Suburban Gooners

Morning folks and welcome to another Friday. I was going to say ‘Lockdown Friday’ but I don’t think we’re still in Lockdown, are we? I don’t know exactly when it changed, it seemed to seep into whatever this hybrid between Lockdown and normality is, but anyway, happy ‘Whatever it is’ ... read more

I’m feeling a little odd this morning. I still have the joy and happiness of the FA Cup final which isn’t quite ready to leave my body and mind just yet, but at the same time I feel a little sad and disappointed, as yesterday the club announced that they ... read more

Still drinking it in folks, still drinking it in… The sun is shining a little more brightly, we’ve had a good four days since the cup win, yet there is still so much delicious content to feast on everywhere. Other bloggers, podcasters, the mainstream media. Heck, I even watched a ... read more

Morning folks and welcome to another post-FA Cup final victory day. It really is rather blissful and I think i’m going to see if I can continue to ride the crest of this particular wave for as long as possible. If it can take me well into the weekend then ... read more

I spent intermittent moments of yesterday just smiling to myself. If the Cup final of 2019 cut deep and was a wound that took long to heal, this weekend’s victory in the FA Cup helped to stitch up some of that wound. It was like the lollipop you got at ... read more

This is going to be a fun blog to write today, because The Arsenal, we won the bloody cup! I am a happy man. Last season I felt broken after that Europa League final. It really hit me hard and had knock in effects this season, even affecting my ability ... read more

It’s cup final day and I am a very nervous man. Today’s game isn’t just the last game of the season, it isn’t just about a shiny silver trinket, it is also a financially and footballisticly significant crossroads the club finds itself in. I so desperately want us to ... read more

I don’t really know in which direction to go with for today’s Friday musings. I feel like it’s a little to early to go full match preview and start talking about the game tomorrow and, as I’ve already talked about how I’m feeling and how nervous I am, as well ... read more

T-minus 57 hours and counting from the FA Cup Final as I type out today’s Arsenal-related nonsense and I have to say I feel just as nervous as I have done all week. As I’ve already said on a podcast and the blog, this could all go very well or ... read more

Happy Wednesday folks, as we rapidly approach the ‘Sliding Doors’ moment that is our FA Cup Final on Saturday, given the possible outcomes we could face. Win and there’s a little more cash in the coffers and an opportunity to play European Football next season. Lose and we stare down ... read more

Why do I feel like this might be a long week? Last night Ben, Steve and I recorded our penultimate ‘Suburbs’ podcast on GunnersTown and aside from the fact that we were all nervously laughing about how bad we were against Watford and Villa, the fact that an FA Cup ... read more

The best part about yesterday’s 3-2 victory over Watford was when Mike Dean put his whistle to his lips and called time on this latest Premier League season. I have been on this earth for 37-and-a-half years and as far as I can remember this has been one of the ... read more

Plenty to get through today, after Arteta had his press conference ahead of Sunday’s dead rubber, the Premier League fixtures for next season were confirmed, as well as the disappointing news that Mustafi will miss the cup final due to the injury he picked up in the Semi Final last ... read more

Morning all and happy Friday to you. Not long now and we can stick a collective two fingers up to this disaster of a Premier League season. Can’t wait. I don’t really want to look ahead too much at the Watford game because, frankly, it is of little consequence to ... read more

There’s a couple of things on my mind this morning, as this season finally drags it’s sorry arse into closing, thank gawd, which I think is a sentiment all Arsenal fans can get behind. The kids against Watford? In my mind this is an obvious ‘yes’, but I am a ... read more

Well if that wasn’t the crappy Yin to last weekend’s fantastic Yang… Are we not allowed to have nice things? Are we not allowed to bask in the glory of a really resolute and fantastic performance? Because it feels like it with this Arsenal side. As brilliant as they were against Man ... read more

Wolves’ win yesterday against a pathetic and hapless Crystal Palace – already on the beach (and how the hell did they pick up two draws against us? Oh yeah, VAR…) and not fussed either way – means that the chances of Arsenal qualifying for Europe via the league are reliant ... read more

Morning folks and welcome to the penultimate week of this season, finally drawing to a close with a trip to Villa Park, followed by Watford at home next Sunday. And to add to that we now know our fate in terms of the FA Cup Final in just under two ... read more

Morning people. And what a good morning it is, because we’re waking up today knowing we’re into another FA Cup Final and, unbelievably, it was done by a performance which showed a level of grit and determination that Arsenal have rarely shown in modern times. Yep, it was ‘backs ... read more

One of the things I do like about some of the people at the club, is that they clearly do a fair bit of social listening, because in yesterday’s injury update the club went in to more detail about Mari and Martinelli’s respective injuries. It’s been a long-standing joke amongst ... read more

Well knock me down with a feather duster, I did not see that result coming, not in the slightest. A 2-1- home win against the champions and a game that I like to call a classic ‘Champ Man Skanking’. If you’re old enough to have played Championship Manager in the ... read more

I don’t know whether it is the sheer volume of games coming thick and fast, or the inner acceptance I have that this is just the second of what could be three pretty uncomfortable football watching  evenings, but I’m really not feeling tonight. Therefore by association, I don’t have the ... read more

We’re all still a bit down at the moment because of the North London Derby defeat to a pretty average Tottenham team, but for some reason I haven’t been as down as others, which is weird because I’m usually described as ‘The Pessimistic One’ when it comes to The Arsenal. ... read more

Arsenal be ‘Arsenalling’. And yesterday’s 2-1- defeat to that scummy lot from round the corner was about as ‘Arsenalling’ as you can get. This is a weird one this morning because in the cold light of day I’m not as angry as I thought I’d be. In fact, I’ve seen ... read more

It’s the worst day in the footballing calendar for me personally, today is, as we travel away to Sh*ite Hart Lane to face that horrible lot round the corner in the North London Derby. I’ve always hated this fixture. Nerves, bragging rights, the fear of defeat and having to face ... read more

Press conferences always give a little bit of a nugget of info about the upcoming game, but the press don’t usually use it to gain some kind of insight into how the clubs might tactically set up, instead using it as an opportunity to stoke the fires of possible discontent ... read more

I’ll not labour the VAR point for the third day in a row, but really, it now seems to have upped the intensity in which it has become totally farcical hasn’t it? Last night Jon Moss – a horrendous ref as it is – decided that a United played stamping ... read more

I didn’t want to start this morning’s blog labouring the point about referees and VAR that I did yesterday, but once again I find myself pretty angry having seen a couple of situations yesterday in other games that happened in the Premier League. The first I saw was a still ... read more