Roy Keane defends Arsene + News Roundup

There’s a lot to be reported today so I’ll dive straight in, we’ll start this morning with Roy Keane defending Arsene Wenger against the heavy criticism he has received following some bad performances against the likes of Sp*rs, Stoke and more recently Fenerbahce. Keane whilst blasting the TV pundits for their mindless assessment of games and says that they are often trying to 'sell something that is not there'.

"I was asked by ITV to do the Celtic versus Manchester United game but I've done it once for Sky and never again. I'd rather go to the dentist. You're sitting there with people like Richard Keys and they're trying to sell something that's not there.

"Anytime I watch a game on television, I have to turn the commentators off. They say 'he's playing well' and I'm thinking 'no, he's not'. My advice to anyone is not to listen to the experts, just watch the game and gather your own opinions.”

"There was a debate about Wenger on Sky and how crazy is that? People are actually getting interviewed saying he shouldn't be doing this. What that man's done for English football is amazing and will be remembered in 25, 50, 100 years' time. Will those on telly yesterday be remembered for what they've achieved? Absolutely nothing whatsoever.”

"I wouldn't trust them to walk my dog. There are ex-players and ex-referees being given air-time who I wouldn't listen to in a pub. Okay, there will be one or two who've done something in the game whose opinion you would take on board, but I'm on about every Tom, Dick and Harry."

You can’t but agree with Roy Keane on this, I know we as fans have been frustrated by Arsenal this season and that has led to a lot of shite being levelled at Le boss, but what all of us have failed to see is the bigger picture. I remember Alex Ferguson going through the same and look how that turned out. I am not a fan of these so called “pundits” and 90% of them are shite. It doesn’t apply to football in general, but to every other sport as well. I say burn them at stake!

Moving on, Senor Fabregas has been speaking about the win over United. Cesc feels Arsenal went a long way to silencing their critics with victory over Manchester United, whilst also claiming the title is an attainable target.

The title is attainable only if we churn out such performances on a regular basis, we need to get 3 points from sides like Stoke which make 3 points from sides like united a bonus which not only distances your competition from the ultimate goal but also takes you one step closer. Anyhoo, Cesc who heaped praise on Arsene for maintaining his calm inspite of such pressure from the media had the following to say:

“We did it for the manager, because he has believed a lot in us. Without him, probably apart from Gallas and Silvestre, all the rest of us may never have had the chance to play football. We owe him a lot and have to show that on the pitch.”

This is very true, without Arsene having the faith in these players, they would probably still have dwelling somewhere in the reserves of Barcelona and now here they are, at the apex of the midfielder’s hill. Fabregas further added:

“We definitely knew there would be some talk about whether Arsenal were capable of winning anything if we had lost this match. Sometimes we lose playing the same way and everyone says we are not good.”

“Sometimes you are more fortunate in front of goal and sometimes you are not. This is football, this is life. With losers, their heads go down. We have shown we have character. We played against a great team and won under a lot of pressure. So we are happy.”

Let’s hope for our own sake that we can begin to do this on a more regular basis and avoid any more hiccups along the way to the title in May.

Asked for his view on whether Arsenal can win the title, Fabregas replied:

“Oh yes. We have shown we have the qualities to do it.”

Now that’s what I call, keeping the faith.

Now, tomorrow night we face Wigan Athletic in the Carling Cup and its time to bring on the kids. I personally can’t wait to see the kids play, the way they go about their game in that fearless manner with an over abundance of skill is awe-inspiring. A very young and inexperienced team will be put forward and the likes of Bendtner, Vela, Fabianksi, Ramsey, Wilshire, Gibbs etc will come into the team. Players who do not care about who they are facing and I think Wigan are in dire need of being taught a lesson. I can’t wait for Carlos Vela to rip apart our good friend Titus Bramble into tiny little pieces. Should be a laugh and a half. (Excuse the pun). Speaking about the youth, Mark Randall is struggling to be fit in time for the game tomorrow night so lets hope he does manage to play and impress the manager enough to make that transition into the first team.

And finally, Arsenal have opened up negotiations with Theo Walcott over a new contract that has 18 months left with those assholes Chelsea and Real Madrid already sizing up bids. According to the News of the World, Arsene is willing to hand out a £60,000-a-week contract to the wonder boy. Further good news for Arsenal and Wenger is that Robin van Persie looks likely to rebuff interest from Italy in order to pledge his future to the club. RVP is said to want his salary doubled to £80,000-a-week

Right then, that’s the lot.

Tas Van Danya.

Come on you Guuuunnnneeeerrrrssssssssssssss!!