Nope I do not have blinkers nor your pair of rose-tinted glasses.

Fundamentally, you should realise that as long as FA does not repeal that stupid “90 minutes bus ride rule” of allowing Arsenal to cast their net wider on catching 9 to 16-year old English lads, Arsene Wenegr will bypass England and goes worldwide for the best youngsters..hence Arsenal youngsters will always be predominantly foreign.

It is an extremely rare occurence that any football club can garner a group of homegrown worldclass youngsters playing together in teh same football club like Ajax 70s, Busby Babes of 60s (before and after Munich Tradegy”, Fergie Fledgingd, Barca Golden Generation, and now hopefully within this decade, the real Wenger’s Wunderkind.

Tom Cruise: “I want the truth!”

Nicholson: “You can’t handle the truth!”

Can you?
Knowing there isn’t a single “homegrown” Englishman from Tony’s list of “25″??

WHy is it so after 13 years of Arsene Wenger Regime?

Only the xenophobes like Rhys and Merlion96 could fail to join Tony and Untold Arsenal in highlighting and celebrating this ongoing contribution by Wenger to English football.

I believe your calculations are correct, which would mean we have room for 2 signings as well as taking through all four youngsters in January (if the rules deem that necessary).

It will become a tight squeeze though, and another six(!) Arsenal players will require registration in the January 2012 submission – Szczesny, Nordveit, Ramsey, Eastmond, Lansbury and JET. It has me worried that the new squad regs might prevent us from keeping all these young talents beyond the age of 21.

If I am right in my calculations (and I know lots of people disagree) we currently have six spaces free. Let’s say Mr Wenger buys one player without selling anyone that leaves five. In that case all four of the players you quote would fit in, and indeed we’d still have room for someone else.

And of course we might have someone out with a long term injury by January, and we might sell someone. But I would say even if all four suddenly clock into the 25, and even if we buy two more, we are still ok.

This would mean we need to have 4 places available for them in order for them to play from January onwards.

7 Djourou (Home Grown Player No 2)

8 Clichy (Home Grown Player No 3)

9 Song (Home Grown Player No 4)

10 Denilson (Home Grown Player No 5)

12 Fabregas (Home Grown Player No 6)

17 Bendtner (Home Grown Player No 7)

WAT!!!!! Not even a token Englishman as one of the “homegrown 8″??….lol..

It sure defeats the intent of “25-man squad” to encourage more Englishmen in premiership.

These kind of “Homegrown 8″ violates the spirit of the proposal, nevermind that it also needs to comply to EU “Freedom of Movement of Labor”………lol.

However, the historical bias against English players isn’t due to racism or lack of respect to the paying English Arsenal fans and English TV viewers. It was due to Wenger’s observation that the English players, in comparison with their continental peers, lagged in technique and tended to be very overpriced.

This observation is proven time and again by the consistent under-performance of England in European and World Cup competitions.

This is one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin is: Wenger went on to do something about his observation. He took in MORE English under 16 players – as it should be – into the Arsenal Academy; and, over the past 10years, have trained them to the point that as many as 10 of them are now good enough to play for Arsenal’s first team in this year or in the next 2years. Even if all of them don’t get to stay long enough to get their chances, they are sure to have great careers in comparable teams in England. They may even be more in demand by top class continental European teams than their predecessors and may not be as afraid as they were to take up the European challenges when the challenges come.

This is something to assuage and convince you that Arsenal is a good and responsible English Club – for an Englishman like you that imagines that the club hasn’t been doing enough for its English roots and host.

It is something to celebrate in Arsenal by English and non-English Arsenal fans who would love to see good quality football from young, capable and affordable players – English and otherwise.

It is something that Tony and Untold Arsenal highlight and celebrate MORE than any other Arsenal blog. It something that the English press pay scant attention now but is bound to hit them in the next few years.

Now, if you don’t agree with this, you really ought to consider setting up your own blog as some in this medium have already advised.

Recently on this site I’ve been told I am anti-English, and also a Tottenham supporter in disguise. Going back a couple of years a bunch of people told me I was racist, either because I criticised the Africa Nations Cup, or because I called one black player a “clown” (which actually I meant rather affectionately, thinking of the circus clowns who made me laugh as a child).

The other day a writer went to some length telling me how awful my writing was – a month or so back someone pointed out that my use of literary allusions was pathetic.

I wonder why some people are so anxious to get angry with writers. I mean, I know there are people on TV who really annoy me, but I tend to avoid the programmes, and if I find myself on the channel by mistake, I turn the TV off.

The great thing about Arsenal blogs is there are thousands of them – some incredible through their in-depth research (like Swiss Rambler) some (to my mind) lunatic in their anti-Arsenal stance.

You take your choice, and read what you like.

Unlike some Anti-Arsenal Arsenal sites I don’t block people’s comments, or change them, unless the comments are themselves racist or copied from another site, or come from a person clearly using multiple identities to try to suggest he/she represents a broad spectrum of opinion. (And in those cases, I wonder, why do they bother?)

Anyway, sorry to meander off topic myself, but it just struck me as odd.

Coming up…

Walter is still in Spain reading the local papers talking about Cesc, and his report will be up soon

And I think I have finally cracked the issue of the length of the waiting list for season tickets.

On the Woolwich Arsenal blog we’re doing a series on how Tottenham have stolen Arsenal’s history in order to cover their own ineptitude. As pointed out, just as it was 20 years since Liverpool won the league last season, so its 50 years since they won the league this year – quite an anniversary.

Big celebrations I hope.

“Quest of the DNA Cowboys” by Mick Farren. (That has nothing to do with my reply, but is there just in case the guy who hates me quoting literature is reading. I suddenly thought of it while driving to Exeter with a colleague yesterday. Haven’t read it in years.

Don’t you ever get bored of being deliberately provocative and antagonistic? If you dislike Tony’s writing as much as you seem to why do you keep on reading it?

If you think you could do better – as you certainly seem to – why not set up your own blog? Could it be because deep down you realise no one cares about what you say?

Making wild unfounded accusations about Tony being anti-English is more dumb than it is insulting (unless you count the implicit insult to our intelligence).

I guess it’s easier to tear down and poke holes than build, eh?

Totally my fault.

Jay Simpson – he didn’t go to Austria and has been playing in the reserves, so I am taking it that he is out of the rankings. He is over 21 so if he were to be in the set up he would need to be registered as one of the 25.

Tony