Better Late Than Never...

First off, apologies over the lateness of this post, and the complete lack of anything yesterday, but I've been kinda busy. I'll get on with the Arsenal...

I hate Robbie Savage. It's a rather pointless kind of thing to say, like saying I like boobs, or I hate being stabbed. Because everyone hates Robbie Savage. I'm sure even Blackburn fans hate him inside, even Mark Hughes probably does.I wouldn't be surprised if his own mother though he was at least a bit of a twat. But I feel I have a special hate for him, he is the epitome of all that is going wrong with football today. He is a cynical, cheating, thuggish, diving, Welsh, nasty mercenary. I mean he's not quite a Frank Lampard levels on the hate scale, but he is definitely in the top 5 or 6. He disgraced himself again yesterday. Diving and trying to claim Toure tripped him; clutching his face when he was hit in the stomach, just generally kicking and shoving people. He is a cunt.

Blackburn on the whole aren't a huge amount better. I was very impressed by the way we dealt with their physicality, we didn't give up like we might have last season, we didn't let the bullies have their way. From what I saw (the highlights) we did well in the first half, and not so well in the second, but you can read everyone else's match reports, as they'll have seen the game and be in a much better position to comment on the ins and outs than I am.

The problem that has left me puzzled over the last couple of days is Lehmann. We all know he is a top keeper, but he has made two massive errors in two consecutive league games. What I can't decide on is whether he should be dropped or not. Back in 2005 (or was it 2004? I can't remember) when we brought Almunia in for a while it forced him to improve, and it does seem that he has lost focus without much competition for his place, but it could be that keeping faith and letting him play through the bad patch might help. I don't know, I'm not a football coach or a sports psychologist! If he is dropped however, we will be in a much better position than before. Manuel has come on in leaps and bounds, and while I still don't feel he commands the area and marshals the defence as well as Jens can, he is a lot better than he was when he came to the club. it would also be interesting to see whether he or Fabianski is considered our No. 2 these days, and if it is the young Pole, I'd like to see him get some games under his belt. Cesc has told arsenal.com that the team has faith in Lehmann, so I guess he'll be staying in the team for the foreseeable future.

In other news:

Wenger has told the press that he doesn't expect to make any more signings before the transfer window shuts. I don't think anyone really expected him to, so it's hardly big news.

Gallas is out for two or three weeks. It's bad news, but we can cope. Big Phil has the chance to prove he can fulfil his 'Swiss Tony' moniker, and I for one, have faith in him. He showed his talent in the Cl run-in two years ago, and now is his chance to prove the doubters wrong. Things might get a bit worrying if either he or Kolo gets injured, but I'm sure Djourou will have a recall clause in his loan deal to Birmingham, so it shouldn't get too bad. I just hope Gallas recovers properly and we get more games out of him than we did last year.

Dennis Bergkamp has been shortlisted to enter the Football Hall of Fame. He deserves to get in there, as he was a truly fantastic player for us over a long time. He was and still is one of the best players ever to grace the Premiership.

Our youngsters have beaten Chelsea's 3-1. Ha!

And in a very sad bit of news, a true Arsenal legend, Paul Merson, after the ignominy of having to declare himself bankrupt earlier, has now signed up to work in Butlin's, Minehead. I hope today's players take heed and learn a bit about fiscal responsibility.