It’s good to be back. After a nine month sabbatical from blogging, I’m back at the helm with a relaunched Young Guns, just in time of the new season.
As regular readers will notice, the posts suddenly ended in October, with no word of what had happened. I’m delighted to say I’ve had a number of really nice emails and letters since, from long-term fans of the site who are keen for it to continue, despite enjoying my work on Twitter and elsewhere.
For those who were not aware, last year I became a full-time football journalist, and have since worked for newspapers such as The Independent, The Daily Mirror, The Metro and a number of other magazines and websites. I had always planned on continuing to write the blog, but juggling 30 articles a week and then coming home to write something interesting on here is not easy.
Many have suggested that I’ve ‘sold out’, but football blogging is a full-time job that pays part-time wages. Many of the best sites have folded in recent months, while others are relying on hefty advertising or selling dodgy merchandise to get by.
However, working in football gives me the advantage of building contacts, keeping up to date with everything that’s going on, and, of course, a healthy income. That means I can run this page as a labour of love.
The forthcoming season promises to be one of the most exciting yet for Arsenal, with a busy summer of transfers, the reshuffle of the Under-18 and Reserve leagues and the NextGen Series. I’ll be covering lots of it on here.
As you will have noticed, the site has undergone something of a drastic re-design. Out with the flashy sliders and fancy graphics, in with clean colours, bold fonts and a feature style layout. It’s all designed at making the site more accessible and easy to read.
The template has been built from scratch, so please forgive me if there are any problems or things that are not working. They will be sorted out in due course, but the main stuff is all in place.
The new-look Young Guns is aimed more at exclusive news, opinions and features, rather than the traditional basis we operated before.
You can still follow all the snippets, such as who is going on loan, and where, on my Twitter page, but here you can expect to find analysis on how they’re doing on loan, scouting reports of players linked and signed, and a more in depth look at what’s going on at the club.
I’ll also be bringing in a new feature called Mailbag, where you can email me your questions, and I’ll pick one each week and answer it. It will be a lot more exciting than it sounds – I promise.
So, that’s about it. Welcome back, and sorry for not keeping you updated. Stay locked for a few features and snippets in the next few days – there’s lots to get through.
So great to have you back. Reading Young Guns used to be a part of my daily routine, and it’s wonderful to have this unique insight once again.
Been keeping up with you on Twitter, but I am thrilled this site is back up. Keep up the excellent work!
Couldn’t be happier, this is great news. Welcome back mate.
YES! btw it would be great if u could bring back the whole voting on comments thing.
Now all that needs to happen is the gunning hawk to come back :(
Its nice to have you back mate :)
Great to have you back!!! Been to long, guess belated congrats are in order. Really looking forward to your updates again.
im sooo glad your back i remember the articles on interest in botelho and vela joining and i used to check this daily also, i still did for about 3 months! :D
one more thing is the gunning hawk to come back
Great to have you back Jamie, missed your post.. hope you find the time to keep up the daily does.
glad to have you back, you have been missed
Great to have you back~looking forward to the stuff you’ll be churning out =)
Big fan of your blog from the States — nice to see you back.
Great to have you back. Always enjoyed your blog, can’t wait for the good reads.
Finally its hereeeeeeeeee !!! Keep up the good work mate ;)
Outstanding to have you back, Jamie.
Where the hell have you been?
ha welcome back mate :D
Its good to have you back
Definitely good to have you back…i was wondering where you hadd gone…
its been slim pickings esp in the off season as it is not really the time to shine for my favourite tactical based blogs…
so whats news on the youngsters Jamie? Any scoops? are we gonna get Niang?
Great to have you back Jamie.
I am seriously poorly updated on the youth. This was the site that always had some substantial content. rare thing
You’ve made a lot of Gooners very very happy Jamie! 100% getting a shout in todays post on absolutearsenal.com , more significant than any transfer rumor. Nobody covers Arsenal youth like you do mate, congrats on the new layout, crisp clean & classy.
I look forward to your future blogs. I do like the new lay-out. So nice not to get a burst of sound when the mouse accidently hovers in the wrong spot!
Cheers
Nice having you back…
av really missed ur posting and good to av u back…u r welcome back….
Good to see you back Jamie,
We have missed you! Although we follow you on twitter, we missed this tremendous blog which gave us news about the evolution of our raising stars. Whenever I think of your blog, I always see Jack Wilshere because you covered in details his evolution and had so much information about him.
Please bring us back those hefty club updates and news…
We love your blog, Keep up the good job Jamie!
Your return only increases my optimism of a return to glory for AFC. It’s just a series of signs that I am prone to take for wonder.
Well and truly welcome back. You’ve been missed.
Good to see you back
welcome back mate
Welcome back JS! You and your blog have been sorely missed!
Belated congratulations on becoming a full time journo by the way.. I read it somewhere a few months back and I remember thinking… “quite right too… What a talented young man”.
Anyway thanks for returning mate… Heaven knows we need a break from that Bleacher fellow!! Can someone find him a journalist job too.. Preferably in Krasnodar!
Always appreciated your work, good to see someone succeed in doing what they love. Seen a few if the articals in the daily papers, made me smile to see how your career has taken off. It will be good to get my regular catch up on the arsenal youngsters again
Jamie, welcome back buddy. You and the arseblog are the only arsenal bloggers and reliable sources I give any credit too or trust.
Can’t wait for you to fill us in on what’s happening next with our young guns !!!
Looking forward to the season and your insightful info.
BEst
Glad to have you and the site back: i’m looking forward to checking out the progress of the future arsenal stars!
good to be back. you had done a good job by the time you left in last october. hope you will go on like that.
Best of Luck, Jamie! Appreciate what you are doing
Welcome back Jamie!
Be good to get reacquainted with your style of jumping on the facts and not the bandwagons!
David (first post above) – absolutely agree about daily routine – used to visit about three times a day! ;-)
Good to have you back Jamie – all the best with the new blog…
MWAH!!
good to see you back!
Excellent to see the return of a favourite site with you at the helm, and I much prefer the new layout and readability.
Thank goodness Jamie is back !
Hooray. It’s like a return of an old friend!
So glad that the blog is up and running again Jamie. This was the first ever Arsenal related blog I started following and then followed it to twitter for your live tweets on matches. You have delivered few great breaking news on this blog and I hope and am sure you will continue delivering them. Welcome back YGB.
So glad that you will be back. Honestly it has been a hard nine months without your fantastic service. So glad we can reach it again.
I’m glad to see you back!
I cant wait for your next text!
Superb news. Great to have you back JS.
Especially looking forward to the Next Gen series this year. Best development in European football in as long as I can remember.
Pleased to see you return, I always read your Arsenal blogs on a daily basis and missed you very much.
Good to have you back
Good to see you back Jamie :)
Any news on M’Baye Niang? Some sites are reporting that we’ve had a bid for him accepted, others are reporting that it’s been rejected.
Great to have you back. Keep up the good work.
Good to have you back.
I checked every week on the off-chance the blog received its much anticipated overhaul, so I’m glad to be able to re-pin this. :)
Wonderful news. So keen to read up on the young players without the Pravda overtones.
Welcome back Jamie.
Yes yes yes!!!
Welcome back Jamie! Missed you loads!
The site has remained in my favourites this entire time. Be good to see some exclusive content from the man in the know. Also congratulations on your success.
Leon
Nice good to have you back. love the new design its cleaner and easier on the eye
Even those that could not reach you by mail, missed you so its good to have you back!
Nice to return and Excellant layout.
How do feel about letting Ozaykup leave best reserve player last year?
hopefully you won’t have the white background with black text in the future.
really hurts the reader’s eyes :(
anyways, nice to have you back at what you do best!
Woo Woo
don`t ever stop writing blogs , we all enjoy your work . So please keep doing this blog . Thanks for coming back
Welcome back!
Good to have you back.
You are welcome back Jaime, I am one of those who have missed this blog so much.
And yeah, I am still trying to keep soccerfanbase and soccerfanbase.com/blog going. Thanks for the inspiration and the help back then.
Can’t wait to start reading your articles again.
Great to have you back.
It’s a relief to have the ability to read about the truly positive side of AFC. Our youth and reserve teams give us all an insight into the future of the club, and through your reporting, a continuous upbeat view of our beloved Gunners.
Glad you are back
Sorry for my sarcastic comments on Twitter! Very glad to see you back! :-)
Welcome back. YG always was one of my favourite reads. Like the clean, crisp new look.
Hey mate… great to have u back. i thought something bad happened to you. so lets get going then… .waiting for your posts – Amit from Mauritius
Great to have you back fella, looking forward to some great articles in the coming months!
Yes!!! youngguns is back, looking forward to your articles.
Great to have you back! Liking the new site.
Hurrah at last, jamie! Am so happy to back here! Nice to hear ur back alive! :-)
Welcome back… From a regular reader in Singapore!
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for taking the time out to do this, it is greatly appreciated and has been missed. It was only one of a few worth reading (along with Untold, the sadly departed Gunning Hawk, and ladyarse) with something to say, not just churned opinion.
Thanks.
Belated congrats from me too.
YG was always one of the best blogs around, happy to see you back.
Hi Jamie, I’m also happy you are back with this fantastic blog! Reader from Nuremburg in Germany
Fantastic to have you back, my friend. It’s even more impressive that you’re doing this given your professional commitments. Long may you continue.
Glad Your Back!! Did wonder where you went..
Welcome back, J!! You’ve been missed!
Good to have you back Jamie
really pleased you are back! this was (and im sure it will be again) the best arsenal blog around. looking forward to future posts!