Arsenal vs Portsmouth - Emirates Stadium, London - Sunday 28th December 2008

This was one of those games where the result was much, much more important that the way it was achieved. After a couple of draws in the past week - both against good teams, but you feel we needed more than 2 points from the 2 games - it was important to pick up 3 points here, against one of the so-called "lesser" teams. It was good to see Tony Adams again, and nice that he waved when Arsenal fans sang at him, but we were hoping to make him unhappy in his day job.

The first half was boring. When we all gathered under the stand at half time, the over riding thought was "how very dull". There was lots of Arsenal passing, but very little penetration, no real chances created, and not much to get excited about. Bendtner and Adebayor did not exactly make a dynamic duo up front, Nasri was stuck out on the wing, and the rest of the midfield hardly looked creative. At the other end, Peter Crouch was allowed an unchallenged header, which hit the post - reminding us of Arsenal's defensive frailty, which could strike any any moment.

The second half started as more of the same - Arsenal had the vast majority of possession, created a couple of chances, but either nobody felt like shooting, or the final ball was astray. Still, we know from enough previous games that patience is key here - if we try it enough times, we will score eventually.

The introduction of Carlos Vela made a big difference to the game, for me. He went on the left wing, Nasri switched to the right, and the move injected some flair, creativity and something interesting to Arsenal's play. Vela was lively, worked hard, scared the opposition, and generally played a big part in helping to win the game. The winner came from a Gallas header, but Vela had done enough to unsettle the opposition defenders over the past 10 minutes, to be able to claim some of the credit.

Three points to finish the year, and overall, it doesn't seem like too bad a Christmas break now. For sure, we need to bring in some further resource to our squad in January, just to give us a few more options of the type that Vela provided today. We still have an uphill struggle to finish fourth I think, but with no League game for 13 days, we can at least forget about it all for a short while. A useful 3 points, the result was much better and more important than the game and performance.

Aston Villa vs Arsenal - Villa Park, Birmingham - Friday 26th December 2008

Generally speaking, I like Christmas football, and Boxing Day football in particular. Strange things tend to happen, and you tend to see some weird results. Today, we just saw a great game of football - really exciting, and what makes people say nice things about English football. I went to Birmingham in full expectation that Arsenal would lose to Aston Villa (possibly quite badly), so the eventual result was better than that as well.

The first half was a masterclass of Aston Villa's ability to create high quality chances, and Arsenal's total inability to defend against a decent team. Villa hit the woodwork at least 3 times in the first half, and created a stack of other chances too. The worrying thing throughout was that you could see lots of the chances coming from a mile away - the dangerous free kick that you just knew would find a Villa head and lead to a chance on goal, for example. Arsenal often had all 11 men back defending, but seemed totally unable to prevent such opportunities turning into occasions where the defence was evaded, the keeper beaten, and only the post saved Arsenal from going behind.

Having had such a rotten first half (other than a slight sniff for Van Persie, we did not look like we had a hope in hell of scoring), it was a very pleasant surprise when we scored about 5 minutes before half time. To describe this as "against the run of play" is a huge understatement - when I saw the ball hit the back of the net, I was too surprised and disbelieving to actually celebrate properly! It was a decent finish from Denilson, but completely undeserved on the balance of play, so it made for an amusing time in the away end.

After a half time break spent discussing how lucky we were, we went 2-0 up after a few minutes of the second half! A good move, this one - Diaby was having one of those rare moments where he looks like Patrick Vieira at his best (I did say it was rare). There was some great work by Eboue on the move as well, setting up Diaby for a very good finish. This goal was celebrated properly on the pitch and in the away end - we had an amazing and very lucky 2-0 lead, which prompted shouts of "we've only had 2 shots".

Even more stupidly, after going 2-0 up, we briefly became the better team in the game - some good passing, a few decent moves, and about 5-10 minutes where we looked in control of the game. Van Persie hit the post with our best chance of this period, but it didn't last too long. We were brought back down to earth with the award of a penalty to Villa on the hour - which looked justified enough both at the time, and watching on TV later. Barry took it very well indeed, it gave Villa a huge lift, and prompted Arsenal to resort to hoofing the ball into the upper tier of the stands in desperation again!

After all that, it wasn't a surprise when Villa eventually equalised, after yet another defensive lapse from Arsenal. It was in the 91st minute - always a time where you expect this Arsenal side to concede. But overall, I have mixed feelings about this one. Of course, it is very frustrating to have been 2-0 up, then 2-1 up on 90 minutes, and still to "only" draw the game - especially when it isn't the first time that we have let a lead slip recently. But we didn't deserve 3 points from this game, by any stretch of the imagination at all - so one cannot be too upset about not getting what we never really deserved. A point was better than I expected from the game, less than we could have got, and less than ideal. But, hard to complain at the end.

Arsenal vs Liverpool - Emirates Stadium, London - Sunday 21st December 2008

Having played, and got decent results, against the rest of the "Big 4" so far this season, Liverpool was the final test. They came into the game top of the League, so the team to beat for the season so far - even though I don't really rate them all that much, they do seem to be doing all the things that Champions do. Winning when playing badly, being quite lucky with injuries, getting fortunate refereeing decisions - they have had things their way so far this season. Whether they have the bottle and experience to keep going through the run-in is another matter - and that is where I think they will come unstuck.

I sat upstairs for this game - there was a fantastic view of the whole stadium, but it did seem a bit remote - like a TV view. I was very pleasantly surprised by the level of noise up there, I had expected there to be more atmosphere on the moon than in the Upper Tier, but there was singing and everything, throughout the game! Perhaps the fact that I was above the REDsection helped matters here, as the noise from downstairs definitely seemed to encourage people upstairs. There were a few muppets (including a Liverpool fan, who cheered when they equalised), but generally a good crowd near me. A pleasant surprise.

The first half started OK, got better, then got worse for Arsenal. We went ahead after a period of play where we looked increasingly dominant. The goal was a good one, the finish from Van Persie in particular was one to watch again on TV. Along with his goals at Chelsea, he seems to be showing this season that he is a big game player, and can score cracking goals in important games too. Towards the end of the half, things turned for the worse. Firstly, Liverpool equalised - a ball over the top exposed our obvious defensive weakness, and Robbie Keane (of all people) scored with an excellent finish. When the ball came over, our centre backs were far too far apart, and were totally outpaced. We knew that they were prone to it, but it was depressing to see it happen yet again. Then, right at the end of the half, Fabregas limped off with an injury that could cost us far more than a poxy equalising goal over the rest of the season. Grim stuff going into half time.

The second half started off OK, Arsenal looked quite bright. But, 15 minutes in, Adebayor's sending off really took the wind out of the home side. It looked like a very harsh decision, but then the ref seemed extremely fussy all game (except of course when Keane tackled Gael Clichy very hard early on - and he gave nothing). Generally, he kept blowing his whistle all the time - usually in Liverpool's favour. Adebayor's second yellow card was probably technically correct as a decision (and you have to question Adebayor's sanity, knowing he'd been booked, knowing the referee was fussy, but still going in for the challenge) - but it still makes Howard Webb something of an officious tosser. For much of the rest of the game, there was excellent focus in booing the referee for his anti-Arsenal decision making - there is no way he would have done that at Anfield or Old Trafford, and the crowd let him know what they thought of him.

After the sending off, Arsenal dominated much of the rest of the game. A few players seemed to clearly step up and take some responsibility, and the general team performance looked like one of those "backs to the wall" displays that you sometimes see from teams with 10 men - and better than we might have had with 11 men. Arsenal seemed to have all of the initiative, created the vast majority of the chances, and it was generally incredible how little ambition Liverpool showed. On their display for the last 25 minutes of the game, they did not look like potential or worthy champions - but then, they are much better than us at disposing of the crap teams!

Overall, a point was a very decent result in the circumstances. Our opponents were top of the league, we played with 10 men for half an hour, lost Fabregas at half time, and the referee was Liverpool's 12th man. At times towards the end, you thought we could have won the game - but given all that happened, it is hard to be too disappointed with the draw.

Mumford And Sons - Pure Groove, London - Friday 19th December 2008

Over the past year or two, one of the real shifts in the music industry in London has been in its record shops. On one hand, the crappy chains are deservedly struggling, as people realise that they don't need to spend £13 on a chart album any more. At the same time, the "proper" record shops seem to be going from strength to strength. Selling original stuff that is hard to find elsewhere, and being great places to spend time, the more innovative shops are also going into the gig business, with lots of instore performances. Pure Groove is one such good shop - selling only 100 items, hand picked by the staff, just their choice of 100 albums, singles and t shirts (plus 100 free downloads as well, from their website). Doing that in Central London (rather than up Holloway Road, where the shop used to be) is a risky thing to try, but the in store performances really attract people in now.

One such performance attracted me in, by Mumford And Sons - a band whose MySpace tunes and EPs had really impressed me. In fact, they had been on almost constant rotation on my iPod for the previous couple of weeks, so this was an easy choice to make about whether to go. I got there half an hour before show time, and joined a queue which quickly got quite a bit longer. We waited in the cold for half an hour or so, and were then let into the shop, walking past some blokes standing having a cigarette by the door as we went.

Those blokes turned out to be the band, who soon afterwards walked through the shop, and got up on stage for a 4 song set. I had heard 2 of the songs before, but the first and last ones were new to me - and I really enjoyed the whole set from start to finish. The singer bears more than a passing resemblance to Carl Barat, but it is his voice that really stands out - it is an absolutely rasping, piercing voice, incredible. The band's music is reminiscent of Noah and The Whale (and the other London bands from the same scene), but seems much more folky and American at the same time. Although it is all rather familiar, they definitely seem to have something about them that others do not - and some pretty good songs as well.

This was of course a very short set, but I really, really like this band - they are going to record a new EP in January or February, so hopefully that will mean more gigs very soon. If there is any justice, Mumford And Sons will be coming to many more peoples attention next year.

The Hold Steady - Roundhouse, London - Wednesday 17th December 2008

After almost a year of not having seen them, and a near miss when they postponed this gig from October, I went along to see the new, improved Hold Steady. With a new album out this year, and one which received a warm critical reception too, the band are inching towards the more widespread success that their music and lyrics deserve. This show was their biggest ever headline gig, an event which London has hosted before, on the band's rise.

We got into the venue very early for some strange reason, to find the main room almost totally empty. There were a few people bagging a space by the front barrier, but apart from that, there was nobody in the venue. Maybe because The Hold Steady don't often tend to have decent support bands, and that it had been incredibly hard to glean any info about who was opening up for them - so people had no reason to show up early. The support band were called The Mark Inside, and whilst stationed at the bar, their set rather passed me by. I was vaguely aware of a band playing somewhere in the distance, but they seemed utterly unremarkable, they looked like they were trying to look like Kings Of Leon, but didn't seem to have either the charisma or the songs. So, not a huge surprise that all involved seemed determined to keep their appearance a virtual secret!

By the time The Hold Steady came on stage, the venue had filled up nicely, but it was still fairly easy to get a decent place in front of the mixing desk. They kicked off with Banging Camp, before the opening tracks from the current album, Constructive Summer and Sequestered In Memphis made an appearance, to a very enthusiastic response. The band spoke very little to the audience, preferring instead to just crash from one song straight into another. Surprisingly for me, the songs seemed to be drawn fairly evenly from their last 3 albums, with a few from their debut in there as well. So, a career spanning set, in front of an audience who seemed to know even the older stuff - obviously their back catalogue has been selling OK!

All in all, this was an awesome set I thought, the band seemed tight as ever, and the songs were again a perfect soundtrack to a lairy night. The singer was looking as up for it as ever (he has apparently lost weight too, due to all the exertion of being the band's frontman), and as the set progressed, he did start to talk a bit more. Their version of Lord I'm Discouraged, which ended with a solo on a double necked guitar, was suitably over the top and rock and roll; and I loved the version of Your Little Hoodrat Friend that rounded off the main set, and was a real highlight of the show. A minor shock in the encore, that they didn't finish off with Killer Parties, but this was a brilliant show overall, and reminded me how much I'd missed seeing the band over the last year.

The Belgrave Scandal - Monto Water Rats, London - Saturday 13th December 2008

As quickly as possible after the lower league football match, I headed back into town for a meeting with The Belgrave Scandal. Playing the opening slot at the Water Rats, it was a struggle to get from Leyton to Kings Cross in time - but I just about made it. This is a great venue for the Scandal to be playing - the venue for Oasis's first ever London gig (although they play bigger places now), and a room that The Courteeners were playing in just 14 months ago. The band at the top of the bill, The Maybes?, are getting good reviews also, so an all-round decent slot to be playing.

The band came on stage just before 6:30, and kicked off with Black Pages and Brighton Away. The stage was bathed in lots of blue light, and the room was full of smoke, which made the room seem fuller (and hotter) and the set more atmospheric (even if the guitars did seem to be a bit too quiet). The audience were also fairly quiet for this one, but of course it was early, and they definitely got warmer and more enthusiastic as the Scandal's set went on. By the time Take That Train turned into House Of Cards at the end of the set, there was a decent sized crowd, and they seemed to be enjoying what the band were doing.

This set provided another good opportunity to hear some of the band's new songs - a couple of which are new to the point that they don't have names yet. One which does, 5 O'Clock Shadows, has really started to grow on me, and the other newer ones sound like they represent a different and very positive direction for the band. This is probably the last Belgrave Scandal gig of the year, they have definitely improved hugely (especially in the vocal department) this year - and their new songs really sound like they are capable of doing things in 2009.

Leyton Orient vs Cheltenham Town - Brisbane Road, London - Saturday 13th December 2008

The annual trip to see Leyton Orient play, which took place in the pouring rain, as is traditional. We arrived in the ground early, to take advantage of the Arsenal match being shown on the big screen in the bar. We had £35 "gallery" tickets again, which gave easy access to a nicely stocked bar, and some lovely salt beef sandwiches for £4 a throw. The gallery also had heating, which was a big bonus on a pretty disgusting day for weather.

Shortly after the Arsenal game finished (in disappointment, for the umpteenth time this season so far), we went outside to brave the elements and watch the third division football on offer. It was raining hard, and the pitch was very wet indeed, which added to the amusement value - footballers that aren't very good in the first place, don't get any better when they play on a pitch that kicks up spray every time you touch the ball. So, there was a lot of slipping and sliding around, which made the tackles seem even clumsier and less skillful. What might be a yellow card in the Premiership and Champions League, you are lucky to get a free kick for at this level.

Early on in the game, the weather claimed its first casualty - the linesman slipped and pulled a muscle, which required 5 minutes of treatment before he was replaced by the fourth official. Either that or he didn't fancy standing in the cold, so he faked it. That was an unusual thing to see, and it added to the amusement of those around me, that we were watching something quite amateurish (although of course a linesman at any level can get injured). From a refereeing point of view, the rest of the game was no less lively, with a penalty and a red card to add to the list of incidents.

Orient and Cheltenham, both towards the bottom of the division, were fairly evenly matched, and so the game was quite tight. Cheltenham took the lead in the first half, before Orient equalised through what looked like a rightly awarded penalty. Then, in the second half, Cheltenham got the winner, with a goal that reminded me of Wayne Bridge's Champions League winner at Highbury in 2004 - painful memories there! We were sat just behind the benches, so we got to experience the crazy antics of Cheltenham manager Martin "mad dog" Allen - he shouted like a nutter throughout, but it obviously worked, because he got the result.

Orient players were booed off at the end, after a disappointing performance, where they created little, but still contrived to miss a couple of really good chances. JJ Melligan provided most of their creativity on the right hand side, but (like many flair players) absolutely did not fancy the parts of the game that required slightly more work. He went missing when Cheltenham scored the winner, and even changed his kit at one point, because it got wet. A good player, who annoyed defenders when he ran at them with the ball (the red card for the away team came when somebody clattered him), but something of a tart apart from that. This was a pretty big win for Cheltenham, so their fans were making all the noise when the game finished - as the Orient fans skulked away, muttering under their breath about the missed chances to win the game.

Arsenal vs Wigan Athletic - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 6th December 2008

Straight off the plane from Philadelphia, I went to this game, hoping that Arsenal could win 2 League games in a row for the first time in a while. Having beaten Chelsea away the previous week, we were all aware that it would have all been in vain if we couldn't do the same against Wigan. Despite a disappointing defeat for the kids against Burnley in the week, we had Adebayor and Van Persie back up front for this one, as well as the excellent looking Djourou in defence again, and Kolo Toure back to partner him.

Things in the game started off OK, then got a bit more frustrating, before eventually turning weird. The first half hour saw Almunia with little to do in goal; Arsenal having the majority of possession; and creating a few decent half chances. After about 25 minutes, a ball seemed to deflect off Alex Song into the path of Adebayor, who pounced to sweep the ball past Kirkland for the goal that won the game. A good reaction from Adebayor, who managed to remain onside, and was in the right place at the right time.

The second half contained the frustrating and weird parts of the game. Arsenal created and squandered a host of chances - hitting the post more than once, and having at least 3 other chances where you just couldn't believe how they didn't go in. This happened across the first 30 minutes of the second half. Then, with 15 minutes to go, Arsenal seemed to crap themselves - as if they feared that they wouldn't score a second, but might concede a goal. They retreated to defending, and in the process, handed the initiative to Wigan. Wigan responded, came back into the game a little more, and an Almunia save from Melchiot was needed to keep us in the game.

The scapegoat for all of this was Emmanuel Eboue, who came on to replace Nasri on the left wing after half an hour. He had been injured for 6 weeks, and was playing in a totally unfamiliar position, so his poor game was understandable. What wasn't acceptable was the extent to which the Arsenal fans got on his back. He isn't the greatest player in the world, but booing your own players is inexcusable. Arsene Wenger admitted that he was becoming a liability, in no small part because the fans were on his back so much - which ultimately led to his substitution, and the cheers and boos as he went off. I have no idea who these Arsenal fans are, but there were a hell of a lot - too many - of them. Alan Hansen thought so too it seems, Arsenal fans have something of a poor reputation right now - and rightly so on this showing. No matter what the frustrations this season, booing does not help, and "fans" should not be doing it.

Work trip to Philadelphia, USA - 1st to 5th December 2008

What seemed like my billionth trip to Philadelphia (actually, I counted, it was the 8th time I've been), and I still haven't seen the Liberty Bell. Shameful. This was also my 7th and final visit to the goons at US Immigration this year, and thankfully my final foreign trip of the year. It got off to an annoying start, with an excruciatingly long flight over there. 200 mph head winds meant that we almost started going backwards as we approached the US east coast. All in all, we were in the air for almost 9 hours (as opposed to just over 7 that it should have taken) - I really wasn't psyched up for that at all, so it was a very boring and annoying flight.

Some of these trips involve a decent amount of "play", mixed in with a lot of hard "work", but this was not one of those. This was generally all work, and lots of it - there just never seemed to be enough hours in the day whilst I was there. Apart from an evening out seeing Nada Surf, this was a trip of long hours, lots of meetings, and not seeing a lot apart from my office and my hotel. So, although I have had some good times in the US this year, this was not a memorable trip to finish off the year.

One thing I did encounter (again) on my travels was a branch of the Philly deli chain called Wawa. This sells sandwiches, coffee and the like, but encapsulates the endless complexity and customisation options that exist in the US. You can have everything they sell, every possible way - so complicated in fact that you have to go through a touch screen set of menus just to order a sandwich. I captured the whole ridiculous set of choices, here.


Not much to write home about other than that - I saw a lot of people wearing Phillies clothing (now that they are World Series champions) - or maybe I just noticed them more. Those 200mph winds were still there on the flight back home, so we were in the air for less than 6 hours. Good to put the passport away for a while, I'll enjoy not going near an airport for a month or so.

Nada Surf, Delta Spirit - Trocadero, Philadelphia, USA - Thursday 4th December 2008

Whilst in Philadelphia, I was keen to do something other than work, so it was good to see that Nada Surf were playing. I had seen them at Glastonbury back in 2003 (and in the 1990s also I think), and they were quite good (especially as the sun was out at the time), so I downloaded their new album, had a listen, and bought a ticket for the show. It seemed like I was one of the only ones that did, as I got an email the day before, advertising 2 for 1 tickets on the door. Given that the venue was like a converted cinema, so couldn't have held more than 1000 people, that constitutes a real struggle to sell their tickets.

The support band were called Delta Spirit, and having been banished to the balcony if you wanted a beer (and been banned from leaning over the balcony with a drink in your hand, presumably lest the evil substance pollute the under-21s below), we settled down to watch them. They had a very radio friendly sound I though - what Americans call "alternative", but the UK thinks of as mainstream. So, they played songs that sounded, well, nice - they played them very well, but I didn't think they were particularly exciting. Towards the end of their set, they got a lot better - they pulled out their one or two really good songs, and also played a mini-encore as well, featuring a cover. The last 10-15 minutes of the set was actually pretty enjoyable, but it was a shame that the previous half hour wasn't as good.

Then, Nada Surf appeared, to a hall which was actually decently full by the time they arrived. I recognised their first couple of songs, and they seemed to be getting a good reaction from the audience. I have heard 2 of their albums - current album Lucky, and their 2002 album Let Go. Given that, I recognised probably the majority of the songs they played, which was quite pleasing. Pleasing because it meant I enjoyed the gig more, but also because I presume that the stuff I know is the good stuff! They had a female vocalist join them on stage for one song, which featured some nice chorus harmonies, but for most of the gig, they were a 3-piece.

Generally, most of Nada Surf's songs were again quite radio friendly alt-rock. During the show, I was thinking about this, and how strange it is that there is lots of this kind of music in the US, but relatively little appetite for it in the UK. Nada Surf would be highly unlikely to be very successful in the UK - because there just doesn't seem to be the market for what they do - no huge network of competing commercial radio stations, no advertisers that demand inoffensive content that sounds nice, but is fairly bland.

Having said this, Nada Surf have a tidy collection of some pretty good songs, as far as alternative radio rock goes, they are definitely among the best of the bunch. A very "American" experience here - not the type of show and tour you would see happening very much in the UK. So, an interesting experience, I was very glad I went.