Karmic boomerang

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
24 May	3:00 PM	P	Stoke City (H)	4	1	Win

And so we come to the end of the first season of Tales From Gillespie Road. The season finale wasn't quite what we would have wanted it to be and at the end of it, Arsenal's record reads: PLD 38 W 20 D 12 L6 F 68 A 37 PTS 72.

A big drop from last year's 83 points and 18 points away from Manchester United, so that's pretty disappointing. But then; if you had said, after 5 defeats by the end of November, or in 14 games, that we would go on to lose only one more game in the 24 that remained, well, I reckon you would have got pretty long odds on that. Further, if you fast forwarded to the despair of Boxing Day (or the day after in my case) and that 2-2 draw with Villa and the run of draws that followed in a horribly drab January, that the team pulled itself together and managed to qualify for the Champions League with something to spare, is reason for optimism. Cautious optimism, perhaps, but optimism none the less.

Before we go onto the post mortem of another trophyless season at the Grove, I suppose we must talk about the final act played out at the stadium and yesterday's stroll in the sun against Stoke. Like anyone else who wasn't at the game, I was restricted to highlights. Even so, a few things caught my eye that I quite enjoyed.

You may remember, those of you who have been reading since the beginning, that when Sheffield United were hammered at the Grove in the Carling Cup, James Beattie was substituted with around twenty minutes to go. When someone behind me stood to acknowledge his, ahem, contribution to the game, he was told, through gritted teeth, to "f*ck off!" If that spectator was at the game yesterday, I suspect he would rather have enjoyed Beattie's smart sidefooted finish to give us the lead after ten minutes. I know I did.

The second goal came when Ryan Shawcross, who put Theo Walcott out for 4 months earlier in the season with a rather reckless tackle, was adjudged to have tripped RvP in the box. RvP, sent off in the earlier fixture between the two teams, picked himself up and tucked away a smart penalty kick. The third goal arrived two minutes later and, somewhat ironically, given the size of the Stoke team and the trouble that size caused us a few months back, it came when Diaby rose high into the north London air and nodded home van Perise's free kick.

Stoke pulled one back with a penalty of their own after a Denilson trip. But the scoring was complete when, five minutes from half-time, Rory Delap, our tormentor-in-chief at the Brittania Stadium, showed he is less good at defensive headers than he is missile like throw-ins and presented van Persie with the time to control, swivel and smash in his 20th goal of the season. Which is his first such haul for the Gunners.

With 11 league goals, that puts him top of both the league chart and the overall chart at the club. So, no doubt he'll be wanting a huuuuuge pay increase during close season negotiations. I'm kidding. Seriously though, I know I have doubted him in the past, especially after that game at Stoke, but I have no problem in saying well done to Robin here. Especially as it means he finishes above Shabbybayor for the season.

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Jon

Posted on 26 May, 2009 at 10:57 AM - Reply

I think Shawcross put Adebayor out not Walcott. It was Delap who put Theo out

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