Hello again, I hope you’re doing well indeed on this fine Friday, or whatever day it is in your corner of the planet.

Today finds us smack dab in the middle of another interlull, the most boring of “nothing” patches. Interlull’s serve us up with troughs in what for all of us football fans is all about highs and lows during the frantic pace of a season. It seems strange that before my holiday we were going as low as we could go after a loss to Blackburn, however during this interlull we are very much a team on the rise. Somehow I only remember Interlull’s as a bastion of safety from poor results or a teeth-grindingly annoying red light when our foot is mashed on the gas pedal. Unfortunately for us this time, it’s the latter.

We now sit in 7th place in the league table, technically equal with Liverpool on 19 points, but behind by 2 on goal difference. A very far cry from the team we started the season out as indeed. From 1st (alphabetically, ha!) to 17th, to 7th – no team could claim such a jaw dropping free fall and meteoric rise up the table in quick succession this season, nor any season recently that I can remember, perhaps Liverpool aside post-Woy.

I suppose overall I’m glad that ridiculous questions have stopped being asked of Wenger regarding his ability to manage the club, his tactics, even his transfer dealings. I heard recently that in the last 25 years, clubs like Inter Milan and Barcelona have gone through what is approaching 15 managers, and Real Madrid an amazing 24 managers! I for one am proud that all the powers that be (and have been) at Arsenal have avoided making decisions based on public pressure from fans and the media after a string of poor results. By keeping faith in what is undeniably one of Europe’s best football managers, the club has been there or there abouts on average since Wenger took over in 1996, and our successes over that period were even above average by our high standards, with doubles and unbeaten runs to furnish our rich club history.

I understand that the final few percent needed to consistently win things is the part that frustrates fans, but in fairness I believe that is possibly the hardest part and needs one or two “catalyst” players to really ignite and carry success for a top team. We have one of those now and a few more in the making I believe, so if we continue to strengthen intelligently, and work on our weaker areas which have been acknowledged, we have many elements to carry success needed.

Otherwise the news just has the usual shit about us courting Yann M’Vila from Rennes alongside Real Madrid. Honestly, I thought he was sure to arrive last window, and actually believe he is more likely to come here than to Spain, such has been the noises coming from the bullish midfield himself and some of his mates. I don’t know how Alex Song and Emmanual Frimpong would be affected by this purchase, but either way I’m glad to see that we might be making competition for starting places higher, rather than take the “I don’t want to kill Johan Djorou” line with these things. The raw truth of it is that if Johan was ready to carry defensive responsibility he’d have fought tooth and nail to get his spot and keep it, rather than waiting for other’s defensive fuck-ups to get a place in the team.

Anyways, I’ll leave it there so you can get on with enjoying your boring interlull by playing FIFA or whatever it is you do with the other 30% of your life.

Cheers,