Happy EPL Opening Day!; Arsenal v Sunderland Preview

Ok, you can get your fill of Robbing van Pursestrings elsewhere.  There’s not much more to say about that move anymore other than, um, not good luck to van Persie but I hope he has fair to middling luck, except when he plays us when I hope his finishing deserts him entirely.  I won’t go as far as the dumbasses who wished death threats to his wife, Bouchra, but I would probably burn his jersey in effigy if I owned one like that lot in the link did.

Joining van Quisling going out the door is Kyle Bartley, who completed a £1 million move to Swansea City yesterday.  A bit of an odd move to sell somebody who was just promoted to the first team but at best, Bartley would’ve been fifth choice behind Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesaecker & Djourou.  At worst, bartley would’ve been sixth choice behind Ignasi Miquel & it looks like Wenger will prefer Miquel to that fifth spot as the young Spaniard has a little more versatility as he can also play at left back.  So, £1 million for a guy who has never played a league game for Arsenal isn’t bad & it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Wenger promoted him with a mind of  just selling him & being able to squeeze an extra couple hundred thousand out of somebody by going, “oh, see, he’s a first teamer, that’ll be a little extra money, merci.”  Or maybe I’m just nuts.

Hopefully the money from both the Rv₱, henceforth known as “[CAPTAIN REDACTED]”, & Bartley sales, along with the hopefully eventual sales of Niklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh & Ju-Young Park, will be used to strengthen the squad.  I’d reckon another striker, as Kévin Mirallas looks set to join Everton instead of us, & a right back to cover Bacary Sagna are needed for sure, as I believe Carl Jenkinson needs more time to develop before he could provide proper cover for Sagna.  Honestly, Jenkinson could do with a loan spell in the likes of the Championship or League One to work on his game.  Although as I sit here I wonder if Wenger has plans to move Francis Coquelin to right back full time like he did with Lauren years ago (who successfully moved from midfield to right back), to cover Sagna & supplement Jenkinson.  I guess time will only tell.

So on to the players that are actually at the club & will likely play against Sunderland!

A picture from the future where Martin O’Neill whines about our
first penalty awarded at home since I don’t know when

We know Martin O’Neill’s teams tend to be very well organized defensively & with our opening match being at home, I’m betting Arsène Wenger will opt for a fairly attacking lineup.  That’s going out on a limb, I know, LOL.

O’Neill will probably deploy Lee Cattermole, the player with the most fouls in the EPL the last few years & a bit of a plonker, as a defensive midfielder that sets out to, shall we say, “disrupt” Arsenal attacks & generally be a nuisance in a Joey Barton kind of way.  At least a Barton kind of way without the galactic level cuntness.  The Northern Irishman does have former Gunner, Sebastian Larrson, at his disposal in midfield who can deliver quite the dangerous dead ball.  So making sure we don’t give away needless fouls in dangerous positions will be advised.

With both Jack Wilshere & Tomáš Rosičký set to miss the first month plus of the new season, that likely means Spaniard Santi Cazorla steps straight into the lineup.  It’ll be interesting to see how the diminutive passer will link up with his Spanish compatriot in midfield.

With [CAPTAIN REDACTED] moving on to Mancunster Unitard, German striker Lukas Podolski steps straight into the lineup.  But will he play directly in [CAPTAIN REDACTED]’s central striker role?  Or will he play wide left as he does for Germany, whilst Olivier Giroud plays in the middle (& steals all your women to boot; the Frenchman is quite handsome, I’m not ashamed to admit).  I also hazard a guess that Wenger deploys André Santos at left back to start to try & get some width & attacking impetus going forward to try & break down O’Neill’s charges.

The real question mark is who Wenger starts at right back.  Does he risk youngster Carl Jenkinson, being the match is at home, or does he play Djourou there (as he did last year with mixed success, at best) or does he run out Francis Coquelin who somewhat impressed there last season before injuries ended his season?  Or does he play Laurent Koscielny there & go with a tall defensive line?

I think it bodes for a lineup that looks something like this:

ARSENAL
Szczesny

Koscielny / Djourou – Mertesaecker /Koscielny- Vermaelen (c) – André Santos

Diaby

Arteta – Cazorla

Walcott – Podolski / Giroud – Gervinho / Podolski

Injury news
Arsenal:  Frimpong (knee), Koscielny (calf), Oxlade-Chamberlain (ankle), Rosičký (tendon), Sagna (leg), Wilshere (ankle)

Sunderland:  Bardsley (ankle), Brown (knee), Vaughan (groin)

Prediction
The disarray that plagued last summer hasn’t happened despite the departure of [CAPTAIN REDACTED].  We lost a world-class striker but arguably became stronger by bringing in three attacking players before he left.  There will still be questions defensively & it will have to be seen how Steve Bould’s influence affects the defensive structure.  However, I think Arsenal gets the job done & gets the 2012/13 season off to a positive start.     Arsenal 3, Sunderland 1     Goals by Podolski, Arteta & Gervinho, yes, I said Gervinho!

COME ON, YOU GUNNERS!

Goodbye Robin, thanks for everything.

Hello, Santi, Lukas and Olivier, welcome to the new season.

Let’s go and win something.

Remember, Gunners, we are bigger than any one player.  The club survived Bergkamp retiring.  Vieira leaving.  We survived THE MAN, Thierry Henry, leaving.  We survived Adebayor, Cesc & Nasri leaving.  We are Arsenal.  We will once again survive another season of predicted disaster from the idiots & schmucks that are just jealous of who we are.  We will challenge for the title & will finish no worse than third this year.  If not, I will buy a ManUre [CAPTAIN REDACTED] jersey & wear it for every Arsenal v ManU game until we do win the title.  WE. WILL. SURVIVE.

To [CAPTAIN REDACTED]… SUCK IT!

RVPAGEDDON

So, hoping against hope, the maddeningly annual exodus of a club captain for Arsenal has happened.  When Cesc Fàbregas left, I wasn’t all that perturbed.  It was common knowledge that Cesc would eventually go back home to play for Barcelona albeit he left probably two or three years earlier than expected.  But with Robin van Persie’s transfer to Manchester United there is deserved disgust & anguish towards the Dutchman.

Following his statement back in July released via his own personal website that he would not renew his contract at Arsenal, the situation eventually became untenable that, despite being club captain, the Dutch marksman had to be sold.  What is a good bit infuriating is that van Persie will be moving to those cocksuckers at Manchester United.  I mean it just must be so hard to compete with a strikeforce that currently consists of Wayne Rooney, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck, Dimitar Berbatov & Federico Macheda.

If there is a bright side, BBC is reporting the deal is worth a total of £24 million- £22.5 million upfront & a £1.5 million bonus if ManUre wins a Premier League or Champions’ League title in the next four years (the length of van Persie’s contract with ManSpew).  Personally I would’ve held out for £25 million plus a swap deal for Howard Webb.

Now, what is there to say about van Persie’s decision to leave other than how can an Arsenal supporter not feel betrayed, let down or spat on when the club & Arsène Wenger stuck by van Persie amidst rape allegations & a recurring record of injury apart from last year? He was made club captain & massive trust was put in him by Le Boss & that trust has been awarded, yet again, with being shit on.  Van Persie went from a soon-to-be Arsenal legend to someone who will leave with a good bit of acrimony from Gunner supporters.

So, about the van Persie departure, goodbye; go fuck yourself & don’t let the door hit you on the way out.  If you don’t want to play for my club, then be up front about it wanting a bigger paycheck & don’t give us the crap about the club’s ambition & waiting to see about players being signed.  It’s hard for a club to have ambition when shits want to up & become gold diggers at the first opportunity.  Again, I’m not against a man getting paid what he can find, just tell me that.

Arseblog’s post from today puts the situation into perspective well & does it in a more detailed, mellifluous & less vulgar way then I can/did.  But how can I not be pissed off when we lose Cesc & van Persie in back-to-back seasons when we were seemingly on the cusp of getting over the trophy drought? UGH!

Also, does this mean that somebody like Andrei Arshavin now stays or does it mean that Wenger will be in the market for another striker?  Fernando Llorente’s name was floating around rumor circles earlier today, but that now seems a bit outlandish as the Basque forward is set to sign with Juventus.

Aside from van Persie rumors, word is that Song has been a bit of a prat in practice this week & Wenger has been aggravated to the point where he’s told Song he’s free to leave to which of course means he’ll now likely go to Cuntalona.  Anything over that £15 million fee that’s been mooted will be good business for the Cameroonian considering we bought him from Bastia for £400,000.

Song’s case is amusing to me, however, since a good portion of the Arsenal fanbase that is now lamenting over his wanting to leave are the same loudmouths that wanted Song gone three or four years ago.  His progression into a near deep-lying playmaker (I use this term very loosely) has been remarkable but like van Persie, if you don’t want to play for Arsenal any more, then GTFO & GTFO with much haste.

In other Arsenal news:

Former Gunner Fabrice Muamba has been forced to retire from the game following his cardiac arrest during a Bolton Wanderers match last season.   No doubt Muamba will have been gutted to call it quits but obviously, his doctors have advised him the risks to his health are too great to carry on.  It’s such a shame because Muamba’s story, having escaped war-torn Zaire, is the kind of story that would make a great movie & the guy is the kind of guy you want to see succeed.

On behalf of all Gunners, good luck, Fabrice, in whatever you decide to do following football!

Lastly, young Brazilian striker, Wellington Silva, has been loaned yet again to a Spanish side, this time Ponferradina, for the upcoming season. Apparently Arsenal has also made a formal link with Ponferradina to be able to send players on loan there.  To be honest, I completely forgot Wellington Silva was still with us & given his underwhelming loan history at Spanish sides, I doubt he has much of an Arsenal future.

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (released- Watford), Pedro Botelho (Atletico Paranaense), George Brislen-Hall (released), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Gavin Hoyte (released- Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (released), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Arsenal reserves?), Wellington Silva (Ponferradina- loan)

Likely signings: Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Celta Vigo, Galatasaray, AC Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers), Alex Song (Barcelona), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus)

Possible signings: Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Kévin Mirallas (Olympiakos), Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic) 
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)

Not Much New Today

It’s much the same today as it’s been in recent days for Arsenal- no new signings & just waiting patiently for Robingeddon to come although there was the OMG-Shirt-Number-Crisis today as Podolski hasn’t officially been given a number because he’s supposedly holding out for #10 when/if van Persie leaves…

Um, please explain, Media, how this is a crisis?  Either van Persie is leaving- which has been rumored for, oh, I don’t know, several weeks now- & Podolski will have the #10 shirt or van Persie stays & Podolski picks a another number.  Yes, complete end-of-the-world stuff there.  How ever will the club make it through this new crisis?!

Never mind that a club can de-register & then re-register a player to a different number during the season, but don’t let the facts get in the media’s way of whipping all you knee-jerk reactors into a frenzied rabble of humanity!!  If that’s a crisis, or Arsenal’s “near loss” the other day a crisis, then what is this for Chelsea?

“Spend sum feckin muney, Wengermans!!” (HT: TJ)

Meanwhile the BBC is urging van Persie to go to ManUre.  Wherever he goes, I hope his injury history crops up again.  There, I said it.  Yes, even if “goes” to us (by staying).  Maybe it’ll slap some humility into the Dutchman.

Speaking of mad, frenzied rabble earlier, this LSU article will likely have reactionary Les Miles haters & knob-slurping Sabanites whipped into a nice psychotic froth with ideas of “Why dat Dummyhead Miles is running d’ball when we got the Mettenchrist & his big cannon arm?!! Throw it deep, Dummyhead Miles!”

I don’t care how we score, running, passing, kick returns, RUNNING THE OPTION, OH NOES!, whatever.  Just win, dammit.

And even though the utter & outright naked corruption & cheating done at the last Olympics in Beijing (I’m looking at you, Boxing) pretty much burnt me out on caring about the Olympics too much (save for from Lolo Jones), here’s a story about the U.S. Olympic Team’s chosen flag bearer for the opening ceremonies.  And she’s a babe named Mariel Zagunis.  A babe who is a fencer.  So watch your manners around her, boys, lest she slices & dices your manhood.

Oh & here’s another Olympic article about the IOC hoping against hope that the memory of the Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes will just go away & hope you don’t notice by Dan Wetzel.  Wetzel does top-notch work & he hits another home run with this one.  Everybody knows the IOC, much like FIFA, has been run by crooks & cronies for years who care more about kickbacks & gifts than any actual sporting spectacle or having to get involved in actual politics surrounding the Olympics.

Lolo Jones, LSU alum & World Class hurdler & also a complete babe

Ganso To Arsenal Getting Warmer Still?

ESPN was claiming earlier this morning that Arsenal’s interest in Ganso is genuine.  I’m beginning to wonder if this is indeed real interest by Wenger now & yet another possible signing that might signal a further switch in transfer policy for the club.

“Arsenal are interested, yes, but there are others,” a source told ESPN. “He has a €50 million buyout clause in his contract but Santos will take less, much less – not a fee that will be prohibitive to a deal in England.

Always take a large grain of salt any time it’s just a ‘source’ that makes comments like this, especially in the height of summer transfer season but I think we can officially say there’s some smoke to this Ganso to Arsenal rumor now.  Ganso would certainly strengthen our midfield options & with Wilshere & Rosicky both set to miss the opening weeks of the season, Ganso could possibly walk straight into the first team unless Le Boss goes with two deeper-playing midfielders like a Song-Coquelin combination behind Arteta.  Anyway, it’s still to be seen whether or not this is legitimate interest by Arsenal for Ganso or some agent released propaganda to drive up his client’s cost.  Although Ganso has reiterated (for the second time, mind you) that he’d like to stay at Santos.

Elsewhere, Ajax’s manager, Frank De Boer has dimissed the chance to take Ryo Miyaichi on loan from us in what seems a slightly odd reversal from just the day before when their technical director, former Gunner Marc Overmars, sounded like the loan deal was all set to be made.  Who knows what went on there but if I had to guess I reckon De Boer wanted a little more experienced players for a signing but age usually isn’t a consideration for Ajax, so it’s anyone’s guess to as why De Boer doesn’t want Ryo.  He’s won back-to-back Eredivisie titles, so I won’t begrudge him his choice of who to sign & who not to sign.

Now for some Van Persie Circus news:

Sunday Mirror: Manchester United have emerged as favourites to sign Robin van Persie, but only if they are not forced into a transfer auction; Nicklas Bendtner will make a £7.5 million move to either AC Milan or Galatasaray in the coming week.

Man U are favorites “only if they are not forced into a transfer auction,” eh?  Oh, well, isn’t that nice of Sir Rednose.  “Yes, we’d like to buy him only if we get to set the price we want.”  Hey, Knighted Rednose, this isn’t Priceline.com.  £20+ million, or fuck off.  If you spent €30 million for a Bulgarian who just comes off the bench, you can spend £20+ for the reigning EPL goalscoring leader, even with his injury record.  Again, £20+ million or fuck off.

As for Bendtner, if we can get £7.5 million for him, jump on that ASAP, Wenger.  Hell, even knock it down to £5 million so the buying club can help afford TGSTEL (HT: arseblog.bom).

Oh, by the way, new signing Olivier Giroud, is Adonis with abs of steel… or something.  He is quite the handsome man.  Good thing he didn’t hang around with my friend Ray in college.  The rest of us would’ve never had any chicks between Olivier & Ray!

Finally, another piece of proof that everyone has just gone batshit crazy over transfer fees these days, Napoli’s president has just slapped a €100 million price tag on Edinson Cavani.  If Cavani is €100 million, then I would guess Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo are €150 million… oh & that Van Persie is certainly worth £20 million, Sir Rednose.  So cough up or cock off! (HT: again arseblog.com)

So, there’s some Sunday Nuggetz for you.  On to lunch & some Carnival Cake flavor Community Coffee…. Heavenly!

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Manuel Almunia (released- Watford?), George Brislen-Hall (released), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Gavin Hoyte (released- Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (released), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telsar Velsen), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Arsenal reserves?)

Likely signings: Mbaye Niang (Caen)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Galatasaray, AC Milan), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE]), Ryo Miyaichi (Ajax Amsterdam, Bolton Wanderers), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia),  Robin van Persie (AC Milan/Juventus/Manchester City/Manchester United)

Possible signings: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lewis Holtby (Schalke), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Kévin Mirallas (Olympiakos), Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Salomon Rondon (Málaga), Matías Suárez (RSC Anderlecht), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo)
Possible departures: Benik Afobe (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Chelsea, Juventus, PSG)

 

RVP Set To Not Make Asian Trip (Shocker!… Not)

Have a bit of an Arsenal gumbo of news today.  Mostly just putting some links as I have a weekend to get to, a luxury I didn’t have last weekend because of (booming announcer voice) the epic 91-hour work weeeeeeek.

First off, not surprising that Robin van Persie is set to miss the Asian tour that Arsenal is due to embark on tomorrow.  There was a little hope he’d go on the trip & that it would mean a chance of him re-signing but that possibility looks to be very negligible at this point if it was even a possibility to begin with.

On Van Persie transfer news, the three big suitors involved  (Juventus, Manchester City & Manchester Untied) for Scores-When-He-Wants’ services have also shown that they’re also giant cocks with laughable bids of £8 million (Juventus’ bid) & approximately £12 million for the two Manchester cunteries.  I know the first rule of negotiation is to always ask for more than you want or in this case a lot less than what you’re willing to pay, but in this instance if I was the director or manager or whomever is in charge of player transfers these bids would’ve have elicited a response of “kiss my ass.”  Seriously, with an £8 million bid for van Persie, I’d rather let the SOB rot in the reserves for a year just on principle then sell for that pittance.  Yes, I know van Persie has a long injury record & he’s in the last year of his contract but you either want him or you don’t.  At least £/€20 million or f*ck off.

Speaking of riding out contracts & pulling a Winston Bogarde, it seems former Gunner, Emmanuel Adebayor, might rather sulk in Man City’s reserves than take a massive pay cut & move to Sp*rs.  From ESPN’s transfer blog this morning:

08.14 BST: So it’s neither Van Persie nor Carroll for starters: it’s Mr Adebayor, whom the Sun alleges is unhappy about the prospect of a drop in wages if he joins Tottenham from Manchester City. A “close pal” said: “Manu is digging his heels in, and I don’t think this is going to be sorted any time soon. He’s the sort of guy who will see out his contract rather than cave in.”

Good luck with that Ade.

In news for possible players coming to Arsenal, Arsène Wenger & staff were seen “scouting” Brazil as the trained at London Colney in the last couple of days.  The rumor mill says we’re they’re to take a closer look at Ganso.  Or Neymar!  LOL, yeah right.  Anyway, interestingly, we’re also linked to Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente, who ran riot against Man U in their Europa League tie last season, in that article as well along with another Brazilian midfielder, Paulinho, from Corinthians.

Elsewhere, we’ve been linked with Marseille’s Stéphane Mbia.  Again from ESPN’s transfer blog:

20.00: Reports in Italy link Arsenal and Everton with Marseille centre-back Stephane Mbia. The French side are resigned to losing the player this summer.

I know I quote Football Manager games for scouting, mainly in jest, but if Mbia is anything like his player ratings in FM09, he would be a fricking beast.  I bought him in my AS Saint-Étienne FM09 game & he is simply awesome.  SO DO IT, WENGER, BUY D MAN PLZ K THX BAI.

And in a final bit of possibly transfers in news, we’re being linked with Santi Cazorla of Málaga who may be facing some financial penalties following missed payments when they bought Cazorla themselves.  Anyway, Cazorla is a good player, so it’d be interesting if this one was legit interest on our part.

In outgoing player news, Manuel Almunia might be moving to Watford, per ESPN again:

10.10 BST: Watford are reported to have agreed deals to sign goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and defender Fitz Hall after they were released by Arsenal and QPR respectively.

And Andrei Arshavin may be heading to Zenit after all following their initial interest seeming to cool a bit:

Arshavin 12.43 BST: Zenit St Petersburg are believed to be considering a bid for Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin after he returned to his former club on loan last season.

Manager Luciano Spalletti said: “From my point of view, Arshavin is a player of high class. In addition, he is an intelligent man. It all depends on his motivation. I have little doubt about Arshavin.

“It is absolutely definite that if he returned then he’d play just as well as he did last year. Arshavin is one of those names that we are discussing.”

Rubin Kazan may be interested in Marouane Chamakh.  We should sell him for 8 training cones, 3 used pair of boots & 4 soccer balls at this point.  Do whatever it takes to get him off the books.

And another player that I swore Arsenal said was released, Sanchez Watt, will apparently turn out with a number of other reserve players for the Arsenal XI friendly versus Boreham Wood tomorrow.  There’s a handful of players set to turn out that will be making there non-youth debuts for Arsenal such as Chuba Akpom who is highly regarded within the club & England youth international circles.  Read all about it in the link from the official club site announcing the team selection.

So, there’s your news gumbo, hope you enjoyed it & hopefully I can find a decent match report for the Boreham Wood friendly tomorrow to post.  In the mean time, drink up, it’s Friday, ya rapscallions! Huzzah!

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Manuel Almunia (released- Watford?), George Brislen-Hall (released), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Gavin Hoyte (released- Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (released), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telsar Velsen), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released)

Likely signings: Mbaye Niang (Caen)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh (Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park, Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia),  Robin van Persie (AC Milan/Juventus/Manchester City/Manchester United)

Possible signings: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lewis Holtby (Schalke), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Kévin Mirallas (Olympiakos), Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Salomon Rondon (Málaga), Matías Suárez (RSC Anderlecht), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo)
Possible departures: Benik Afobe (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Chelsea, Juventus, PSG)