I tend to avoid having the television or radio on during Transfer Deadline Day (henceforth called TDD)  Being an Arsenal fan it is often a little bit of a let down and more to the point it seems to be an excuse for Sky to bring the most annoying twats ever out of the woodwork.

This year was no different, I avoided even peaking during work and then had to drive to collect a new car and due to a number of factors was not through the door until about 11.15.

As such imagine my glee when I discovered that more or less out of the blue Arsene Wenger had pulled off one of the coups of the current window.

Gone was the signing of the usual unknown African child for half the defecit of the third World, instead I was greeted with the news that Mikel Arteta had been signed for a mere £10 mill. Talk about pulling a rabbit from the hat!

Arteta is a proper signing, a genuine midfield talent with years of Premier League experience… added to recent additions Santos and Mertesacker the season is starting to look up a little.

For those of you who have lived under a rock for a while here is a potted history of Arteta’s playing career to date -

“Arteta started out as a trainee with FC Barcelona but could not break his way into the first team and was eventually loaned to Paris Saint-Germain in the French league. He was then signed by Scottish Premier League giants Rangers with whom he would win the domestic treble of the league, Scottish Cup and League Cup in the season of 2002–03. After success in Scotland, Arteta moved to back to Spain to play for Real Sociedad but failed to establish himself within the first team and was loaned to Everton for the remainder of the 2004–05 season. He would then sign a permanent transfer.

Arteta has represented Spain at under-21 level, but he has not played for the senior national team.”

 I first came across Afligem in Belgoes in London when I had several bottles to accompany a very nice, relaxed lunch last Summer.

 Now any regular readers, I assume I have at least one, will know that I am rather partial to a nice Belgian beer and Affligem certainly ticks that box.

 I wouldn’t say it is the best Abbey beer that I have ever had but it is far from being the worst and with a fairly middle of the road abv, 6.70 %, is great for those Summer afternoon sessions in the back garden.

So lets have a look  shall we?

The beer pours with a decent off white head, about 3 or 4 fingers, which last well and creates a nice contrast with the clear, golden body of the ale.

As is usual with Belgian beers there are plenty of aromas vying for your attention; there are strong hints of  tropical fruit, cinnamon, there is a light hoppiness that comes through along with with some floral elements and a big punch of spicy yeast… all in all so far so good!

Flavours are well balanced and light across the board, you can pick up pretty much everything that was present in the nose along with some green apples and what tasted surprisingly like coriander.

The beer has a great mouthfeel to it with a some really nice tight carbonation, not unlike a Champagne.  Affligem starts slightly sweet and finishes on a nice dry note that is really quite refreshing.

I find that Affligem has a slightly cleaner taste to it than a lot of the heavier Belgian beers and this coupled with it’s relatively low abv mean that whilst it isn’t one of the stand out Belgians it is a very capable example and is actually better suited to being consumed in larger volumes.

4/5

Today sees the official arrival of South Korea captain, Chu Young Park, from Monaco.

If rumour is to be believed the 26 year old striker walked out of a medical with Ligue 1 champions Lille in order to board a flight to London and sign for the Gunners on a 4 year contract.

There is some confusion floating around as to whether or not he will be eligible during the entire duration of his stay at the Emirates as he may possibly have to serve 2 years national service. It is key to point out however that certain prolific South Korean sportsmen have been given exemptions in recent years.

 In an announcement earlier on today Park had these words to say regarding his move ‎”In my opinion this is a great club, now I have to show what I can do on the pitch. I will do my best, I will never give up, I will show heart, I will give everything and I hope [the fans] will support me.”

Park will wear the currently vacant number 9 jersey and will go by his preferred name of Ju Young Park.

$amir Na$ri

In yet another shock transfer that no-one at all saw coming Arsenal winger, Samir Nasri, has agreed to join cash rich b*stards Man City.

Nasri is set to earn a shit ton of money and will join such other former Arsenal players as Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor in warming the bench at Eastlands.

Meanwhile Arsenal will receive a fee believed to be in the region of £25 million, not bad for a man with half a season of decent football to his name.

Following a number of departures this Summer it might be about time for the rest of the team to be reminded of Arsenal’s club motto

Victoria Concordia Crescit / Victory through Unity

Perhaps a little more focus on the team and a little less focus on their pockets might help deliver the trophies that we as fans and presumably they as players long for.

Despite seemingly stringing the club along not that long ago Costa Rican starlet Joel Campbell has today finalised his transfer to Arsenal.

The transfer was announced last week but I have held my tongue on commenting until it is all signed, sealed and delivered as it isn’t that long ago that we had supposedly put this one to bed.

Campbell is a talented young striker who many are predicting will be able to walk straight into the first team. Admittedly with how threadbare we look at the moment Herman Munster could get a nod tomorrow but even so.

I know youtube videos are about as useful as a chocolate tea kettle but if you want to have a look at a nice spot of finishing from our newest addition have a look here….

For those of you who haven’t seen the show Adam travels the length and breadth of the US taking on various food challenges, most of the time these challenges are focused on Adam eating ridiculously large servings within a set period of time. These episodes are all very well and good but my favourites have been the episodes which feature some slightly spicier adversaries.

One such episode featured Adam taking on the phaal challenge at the Brick Lane Curry house in Manhattan.

I was intrigued to see this episode for a number of reasons; firstly I love Indian cuisine, I would possibly go so far as to say it is my favourite food, added to that a good phaal has to be one of my favourite dishes and I have eaten so many of them that I have lost count. Some were better than others but they all have one thing in common, they are all pretty damn hot!

Secondly I was intrigued to get a look at the food being served by the Brick Lane Curry House  seeing as I grew up within spitting distance of the actual Brick Lane in East London and have eaten my way along the entire length of it over the past 20 years or so.

Well I watched it and I laughed and laughed and laughed some more, whilst I am sure that it IS a very hot curry I am completely not convinced that it requires quite the hullabaloo that seems to surround it.

Enjoy…

After a Summer of ongoing negotiation and suggestion we finally see the career of one of Arsenal’s more colourful characters come to an end.

I refer of course to former boo boy Emmanuel Eboue. It wont have come as a surprise to many fans that time was being called on Eboue’s tenure at the Emirates and the Liverpool penalty incident was no doubt the final nail in the coffin of  the once promising Ivorian.

As is always the way with Arsenal the exact details of his move to Turkish giants Galatasaray are being kept firmly under wraps but it is believed that a fee of between 3 and 5 million has been/will be paid.

Eboue’s departure heavily suggests the Arsenal new boy Carl Jenkinson will be deputising for regular right back Bakary Sagna in the forthcoming season.

We all knew it was coming, but even so it doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.

Arsenal club captain, Cesc Fabregas, has completed his move to Barcelona the club he signed from back in 2003.

During this time we Arsenal fans have been lucky enough to witness Fabregas’ emergence from being a talented but raw 16 year old into one of the absolute top midfielders in the World.

Once again Cesc, thanks for everything, you will be a tough act to follow.

Yes  that is right folks not only is being around black people “awkward” but you can subdue them with fried chicken…as that isn’t racist at all