Work trip to Zeist, Netherlands - 29th to 30th November 2007

This was a slightly strange work visit, on which I got to spend more time than I'd ever wanted, sitting in traffic on the motorways of the Netherlands. I flew into Rotterdam airport, a place so small that there was at least one member of staff for each passenger. As my plane parked on the tarmac, there was only one other plane at the airport, and it took less than 2 minutes to get from the plane to a taxi. I wish all airports were as easy to get through as this one.

120 Euros in a taxi, and 45 minutes later, and I was at the end of the earth - or more specifically, the very end of the Port of Rotterdam. The port is massive, and takes an absolute age to drive to the very end of. We were on a motorway for the whole journey, and the number of lorries, container harbours, and warehouses I saw was incredible. This used to be the busiest port in the world, and it seemed like every company in the world has a site somewhere in the port.

I eventually got to my destination, a chemical plant, which was purpose built a few years ago. It is so big that Eon agreed to build a dedicated power station next door, and another company built a dedicated waste management plant on the other side. The whole thing is next to a huge private dock, at which ships arrive to deliver raw ingredients, and cart off the finished product, always in large quantities. The sheer scale of the whole operation was incredible, and they don't even make anything you'd ever heard of - their product is a chemical that is then used by other people to make synthetic plastics and other things.

After the chemical experience, I got a lift for the journey of 100km or so, to my company's office near Utrecht. This took 2 and a half hours, such was the nastiness of the rush hour traffic. Getting out of Rotterdam port itself took over an hour, and that included some decent spells of unhindered driving. It really brought home how crowded the Netherlands is - even more so than the UK, if you look at the population density figures. Luckily, they have decent public transport.

Finally, at my hotel, I experienced a classic case of Dutch weirdness. In my room was a toy squirrel, and outside the room was a big shelf saying "Do Not Disturb". Apparently, if you don't want to be disturbed, you have to put the toy squirrel onto the shelf. Why on earth they couldn't just give you a label to hang on the door handle, I have no idea. Still, the champagne for breakfast was very nice....!

The Enemy, The Wombats, Noah And The Whale - Union Chapel, London - Tuesday 27th November 2007

Back at the Union Chapel for the second time in a few days, for another of the Little Noise sessions, this time headlined by The Enemy. This show was not sold out (possibly due to the high ticket price), and I must admit I really wasn't sure what The Enemy would be like in an acoustic setting - stripped of their guitars. Another surprise appearance the previous night, this time from Razorlight, raised hopes of some mystery guests this time too

The first band on were Noah and the Whale, a band about whom I'd heard a bit (and seen their name at quite a few gigs around London), but had never heard anything by. They were ideally suited to this kind of environment, being a folky band, and I thought their set was fantastic. With a guitarist and vocalist joined on stage by a female backing vocalist and a violinist, they played brilliant poppy folk songs, many of which started off slow, dark and moody, then built up to great euphoric finishes. They only played about 4 songs, but I really liked what I saw, it reminded me quite a bit of Willy Mason, but the singer also sounded more than a bit like Adam Green - not a bad thing. I'm going back for some more of them, as soon as possible.

Next on were The Wombats, just back in the UK from a load of dates in Europe, and sounding very pleased to be back home. They played their last 2 singles, Lets Dance To Joy Division and Kill The Director immediately, and looked like they were really enjoying themselves on stage. There was good banter between songs, a few jokes about swearing in church, and they took the opportunity to play some of the quieter songs from their album.

In a setting like this - up close, acoustically, and with all the lights on - bands can often get scared, but The Wombats came across really well. To finish their set, they played next single Moving To New York, with a really cheap keyboard (£20, apparently), providing a very cheesy but funny backing track. A good set, and I resolved to go away and listen to their album, which I hadn't yet got around to.

The Enemy came on stage at around 9:30, with a string quartet kicking off the introduction to set opener We'll Live And Die In These Towns. The strings were there throughout a set that was pretty short, clocking in at around 35 minutes, and they really added an extra dimension to the band's set. I'm not usually the biggest fan of The Enemy, but this set really was special to watch - also helped somewhat by the lack of chavs in the audience.

They played most of their singles, everything was nicely slowed down, and they even chucked in a couple of covers too - including an excellent version of David Bowie's Five Years (which Arcade Fire also cover from time to time - so not a 100% original idea). This wasn't the longest set, and The Enemy are far from my favourite band - but they definitely showed tonight that they have more to them than just some formulaic indie songs. I was impressed, the string quartet made it all very special, and the band came across really well indeed.

The Kooks, The Pigeon Detectives, The Metros - Union Chapel, London - Saturday 24th November 2007

Rock bands tend to do some special things for charity, especially if the charity in question is strongly supported by a music industry figure like Jo Whiley. The Little Noise sessions are taking over the Union Chapel in Highbury for the second year in a row, with a week of acoustic (or at least quiet) gigs by some truly top acts. Last year's was special, and a great chance to see big bands up close in a small venue. Despite the £40 a ticket, I took the plunge again this year, for a gig that was originally due to be headlined by the Pigeon Detectives - then The Kooks were randomly announced as headliners a few weeks later, ensuring a sellout and a nice bonus. The previous night's gig had seen U2 (of all people) turn up for a 4-song set, so these were turning into some prestigious shows indeed.

The first band on after I arrived were The Metros, a band about whom I had heard lots - not least that they were thrown off The Coral's tour for bad behaviour recently. Friends that had seen them were impressed, so I was keen to see what they were like. When they came on stage, Jo Whiley introduced them, and said that they were nervous about playing what was a very different type of set for them. They seemed to have a decent group of fans towards the front of the venue though, who were providing very good support.

The Metros set was a fairly short one at around 20 minutes, but what I saw was really impressive. The 2 singers were clapping in the absence of any drums, but the songs were really catchy - and very reminiscent of their Blockheads and Squeeze influences, but in a very good way. Listening to their MySpace songs later on, tunes like Last Of The Lookers and especially Live A Little, worked really well in this kind of show. I can't wait to hear them electrically, in a proper Metros set - because they sounded like a really good band on this brief look at them.

Next up were The Pigeon Detectives, playing not so much of an acoustic set, as a full plugged in electric set - just with the volume turned significantly quieter than normal. The singer came on stage with a mug of tea, and instead of his usual manic tearing around the stage, stayed pretty close to the mic stand for the whole set - even joking at one point that he was doing his Liam Gallagher impression. The set was a fairly standard Pigeons set, except that the polite surroundings saw the audience clapping and singing along, rather than any moshing.

The Pigeons set again included the excellent new B-side called I Need You, which was really really catchy, and was going around my head for much of the next day. Towards the end of the set, when the band played traditional set closer I'm Not Sorry, the crowd got to their feet and sang along. This was a really successful set - I had really wondered whether the band would be any good if you took away the huge energy and drama of their normal live shows, but they came across very well. It helped that they were still essentially playing a (quiet) electric set, but they really carried off the subdued gig well. Again, at the end of the set, the singer gave everything that wasn't nailed down on stage, to audience members to take home as souvenirs.

And so finally, with no surprise U2 appearance this time, The Kooks were introduced, and immediately played a fantastic new song called Harvest, which had everybody on their feet from the beginning. They had the full band there for this gig (as opposed to just the singer and guitarist last time they played here), and they took full advantage of this by playing a large range of songs. Old songs like She Moves In Her Own Way, Ooh La, and Seaside were all played in quick succession early on, which obviously warmed the audience up.

After that, the set was a fair 50-50 split between new and old songs, many of the names of which are here. Many of the new songs sounded really good - Shine On and Love It All in particular - and I can't wait to hear the proper recorded versions on the new album. With the guitars properly plugged in, they sound like they could be excellent. Of the new songs, though, opening track Harvest was the best for me - really can't wait to hear that again. Mixed in with the new songs were just enough old favourites - Naive ending the main set, and a great version of Jackie Big Tits wrapping the whole thing up. The Kooks will be back properly soon, and if tonight is anything to go by, they will be getting bigger and bigger.

Arsenal vs Wigan Athletic - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 24th November 2007

After a controversial game last time, it wasn't a particularly warm welcome back to the Emirates for Wigan. Last season, they wasted time, they fouled, and they moaned endlessly about refereeing decisions that pretty much evened themselves out in the end. This season, though, Arsenal had a slightly better record of not letting in the first goal every time, and consequently not needing to spend the whole game trying to break down an 11-man defence. Hopefully things would be easier (and less controversial) this time. Wigan had been through a strange week, appointing Steve Bruce as their new manager, then not being allowed to have him start work, because of a dispute with Birmingham. So, nobody knew who would really be in charge of the Wigan side for the game.

New manager syndrome often seems to hit Arsenal, and we seemed to get another dose of it for this game. The Wigan side that played were technically not very good, but were very committed, and worked very hard all game to close Arsenal players down, defend their area, and generally try to impress their new boss. With the very cold weather, and the return from international duty probably not helping Arsenal (not to mention missing the suspended Fabregas), the first half saw far too many misplaced passes, and too many moves breaking down before they got going - thanks to a combination of Wigan's hard work, and Arsenal being a bit off colour. All in all, the first half was fairly non eventful, and rather frustrating for Arsenal fans.

The second half was no less frustrating in general - Arsenal stepped up the pressure relentlessly, but for most of the half, it was all coming to nothing. The referee didn't really help, letting certain Wigan players (including ex-Spurs Michael Brown, plus Marcus Bent and Emile Heskey) get away with relative murder. Watching Bent clatter into Denilson with a shocking challenge, then watching somebody else push Gallas in the face when he dared to question it, wasn't nice. Then watching the ref book Bent for the foul, plus Gallas for not taking kindly to it, was ridiculous - it is crazy that you get the same punishment for virtual GBH, as for reacting to people assaulting your team mates.

Eventually, though, as so many times this season, Arsenal kept plugging away, and got the reward in the end. Gallas again showing tremendous energy and determination to get into the box and onto the end of a header. After all the time wasting and fouling, and after making no real attempt to win the game, it was pretty impossible to argue that Wigan deserved anything out of the game. A second from Rosicky sealed the win, with both goals coming inside the last 10 minutes again. A real captain's innings from William Gallas, who really is becoming a vital heartbeat in our team.

Resilient, determined stuff from Arsenal, which is good to see - and this means that the usual nightmare month of November has passed off successfully in the Premiership (albeit having only played 3 games). This time last year, we would have probably conceded first in a game like this, then made the task of breaking down the opposition more difficult, having to come from 1-0 down to get a decent result. We seem to have overcome some of those problems now, we seem to be getting wins against the teams we should be beating, and with Manchester United losing at Bolton today, it was vital to get maximum points, to take maximum advantage.

The Pigeon Detectives, One Night Only - Forum, London - Thursday 22nd November 2007

After a bit of a ropey gig last night, there is nothing better than a Pigeon Detectives show to see some blinding live music again. Having seen them a few times already this year, you know you are going to get decent songs delivered as part of a riotous live show, with a fantastic frontman too. This was one of the last dates on a month-long UK tour. I have written a few times that you need to see this band live to really appreciate them - it looks like many people caught the bug at the summer festivals, and are coming back for more.

When I got into the venue, a band called One Night Only were playing. They seem to have appeared from nowhere in a very short space of time - one minute, nobody had heard of them, now they seem to be popping up supporting every band on tour at the moment. Clearly a large record company has signed them, and is shoving them out on tour to "showcase" them to us all. Anyway, they sounded pretty good, and seemed to have drawn a decent sized crowd. I recognised a song called Just For Tonight from their MySpace, and in fact thought that they generally sounded much better live than on their recorded songs - always a decent sign.

The Pigeons arrived at about 10pm, with some dramatic music, and went straight into it - the crowd on the floor was going mental from the first guitar riff of I Found Out. The singer started off wearing a big black leather jacket, which quickly came off as the venue turned into the hottest place on earth. The mental songs kept coming, to the point where I was forgetting which one was which. That is one thing about the Pigeon Detectives, many of their songs sound very similar - but at least that means that they all sound good, and are all good at whipping up a live audience. For much of the set, the singer even "exchanged fluids" with the crowd - there were loads of pints being thrown up on stage, and in return, the singer threw plenty of water back into the audience.

A few songs in, they played Romantic Type, and the singer failed to get into the crowd as he always used to - scandalous! As the gig went on, I began to think that there were no more songs left for the band to play, as there had been so many familiar ones - but more and more kept coming. This shows that the band have a very respectable number of quality songs - most of the album in fact is very good, and the standard never dips below that of a great shouty indie rock song, with a mental singalong chorus.

As well as playing all of the album, there was also time for some b-sides, including the excellent I Need You, which appears on the current single, and also some new songs. The singer was crazy throughout, but somewhat more restrained than in their early gigs, where climbing speaker stacks and singing almost whole songs from in the crowd were commonplace. There was none of that tonight (he stayed on stage throughout), but sadly I guess that comes with the fact that the band are rightly a bigger live draw now - 3 sold out shows at the Forum, supporting the Kaiser Chiefs next month, and 2 big sold out gigs in Leeds next May. Maybe they are getting more sensible....

All in all a very good show, a bit less mental from the singer than before, but certainly the crowd loved it, and the Pigeons seem to be getting to where their live show means that they belong - as one of the big live indie bands in the country. I'm not sure I'd want to see them in too much of a bigger venue than this (also because a fair few laddy idiots have latched onto them now - there were quite a few punches thrown in the venue tonight) - but the band undoubtedly deserve to be (and will be) playing bigger venues now. At the end of the set, the singer picked up all every loose item on stage - setlists, plectrums, towels, water bottles - and gave them to people in the crowd. So, some people got some great souvenirs from a brilliant gig - more bands should do that.

Good Shoes - Astoria, London - Wednesday 21st November 2007

After the amusement of England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008, and on a stinking evening weather wise (cold and pissing down), it was off to the Astoria to see Good Shoes. Having seen them a couple of times before so far this year, and having some of their album on heavy rotation on my iPod, I had had this in the diary for a while. The gig wasn't sold out, and there were still plenty of tickets left on the door, but this was still easily the biggest gig on the biggest headline tour of the band's career. The audience was very young, even for a 14+ gig, so the front of the ground floor was still packed as usual.

The band came on stage at around 10pm, just after the final whistle of the England game, which also saw a big influx of (wet) people into the venue. Despite this, the balcony was almost empty, with nobody higher up than the first couple of rows - meaning that the venue was a good few hundred short of capacity. The stage was pretty bare, with just a banner at the back, and not much else to give you any clue that you were watching a headline act. Obviously not a huge headline act, but I had expected some more in the way of stage set.

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed by the set that Good Shoes played. Their album is pretty hit and miss, with 7 or 8 really good songs, but then another few that are very nondescript indeed. This carried through into their set - the songs were either really rather good, or not far short of terrible I thought. They just don't seem to write average songs, they are either very good or very bad - and with too many dodgy ones. It didn't help that the sound was quite poor for most of the set, so even some of the good songs struggled to sound their best.

Previous times where I have seen Good Shoes, they have played a relatively short set of around half an hour. This is time enough to play all of their good songs, but not enough time to allow too many of the crap songs to lower the overall quality of the set. This was a 50-minute set, which I though that the band just didn't have enough quality material to fill. When your songs are either 8 out of 10 or 3 out of 10, playing for too long really isn't a good idea if it exposes people to the lowlights of your song catalogue. Their good songs are real highlights, but sadly I just didn't think there were enough of them to make this a great show.

Reading vs Arsenal - Madejski Stadium, Reading - Monday 12th November 2007

After drawing the last 3 games, albeit good draws against Liverpool, Manchester United, and most recently Slavia Prague, it was important to regain the winning habit against Reading. With Manchester United going top of the League the previous day, and with an international break coming up, it was also important to be back at the top of the League, so that the next 2 weeks of bored and lazy journalism are not focusing on an Arsenal decline. So, any sort of win would do, but ideally a 2-goal win to get us back to the top of the table.

Reading are a team that are relatively inoffensive when you see them on Match of the Day, and a lot of Arsenal fans (myself included) have a bit of a soft spot for them. Last season, they were unlike many other teams in trying to play football against us, instead of just kicking us and defending with everybody behind the ball. When you get close to and into their ground though, some of the sympathy starts to evaporate - a lot of small town, chavvy fans, banging on about how they have (crap) English players, how they support their local team, and generally having a persecuted and annoying "small team" mentality.

This time, Reading started off with a very determined performance. Their players pressed and ran around after Arsenal's players, and they did well to restrict space and time on the ball for Arsenal. Adebayor hit the post in the first few minutes, but for the rest of the half, not all that much happened. Arsenal had lots of possession, but didn't really do very much with it. Eventually, a minute before half time, Flamini scored a goal that his excellent efforts in midfield all season have thoroughly deserved, and Arsenal never looked back from there. It was the perfect time to score, right before half time, and there was only one winner once that goal went in.

The second half, in hindsight, was a relative stroll for Arsenal. There were long periods where Reading just couldn't get the ball, and where their fans were very quiet as a result, resorting only to the occasional pathetic chant of "In-Ger-Lund". The amount of chasing of the ball that Reading's players had to do was inevitably tiring, and it made more goals increasingly likely as the game went on. Adebayor scored his first for a couple of months (again, well deserved given recent performances), and Hleb added the third, eventually taking a shot after what seemed like an absolute eternity dwelling on the ball. A deliberate booking for Fabregas (to ensure that he misses the Wigan home game through suspension, rather than something more testing), and an annoyingly needless Reading consolation goal conceded, and that was that - 3-1 to the Arsenal, top of the League again, and back to winning ways. Just what was needed.

Finally, a quick word about those chavvy Reading fans. I was sitting about 3 seats away from them, and they were very full of mouth during the first half, when it was goalless. They then totally shut up in the second half when Arsenal were winning - apart from their moronic "In-Ger-Lund" chanting. When Arsenal were playing them off the park, and our fans were singing "You need more foreigners", and "Have you ever seen England play like this?", a few stood up to go absolutely mad at the insult to their queen and country. They appealed for everything, all the time, and generally reminded me of Birmingham or Portsmouth fans - more interested in the shitty England team, than the top flight club that they pay hundreds of pounds a year to support - and with a huge persecution complex about anything to do with the "big clubs". All very sad indeed, so good to get the win and shut them up.

The Courteeners, Vincent Vincent & The Villains, The New York Fund - Luminaire, London - Friday 9th November 2007

Having been to, and really enjoyed the first ever London gig by The Courteeners; then missed the second gig through being on a work trip to the US, there was no way I was going to miss out on their third London show. This was a special gig, being filmed for Channel 4 and put on as part of the JD Set series of gigs, with support from Vincent Vincent & The Villains, and The New York Fund.

The venue was The Luminaire, a really good little venue in Kilburn, where you can get really close to the stage, and where they really take the music seriously. The toilet walls are plastered with band stickers and graffiti, and there are signs everywhere warning you to piss off elsewhere if you want to talk to your mates whilst the bands are on. Because of the Jack Daniels sponsorship, everybody was given a voucher for a free JD on entry, which was a very nice surprise, and certainly one way to get everybody into the mood!

First band on were The New York Fund, who describe themselves as a country and indie band. This turned out to be a pretty good description, they sounded very American at times, but definitely also had a lot in common with many British indie bands at the same time - Primal Scream, The Thrills, and 1990s in particular. Their singer is Scottish, and it was slightly surreal to hear him singing country songs with an American accent, then speaking to the audience in a thick Glaswegian dialect. I really, really enjoyed their set though, from start to finish, and will definitely be looking forward to seeing them again - they had some excellent songs, and their set sounded like a great soundtrack to a night out.

The other support band were Vincent Vincent & The Villains, who played a very short set at around 20 minutes or so. I had heard much about them before, but never seen or heard them, so I was interested to see what they were like. To be honest, I was quite disappointed though, although the set wasn't all that long, I was getting bored. They had a good number of fans there, but I didn't really see the attraction - they seemed to resemble the Rumble Strips, but were not quite as good. Keen to give them another chance, but I wasn't desperately impressed.

Seeing members of The Courteeners around the venue before their set, they seemed to be on excellent form, and their set was suitably incredible. Kicking off with Aftershow, they started fairly slowly, until Not Nineteen Forever, Bide Your Time, and Cavorting finally woke the audience up, and started things going a bit mental towards the front. There was no real barrier at the front of the audience in the venue, so Courteeners roadies were faced with the tricky task of keeping the audience off the stage.

This task got more and more difficult as the set wore on, with new song Please Don't, and future classic What Took You So Long getting people more exited, and Acrylic sending a group at the front absolutely crazy. The set only lasted for around half an hour, but did more than enough to reinforce the view that they will be winning large numbers of music fans over in the next few months. Singer Liam Fray has all the makings of a legendary indie rock frontman; the songs are all there to have people going mad in indie discos for some time to come; and people, although only relatively few at the moment, are starting to believe. I am one of them, this band have all it takes to be huge - the songs sound like instant classics from the first listen, and all in all, The Courteeners deserve to be massive.

Trip to Prague, Czech Republic - 6th to 8th November 2007

Football trips are great. Spending 3 days away does mean that, even if you are unlucky enough to see the most boring match in history, at least there is something else to remember from the overall experience. A large group of us met at Gatwick Airport the day before the game, bound for a few days of drinking in Prague. Given the destination, this was a pretty popular trip, so there were a good 1,500 or so Gooners due to be there.

After checking into the hotel there (and after a minor but expected rip off from the taxi driver from the airport - some things in Prague never change), we decided to do the decent thing and go for a beer. The first meeting point was the height of unadventurous behaviour, an Irish pub on Wenceslas Square, where beer cost 70 crowns (about £1.80) a pint - criminally expensive by Czech standards. After a couple there, a few of our group got bored, and went in search of something a little off the beaten track, more authentically Czech, and less profiteeringly expensive. Whilst some mates went and paid £25 each for a steak, we went for a "traditional Czech feast", with more than you could eat for a fiver.

Then it was on to beer, and our first stop was a tiny bar, with a man standing behind a single Pilsner Urquell beer pump. The place sold only 2 drinks, large Pilsner Urquell, or small Pilsner Urquell. They also sold fags, and sausages with bread and mustard - a true locals only place. We had a beer there, talking through the hazy cigarette smoke, which was a strange reminder of the days before the smoking ban in the UK. We went to a similar place that sold only Budvar (my favourite Czech beer by far), and a couple more interesting bars. Sadly, in one bar, we were able to watch Liverpool's 8-0 win over Besiktas, and Chelsea's amazingly lucky and undeserved 0-0 draw at Schalke - all most depressing indeed.

On the morning of the game, a few of us went for some sightseeing around the castle, in the freezing cold and rain. Up on the hill near the castle, it was very, very windy indeed, and horribly cold. All this meant that the sightseeing didn't last too long, we quickly retreated to a pub for some beer and pork for lunch. I had a baked pork knee, on a skewer, like in the picture here - more meat than you could shake a stick at, for £6, washed down by beer for less than £1 a pint. Of course, this was a Czech place, so it was a slight disappointment that they tried to con us when the bill arrived - by charging for mystery things that weren't ordered, and trying to tell us that it was a Czech tradition to tip 15% (which it is not). I am a fan of going for local establishments rather than identikit Irish pubs and chain restaurants, but if they are going to try to rip people off, they really don't do themselves any favours. Stop it!

The less said about the game the better, but we were all settled into a bar by 11:30pm afterwards. Sadly, much of the evening was punctuated by encounters with horrible, horrible English people, which really put me off a return visit (knowing that Prague is chav stag do central). Wenceslas Square in particular was a really nasty place to be, with idiotic English people, dodgy Nigerians trying to drag you into strip clubs, and general characters on the streets, up to no good.

Pretty much everybody we saw on Wenceslas Square was an example of anti-social behaviour in action, and I was really ashamed that most of it was the fault of my fellow countrymen. In a late night McDonalds, there were Scousers looking for a fight, Arsenal fans being drunk and obnoxious, people asking the 20-year-old, minimum wage workers if sexual favours were available, or just shouting at them to get their food quicker. Czechs must absolutely hate English people, and it is hard to blame them. Along with huge groups of teenage students, English beer trippers have utterly ruined this city - and unlike Amsterdam, Prague seems to be putting up with it and taking the money. A real shame, and I'll think twice about going back.

Slavia Prague vs Arsenal - Evzena Rosickeho Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic - Wednesday 7th November 2007

After 3 wins out of 3 in the Champions League so far, qualification for the next round could be secured with a point away against a team that we hammered 7-0 at home. Given the many other important games coming up, it was not too surprising to see Arsene Wenger rest a number of key players for this one. The weather was due to be cold and wet, so Fabregas, Hleb, Toure and Rosicky amongst others, were also probably not too unhappy to have been left at home.

Last time I went to a 0-0 draw, it was this reasonably boring, end of season kickabout - but at least that had some form of incident in the form of a missed penalty, and a disallowed goal. Since then, Arsenal have not failed to score in any competitive game, we are unbeaten and firing on all cylinders. I suppose that this, rightly in a way, raises expectations of the type of game you can expect, so goals and a victory were on most peoples agendas for the evening.

After what seemed like an endless walk uphill to one of the least salubrious grounds in European football, this game was one of the most boring and downright dull football matches I have ever seen. In fact, it may even be the single worst game I have watched, especially given the distance travelled, cost, and effort involved. This happened for a few reasons - firstly, the Slavia Prague team were clearly desperate to give a decent performance in front of their own fans, and show that they were better than the 7-0 drubbing they had a fortnight ago. This led to a dogged and determined, if not especially skillful, display from them - with lots of tactical fouls to break up the little decent play that Arsenal tried to string together.

The Arsenal team on display didn't help matters particularly, it was a second string team, with only Gallas, Almunia and Clichy surviving from last Saturday's game against Manchester United. At times they played like they had never met each other before, never mind were part of a squad considered amongst the favourites for the Champions League this season. Slavia Prague made it difficult, but a number of quiet performances from Arsenal players meant that there was not much to write home about. The Slavia players were just as bad, to the extent that there were very few passages of play worth noting, from either team, throughout the game. It took 85 minutes for Arsenal to get any kind of goalwards effort on target, and even that was a pretty tame header. Slavia weren't much better, although I do recall Almunia making a save at one point.

And, of course, the conditions made it a turgid game as well. It was freezing, it was windy (the stadium being on top of a huge hill made sure of that), and at half time, it absolutely lashed down with rain, turning the pitch into something of a mess, and for the second half at least, ensured that any technical ability that Arsenal may have had, was eliminated. A freezing, miserable night weather wise, and many in the crowd seriously considered leaving at half time, to seek out the warmth and beer of a bar back in town.

So, a very strange game all in all. Arsenal got the point they needed to qualify for the next round, we did it without risking or tiring many of our key players, and we gave the second string a valuable run out. On that score, everything that we wanted to get from the game was achieved, and it was a success all round. But if you went to Prague, walked up the endless hill from the city centre, stood in the freezing cold, and watched 90 minutes of football where, literally, nothing interesting happened, you would be forgiven for wishing that we'd just been awarded the 0-0 draw without having to endure the match. Even the official site's report, and the Guardian report, couldn't find much interesting to say - the fireworks launched from the Arsenal end were the highlight for some, the amusing chanting the relieve the boredom was the highlight for me - as well as the walk back downhill.

Arsenal vs Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 3rd November 2007

The biggest game of the season so far saw the top 2 teams in the League face each other. Arsenal vs Manchester United, the league leaders vs the league champions, and a game that marked the resurgence of a rivalry that has defined much of the last 10 years of English football, but which has fallen away somewhat in recent years. The Monday before the game, Sky started their hype, with revolving Arsenal and Manc badges on Sky Sports News, with the caption "5 days to go". After passing the first true test of the season by getting a point (and deserving more) at Liverpool, it was all set up nicely.

Before the game, the anti Usmanov protests were there in force, thousands of orange balloons decorating the northern end of the stadium, to let the TV viewers know that Arsenal fans don't want Alisher Usmanov taking over our club. When the first whistle went, though, all the balloons seemed to disappear, and everybody was concentrating on the football. Which was pretty dull for the first half hour or so, to be honest - not much happening, and a very slow and sluggish start, all in all.

Just into first half injury time, horrible, horrible Wayne Rooney got onto the end of a Ronaldo cross, and although the ball hit William Gallas on the way in (and looked a bit like a miskick), it was a decent run from Shrek to get into the position. The Mancs went mental, which was a totally depressing sight, and we all heard them for the first time in the game - typical for a bunch of fans that are very loud when things are going their way, but that you absolutely cannot hear a peep from when they aren't having it all the way they want it. So, a depressing end to the first half, and many Arsenal fans at half time knew that we had a big job to do.

Almost as soon as the second half started (lots must have missed it if they were late back from half time), a good Arsenal move ended up with the ball at Cesc Fabregas's feet, about 6 yards out from goal. He did very well to trap and control the ball, then just seemed to casually roll it into the bottom corner of Van der Sar's goal, to provoke pandemonium at the north end of the ground. He ran towards the bench, before being shoved away from Arsene Wenger by the fourth official - quite why, nobody had any idea. In fact, in general, the officials in the game were very over officious, and seemed to be very picky whenever Arsenal players breathed out of turn.

As the second half wore on, there were decent chances for both sides. The referee seemed to give all of the decisions to Manchester United, and generally to blow his whistle far too much - most football fans prefer to see the game flowing, and he seemed to be needlessly stopping it too often. Also as the half progressed, there were a few scrapes in the Arsenal box - some caused by lapses in concentration from the defenders, others by some erratic goalkeeping, and some crazy rushes off his line, from Manuel Almunia. The Manc second goal was a product of one of each of these - a good run from Evra, which Walcott totally failed to track him on, then Almunia rushing out to find himself in no man's land. It gave Evra the simplest of pull-backs to play into the centre, and a tap in for Cristiano Ronaldo. More noise from the Mancs, after they had spent a relatively quiet half, they were full of mouth again.

So, Arsenal had to come from behind again, and come from behind they did. This really shows that the team have the qualities we need to win the League - coming from behind twice against Manchester United is not easy, and the never say die attitude seemed to see us through. We had to wait until the last minute, but we got there in the end, Gallas's hooked shot was a yard over the line before Van der Sar could push it back out. On balance, a draw was probably a fair result - having never been ahead in the game, I can't really say that Arsenal deserved or did enough to win - but then I don't think we deserved to lose the game either.

Of course, afterwards, Alex Ferguson's view was different. He claimed that the referee favoured Arsenal, then adding that he had the potential to reach the top, of course cleverly inferring that to get right to the top, he needs to start giving Manchester United a few more decisions (like all the top refs have to do to avoid Ferguson's bullying tactics). He then complained that there was a foul on Saha in the build-up to the second Arsenal equaliser, which Sky later showed to have happened over a minute and a half before the ball went in (including a goal kick for each team, and an Arsenal throw). He really does show himself up (and does this against Arsenal on a regular basis), when he makes such ridiculous statements, as many people pointed out afterwards.

His most ridiculous statement of all was that there is a lack of security at Arsenal's stadium. He claimed to have been abused by somebody a few feet away in the crowd, and it was good that, in the Sunday Times report amongst other places, the irony of this complaint was pointed out, because Ferguson spent most of the game abusing the fourth official. When 70,000 Manchester United fans call Arsene Wenger a paedophile during Arsenal games at Old Trafford, nobody EVER reports it, and nobody at Manchester United EVER says anything to condemn it, it really is a stupid and hypocritical rant for Alex Ferguson to get into, as if he expects to be treated reverentially at the home of a club he has spent the last 10 years slating.

Anyway, hopefully the senile old bastard will retire soon, and we can all get on to enjoy life in the Premiership without referee intimidation, and his stupid mind games. The Observer report on the game seems to be a pretty balanced one. The game was apparently watched by over 700 million people around the world, more than saw the last World Cup Final. It wasn't all that great a game of football (the Liverpool game last week was a better match), but then the biggest games often aren't. Still, onwards and upwards, and an away game in Prague this week, which could book our place in the last 16.