Alien

Fun and games. A fat sleep last night and I am indeed feeling much better. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for our receptionist, who cracked her head a good one in the shower this morning. From time to time she reads this blog, actually, so hopefully by the time Sara reads this, she won't be suffering from a concussion.

But enough about the walking wounded in my life, what about the walking wounded of Arsenal? We've already covered Samir Nasri, who may be included in the Carling Cup squad for Liverpool in a week and a half's time. Eduardo's thigh problem will preclude him from avenging the near dismemberment of his ankle last February and Nick Bendtner's groin will see a limitation on our forward options further compounded by Carlos Vela's unavailability as he hitchhikes his way back from South America.

At the back, Manuel Almunia was said yesterday to be "50-50" to return to the first team after his chest infection. A month later and he's 50-50? What kind of chest infection has he got? I mean you could understand it if he had the kind of chest infection suffered by John Hurt in Alien. You know, he gets attacked by a face huggy type thing, which then secretly impregnates him, resisting all attempts to pry it off by having acid for blood that would burn his face off, if it made contact. The thing then falls off, but when he get up to have dinner with your fellow crew, or team members, a little funny looking thing with teeth eats its way through his body before bursting out through the chest cavity. And then turning into a massive black xenomorph that kills everything in its path, except the cat. And a woman clad in only vest and pants- though who that would be in the Arsenal dressing room, God only knows. Not sure there's a cat running around the Grove either, though that Highbury squirrel may well be around somewhere.

Yeah, I could understand it if Almunia had that kind of chest infection. Although, clearly, that would result in sudden and painful death, but if he doesn't have that, then what's the hold up? You can only assume that Mr Wenger, like the majority of Gooners, is none too happy with the way the Spanish waiter has started the season.

Another one who has room for improvement this season is Gaël Clichy but he won't be doing that tomorrow afternoon as he picked up an ankle knock whilst on international duty with le France. I don't know about internationals, you can get all wound up about why this player isn't in their national side (as I used to regarding Wrighty and England) and then they get in their side and it's just headaches. They get injured, they have to travel all over the world, they get tired, they get demotivated or lazy, they lose form and then they go elsewhere.

That's a bit simplified I know. To boil it down further; the bottom line if you like, is that Keiran Gibbs seems certain to start tomorrow afternoon's match. I can't imagine that he will be in the team for long afterwards, but if he can continue in the vein of his embryonic yet impressive Arsenal career, he has a chance to keep Clichy's backside in bench warming mode.

So, no Bendtner, Eduardo, Almunia (fingers crossed) or Clichy. But Cesc Fabregas will return and Lukasz Fabianski has overcome his injury and is set to be included in tomorrow's squad. I'll be watching to see if he replaces Don Vito tomorrow. Aside from the pecking order, I don't think there's any real reason to displace the Italian Stallion, who has performed very well, but that's rarely stopped the gaffer in the past. As Alex Manninger can testify. But then Manuel Almunia is no David Seaman, he's not even a Jens Lehmann.

In the background, the intrigue level is starting to verge on the red side of things. Or red and white side of things. Silent Stanley has purchased another 90 shares, at £8,500 per share, taking him to 28.9% of all issued shares and just one single, solitary percent away from having to make a compulsory offer for all shares. It's funny, I've come to believe in Stan as a force for good, but I'm not sure I want this now. PH-W says he's relaxed about it and that he would welcome a takeover, but as we get further down this road, what else can he say? What should he say? What can he do now? I guess the doubts are bound to set in as the inevitable draws ever nearer, but it seems to me- and yes, it's been triggered by my current choice of literature- that no good can come out of one man owning the club, especially when we don't know what his intentions are.

I'd still rather him than the other fella, though.

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