Chelsea vs Arsenal - Stamford Bridge, London - Sunday 30th November 2008

A thoroughly fantastic afternoon in West London, made all the better because it was so unexpected. Going into the game, expectations of a decent result were pretty much as low as they could have been, given recent form, injuries and internal strife. Coupled with that, Chelsea are obviously a tough team to play at any time - although they have not been quite firing on all cylinders recently, they had Anelka in form, and of course are dangerous.

I got to the ground about 20 minutes before kick off, just in time to see and hear the Chelsea stadium announcer do his stuff. This odious little tosser should really be banned from doing what he does, so much of a windup merchant he manages to be. Today, he was fairly restrained, a sarcastic "welcome back" before he introduced William Gallas, a big build up for Ashley Cole, and a mention that Wayne Bridge "once scored a goal at Highbury". No other club seems to have so little class - but then Chelsea are of course a breed apart from normal, decent clubs.

Apparently, things were not much more sporting in the Sky Sports studio for this game - always an organisation that loves it when Arsenal have a bad time. Their pundit panel was made up of former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit, and Jamie Redknapp - the man whose Dad manages Spurs, whose cousin plays for Chelsea, and who used to turn out for Liverpool and Tottenham. He hates Arsenal, and is barely able to disguise it. Added to Andy Gray, it was a hostile panel at best - thanks as ever to the Arsenal haters at Sky.

The first half seemed to last for about 5 hours from where I was standing - which was high up in the corner of the away end. Chelsea had the better of the first 15 minutes or so, having lots of possession but not creating a great deal. Midway through the half, Arsenal created a couple of decent chances, but then seemed to fade and let Chelsea take control again. The referee seemed to be giving a number of soft decisions to Chelsea, but I guess that is to be expected when you are at Stamford Bridge, and when the referee has Terry and Lampard in his ear all the time. The Chelsea goal was unfortunate - mainly because Djourou had a very good game apart from scoring it - luckily he didn't end up as the fall guy for another defeat. The only other incident of note in the first half was when Ashley Cole came over to pick the ball up from near the Arsenal fans, and had lighters, coins and kitchen sinks galore thrown at him. No less than the little twat deserves.

So, at half time, we went in with an uphill task. The second half started much the same - Chelsea seeming to be in control possession-wise, but not really creating anything. The Arsenal defence of course played their part in that, mopping everything up excellently at the back. The Arsenal equaliser came after about 10 minutes, Van Persie firing an excellent shot into the top of the net. Immediately, I started getting texts saying that he had been offside, but who cares. He added a second, which was definitely not offside, about 5 minutes later, and it sparked the most mental goal celebrations I have experienced for a while - both on the pitch, and in the away end.

When the second Arsenal goal went in, quite a few around me were starting to say "oh shit, we have quite a while still to go". But, the team kept their discipline and resolve, and saw the game out. Despite a total lack of running (or in fact any movement at all) from Adebayor, and some shocking refereeing decisions (of course not mentioned by Scolari when he was moaning about the Van Persie offside), the job was finished. Talking of the referee, Branislav Ivanovic must be getting him a fantastic Christmas present! How he stayed on the pitch, after a number of clumsy and cynical challenges, was a mystery - but referee Mike Dean spinelessly failed to book him on a number of occasions.

So, a very useful win, and if that doesn't give our players confidence, nothing will. We even did it despite being 1-0 down at half time, despite Adebayor being anonymous throughout, and despite Almunia's distribution playing us into trouble on more than one occasion. It was strange how little Chelsea managed to create in the game, and it is notable how their new manager has failed to beat a "Big 4" team in his 3 attempts. All good news, and the celebrations amongst the away fans continued for some time after the final whistle. Of course, none of this will help us beat Wigan next weekend, but it does at least provide a day in the sun for the time being.

A Quick Minute, Dead Social Club, Day And Buffalo, The Belgrave Scandal - Tower Tavern, London - Saturday 29th November 2008

This was the first ever proper gig by a band called Dead Social Club - my mate is the singer, so I went along to see what they were like. As if I needed any further encouragement, The Belgrave Scandal were playing too, so it seemed like a thoroughly decent way to spend a Saturday night. I got to the Tower Tavern, a pub next to the BT Tower, whilst the bands were still soundchecking, and therefore managed to get away without paying the £6 door tax. So I spent the £6 on 2 beers instead.

The Belgrave Scandal were on first, and surprised me. Every time I see them after not seeing them for a while, they surprise me with how good they are. They definitely get better all the time; their new songs are increasingly good; and the way they execute them live is also getting tighter and tighter every time I see them (apart from the odd off-day, which surely everybody is allowed!). They started off with my new favourite song of theirs, Black Pages, and played 2 or 3 newer songs that I'd never heard before as well. All sounding very promising, the move to London seems to have been a good thing for them, and you just get the feeling that a bit more hard work will soon see them noticed.

The next band were a Japanese band called Day And Buffalo, who were more than a bit strange. Their lead vocalist sat on a bar stool on the floor of the pub, facing the rest of the band on stage. The other vocalist was a Japanese woman who was wrapped up in a big shawl. Lots of low level weirdness, but despite this, they were actually quite good. They had definite influences that were obvious for all to see - The Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Breeders - so if you like those band, you would probably like Day And Buffalo. The Pixies angle was especially strong, given the male and female singers in tandem. There were some very good power rock riffs in there too, something of a throwback to the early 90s, but a very enjoyable set.

Dead Social Club were on next, and by the time they came on stage, the venue was absolutely packed with friends of the band. So, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands from the very beginning. I wasn't sure what to expect from them, especially being their first gig, but I was really, really impressed. They had obviously been practicing, which is cheating! Their sound reminded me at first of Bloc Party, with grinding guitars, atmospheric keyboards, and haunting vocals. However, as the set went on, they started to remind me more of New Order or Joy Division. In fact, after a couple of songs where the bass and keyboards really reminded me of New Order, they then played a New Order cover - a really very good version of Ceremony. All in all, this was a great start for the band - a friendly crowd cheering their every move helped, but the band showed that they are a decent prospect - they have good songs, play them very well, and have a sound that is reminiscent of other good bands, but still something individual to themselves. A very good start, I'll be back for more gigs soon.

The final band I saw in the evening were A Quick Minute, who reminded me to some degree of The Darkness. They played amusing cliched rock songs, but also had a funny, really over the top stage presence - like the band was sharing a joke with the audience. Some of their songs were half decent as well, some decent heavy rock riffs, and some good singalong metal-light choruses. A pretty entertaining live show all in all, and it was obvious that the band were having fun in the process.

This was actually a very good evening of live music at the Tower Tavern, I saw four excellent bands. It helped that the venue was packed for the Dead Social Club set, and that set went off really well - so that alone made it a good night. The Belgrave Scandal played an excellent set as well (just a shame that there weren't more people there to see it), and the Pixies influences of Day And Buffalo gave us some decent tunes in between. But tonight was all about Dead Social Club's live debut - and a very promising debut it was too.

Work trip to Brussels, Belgium - 26th to 27th November 2008

Another of those 2 day, 1 night work trips, this time to my office in Brussels. So, it was off to St Pancras International to get the Eurostar again. Although getting the Eurostar is much more convenient than heading all the way out to the airport (for me at least), it is often cheaper to fly - especially if you want any flexibility, or any modern travel conveniences. My ticket for this journey cost well over £350 return (partly my fault for booking late), and when you get a cold “cooked” breakfast, whilst sat on a tired and tatty seat, you do wonder what they spend the money on.

Talking of tired and tatty, I saw lots of building work going on in Brussels, some of which is long overdue. Parts of the city are gleaming and modern, of course – but others are very run down. Gare du Midi, where the Eurostar arrives, is a good example – on the platforms where domestic trains stop, I would be amazed if there has been any work done for 30 years or more. Much of the city’s infrastructure, and a surprising number of city centre buildings are like this – they look like they haven’t been updated or even touched since the 1970s. So, although the building work is a small annoyance, it needs doing for sure, and there is lots more on the “to do” list!

My hotel on this trip was on Place du Sablon, in an area that I’d never been to before. I was really pleasantly surprised – the square had an amazing looking old church on one side of it, there was a huge Christmas tree in the middle of the square, and the "normal" trees were also decorated with Christmas lights. Given that it was very cold and foggy, there was a lovely winter feel to the place – and there were plenty of bars and restaurants in the streets around the square to warm up in. A really nice part of town, that I will try to stay in again when I visit next.

On the way home after my meetings, I encountered a full lounge – full of EU workers who had knocked off for the weekend (on Thursday afternoon!). It made for an interesting journey home, listening to the sheer number of acronyms they spoke to each other in. Although they were (apparently) speaking in English, much of what they were saying was truly unintelligible. Who needs the arguments over whether to speak French or English, when they have invented a language all of their own?

Arsenal vs Dinamo Kiev - Emirates Stadium, London - Tuesday 25th November 2008

There have been some bad weeks for Arsenal fans recently. Losing to Fulham, Hull and Stoke were all bad. Losing various players to various injuries doesn't make things better. Realising that you will not challenge for the title, and will struggle to qualify for the Champions League, is a depressing thing to come to terms with - especially in November. But generally, the 10 days leading up to this game were full of depressing stuff for Arsenal fans. A spineless loss against Aston Villa; Theo Walcott getting injured for 3 months whilst on international duty; Gallas opening his big fat mouth and getting us all over the back pages for the wrong reasons; and finally another pathetic, directionless defeat against Man City. With Gallas (at last) stripped of the captaincy, and Cesc Fabregas installed as captain the day before the game, most were hoping that a genuine turning point (for the better) had at last been reached.

The game itself was more of the same (or at least similar) in terms of the performance. Arsenal created little, struggled to cope at times with a Kiev side who were very physical, and didn't often look like scoring. Given the number of injuries (not to mention the bad form), expectations were low, and the game was very much as expected. It was quite tight, fairly unremarkable, and not all that good to watch. Kiev had a couple of chances towards the end, as they realised that a draw would not be good enough for them, but Almunia made some good saves to keep us level.

Then, a few minutes from the end, Nicklas Bendtner latched onto a fantastic long pass from Captain Cesc, to score. The fact that he managed to control the ball was mildly surprising, but the finish was emphatic. Even if he was wearing the most ridiculous pair of pink boots when he did it. Kiev players were frustrated and appealing to the referee, but they can all sod off, especially the one who got a second yellow card for his troubles towards the end.

This was one of those games where, undoubtedly, the result was much more important than the performance. Keeping a clean sheet was a very positive thing (although I suspect Chelsea will test us more in that department on Sunday),; and a win sees us through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, and therefore able to rest some players in Porto in 2 weeks time. The way our season is going, you have no idea what will happen on Sunday now – whether a win tonight means that we will lose then for sure, or whether this is finally the start of a run of form. For the time being though, congratulations to Captain Cesc, and good luck for the rest of your (hopefully long and successful) reign!

The View, Holy Ghost Revival - Astoria, London - Friday 21st November 2008

Eighteen months to 2 years ago, I seemed to see The View all the time. Last time I saw them properly was at The Forum in London last April, but the first time was only about 6 months before that - and I'm sure I saw them half a dozen times in that short period. They have been away for a while, making a second album, and this was the sole London date on a huge tour of the UK - taking in some very small venues, in some towns that wouldn't normally get a visit from a band like this. So, this was by far the biggest date on the tour, and there seemed to be photographers galore at the front.

Support for this show were Holy Ghost Revival, one of The View's labelmates on 1965 Records. Having a former Rough Trade employee as your head honcho (one who signed The Libertines too), should spell success - but The View aside, none of 1965's other signings have really pulled up any trees. Watching Holy Ghost Revival made it easy to see why not. The band had a pretty "unique" stage show - pretty entertaining in parts, and you could see how somebody could see them live in a small(er) venue and think they were amazing. But, they seemed to be all about the live show, and not much about their songs, which seemed distinctly average.

The band are from Seattle, and have a frontman who more than earns his money. He sang 2 songs from in the crowd, and he reminded you of Iggy Pop with his shirt off, rolling around on the stage. Their tour manager even came on stage to sing one song, which was probably the best of their set. It was very entertaining to watch (even if it was a bit reminiscent of The Darkness in its over the top, cheesiness) - you didn't want to take your eyes off the stage in case you missed something. But, not a single song that they played made any lasting impression. I can see how they got signed on the strength of their live show - but can also see why they don't sell many records. If you heard them on CD without seeing them live, you wouldn't give them a second listen. That said, I will try to get in early, next time I see them supporting somebody, as they are worth another look live.

Very early (but then, this is the Astoria), The View came on stage to a venue that still had lots of space to move around in. They started off with a couple of new songs, the second of which was the excellent new single 5 Rebbeccas. That was followed immediately by Wasted Little DJs, by the end of which, everybody was thoroughly warmed up! The set comprised about half old and half new songs overall, the newer songs sounded generally quite good, albeit more elaborate and less punky than the older material. The audience seemed to react well to the new songs too, which bodes well for their new album.

But overall, it was of course difficult to go mad to songs that you were hearing for the first time. This was a showcase gig, but the warmest audience reactions were still for the old, familiar songs - and these were sprinkled in regularly, so that a familiar tune was never far away. The set ended up in familiar style, with Same Jeans and Superstar Tradesman, although there did seem to be a couple of other decent songs that might make potential set closers in a few months time. The View seem to be capable of writing material that at least lives up to their first album. Welcome back.

Trip to New York and New Jersey, USA - 14th to 20th November 2008

Following a few days in New England, we headed back into New York city for the weekend. The commuter train from New Haven trundled through lots of towns on the edges of New York, before eventually going underground, then pitching up at Grand Central Terminal. A few blocks walk along 42nd Street, and we reached our hotel, the Hilton New York. A room on the 35th floor gave a pretty decent view of (some of) the city, and you could just about see the lights of Times Square. Being a posh Hilton, doing anything more than breathing the air was obscenely expensive - despite having a "free" breakfast included, we were still expected to leave a 20% tip on the $50 "cost" of the breakfast - a nice scam.

The following day, we woke up to pissing rain and virtually no visibility whatsoever. Arsenal were due to play at 10am, so we headed to Nevada Smiths to watch the game. Given the result, I wish I hadn't bothered - another spineless display from Arsenal. In the pub, it was amazing how many people were there (it was packed at 10am when the UK games kicked off), all wearing various Premier League team "jerseys". There was a good Arsenal contingent there, as well as a surprising number of Fulham fans. There were lots of football songs being sung throughout - with lots of strange accents used in them, and in the ways that people were describing the game. "That's a cock sucking call" was said a few times - just weird. Warren Barton was the TV studio pundit for the coverage of the Arsenal game - sadly, with the sound turned down, we did not get to hear his perceptive analysis!

On walking out of the pub after a(nother) depressing Arsenal display and result, we almost bumped into the Kaiser Chiefs, who were playing a gig that night at a venue a couple of blocks away. All very English - bumping into an English band, after watching a football match in the pub - all in the middle of New York.


We seemed to divide much of the time in New York between the SoHo and Greenwich Village area; and Midtown. Staying in Midtown meant a fair bit of walking around that area - at around 5pm on Saturday night, we were in Times Square, which was like hell on earth. Very busy with very, very slow moving and dithering people. Even late on Sunday night, the place was packed - MTV were doing something with a famous person in their studios, so there was a huge crowd outside watching. The whole city seemed to be rammed with Brits as well, all most weird.

After a weekend in New York City, we headed off to Hoboken in New Jersey, to stay for a few days. In reality, this is about 10 minutes (at a quick time) from Manhattan, but may as well be a million miles away in many respects. Being in New Jersey, it is not in either New York City or State, so it is not on any of the transport maps, and is generally not considered by New Yorkers. Getting on the train there was like going back to the 1970s, although the brown, cream and orange decor didn't help there! The main street of Hoboken had lots of independent shops and restaurants, and a generally slower pace of everything than Manhattan.

So, despite Hoboken being a decent enough place to live, eat and shop, we found ourselves heading back into Manhattan every day, for more excitement - it seemed crazy to have New York so close, and not to go there. We did the MoMa, Top Of The Rock, Central Park, and all of the standard stuff - then concentrated on buying stuff (despite the rapidly worsening exchange rate). It was getting colder and colder by the day, so indoor activities started to take over the agenda. It was a great few days in New York, but eventually the cold was setting in so much, it was good to get back to London - relatively warm at a whole 10 degrees.

Trip to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, USA - 10th to 14th November 2008

This was my 6th trip to the USA this year (so far) - this time for a holiday in New York and New England. We flew into New York, stayed for a short night's sleep, then headed straight out of town the next morning. We caught a train from Penn Station to New Haven, Connecticut - to pick up a hire car, then drive around New England for a few days. The train trip out of town took us past some lovely looking NY stockbroker belt towns. We also got to see the beauty of New England in the fall - going through valleys with fantastic colours, as the leaves all changed colour before falling off.

New Haven is a pretty town, and also the home of Yale University. That means there are lots of students, which in turn means good cheap food. Best of all is Pepe's Pizza, which came highly recommended by a few American friends that had been to New Haven. "Best pizza I've ever eaten" was a comment from more than one person. So we headed there, and got 2 people absolutely stuffed on fantastic pizza for under $20 in total. The pizza was very authentic, and absolutely delicious. The experience was rather like a pie and mash shop - things work in a very particular way, and you need to learn what that way is quickly! They have obviously been doing the same thing in exactly the same way for years - which, when it is that good, makes complete sense.

Having picked up a car, we drove through Connecticut - seeing pretty valleys and villages - then into Rhode Island. Rhode Island is a very small (in fact, the smallest), but a very independent state - one of the first to declare independence from Britain, and quite non conformist on lots of other counts too. We entered Rhode Island almost by mistake - driving through a nice looking village centre, which turned out to be 2 villages - Pawcatuck in Connecticut, and Westerly in Rhode Island - which are joined together. We crossed the state line halfway down the main street, and it was something of a surprise. There were lots of other really picturesque villages by the coast in the state, the village of Watch Hill in particular had a very nice harbour, and some absolutely huge houses! Eventually, we wound our way to Providence, the state capital, then exited the state again, into Massachusetts, where we stayed the night.

The following day was spent driving around Cape Cod. Again, there were lovely small villages, beautiful scenery, and those multi coloured trees again. Being 11th November, it was Veterans Day, so there were parades and ceremonies in the small towns. We stopped in the lovely town of Falmouth just before 11am, and saw their Vet Day parade, which reminded me how much more respect Americans seem to have for their servicemen that we do.

Many of the towns in the Cape Cod area are named after towns in Devon and Dorset, like Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Barnstable. Driving around, it was clear to see that the area is a big tourist area (and the scenery was amazing) - but it did have some of the slightly depressing features of small town America. The same chains of restaurants and hotels seemed to repeat themselves every few miles. There are many motels and diners, mostly built during the boom in car ownership and population in the 1950s - and many have not had a lick of paint since. They have either been taken over by the same big national chains (there is a Dunkin' Donuts every 2 miles, it seems), or have just been allowed to become shabby and neglected - all of which makes for a slightly "faded glamour" feel. I suppose going in November, when it was all quite empty and closed up, may not have helped on that front. In general in the US though, I have found that there is great diversity (in things like the people, food, etc) in the cities, but that the small towns all seem to be very similar. Maybe that isn't too different to the UK or anywhere else, but it really strikes you when you visit small town America.

Talking of Devon towns, our tour of Cape Cod eventually ended up in Plymouth, where some of the original pilgrims from England landed - in 1620 in the case of this small town. We saw their boat, and the famous Plymouth Rock, which is supposed to have been the first spot where the pilgrims set foot in America. This was a town full of history, all linked to England, and to the birth of the US as a nation, so it was a really interesting place to look around.

After a night in Plymouth, we drove the short trip to Boston - no trip to New England would be complete without visiting its biggest city. Boston is obviously a pretty big and significant city, and also has bags of history - many of the "first" things in the US were done there. In fact, Boston, New York and Philadelphia are the 3 big cities in the US that do actually have decent history to speak of. The centre point of Boston is a place called Boston Common - a big green area, right in the middle of the city, that has been the centre for meeting, protest and demonstration since the early 1600s. It is one of those great city centre parks, that gives you the fantastic view of significant green space, with the city's buildings rising up in the background.

Boston Common is also the starting point for the Freedom Trail - a 3 mile walk past most of the city's historical landmarks. These include the old Boston City Hall, the state Senate building for Massachusetts, and a whole load of old buildings with historical significance - not just for Boston the city, but some central places to the American Revolution too. The mix of (small) old buildings and (big) modern buildings made for a strange sight at times. Many of the plaques talked about how they didn't like the English very much, luckily, they seem to have warmed to us again since! During a fantastic day of sightseeing there, we visited Cambridge (home of Harvard University), and the North End (the big Italian neighbourhood in Boston), as well as covering most of the centre of town (using the Subway, which had a station with the fantastic name of Alewife). Boston seemed like a really, really nice city - which I got the feeling would be a great place to live. It is dominated by various universities - so there are lots of young people there, and everything seems very relaxed and easy going.

After the day in Boston, the weather turned wet, so we were glad to have got the sightseeing in whilst the weather was good for doing it. The next day and a bit was spent making our way back from Boston to New Haven - slowly, and with plenty of stops and picturesque detours. One big stop was in Mystic, Connecticut, where I was introduced to Five Guys - quite simply the best burger and fries it is possible to eat. They have a branch about a block away from my office in Philadelphia, so I will most definitely be making a number of further visits there. I just wish they would come to London.

All in all, a great few days in New England, looking at some lovely countryside, and exploring a fantastic city. After giving the hire car back in New Haven, we jumped on a commuter train back to New York City, for a few more days there.

Arsenal vs Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 8th November 2008

After the most difficult week in a while for Arsenal (in fact, since the last one - about a month ago), what better than a game against Manchester United to get back on track. Before the game, most seemed to think that we would get beaten and beaten badly; whilst a few had a sneaking suspicion that having struggled lately, we would never be more likely to turn around and beat the Mancs. We were of course all hoping for the latter. In the papers before the game, Nicklas Bendtner was getting lots of press, being pretty much our only striker available. Arsene Wenger was also full of fighting talk - chatting about how our problems aren't due to inexperience, and how a player can be intelligent at 20, or stupid at 30. Fabregas and Gallas seem to bear that out.

So to the game, which overall was a pulsating and enthralling game, one of those games that makes people trot out the cliches about the Premier League being the best in the world. End to end stuff, both teams doing lots of attacking, and plenty of excitement from start to finish. Arsenal probably shaded the chances created, and definitely made more of theirs, which on the day was the difference between the two teams. The pundits were purring afterwards, and this time, for once, they were right.

Nicklas Bendtner was quiet, but did some very important work up front, allowing Nasri to step up and score the 2 goals. Denilson had his best game for a while, working hard in midfield, and the defence (Clichy in particular - again - as well as Almunia) had a good game. By contrast, Manchester United were wasteful in front of goal, Wayne Rooney especially having a bad day at the office (after his recent run of such good form as well - shame!). On another day, with Arsenal finishing like they had against Fenerbahce, and United finishing like we know they can, United could have won this game 4-0. But they didn't, they lost it 2-1, which sparked an all day party in Islington.

The size of the party was all the bigger, given the fact that we seemed to have been playing against 12 men at times. The referee was fussy in penalising Arsenal players, and didn't seem to apply the same standards to the other team. In the first 20 minutes, Wayne Rooney amazingly escaped a booking for a cynical and deliberate hack on Theo Walcott, and we then saw 2 Arsenal players booked for essentially the same offence. Then at the end, the referee added 6 minutes of injury time, which seemed like the longest 6 minutes ever. The 6 minutes were probably just about merited, but it did seem to add to the feeling that Howard Webb was trying to afford Manchester United every advantage. You won't hear that on TV, but that was definitely how it seemed from the stands.

Anyway, sod the referee, even he couldn't take victory away from us. Arsene Wenger has said that our title fortunes this year will depend on how we do against the big 4, and this was a good start. It is very frustrating that we can beat the best of the best, but insist on making title challenges so difficult by capitulating to crap teams. Still, I will never, ever tire of watching Arsenal beat the Mancs, so this was a very welcome victory indeed. I would much rather we beat Man U and lost to Stoke, than the other way around. Thinking about it like that, maybe it wasn't such a bad week after all.

Arsenal vs Fenerbahce - Emirates Stadium, London - Wednesday 5th November 2008

Since the disaster (which had been waiting to happen, one suspects) at Stoke, there has obviously been lots of fallout. In the 4 days since, lots of writing and lots of opinion has emerged, including this incisive piece from the Gooner editor. For many Arsenal fans, the rest of this season will now involve detaching from any idea that we might win the League, hoping that we can finish in 4th place to qualify for the Champions League; and praying that Arsene Wenger can come around to recognising where things have gone wrong - then start to get back onto the right track.

This game wasn't the best start, to be honest. Probably best described as 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back, it was one of the more dull, frustrating and generally forgettable games of recent memory. Fenerbahce were clearly in no mood to concede five goals again, so they turned up looking very defensive indeed. They went forward about twice - maybe three times - in the whole game, but otherwise just concentrated on wasting time and not conceding. All of the "European" tactics were on display - shirt pulling, falling over, rolling around, getting the physio on, making substitutions last 5 minutes - and for the away side, it all worked a treat.

Having said all this, of course there is some responsibility attached to Arsenal for the 0-0 draw. Teams will occasionally come to Emirates to defend and waste time, and if you are a team with aspirations to win things, you should be able to deal with this. More often that not, Arsenal would have been able to (especially at home in Europe) - but not tonight. Confidence is generally low at the moment, and things were definitely not right in the passing and shooting departments. Fabregas looked like a completely different player to the maestro who won the European Championships; Van Persie did almost everything right until he got into the penalty area, whereupon he became completely unable to shoot on target; and Bendtner had a real game to forget, with little impact at all. There were others that didn't exactly have a game to get excited about, and generally the wayward passing was a worry for the second game in a row.

So, there wasn't much to get excited about in this game - lots of the buildup play was fine, but let down by one pass too many, or a dodgy final ball, or a crap shot. But on the bright side, we kept a clean sheet, we didn't lose, and a couple of players that had been drafted in for the day (Djourou and Ramsey in particular) looked decent. Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea also all struggled in the Champions League this week, and in a way, it isn't a bad thing that we play United on Saturday - I'd almost rather play them than a team that's had a week off. It would be just like Arsenal to win that game after a few games of crap - at least, that's what we have to hope!

Work trip to Paris, France - 4th to 5th November 2008

I hadn't been to Paris for 9 months or so, and was missing the place. Sadly, however, this trip did not involve the opportunity to see anything except train, station, metro, office, and hotel - then the same sequence in reverse the following day. So, the massive roof of St Pancras station - still amazing even when you see it for the 10th time - was about the most interesting thing I saw on the whole trip. That and the inside of the bar next to my hotel, where I had dinner - which had Good Shoes, The Pigeon Detectives, and Oasis on the stereo - strange but good.

My hotel room was a typical Paris hotel room - about the size of a postage stamp, and of a slightly dubious level of cleanliness and modernity. The hotel was firmly from the 1970s in most ways. What did surprise me was that I had a full 4-poster bed in my room - but then virtually no other floor space apart from that. To take the picture here, I was practically climbing out of the window, so cramped was the room. Made me wonder why they bothered with the stupidly extravagant bed, in a room the size of a broom cupboard. Very Parisian. This trip was very little except travelling and working, but it did at least remind me that I like Paris, and I need to come back for a weekend before too much longer.

Stoke City vs Arsenal - Britannia Stadium, Stoke - Saturday 1st November 2008

Although I don't go to anywhere near as many away games as I used to - travelling so much for work has removed my desire to go up and down the country at the weekends - I am still a sucker for an opportunity to visit a football ground I've never been to before. So, Stoke City away in the Premier League was an opportunity that wasn't going to be missed in a hurry. On an absolutely freezing day, we hit the M1 to head for one of England's less remarkable towns.

And utterly unremarkable it was too - the Britannia Stadium is just off the motorway, in the middle of an industrial estate. Pre match entertainment consists of a crap branch of Harvester, and the surroundings include factories, car parks, and car showrooms. All very boring - there are lots of new grounds like this (including Reading, Bolton, and many more); and every time I visit one, I thank our lucky stars that Arsenal built their new stadium close to civilisation, rather than by the motorway.

Because of the lack of anything whatsoever to do outside (and the cold and windy weather), we headed pretty quickly into the ground. Luckily, the pies on offer were the best thing about the day, so it was good to have plenty of time to enjoy them! The chicken balti pie actually tasted of something, and the pie tasting in general was the absolute highlight of the day!

When the game started, the locals were very predictably small time and bitter, with plenty of chips on their shoulders. Of course, as an Arsenal fan, you encounter all the bitterness about us being a "Champions League" club; and are also hated for coming from London (of which many Northerners seem to have a pathological hatred - they should remember who subsidises them!). In addition, given our foreign players, the locals often also resort to old fashioned small minded patriotism - the "In Ger Lund" song was first aired a whole 2 minutes after kick off. So all in all, the Britannia Stadium is one of the less hospitable grounds in the Premier League for an Arsenal fan.

I said that the pies were the highlight of the day - they didn't have much competition from the football. Arsenal just didn't seem up for the game at all, and Stoke took full advantage. We did start with some taller players, to counteract Stoke's long throws and aerial ability - it would have been nice if Toure in particular had tried jumping though - his lack of any effort to clear a Delap long throw led to the first goal. Toure didn't want to jump up to head it away, Almunia didn't fancy coming to get the ball either - Arsenal players just didn't really seem to care about having the ball all day. Given that, Stoke's superiority in effort and application meant that they thoroughly deserved the win. The game was marked (again) by a lack of any creativity from Arsenal - we hardly created a chance all game, and the norm was for passes to find the opposition rather than a yellow shirt.

Adebayor limped off just after the second goal, and Van Persie got himself sent off with a ridiculous and unnecessary challenge on the goalkeeper soon afterwards. He obviously couldn't be bothered to stay out there any longer, and as a result is now banned for League games against Manchester United and Aston Villa - just when he had watched fellow striker Adebayor walk off injured. Thanks Robin, you are a genius. If that doesn't get him fined a couple of weeks' wages, nothing will - but I suspect that Wenger will defend him as usual.

So, we have now lost to Fulham, Hull and Stoke - 2 newly promoted teams, along with a cast iron favourite (as usual) to be relegated. Along with disappointing draws against Sunderland and Spurs, and the fact that we still haven't played a decent side yet, and it is all very depressing. With our next 4 League games against Manchester United, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea, this could get a lot worse before it gets any better. And the buck for all of it has to stop with Arsene Wenger, and his decision not to strengthen the squad in the summer. If he honestly thinks that there is no player out there that could make our squad better, he has lost the plot completely.

Wenger said that Stoke were physical - they were slightly (although not overly), but if you know that is going to be the case, you buy some players to cope with it. Wenger seems to be doing little to address the obvious flaws in our squad, but is then complaining when those flaws are exposed. The whole game was such a disaster that there were Arsenal fans fighting amongst themselves by the end. A real day to forget. The title challenge is over, and Arsenal fans are no longer in any doubt that we will face a real battle to finish in 4th place this season. We have an abject lack of bottle, determination, "mental strength" and decent leadership in our side at the moment, and I think that many people will rightly be questioning whether Arsene really "knows" anything any more.

Some good stuff has been written in the aftermath of this game, firstly by Gunnerblog, and secondly by Arseblog. I would agree with both - it is sad what is happening to Arsenal at the moment, and we have to hope that it does not get too much worse, before it starts to get better.