Nicklas nicks it

So, the weekend brings us much gossip. Typical.

However today's biggest news is that Ashley Cole will not be travelling to Zagreb for the first leg of our third round Champions League qualifier. Of course the official line is that he's just returned from his honeymoon and hasn't trained at all because he is "ill". Unofficially I think we all know why by now.

Nicklas Bendtner scored the winner for Birmingham City on Saturday in his debut for the club. Steve Bruce is already gushing about him (note that he claims to have "beaten off" 15 competitors for Bendtner, cue immature giggling) and is also painfully aware that he only has him until January. I think it's clear that this kid's future is at Arsenal. In other young promising striker news, Arturo Lupoli rejected a loan move to Preston North End.

Mourinho has been bleating on about how it's so muich harder for his squad to prepare for the new season because they had more players than any other club at the world cup. I imagine he's including Del Horno (who actually didn't go) and Maniche, both of whom no longer player for Chelsea, and in any case that would still only put them one ahead of us. What's really fucking up their preseason is their marketing tour to the US, and they're the only ones to blame for that. Speaking of which, they lost 1-0 ot an MLS All Star team and Joe Cole got injured.

Following his earlier announcement that he was happy with the squad as it is, Arsene has performed his usual transfer talk turnaround by now stating that he is targeting two more experienced players, and that he has his eyes on one defender inparticular. Personally I doubt it's William Gallas, which is a shame, but I'm being realistic.