Can I see?

The Goon Show

Preview…

All things come in threes so they say, Buses, Star Wars Trilogies, the Bee Gees (until recently) so it wasn’t a huge surprise to learn that the next round of the FA cup would feature Bolton V the Ar$e for the third year in a row. This tie will have the added feature of being played at the sparkly new Emirate Stadium the first time the teams will meet in the new setting, as the 3-1 league thumping was carried out at our home.

With the annual Ar$e bashing already undertaken this season, it might be harder to predict which manager is happier about the tie. Gooners are unbeaten at the Emirates including a very late win against the Mancs, they are also fighting to get into the final of the Carling Cup at the expense of their highly regarded neighbours the Spuds.

If we turn our attentions to the superwhites, Big Sam might not have been too chuffed at the Arsenal’s ball popping out of the bag. A disappointing January (when compared to award winning December) has seen a league slump descend starting at the Scousers, a dire draw with Citeh and something that went on at Boro (we turned up and some goals went in, or so I heard). The best thing about January has been the FA cup itself with a super-dooper team performance at Donnie Rovers with the new boys showing some flashes of class, which has since been mislaid. On the optimistic side we took Doncaster apart at their new ground and now we face another one, see the omens have already been written. (Straws and clutching springs to mind)

The local goons (I mean gooners) seem fairly confident that they can lie to rest the Bolton hoo-doo with proclaimations of “You lost 5-1 at the weekend to Boro, and we beat Man Utd! What is that all about???! I do fancy us to finally put one over on you, and score two or three goals!”

They are a bit worried about how many times the teams have been drawn together claiming “A conspiracy at the FA” Not being terribly bright one Goon believes “If Bolton keep playing us and winning, Sam won't need new players and therefore no bungs will happen and as a result the game will be cleaned up.” Funny considering they have the proven bung-taking manager.

They are all unanimous in their favourite ever Bolton V Arsenal moment “Diouf getting sent off.” Quite ironic as the boy they love to hate won’t be able to attend due to a small incident with a red card up in smoggy-ville.

So will this pave the way for introduction of Stelios or a rare start this season for Ricardo Vaz Te? Can Nic repeat his earlier herorics against his former employers? Whatever Big Sam decides he will have to ensure that the back line, shakier than a house of cards built on a big plate of jelly, is sorted out as Arsenal will be delighted in getting their scoring shoes into our defensive frailness. The only blessing is that Arsenal saviour and car salesman doesn’t historically thrive in the rough and tumble environment and six-ton Julio Baptisa seemingly is rolled out for Carling Cup games only. Rumour has it that Robin Van Persil may not feature due to only having one foot.

With all this in mind, and wanting to save face to Gooners everywhere, I believe that Bolton will undoubtedly win and win comfortably. First FA cup final at the new Wembley, Jussi says he believes (even if he doesn’t get to play) and 2,000 eager superwhites on a free jolly courtesy of Phil’s wallet (yes I know it was just the travel, and if you live in London anyways you don’t get it free). The Ar$e will lose eventually at their new home, so Sunday will be as good a day as any to start that. And I forsee Wenger throwing his tie off in a big French strop as his nancy boys demonstrate that once again they don’t like it up them.

Come on you whites.

posted by Pixie @ 10:39 AM