Tag Archives: She Wore

Tottenham stadium costs continue to spiral

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Electricians on the Spurs stadium site are earning £400 a day as the job approaches its opening deadline.

The Construction Enquirer understands around 500 mechanical and electrical workers are currently on the site on the heavily delayed project.

One industry source said: “They are paying big money at Spurs because everyone knows the job is working to a deadline.

“They are piling people in there and paying top dollar which is having a knock-on effect on other sites around London which are struggling to fill vacancies.”

The current hourly pay rate for a skilled electrician in London working under the JIB agreement is just over £20 an hour or £160 for an average day.

The cost of the project is projected to be £850m, although continuing spiralling costs could see it breach the £1bn.

More than 2,500 workers are currently on the site where construction continues around the clock to get the stadium finished for the new football season.

Spurs are planning to hold the first stadium test events in August and their initial Premier League fixtures away from home with the new 62,000-seater ground ready for September matches.

Keenos

Journalist claims racism led to Arsenal being a “no-go zone”

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I try to stay away from politics and religion in my blogs and on my Twitter. It opens too much of a can of worms that you can not close. It is not worth the time.

However, I am lifting my self imposed ban to discuss an article I read yesterday on the Sunday Times website.

The article is supposed to be aimed at Russia. Questioning whether “England’s ethnically diverse squad and fans be safe from violence and racism”. It would probably be a valid article – although possibly unneeded because we all already l is Russia is a hotbed of racism and shouldn’t be hosting the World Cup.

But an sort of validity is destroyed by “The first ever Sunday Times Apprentice” Shingi Mararike’s first paragraph.

So the self-proclaimed “Arsenal fan” claims that whilst he grew up idolising Thierry Henry, he never once asked to visit Highbury due to it feeling like a “no-go zone.”

Basically he is saying that he never went to Highbury because it was not a place for black fans. And I imagine he would include other ethnic minorities in that as well.

Now before you spit your tea out, let’s paint the picture.

Shingi Mararike, according to his LinkedIn, started college in 2012.

He would have been around 16 when London were hosting the Olympics.

Arsenal were at their swashbuckling best in 2004, the team went unbeaten. A team whose strongest XI contained 7 non-white players and not a single white Englishman:

Lehmann

Lauren Toure Campbell Cole

Ljungberg Vieira Gilberto Pires

Bergkamp Henry

But we are not talking about the players, we are talking about the fans.

In 2004, Shingi, the apprentice journalist, would have been 7 or 8.

So before he had even hit 10 years old, he had made the decision not to go to Highbury due to it being a “no-go zone” for ethnic minorities. And then he uses that experience 14 years later in an attempt to add weight to his article.

This would be a contender for the Didn’t Happen of the Year Awards.

On his online bio, Shingi does not mention football, or any sport, as one of his interested. Instead he mentions “politics and current affairs”.

I imagine at 7 years old, Shingi was not even a Junior Gunner, and had little, if any, interest in going to Highbury to watch The Arsenal.

Had he done so, his “personal experience” of what Highbury was like would be very different:

https://twitter.com/michael56235807/status/1005873259362095106?s=21

https://twitter.com/warrenconey/status/1005910841705881606?s=21

Plenty of Arsenal fans have very different personal experiences of going down Highbury than the journalist in question, who remember, admits he never went to Highbury – yet still attempts to make it appear like it is a racist hell hole.

Now I am not naive enough to believe that racism has never existed over the Arsenal. There will always be idiots. But Arsenal was certainly not a “no-go zone”. And especially not in 2004.

Even going back to the 70s & 80s, when the National Front were using football grounds to recruit new members, Arsenal were one of the few clubs that the racist group failed to break into. Due to actions of the fans.

If you want to get a true view about what it was like around Highbury in the 70s and 80s, and how fans halted the rise of the NF, have a read of the brilliant article on 8by8 Mag about how the NF attempted to make its “presence felt around Highbury” and how Arsenal fans “helped keep the NF off the terraces.”

Normally this sort of thing I would ignore. But here is a journalist attempting to claim in a national newspaper that Highbury was a “no-go zone” if you were not white.

It is rubbish. It is dangerous. It is poor journalism.

Keenos

Arsenal youngster set to be breakout World Cup star

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I have been thinking about this blog since Alex Iwobi’s delightful performance for Nigeria against England.

In that game he came to the fore in the second half.

From the pass he played in the lead up to his own delightful finish, he ran England ragged, dictating the game.

During that game, I turned to a friend and asked “if he was English, would he be going to the World Cup”. The consensus was probably not, but then Gareth Southgate did pick Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

It was not just the play in the led up to the goal, but his entire performance in that second half.

Given a freedom that he does not get at Arsenal due to Mesut Ozil, he drifted around the pitch becoming Nigeria’s version of Arsenal’s German.

He dropped deep to pick up the ball, was on the left wing, the right win, and in the middle. He did not shy away from dictating play, the same way Ozil does for Arsenal.

Without the liability to defend, or track back, he revelled in the freedom putting in one of the best performances I have seen from him.

Moving forward to the World Cup, he will be given the same role for Nigeria. The freedom of being the creator. The main man.

Often short of confidence, playing like he is in awe of those around him at Arsenal, almost as if he does not believe he deserves to be in the red & white, he looked comfortable in the Green of the Eagles.

This World Cup could make him believe in himself. Beleive that he does belong. That he is good enough. It might lead to the end of his timid performances.

If (and it is a big if) he is one of the break through players of the World Cup, dragging Nigeria through to the knock out stages, he will return to Islington a different player. A more confident player. A player that finally realises how much talent he is.

It is easy to forget that he is still just 22. He is 4 months younger than Loftus-Cheek.

Whilst the media and fans are still talking about the on-loan Chelsea mans potential, they are writing off Alex Iwobi.

The same people saying that Loftus-Cheek should be given a chance next season to compete for a place in the Chelsea squad are also saying that Alex Iwobi should not be anywhere near the Arsenal squad.

Now I know some of you will immediately say “but Loftus Cheek was at Crystal Palace” and you are correct to bring that up.

Being at Palace is why Loftus Cheek got through move defensive work than Iwobi.

In terms of attack, Loftus-Cheek was Crystal Palace’s main creator, whilst Iwobi was usually number two (or at times number 3) on the pitch behind Ozil and Alexis Sanchez or Henrik Mkhitaryan.

I wonder how many more goals and assists Iwobi would have got if play went through him at Arsenal like it will for Nigeria?

It is also interesting to note that Alex Iwobi got the same amount of goals (3) and just to assists less (5 v 7) than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Nigerian also had vastly better passing than his former team mate.

Iwobi averaging 48 completed passes per 90 minutes at 87% completion rate against Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 31 passes at 81%.

So Iwobi – who many will say had a poor season – had a similar season in terms of output as OXlade-Chamberlain – who many said had a good season; His best season ever.

I am not saying he will become world class, nut he is still young and still has some improvement ahead of him, but he could be one of the break out players of the World Cup. He wil lcertainly go into my Fantasy Football team.

If he is given a staring role for Nigeria this summer, he will come back to Arsenal a more confident player.

He is more than good enough to be back up Mesut Ozil, Henrik Mkhitaryan and perhaps one more.

Keenos

https://twitter.com/SheWore/status/1004768318639575040