It was the ref! We could have had 5!! Elvis lives on the moon!!!

On the face of it, 2-2 doesn't look a bad result considering how precarious it would have been to hand Aston Villa a six point advantage going into the second half of the season. However, from analysising the highlights it appears Arsenal should be grateful for not receiving a pounding at Villa Park yesterday evening.

I didn't watch the game - and it's the first match I've missed this season. Watching my nephew's face light up after handing him some belated Christmas gifts seemed far more heartwarming an activity than watching Eboue, Song, et al.

I did manage to watch MOTD though, sitting in dismay as Aston Villa created chance after chance after chance after chance - Arsenal's blushes incapable of being saved by the battered framework of their defending goal.

Denilson scored against the run of play just before half time, then Diaby scored a second - fine goal - against the run of play early in the second half. It looked like a classic case of smash and grab, albeit completely undeserved.

But this is Arsenal 2008, and as we well know the self-destruct button is never far. Gallas gives away a penalty on 65, followed by Arsenal's inevitable injury-time collapse - Zat Knight  burying a fine strike on 91.

2-2 it ended.

My overriding thoughts were, why was Gallas left one-on-one with Gabriel Agbonlahor when Arsenal were 2-0 up and playing a 4-5-1 formation away from home in probably their most vital game of the season? Why did Villa outnumber Arsenal 4 to 3 in the area in the 91st minute?

The word "clueless" immediately springs to mind.

Arsene Wenger was in great post-match form, following a touchline bust-up with Martin O'Neill that for a second looked like it might spill into Alan Pardew-style fisticuffs.

"The ref was influenced!"
"We could have scored 5!"
"We can still win the league!"

When John Motson enquired as to whether Wenger might make some much-needed purchases come January, the response was short and shrift, "No".

It's become blantantly clear over the last 9 months that Wenger doesn't like or want to be questioned by anybody. Not even John Motson.

Where does this hideous arrogance come from? Was it always there lurking underneath Wenger's intelligent facade or are Arsenal Football Club partially to blame?

I reckon that Arsenal has built a mythological, bullet-proof wall of greatness around our manager that for almost a decade has made him actually believe he's the messiah of the beautiful game, the inner-appointed divinity of Arsenal Football Club and thus immune to not only criticism but even objective questioning.

Any part of the hype that is questioned, any reservations made or any flaws exposed are rebuffed by our once great manager with stupifying arrogance, bordering on childlike egocentricity.

Arsenal has become an X Factor football club, where mediocre talents are promised riches and rewards well beyond the scope of its contestant's ability. Arsene Wenger is Simon Cowell. He has 25% written into their contracts in case they make it big elsewhere and as an excuse for failure continually points to big hits from the long distant past.

As with any overhyped individual, eventually they self-destruct and the industry shoots them dead.

Wenger is self-destructing, the team has self-destructed, and over the last few months we've quite possibly been watching the stubborn seedlings of arrogance and denial - never mind performances - that most managers go through before signalling the inevitable end of their reign.

Pride goeth before a fall.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm getting fast fed up with Wenger's borderline insane attitude to referees, other clubs, and this club. For all he's done in the past, week-by-week my respect for him is being completely erroded.

As 2008 nears its end, it's becoming fairly clear that Wenger has January to save the season and 14 months to save his job. That's three transfer windows to turn it around. Several years ago the mighty Alex Ferguson - three times as successful as Wenger - was plagued by similar cat calls, he turned it around, can Wenger?