Wenger And Pompey Are All At Sea

What a strange message the Football Association have sent out with todays £10,000 fine for Arsene Wenger following his spat with the now unemployed Alan Pardew at West Ham. He was also warned as to his future conduct.

They have given the green light to other attention-seeking, second rate coaches to leap up and down in the Arsenal technical area spouting obscenities as they do so.

Now I’m not saying that Wenger emerged with much credit from the confrontation, but I fail to see what else he could have done under the circumstances.

If the FA consider that they have dealt with him leniently for pleading guilty, then I cannot wait to see the punishment for the jobless tosser when he appears before them in January, having pleaded not guilty. He had better keep his redundancy money to one side for the moment!

Rant over, for now.

The Portsmouth game on Saturday is shaping up to be a fascinating contest. Not just because the two sides lie third and fourth in the Premiership, but because Sol Campbell could find himself, literally, in the front line.

Pompeys Dads Army strikeforce is exhibiting wear and tear. At the time of writing Kanu (knee), Benjani (hamstring), Cole (achilles), and Lua Lua (thigh) are all on the treatment table.

It would have been fun to see Cole and Kanu back at the Arsenal, but it would be even funnier to see Solman demonstrating his grasp of the strikers art against Kolo Toure. It will be good to see him back though. The manner of his arrival from the neighbours, and his part in two title triumphs and three FA Cup successes, means he deserves a good reception on Saturday.

I do hope he hangs around for the second-half though!