Well it's the final part of the season review, not quite Lord of the Rings,so lets jump straight in!
February 2012 (A fond farewell and strained relations)
Arsenal's start to the month was pretty much where January signed off, deflating! Banners at the Emirates were the order of the day, both pro and anti Wenger. Now with me I feel that if you pay you also have a voice but there is a time and a place for it. As Gooner Dan said on 8th February, most are armchair fans and do not know why we sing "She wore a yellow ribbon". Anyway the first game of the month was a drab 0-0 away to Bolton, only to be followed by a 7-1 blasting for Blackburn at The Emirates. The came the league farewell again for the legend that is Henry away to Sunderland and he did what he always does. The Dog remarked that the goal might be worth the £600k paid for those three points alone. I will ask to borrow his crystal ball! The Champions League saw Henrys' last for Arsenal but no fairytale ending as Arsenal lost 4-0 and then out of the FA Cup to a team they had just beaten early, losing 2-0 to Sunderland. It all seemed so depressing but then came this!
Spurs 5-2
Roy Keane had been quoted this month that this was the worst Arsenal team he had ever seen and given the results of the previous weeks it seemed a par for the course win for the dreaded rivals and Arsenals' home. With Arshavin going out on loan, spirits low it did not help that Arsenal were 2-0 down and seemingly heading for another defeat. It was 34 minutes gone, Bale produced a swan dive for a penalty and Saha with a deflected goal, it looked as if another high score was on the cards. It took a man to show the fighting spirit Arsenal had been lacking, one I did not expect, in Sagna. His goal assisted by Arteta turned the tide and followed by a goal from RVP with a sublime strike. 2-2 at half time! The second half produced a goal fest for Arsenal with Rosicky finding the net and a resurgence of form followed by 2 goals from Walcott. He really did wake up in the second 45. Sagna summed up the game with the words "we could not lose to the enemy". How apt! A year since the defeat to Birmingham in the Carling Cup signalled a rally of Arsenal and a collapse of Spurs.
Arsenal ended this month in 4th with won 14 drawn 4 lost 8 and 46 points. Six behind Spurs in third!
GFS had 2 posts from Statto, new to the site but 3 caught my eye this month and they are around the Spurs game from The Beck, The Ghost and Surfergirl.
March 2012 (Goodbye Champions League)
Arsenal were now on a run of form and it continued with a 2-1 win against Liverpool with RVP at his best. Following this a win at home against Newcastle 2-1, the fourth comeback of the season, Everton away 1-0 and Aston Villa on the receiving end of a 3-0 at the Emirates.. The only blight on the league run was the final game of the month at QPR with Arsenal losing 2-1. After what Arsenal had been doing it disappeared in this game and it was a haunting from this season which would strike us again before it all ended. For me the highlight of this month had to be the following game.
Milan 3-0
After the run of form people were asking, is it possible they could do it? Could the comeback kings spring another shock? Well I thought so for the first 45 minutes. Three goals and it looked like more to come off the back of Koscielny, Rosicky and a RVP penalty. With another 45 minutes I, like other Gooners were dreaming of the impossible. What a slap in the face to our critics. Sadly dreaming was all it was. The second half saw an Arsenal team out of puff, drive and finally exhausted. What really struck me was the pride they showed, the fans reaction and a sense of satisfaction. OK we were out but what away to go. Also the hope it gave for the move up the league was immense and I was very proud of my club that night.
So the month ended with Arsenals' league position as 3rd. Yes I know 3rd! HAHA Spurs 3rd!!!!! 31 played, won 18 drawn 4 lost 9 with 58 points. Three above Spurs (3rdHAHA) and..............MIND THE GAP!
For GFS however not a great month. The Dog succumbed to Testicular Cancer, you did meet me so a big highlight there Dog, meant a low blogging month of only 7 bits. These 2 did catch my eye though.
April 2012 (Oh Theo etc)
The month of fools, well some anyway, began with the after taste of QPR leading to Adrian Durham starting his daily Arsenal digs to raise his ratings on Talksport. Well I did say fools! I have only one thing to say on this......Shock Jock my Arse........nal! Also Theo did not help matters with this quote....
" With QPR we probably underestimated them. But it's always going to be a tough game. I felt that we didn't really want it as much as QPR did but that will change on Sunday" Oh No Theo!
Where was I? Oh yes. Arsenal. A game was looming which, including the fool above, was already being hailed as a loss so Arsenal might as well not bother to turn up as it would be a further
embarrassment. Some people should use another part of their anatomy to speak sense with!
Man City 1-0
A team destined to be champions it all looked to much for them. A flaky performance from the northern money bags, scared to death of winning? Just plain scared with Balotelli sent off (Does this player have a brain?) and no mental strength to speak of. Arsenal really ran the show and Arteta with a stunning 87th minute strike to seal the points. RVP was sharp and Rosicky a player reborn. Here is Mrs Fs' ans Shortstuffs' take on it.
The month continued with a win over Wolves and a really good write up from the Ghost. I love the way he calls them Wolfs!
However the wobbly Arsenal of this season returned with a 2-1 loss to Wigan, Chelsea and a 0-0 draw ending with a 1-1 draw with Stoke. Arsenals' league position was 3rd (3RD HAHA) with 36 played, won 20, drawn 6 and lost 10. 66 points and 4 ahead of Spurs in fourth but it was Arsenals to give away. Maybe Durham was right, NOT!
GFS had more writers joining this month with Matt Carr and Tazwoz. Who knew they would be so popular. Also Ben in Black. Here are there first blogs.
May 2012 (The end of the line)
Two games left for Arsenal and some sadness to come as well as a final game to match the scene from Fever Pitch. (Happy days 1989).
Norwich was the last game at home and saw The Dog get out of Hospital to see it. Arsenal had it all to gain or throw away!
Norwich 3-3
Given that Benayoun was finally having an impact at Arsenal it was fitting that he scored the first on his 32nd birthday to give his team the lead. "At the time" said The Dog "it looked as if we would romp away with it!" It was the start of an abject performance which saw Arsenal lose the lead twice and leave the fans on a knife edge. Sagna broke his leg again and having lost Arteta to injury the midfield was devoid of a play maker. There were sparks of genius and inept passing alike. A gifted third for Norwich gave the advantage to Spurs. Thankfully their season collapse continued with a draw at Villa and it was all down to the last game of the season. Was this also the final game at The Emirates for RVP? Time will tell.
WestBrom 3-2
Well here it was, the last game of the season. Both myself and The Dog were in Hospital for this but I got a stream and we watched the saga unfold. It was a day of goodbyes. Roy Hodgson off to all things England and Arsenal legend Pat Rice retiring as the ever faithful no2. A win, nothing else would do as going fourth would mean relying on other teams to help Arsenal clinch a Champions League spot. This was my first experience of watching an Arsenal Game with The Dog (sadly my last too) but I am not sure my nerves could take another. Arsenal started again taking the lead with Benayoun being gifted the opener by keeper Marton Fulop. "Bloody Norwich all over again" came from the Dog. He was right. Back came the resting on our backsides. First Long, who was offside, hit back followed by Dorrans to strike home. "For Gods sake Arsenal!" started this dialogue between us.
Me "What?"
Dog" It's bloody typical Arsenal!"
Me "Yes Bud but it's not done yet!"
Dog "Give me an Ice Hockey team to support!"
Me "F@ck sake shut up!
Nurse " Keep the noise down gentlemen"
Us "Yes Santos!!!!!!!!!"
So half time came, Spurs were comfortable at Fulham, Arsenal were.....well Arsenal.
Second half and more of the feeling of being in a car with no brakes and hoping to hit a wall of mattresses. As we both watched the game it was obvious we were going from hope to despair every few minutes so the nurses left us to it.
Dog "Can't bloody stand this"
Me "Want it Arsenal"
Dog "Want it? What's that?"
Me "Up yours!"
Dog "With knobs on Numpty"
Us "Koscielny, get in!"
There it ended. A win, 3rd Spurs below us. A season of heartache over. Jacks' bet won and then that horrible empty feeling that will not be filled until the 18th of August. It was all over! I do think though that this pic from Fever Pitch sums us up nicely for this game. Dogs the bald one!
The season league position was this. 3RD played 38, won 21, drawn 7, lost 10 and 70 points. One ahead of Spurs. (3RD HAHA, sorry)
I think Wenger did a good job overall where some managers might have crumbled. Yes as a season went it was not the Arsenal we wanted. For a season of highs and lows it had it all. I do however think we will not see it's like again. It gave us a full season of RVP, Sagna two broken legs, players lauded and decried in equal measure but we got through it. So as they say that was that!
GFS had grown from a small idea to having a great group of writers and finally it's own plaque at the North Bank Terrace.
Sadly due to site issues with Hacking I cannot give an accurate hit level as the site was rebuilt losing information but I did do some digging and can confirm that their hit rate stands at over 30k plus, no small feat with the amount of blogs about and 5 Google plus recommendations. Also the top writers is as follows.
1. Matt Carr.
2, The Dog
3. The Ghost and Tazwoz joint
4. Mrs F and Surfergirl joint.
5.Arsenal Statto and The Beck joint.
I will in a later blog give a full breakdown but it has taken me too long for this and could be a blog in its self!
The site has it's own unique feel which I feel really makes it special along with the writing. To GFS keep up the good work. I look forward to reading you in the future, I also have another piece in mind for you.
I hope you enjoyed my season review and thank you for reading.
@Arsenadale
@Arsenadale