Visit Rwanda

Here's a quiz question.

Have you ever wondered whether organisations get value for money out of their advertising?

That wasn't the question.

On 16th April 2025, Arsenal played Real Madrid in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, in front of 77,073 fanatical football fans. The Arsenal players were wearing shirts with "Visit Rwanda" on the sleeves.

Here's the question.

How many of the 77,073 ended up thinking "Wow, Rwanda. Sounds like a cool place. I wonder what its beaches are like. Can I get a cheap flight tomorrow?"

If you guessed more than 0, you're deluded.

Apparently the Rwandan Tourist Board pays Arsenal £10 million a year for the sponsorship deal. It has been rumoured that the football club is reconsidering whether to continue after the current deal ends this year, because of "reputational damage". I think they should carry on; it's money for old rope. And £10 million would get you a backup goalie.

******************

By The Way #1: Rwanda is a landlocked country, However, it (says ChatGPT) "boasts beautiful inland beaches along the shores of Lake Kivu, one of Africa's Great Lakes, situated on the western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo". That's the DRC they are at war with (it's not technically a war but they are fighting each other).

By The Way #2: Arsenal won the match 2-1, with a beautiful winning strike from Gabriel Martinelli. I knew you'd want to know. Here it is.

https://youtube.com/shorts/_W7XsyCa6iU?si=SD7BARL0WVJ40OVm

Spinach, broccoli and blueberries

I don't eat many vegetables. I eat lots of fruit and usually accompany my fish or meat with salads. I'm not sure this is a healthy, balanced diet, so I asked ChatGPT (I know, don't believe everything it tells you) "is it OK to eat lots of fruit but no vegetables" (I don't bother with question marks - if ChatGPT can't figure out it's a question then it's stupid). 

Answer: not really, because I'm missing various nutrients and "phytonutrients" (it can't resist showing off). "Would you like tips on how to include more vegetables painlessly?"

Sure.

"If you dislike vegetables, you might try blending greens into smoothies or pairing raw veggies with dips".

That's why I'm sitting here, waiting patiently for tonight's key Arsenal match, nothing else to do except write a blog post, and eating/drinking a smoothie containing spinach, broccoli, blueberries, 15 grams of protein powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder and peanut butter. What a weird mixture! But it's actually remarkably refreshing - so try it!

ChatGPT recommended frozen cauliflower for a creamy texture, so that's on tomorrow's shopping list. 

As for the dips, I checked out the nutrition stats on the labels of various types (I like to minimise carbohydrate intake) and ended up with aioli, which I tried last night with raw carrot. I'm not at all sure whether this aioli is healthy or not:

(per 100g)

• 2.7g carbs (that sounds good)
• 79.0g fat (that sounds horrendous)
• of which saturates 5.9g (that's OK then - or is it?)

I THINK that means that the 73.1 grams of unsaturated fats (beneficial for heart health) are OK. Phew!

I would actually like to make an effort to lose some weight, so I'm going with this and actually not even drinking 0% alcohol for a week or two. I see that the can of 0% Guinness in my fridge contains 16.7 grams of carbs, so that's it - in the bin! (Not actually; I may need a celebration after tonight's match, or alternatively a consolation drink). And the blueberries are much better than bananas in my smoothies.

In case you're thinking "Nigel, you should get walking", I'll be covering that in due course.

(I guess that's different from "Nigel, you should get out more")

Tips for nutrition, smoothies, painless vegetables (no potatoes) and weight loss welcomed!

The Bleedin' Obvious

There are some ideas that are so obviously stupid that it's not worth the effort setting out the arguments. Like sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. And Government-appointed football regulators.

The Government's White Paper is driven by a "fan led review". Have you ever seen a football fan, Mr Sunak**? These are morons who, bare chested in the middle of winter, stand up - blocking the view of those seated behind them - and yell obscenities at the opposition (and sometimes their own) players and the officials*. Obviously they should regulate football.

Governments wouldn't dream of interfering in other private businesses. Football isn't special. It's not a cultural icon that needs protection, like the Royal Opera House (don't get me onto that). Go and regulate an industry that's out of control, like electricity providers.

There may be an upside, though. When Kier Starmer, an Arsenal season ticket holder, becomes PM, he might appoint Jeremy Corbyn - another - to be Sports Minister, thus enabling a Golden Age of Gunners success. Let's do it!

* This pretty much accurately describes me in front of the TV watching football. Without the bare chest, obviously. Many years ago I stopped taking my young sons to football matches, because of the foul language and obnoxious behaviour. That of the fans too.

** I'm guessing that's a No.

Arsenal notes

Those of my readers who hate football probably don't know what an Arsenal is. Apart from: a repository for weapons or even a collection of those weapons. As in Woolwich Arsenal. A recent definition of an Arsenal would be along the lines of "a collection of over-paid, under-performing old actors chasing a ball". Current definitions, however, include "a well-rehearsed collection of hungry young men with a common goal". This is the Arsenal we fans have come to know in recent months.

I'm struggling here to keep the non-footy readers engaged.

I want to comment on some under-mentioned aspects of Arsenal's victory over Aston Villa yesterday. The Gunners got their goal in the first half and looked pretty comfortable, although without creating too many chances for a second, until the 70th minute. At that point Arteta decided - entirely reasonably - that his young charges were looking tired and brought on Nicolas Pepe and, ten minutes later, Eddie Nketiah. Now, you two guys, you have just one job: hold on to the ball and keep it as far away from your own goal as possible. Preferably around the opposition's corner flag. These two were completely unable, even unwilling, to do this simple thing. To the extent that, in the final minute of added time, Pepe gave away the ball, and committed a rash foul, just outside his own penalty area, giving Philippe Coutinho, an excellent free kick taker, the opportunity to get an undeserved draw for Aston Villa. Only the alert Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal prevented this happening.

Frankly guys, that was unacceptable. And for me you have forfeited the right to come on as a sub for the rest of the season. And beyond.

I get that Arteta maybe thought a second goal was the best way to confirm the victory, but Pepe's record in 75 Premier League appearances for Arsenal is just 16 goals. So the probability of his scoring in 90 minutes would be 16/75 = 0.21. In 15 minutes that would be 0.035, i.e. almost in miracle territory. If you want to guarantee keeping your one goal lead, get one of your young summer recruits on - Sambi Lokonga or Nuno  Tavares. They will (a) put in the effort and (b) do what their manager says.

Which leads me to summer recruitment. Obviously this is heavily dependent on which - if any - European competition Arsenal qualify for but let's put that to one side. Nicolas Pepe has only one attribute to act as an able deputy for Bukayo Saka as the right sided attacker: he plays in that position. No-one is going to give Arsenal anything like the £70 million they paid for Pepe but they should move him on. And bring in a young live-wire wide player such as Olise or Eze from Crystal Palace or Trincão from Barcelona.

As for Nketiah, he's out of contract and off. As is Lacazette. There has been talk of offering Laca a one or two year deal but that ignores two key points: (1) he will want to play every game in order to maximise his (admittedly minimal) chance of being in the French squad for the World Cup (2) he doesn't score goals. Yes he works hard, is a good example as captain and links play, but that lack of goals (4 this Premier League season) could easily cost Arsenal that precious 4th place in this season's Premier League. Arsenal need to bring in two strikers. Because strikers are generally the most expensive players to buy - and pay - one should be an established goalscorer in a top European league (i.e. not France) and the other a 22/23 year old with huge promise. More in future blog posts of who they could be. Talk of Calvert-Lewin has me aghast. I just don't think he fits either category.

Finally, a midfield partner for Thomas Partey. We can't continue with Grant Xhaka. There are better midfielders around. It looks like 4-3-3 is here to stay so a creative midfielder who doesn't have a frequent flier plan for yellow cards, early to mid 20s, would fit the bill. The top two in this season's Premier League midfielders yellow card list are Ruben Neves (9) and Yves Bissouma (8). Surprisingly Xhaka has only 6! We want someone less ill-disciplined than Granit, not more. Douglas Luiz and Youri Tielemans are worth a look. Tielemans has 10 through balls this season - Odegaard has 18 (!) and Partey 9. But the player I would like to see in that position is James Ward Prowse. If Arsenal need more goals, he's your guy, I reckon.

Let me know, in the comments below, what your thoughts are.

Somerset villages

Driving from Cornwall to Kent recently, I noted a couple of interesting place names. Both are Somerset villages.

Queen Camel is a strange name. ancestry.co,uk gives us this which, IMO, verges on gibberish:

Camel Name Meaning

English and French: from the word denoting the animal, Norman French came(i)l, Latin camelus, classical Greek kamelos. The surname may have arisen from a nickname denoting a clumsy or ill-tempered person. It may also be a habitational name for someone who lived at a house with a sign depicting a camel. English: from an assimilated pronunciation of Campbell. English: possibly a habitational name from Queen Camel and West Camel in Somerset, Camel(le) in Domesday Book (1086), possibly a Celtic name from canto- ‘border’, ‘district’ and mel ‘bare hill’. Probably an Americanized spelling of Kamel.

King Henry III's wife Eleanor of Provence apparently owned land in the area in the 13th century and perhaps she's the Queen in the name. If so, why not Queen's Camel? Or Camel Queen?

John Leland, a renowned 16th century English historian, apparently believed that the village was the site of King Arthur's final battle. Wasn't Arthur a legend? Could this be the origin of fake news? However, it appears that the village is in the electoral ward of Camelot. Who knew? I passed quickly by, in case I met any ill-tempered people. Or camels.

Compton Paucefoot is even more odd. The only thing I found about Pauncefoot was Wikipedia telling us of "a Norman knight called Pauncefote ('Fat-bellied')" but there's nothing I could discover to corroborate that. There is also a Bentley Pauncefoot in Worcestershire so maybe quite a few fat-bellied knights roamed the English countryside in medieval times. A Compton is thought to refer to a farmstead in a narrow valley and it seems there are lots of those in this part of the world: Compton Martin, Compton Dundon, Compton Dando and Compton Bishop are all in Somerset.

I grew up reading about and following the exploits of the great Middlesex and England cricketer Denis Compton. Anyone as old as me will remember his exuberant, dashing and fleet-footed batting. He was the Mikhail Baryshnikov of cricket. He scored 5,807 runs (18 centuries) in 78 Test matches for England at an average of 50.1. In all first class matches he scored 38,942 runs (123 centuries) at an average of 51.0. Anyone with a knowledge of cricket will know that these are outstanding figures. He was also a very serviceable left arm spinner, available as an option when the regular bowlers were struggling to take wickets. As was common in the 1930s and 1940s, many full-time cricketers played cricket in the summer and football in the winter. Compton did so and won a League title and FA Cup winners medal with Arsenal. Argentina has a reasonable cricket team so maybe you'll see Lionel Messi turning out for them in between belting in goals for his new club.

Compton was a Player. That seems an odd thing to say but, until 1962, there were two categories of cricketer in England. The Players were the professionals and their names were shown on the scorecards with their initials following their surname, e.g  Compton D.C.S. The Gentlemen were amateurs and their initials preceded their surname, as in M.J.K. Smith (himself a double international for England at cricket and rugby union).

Denis had a brother, Leslie, who also played for Middlesex (although not for England) at cricket and Arsenal at football - with two caps for England. As I recall, he was what is known these days as a "no nonsense" centre half. Meaning basically "you might get the ball past me; you might get yourself past me, but certainly not both".

Those were the days.

Speaking of strange place names, any guesses at the origins of Cuckoo-Down-Lane, a footpath in Whitstable in Kent? I walked along it and saw no cuckoos, down or otherwise.

All or Nothing

Amazon have announced the latest in their All or Nothing sports documentary series. These series follow a sports team through a season, with substantial behind the scenes access. They began with a number of NFL teams in the US - Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams - from 2015 through 2019. The New Zealand rugby union team - the All Blacks - followed in 2018 then they switched to football (soccer). I watched the series on Manchester City and, most recently, Tottenham Hotspur; today Amazon announced that Tottenham's North London rivals, Arsenal, will be the next subject. Filming will begin shortly, continue through the 2021-22 Premier League season and launch probably in late August 2022.

I don't know whether flies sit on walls and ceilings watching human behaviour but the phrase 'fly on the wall' is ubiquitous. phrases.org.uk tells me "This is an American phrase that originated there in the 1920s. The first citation of it that I can find is from The Oakland Tribune, February 1921: 'I'd just love to be a fly on the wall when the Right Man comes along.'" I do remember Eye in the Sky, an excellent movie starring Helen Mirren in which an insectothopter drone (disguised as a dragonfly) is used for surveillance. Now, a dragonfly is not technically a fly but note the following from Clegg's Termite and Pest Control:

In old Romanian folklore, the dragonfly was actually a horse ridden by Saint George. St. George rid the mythical town of Silence of the dragon that lived in the town’s pond and poisoned the town. After wounding the dragon, he leashed the dragon and gave it to the town’s princess. Saint George’s horse became a giant flying insect when cursed by the devil. In the Romanian language, the word for dragonfly translates into Devil’s Horse or Devil’s fly. The Romanian word for devil is drac, which can also indicate dragon. In English, it translated to dragonfly.

When I worked at the Royal Ballet School, many years ago, we were once approached by a TV company (I don't recall which one) with a request to do one of these documentaries. Once we realised that we would have zero editorial control, it was an easy No Thanks. The classic "stern ballet teacher bullies pupils" meme could be too much of a temptation for a producer to manipulate. It was pitched as "this will help your recruitment of young dancers". Our reply "we don't have any problem recruiting dancers and it's possible [not necessarily likely] that whatever you come up with would make that worse rather than better" made our case. Why take a risk when you don't need to?

And that's the dilemma for these football clubs - what exactly do they gain and what might they lose? Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners probably thought it was a perfect fit for their reason for owning a football club - image burnishing to counteract the poor human rights image of the emirate. Tottenham's Chairman, Daniel Levy, never shies away from an opportunity for publicity - and, indeed, is a major actor in the drama [in his contract?]. The Spurs manager at the time, Mauricio Pochettino was apparently not particularly enamoured with the idea - and got himself sacked in episode 1.

I couldn't find any viewing/streaming figures for any of these but critical response to the Tottenham series was generally uncomplimentary: "show ends in a no score bore" (Financial Times), "boringly sanitised" (The Guardian"), "almost a glorified puff piece" (The Daily Telegraph). I do remember enjoying watching it although that was very much as an Arsenal fan watching a car crash.

So to Arsenal. As with Spurs, it's unclear whether rookie manager Mikel Arteta had an input into the decision. Probably not; it's hard to imagine any manager being happy for all his decisions and conversations to be scrutinised and preserved for posterity, and this coming season will almost certainly be 'make or break' for Arteta as manager as he rebuilds the squad and attempts to reverse recent decline; his future career may well be influenced by it. Money? Tottenham were apparently paid £10 million, so for post-pandemic cash-strapped clubs that might be a reason to go ahead but Arsenal's search for a new right back is unlikely to be influenced by such a trivial sum.

One of the questions is whether the presence of cameras (many of them remote controlled, so perhaps the players are supposed to forget they are there), influences behaviour. The "performances" of Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, and Jose Mourinho, the new manager [at the time - since sacked] of Tottenham Hotspur, were certainly characterised by almost continuous foul-mouthed tirades. I don't think we'll be getting such behaviour from Arteta but you never know. As an Arsenal fan, I hate the idea but the current demand for "reality TV" is huge and, who knows, it could be a great success if the Gunners win the Premier League. And I'll be watching it in a year's time.

The next time I see a fly on my wall, I'll chase it away before it reports back to base.

Someone else of a restless nature

I read about Juanma Lillo, assistant manager at Manchester City, who has apparently managed 17 football clubs in his career. Googling "which manager has managed the most clubs?" gives you Roy Hodgson, who has managed 16. I if were Juanma I'd be a bit cheesed off about that.

In 1981 Lillo, a Spaniard, took his first managerial position at Amaroz KE, a small club in a small town called Tolosa in northern Spain. I could find no mention of this club in any of my usual reference material so it's possible it doesn't exist any more. Probably not Lillo's fault. His most recent managerial dalliance was in China at Qingdao Huanghai, who play in the Chinese Super League.

Hodgson's managerial career began in 1976 in Norway and subsequently encompassed clubs in England, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Italy as well as coaching the national teams of Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland.

In comparison with these two giants of peripatetic football, Alex Ferguson was manager of Manchester United for 26 consecutive years. Not quite a one club manager - he managed three Scottish clubs before United. Arsene Wenger managed Arsenal for 22 consecutive years and these two stand side by side as the longest successful managerial reigns in modern football.

But they pale in comparison with the records of Fred Everiss, who managed West Bromwich Albion from 1902 to 1948, and Guy Roux, who managed Auxerre in three separate reigns totalling more than 40 years.

What is it about these two distinct types - Lillo and Hodgson restlessly seeking new challenges and Ferguson and Wenger (in the same era) challenging themselves to drive their clubs to new heights? If you Google career restlessness, you get items characterising it as a negative, requiring remedial coaching:

"Agitation and restlessness: what causes it?"

"Feeling unhappy and restless at work?"

According to that, Lillo and Hodgson are suffering from some kind of illness, or least a syndrome that needs remedies but it seems to me more likely that's a misunderstanding of lifestyle choices: I've taken this team as far as I can, now I (and they) need a new challenge. A search for improvement rather than a Ferguson/Wenger search for perfection. Indeed a recognition that there is no perfection and that the pursuit of it is doomed to failure.

Of course, it could be that Lillo and Hodgson were not very good at their jobs and kept getting sacked; you'd have to be prepared to do more research to establish that. You might also have to be of an uncharitable nature.

I'm glad there are different kinds of people in the world and we should appreciate difference as a positive. Hooray for them all.

The Boys are Back in Town

As Thin Lizzy sang:

Guess who just got back today
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven't changed, hadn't much to say
But, man, I still think them cats are crazy

In this case, the boys were 22 young men, four officials and numerous coaching and support staff. Most importantly, two thousand football fans.

Last night's match at the Emirates Stadium in North London between home club Arsenal and visitors Rapid Vienna marked the first post lockdown match involving a Premier League team. London is in Tier 2 and so 2,000 fans were allowed in. Fully socially distanced and ultra-cautious monitoring.

The teams ran out to the strains of Thin Lizzy's song. The fans cheered, booed when necessary (when Vienna scored a goal) and their rabid influence caused Arsenal to be well, most unlike Arsenal recently, scoring four goals.

On Sunday the Gunners move across London to Tottenham for their next match. While Arsenal were hammering Rapid last night, Spurs struggled to a 3-3 draw against a different Austrian team LASK, in the historic city of Linz. Their most recent, and iconic signing, Welshman Gareth Bale, on loan from Real Madrid, suffered the ignominy of being substituted by .....no, not Harry Kane, not new striker Vinicius.... journeyman trundler Serge Aurier. Spurs will have their own 2,000 fans to help but Arsenal fans in front of our TVs will be singing the latest epic I have penned:

Gareth Bale
You've gone all stale
Nothing is sorrier
Than giving way to Aurier

I don't think Thin Lizzy still perform so I'll have to get someone else to record it.

Sing loud, fellow Gunners fans!

Here they come!

I became interested in what music is played in football stadiums when their team comes onto the pitch for a match. Why do they make the choice?

I was watching a match at the Emirates Stadium involving the home team Arsenal. They came out to London Calling by The Clash. It's a fairly tepid punk rock song, starting:

London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared and battle come down

Presumably whoever chose it saw the forthcoming match as a war. Sheffield United was the faraway town. Maybe it worked - Arsenal won - but my recent experience of Arsenal players is that they see a game of football more of a stroll in the park than a war.

They used to run out to Motorhead's The Game. This is more like it, throbbing heavy metal - if the players aren't up for it after this, they never will be.

It's time to play the game
Time to play the game! Hahaha
It's all about the game and how you play it.
All about control and if you can take it.

Probably the most recognisable of team entry music is Liverpool's You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Frankly I don't see how the team could be inspired by this dreary song.

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown

There is a lot of wind and rain in Liverpool though so maybe the players are being encouraged to revel in the stormy weather. Not so effective in May, perhaps.

What about West Ham? They come out to:

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.

Seriously? You think this will encourage your guys? I guess West Ham fans would find the last two lines pretty indicative of the last few seasons.

Manchester City enter to the 1934 song Blue Moon.

Blue Moon, Blue Moon, Blue Moon
Moon, moon, moon, Blue Moon
Moon, moon, moon, Blue Moon

And you complain when your players start the match sleepy?

I guess some fans just like to have a sing song, which you can easily do to Blue Moon or Bubbles, or an emotional wallowing with Walk Alone, but not so much with Motorhead.

Stonehenge

Nigel, do you talk to yourself?

       Of course; doesn't everyone? I also talk to my computer, my TV, my fridge and a jigsaw puzzle which I am working on.

What do you say to your TV?

     Typically I'm standing up and yelling "stop passing backwards", "get rid of the ball" and "don't pass to Xhaka" (I'm omitting a few key words here in deference to the sensitive ears of my younger readers) when Arsenal are trying to play tippy tappy football in their own penalty area using players of extremely limited technical ability.

Do you talk to plants?

      I'm not really a fan of plants; they are mostly hard work for little - and short-lived - reward. My ideal garden is made of gravel and astroturf. Although I do at the moment have a particularly attractive pink fuschia in a pot.

Great, can we see a photo?

      No, I'm not at home. But when I get back next week, watch out for one in the blog!

So what's this about Stonehenge?

      I drove past it today.

It's still there then?

      I can't say definitively at this moment but it was a few hours ago. The stones are socially distancing - a proper 2 metres apart, except the ones on top, which presumably are exempt from the rules. Spectators rather more than 2 metres away; more like 200. They don't like having their stones touched, in case they wear away, crack and fall over in a million years time (that's the stones, not the people). They've been there for 5,000 years with people touching them every day, by the way.

But presumably if you have enough money, you could pay an exorbitant price to be allowed to touch, like Russian money launderers getting residency permits after handing over a brown paper bag filled with millions of used rubles?

      No. Everyone pays an exorbitant price not to touch. And you have probably just got me some GCHQ blog followers. And the Kremlin.

Do you know who built Stonehenge?

      It think it might have been Druids. Or Martians.

You think Martians may have built Stonehenge?

      Could be. Anyway I may get some Martian followers.

Are the Druids the ones with pointy hats?

      I think that's the Ku Klux Klan

Does the KKK still exist?

      I can't say definitively at this moment but I think they run the White House.

You do realise that the CIA will be monitoring this?

      More followers then.

And Druids - do they exist?

      I'm not sure, although I believe they appear at times in Wales. at Eisteddffoddai. And ssppout ppoettry. (That may not be entirely accurate; I decided not to do any research for this post)

No research: are you saying that entertainment is better than truth?

      People have huge followings on Twitter doing just that.

Did you see anything else interesting on your drive?

      Wincanton. Near the racecourse.

Did you go to the races?

      Not today but it brought back memories of a horse called The  Guinea Stamp. Many many years ago my sons and I had a share in the horse and we drove north one cold winter day to some racecourse (maybe Kelso?) to watch its first race.

Did it run well?

      Sadly no. It seemed to have difficulty clearing the hurdles so it had to follow all the others who had knocked down the hurdles first. It's difficult to win when you're running last.

You talk as though you're not sure whether "it" was male or female.

      He was a gelding.

Ouch! No wonder he didn't want to exert himself.

      Fair enough. Anyway it was pretty much a waste of our (well strictly my) money on training fees.

Do you regret doing that?

      Je ne regrette rien, as Norman Lamont said when raising interest rates to 15% and taking us out of the ERM. I checked that to make sure my memory was accurate.

I thought you said you wouldn't do any research?

      I'm hoping to get some French followers. And Norman Lamont.

So is that it about your journey?

      Yep, six and half hours of M this, M that and M the other.

So with all that driving, where did you write this post?

      In my head.

And do you think it has gone well?

      I'll leave that to my followers to judge.

Three remarkable days

Monday July 13th, 2020. Wembley Stadium, London.

Wycombe Wanderers, a club with no reserve team, no under 23 team, no money. A team of loanees, free transfers and journeymen. Fleetwood Town, silky purveyors of possession football. The Final of the League One play offs. Winner gets promoted to the Championship. Loser slinks away gutted.

Do Wycombe have a chance? They have a charismatic rock star manager, Gareth Ainsworth. The longest serving manager in the top four tiers of English professional football. Previously a Wycombe player. Known as Wild Thing.

 

And Adebayo Akinfenwa, a 38 year old weight lifting centre forward. Known as The Beast.

9th minute: Wycombe score from a Joe Jacobsen deadly corner. 1-0.

57th minute: Fleetwood score. 1-1.

79th minute: Wycombe score with a Joe Jacobsen penalty. It couldn't happen, could it?

11 minutes of intense pressure from Fleetwood.

Full time: Wycombe, with 24% possession, are the winners. Remarkable. Spirit counts.

Wednesday July 15th, 2020. Emirates Stadium, London.

Arsenal, languishing in 10th place in the Premier League. A team of kids and has-beens. Liverpool, newly crowned champions of the Premier League, 20 points ahead of the rest, proud purveyors of heavy metal football. Winner gets pride, loser slinks away gutted.

Do Arsenal have a chance? They have a young manager in his first managerial job, Mikel Arteta. Previously an Arsenal player.

20th minute: Liverpool score, as expected. 1-0

32nd minute: chaos in the Liverpool defence, Arsenal score. Alex Lacazette. 1-1

44th minute: more Liverpool chaos, Arsenal score. Reiss Nelson. 2-1.

46 minutes of intense pressure from Liverpool.

Full time: Arsenal, with 31% possession, are the winners. Remarkable. Spirit counts.

Saturday July 18th, 2020. Wembley Stadium, London.

Arsenal, languishing in 10th place in the Premier League. A team of kids and has-beens. Manchester City, FA Cup holders, silky purveyors of possession football. FA Cup Semi Final. Winner gets to the Final of the FA Cup, loser slinks away gutted.

Do Arsenal have a chance? They have a young manager in his first managerial job, Mikel Arteta. Previously an Arsenal player.

And a deadly striker from Gabon, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

19th minute: Arsenal breakaway. Aubameyang scores. 1-0

71st minute: Arsenal breakaway again. Aubameyang scores. 2-0

19 minutes of intense pressure from Manchester City.

Full time: Arsenal, with 29% possession, are the winners. Remarkable. Spirit counts.