Walcott

As much as the team need a win to keep the dimmed flame of their title hopes alive, they need the confidence of a clean sheet ahead of the home leg against Liverpool. Today is an excellent chance to achieve both of those objectives.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow.