3rd Place secured – AFC

Well wow that was a tense final game wasn’t it?

All gooners, myself included woke up yesterday even more nervous than the day before.

So much to lose, we did not want fourth, no way in hell would fifth be acceptable but leading up to the game these were all possible outcomes.

The news that Clint Dempsey was definitely out of the game against Spurs and not a hoax meant even more we had to do the job ourselves.

Robin Van Persie was still on course to achieve another record; one more goal would equal the record 31 goals in a 38 game season. Would we accept RVP getting the record and finishing fourth? Erm no thanks.

Onto the game and in typical Arsenal fashion it was not a straightforward affair. We tried our best to recreate the Norwich game .

It almost seemed a jinx that if Yossi scored early for us in the game we would eventually be 2-1 down.

And so it went, great perseverance from Yossi to close down the Fraudster impersonating a goalkeeper led to an easy tap in to take the lead. News had filtered through just before that Spurs had taken the lead. It was important to get that goal so the nerves didn’t get to players if they get wind of the score from white hart lane.

So much for keeping it simple West Brom were level within 6 minutes and to be honest it was an injustice the goal stood. Shane long was clearly offside. Decisions like this can have such repercussions on a team and Mike Jones was a lucky man that the final result worked in Arsenals favour. Just look at the goals Bolton conceded against Stoke to see how a referee error can cost you.

I can only put the second goal down to nerves as Graham Dorrans slotted in easily to put West Brom 2-1 up. Oh dear one of those days again? Please God no.

Luckily for us our 12^th man wasn’t having any of it. Step forward Mr Marton Fulop. Now the commentator reminded us a million times during the game this was Fulop’s debut for West Brom . To be honest this means nothing, he was not a 17 year old rookie, this is a full international and has played in England for the best part of 8 years. Best stat of all is he was on Spurs books for a number of years, sent out on loan constantly while he was there I can only assume he wanted to dish out some payback to Spurs

Right on cue when we were struggling to get our rhythm Andre Santos lashed in a desperate shot after a West Brom player was robbed of the ball just outside the area. A good shot on target indeed; but a bread and butter shot for a half decent keeper. Mr Fulop proceeded to palm the ball in at his near post.

Good times, this was the game changer for me. A vital goal early enough in the game for us to push on and hopefully win now. Fulop was inspiring the Arsenal players, he certainly inspired me as he looked to make a mistake every time he was near the ball.

We needed to win this as Spurs seemed to be comfortable against a Dempsey-less Fulham. Half time finished at 2-2. Not a complete disaster, we had a whole half to reorganise, Wenger had a chance in the interval to drill into the players that they needed to switch on and focus.

Second half we came out more determined, Theo came on at the break for Rosicky, I presume in the hope of causing West Brom to have more to think about from both wings. Gervihno was a threat constantly but had one of those games where every time he worked a good position he messed it up.

The important thing is by working these positions is West Brom had to adjust to ensure his threat was nullified Theo on the other wing would give them even more food for thought.

Eventually we nudged ahead in the game, that man Fulop was again sticking two fingers up at Spurs. From a corner swung in by Van Persie the keeper managed to connect with a punch. The punch to my amusement went in the opposite direction you would expect (behind him) and spun just enough for Koscielny to poke in the winner.

An absolutely amazing goal due to the sheer comedy value and the importance in our quest for third place. The rest of the game was a nervy affair, Arsenal don’t do comfortable. A fourth goal would have settled everything. We managed a few breaks here and there but a fourth goal wasn’t coming. We needed to maintain the discipline and focus to see this out. An absolutely terrific last-ditch tackle from Gibbs towards the end of the game typified how much we wanted to keep this. Arsene was pictured on the touch-line showing as much nerves as us fans. The 5 minutes of injury time wasn’t easy on our heart rates but eventually the final whistle went and the game was won. St Totteringham day finally!!

Normality resumed, Spurs below us confirmed. A Great day all round, the tension finally gone. If I ever see Fulop in the street I will shake that man by the hand. He would probably somehow mess that up.

Even given the events in Manchester my only focus was on the Arsenal. Everything else was and still is irrelevant. My only concern is the Arsenal.

Enjoy your day people. I certainly will.

Sleeping is for wimps, Arsenal are playing – AFC

The big day is here, our cup final in a way. So much hinges on one game. The guarantee of champion’s league football if we get third, the future of Robin Van Persie as an Arsenal player, the pulling power of higher calibre players, the pressure back on Arsene.

We as football fans are a very fickle bunch, we go through so many highs and lows throughout a season. Silverware or a strong finish at the end of the season and we dismiss all the lows. Failure at the end and all highlights are quickly forgotten. Taking into account how badly we started the season even the most diehard fans would never have envisaged us ending up in third place. We went on such an amazing run during the final third of the season to put us in this position but lately have somewhat stumbled to some less than satisfactory results.

If we had a crystal ball back during the darks days of the early part of the season we would take the position we are in ‘3^rd place with a win at west brom to secure it’ we would literally bite your hand off for that.

Being in this position now and with so much to lose as well as gain; the sense is if we do not pull off the result today there will be a massive feeling of disappointment amongst all gooners. The Wenger out backlash may resurface, well actually not may it will most definitely resurface. Every aspect of what happened this season will be examined with a microscope and the overall assessment of this season will be a massive failure. Pat Rice is gone so I wonder if his last days will be viewed with celebration of his commitment to the Arsenal or will the cyber rotten tomatoes be thrown his way.

I mean every season without a trophy can be deemed as failure but on this occasion to see the turnaround from where we were at the early part of the season 3^rd place would be a pretty acceptable outcome in my books.

There is such a fine line between absolute doom and absolute joy today that all gooners are very nervous today. We believe but we also have doubt.

I mean, I didn’t even expect to blog today due to the fact that I took part in the London Moonwalk across London in the name of breast cancer. I donned a bra and walked the streets with 15,000 women (not quite the men’s fantasy you would think) from midnight. I arrived home at 4.30am and went to sleep. I woke up 8.30 and although a little sore I could not get back to sleep. I am up wide awake and blogging.

Like back in the day when you had a big exam and the night before it was one of the most uncomfortable and sleepless nights

I have Arsenal on my mind. I love my club and cannot stop thinking about today’s game. Let’s hope Arsenal pass their test today.

Come on you Gunners!!

Sleeping is for wimpszzzz…..

My big fat pre Sunday nerves – AFC

It’s nearly here, just one more day to kick off and the conclusion of either third place, the uncertainty of fourth place or the embarrassment of fifth.

This almost mirrors the feeling leading up to a wedding. As the big day looms the tension inside starts to build, your realisation that everything might not go perfectly to plan no matter how prepared you are.

The day going perfectly and as planned is equivalent to us taking third

The wedding going well but the camera with the risqué stag pictures going missing the night before could be equivalent to finishing fourth

The realisation that the big fat gypsy wedding folk are filming your big day (men, always be involved in at least some of the wedding decisions) could be equivalent to finishing fifth.

One thing we have to bear in mind is West Brom will not lie down and give us an easy game. It will be Roy Hodgson’s final game in charge before taking up England manager duty, final home game for the baggies too. Every team sets out to finish the season well in their final home game, after all you will be doing your lap of appreciation and as we learned not winning that game takes away from that moment.

I was watching the game between Bolton and West Brom last week and couldn’t help but notice the determination in the West Brom players; even after being 2-0 down they weren’t going to lie down.

They took advantage of the obvious fragile mindsets of the Bolton players and took the game to them. There’s nothing more dangerous than a team with nothing to play for.

They will want to win the game for Roy but not to the extent that they we be distraught if they lose. The gunners on the other hand will be distraught. The football gods blessed us last week with the results of Spurs and Newcastle. They won’t keep handing us gifts if we are not willing to take them. We have to win, end of.

We will be nervous throughout the game, no matter how much you prepare nerves have a way of jumping out on you at the worst possible time. Even at 2-0 up there will be doubt in the back of the mind. They pull a goal back and watch how the dynamics will change completely.

Bolton fell apart at 2-1 and I remember noticing how much the West Brom players celebrated when they got the equalizer. They had nothing to play for yet celebrated like they won the champions league with a last-minute winner. These teams with nothing to play for can be ruthless.

Norwich was the wake up call, hopefully we will have learned from that and will be on it from the get go and try to be as ruthless as possible.

There were some rumours that Chezzer was carrying an injury yesterday and could miss the game but I think that has now been dismissed.

Theo has apparently trained and could be included into the squad. With Sagna out it could mean an opportunity for Coquelin or Jenkinson. I’m sure Jenkinson isn’t injured and if so as a natural right back he may get the nod however according to the Arsenal site Wenger is quoted as saying Coquelin will deputize.

Personally I would like Coquelin as an option in midfield; we don’t seem to have a plan B at the moment as we are down to bare bones in central midfield. Whoever gets the nod at right back we will get behind them, heck we will get behind every player on that field tomorrow.

Come on you gunners!!

Enjoy your day people

Got no hair – AFC

Yesterday we received the official announcement that Pat Rice has stepped down from his role as assistant manager and replaced with Steve Bould.

I am grateful for the service that Pat has given us over the years, he has been a great servant to the club and he leaves with the best wishes from all the staff at arsenal.

Unfairly labelled as a yes man I guess sometimes people just need to pin something on someone when things are not going great, we haven’t won a trophy for a few years now so accountability needs to be distributed. A lot of factors have contributed to our barren spell and I certainly don’t think Pat rice is one of them.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion though so this is mine; you are entitled to have yours

Steve Bould has now stepped into the fold. A beast of a defender during my young years he definitely ticked all the boxes of the type of defenders that were flying off the production line at the time.

Nearly all the defenders during the George Graham days had that distinct aura of captain material, all leaders at the back. Of course Tony Adams was the captain but the likes of Bould, O’ leary, Keown all knew their craft and had the credentials to be captains themselves.

Bould had maintained his links with Arsenal by taking various roles behind the scenes at the club obtaining his coaching badges and most recently doing a very good job managing the Arsenal U-18’s.

The important thing about the appointment of Bould is the fact he is totally tuned in to the arsenal way under Arsene but also has the DNA of George Graham running through his veins which will hopefully be passed through to the defenders at arsenal.

I believe Bould will garner respect from the arsenal players and throughout the club; he is still highly regarded by the fans that remember him and hopefully moving forward that will lead to success. Most importantly he will strike up a good relationship from the off with Arsene and build a strong bond to grow from.

Welcome Stevie Bould, you’ve got no hair, we don’t care

The rumours about M’villa turned out to be a load of twitter hot gas. Arsene duly rejected the notion that a signing was imminent at yesterdays press conference. Times have changed so much nowadays that Chinese whispers with the aid of twitter and football gossip sites whip fans into such a frenzy.

Rumours spread so fast with no sign of hard evidence, sometimes we are so starved of news we subconsciously want it to be true so believe in them. Next minute a few retweets here and there and its all across the back pages of the papers and more people are taken in.

Gone are the days we would buy a paper in the morning and find out who the arsenal are interested in. Now we are competing with the reporters themselves to get the scoop from the ‘reliable’ source.

These days we buy the paper and the news is already old, it’s already flooded twitter the day before, trended, discussed to death, mentioned on talksport and already the next new name has been linked; all in the space of 24 hours.

The rumour mill is working at full capacity. If it were a company I would advise purchasing shares in the damn thing. Don’t see it slowing down any time soon

Information super highway indeed.

Enjoy your day people

Norwich game

So thought I would share with you my experience of the Norwich game.

It was a very surreal experience for me in particular. I mean I’ve been to the majority of home games this season but this experience struck a cord as I was positioned in the stadium somewhere I had not experienced before

My favourite position at games is behind the goal, you can’t beat seeing the ball hit the back of the net whilst in the north bank (when scored by arsenal) however the last few games I attended was whilst in the clock end. Maybe a bit of a jinx since our last few results haven’t swung our way.

I hate upper tier seats, love the view but prefer to be closer to action (don’t get me started on price); anyway on this occasion for the Norwich game I had purchased a ticket in the clock lower. What I didn’t notice when I bought ticket was my position near the away fans

As I walked in to find my seat I noticed how close in proximity the Norwich fans were, as I searched for my seat number they became closer and closer. Too bloody close! My seat was directly next to the buggers. Separated on my right by a set of stairs and a steward. “This will be interesting” It’s always nice to give it to any away fans that visit the emirates but to experience it when fans are in earshot is a completely different kettle of fish. I could actually put a face to the voices; I was in eyeshot, earshot close enough to lash a programme in their face.

Seriously anyone who has a season ticket positioned this close either has amazing restraint or loves a good ol’ slanging match and probably a fight too.

Of course we don’t lose very often at emirates so we would normally get one over the away fans more often than not. However, when you do lose or a result is against the arsenal the last thing you need is an away fan bellowing into your ear. There’s nowhere to turn your face.Normally when I’ve been in the stadium my block would pick out from afar a fan in the away section that stood out to berate and wind up. 9 times out of 10 it would be the fat bastard fan. They always seem to be most animated and easiest target.

The game had a lot of ups and downs we scored in the first minute, I was happy, I cheered, I sang while the Norwich fans were silent and wondering if this will be a mauling.

Apparently not, as Norwich proceeded to take the game to us. We took our foot off the pedal and were punished for it. First they equalised and all of a sudden those Norwich fans voices were getting picked up on my radar. Then they went 2-1 up and boy could I hear them. Every snide comment, every song, every chant. We looked like conceding every time they attacked and its then it was hard to make any noise. I admit I went silent, followed type as I was trying to get my head around what was going on.A few comments of being the library came up.

Another thing that didn’t help situation was the constant reminders to sit down. I wasn’t too fussed about sitting down but when you see that they don’t apply the same rule to the away fans it kind of feels like they have one up on us.

There was a funny interaction between an arsenal fan sat next to me and a steward. Went a little like this:

Steward: “can you sit down please” Fan: “I stand when the F**k I want”

Steward: “excuse me?” Fan “fuck off c*nt” Steward: “swear at me one more time and you are out of here” The fan continued to ramble on but didn’t swear. Then he sat down. The steward went back to his position then the fan muttered “F**king steward was bang out of order” all this went on to the amusement of the Norwich fans nearby.

Anyway back to the game and the second half was interesting. The half started with a one on one between Simeon Jackson and the keeper. Luckily Simeon Jackson is Simeon Jackson and so the chance was wasted. After that we picked up our game and got our equalizer

I cheered but it was half-hearted. A draw wasn’t enough and I wanted to really give it to those Norwich fans who were constantly chanting ‘Thursday nights Channel 5”

All the comments had got to me but I didn’t want to give it to them until we were actually ahead. We were on top now and a next goal was coming.

Oh how I couldn’t wait to give back. Then the moment came RVP slipped the ball into the back of the net. 3-2 up I went MENTAL! I mean I turned to those fans and gave ‘em a right rollicking. There was some serious tension built up and I let it out.

The look on their faces, “wooo” that felt good. The whole of the clock was so vocal now; I guess I wasn’t the only one that held it in.

What happened next wasn’t part of the plan. There’s a break, from where I’m sitting it seemed best option for Chezzer to come out and close the angle, he half thought and then retreated. Morison lets fly and the ball is in the back of the net.

How the Norwich fans let rip, how the Norwich fans let us know how the last laugh is the best. How I didn’t stage dive into the Norwich fans and take out as many as I could I don’t know. There was no place to hide, stunned but unable to digest what had happened. I got it full barrel from those fans. I’ve never heard so many voices that sound like farmers at the same time. The channel 5 song was back. Also an interesting one about they’d rather have Holt than RVP (ok). Arsenal then proceeded to test my heart to full capacity. We had about 4 clear-cut chances to score but the ball would not go in.

Full time came and I was just sat there in silence, contemplating all the possible scenarios. 3^rd place was out of our hands. The farmer voices had won this battle of banter but the war will go on. I’ll be seeing you next season boys.

Not sure if I could sit in that position on a regular basis. And I don’t know how my restraint would be if it was against the likes of Spurs and Chelsea.

I will however make sure I can get in that seat for next season’s encounter with Norwich. I need revenge; I’ll give those buggers channel 5…

Enjoy rest of your day people