So the big question is, IF Flamini has decided to go to sunnier climes, should he be playing the last two games of the season for us? He is reported to be over his ankle injury sustained against northern monkeys Liverpool in that heart breaking Champions League quarter final at Anfield and is ready to play. OK when a player is fit, which in The Arsenal’s case this season has been a battle in itself, they should be made available. However when a player under contract, albeit for the next three weeks hasn’t put pen to paper and is openly in discussions with another team should we really be playing them? I wont blame Flamini when he does decide to go to Milan. As the silence from Flamini is deafening I have come to the conclusion that he is gone already. The lure of the lira (OK Euro’s, I know), playing for a club steeped in history both European and domestically and playing with the likes of Kaka, Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf you couldn’t fault him, especially when you throw in a shitload of money into the bargain. But why should we play him, we don’t ‘owe Flamini anything. Also if he is gone, why not give someone else a go? 

This situation reminds a bit of when we got to the final of the Champions League in 2006 and just so happens to involve Flamini as well. Remember Flamini got injured prior to the final and C*ntley C*nt was coming back from injury? It was the same time all the stories were coming out when C*ntley C*nt swerved his car because he was only offered £55K a week (that figure again), he was bad mouthing The Arsenal, the players and the board left, right and centre. What I couldn’t believe was Wenger put that c*nt in the team for the Final when Flamini played admirably at left back and deserved to get his spot back after injury. It was like Wenger thought some sense of loyalty was owed to Cashley Cole (like he would even know what that word meant) and played him instead, even in the midst of C*ntley C*nt’s backdoor meetings with CSKA Chelsea officials. I would of made a statement of intent if I were Wenger, I would of played Flamini, not out of spite but because we know he could do a job and a good one at that at left back and because C*ntley C*nt hadn’t had much action for most of the season as he spent it out through injury. However I still think Wenger played Cole in the belief that if he played C*ntley C*nt in a final that the c*nt would stay. Well that didn’t work out did it?

So this time round my statement of intent would be, Flamini I’ll play you when you show commitment by signing that extension or I’ll just bench you, actually I wouldn’t even put him on the bench if he’s not going to be there next season, why bother? Anyway Gooners we’ll know later today what the story is once Wenger makes his press conference, well we can hope because this saga is dragging like a fat birds arse. 

What would you do, would you play Flamini given the uncertainty of the situation or would you leave him out all together? We’ll talk about possible replacements when the Frenchman officially announces he’s off, no point doing it yet as I’m still hoping that the midfield grafter decides to stay with this team as he believes in it (his words, not mine)

Before Monday nights game Derby had scored just 17 goals and only 12 of those were at home. So you would expect a team, who for a long time lead the league and was a Champions League quarter finalist to have no problem keeping things tight at the back against such obviously inferior opposition. But no, we conceded twice one of which to Robert Earnshaw of all people who then started somersaulting and dancing like an ugly ferret. I’m sure it must be hard for the team to stay focused and motivated in such a game, but this is how good or bad habits are formed. It was the sort of defending that has been symptomatic of Arsenal all season, cheap’s goals conceded not long after taking the lead, and regardless of what the occasion is these are highly paid professionals who are failing to do their job. Gallas, Touré and co should not be switching off now because they simply haven’t earned it this season. 

Now I know some people might say it was too easy, that we knew we could out gun Derby and conceding two was just part of us going all out in attack against a weak side. Those people would be wrong. I would rather we had won 2 – 0 than 6 – 2 because to concede twice to such a poor side at any stage of the season shows a lack of resolve and ruthlessness on our part – and something that ManUre and Chelski seem to understand far better. Particularly away from home our backline has often been naive. Yes we score plenty but the amount we concede belies where we sit on the table – ManUtd, Chelski, Liverpool and Everton have all bettered us in this department. Quite simply this result shows what a difficult job Arsene has this summer to tighten up our defensive line. 

So against this backdrop, it is particularly concerning to see our team once again being eyed off by the vultures of Europe. This seasons Barcelona appear to be AC Milan, whom, not content with snatching Mathieu Flamini to warm their bench, are now winking at Manu Adebayor and pointing to a suitcase overstuffed with Euros with his name on it. Of course his agent is denying anything but his comments about ‘receiving no concrete offers’ hardly fill me with confidence about his current loyalties. 

In my mind though a greater concern may be Barcelona themselves – their failure to beat Man Ure this week (along with their failures domestically) have got the Catalan press screaming for change. With us seemingly Barcelona’s feeder club of choice in the last few years, and with a certain young Catalan again performing wonderfully in our midfield, I wonder how long it will be before the tapping up of Fabregas begins. Certainly if Cesc’s supposed close friends Flamini and Hleb decide to head back to the continent, I will begin to fear the worst. 

Of course this will only inspire the hordes of transient Arsenal fans who seem to revel in the rumour mongering on the Internet. Why is it they are always insisting that the solution is to let half the team go and instead bring in the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rooney – they are clearly out of their minds and should go and manage Manchester City – they have a chairman who seems about as deluded as they are. I for one respect Arsene’s principles of developing players into what he requires. It has worked in the past and will no doubt work again. The fly in this ointment though is the club must do more to protect these investments. Granted they have put Cesc on a long term contract and could not have easily predicted Flamini’s sudden rise as a premier league force, but they must learn these lessons now so we don’t have to suffer another season of rebuilding in the wake of departures in key areas. We simply cannot lose members of the spine of the team every season – that is what has made teams like United and Chelsea so strong, who, by keeping the likes of Fat Frank, Scholes, Ferdinand, Terry, Drogba and Rooney regardless of any interest from outside have managed to be consistent performers each season. The twist here is that they share the money and lack of morals of the big European clubs of course, but with English teams dominating Europe of late, surely there is no better place to be than a top 4 Premier League club to challenge for the highest honour’s? 

Regardless the board must not let Fabregas contract dwindle down like that of Hleb and Flamini. Losing a player is bad, losing a player for nothing is unacceptable at this level of the game when so much money is involved. 

As it is, young Cesc has temporarily lost his mind. It’s one thing to retain belief, but his insistence this week that the league was still there to be won made me wonder what they’ve been putting in his paella recently. Adebayor was more on the mark when he said the team would ‘learn from this’ for next season. The trouble with this sentiment is will any of the team be left to put that into practice? 

Mover and shaker to move on: There are changes ahead for The Arsenal. However the major shake up is in the boardroom, as Managing Director Keith Edelman is stepping down. What seems to be a bolt out the blue from the man who was instrumental in the move to The Emirates, the big wig has said “I believe it is the right time to seek pastures new and embark upon fresh challenges.” However Gooners Edelman will be with us for another 12 months before he does seek his pastures new. 

Flamini watch: Well D-day has passed, I should imagine we will all find out later today whether the Flamster stays or goes.

Simpson nets award: Another one of our promising youngsters Jay Simpson who is plying his trade with Millwall has done his reputation no harm as he has been voted Professional Football Association’s League One player of the year. Well done Gooner.

I still can’t believe on some blogs that people want Adebayor offloaded, don’t get me wrong I don’t for one second think a 45 minute hat trick against the purest team ever to grace the Premier League makes him the best thing since sliced bread. As the saying goes one swallow doesn’t make a spring. But lets put it in perspective, the big fella has scored 30 goals this season. At the beginning of the season I think all Gooners would of been quite happy with 30 goals from Adebayor, so how comes some of the natives are restless? We have to remember that Adebayor is still only 23 years old and will get better. If he gets consistency into his shooting then he’ll come good. Also remember good people this is only Adebayor’s second season in the Premier League, it took Didier Drogba three seasons to become a feared striker after he couldn’t hit a cows arse with a very large banjo – so by my count Adebayor will be banging them in for fun next season, heaping more pressure on some of the leagues top defenders who consider him one of the hardest strikers to play against. So I all I can say is well done Emmanuel Adebayor – Good work Gooner. Oh and the dancing celebration were nearly as good as the hat trick!

Ram raid: It was nice to see the boys back to their best against northern monkeys Derby County, To be fair I don’t think anyone would of been surprised about the scoreline. The only surprise would be that County scored two goals. Fancy that. So a 6-2 win against a very poor excuse for a Premier League team, who did try to bring the game to The Arsenal so fair play to Paul Jewel and his players for that. They could of sat with that well worked formation of 1-10 but they didn’t so as I said fair play to them for that. But ultimately goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott with a peach and a second half hat trick from man of the moment Emmanuel Adebayor saw the Gunners spank the Rams. There were some misses as well, a couple of glaring ones, had those gone in I reckon we could of seen a Premier League record as that’s how poor Derby was. It was more to do with The Arsenal players contriving to miss than any heroics from Derby’s keeper. But I wont be greedy, 6-2 is a nice scoreline. 

With just two games to go we’re sitting on 77 points, another two wins and we’ll get to the 83 points Le Gaffer Arsène Wenger OBE has instructed his boys to aim for. If by some miracle CSKA Chelsea and Manchester USA draw or lose both their games, we’re still in with a shout to win the league – that’s right good people break out the voodoo dolls, pray to whatever god you believe in, cross your fingers, do whatever it takes. It would be some party if we did sneak it. Highly unlikely but it’s mathematically still possible, well it is until the Manc’s and CSKA Chelsea spank West Ham United and Newcastle united respectively.

Flamini watch: The midfield grafter and contract rebel has just one more day to make his mind up (if he hasn’t done that already) over his future. I for for one will be glad when this saga is all over. I will be very disappointed if Flamini does decide to go for the lure of the lira (er.. I mean Euro) by joining up with AC Milan, Inter or Juventus. However, I would be more annoyed with Arsène Wenger who at the start of the season had Gilberto, Diarra and Flamini on the books. Given that Diarra wanted a starring role and wanted to play every game, before he let him go Wenger should of sat Flamini down and made him sign a contract. But one things for sure if Flamini does decide to go – Wenger will need a first class replacement…

Flamini out Barry in: Which brings us nicely to the transfer rumour that should Flamini go Wenger has lined up Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry. I like Barry and would snap him up as a direct replacement for Flamini. He is a big strong player, already plays in the Premier League and would bring in some much needed experience to the team. However I am not sure the £15m price tag is realistic. More to the point I really don’t see Wenger shelling out that much cash on a player… 

So everybody is leaving a great club this summer with the likely candidates heading for the exit door depending on what site/paper you subscribe to being Philippe Senderos, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Hleb and Gilberto. The Gilberto and Flamini situation needs to watched very closely as both (‘allegedly’) Juventus and AC Milan are after both players. How strange would that be? Both players vying for the number one defensive midfield spot at the same team. You couldn’t write that could you? Apparently Juventus have been pegged back in the race for Flamini by AC Milan who have according to some reports taken the pole position to sign the contract rebel. We’ll see what happens there. But also AC Milan are after Brazilian Gilberto as well although AS Roma are reportedly sniffing around. My gut instinct is that Gilberto will go in the summer, which weakens the experience in our young squad and I also believe Flamini will go to pastures new, have to re-establish himself in a new team but I’m sure counting all that filthy lucre will keep him busy. Once again only time will tell and we have now got six days to find out what happens next. It’s like watching a film plot unfold all this will he wont he shenanigans. I’ll be glad when it’s over, one way or another. 

The comings again dependant on what paper/site you subscribe to are that Portsmouth’s Niko Kranjcar is headed our way and that is coming from Kranjcar’s Croatian coach Slaven Bilic. Would love to have Kranjcar on board as he has got Premier League experience and knows where the goal is which can’t be said of late of our current midfield crop. Also the perennial stories of Newcastle player Charles N’zogbia coming our way are rearing their heads again. Really not sure where that story started but its one that crops up more times than Henry to Barcelona stories, oh that’s already happened – see what I mean, bloody groundhog day all over again. 

And now onto injuries. It seems Abou Diaby thought he was missing out on something as there’s now more players in the Arsenal treatment room than scouser’s down the job centre. What is it with out players? I think we have had more injuries than our fair share of injuries this season but even with only three games to go there’s no let up. Gary Lewin must be the most overworked person at The Grove. 

The trouble is, as is always the case when a team performs above its initial expectations, there seems to be a sudden surge of players trudging around the training field wearing distinctly big boots. Then sure enough things start to kick off – shifty agents start talking about how their player could never play anywhere else, how much their clients love the club, which is of course code for ‘my client and I fancy getting a Mediterreanean tan and i’m sure someone will pay me to overcome this love’. 

But at every level of football, a lot about what is going right for you as a player at a particular team, can be just as much about extraneous things such as your relationship with the manager, the system the team plays or even the direction the grass has been cut in, as your own ability and that is why the Flamster and our ice cream loving Belarussian would do well to heed Arsene’s warning. A certain Dennis Bergkamp found this out early in his career and learnt his lesson well. After bursting on to the scene at Ajax, Dennis took his goal scoring clogs to Inter Milan, only to find they played in the typically Italian style of 9 centre halves and quickly became fairly miserable with life. Luckily for him, and to everyone elses absolute astonishment, Bruce Rioch of all people rescued his career (if only Bruce could have worked that magic on his own career). Through various contract expirations Dennis hung on to what he had at Arsenal because he knew just how fickle things in football were. 

Sadly this is something Thierry Henry failed to learn after his torrid time at Juventus, and let his ego dictate where he went after deciding to leave us rather than a bit of common sense. The same can be said for Manu Petit and to a lesser extent Marc Overmars, Paul Merson and Nicolas Anelka. 

Of course we can’t be sure what is going on behind the scenes at The Grove – perhaps the board are insisting as part of any new deal, Flamini must clean the toilets after each game… and maybe Alex Hleb really does have a lot of mates who like to share an ice cream whenever he is in Italy. But when a contract is on offer for such a long time you have to fear the worst. What surprises me, and many fans, is how football players will haggle over money when they already earn in a week the same amount most of us earn in a year. 

Even more surprising with Flamini, is that he has hung on for so long to make the first team in his preferred central midfield position, and barely 9 months after firmly establishing himself, he is willing to risk it to move to a club where he may once again find himself competing to be the backup left full back. His suitors, Juventus, it must be noted, can hardly be considered a step up. They have recently been making the news for more irregularities due to the 2006 match fixing scandal and as a result of prior penalties haven’t troubled the Champions League for a few years. And of course they already possess several battling centre midfielders in Tiago (formerly of Chelski) and Momo Sissoko (the poor mans Vieira formerly of Scouse FC) as well as the Argentine Mauro Camorensi and the aging (though still playing well) Pavel Nedved. So young Mathieu it would seem is certainly not short on self confidence if he is prepared to go back to square one and fight for his spot again against some relatively stiff competition. I for one enjoy watching him play in red and white so I hope he sees some wisdom in Wengers words and signs on for another 5 years as surely his best years are in front of him. 

Alex Hleb however is a different case altogether for me. Like a few other Arsenal Bloggers, I am of the opinion that if we could get Inter to stump up a decent amount for him, I wouldn’t be too disappointed to see him go. I certainly recognise his amazing ball skills and his willingness to work in both attack and defence, but I just feel he doesn’t contribute enough in the goals department. He will wiggle his way past 4 defenders, like an eastern bloc salsa dancer on speed, but unless he runs it into the back of the net he just doesn’t seem likely to score. It really does appear that he a deep seated psychological aversion to shooting. Perhaps it relates to some childhood trauma where he was forced to practise by shooting at blindfolded orphans back in the old Soviet days or face a week in the salt mines. Either way, he seems best suited to the middle of the field. where we already have the brilliant Cesc Fabregas providing the passes. We simply cannot afford the luxury of a second creative player in the middle of the team unless they score 10 goals a season, especially when both Van Persie and Adebayor are fit. 

But despite all this, in an ideal world we would only lose Eboue – hopefully in an arctic wilderness without football pitches…. and lots of hungry polar bears. In the meantime, lets home Arsene grounds his kids and tells them they can’t go to camp in the summer.. and we can stay as one big happy trophy winning family next season. 

Show me the money: Looks like someone has been cooking the books at The Arsenal. First of all we get told at the beginning of the season Arsène Wenger has £70m to spend on players, now it comes to light (if true, just not sure what to believe) the canny coach has only £25m to spend this summer. Given then current state of the team and the if, buts and maybe’s surrounding Mathieu Flamini and Alex Hleb oh and Manu Adebayor if his agent is to be believed £25m isn’t going to cut it….

Rumour mill in full swing: It appears Arsène Wenger has a potential player lined up should Mathieu Flamini (who has seven days to make his mind up) decide to do one. The player on Wenger’s radar is Dinamo Zagreb defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic. Zagreb as you will recall are the same team we grabbed Crozilian hit man Eduardo from and whom midfield play maker Luka Modric who The Arsenal have been linked with on a number of occasions (and this summer will be no different) plys his trade for. It remains to be seen whether the Croatian Vukojevic is even close to being on Wenger’s shopping list. However the 24 year old put Manchester USA player Darren Fletcher out for the season when Scotland met Croatia recently, so I’m sure every Gooner will be welcoming him with open arms should we get him…

So it seems after four seasons trying to get the midfield berth he so craved and not only making it his own but being a key figure in The Arsenal squad Flamini is set to ride into the sunset with The Old Lady. Given the calculations he still has about eight days to remain at The Arsenal, however the silence coming from the Frenchman is speaking volumes.

Hleb charged: Three words you wouldn’t normally associate with each other Hleb and violent conduct. But now you can as the ice cream loving Alex Hleb has been hit (excuse the pun) with a violent conduct order by The F.A. Hleb was ‘alleged’ to have hit Reading player Graeme Murty and sees his season end early with a three game ban. The media seem to be instigating a move away from Ashburton Grove for Hleb by naming any big European giant interested in him which is what we probably come to expect with any ‘star’ Arsenal player nowadays. All I would say on the incident is that he shouldn’t be banned for the ‘slap’ but the manner of the slap – he slapped like a netball playing girl. Joe Calzaghe should give Hleb lessons, if you’re going to smack someone – smack them, don’t tickle them. Not that I am condoning violence ont he football pitch of course readers. So given the mass exodus predicted by the media of Arsenal players this summer, we all might of seen the last of the Belorussian non-shooting midfield man in an Arsenal shirt…

Fab to play: So that’s just great we’ll start next season in another ‘transitional phase’ as The Arsenal will be without two key men (in the word case scenario) in midfield, that’s just bloody great that it! Anyhoo some sorely missed good news is that we do have a player staying and that’s Polish keeper Lukasz Fabianski who will play the remaining games this season

Of course we’re all speculating, crossing our fingers and what have you about who’s coming and who’s going for next season. I know of a certain actor’s guild-member and right-sided player that many of us, including me, would like to see the back of, while opinion seems consistent that Hoyte, Lehmann, Gilberto, Senderos and, to some, Bendtner, will be leaving for greener pastures. I’d like to keep Senderos, and if his attitude improves, Bendtner. Count me too as a Lehmann sentimentalist. Great talent with pro wrestling histrionics, a funny afro and an eminently quotable German sense of humor. I’m sold! Always have been, though his form mysteriously always seems to rise and fall according to the international fixture list.

Benzema, Eto’o, Villa… all big names we’re somehow or other linked with, though I strongly doubt we’ll ever see any of them in an Arsenal shirt. Wenger has rubbished all the rumors, but of course that’s what we’ve come to expect from the crafty boss. Plus, holding onto his current players is his main priority right now, and discussing the signing of big names obviously doesn’t make that any easier. I firmly believe (1) he’ll find a way to sign the players he wants, and (2) we’ll not have expected any of the ones we end up with, which are easy predictions for any Arsenal fan to make, honestly. Most reckon we need defensive cover, a winger and another striker for the glassblown Van Persie and uncertain return of Eduardo. Ask others and they want to send our Spanish keeper back to his hotel day job in Devon. I’m not going to pretend to be armchair manager and embarrass myself with recommendations for Le Boss. In fact I have no idea what else to do besides console myself with the fact that he (usually) knows what he’s

doing. Expect the Mexican candle, Carlos Vela, to join us next year, along with (supposedly) Yoan Gouffran, although with unestablished players, nothing’s for certain.

Whatever. Enjoy the rest of the season – we have plenty of time to speculate and reflect in the summer. Let’s appreciate the show while it lasts for a few more matches.

One player who most people believe will be out the exit door at the Emirates is Gilberto. Now Gilberto for me has been talking the team and players up, for some time. I know he is the elder statesman at the club but for someone who is heading out the door I applaud him. Even this week he has been saying wonder boy Theo Walcott needs to bide his time in the team , as his time will definitely come. But Flamini all we’re getting is silence. By my count he still has another week and a half on the sidelines, plenty enough time to put his marker on Arsenal letter headed paper. But will he? I reckon if he doesn’t sign this next week I don’t think he will and that will leave Arsène Wenger having to buy another quality defensive midfield player. Either that or promote one of our youngsters which means we’ll be back to square one and in another ‘transitional phase’ as there isn’t a ready made replacement for Flamini. Wenger seems very certain Flamini will sign and I do hope he does because if Flamini does go, there’s going to be plenty of egg on his face as well as plenty of questions on why Wenger let a ready made replacement in Lassana Diarra leave the club after only playing for all of four months. We can get into the ins and outs of Abou Diaby, Alex Song or even Denilson plying their trade in the defensive midfield spot however apart from Alex Song who has played there internationally we’ll have another half season/season of a player get used to playing that role. That is of course if Gilberto does leave.

What do you think to the Flamini situation? Do you think the contract rebel will turn mercenary or do you reckon he’ll stick with The Arsenal.

Anyhoo onto team news. There’s the normal injury sicknote waving shenanigans from the usual suspects in the treatment room with messrs Tomas Sicky, Eduardo heading the queue. They are joined by an ever increasing list though as Bacary Sagna, contract rebel Mathieu Flamini, Justin Hoyte and the missing Beach Boy Manuel Almunia are all out. Almunia to be fair though has been penciled in for a fitness test on Friday to see if he will start and give Jens Lehmann another go on the bench.

So that’s who’s not playing, question is, how will Wenger freshen things up? Will he make major changes or will he continue with the same team and formation. I really reckon against a team like Reading we need to be playing 4-4-2 or even 4-3-3 formation so we can rip them apart. I would also give Theo Walcott a start, either on the wing in preference to Manu Eboué or give him a start up front. The defence pretty much picks itself, the midfield might be tinkered with a bit as the likes of Alex Song, Denilson and Abou Diaby could be in with a shout in the middle of the park if Wenger decides to give Gilberto and Cesc Fabregas a rest. If Gilberto does leave the club in the summer which seems to be a definitely maybe then I would throw someone else in there to see if they can do the job and how they fair. I probably wouldn’t of said this a year ago, but I would play Alex Song at defensive midfield. He has been proper for us the times he has played and was outstanding in the African Cup of Nations, so I say give the lad a run out. I would also give the boy Cesc a rest, god knows the player could do with it. In his place I would put Diaby in at central midfield as I believe he would be better equipped to get the job done there than out on wing. To compensate the creativeness that could be lacking from Cesc not playing I would get ice cream loving Alex Hleb to play a free role and generally scare the bejesus out of Reading.  However not sure if that’s too much change and could disrupt the team’s flowing football, but it isn’t going to happen, so it’s just a thought.

There’s a lot to think about. Here’s my team line up seeing that your asking,

           Lehmann
Eboué  Gallas  Touré  Clichy
van Persie Song  Diaby
               Hleb
   Walcott    Adebayor