Charlton Athletic vs Arsenal - The Valley, London - Saturday 30th September 2006

The game will be remembered for one thing - Robin Van Persie's absolutely incredible volley from the edge of the area, which flew into the top corner of the net.

I always enjoy Charlton away, it isn't too far away, and is relatively safe, unlike some other London games I can think of. London away games in general are very good, you get the full away game experience, without needing to go to the ends of the earth (or even worse, up north) to enjoy it all. So, I woke up on the morning in a state of full excitement.

The Valley is one of the better away grounds, despite the poor facilities on offer - away fans get a stand to themselves, and the low roof and metal walls (good for banging on) make for a great atmosphere. For the second away game in a row, the travelling support were in excellent voice, which sounds even better when you take into account how quiet the Charlton fans are.

My seat for this one was great, in row D, slap bang in the middle behind the goal - which meant that I got a great view of Van Persie's amazing winner. He was standing about where the referee was in this photo, and the ball flew in my direction at a fair rate of knots.

The game was a strange one - it would have been a travesty had Arsenal not won the match, but we did make it look perhaps more difficult than it should have been, especially in the second half. The referee didn't really help the game out, he spent 20 minutes giving nothing at all, then 20 minutes giving absolutely everything possible - most annoying.

Anyway, 3 more points, and the team are now officially on a roll, with 5 consecutive wins in Premiership and Champions League. All the more irritating that we now have a 2-week international break to get our players injured, and stop our momentum in its tracks.

The Magic Numbers, Horsebox, Mr Hudson and the Library - Buffalo Bar, London - Thursday 28th September 2006

This gig was a really special one. The Buffalo Bar holds no more than 150 people, and the Magic Numbers are now well accustomed to playing in places many times the size. The fact that it happened at all was to celebrate rockfeedback.com's 6th birthday. They run (almost) monthly club nights at the Buffalo Bar, and were in part responsible for giving the Magic Numbers a hand up to fame. The quality of bands that play this club night is incredible, with Dirty Pretty Things, Razorlight, Bloc Party, The Subways, and others, all gracing it on their way up.

The first band of the night were Mr Hudson & The Library. A band comprised of several black men and women, with varying degrees of wild hair (including one guy with a truly special afro); along with the palest albino singer you could ever see. They played a mixture of reggae/rap/hip hop, with indie vocals on top. One song even had a steel drum, which sounded great. It was all OK, but I couldn't help thinking that this is primarily a live band - I suspect that they would sound nowhere near as good when recorded.

Next up were Horsebox, a 5 piece band with a London-accented singer. Their songs ranged between being very good, catchy punky pop tunes, and being a bit boring - there wasn't really anything in between. The good songs did indeed sound absolutely great, but there were some dodgy ones in there.

Just after 11pm, the Magic Numbers walked on stage and went immediately into a new song called This Is A Song. I took up a position at the side of the stage, and had a great view of both band and audience throughout. It really was amazing to be so close to such a great band, in such an intimate venue. There was typical Magic Numbers friendliness, and it seemed like a homecoming gig for the band. The set featured a lot of new songs, interspersed generously with older songs, and the band played for about an hour and a half. Of the new songs, the faster, more upbeat ones sounded fantastic, but then those are my favourite type of Magic Numbers songs anyway. The slower, quieter songs were OK, but I think the band are much better when they are doing the happy stuff!

A priviledge to be there tonight, I will definitely be going back to the Rockfeedback club nights, although going to work the next day with a hangover is not appreciated!

Little Man Tate, The Motorettes - Kings College, London - Wednesday 27th September 2006

A second chance in just over a month to see Little Man Tate, who were extremely impressive last time I saw them. In a bigger venue this time, Kings College, which I remembered visiting for the excellent indie disco there on a Saturday night. The gig had been sold out for weeks, and in the 600 strong crowd were a sizeable number of music industry people, and Robbie Knox, the tramp from Soccer AM.

Support band were The Motorettes, a three piece band who had an excellent formula for guitar pop. There were a number of pretty catchy songs in their short set, and some of the bigger songs (like their singles) really sounded good. They are signed, and have a single bizarrely called I Am Blisters I Am, which is out soon and is a jolly good song.

Bounding on stage to the Carter USM classic Sherrif Fatman, which half of the crowd were loving, and the other half seemed to be totally unaware of, Little Man Tate launched straight into their next single Man I Hate Your Band - which had the effect of sending the place completely mental from the word go. There was a hardcore of people moshing at the front, but it was noticeable how many music industry people were there - you could spot them all standing at the sides, trying to look nonchalant and cool. Man I Hate Your Band's lyrics describe such people very well.

Seeing the band for a second time really brought home just how many excellent songs they have - there are about a dozen very catchy tunes, that allow them to play a great set that never flags. Court Report, Sexy In Latin, This Girl Isn't My Girlfriend - all of them are excellent songs that really grow on you after just a couple of listens - and they sound great live.

The set ended with a riotous rendition of House Party At Boothys, followed by an even more frenetic Down On Marie. No encore, and the set probably only lasted for 35-40 minutes, but it was all Little Man Tate needed, to prove that they are a quality band, with great tunes, who should go very far.

Arsenal vs FC Porto - Emirates Stadium, London - Tuesday 26th September 2006

First proper Champions League game at the new stadium (qualifiers don't count!), and it yielded the first goal at the south end of the stadium. I sit at the other end, so its all a bit far away from me, but it was good to finally christen the "other" end of the stadium. The players all did their customary "get in the corner and have it large with the crowd" celebration, which seems to be becoming a habit in the new stadium.

The opener was a header as well, for the second time in 2 games - the new pitch is much wider, which definitely seems to be helping us get crosses into the box for goals like that. I never thought I'd see the day where Henry scored 2 in a row with his head.

Porto were particularly unimpressive, they have a great UEFA ranking, but much of this is built on back to back Euro trophies, 3 years ago when Mourinho was their manager. Only about 2 players from that team are still there, and they are a shadow of their former selves - and that even includes not diving and playacting quite as much as they used to.

This was the second game in a row where people I know got thrown out of the stadium during the game - both for standing up and being loud in support of the team. This also seems to be becoming a habit, and not a good one, especially when the away fans are allowed to do whatever the hell they like. I don't know why the club seem to be picking on their own fans, but I hope they stop, and soon. Its as if they only want atmosphere to be coming from the away section!

So, another good win in Europe, and this puts us in pole position to qualify for the next round. The incredible thing is how we seem to be doing this with so little fuss. Seven or eight years ago, we would have really been struggling with this group, but now we just seem able to pick up the wins we need, no messing around.

Arsenal vs Sheffield United - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 23rd September 2006

Whilst on the way to the stadium for this game, I walked past the local piece of art by the guerilla (or graffiti) artist Banksy. Located on Martineau Road in N5, just off Drayton Park, this proves that Islington is the capital of the cultural world, and that Highbury is indeed the centre of the universe. Classic modern art, literally on my doorstep - somebody's house wall is worth a bit of extra cash. Since Banksy's Paris Hilton stunt, people even seem to be stopping to take photos!

This game was the one where everybody was hoping/expecting, at long last, to get the first league win at the new stadium. Admittedly against a team that will probably be going down at the end of the season, we needed to register a win, if only to stop all the press and doom-mongers from piling the pressure onto us.

As it turned out, we got the win, but only after a very frustrating first hour. Sheffield United defended pretty well, and Arsenal certainly contrived to make them look a hell of a lot better than they really are. After around an hour, and amid increasing pressure, we got the breakthrough - Gallas's first goal for Arsenal, which sparked a huge celebration both on and off the pitch. After that, it was really only a question of how many Arsenal would score, as United heads went down, and they started to collapse.

There were a couple of strange shirt-related incidents in this game. Firstly, the Sheffield United left back had no name or number on his shirt for the first half. Mysteriously, he appeared with name and number in the second half, which makes you wonder why his numbered shirt couldn't have been there earlier. Secondly, late in the first half, Fabregas needed to change his shirt, and there was no spare one with his name and number. So, he played the last 10 minutes of the first half in a shirt with "49" on the back - a nice reminder of the unbeaten run! Again, somebody managed to get to the Megastore at half time, and all was rectified for the second half. Arsenal and Sheffield United both have full time kit managers (and how difficult can that job really be?), I suspect that they should be getting a rollicking on Monday morning.

The Belgrave Scandal, Kaya - Bullet Bar, London - Friday 22nd September 2006

A second Belgrave Scandal gig in London this week, and a quick chance to put the sound problems from the Bull and Gate gig behind them. This one was actually only about 10 minutes walk down the road, and was the first time that the band had a headline slot in London - a landmark gig indeed.

A male solo singer opened up, whose name (and music) I completely forget now. He sounded like David Gray, James Blunt, and ALL the others. We really don't have enough solo singers with their guitars at the moment, do we? This guy was unremarkable, instantly forgettable, and most in the venue were glad when he buggered off.

We were even more glad when the second band arrived. Kaya played an excellent set, reminding me of the Fugees and the Black Eyed Peas. They had a rock guitarist, drummer and bassist, with a rapper and a female singer (who had a great voice, not unlike Beyonce) providing vocals. Listening to the songs on their MySpace afterwards was something of a disappointment, because they really were fantastic live from start to finish - but they don't sound that good when you hear their recorded stuff. I would recommend going to see them play 100%, the live sound is a million times better than recorded.

Finally, at about 10:25, the Belgrave Scandal took to the stage. They were in a hurry, because last trains back to Tunbridge Wells go at about half eleven, and it showed. Luckily, they sounded MUCH better for the fact - bashing out one song after another, with great momentum, energy, and at a notch faster than normal. The set was short but exhilarating, and left most in the audience wanting more. Delivering more sets like this in London, where the band seems to be in a rush (even if they are not); and just banging the songs out at maximum velocity, will give the Belgrave Scandal an exciting buzz, and the ability to start impressing some record labels.

The Fireflys, The Belgrave Scandal, Ghosts - Bull and Gate, London - Monday 18th September 2006

An entertaining Monday night at the Bull and Gate, the famous pub venue in Kentish Town, where the Walkmen, the Cooper Temple Clause, British Sea Power, and, er, Keane have previously played. The pub and venue were packed from very early on, primarily to see the first band it seemed.

Ghosts had signed a record deal that day, with Atlantic Records no less. They arrived on stage to a full room, and something of a heroes welcome. Their 20 minute set sounded nice (if I'm being charitable), forgettable (if I'm not). The songs themselves were fine, quite radio friendly, but as they walked off, I couldn't remember how a single one of their songs went. I'm sure their major label loves them, their fans certainly loved them, but they were a bit uninspiring for me.

Next up, and playing to a dramatically emptier room, were The Belgrave Scandal, Kentish heroes. Their set was marred a little by the sound engineer, who managed to make the bass sound like a detuned radio. It was fine for the first 3 songs, then he started to fiddle with it, and the sound really suffered in the middle of the set. This clearly annoyed the band (and rightly so), but they played through it nevertheless.

Their version of The Collection tonight was particularly angry, and they seemed to be taking the adversity as a chance to show some balls and attitude. A decent audience were moving about on their feet, and seemed to appreciate the quality of the songs. The best band from Tunbridge Wells indeed - they seem to be growing in stature with every show they play, and others are starting to agree that they are not half bad.

Headline act were The Fireflys - they sounded very well drilled and practiced, with some good tunes as well. They kind of sounded like a covers band (although they were playing their own material), a big voice from the singer, and full of classic guitar riffs. Not bad, an entertaining band for 45 minutes or so.

Manchester United vs Arsenal - Old Trafford, Manchester - Sunday 17th September 2006

Old Trafford has not been a terribly happy hunting ground for us lately, with no win in the 4 years since we won the league up there. Mind you, that was a good enough day in itself, and getting into the away end still sends a mini shiver down my spine when I remember what happened on 8th May 2002.

Arsenal really couldn't have been less fancied for this game without a win in the league all season (so far), and with United seemingly flying. The game started though, and within minutes, it looked to be an encouraging display. The only question was, would it last, or fizzle out after 10 minutes. The penalty miss around 10 minutes in would have been the time to kill Arsenal's spirit, but thank god it seemed to make us even more determined.

Although the stats suggest a relatively even game, and Jens Lehmann was needed to make a couple of big saves, Arsenal really did deserve to win the game. United were quiet, and the majority of the decent chances, threatening attacks, and good passing came from Arsenal. Just when I thought that we would create lots of chances and end up missing ALL of them, we got the finish right for once, towards the end. Too late for a United comeback - the perfect time to score in a game like this. The ball from Fabregas was quality, as was his passing throughout - he is a real big game player at 19 years old.

The atmosphere in the away end today was fantastic, helped by the fact that the rest of the stadium was extremely quiet. They seemed even quieter than the typical Arsenal home crowd, which is saying something. Seeing them all stream out of the stands when we had scored was probably the most effort they had put into anything all day. The fact that we exerted pressure, dominated the game, slowly turned the screw, and then won the game - all through this process, we were busy being loud, taking the piss out of the Mancs. All this made for a very enjoyable afternoon all round - a very good laugh.

Radio Five Live asked Arsene Wenger after the game about "homophobic songs directed at former players", and asked him to acknowledge hearing them, and to condemn them. Arsene refused to do either - well played. Funny how the media seems to be very interested in this issue now - conveniently ignoring the fact that for five years, Sol Campbell and Freddie Ljungberg have been the target of particularly vile homophobic abuse from Spurs fans - and no Spurs manager has EVER been questioned on the subject.

Of course, this was not even the only instance of bad taste singing THAT GAME, as the Manchester United fans again made themselves heard in singing "Sit Down You Paedophile" at Arsene Wenger. Again, no questioning from the media, and general ignorance of the fact that this even happens. Funny, when you mention Munich, United fans go ballistic, but the majority (and it is a huge number of them) sing songs about paedophilia. Also today, their charming song which copies Liverpool's "we won it five times chant", but United add "without killing anybody, we won it two times".

Truly the most disgusting set of fans in the land (possibly apart from Spurs and Chelsea, of course), which makes sticking it right up them all the sweeter. Great day, great game, great atmosphere - both the team and travelling Gooners did the job.

Work trip to Istanbul, Turkey - 12th to 13th September 2006

This flying visit to Istanbul to talk to some of my company's clients. I didn't really see much of the touristy part of the city, but I did get to meet lots of people, and have some interesting conversations.

On arrival at the airport, I noticed that there were lots of planes from not-very-good countries and airlines there. Afghan Airways was a particular example, I really can't see myself being even remotely willing to get onto one of their planes. Obviously because of Turkey's location, close to all the former Russian republics that end in "stan", there were lots more dubious national airlines on show.

Into the airport terminal, and it transpires that citizens of certain countries need a visa to get in. "Certain" countries seemingly are those that use hard currency, so they can pay in money that the Turks want to get hold of. £10 for British citizens (which is more than the tax for a lot of other EU nationalities), to get a sticker in your passport that doesn't even stick down very well. Even after getting this, the immigration queues were particularly slow.

I think that all countries seem to view this as a flexing of national muscle, how irritating they make it for foreigners to get into their country. It is their one big opportunity to say "you will do things our way, and we have immense power over you right now". The shittier the country, the more they seem to use this power, as the huge and complex visas for former Russian republics demonstrate.

Turkey struck me as a country that is very big on national pride and identity. There are Turkish flags everywhere, lots of things (and people) very proudly proclaim that they are of Turkish origin, and the language is almost totally dominant - you see very little of any other language there. The bottled water on the plane screamed that it was Turkish, so were the hazelnuts, so was the olive oil, and that even got into its sachet courtesy of a "modern production process".

Much of this seems to spring from an inferiority complex - Turkey suspects that other countries view it as a little bit rubbish and backward. So it tries especially hard to appear modern, cosmopolitan, and international. Sometimes this works, sometimes you can see through it very easily. They have the big civil engineering projects that they trumpet as examples that they are capable of building stuff like bridges. Istanbul is clearly a very cosmopolitan city. But there are signs everywhere that the third world is not too far away.

One of the more amusing experiences was driving (or rather, being driven) around the place. People seem to use the horn as a genuine driving tool, probably more important than the brakes actually. It is most definitely not for the faint hearted - even crossing the road is a challenge of wits. There are people walking alongside the motorways, where they really shouldn't be.

The food is amazing there, that is one important thing to say. Kebab heaven, and they have a fantastic drink of sour cherry juice, which I could drink every day and not get bored of it. The other amazing thing are the mosques, beautiful buildings with twin towers, that rise above the normal buildings wherever you look. A very interesting place to have seen, a strange mix of first and third worlds. I would like to go back and explore some more (although definitely NOT for football).

The View, Underground Heroes - Forum, Tunbridge Wells - Saturday 9th September 2006

After the annoyance of the football, I went to Tunbridge Wells Forum, to see The View. There is a good deal of hype surrounding them at the moment, and they have some very high-profile support slots lined up later in the year. I have even heard them called the "new Oasis". Their single Wasted Little DJs has been all over MTV2 for the last month or so, so all in all they are one of THE buzz bands in the UK right now.

The crowd in the venue was surprisingly old, given that the Forum is usually a key haunt for 15-year-olds. There were a good number of people of drinking age there! Support band for the evening were Underground Heroes, a band from Kent that are playing a few support slots with The View on this tour. They were very impressive, quite mental, and sounded not unlike the Ordinary Boys I thought. The venue was heating up throughout their set, so by the end they were a very sweaty band. I could see them doing well, they certainly had a number of songs that sounded great.

The View came on at around 10:15, suggesting that they would play quite a short set. They sounded tight, and some of their songs certainly hit the heights, in particular Posh Boys and their new single Superstar Tradesmen. My first thought when they came on was "Wow, they look young!" (the second thought was "wow, they look cool"), which I guess is not too surprising because they are all teenagers still. They had songs aplenty to keep the set bouncing along with great energy. As the set got towards the end, Wasted Little DJs sent the place completely mad. They went off at about 10:50, did no encore, and left everybody very sweaty but wanting to see them play all over again.

On reflection having seen them, they do have some songs that could make them a significantly successful band in the months to come. But, I did feel that, in a venue like the Forum (200 capacity, and an audience that was won over before they even came on), that they could/should have looked like they belonged in a different league to a venue like this - and they didn't quite. Clearly they will be deservedly playing much bigger places soon, but I was expecting them to take the roof off a venue like the Forum. Maybe they are so raw and exciting that they aren't quite polished enough to do that just yet.

Let that not take anything away from this band though, they sounded great, and have a setful of great tunes. They will go far.

Arsenal vs Middlesbrough - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 9th September 2006

In the realm of Arsenal games, this (exactly like the other home games so far this season) was one of the more frustrating and annoying. We played a team that could possibly be tricky, but that we would normally be expected to beat quite easily (last season it was 7-0). We went behind quite early in the game, completely against the run of play. We comprehensively outplayed the opposition in terms of posession, but absolutely failed to make that advantage count where it matters. We passed the ball around in pretty little patterns on the edge of the penalty area, but nobody was willing to have a shot. We eventually got the goal back, but failed to get through a second time for the winner.

The Aston Villa game at the start of the season was like this, and so too was this game. We seem to have the posession, and the ability to blow teams away, but to say that we lack a killer instinct at the moment is a huge understatement. Utterly unable to finish these teams off. We should really have 9 points by now - instead, we have 2, and are out of the relegation zone only on goal difference. Not a good start to the season.

For all this, a finger has to be pointed at the unwillingness of everybody in the team to have a shot at goal. I understand that we want to create beautiful goals, but when faced with 9 defenders lined up on the edge of the area, that is going to be very difficult at the best of times, and we need to adapt our play to the situation we are facing. We try to thread the ball through the eye of a needle, every time, when some situations just cry out for somebody to take a shot and at least make the keeper do some work, or to try to force a mistake. When we do try that, it isn't a bad option at all - it just doesn't happen enough. OK, the crowd are shouting "shoot" a little too often, sometimes when it would not be the best option at all - but equally, the team are not having enough shots from distance.

I got into the stadium quite early today, and had a wander around the place, particularly to have a look at the Upper Tier. Soon after getting in, I held my breath and paid £7 (!) for a "cheeseburger meal deal", which included the burger, some chips, and a drink. The burger had the makings of a very nice burger, except that it was stone cold - I can see how it would have been lovely, but it was far too cold and rubbery for that. The chips were also stone cold, tasted of cardboard, and were the chewiest things I think I have ever eaten. The drink was a nice cold Coke.

Arsenal really need to get a grip on this - because it is not on. If you charge £7 for that (or indeed £4 for a pie), you really need to be getting the quality right the vast majority of the time. My experience with their overpriced food has been 50-50 - half the time it is really nice, the other half it is awful, and there seems to be no in-between. Charging top dollar is permitted, and people will put up with it, but they really need to deliver the "good" experience in much better proportions than they are managing at the moment. Hopefully they will sort it out before it is too late, and people just give up buying food in the stadium.

The other thing to sort out, experienced again today, are the queues at half time. Before and after games it isn't so bad, but the queues at half time are a complete joke, not helped by the fact that they also move at a snail's pace (competent staff would help here). The cause of the problem seems to be that you have to buy beer at the same place where you buy food. This means that anybody who wants anything at half time, must get into the same queue - when typically people only want either beer or food. For God's sake, separate them out, and get some people selling beer from rucksack dispensers, like they have at every other major sports ground! It really isn't that difficult!

Finally, a special "thanks" to London Underground today, who ensured that no Piccadilly line trains were allowed to stop at Kings Cross - the one station on the line that most people use. Extra thanks for then suspending the Victoria line as well after the game, ensuring a complete nightmare of a journey home for the vast majority. Well done!

What a frustrating afternoon all round!!

Brazil vs Argentina - Emirates Stadium, London - Sunday 3rd September 2006

Well, it seems that when you build a nice new stadium, every average team wants to play in it. Boring, dull teams like Brazil, with their dour band of supporters.

Of course, it was a pleasure to have a South American derby game like this in our new stadium, hopefully the first of many big box office draws to come. Brazil vs Argentina is one of the great games in world football, and even though it was a friendly, there was still guaranteed to be enough spice to make it interesting. The Brazilian fans heavily outnumbered the Argentina supporters, although most of the "Brazilians" were in fact English. Brazil are the Manchester United of international football - everybody with a passing interest seems to like them.

The game featured relatively little tackling, some good showboating (despite the non-appearance by Ronaldinho), and some excellent low-level niggle between the 2 sides. Brazil took the lead after 2 minutes, which settled the masses in the stadium. Throughout the game, Brazilian drummers kept the noise levels up - something we are unlikely to see at any Arsenal games here soon!

When Brazil scored their second, midway through the second half (here are some Argies waiting to kick off again), the game was effectively over as a competition. We got to see Julio Baptista towards the end, who got a great ovation, and looks like a mountain of a man - that should help with the "physical presence" problem when we play oop north.

The amusement carried on until the end, with a number of mini pitch invasions - by the final whistle it had become obvious that anybody who fancied it could get onto the pitch. Security was lax to say the least - hopefully it won't mean that we can't host games like this in future. The sun was even shining - must have been a Brazil game!