Morning!
One step closer to proper football returning.
I have lost count of how often I have moaned about this early international break. In fact, one of the first blogs I wrote on SheWore.com was an international rant. Oddly enough, we played Scotland in a meaningless friendly back then as well!
The good news is that it sounds like all Arsenal players have returned from international duty unharmed. And the silver lining to the break is Gabriel Jesus has got another 2 weeks training under his belt, and just over half an hour of senior game time.
Will he be ready to start v Everton on Sunday? I would not be surprised if he plays the first 60 minutes.
Everton, of course, was supposed to be Saturday.
It was originally selected for late afternoon kick off time by the TV companies, but always had an asterix against it. That asterix was due to Newcastle v Brentford being selected for the 4:30pm Sunday kick off.
The TV companies knew before they selected that game that it might have to move if Newcastle were drawn to play in the Champions League on Tuesday. There plan was to swap it for the Arsenal fixture if that happened. And it did.
Once again, a game changed with 2 weeks notice, two fingers to both Arsenal and Brentford fans.
I am not really sure why the TV companies did not look at the impending Champions League draw and think ” let’s be fair to fans, have all Saturday kick offs for the Champions League teams that weekend”.
They could have easily originally scheduled Newcastle to host Brentford on the Saturday 12:30pm kick off, and then the Wolves v Liverpool fixture on that late Sunday kick off.
Instead, they once more showed they do not care about the match going fans they argued they defended during the European Super League debacle.
I can not wait to hear Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher’s condescending tone as they congratulate both sets of London fans making the journey” despite late changes and no trains home”, ignoring the fact that it was their employers decision as to why those late changes needed to be made.
One interesting story that caught my eye last night was Man City sell out of all available tickets for every Premier League home game this season.
When I saw the headline I thought “bollocks have they. Tickets are sold throughout the season on a game by game basis. Then Iread the article (hint to everyone, read an article before you comment. You will stop looking as stupid on Facebook).
The Blues changed up their ticketing policy this summer after consulting with fan group City Matters, making the majority of tickets for every game available at the same time. In doing this, the intention was to remove the pressure that people previously had of needing to be online on the morning when each individual game went on sale.
Arsenal have their well publicised ticketing issues this season, and whilst selling all tickets in one go will not solve any of our problems, it is an interesting change.
On one hand, the scrap for tickets can become a blood bath. Multiple browsers open, setting alarm, scheduling meetings at work that don’t exist and so on.
In the past I have missed out on away tickets just because when my “window” came up, the thought slipped my mind to buy tickets.
Selling in a single block at the start of the season would mean that you only have one date to remember. Whether it still resulted in a scrap for tickets on that day you will have to ask City fans (all 6 of them).
The flip side is many people choose not to have a season ticket because they do not want to commit to an event that is 6 months down the line. They like being able to buy a ticket 2 months in advance when they will be more aware of their availability.
Likewise, many can not afford to spunk £1000 on a single day. Their decision to try and buy tickets might strive from how much cash they have in their pocket on the day the tickets come available. And the answer is not “just put it on a credit card.”
I think there is an underestimation of those that leave hand to month, pay cheque to pay cheque. Especially those paid weekly or who might be on temporary contracts.
It is wrong to expect people to get into debt to go football.
I would like to hear from City fans as to whether the change in ticketing policy has been a good one or not. I am sure other clubs are watching them and might go down the same road if it proves popular….
Finally, our Premier League squad was named yesterday.
Following the Champions League squad announcement earlier in the week, we knew there would not be any surprised.
Edu has done a great job slimming the squad down (by hook or by crook) and ensuring that we were not in a position where we had to leave players unregistered.
We have named a full 25 man squad, including Jurrien Timber.
That means if we do want to sign anyone in January, someone will have to be de-registered.
James Hillson, Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny seem the most likely candidates.
Enjoy your Thursday.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 