Yesterday’s win over Manchester United cheered us all up in the Gooner Nation. It gave us three precious points in the quest to finish third at least and avoid the last qualifying round for next season’s Champions League.
With Manchester City breathing down our necks just behind us in fourth we need to keep on winning. Neither of our two remaining away games at the Britannia Stadium and Craven Cottage on the final day of 2010/11 will be easy. Nor should be take our remaining home game against Aston Villa for granted either. We all know how that ends when we become complacent.
It is still mathematically possible for us to win the League but it’s extremely unlikely. Almost certainly we’re going to have to settle for being the bridesmaids yet again. Despite the warm glow from yesterday afternoon we can’t be blinded to our clear deficiencies, both tactically and in our first team squad. The former is more pressing than the latter, although I do think there are a number of players who aren’t earning their extravagant pay at the moment. They need to shape up or be shown the door.
Next season will see us celebrate the 125th anniversary of our first game on 11 December 1886, a 6-0 win against Eastern Wanderers on Plumstead Common. I hope that we request a home fixture on Sunday 11 December 2011, irrespective of whether we’re on television or not. It would be nice to play at home on the exact date of our first appearance as a club. A special match with an Arsenal XI against a local south-east London select XI on Plumstead Common on that weekend with temporary stands might be a nice idea too. We could give the net proceeds to our charity of the season thus commemorating the club’s history and doing some good whilst we’re at it.
The club officially released pictures of the 125th anniversary home strip today. It’s OK although I’m not as keen on it as this season’s home strip. At least it’s red with white sleeves, the colours most closely associated with the club after the adoption of the white sleeves under Herbert Chapman in 1933/34, just six months before the great man’s death in January 1934. A more “retro” look would have been nice. I’ll bet the players would have been delighted to be playing in cotton shirts rather than artificial fabric too but that boat seems to have sailed.
Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association (AISA) has been trying to get some response from the club on its ideas for celebrating our history next season – so far with little success. They first approached the club months ago and are still awaiting a reply. Very disappointing. The club needs to pick up the phone lively. AISA does good work for all Gooners.
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