Gooner Talk

On Thursday evening, France under-18’s took on Ukraine in what looked like a tough proposition for a side which included Arsenal youngsters Francis Coquelin and Gilles Sunu.

Little did they know, a major tragedy was about to occur within the Saint-Denis-de-l’Hôtel, central France. A parachutist was planned to spectacularly fly in and place the match ball on the pitch. It went completely wrong.

Experienced Parachutist Sylvain Charbrol, crashed unprecedentedly into the crowd wounding two teenagers. Not only was it a horrendous error, but a massive upset in the French community. The teenager suffered a cardiac rest following his injury and died of his wounds in hospital.

The referee immediately called for the match to be suspended, while Coquelin and Sunu looked on in amazement and horror.

France Football Federation President Jean-Pierre Escalette told their official website:

“This type of accident jump demonstration with percussion from the crowd is unprecedented.” “In keeping me from any final conclusion, an investigation by the police is still ongoing, it is likely that Sylvain has poorly understood and appreciated his arrival on stage.”, He said.

“The other six were paratroopers, they posed no problem after the accident. “But themselves do not know what happened, they have not seen anything.”

Everybody at Gooner Talk would like to express their deepest sympathies to the families of those children as well as Sylvain Charbrol’s family.

Gooner Talk have managed to carry out an exclusive interview featuring one of France’s most passionate and talented football journalists – Philippe Auclair.

In his homecountry, Auclair is renowned for his work in the music industry where his name – Louis Philippe – was associated with the short-lived, but very influential ‘él record label’; since this label’s demise (1989), he has grown into one of the ‘elder statesmen’ of indiepop.

Philippe – who is a hardcore Gooner himself – works for RMCinfo, arguably the biggest radio station in France. He’s also a regular contributor to FranceFootball where he posts a daily blog on all things footy, definitely one to read.

Our British readers may be more familiar with Auclair’s work on Setanta Sports News as their French football analyst, as well as popular radio stations TalkSPORT radio & BBC Scotland.

Part 1 of the interview includes:

• Philippe’s opinions on the latest young crop of Arsenal talent coming up through the ranks.

• His views on why Michel Platini made a ‘personal attack’ against Gunners boss Arsene Wenger via the French media.

• What Philippe thinks about the squad in terms of experience and quality of football.

• Arsenal’s chances of winning silverware this season and if so, what trophy are we most likely to claim.

And much, much more!

Read the rest of this entry »

Arsenal new-boy Mikael Silvestre is unlikely to make his debut against Blackburn this Saturday after the Frenchman sustained a “minor setback” on his current thigh problem.

Silvestre, 31, has yet to make his debut for the Gunners’ since joining from Manchester United last month but Arsene Wenger believes he will be fit for next Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.

“We had a minor setback with him,” said the manager. “But if he is not available for Saturday he will be OK for Wednesday certainly.

Fellow countryman Abou Diaby is still a fair few weeks away from full fitness while Carlos Vela has been completely ruled out after starring for Mexico in midweek.

“At the moment I do not know about everybody because some players finished their game at 4am, for example Carlos Vela in Mexico,” he said.

Samir Nasri is another doubt after the 21-year-old felt a nagging pain after Tuesday’s training session, and coach Raymond Domenech decided to rest him “only as a precautionary measure,” according to team press officer Francois Manardo.

Wenger is still undecided on the midfield maestro though:

“The only injury news that we have is Nasri, who could not play last night for France. We have to assess him later.”

Gooner Talk will have all the build-up to Saturday’s match with a preview coming tomorrow afternoon as well as a match report immediately after the full time whistle blows.

Arsenal are reportedly closing in on the signing of Saint Etienne’s deep-lying playmaker Blaise Matuidi according to Sky Sports News.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has been linked with a number of midfielder’s this summer since declaring that he was looking to bring one quality player in midfield to the Emirates Stadium earlier this summer.

Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, along with Everton targets Jonathan De Guzman and Stephane Mbia have all been reportedly targets for Wenger, who has lost key midfielder’s Mathieu Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb during this transfer window.

Arsenal’s French-based scout Gilles Grimandi has seen the Matuidi in action for Les Verts and Arsene Wenger is also a known admirer of the Tolouse-born star.

However, it has now emerged that it is 21-year-old Matuidi that is set to join the Gunners, with it not known how advanced talks are between St Etienne and Arsenal.

French Under-21 International Matuidi joined Etienne from Troyes last summer, making 36 appearances for the Ligue 1 team last season and is one of France’s most sought-after prospects.

Arsenal left back Armand Traore is closing in on a season-long loan move to Harry Redknapp’s side, Portsmouth.

The fleet-footed 18-year-old found himself out wide left in Arsenal’s reserves last season and slowly but surely became more comfortable and happy in the more attacking role.

With Mikael Silvestre’s move from Manchester United to Arsenal, it has freed up the the Frenchman’s move to Fratton Park.

Traore has made 18 appearances at the Emirates – most of them in the Carling Cup – since joining from Ligue 1 giants AS Monaco in late 2005.

New Arsenal signing Mikael Silvestre has been praised by Gunners’ legend Frank McLintock who believes it’s a good bit of business done by Arsene Wenger.

The 31-year-old completed his £750,000 move last night and signed a 2-year deal and become another member of Arsenal’s almost all-French backline.

And McLintock, who skippered the club to the Double in 1971, insisted:

“Silvestre will be a very, very good signing for us.

“I never even thought about him but he is just the type of player we need. He has bags of experience and won’t cost a lot as he is 31.

“Being French, he’ll have no trouble settling in.”

Mikael is set to train with his new team-mates for the first time this morning and could make his debut against Fulham if Kolo Toure isn’t fit.