mcdonaldtaf

Lucas Torres Gerrard

It's the parent company of Arsenal FC in the same way that Kop Holdings is the parent company of Liverpool FC, which does shield both football clubs to a certain extent.

Arsenal's debt is a lot more than £190m. Their holding company, in total, owes in excess of £600m. But agreed that they, at least, have a new stadium to show for their debts; from which their increased revenues are servicing the debt.

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I blogged on this yesterday. I won't post everything up here but the core elements of what people are talking about is covered here: "We need to remember this is only the start of the process. No doubt Rhone will be the first of many names mentioned as potential suitors for taking an equity stake in the club. So I’m not going to get too excited or worried at this juncture. The dreaded two words have already come up though. Rhone Group amongst other things list one of their specialities as ‘leveraged buyouts’. This has sent some fans into a frenzy and they’re already throwing Rhone into the same classification as Hicks and Gillett, perhaps a tad unfairly. Rhone have revealed no details about how they will fund their purchase and it is highly unlikely, in my experience, that they will be able to tie the assets of the club to any initial injection of cash – this would usually only happen if a controlling stake was being taken and then it would no doubt be retrospective. "I’m not saying though that we won’t see our debts increase following this or any other deal. Christian Purslow is already on the record as saying new investment will be a catalyst for acquiring more debts to complete the stadium. You see what Hicks and Gillett need more than anything is someone else to open up the opportunity of borrowing more money. Which is difficult to get in the current economic climate of risk aversion. Rhone Group would certainly, at face value, be able to open up the bank’s coffers again."

Aquilani is looking likely but not definite, according to reports this morning.

From recollection Heskey thrived (and he did thrive and play well) when confident. Bringing him into our squad at the moment would be like putting a goldfish in an empty bowl!

I'd like to see the following (with an attacking mentality) XI: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Gerrard (on the right), Lucas (sitting back in front of back four), Aquilani, Riera/Benayoun, N'gog (behind Torres), Torres. I know it will start up all the Gerrard on the right talk, but he is effective there. N'gog for someone so young understands the game and I was impressed with the way he was linking with Kuyt the other night. Can he create a formidable partnership and understanding with Torres? We'll never know unless we try.

Every game now running up to and through Xmas is a must win. If some are injured then everyone else needs to give make up any quality shortfall with heart. I expect a win, probably hard fought, but a win. Hopefully the land will lie a bit better in the new year! YNWA