Gossip, speculation, clickbait… that’s pretty much all football related news is during the summer on the Internet.

Silly season is just that, silly, and the rumours that go around are just ridiculous. Websites, blogs and social media are fully of crap which for some reason, the fans lap up.

Everyone on Twitter seems to be ITK (In The Know if you didn’t know) and it seems like people just pull out random names from their arse and people believe the made up story.

We’ve been linked with an amazing 26 players this summer alone, and it’s not even July yet, and that’s why I’ve setup a dedicated page listing every player Arsenal have been linked with over the summer transfer window – because I want to see how ridiculous the final list is when the window shuts firmly shut in September.

There are basically 3 types of “speculation” which I’ve outlined below:

Completely Made Up Rumours:

These are exactly what the title suggests. A player is picked from random and linked to another random club. There’s no rhyme or reason to the link, it’s just completely made up and the more obscure the link is, the more football supporters are intrigued. If anything in the world of football madness the most left-field the rumour is, the more press it seems to get. Although unconfirmed, it is rumoured that the method used to match a football club to a player is similar to that of drawing out lottery numbers.

Example: Arsenal’s bid for Charles Aranguiz

2 Plus 2 Equals 5 Rumours:

These at least have some imagination to them. Basically the premise here is that you identify a clubs “apparent” weakness (or area in which they need strengthening) and then find a player who could fill that void. Arsenal fans know that they need a new goalkeeper and could do with a top striker, so cue links to players in those positions. On the surface, the link makes sense, but it’s just based on “educated” guesses and the vast majority of times there’s not even a spec of truth in the rumour.

Example: Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain, Jackson Martinez, the list goes on…

Agent Fuelled Rumours:

Then you have the “insider knowledge”. But the insider is a football agent who is trying to either get the biggest price and best move for his client, or a better deal at his current club. We’ve been linked to Karim Benzema for the last 5 years now and he’s never moved. Wayne Rooney for example is a master of this tactic, pretending that he wants to move on but ends up staying and getting a massively improved contract.

Example: Arsenal’s laughable interest ing Raheem Sterling

So there you have it, the 3 main sources of all these transfer rumours. Obviously these made up rumours are big business because even the official Arsenal website has stooped to their level and has its own “Media Watch” section on their site.

It’s amazing how a complete disregard of common sense occurs when it comes to football transfers. Arsenal have a strict wage structure and wouldn’t change that for anyone. Arsene also only signs players who fit into the ethos of the club, and would fit into our style of play. If people just applied a bit of thought to the speculation, we’d probably all be a little better off.

Oops, I almost forgot I promised you four superstars. Er… let’s call them The… you know what I can’t even be arsed making something up.

The new fixtures for the 2015/2016 season have been announced and you can see the full list here, on the official Arsenal website.

We host West Ham United on the opening day, and then have games against Crystal Palace (A), Liverpool (H), Newcastle United (A), Stoke City (H), Chelsea (A) and Leicester City (A) to complete the fixtures for August/September.

We start October with a home fixture against Manchester United, we have Tottenham at home in November and then we have Manchester City in mid-December.

I’ve always said you should judge Arsenal after the first 10 games and see where they are then. Last season, we had an awful start and that, in the end, made a difference to our title challenge. Our form from January onwards was the best in the entire league, but our World Cup hangover put us in a position where we had too much to do to catch Chelsea.

So the lesson is clear – we need to start the season in top top form.

Chelsea topped the league for pretty much the whole season, so giving them an early lead is simply not an option. Our first 10 games in full are:

West Ham United (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Liverpool (H)
Newcastle United (A)
Stoke City (H)
Chelsea (A)
Leicester City (A)
Manchester United (H)
Watford (A)
Everton (H)

Out of the 10 games, there are 4 games where we could drop points, and the others should* be straightforward.

(* but things are never straight forward in football are they?)

The games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton are most likely to be the ones where we could have problems. Liverpool are an unknown quantity at the moment and depending on their transfer dealings in the summer, could either be a real threat or sitting ducks. Chelsea will be formidable as always and at Stamford Bridge I would like Arsenal just not to lose that one. Manchester United at home will be tough, with LVG not afraid to park the bus and Everton are one of those sides that on their day, can cause problems.

The other games though should be winnable.

So it’s vital Arsenal are ready to come out of the blocks flying and get as many points on the board as early as possible. By mid-October we should know if Arsenal are capable of mounting a real title challenge.

Arsenal also launched a new home kit for the 2015/2016 season and by all accounts, Puma once again pulled out all the stops and delivered a big kit launch.

Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin were all in attendance, alongside Arsenal legend and Puma ambassador Thierry Henry who introduced proceedings.

But what about the kit itself?

I think it looks good but that’s pretty much it.

Will I be buying it?

Probably not.

I spent a lot of money (from the official Arsenal store) on last seasons home shirt, which had Alexis 17 on the back and I also had Premier League patches added on as well. It cost me a lot of money and I always buy my shirts from Arsenal – but I can’t really justify buying this seasons one. It’s only going to last one season and I’m still a bit miffed that the shirt I bought only lasted one campaign.

I understand about maximising revenues but one kit a season is to me, ridiculous. And to be perfectly honest, the new kit is “kind of similar” to the one I’ve already purchased so I won’t be losing any sleep over not having this one.

In terms for Arsenal shirts, I’ve pretty much bought every single home one since the 1993-1994 season in the good old JVC days. I also have quite a few away shirts (including the 1989 yellow one, signed by Paul Merson) to boot so have spent a hell of a lot of money on Arsenal shirts. But I just can’t justify buying the new one for this season, unless I somehow manage to get a big windfall of cash come my way!

Liverpool have agreed a deal with James Milner, who leaves Manchester City on a free.

He was linked with a few clubs, including Arsenal, and some of our fans wanted Arsene Wenger to sign him up. Presumably because of his experience at the top level, and his versatility.

I for one was one of those who didn’t want James Milner. I’m not going to bash Milner because I think he is a really good player – but just not an Arsenal type of player. And the issue isn’t just whether he would fit in, but how Arsene would use him.

At 29 years old, Milner would want to be guaranteed first team football and if he came to Arsenal he would be a squad player. A fantastic squad player, but just a squad player. Also, another problem is he wages he is on. At Manchester City he was getting paid well, but there’s no way he would be on the same at Arsenal. So in the end it was a non-starter and Liverpool seems a good fit for him – he doesn’t have to move house and uproot his family, and Liverpool are stupid enough to pay him stupid money.

We’ve also been linked with Petr Cech, but that’s another story that refuses to go away and will never happen. Jose Mourinho has a special bond with his players, and there’s no way Petr Cech would betray him and join a club Mourinho doesn’t want him to go to.

So again that’s another non-starter.

Raheem Sterling’s representatives are doing well to get him in the shop window, and apparently Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and PSG are all interested in the overrated forward.

It’s amazing how many players believe their own hype. Let’s be real for a second here – Chelsea and Real Madrid for example have a squad full of established superstars, who have a record of winning titles. Where would Sterling fit into that? Are you telling me that Sterling would get in the team ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Isco, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema? The kid wouldn’t last 5 minutes there and isn’t good enough to tie their laces.

The angle the press are using for an apparent approach by Arsenal is that we would trade him for Theo Walcott. Theo Walcott is ten times the player Sterling is and has done a hell of a lot more in the game that Sterling has. What has Sterling won again? And what has he done? Oh yes he had half a good season playing alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. So that’s another non-story.

The press know rumours sell papers and get website hits and they always make up stories about Arsenal, which the fans really need to just ignore. But if you look at Twitter, we’re bringing in about 25 players. One of those is Geoffrey Kondogbia, if you believe The Mirror.

I can’t pretend that I know much about him, but if I was a betting man I don’t think he’ll be in Arsenal colours next season. Every man and his dog knows that Arsenal’s “spine” needs to be strengthen this summer so for the next 4 months we’re going to be linked with every goalkeeper, central defender, defensive midfielder and striker going.

Silly season has started and agents are trying to get that lucrative deal for their players via a big move to an English or Spanish club, and the media lap it up. I think I’m going to make a list of all the players we’ve been linked with over the summer and see how many it is by the end of the transfer window – I’m sure it’ll make for interesting reading.

Then we get on to Jack Wilshere and Wociech Szczesny.

Now opinion on them is mixed. Some fans think they are both a disgrace, while others have come in full support of them.

Fans who slate Wilshere and Szczesny say that Jack was being a chav and shouldn’t be swearing in front of a crowd which would obviously contain young children, and that our former number one shouldn’t be doing something as stupid as smoke, which isn’t great for his health.

Then you have those who praise Jack, saying he was just connecting with the fans because he is a true Arsenal fan. And on Twitter in defence of Szczesny, you see all of those posts of Wilshere, Zidane and even Arsene Wenger having a smoke, as if that is proof that it’s okay.

Here’s my take on the whole thing.

In regards to Jack Wilshere, it certainly doesn’t look great does it? He does look like a chav with his stupid hat and singing that song was stupid to me. I’m not hanging him for murder like a lot of people are and I’m not outraged – but it was ill advised and pretty stupid to do. He had the ticking off last season so why try and win some cheap “support” by singing that song? The Arsenal fans already love Jack so there was no need for it, and it wasn’t helped by his appearance (looking from the outside in). I’m not going to slate him for it, but when we’ve just won back to back FA Cups then it’s not nice to have something stupid tarnish it.

Then the smoking. It’s the second time Szczesny has been “caught” now and you get the impression that he likes the attention. I suppose your viewpoint will be based on your own lifestyle and experiences, and unlike the Jack situation where I’m in-between opinions, this one I’m not. Szczesny was fucking stupid. Smoking is a disgusting habit and I’ve had friends suffer from the effects of it. To me, it’s a legal drug which can cause all kinds of health problems and I am someone who truly hates smoking.

So for a professional athletic to do it is really idiotic, especially when you should be in peak physical condition. You can debate whether smoking really makes a difference to your performances on the pitch but at the end of they day they are very, very well-paid and if I was serious about a career in football and was lucky enough to be part of that industry, then I could stop myself from being a complete dick.

Anyway, there’s my two cents. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Last weekend, Theo Walcott started up front against West Brom and scored a fantastic hat-trick.

Theo has scored 4 goals (I’m giving him that one against Manchester United) in less that 90 minutes (he was replaced by Giroud on 69 minutes and came on against United on 72 minutes) and is certainly the man in form.

Olivier Giroud however has failed to score in 8 games and following a decent season, is certainly in a slump.

And perhaps most worryingly he didn’t manage to score in the FA Cup semi-final against Reading.

So who should start?

Theo’s movement and pace can cause any team problems and he usually performs best against the lower sides in the league – which is what Aston Villa are. Giroud fails to score in the big games, especially at Wembley.

If I was Arsene Wenger, I would start Theo and you always have the option to bring on Giroud if things are going our way. Theo’s pace and trickery can hurt Villa whereas Giroud will find it tough against a big and strong Villa defence.

But the overwhelming feeling is that Arsene bring predictable as he is, will stay loyal to Giroud and start the big Frenchman in the final. I just wish Arsene would take a gamble and start Theo – as that’s something Aston Villa won’t be expecting.

So who do you think should start up front for Arsenal tomorrow? Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott?

Cast your vote below and leave your thoughts in the comments section!