Here we see the new home kit which although traditional looks to much like the 2006/08 shirt for my liking. However I’ll grow to liking it…..again!

Im not saying the draw is possibly fixed or am i? but what i am saying is isn’t it quite a coincidence how we happen to be drawn together after much media hype on the subject.

Ooo well whats done is done, i am not too worried about Celtic, who have a very poor away record in Europe although we have never played them before if they play anything like Rangers did in the Emirates cup who according to stats last season are better than Celtic than we shouldn’t have a problem. Especially as we are away first, we can bring them back to the Emirates and finish ‘em off.

Transfers
On the transfer front, Wenger has said that Arsenal are intereseted in Brede Hangeland who in my opinion would be our ideal signing. Height, strength and premier league experience. But what does intereseted actually mean? I don’t really want to go too much into this as i feel there is a long way to go. All i hope is that Senderos goes which would clear the way to a signing and pleaseeee let it be Hangeland!!

To recap here is the full draw:

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF DRAW

Champions Path

Sheriff v Olympiacos
Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa
Ventspils v Zurich
Copenhagen v APOEL
Levski Sofia v Debreceni

Non-champions Path

Lyon v Anderlecht
Celtic v Arsenal
Timisoara v Stuttgart
Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina
Panathinaikos v Atletico Madrid

Just another quick off the topic moan…Am i the only one who hates the new Sky sports theme? the older one was soo much better. sorry folks just had to say something!

Happy with the draw, any worries on the Arsenal side or do you hate the Sky Sports theme tune too?….leave a comment.

HarregasTheGooner.

Fiorentina announced last week that the deadline for the deal to complete was Wednesday, and they also said Arsenal had to lower their asking price of £9 million, in my opinion understandably so. There was no news yesterday of this deal so i presume the deal is dead. Fiorentina did announce that they had other targets so Eboue wasn’t a deal that was desperate for them. So thats that

I’m not sure what to think about this, I would of liked the £6 million they offered but lets be honest Wenger wouldn’t of bought so I’m somehwo thinking lets keep the player.

The Viera situation

No news in this case I presume is bad news. Since the Emirates cup press conference on Friday showed that Wenger looked keen on bringing him back nothing has been heard since. Not even papers gossip. Maybe the weekly Friday press conference today should inform us more, but i doubt it seeming Wenger is very quiet to say the least about his dealings! We will see, hopefully!

L’Equipe announces new bid for Chamakh

I doubt this very much seeming Chamakh will be a free agent in the summer but the French paper has published that Arsenal have increased their offer to 9 million euros or 7.6 million british pounds. Is it worth it though for a player who only has 1 season on his contract?

Anyway this is what he had to say with the bold line showing his total stupidity:

“If they are interested in selling, we are interested in buying but if not, then we will look to Fabregas.

“Compared to him there is no available alternative left in the market, so we will see what happens.

“But after last season we only need small adjustments – a left-back, a central defender, a midfielder and a forward.”

ONLY A FULL BACK, CENTRE BACK, MIDFIELDER AND FORWARD. YOU’VE GOT HALF A BLOODY TEAM THERE. SMALL ADDITIONS IS ONE OR AT MOST TWO PLAYERS NOT FOUR. ARSENAL ARE A TEAM THAT NEEDS MORE THAN JUST SMALL ADJUSTEMNTS, BUT HERE WE ARE ONLY CURRENTLY BUYING A CENTRE BACK.

MORE THROUGHOUT THE DAY PEOPLE….

The Rossoneri’s first choice remains Wolfsburg forward Edin Dzeko but with the Bundesliga club remaining firm that he is not for sale, Milan are starting to look at alternatives.

Galliani indicated on Thursday that they might be interested in Adebayor and it now appears that the Serie A side have stepped up their interest in the Togo international.

“We don’t have any agreement with Dzeko,” said Galliani. “He is a Wolfsburg player.

“Dzeko has expressed his liking for a move here but at this moment there are no negotiations yet.

“We wrote to Wolfsburg and they responded that he is not for sale. If Wolfsburg change their minds we have agreed they will call Milan. If they do I am ready to immediately leave and go there.

“There’s no fee yet, at the moment Dzeko is not for sale. If he becomes for sale then we will start talking sums.

“Adebayor and (Sevilla striker) Luis Fabiano are the alternatives. For Adebayor there has been a telephone call, during which (Arsenal manager Arsene) Wenger was friendly.”

“I’m not sure how many times I need to talk directly about my commitment to Arsenal as I continue to say the same thing over and over again, but it appears that every time I have spoken to the Spanish media recently, my words have bounced back to England, leaving question marks about my future.

“So, for anyone who is unclear or may have misunderstood what my position is, let me make myself absolutely crystal clear. I am wholeheartedly committed to Arsenal and my future lies with this great Club.

“It is a fact that we have not won a trophy for four years and yes, I am angry about that, but that anger stems from the deep deep desire I have to win things with Arsenal. I care about this Club and believe in this team. I am proud to captain this team and proud to wear the shirt. It really upsets me when people express my thoughts otherwise. The spirit in this squad is fantastic and we have the ability and mentality to compete on all fronts for silverware. Make no mistake, we are focussed and determined to show that we are capable of achieving great things together.”

I’m sorry but for legal reason we’re not allowed to shwow on this site the full fixtures but you can see them by clicking here

Arsenal skipper Fabregas misses tough-tackling Mathieu Flamini who quit the Gunners last summer for AC Milan and has not been replaced.

Fabregas said: “We are accustomed to playing alongside the likes of Patrick Vieira, Flamini and Gilberto Silva.

“Last season we were weak in this position which is so important, especially for teams like us.

“When we attack, it is vital to know someone is behind you to win the ball back.”

Fabregas has been constantly linked with a return to Barcelona, where he came through the youth system.

And while Barca won La Liga, the Spanish Cup and the Champions League, Arsenal had a fourth successive season without a trophy.

He added: “If you do not win titles then you cannot be happy.

“Losing the semi-finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup meant we fell short and lacked that little bit extra.

“I’m happy at Arsenal but four years without success for a player who wants titles is a lot.”

With Yaya Toure Fabregas’s favourite choice maybe a move could be possible even though his agent ruled-one out almost immediately as we were linked. If we could give him £65,000 a week and a three year deal that would suit all and we wouldn’t have to pay much for him either. Cmon Arsene get out the cheque book!

Andy Robinson

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