A few Arsenal fans have been saying (me amongst them) that Villa have had their fair share of luck in their recent performances and to a small extent that may be true but as Gary Player once said, "the more I practice the luckier I seem to get". So whatever luck they've had (or not) they are in a deserved position and leaves us (as we stand) with the intriguing possibility of a three way fight for fourth with us, Chelsea and Liverpool. As it stands none of them are in great form and it could even be that Everton sneak up as well.

What's quite odd is the media's incredulous dismissal of Aston Villa, unbeaten in ages, seven staright away wins and yet they a still have no chance of the title and only an outside chance of a top four finish. It seems they've refused to listen to the media and I for one say well played and I would, of course, much rather finish in the top 4 with one of either Liverpool or Chelsea outside.

This means, of course, that we need to win tomorrow for more than just the bragging rights and I'm not thinking it will be easy and I've not got too many good vibes about tomorrow. I just feel when there's a chance of him being found out, Harry Redknapp conjures up some luck from somewhere - I hope I'm wrong. 

Not much better for  FC Basel who staged a comeback today to get back to 2-2 after being 2-0 down to the Young Boys and then lost it in the last couple of minutes!

For some strange reason the weather over here has done a complete about turn and seems to have decided it's FA Cup weekend in this country. We have gales, lashing rain and dark, dark clouds across the sky. Since only yesterday I was sliding all over the road and pavements on my way to the station it's come as a bit of a shock. Someone should have told the weather gods that there isn't any football going on in Switzerland at the moment(it has a break until February).

The weather could be interpreted as a dark vision of the football future that is descending upon us as managers and chairman get madder and madder in an attempt to avoid relegation/win leagues or promotion/buy a shiny new player to parade in front of the press. However, today there haven't been any signings as mad as £14M for Bellamy although anyone taking Mido on loan will need to ensure the benches have been strengthened to cope with his rather "large" frame. I know he doesn't score goals but Heskey to Villa seems sensible business (as does Bullard to Hull) relative to some of the stupidity going on.

Little on Arsenal today as we prepare for a tricky trip to Cardiff at the weekend but since the cup now takes place over 3 (or is it 4 like the 3rd round) days and the draw is held before the final game it's all a bit crap really, not quite so magical

Apparently UEFA are in discussions with representatives of various clubs (well all the big ones obviously not those insignificant ones like Manchester City- oh) to limit the budget available for transfers/wages to 51% of a club's annual revenue. I think many of us would like this to happen but we, unfortunately, live in the real world and there are a number of reasons why it's unlikely to happen.

1. Can you actually see any of these clubs agreeing to it or, for that matter, agreeing on anything.

2. If it ever got to be an actual ruling how many clubs would circumvent/cheat/be a little less than honest with the system and still carry on regardless. In which case UEFA wouldn't do a thing anyway.

3. Who's going to tell a rich man who has billions where and when he can spend his money (and, to be fair, whatever the morals of the argument - it's the man's money to spend)

4. How would the EU feel about it - as many of the clubs are PLCs surely they are judged by their shareholders  on their accounts and not UEFA

and, of course, the main reason....

5. UEFA are in charge! With it's highly exceptional track record of creating legislation and then enforcing it there should be no bleeding chance.

In a way it's a shame as I've always felt that clubs should be judged on their ability to manage their affairs in a manner that enables them to create a successful sporting side using the same methods available to all teams. In the case of Manchester City (& Chelsea before them) they have a financial advantage not gained by success on the pitch or by attracting sponsors or getting punters into a stadium etc. Significant moves such as Arsenal's building of a new stadium (using a business model to increase revenue) and Liverpool's (Everton, Spurs, etc.)  attempt to do the same are virtually left meaningless. It also negates the excellent job at Aston Villa, where, despite the new owners, the club seems to live within its own means and build with young talent.

We're left with the situation whereby we have to get three points at Hull and I'm not sure many of us are very confident of getting the right result. I've been watching the Chelsea game and it was like they were the "new" Arsenal with huge domination of the game and letting in a soft goal. However, unlike Arsenal they managed to drag a 2-1 win out of the mire in the last minute and as much as I dislike FFL, his goal was a stunner. I think the final shot count was 37-3 but they had to wait till the 88th minute to equalise. At the same time Villa were down to 10 men and I thought it might all tighten up in the battle for fourth but they won too and it's up to ourselves this evening - will we actually put in a performance? Fingers, legs, arms, eyes - all rigidly crossed!

It looks like we're going to have a repeat of the 2005/6 season as we try and desperately cling on to the "wonderful success" that is fourth place - Yipeee!!

At least this time round any feelings of desperation regarding losing the place in the Champions League won't be exacerbated by the chance of us losing out to our near neighbours this time around. As much as it hurts to say but the Villa side on Saturday thoroughly deserved the three points, could have won by more and I'm at a loss to provide rational explanations as to this inconsistency. For all the talk of central midfield or defenders and lack of leadership that prevails in the media and on the blogs (with some justification it would seem) that doesn't identify the reason why the same team can play with such a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde nature.

Does Sami Nasri & co have an aversion to try against teams that are not in the "Big Four" or do we have a big, great f##k off switch that says, "switch here to completely change the attitude from can do to can't be arsed". Because for all the weaknesses that the team has when they put the effort in then 9 out of 10 times they will win and if we put the effort in and lose then no one will mind.

Anyway here's the official photograph of the season, when it will end nobody knows...

Try to keep the faith

Don't normally make two posts in a day but that was awful and Villa got a thoroughly deserved win!!

 I think I need a few beers....

I quite liked the idea behind this article in the Daily Telegraph and you wonder if this has happened, in some shape or form, during a training session at Arsenal. Of course being the media they couldn't even manage a light hearted article without one dig at the manager (see the last line). I think the truly remarkable thing is that our current midfield could easily have still been playing in the Carling Cup and whatever their limitations their performances at such a young age are truly remarkable. If we had the same system as Spain (and I don't want to see it in England) you could even have this "reserve" side playing as our second side in League 1 or the Championship. One other thing, if this game ever did take place I still reckon we could get 60,000 in the stadium to watch.

Meanwhile here in Switzerland I'm a little tired this morning and feeling a little shaken after fire engulfed the building opposite us. It started at 6.00am and I was woken by the screams of someone trying to wake up 2 people living in the house (above a nightclub/restuarant) and thankfully we think all were rescued before the fire really took hold. There are still plenty of fire engines around and the air is still full of smoke - rather scary really.

As for today's game it's good to see a balanced preview from oleole's very own Villa Blogger (doesn't have the same ring as Arseblogger) and couldn't disagree too much but if we play with the same commitment and effort as last week we can win this game. Of course, if John Carew gets on the pitch at any stage then we will immediately concede from a corner/free kick!

It's on live TV over here so I'll settle down and watch nervously!

After the last couple of weeks it's difficult to predict the way the match will go tomorrow let alone try and allude to the result. Based on the last week or so then Arsenal are probably favourites with a good win over United and all the players rested to let the kids have late night party before giving them notes to let them off school on Thursday. Aston Villa have lost their last two games and there have been comments that their squad have been looking tired as Martin O'Neill has played pretty much the same players in all competitions so far.

However, we all know that football and its associated Gods do not work in such a rational and logical manner so I'll be expecting a tight game which if we actually play with the same level of commitment as we did last weekend then we should win. The Guardian podcast yesterday summed it up with the comment of whether good or bad Arsenal turned up to lay good or bad Aston Villa. Maybe a few of the Carling Cup kids on the bench looking hungry to play might just convince the "first" team to work hard firstly and then play the football.

As you may know, living here in Switzerland has meant that I download a lot of podcasts tokeep up with the football news on the go and I even take time to listen to the 606 shows (despite some being extremely tiresome. On the plus side has been the return of Danny Baker (despite his anti-Arsenal kids in the Carling Cup rant though it was more to do with his seeing the whole competition as worthless) whilst the downside is the voice and views of Tim Lovejoy. Has anyone with less knowledge or ability to say anything interesting been given such a podium to air his views. Not only is he a moron as he has claimed "good" players shouldn't be sent off as the public want to see them play, he now has tried to keep up with Danny Baker by asking more obscure questions but basically it's just an attempt to air his pointless drivel.

RANT OVER

Good luck to all who are there tomorrow, including Greg with my ticket as he has only see us win once using it so far this season.

Coming back this weekend was a very pleasurable experience this time round, the football gods deemed that I would get all that I needed; flight on time, fine weather, good beer and three points. You can read the other blogs for a report on the Everton game but it was rather strange to see the return of long lost football colleague at the weekend.

During the second half trouble seemed to break out within the Everton away end and sitting where I do it was difficult to fully asses the actual problems or spark that set it all off. listening to the podcast of the Saturday 6-0-6 show one Arsenal fan described other Arsenal fans (in the upper tier) spitting down on the Everton fans, certain Everton fans seemingly intent on getting to Arsenal fans nearby and general idiots throwing coins at each other. Later that evening it transpired that a linesman at Villa Park had been hit by a coin that was thrown by Villa fans (but intended for Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp) and similarly there was an incident with Tottenham fans at their game yesterday.

Now seeing as I started to go to football regularly at the end of the 70s this is all quite small beer but it does show that despite all the efforts to remove hooliganism you can never quite get rid of all the morons that follow the game. What's changed is that they've re-emerged into the open, so to speak. The threat of banning or CCTV has either diminished or is ignored (ask Mike Ashley, lager drinker extraordinaire) and the so called deterrent to throwing a coin or a punch is no longer in play. Have clubs become complacent, certainly at Arsenal the difference in this incident (compared to the troubles in the 80s) was that the front-line now is held more by stewards than by Police. Maybe, as a result, the threat is less worrying.

I'm not suggesting we're going back to the old days of mass violence but that the cultural violence that you can see in most towns and pubs in the UK on a Friday night is making a return to the football grounds around the country. Football never really got rid of the violent idiots as such but it was always more difficult for it to be organised in all seater stadia with 1000s of cameras. It just seems that the new order is being tested and we'll see whether any fans are banned as a result of the coin throwing or minor fracas that took place at the weekend.

This is not particularly meant to be a dig at Adebayor and Adebayor alone but can we make kissing a badge a red card offence. The problem is, that despite the possible good intentions behind the gesture, you know that any badge kissing is a meaningless and possibly, even offensive act that has probably been scripted before the match by player, agent and PR representative - well, maybe.

Do you remember the 1970s/80s when players stayed at clubs for a whole career, however long that may have been. In fact, because of wages at the time, if a player had been at a club for 7-8 years he would never leave because of the chance to get the lucrative testimonial you could get at 10 years service. That testimonial could give a player a nice little retirement fund, something that today's footballers really should have no need for, provided they don't waste it on bling & cars. (N.B. Villa attempted to court Barry with the promise of a Testimonial but they are taxed these days and aren't so valuable)

As a result I wonder what we can expect, in terms of player loyalty. Is staying for a period of time, say 5 years, loyalty enough or, is it, more to do with the manner of leaving (or attempting to leave) or maybe where the player goes. Of recent ex- Arsenal players, only good old Ashley Cole is really hated and it's not because of his time at Arsenal but his love of lucre (and his pathetic attempts to portray himself as hard done by) from a rather tainted blue source. Some players leave at the right time (Henry, Vieira, etc) and some are just professional players with no ties to the club who exploit the end of contract scenario - see Flamini and Edu, though strangely Edu left with fans loving him and Flamini is seen as more of a villain....

Whatever loyalty is these days some agents should really talk to their "clients" and advise against kissing badges and concentrate on being the best professional they can be - fans will respect that and, maybe, even be capable of letting you go on your terms.

Anyway, one thing is for sure, there will never be a worse or unloyal player than Frank Stapleton and, no, I won't forgive him, ever....