Disappointed

Tell me, when the Champions League football was on last night, did you watch it? Did you feel…. at least a little jealous?

I mean, I know Shakhtar got tonked by Barca, much as we did. And obviously you can now argue that even if we had won our group and therefore progressed to this stage – we’d still have met Barca…. and got tonked ourselves (much as we did last round). So. Well. Y’know. It all evened out and we’re out of it anyway.

But I’m still disappointed that we didn’t at least get to take part in this round. Could we have taken Barca? I don’t think so. Could we have taken Chelsea or Man Utd? Maybe…. maybe.

I can’t say I don’t care about the Champions League – I wanted us to do it this year. I really really believe we could have. If we’ve gone out there and played as we played in the (2nd half of the) first leg. I reckon if we hadn’t given up our way of playing, we could have, just possibly.

If ifs and ands were pots and pans then we would all be tinkers, as my gran used to say.

There’s also rumours afoot this evening about an announcement this morning from Arsenal on the subject of Jabba the Usmanov. That cannot be good (unless it’s something about him having sold all his shares to somebody who actually has the clubs best interests at heart). In all probability, it’s about him having bought enough shares so that he has to bid for the club. If that’s true – I really really hope the other shareholders fight him all the way (not even sure if they can legally).

If that is so, then I will be massively disappointed, and fear it spells the end for the Arsenal we know and love. Why? Well firstly the man is a Man Utd fan, self declared. If you’re actively a fan of another club, why would you buy this one? Unless you see it as some sort of cash-cow – something you can simply make money on. Secondly, the man is a proponent of the boom & bust philosophy that made Chelsea and Man City what they are. Successful? You can’t argue that Chelsea have won things, but at what cost? I think the well run, financially sound club we have now will go the way of the dodo, along with those in the club who won’t have anything to do with that kind of spend till it hurts lack of planning.

Can you tell I’m not a fan of the man they call Jabba? If I’d wanted to be a fan of Chelsea, I’d just have done it. I object very very strongly to even his interest in our club.

Anyway, enough ranting – it hasn’t happened yet. Gotta warn you though…. watch the wires and hope and pray for the best.