Yep, it's good to be back.

So, in a quick recap of a very boring summer (roll on next summer's World Cup) the Arse have gone and sold their skipper Paddy to those pesky Juve's. So bleedin' what? Like I mentioned before, the first whiff of transfer talk and I was quite prepared to fork out for a one-way ticket. The speed at which the whole business was conducted meant I didn't even have time to sell my Manure shares to finance a flight to sunny parts of the Med...only kidding about the Manure shares...

Anyway, a new season is already under way. The Arse have managed to lose twice to Frogba already, and Senderos has been banished to obscurity for a while...but way to go Pascal, none of us, and I mean none of us, thought you had it in you. 2 goals in the same game? Had to rub my eyes upon reading that onscreen.

The doubters had begun to congregate after Sunday's defeat to Chelski and Frogba's big girlie shinpad but for chrissake, you have to give the boys a chance. They will deliver again this season, probably not in the Champions League, despite today's kind draw, but they won't suddenly drop to mid-table. It just ain't in their Franco-Espagne genes.

Last night's victory over Fulham has banished a few of those doubters to the hills, but another couple of poor performances and they'll be back. The feckers. All I have to say to them is: think back to the period 1982-83 to 1987-88. Now let's take a look at our final league positions for those seasons: 10th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 4th, and 6th. Yes, one top five finish in 6 seasons. Pretty hopeless. Now say Thank You Arsene, Thierry et al, and leave them to get on with it.

Thank you for listening.

I was impressed by Arsenal's performance, especially in the first half when there were a few moments of pure domination. Vieira put in a sterling show - this was much more like it, just don't put us through all those summer shenanigans again Paddy and we might actually believe that you're happy playing in North London. Cesc was solid, what can you say about the kid, he's still only 17, Senderos solid too, though is getting rave reviews. Glad to see Manure completely lose the plot and give us a little breathing space in the challenge for the runners-up spot.

Meanwhile, over at the new smallsville stadium, the painters (me, myself and, er, I) have called a flash strike to protest at the lack of fluids currently available at the new abode. That is, until the fridge arrives next Thursday. Stacked full of green bottles with a beery texture. Just don't tell the neighbours, coz beer is strictly not kosher for the next week, thanks to Passover...