So Arsenal’s half-year finances are out and in all fairness, for being in a recession, they did pretty damn good. When you generate more match day revenue (an increase of 3.3 million to 44.4 million pounds), more television revenue (an increase of 4.5 million to 28.9 million pounds), and end up with a bigger pre-tax profit (increase of 4.5 million to 24.5 million pounds), you simply have to stand back and applaud. A major factor in this would be the total amount spent in the transfer market, a profit of 8 million pounds.

If there is anything to worry about, the finances of the Highbury Square development are a small cause for concern. It just isn’t the big deal that the English media are making it out to be. Here’s what we do know: the 135 million pound loan is due in 14 months time. Thanks to the economy, the property hasn’t sold in the manner Arsenal anticipated. While there is still time for the economy to turn around and for this to be a story about nothing, Arsenal have smartly started preliminary talks with Barclays, RBS and the Bank of Ireland about extending the loan payment. That alone has them one step ahead of the eight ball.

Let us not forget that historically, finances for the next six months usually end up higher than the six months that are being reported. With the Champions League TV revenue added in, and gates continuing to be strong, Arsenal look set to have one hell of a financial year.

The other big story had to just make Sepp Blatter’s day. Then again, when FIFA commissions a report from the Institute of European Affairs, you just had to figure they were going to get what they wanted to hear.

In a nutshell, this INEA report simply states that FIFA’s six plus five rule that has already been passed does not violate any European Union law. When I see quotes like “We took no instructions from FIFA. INEA accepted this commission on condition that our requirements of complete independence were met”, it tells me that there is a serious possibility that there was something exchanged in order for FIFA to come out looking good here.

The European Union has yet to get in on this act. Expect them to shortly. When they do, it’s going to be very interesting to see who ends up winning this war. Something tells me the European Union will be the ones that come out smelling like a rose.

Other Stories
I’m sure this is not what Blackburn wanted to see coming out of their FA Cup defeat to Coventry City…an allegation that Jason Roberts hit a 17 year old Coventry fan.

Salamon Kalou has expressed his desire to play for Arsenal and has admitted he will consider his Chelsea future at the  end of the season. So instead of fighting to become a regular Chelsea starter, you just want to head off to Arsenal based on one interview Wenger did?

How serious are Hull City at getting out of their slump? Recalling Dean Windass is a possibility.

And finally, what do Sheffield United feel is owed to them by the Premier League thanks to the Carlos Tevez affair? If you guessed 45.5 million pounds, you win the grand prize.

Related posts:

1. FIFA Votes For Quotas On Foreign Players
2. FIFA Needs To Revamp International Football
3. FIFA Bans Chelsea From Buying Players Until 2011

The most impressive side I watched, by far, on Saturday was Middlesbrough. The link-up play between Tuncay, Alves, Downing, Aliadiere and, later, Mido was sensational. Wheater was also impressive. At times, it was like watching Brazil with all of the backheels and blistering attacks. Seriously.

While Spurs controlled a lot of the possession in this match and were doing a better job at passing the ball around, they were sloppy in front of goal and failed to create those pinpoint passes that could have led to goals.

The 2-1 win for Middlesbrough was deceiving. Wheater had a goal in the first half that was incorrectly disallowed, but even ignoring that, Boro was much more impressive than Spurs than the scoreline suggests. For Tottenham, it’s back to the drawing board.

Middlesbrough fans will probably be worrying that Boro will continue to do well against big opposition teams but poorly against weaker sides. Let’s hope Gareth Southgate can fix that because the initial signs from Boro this season are very encouraging. They look like a team reborn.

One more impressive thing about Middlesbrough: For the first time in ages, the Riverside sounded like a real football stadium with a cup final atmosphere and noise compared to the empty red seats and stone cold silence we’re accustomed to from Boro.

Here are my thoughts from the other matches:

• The deafening sound of boos that erupted around Goodison Park at the end of the 90 minutes against Blackburn should worry the club and its fans. They aren’t too many things to be happy with at Everton lately with the move to Kirkby on hold, no transfer signings, injury problems, boardroom problems and a dissatisfied David Moyes.

  At times, Everton’s defending was schoolboy as they let Blackburn run right through the middle of the park unopposed. The perfect example of that was David Dunn who had a lot of space to twist and turn past Phil Jagielka and slot his curving shot into the corner of the net. Joleon Lescott made a crucial mistake to let Roque Santa Cruz pass him to slot the ball into the goal. Even Jason Roberts, yes Jason Roberts, made Everton’s back four look weak by dribbling past three players and getting a shot on goal.

• New Blackburn manager Paul Ince should be impressed by the spirit shown by his side. If they can keep Santa Cruz in his side, they should do well this season up front.
• Sunderland’s performance at their Stadium of Light against Liverpool was impressive. The team put in every morsel of energy into this match, winning many 50/50 balls and tormenting Rafa Benitez’s side. I wasn’t impressed by Liverpool’s performance at all. Too many sloppy mistakes. Hyypia looked awful. Plessis looked very unsure of himself in central midfield and his replacement Alonso played much better.This is going to be an awfully long season for Liverpool unless they can start making immediate improvement. They created more chances in the second half mostly thanks to Steven Gerrard, but what happens when Gerrard has a weak performance?
• Arsenal looked extremely comfortable and confident in their 1-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, but it was classic Arsenal who failed to find a second goal to put West Brom out of reach. Tony Mowbray’s side gave Arsenal a couple of scary moments with the very impressive Ishmael Miller coming close for West Brom. Samir Nasri did well on his first Premier League debut. Chris Brunt also played well for the Baggies, whose side became more comfortable toward the end of the first half. For the first 30 minutes, they couldn’t thread more than a few passes together.Meanwhile, Emmanuel Adebayor continued his frustrating streak of missing some clear-cut chances in front of goal. When he’s off form, the Gunners will be in jeopardy in crunch games.

Related posts:

1. Premier League Predictions: Gameweek One
2. Premier League: Gameweek Two (Your Running Commentary)
3. Which Premier League Clubs You’re Most Likely To See On UK TV