Emirates Ahoy!
It’s difficult to be entirely confident about this weekend’s North London Derby without sounding like one of those doddery old maids you see in Soapland- the ones so convinced that their offspring/spouses are Pope Pius XI incarnate, even the weekly kicking they receive from their beloved isn’t enough to persuade them otherwise. The habitual emptying of their Giro tin appears to go unnoticed, too. He’s changed, they tell anybody who’ll listen. He’s a good boy, really. While the suspicious dark ring around their eye says something altogether different. In the same breath, we hope year upon year that things might be different on the road against the League’s big-hitters. Arsenal in particular. And on each occasion we’re left feeling rather deflated and bruised. It’s getting to the point whereby expecting the worst might not be a bad route to head down. But soldier on we must.
At least we’ve not had the usual sh*t storm of player quotes in the days leading up to the thing- there’s still time, of course- which invariably leaves us with that eggy taste in our mouths when the promises of bulldozing them off the park aren’t followed through. Last year our centre-backs followed through. But it wasn’t really the type of thing we were after. Perhaps, then, with this auspiciously quiet prelude, the message has finally sunk in that their hot air is best saved for the allotted time and location. In this case, Saturday lunchtime in North London. We all know we’re capable of getting a result there- but let’s just get the doing part out of the way first and the talking can come later.
News from the bunker has Tommy Huddlestone out until February- the colossal creator falling foul of a troublesome ankle in midweek. And, too, it looks as if Defoe’s absence will overrun slightly. The Derby coming just a day or two early for our hot-heeled frontman. Even a late cameo might be out of the question. Elsewhere, the outcome of the game will rest heavily in the starch of our backline, which, to me, still looks flimsy at best. Neither of the likely starters are immune to the odd clanger- in fact, between them there’re gaffs-o-plenty. My advice, then, put all your hard-earned on Gallas to nod home the winner from a pearly Hutton cross. My forecasts are always way off. Bring the noise. Cermonyouspurs.
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