This Charming Man.

The season is almost over now and yesterday was our last away match of a season that threatened disaster at one point and then almost turned into a glorious one. Ultimately though it ended more or less as most Arsenal fans expected with 4th place in the league and no trophies to add to our cabinet.

We put up a good performance at Old Trafford yesterday and made sure that Manure didn't have too easy a passage to their Premiership title. It would have been nice to get a win but in all honesty we didn't threaten their goal too much in the 90 minutes. Our best chances fell to RVP who had a free header from 6 yards in the first half but failed to get it on target and then attempted to flick a shot from Nasri that was going wide but got his angles wrong. There was also a good chance for Cesc who hit the outside of the post in the 2nd half also but we didn't open them up at the back with slick pass and go football.

They were happy enough to defend and hope for a goal on the break and they did have one disallowed for offside in the 2nd half that was a very close call. The high point for me was seeing our babies kicking Evra at every oppurtunity after his comments about us last week. We got a lot of yellow cards in a match where we were kicked as often as we kicked. Arshavin was booked after Evans pretended to be caught by him and I can remember challenges by Rooney & Tevez that would have been yelllow cards if they were committed by our players. The diver kept up his habit of diving anywhere near to box to earn free kicks. I think I have figured out his tell when he has dived. He pulls up both of his socks while sitting on the ground if he has dived but when he has been fouled he doesn't do this. Fabianski didn't have a save to make all day and he did everything else that was required of him during the 90 minutes.

Overall I thought Song looked good at centre back and Gibbs had another good game. Cesc was a lot more influential than he has been recently and Diaby and Denilson performed better than they have done in a while. Nasri, Sagna & Kolo had reasonably good games too but Arshavin looked a little off the pace and I don't think he had fully recovered from his bout of flu. RVP isn't the ideal player to play as a lone striker and it might have been better to play Bendtner up there yesterday as it seems the 25 might have played his last game for us. RVP needs someone up there with him and if we are to continue with 1 striker we will need to buy a suitable player. When he actually cared and tried last season the 25 was very good at leading the line and a lot of defenders said he was the hardest opponent in the league but not this season. I wonder if he was carrying a knock yesterday or has he just soiled his bib once too often for the manager's liking.

In transfer news we are linked with a number of players today but I won't mention the younger ones as the boss says he will buy players to increase the experience level at the club. We are linked with 23 year old central defender Thomas Vermaelen of Ajax who is their captain and a Belgian international. Chelsea are supposedly after the 25 and I wonder will any of their players head in the opposite direction. I would like to see Hangeland & Yaya Toure come in during the summer but I do hope that whoever we sign that the bussiness is done early in the transfer window to lay down a marker for next season and let the fans & players know that we mean bussiness.

There is a lot of stupid talk in the papers and on the net today about RVP wanting a lot more money but he has made it clear that money is not the issue and he wants to extend his contract if the club shows ambition to match his. There has also been headlines linking the manager to Real Madrid but if I sat I find someone attractive it doesn't mean I will leave my wife for her does it. I'm sure he was just answering a question he was asked when he said the job looked attractive and I can't imagine he would want to work for them. That's it for today and I'll leave you with the usual clips.

Here's the highlights from yesterday.

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And to finish today's title track from The Smiths which is dedicated to the 25 who has charmed us all with his absolute committment in every game and by being so loyal and never courting other clubs such as Milan or Barcelona or demanding a huge pay rise from us either. I hope he gets all he deserves.

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ps As I am writing this the youth team are playing at White Hart Lane against The Spuds in the final of the FA Academy Premier league. Hopefully then can get the first of their 2 trophies today.

See You Tomorrow.