You would imagine that Lukas Podolski would be the final nail in Chamakh’s coffin but let us wait and see what happens. Who knows, Chamakh might spring from the bench and score a five minute hat trick on Sunday and then continue to fire us to second place and sign a new 5 year contract extension in the summer. Unlikely story ey? Almost as unlikely as Tottenham’s best team since the Premier League began being 13 points clear of Arsenal at one point only to have that lead slashed to zero. (At present) I need to add the at present so I don’t either jinx the team or come across as complacent. All this superstitious lark is the real deal you know. Abou Diaby wants to repay the faith shown in him by Arsene Wenger. Many a manager around the world would have turned their back on the leggy French midfielder but Arsene has stuck with his midfielder and one can only hope that he can come through the bad times and start his Arsenal

Good evening,

Apologies for being late today. I had put on the ol alarm clock but I just didn’t hear it and I ended up sleeping in. So writing earlier in the day just didn’t happen. I cannot think of the last time that I had the privilege of having some extra kip. The day has well and truly run away from me.

I have been waiting for Arsene Wenger’s Friday press conference and hoping for some interesting content but to be fair, he didn’t really say very much that we didn’t already know.

The most interesting part was Arsene saying that it was too early to know whether or not that Marouane Chamakh would be at Arsenal next season. In Arsene Wenger’s protecting the players in public language, that pretty much translates into he does not have much a future at Arsenal. Well that is how I see it.

Arsene is the type of coach that sticks up for his players and he backs them in public. If he wanted to keep Chamakh next season then he would have simply said that he wanted the striker to stay just as he said with Eduardo before he left.

It does contradict Chamakh’s quotes of demanding his agent to wave away any offers from other clubs. To be honest I do not know how recent those quotes were and I suspected at the time that they were not recent quotes.

I do think that the continued criticism of Chamakh is somewhat unfair though but what is for sure is that with van Persie around, there is simply no need or use for Chamakh given our system.

Even if Robin van Persie is going through a sticky patch as he potentially is right now, you are simply not going to replace him for Chamakh even if the latter is fresh.

You would imagine that Lukas Podolski would be the final nail in Chamakh’s coffin but let us wait and see what happens. Who knows, Chamakh might spring from the bench and score a five minute hat trick on Sunday and then continue to fire us to second place and sign a new 5 year contract extension in the summer. Unlikely story ey? Almost as unlikely as Tottenham’s best team since the Premier League began being 13 points clear of Arsenal at one point only to have that lead slashed to zero. (At present) I need to add the at present so I don’t either jinx the team or come across as complacent. All this superstitious lark is the real deal you know.

Abou Diaby wants to repay the faith shown in him by Arsene Wenger. Many a manager around the world would have turned their back on the leggy French midfielder but Arsene has stuck with his midfielder and one can only hope that he can come through the bad times and start his Arsenal career again from scratch.

Jack Wilshere is another midfielder that Arsene is hoping to see at some stage before the curtain closes on this up and down season but the next few weeks will be critical to his chances of playing for England this summer. Basically the hope is that he doesn’t break down again this time.

Time is running out for the talented Englishman and hoping that he can start games and contribute to our season may be a little far fetched at this stage but I would love to see a couple 10 minute cameos towards the end of the season.

Diaby and Wilshere can be so good that it isn’t totally inconceivable that they could start next season as first choice if they come through pre season training and pre season matches without any set backs. You would imagine that at least one of them is certain to start for Arsenal if fit so losing both for pretty much the whole campaign has been tough for us.

With Francis Coquelin back in the squad next week and looking good this season when given the chance, I really think that we have one of the best midfields in the league especially when you consider that minus Arteta and Rosicky, the rest of the midfielder’s have plenty of scope for natural improvement.

Finally, did you see Papiss Cissé’s second goal today? A lovely chipped finish into the top corner. He is a man in form and his finishing is a reflection of his confidence. Another great Newcastle purcashe.

John W. Henry must look at what Newcastle have achieved this season and must be desperate to press the reset button and start again from the beginning.

Arsene Wenger has been working the way that Newcastle are currently doing since he joined the league in 1996. Arsene has  given Arsenal a head start with our scouting system but given the success of Newcastle I am guessing that the English game will begin to wake up.

While Alan Pardew is taking plenty of credit for doing a great job at Newcastle the man actually behind the Newcastle plan is chief scout Graham Carr, the father of well-known comedian Alan Carr. He is responsible for players like Cheik Tioté, Yohan Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Demba Ba and now Pappis Demba Cisse. All players signed in the Wenger price range, less than £12m each.

I don’t know about you but along with Lukas Podolski a decent recruit for Arsenal would be Mr Carr to join our excellent scouting system. Not that the Geordies would welcome such an approach.

Before I go I would like to wish Nicklas Bendtner, Sebastian Larsson and their team mates the best of luck in beating Tottenham tomorrow at lunchtime.

I am not sure if I will be around tomorrow so I will be back on Sunday with a preview.

till then.