The following blog first appeared on A Bergkamp Wonderland on October 4th, 2016. It has been reprinted here with their permission.

Gazing upwards on a cold, clear night in early October, millions of visible stars stare back from the celestial darkness like pin pricks on some piece of carbon construction paper, held aloft to a desk lamp.  They shine back against the blackness, connected only by the billions of light years that separate them in the void of space.

Football feels like this sometimes, particularly during breaks for International games. Thirty-eight games separated by the vast distances of life and work and sleep and traffic jams and reruns of X-Factor.… More SMRTETA

The following blog first appeared on A Bergkamp Wonderland on August 16, 2016. It has been reprinted here with their permission.  Since this blog first appeared, Arsenal have signed Lucas Pérez and Shkodran Mustafi – two signings which are a great move towards getting a winning team.

The spring of 2007 was unseasonably warm in London. As the sun crested the early morning, a man shaved and brushed his teeth – rehearsing the lines again in his head.

As he continued to prepare for his morning meetings, he questioned what he was about to do. In the past, he had been clear in his mission – often taking on riskier and riskier endeavors to bring success to the club he loved.… More SMRTETA

We aren’t winning the League this year.

As the embers of our flickering title challenge were extinguished by the 7-minute hat trick of Andy Carroll at the weekend¹, attention shifted from the fragile mentality of one last chance to catch Leicester to the reasons for our diabolical shortfall this season.

The questions have gained in momentum since conspiring to lose at Old Trafford and the subsequent insipid display versus Swansea at home. Although the signs were arguably there already, those results consigned many supporters to the inevitable outcome of a fourth place trophy (perhaps third).

This is not meant to be a damning indictment of Arsène Wenger but the mounting pressure on him is not unfounded.… More SMRTETA

He might bring Dennis with him.

And so concludes my argument.  Thanks guys, you’ve been great – try the veal.

In all seriousness, there’s been a lot of speculation about the future of Arsène Wenger – will he continue once his contract expires in 2.5 years?  Who should be his replacement?  How will Arsenal fare without him?

The media and recent performances have heightened this speculation as well and although there’s been a lot of talk about the transition, I don’t think the Boss is going anywhere before the end of this season at least.  I also think it is possible that he sticks out his contract if he can get this season back on track as well.… More SMRTETA