The first touch of the angel

Poetry in motion - the first verse.

The touch of an angel

Or, poetry in motion. This was the second - so where's the first?

Jack Wilshere rules at the Lane

Are you watching, Tott-en-ham?

Bliss in 25 passes

Uploaded by arsenalist

Arsenal 4-1 Bolton, 11 Sep. The icing on the cake. Song won the ball back as Bolton broke, and after 24 more ¡olé!s Vela stroked it into the net. See the Guardian's chalkboard analysis .

'Arry's Dream

Harry Redknapp warns Arsenal

"Liverpool could finish third if they beat Arsenal," Redknapp said. "And if they beat Arsenal and we beat Wolves then we can finish third. Arsenal are suddenly right back in the pack. And, in all honesty we've thrown a lot of good leads away and we really should be above Arsenal now."

Later that same day . . .

Oh dear - another good lead thrown away!

 

At the moment it looks as though St Totteringham's Day could fall between 10 and 24 April. Don't ask how we work this out, it's too complicated to explain - it relies on a judicious mix of mathematical theory and guesswork. Quite by chance the fixture on 10 April is Spurs v Arsenal. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Is he Jesús in disguise?

Is Daniel Levy the reincarnation of Jesús Gil? This Guardian article suggests he could be.

Gil was an egomaniac, a megalomaniac, a beacon of corruption in business, politics, sport and media - a sort of a poor man's Berlusconi. The Wikipedia entry puts it succinctly: "He was famous and controversial for his extreme right-wing political views, summed up in a unique brand of foulmouthed, low-brow populism punctuated by sexist, homophobic, racist and xenophobic remarks."

He was responsible for the manslaughter of 58 people on an illegal and unsafe construction site, for which he was imprisoned in 1967, eventually securing his release by bribing his friends in the Franco régime; in 2002 he was imprisoned for political corruption and banned from holding public office for 28 years.

No-one is accusing Daniel Levy of any of this.

But Gil was Presidente of Atlético Madrid for 16 years, and there are some intriguing parallels:

• Levy: 5 managers in 7 years; Gil: 26 in 16 years (OK, Levy has some way to go - but it's not a bad start )
• a never-ending succession of grossly overpriced, underperforming players
• conversion of a club regularly finishing in the top 4 (only once below halfway in 26 years), to one flirting annually with relegation (including 2 years in Segunda Liga)

This chart, produced by Atlético fans, shows the effect he had on the club. Note the similarity with the Icelandic chart we showed you the other day.

A note below the chart lists Gil's achievements at Atlético:

• more than 30 coaches employed
• over 150 players signed
• debt up from 6m€ to 300m€
• relegation to 2nd Division
• worst average league position in their history
• out of Europe for 7 years

We hope 'Arry's got a Plan B for his career, for his own sake.

Going cheap

'Celebration Cake'? When's that from then? It's obviously past its sell-by date.

And it's only £4.89. That works out just under a pound a point. You couldn't get one that price anywhere else!

And I see it serves 12 - it'll just about do for Tom Huddlestone, then.