Reading Between The Lines

Hello ‘holics. At last the international week is coming to a close, which will be a delight to bloggers and club managers alike. Today is the big day for bosses as they assess the damage done to their expensive charges in meaningless friendlies. Let’s hope we are luckier than most.

For those of you in the UK make the most of the snow that has turned up overnight. The weather forecast suggests a partial thaw later on and then plummeting temperatures. That will mean extremely dangerous road conditions tonight and tomorrow morning so please take care. I haven’t got that many regulars that I can afford to lose one of you, even temporarily!

I’m indebted to the Independent for an interview with Freddie Ljungberg this morning. The Swede is rubbishing suggestions that he is going to be leaving anytime soon.
"I live to win things and we are doing that at Arsenal so I see no point in me leaving. There is a special bond at Arsenal. I just love the way it is and that's why I have stayed so long."

I hope for his sake that Arsene is thinking along similar lines! Talking of monsieur Wenger there are widely varying interpretations on his comments in this mornings edition of The Sun.

"I need to accept that in 10 years I'll be 67 and in this job you need a certain amount of instinctive physical power and an animal instinct for winning.
"It is something which must come naturally to you but you can lose it when your testosterone levels drop or when arthritis hits you or you just go through the process of becoming old.
"The fact is that you can lose it when you are 45 and I know - I've seen guys who got fed up of coaching in their 40s.

I’m looking at those words and trying to find where he says he will be leaving in five or ten years, or indeed tomorrow! He’s given a logical response to what I’m guessing was a leading question. He doesn’t rule out stopping on longer than Bobby Robson, he’s just pointing out it’s unlikely.

Time to research our next opponents, Wigan. It seems a lot longer ago than Saturday that we last played. Until tomorrow ‘holics, take care.