ANNOUNCING: Third-Gen’s shiny new domain!

 

Samir Nasri approves!

This is to announce third-gen has found a new home on its own, shiny new domain.

For the moment, there are still a lot of little loose bolts that need tightening, but you can now all turn your attentions to http://www.third-gen.com 

As you can see, the look has (yet again) been changed, but it is a design that has undergone a lot of tinkering and for the most part, I am quite happy with it.

Feel free to leave your comments on the new site on what you think, what could be improved, etc., and update your bookmarks accordingly.

If you would like to send an email, I can now be reached on jammathon [at] third-gen[dot] com.  The old hotmail address is still working (viewable here), but will soon be going out of service.

I hope you enjoy and I hope this takes the blog ‘one step further’, whatever that means.

Stay tuned for more developments as and when they arrive.

Good times for Arsenal as Barry plays the chump

I’ll make it short and sweet: That was a swift, emphatic transfer move.

And the decisiveness of the move just goes to show how loud money can talk. Cue the Aston Villa fans chucking one hell of a hissy.

While I myself only fancifully thought Barry ‘would be nice’ to buy, there are plenty of equal alternatives out there that Arsenal can stock their ranks with.

But there is something amiss amongst the hundreds-of-thousands that footballers earn to settle for such a middling club.

Granted, if Citeh go on to acquire someone like Tevez, they’ll have the makings of a top-four side, certainly. But the lack of aspiration to join a side in the lower reaches of the Premier League at the age of 28 must grate with so many struggling in these economically ill times.

But while Man City have to do the proverbial Chelski and buy a million players while waiting at least two years before the team starts finding itself, Arsenal have a more precise, surgical job.

The equation remains the same: find a central midfielder and central defender, first and foremost. Barry is off the list (assuming he ever was at all), but there are still many handfuls of candidates out there.

But for now, let’s revel in a new footballing effigy to freshen up Ashley Cole and Robinho’s club-house.

Lescott, RVP’s teeth and Third-Gen’s new direction

You can now follow Third-Gen on twitter! Look up @thirdgenblog for more frequent updates.

A very quick one today as its late and I’ve just got back from beating my footie club’s girls’ XI 6-1. Supreme!!

More summer droll links us with Everton defender Joleon Lescott – a boy we’ve been linked with many a time while he was at Wolves and during his time with the Toffees.

With one of the best British managers going in David Moyes and a near-miss in a rather flat FA Cup Final yesterday, prying one of Everton’s prized assets will be no mean feat.

If the £12 million asking price touted is correct, that would take up almost all of our spending budget, if other reports are also true.

The man would certainly give us an aerial threat from set pieces as well as calm and assurance at the back. Who we would best partner is entirely up to conjecture, but it would add some real competition for places.

From one arbitrary rumour to another, Cesc Fabregas has been linked, by the Mirror, to a £40 million move to Milton Keynes Dons. Some of you may have been expecting Barcelona, but surprise surprise, the editors have gone for something a bit more original this time round.

Oh.

That’s all I care to say about it. Arseblog summed up my similar sentiments to that drivel in his latest article, so not much left to say on that.

In one of the more bizzare stories going, Robin van Persie is to undergo an operation in the close-season to remove ‘troublesome’ wisdom teeth that will apparently diminish his injury problems.

I queried this with my partner who studies in the field of medical science and this really is a new one to her. The link between one’s teeth and muscular injuries sounds like it was contrived by a witch-doctor, frankly.

But hey, if it helps, then so be it.

Now, a quick bout of house-keeping to alert you all to some developments regarding Third-Gen.

Having finally finished my university commitments bar a handful of exams, my commitments can go back to the blog and my full-time job, which apart from being able to blog every evening for your reading-pleasure, gives me time to delve into some more work-intensive projects.

Coming up in July close to the new season’s start is a particular multimedia project that I think you will all find interesting and will hopefully develop as readers start to contribute towards it in a number of ways.

More will be revealed as time goes on, but it will involve a number of things, including interviews with Arsenal-bloggers, rival fans and journalists as well as rely on reader-submitted-content like photos from games, videos of drunken Arsenal fans chanting away (the more drunk, the better!) as well as other bits and bobs that I’m still fine-tuning.

In short, I’m very excited by it all and as the date of release draws near, more will be revealed.

Also, third-gen will be getting its own site soon, so hopefully that passes over smoothly and without drama. I’ll let you all know when to update bookmarks accordingly.

Also on the horizon are prize giveaways as well as a bit of advertising, I digress, but the increased costs that will come about will need to pay themselves off, somehow. I hope you understand and that it will not be too invasive.

Comments, thoughts, hate-mail all welcome. And twitter – gotta plug that, for sure. Ciao.

Eboue is one player who must not leave Arsenal

You can now follow Third-Gen on twitter! Look up @thirdgenblog for more frequent updates.

I know I’m going to get hammered in quarters for whats in the headline and I welcome you all to express your opinions in the comments.

"My friggin' head! Wizziiid..."

Reports have surfaced again that Emmanuel Eboue is a ‘surprise’ exit from Arsenal this summer. The alleged destination is habitual Eboue-lovers Athletico Madrid.

I can see many saying Arsenal are better off without the utility player, but I will stick my neck out and disagree.

During a rather long, annoying blogging hiatus of mine, a time came in late 2008 when, in a game against Wigan at the Emirates, Eboue played what can only be described as an utter donkey-squat of a car-crash of a game.

The booing that followed divided many and visibily devastated Eboue.

But since that day where neither Eboue or sections of the Emirates crowd did themselves any favours, the Ivorian experienced a mini-golden period where he scored 3 goals and showed real drive and purpose in his performances.

These performances alone were not enough to convince me that Arsene Wenger must keep hold of Eboue for at least a season more.

Even amidst his more poor performances, Eboue has often struck me as one of the most direct players in the Arsenal squad.

Having cut out the diving antics which clouded judgements and caught the eye, one thing that has often got my attention is Emmanuel’s dribbling skills and ability to cut diagonally infield and make aggressive runs.

Surprisingly, it’s something that he does better than several players in the squad, including Walcott and Sagna. Only Clichy strikes me as the one player better than him in this department, but relative to the minutes each player plays per season, Eboue attempts it more often.

I’m not much of a stats man, so I’m only relaying impressions and while my subjective viewpoint won’t convince some, do bear in mind that Eboue, Denilson and particularly Song have been ‘shocking performers’ by default in many fans views, ignoring what they are actually doing on the pitch.

If competing for a place spurs him on, Eboue can contribute something tangible to this side.

If he can bring his awesome crossing ability back from the dead, he certainly could teach Sagna and Walcott a thing or two.

That and the Emirates Stadium desperately needs more players of cult status. We seriously need to work on more songs for each of the individual players. I’m aware of one song of Eboue, thanks to J Sanderson from YoungGuns, whom I stole this off of from an msn conversation.

Altogether, now!

“When the ball hits the net
You can pretty much bet
That’s….Eboooooooooueeee…”

That’s all for today. Again, add me on twitter for further Arsenalified updates. Until then, ciao.