It's not the end of the world

It's hard to summarise an entire football season or the emotions I am feeling 24 hours on (at the time of writing, it is 5.25pm on Monday) but in word it is: positive.

In truth I didn't expect Spurs to finish 4th, there I've said it. We are better away and Arsenal are better at home, but they did what was required and so did we.

As usual we can pintpoint the problem of not finishing in the Champions League qualification spaces to several factors: not signing a striker in January; Adebayor's poor scoring form through 3/4 of the season; too many draws when we should have won; too many dropped points at home; the loss of influential players like Kaboul and Sandro - I could go on.

I'm positive because we did what we had to do and win, Bale's finish was utterly sublime. We left ourselves hoping Newcastle were going to do the job, they didn't, and should have scored more against a very mediocre Sunderland side.

I was at the game and saw what we were up against from pitch side, including 2 legitimate penalty claims, the first of which was seen by all.

Overall I am positive about the huge points haul of 72, enough to have comfortably secured a top 4 spot in previous seasons. I am also positive about the overall form we showed under a new manager who is now among the longest serving in the premier league. 

Finally I am positive about Gareth Bale staying at the club. We showed determination to build a side around him, to play the best football in years in an improving squad. 

I am also confident that Bale will see Spurs as the best option in England for him - the top 3 all change their managers this summer and aside from a step down to Liverpool or Everton, his only option is Arsenal. That would never happen, would it?

End of Season nail biter - The Arsenal viewpoint

Arsenal have had a dreadful season. At least that is how we felt at Christmas, that's how we were feeling when we got knocked out of the League Cup by Bradford and the FA Cup by Brighton. It's how we felt a few months ago when we were 8 points adrift of Spurs, 10 adrift of Chelsea in third, and we had to watch our former captain and star striker score goals for fun each week for eventual Champions Manchester United. When we were beaten at White Hart Lane in early April, most of us assumed that Thursday night football was inevitable.  Cries of 'Wenger out!' and 'sack the board' were heard at the Emirates, and in private many supporters were questioning our wage structure, our transfer policies, and suggesting that our manager had, frankly, lost his touch. 

Yet here we are, with one game remaining in the league, unbeaten since that Spurs defeat, and once again Champions League qualification is in our hands. Not only that, but coming third is a real possibility (although relies on an Everton away win at Stamford Bridge). 

So what changed? I don't think I can pinpoint a single game that reversed our fortunes, and I can't even use the reason for last season's qualification (Tottenham's absolute collapse following their trouncing of Newcastle in February). Something certainly changed in our defence, namely the gelling of Koscielny and Mertesacker, who remain an unbeaten partnership. We've seen in recent weeks that anyone can score, and rather than relying on one talismanic goal scorer,  nine of our regular players have got on the sheet. We've seen Theo Walcott return to form, having spent the first half of the season failing to put in a decent cross, and we've seen our midfield play as a team, with fantastic performances from a rejuvenated Rosicky, Arteta and a frankly brilliant Santi Cazorla. The cry now is 'why didn't we play like this all season?'

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Arsenal simply play better when they are the underdogs. This was demonstrated most clearly in our Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich, and I think that game made our players decide to just go out and play and see what happened, rather than feeling pressured to win. Perhaps the defeat at Spurs took the pressure off, as from then there really were no expectations of Champions League qualification. 

We've still played terrible football on occasions - last week's defeat of QPR being a prime example. But as a wise man once said - I forget if it was Alex Ferguson or Brian Clough - the sign of a good team is to win matches even when playing badly. 

It's 9 years to the day since 'The Invincibles' lifted the title. We'll never see a team like that again, and it's time that Arsenal fans realised this. I think the players finally have. What we need to do to finish fourth is to beat Newcastle on Sunday. We don't need to play like Brazil, we don't need to be tricky and play a beautiful passing game, and we don't need to score flashy goals. A plodding, solid, 1-0 will do. Play well, play badly, I don't really care. As long as we win. And as we showed against QPR, against Wigan last night, and against Fulham in April, we can certainly do that.

Victoria Sharkey

Has it come to this?

Last night's 4-1 defeat and relegation of Wigan by Arsenal has set the last day of the season up for a 2006 nail-biting repeat.

Except I won't be biting my nails, well I hope not anyway. The situation Spurs have found themselves in, with Champions League football next season dependant on other results has come from a number of factors I have detailed previous to this blog.

The fact is if Spurs lose to Sunderland on Sunday, we don't get to play in the premier tournament next season and will face Europe's second best in the Europa league for a second season running. Yes it is better than nothing, but there are implications of our best players being lured away, the financial investment and memories that Champions League football can bring.

What the biggest concern is, for me, is how this situation has occurred once again, with us taking it to the last day of the season and being reliant on other results once again.

In 2006 we were reliant on Arsenal losing to qualify, and a lasagne and 'missed' penalty by legend Teddy Sheringham was not enough, while last season we had to watch Bayern Munich play like fools in their own stadium and lose to Chelsea, meaning no qualification once again.

I think we deserve to get into the Champions League, but then I would say that. We have played some fantastic football, have one of the best players in the world in our team and are forming a magnificent spine through defence and midfield.

Failure to qualify will come down to us looking at where points were dropped and the failure to add the right talent to our squad, but we will get no sympathy if we fail to do it again.

Although, I suspect no blame will be put on AVB'S door. A few early season teething errors and a few questionable selection decisions aside, this has been a good debut season for Andre and to have that rewarded with him, Bale, Vertonghen, Sandro and co playing Europe's best in 2013-14 seems fitting.

It can be done!

What is the secret behind Gillingham’s success?

To say that this season has been memorable as a Gillingham fan is an understatement. It has been truly unbelievable.

So often over the past few seasons we have lost out at the death: Eugen Bopp’s goal at Nottingham Forest relegating us from the Championship in 2005, the capitulation at Wycombe when 4 results went against us to send us down and the defeat at Chesterfield in 2011 were all recent, painful memories. Yet we didn’t need to rely on the final day this season – it was all settled before then.

But it was all settled before the final day last season too. Does anyone remember Charlie Lee’s double against Morecambe on Saturday 5^th May 2012? Of course not. That’s because this season has eclipsed anything most of us have seen before.That game against Morecambe proved to be Andy Hessenthaler’s last in his second spell as Manager. The club underwent a lengthy process to replace him, and by the start of pre-season we still hadn’t got a Manager. But then Martin Allen walked in and our mindset changed. He had an instant impact.

His first task was to shore up a leaky defence. The additions of goalkeeper Stuart Nelson and captain Adam Barrett, the reinvigoration of right back Matt Fish and consistency of left back Joe Martin all played their part in a fantastic start to the season. By the end of September we had collected 22 points from our first 9 games and were already 6 points clear of second place. The rampaging full backs and solid centre backs were the foundation for this successful season with a series of clean sheets and impressive defending.

It was this solid base which allowed us to record our record breaking away form. The most number of away wins was broken in February at Chesterfield, only 1 defeat was recorded away from home in the first 21 away games and time after time we would go to grounds, defend stubbornly and walk away with a point of three.

We performed when it mattered. This was epitomised by quality in the midfield. Before his January departure Jack Payne controlled games with ease. Loanees David Wright and Romain Vincelot added quality; in the latter’s case an important winner at Wimbledon at the end of October. Chris Whelpdale stayed fit and showed his undoubted class with numerous crucial goals – not least at Southend and Bristol Rovers just after Christmas.

It had all come together nicely. Allen had assembled a top quality squad, more than capable of winning promotion. The likes of Leon Legge and Steven Gregory, signed in January, helped push us over the line. If a player was underperforming then there was no hanging around – the way Lewis Montrose, Ben Strevens and Connor Essam were pushed out of the club may have been ruthless, but it was proven to be for the good of the club. 

The club was central to everything that was done this season. We’ve undergone big changes in the recent past – not least when Mark Stimson replaced an entire League 1 squad mid-season with non-league players in 2007/08. But Allen proved he was doing the right things by placing an emphasis on team spirit. The whole squad clapping the fans at the beginning and end of each game, Fitness Coach James Russell’s innovative warm ups and Assistant Manager John Schofield’s now legendary set piece clipboard provided both amusement and results. Everyone bought into this way of doing things, not least our number 13 – The Rainham End.

Not since the Championship days has the support been so vocal. Even when we were going through a rough spell of home form in January and February, the crowd stuck with the players. Yes it was disappointing to draw at home to York and lose on our own turf against mid table Wycombe and Oxford, but we recognised the progress made and how close we were to getting over the finish line.

How fitting it was that local boy and lifelong fan Danny Kedwell scored the goal at home to Torquay on a Sunny Saturday in April to send us up. As the song goes, Kedwell is “one of us”. Nobody works harder for the team than the former tarmacer who fired AFC Wimbledon into the Football League, and his scruffy strike ensured that we would have a month of celebration to remember this outstanding season.

The title was secured on the penultimate day at our final home game against Kedwell’s former employers. It was he and strike partner Deon Burton who scored that day – 36 year old Burton proving to be one of the signings of the season with his composure, physicality and important goals helping us add many points to our total. It was Burton being elevated into the air during the ensuing pitch invasion that provided one of the moments of the season – the realisation that we would be seeing something for the first time since 1964.

A Gillingham Captain lifting a League title.

The memory of Adam Barrett raising the trophy will live with us all forever. It confirmed the culmination in a remarkable season. From Fleetwood, to Plymouth, to the good old Priestfield Stadium we had seen off all our opponents. No team did the double over us and we were worthy winners. For once we didn’t have to go through anymore last day heartbreak. The 3-2 defeat at Burton was the best defeat we’ve ever had. 

Nobody cared about the result – it was party time. A brand new repertoire of chants emerged:, especially entertaining were “he plays when he wants” directed at reserve goalkeeper Tommy Forecast and “Ohhh Nathan Nyafli” to the 18 year old striker who scored with his first touch in professional football having been released by us 2 months previously, only to be asked back the next day.  Even the senior players left out for the dead rubber, sitting among the fans joined in. It summed up the team spirit that Martin Allen had drummed into the players. It typified our season as one we shall never forget.

Thank goodness it didn’t go down to the last game again! 

The Champions League chase for fourth

Chelsea played Spurs in a game that could have made a difference in the chase for the final Champions League spot. A Chelsea win would have more or less made third spot secure but a win for Spurs would have seen them leap above their North London neighbours Arsenal a point ahead with two games to play. The end result was a 2-2 draw at the Bridge with Spurs coming from behind twice to share the spoils. The final fixtures will be interesting especially with Chelsea facing an Everton whose manager will be heading east to Manchester United come the end of the season. Chelsea travel to Aston Villa looking to repeat the result that they got at the Bridge earlier in the season. One thing is that it wont be 8 for Chelsea but it will be much closer. If the powerful Benteke is feeling it on Saturday, he could easily give the Chelsea defence a run for their money. Chelsea know that a draw is not the result they need especially if Arsenal and Spurs win both their matches. 

Spurs travel to Stoke City again needing to avoid a draw as that could end their Champions League hopes and given Spurs late win against Southampton in a game where Southampton were unlucky to get a point, if Stoke can shackle Bale, it could be another long night for the North Londoners. Their neighbours Arsenal get an extra few days thanks to Wigan playing in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Arsenal could have a greater advantage as they wont play till midweek. That's not to say that Arsenal are guaranteed a win. Whilst Arsenal have been getting wins and not playing well, we all know that Wigan dont like to conform and given their latest form in the league it is hard to predict which Wigan will turn up. Will it be the Wigan that comes back to win or the Wigan that looks like the keystone cops.

Tottenham's final game of the season is a home game against Sunderland. This should be a three pointer on any normal day. This of course is no normal day. It's the final 90 minutes of the domestic season. Spurs playing for Champions League and Sunderland playing for Premier League security. Whilst Wigan look the favourites to win, Paulo Di Canio's team will certainly not sit back and relax. They have beaten Everton this season, but at the same time lost to QPR and Reading and of course more recently given a pasting by Aston Villa so nothing can be taken for granted.

Arsenal finish their season against Newcastle United. This Newcastle team has seemingly gone from being a top four  chasing team to a team that has flirted briefly with the relegation trapdoor. For loyal Newcastle United fans, it has not been a season to remember. Notably the departure of Demba Ba to Chelsea. Yes they have suffered injuries, but then so have other clubs. What must worry the fans is the fact not only did they capitulate against Sunderland but they went missing against Liverpool in a game which saw them leak six goals. Arsenal and Newcastle have produced some good games, but this time I think the Arsenal will come through.

So who do I think will qualify for the Champions League? I believe that despite everything that had been said about Rafa, he will secure the third and final automatic Champions League spot. In that final fourth spot in what is a battle of the North London clubs, will be Arsenal. Having sold Robin Van Persie in the summer, it would always be a testing season. They would be written off and after a dismal League Cup exit of Wenger going would be greatly talked about, but like always, Arsenal like always seem to pick up in the league after Christmas.

Some people may think that Im leaning towards Arsenal, which is risky as some of my great cousins are Spurs fans and would hate to get ditched in the Thames....only joking. After beating Arsenal, Spurs should have cruised to third but a run that saw nine points taken from a possible 24 seems to have been their downfall. Arsenal on the other hand went the opposite way. An inspired performance against Bayern Munich kicked their season again and twenty points from a possible twenty four looks certain to see Wenger finish once more in the top four.

With the penultimate weekend hours from kick off, it will be interesting to see what happens.