The showdown v the Baggies

[aalderton]

After Arsenals last performance i really don't know if we will win or not

[SteveO 35]

Is there an open top bus ride planned if we secure either the 3rd or 4th placed trophy ?

[Lee1]

My birthday on Sunday......horrible feeling my exasperating team will make it a miserable one! I so hope not!

[aalderton]

Is there an open top bus ride planned if we secure either the 3rd or 4th placed trophy ?

They had to cancel that as kroenke failed to pay the bill to hire the bus

[SteveO 35]

It will be right up there in the club's greatest moments in history if we win 1-0 and finish third - not quite as big as beating the 4th placed Italian club Udinese over two legs but pretty close, and we should make sure that the Coach of the Decade's contract extension is in place to 2017. Its a good job that all the real fans remained patient during the dark days of 1996-2005, so that we all rewarded down the line with momentous occasions such as the one this coming Sunday.

[Babatunde]

This is very much a cup final to us, £35m + European reputation to play for.

ROFL @ "Europran reputation"

And which "reputation" would this be then? That of the team that's been in the CL 15 years straight and made just one final?!

Even APOEL do better in Europe than Arsenal please...

[g88ner]

Even APOEL do better in Europe than Arsenal please...

Blimey, you'll never let that drop will you?

Do you really think Apoel are that good?? yes, they got further than Arsenal, United and Citeh, but that doesn't mean they're a better team than those 3 English teams... and if you think it does, then you've lost the plot!

[frankbutcher]

Even APOEL do better in Europe than Arsenal please...

Blimey, you'll never let that drop will you?

Do you really think Apoel are that good?? yes, they got further than Arsenal, United and Citeh, but that doesn't mean they're a better team than those 3 English teams... and if you think it does, then you've lost the plot!

In the last 1 year APOEL have never failed to qualify for the Champions League Quarter Final (what Wenger would have said if managing them... )

[SteveO 35]

I'm so excited as we enter the final game of the season with another huge prize at stake.

I wonder what date the club will be releasing the end of the season DVD. Why are Sky focusing on the title race when we all know its the race for 3rd that gets fans' hearts racing

[flash gunner]

We will win and all will be rosy in the wenger garden

[mikeyb772001]

Will be getting very drunk in Newstreet b4 the game!

biggest game in years.

Those 2 sentences are at odds. If it's the biggest game in years, then why get very drunk before it? - I've always seen that as putting a desire to get drunk ahead of watching Arsenal, and that doesn't sit right with me.

A pint or 2 to steady the nervous, yeah... but it's knowing when to stop. After all, you can get pissed any time.

See your logic.

However I drink like that to numb the pain or enhance any goal celebration that may occur

I am so busy getting involved with the atmosphere I don’t read the game well or remember much that happened anyway. I see key points in the game and also players reactions and movements but nothing like when I watch on TV.

I am worried about Sunday so 3 hours of drinking before the game is needed. Safe to say everyone going is going to be very drunk Sunday. Most I know are staying over night from the Saturday!

[piresistible]

There were some nice points which were mention on arseblog which i think reall hit the nail on the head:
"I’ve read elsewhere, Goodplaya expresses it well, the argument that perhaps a lower finish might wake things up, change our outlook and so on. For me, however, I don’t know that finishing 5th would make any real difference other than make our lives a lot more difficult, both in terms of attracting players and keeping ones we want to keep, not to mention the financial hit we’d take.

People point to Newcastle this season as an example of how you can bring in quality players despite not being in the Champions League. The difference for me is that Newcastle were a team from whom nothing much was expected this season. If they’d finished mid-table nobody would have raised an eyebrow in the slightest, so while their season has been excellent, and credit to them for it, the way they did business last summer would be very different from the way we’d have to do it this time around.

And the bottom line is that I always want Arsenal to win. Beating West Brom and finishing in third won’t just paper over the cracks and allow the status quo to continue – it will provide us with the best opportunity to do something about it. The frustration and anger that has been felt this season has hardly gone unnoticed, because that frustration and anger has reflected events on the pitch.

It is blindingly obvious that we need to do something about the problems we have with the team. Having Champions League football to attract better players is a far better platform than the inevitable and horrendous summer we’ll face if we’re in the Europa League or not in Europe at all. I don’t think there’s any need for a short, sharp shock to the system, we’re feeling it already. If the club aren’t a) scared shitless about finishing outside the CL places and b) determined to improve things if and when we do finish in third then we can be very worried indeed.

This whole season has been a wake-up call, from the slipshod way we let last summer impact on the entirety of this campaign, to the way the team plays, the way we’re reliant on one man to score our goals and how our defensive issues and individual errors have cost us points time and time again. I really don’t think we need anything else to tell us we’ve got problems and the club has to work cohesively to solve them."

Agreed 100% with the above.

[arseofacrow]

[Rocky Number Seven]

On the 10.34 from Euston to New St for this. Not got a ticket but booked the train so far in advance that it was only £13 so going try my luck and see if I can get in up there.

If not I'll have a few hours in the pub watching Gillette Soccer Special waiting for my train home.

[jonny3110]

I have had the most disgusting run of form with gambling of late. I recently went to Vegas about 6 weeks ago, and won maybe 3 hands of blackjack the whole time I was there, and ended up about £360 down. Every football bet I've had in the past 6 months has gone down the swannie, and before you think I'm a mad gambler, I'm honestly not, have about £50 on the football in a year top whack, and well Vegas, is Vegas so I had to have a flutter.

Anyways, I digress, on Sunday I was certain the scum would thump Villa, I thought I might as well stick a tenner on them and try to curse them *(the odds were so shit I certainly wasn't putting on a tenner to gain £8.50 profit). Well guess what!?? You already know what, so this Sunday another £10 of my hard earned cash will be going on tottnum to beat Fulham...maybe me being stupid, maybe something in it...will report back Sunday eve