the irish are coming!

This weekend sees an influx of Irish fans as Israel takes on Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers. Actually, most of them arrived a couple of days ago and have been quickly depleting the stocks of Guiness of the 7 Irish bars in Tel Aviv...just last night I got a call from Mrs. LBLS's parents who were in Molly Blooms (the original Irish bar in Tel Aviv) amid a crowd of rowdy Irish leprechauns and begging me to come down to do some translating. Had to refuse as we had a few potential rentees coming round to check out our place (we've almost closed a deal, almost, almost...). And anyway, what am I going to do with a bunch of rowdy O'Sullivans? I want them to lose, especially if Roy Keane plays. It would be great to see Israel win, but I'm not that optimistic.

England take on the other Irish, the Northern Irish, tomorrow afternoon, and for some reason they have the game live on the Sports channel over here. A few beers will be downed in celebatory fashion, as England romp to a convincing 4-1 victory, mainly down to Sven's exciting new formation (yeh, right). After that we're off to a brit party, where the Israel v Ireland game is going to be screened on a big screen, and then off to a work (corridor-land) Purim party just across the road from our house. At least we won't need a taxi home, I'll just stagger across the road and slump into bed...

Meanwhile, on the Arsenal front, Jose looks like he's on his way this summer, which will be a shame because the glimpses of magic he has occasionally shown have been mouthwatering, and Ashley appears to still be in demand. No Premiership football until next weekend, so these two stories look like they'll be doing the rounds for the next few days...