James 'Raul' Stokes

Arsenal are headed into the off-season of 2012 facing a very similar situation. The future of our captain and star player remains very much up in the air., and a lengthy, drawn-out conclusion looms ominously on the horizon. Will he stay? I’ve got no idea. Whatever his choice may be, this time around we need to employ swift and decisive action. If he signs on the dotted line, then lets go out there and recruit some new faces. Podolski is an excellent start, and Yann M’Vila would be a brilliant acquisition - assuming the maelstrom of tales

The Norwich game wasn’t pleasant viewing, was it? No.. It was bordering on farcical; almost pantomime-like defending and a bewildering lack of concentration when there was much at stake. Fortunately, the footballing gods saw fit to grant us yet another chance to end the season on a good note. Proceedings should really have been finished and secured a long time ago, but the concept is simple enough

The final fixtures require a team effort. Everyone has a position and a job, and they’ll be needing to adopt a professional approach. Take things lightly, be blasé and there could be more reason for us to wish humiliating defeat on Chelsea when they play Bayern - if we needed any more. I don’t want to be watching the games and screaming at the television, ‘SONG!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?? YOU’RE NOT MESSI!

At the weekend, we travel to the Neanderthal Stadium to face Stoke and Tony Pulis. By no means an easy task. Without Arteta and Walcott for the remainder of the season, with with Newcastle breathing down our necks like an angry donkey, now is not the time for one of ‘those’ Arsenal performances rife with calamitous defending. We need to unite to progress. We need to really go all guns blazing to obtain 9 points from our remaining game - a points tally that absolutely guarantees the

Yaan M’Vila of Rennes is the popular choice to arrive over the summer, and he looks a strong, tenacious player in the mould of Flamini. Adding a little bite in our midfield wouldn’t go amiss either. For all our beautifully intricate approach play, there’s the odd occasion I’d like to see someone thunder through Joey Barton in the centre circle. That might just be because he’s Joey Barton.

How can a governing body wielding that much power, allow decisions to be made by people who quite obviously have no experience or understanding of the game? It must be time to have representation on these panels from someone -anyone - who has some level of experience in football. If not, stupidity, violence and cheating will continue to go unpunished because of appalling incompetence and ridiculous loopholes put in place to enable fat, corrupt bureaucrats to have no means of overruling the dubious Nazis they allow to

My point is; it’s physically impossible for everyone to be like that. Those that can’t attend everything, shouldn’t be chastised by others. The footballing world today is a global community. Arsenal have fans in all the corners of the world, made up by a plethora of varying ethnicities. I follow Arsenal because I love them, and because it’s something very

What marks the site to which I refer as my favourite is that the opinion is honest. It doesn't waver, it doesn’t crumble under mass scrutiny. It remains - even amidst a maelstrom of hatred. When I click on for my daily bit of digest, I know there’s a chance I’ll be howling wildly in bewildered disagreement or nodding my head as an opinion reflects my own. What I know I’ll never be is disinterested

As the hours passed, something beautiful occurred before my eyes. Rivalries were put aside. Where petulant jibes and insults ordinarily reside, a sense of unity and goodwill had replaced them. The global football community came together as one cohesive entity to get behind a player who was fighting for his life. I was genuinely moved by some of the tributes and comments from all across the world.

Cast your mind back a few years to Henry's final season at the club, or Cesc Fabregas'. Both had an unmistakable resignation to their mannerisms; an almost sombre celebration would greet a goal. Whilst I'm not attempting to cast aspersions on the will-to-win or determination of either player, I did always get the sense that both individuals had made