Smudger's spine surgery would result in a paraplegic Arsenal team

Seeing as silly season is almost upon us, added to the fact that there is no major tournament this summer, I felt the need to comment on some of the rather ridiculous players that we are already being linked to before it gets out of hand. This is a bit of a tirade against lazy journalism, whether that be on the TV, radio, in a newspaper or on a blog.

It's very easy to claim it's all down to a team's 'spine' and then list a few random players who'd have reasonable seasons, thus suggesting them as transfer targets, this is precisely what Alan Smith has done. Great player that 'smudger' was, he is one bloody awful pundit, combine his rather annoying midlands drone with the inane content and you have a recipe for tedium, added to this he is also frequently invested a long way up Sky's filthy ring piece. I'd take Dixon, Keown, Parlour or even the Merse over smudger any day.

Firstly he mentions Shawcross and Hangeland as potential targets, not awful suggestions by any means, I haven't seen enough of Shawcross to comment, while Hangeland doesn't convince me that he'd cut it at the highest level. It's one thing looking good for a mid table side, it's another to become a first choice player in a title winning side.

After a reasonable start Smith then rapidly loses the plot, he next suggests replacing Almunia with Green or Kirkland! Almunia has been absolutely brilliant this season and doesn't even need replacing in my opinion. Green is far more erratic and error prone than Almunia, plus he lacks the aerial power, while Kirkland has never been the player he once was thanks to a incredible run of injuries, the last thing we need is another injury prone player.

In midfield he suggest Marcos Senna, who at 33 would really struggle to adapt to a new and faster league, while the likelihood of him staying fit at that age would be rather slim. Then the name 'Scott Parker' is mentioned, firstly he is not a defensive midfielder, secondly he is small, and thirdly he is not good enough as he proved at Chelsea, how many reasons do you want? Finally Santa Cruz is mentioned, not a bad idea, as if we lost Ade then we would need another striker who could lead the line.

Smudger's piece just goes to show how very easy it is to sit on the sidelines and talk a good game, it's easy to sound clever as one's ideas are never put into practice, so people will only remember your good points, while your rubbish is quickly forgotten. In the world of football management your rubbish can result in millions being wasted on a player who can't even cut it in the Championship, no offence Franny Jeffers. The point is that you cannot hide from your mistakes, they will be there for all to see, they will turn up to training every day, embarrass you on match days and never go away like Mikel Silvestre for example.

The balance of our team is wrong, Manu Petit has commented on this fact recently, and this needs to change in the summer. As Stan Kroenke accumulates shares, the expectations of the board and fans will continue to rise, and signings will have to be made. As fans we must be patient and not start calling for cash splashing simply for the sake of it, the quality of player that will actually improve our side is not abundant. After all you have to very careful for what you ask for, Tottenham haven't shied away from cash splashing in recent seasons and look where it's got them? Precisely.