That was a superb result, really freaking vital. Probably the best result of the season so far. This is precisely the sort of game that Arsenal have slipped up on this season and I admit that as I watched the game unfold I thought that might be the case again but I was wrong. The defense played excellently (including a completely new and effective William Gallas) and kept us in contention until our guile up front wore them down. Brilliant, I was totally impressed. I saw the qualities that have to date been missing this season, e.g. strength, resilience and determination. I have never been a great admirer of Adebayor, I still don't think that he is even a wet fart in comparison to Henry or Bergkamp but he scores, all the time. When he came on yesterday it was clear that he was significantly better than poor old Bendtner. In fact he really made a massive impact. At the moment he is clearly our best choice for striker. Plus he works well with RVP which is vital.

The belief that this result will give the squad will be so beneficial. They will know now that they can play these games and not be hustled off the pitch, they will (pardon the cliché) know that they can grind out a result and also maybe the midfield and attack will have a bit more faith in the abilities of the defense.

Bad news that Tottenham won but better to get that out of the way before we play them midweek. I can't wait for that game. Great news that Chelsea finally lost at home, particularly given Scolari's ironically timed comments midweek that the Blues could emulate the Invincibles and go all season unbeaten. But what about Liverpool I hear you say? Liverpool are beatable and will slip up this season, probably much more so than Chelsea, so it's important that Chelsea drop points in games such as this.

From being virtually out of it, this weekends results have propelled us back into title contention. I still don't think we have enough of a squad to win it but at least it looks like we are gonna give it a go and for me that's what it is all about.

Tonight is the meeting about the future plans for the Auld Triangle Pub. 7.30 in the pub if anyone is thinking of going to hear what the architect has to say. It will be quite enlightening I think, not least to see the locals reaction!

Team news for today sadly doesn’t include a comeback for Sagna, which probably means the most enthusiastic player in our history, Eboue, will continue at right back. We should see a return of Toure and Gallas in defence, provided Wenger hasn’t smacked Gallas’s botty for smoking! We will probably also see RVP back in with Adebayor.

William Gallas, caught almost smoking by a national newspaper, is the main topic of conversation today across the blogs. On the face of things it isn’t really a big deal is it? It is, I imagine, the closest thing to the exact opposite of Wenger’s philosophy that I can think of. Also, it’s fucking stupid. Most of us have dabbled with smoking and we all know that is bloody idiotic, but if your job depends on your body being a fine tuned machine then smoking is completely insane. Particularly when a player hits their 30s and its more of a battle to keep everything working properly. This confirms the stories of a couple of weeks ago about Gallas being a simpleton. For God’s sake it is time to take the captaincy away from this tantrum prone loon and give it to somebody that takes all aspects of the job seriously.

I loved reading all those stories about Dennis Bergkamp over the past couple of days. What a frickin’ legend that guy is. I can’t wait until he comes back to the Arsenal to give the youngsters the benefit of his awesome experience. As I’ve said before I’d love it if in a few years he took over from Mr Wenger as Arsenal manager. The only problem of course being that the silly sod doesn’t fly anywhere! That is actually a big problem isn’t it? I don’t see how he hopes to ever be a top flight manager if he won’t fly? Maybe his assistant will be tasked with spiking his milk?

I hope that tomorrow against West Ham that Wenger includes Diaby from the start. Having made such an impact in the Champions League in the week he deserves a chance to prove himself in the Premiership. RVP will probably make a return to the team after being rested against Fenerbahce. I hope that RVP can get his game back to the level he was at last season before his injury.

Jose Mourinho has admitted that Drogba is a diver, but he has also given RVP the same label. True Robin has, in the past made a bit of a fuss when he hasn’t had to but to put him in the same bracket as Drogba is insulting. Mourinho takes attention seeking to another level. He is an arse-hole. Totally self-obsessed.

Here’s an interesting bit of news. There is a planning application with Islington Council for the demolition of the Auld Triangle Pub on St Thomas’s Road. For those who don’t know about this pub, it is en route from the Finsbury Park tube station to the Emirates Stadium and comprises one of the busiest of the matchday pubs. The planning application is to build a block of flats in its place. Now the Auld Triangle is by no means a great pub, in fact, it’s a bad pub but it (and its previous incarnation the Plimsoll) is and has been a key part of the matchday ritual for thousands of fans over the years. I don’t object to its demolition as long as the plans for a new building include a replacement pub – I am not familiar with the plans but I assume that they don’t have a bar attached! The deadline for objections to the planning permission is the 6^th November 2008. If anybody wants to object or support the application they should e-mail planning@islington.gov.uk quoting reference P081676 location: 52 St Thomas’s Road, Islington, London, N4 2QW. For an online link to the plans e-mail plansforauldtraingle@hotmail.com . Also, there is a meeting in the Auld Triangle on Monday 27^th October 2008 at 7.30pm at which the architect of the proposed new flats will be in the pub to answer questions about the development. It would be a shame to take away one more London pub, if you feel the same send your objections to the above e-mail.