Howdy doodie Arsenal comrades,

Decided to take a day away from all things Arsenal and blogging to enjoy a bit of sunshine, canal boating boating with the family and a little bit of lady liquor to cap off a lovely Saturday. I also wanted to take stock of some of the announcements from Le Boss, the pre-season tour of Asia and of pottentiala signings before the transfer window slams shut on 1st September. I saw the stories yesterday and I also had a quick flick on to Twitter, which did nothing except get me more wound up about the RvP situation. Wound up, feeling betrayed by an individual that I thought understood what I felt about Arsenal – even 10% of what I feel towards Arsenal.

So blogging yesterday would have meant just another ranty, bitter, angry gooner wanting to know why we seem to be constantly kicked in the balls by the plaayers thata not months earlier we were chanting and singing and worshipping like the Greek gods and demi-gods of mythologies past. Instead i’ve chosen the ‘breathe, count to ten, and begin’ mantra instead.

So what did we learn yesterday? Firstly, Arsene is putting a brave face on the dogs dinner that is the RvP situation. Unfortunately for Le Boss he keeps getting let down by the players that he has invested his time in, nurtured, and grown into superstars. We can all talk about the lack of investment, the silence of Stan, and the general uselessness of the Arsenal board, but the one constant that always remains is Arsene Wenger. He’s there to be shot at by the media and the fans when things don’t go his way, yet still he remains as custodian of the club. Arsene has invested so much time and energy into Robin that it really must break his heart to see him throw his toys out of the pram over a golden gravy train in Manchester. Becuase that’s what this is. And as each day passes, and more information is leaked into the public space, we see more and more about what Robin van Persie is about. No interest in doing his professional duty, he is taking the Cesc Fabregas school of leaving Arsenal by refusing to go on tour. And even then, after letting Arsene down with his statement over two weeks ago, and not travelling with the team as captain of the football club, Robin drives the knife in further by not travelling to Asia – something even Samir Nasri did. It’s a real shame that he’s done more to sully his name in three weeks than in eight years of building his reputation at Arsenal. Arsene is even now still giving him the protection he doesn’t deserve, saying he’s not quite fit enough to go out and so will concentrate on his fitness in the UK. I feel for Arsene, it’s the most transparent lie we’ve ever seen from Le Boss.

Wenger said he wanted to keep RvP, but we all know it’s an empty statement. Robin is gone and it’s time for us to look at how we improve the team to challenge for the league next year. Which is the more positive news. Wenger has said that we are looking at a couple of options, and the news that has beeen filtering out from yesterday was that we’re taking a long hard look at Santi Cazorla. Yes please barmen. Cazorla would be a great addition to the team and, coupled with a defensive midfielder, would put us in a good position for the new year.

Believe it or not, i’m actually in a good place now. We have Podolski and Giroud would will ffigth for that top spot, and if we can tie down Walcott and Koscienly, as is expected, to new deals, I think we should be ok with one or two additions like Arsene mentioned. Yes, we relied on Robin for goals last year, but it was such a shambles of a summer that we were playing catch up. We’re not now, so let’s hope the pre-season goes well and we keep players fit for the first game against Sunderland.

Let’s be positive gooners – the season is approaching fast and we’ll soon be able to ignore all of this speculation and get down to supporting the lads.

Until tomorrow.