In my short time on this here earth, i’ve come to realise that life as an Arsenal fan is a series of ‘Boo’s and ‘Woo Hoo’s.

Boo: Robin van Persie wants to leave.
Woo Hoo: Laurent Koscienly signs a new contract.
Boo: Transfer rumour, Twitter tittle tattle.
Woo Hoo: Pre season friendlies.
Boo: Robin still wants to leave.
Woo Hoo: We won and collected a trophy and saw some good young performances from some of the up and coming players.
Boo: Theo’s contract issues still rumble on.
Woo Hoo: sounds like Cazorla deal is edging along nicely.

Yes, it’s been done to death but there is still no further news on RvP. Moving on faster than you can say ‘woosh’.

Some great ‘Woo Hoo’ news that came out yesterday was that Laurent Koscienly has signed a new deal at the club. I don’t have to tell you how important this is. For one thing it means that we have at least one more player that we have a minimum of three years without them threatening to leave by running down their contract. But mainly it’s that we have secured the signature of one of last seasons top performers and ensured that he can continue to improve at The Arsenal. He’s a classic example of media idiocy. He had a mixed bag of a first season, was labelled a Wenger flop, then last season was also called poor by some sections of the media (yes, I’ve seen it) because he was in the team for the 4-3 and 8-2 defeats in Lancashire at the beginning of the year. Lazy journos who don’t do their homework or watch enough of certain players are a particular bug bear of mine. I’m not always 100% right on this blog, but I don’t do it for a living. And if I did I’d make damn sure I formed a decent view on players based on actually watching them rather than Sunday Supplement.

Still no new news on what the situation is with M’Villa. I know Arsene ruled that out in his press conference, but part of me was hoping we’d see a little more coming out following his decision to pour cold water on the rumour. Boo.

But hey, some football is back! Woo Hoo! I won’t go into a detailed match analysis on the game, mainly because a) I haven’t had the chance to watch it yet, b) it’s a pre season friendly and so players will be rusty, c) the whole squad wasn’t there and so it’s difficult to judge how we’re shaping up, and d) the opposition weren’t exactly the best in the world. Nevertheless, it sounds like by all accounts we had some good performances. Goals from Eisfeld and Aneke are certainly welcome and it’s good to see that the desire to keep pushing until the final whistle and come up with last-gasp goals is being bread through the youth and reserves as well. Certainly liking the feedback on Eisfeld. Let’s hope another Arsene gem has been unearthed. New captain Thomas Vermaelen also got to lift a trophy, so let’s hope he gets that winning feeling more often this season when the real competitions kick in.

Theo’s contract is still rumbling on: Boo. There isn’t really any more to say on this except he’s made positive noises about signing a new one. But of course so did Flamini, and we all know where that got us. So if it’s not really anything new, why am I including it in today’s blog? Symmetry. Gotta have a ‘Boo’ after a ‘Woo Hoo’. But I think I’ll finish on a ‘Woo Hoo’.

Sounds to me like we’re close on a Cazorla deal. Arsene was asked about it after the game yesterday and, whilst some people reported the ‘not close’ part of the conversation, it was the wider context that should really be looked at. Arsene said that we were not close, but when asked specifically about Cazorla he said that we are still working on that. Now to me, if we’re even at the stage where Arsene is effectively admitting an interest, it shows we’re pretty far down the line. Let’s hope it’s done soon but I suspect Arsenal are waiting to find out if Malaga pay their debts by the 31st July deadline. If they do, we may just miss out if the club want to hold Cazorla to his contract. Remember, he signed a deal last year and so Malaga could force him to stay if they cough up the Euros for their debts.

Anyway, one way or another we should know by next Tuesday, which is good to hear, let’s just hope it’s not another Mata situation.