The fluency of our game was back and it was no coincidence that Vieira had one of his best games so far this season. Dennis was also on fire for the first 45 minutes with Thierry and Bobby taking over in the second half with the type of football we have become accustomed to watching in the last few seasons but that has been of short supply recently.

Special praise must go to Mathieu Flamini, I have to hold my hands up and say I didn't think much of him in his first few appearances but was willing to give him the benefit based on the fact that Arsene very rarely buys duds. In the last few games before his injury he showed signs of feeling more comfortable amongst his more established counterparts. His constant harrying and probing runs gave us another option in midfield and Vieira obviously benefited from Flamini taking some of the defensive responsibility from him. Fabregas is definitely the better player but it's no doubt that Flamini brings more as a team player at this moment in time.

On the subject of midfield players the talk at the game is that Arsene will be buying an experienced international in the transfer window now that Mr. Ed(u) has decided to bugger off to sunnier climes, and, by the way, having frozen my nuts off by the end of this game I don't blame him. The two names being talked about were Van Brommel and Davids, the latter purely being a stopgap until the end of the season.

I am not sure whether it was the fact we went into this game more relaxed or if it was pride that gave us our game back but whatever it was we all left Higbury a lot happier than in previous weeks, it's amazing what one result can do for morale.

The War of Words
You can call me biased if you wish but am I the only one who thinks that it's that Scottish twat who starts these stupid arguments and if he kept his fat gob shut Arsene would not feel the need to react? For him to accuse Arsene of wanting to fight him has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have heard in a long time. When are the FA going to come down on "old red nose"? Surely his comments brought the game into disrepute? I think their reaction sums up the fact that the tail is finally wagging the dog.

Now Arsene is too much of a gentleman to say it so I will do it for him: "Shut your mouth you drunken, demented Scottish prat. Now piss off back to whichever hole you crawled out from and take your pathetic attempts at intimidation with you, you sad old man".

The Legends of the Hall
When selecting Christmas presents it always helps to know what the person you are buying for likes. I am lucky to be married to a great woman who knows me inside out and this year Joanna bought me a truly wonderful gift, a "Legends Tour of Highbury" with one of my childhood heroes, the one and only
Charlie George.

Walking to the ground on non-match days is a strange feeling, a bit of a ghost town. No smell of frying onions, no shady ticket touts (scalpers), no merchandise sellers and no crowds, just normal streets in North London. How Islington council ever had thoughts of letting Arsenal leave the area is beyond me, Arsenal is the area.

I met up with my slightly physically-challenged mate Katia outside the ground (by the way Kat, when your skis go one way don't try going the other). I was half hoping that the tour would be just us two and Charlie but there were around twenty in our group; haven't these people got anything better to do?

We were met at the main entrance by the legend that is Charlie, who led us into the Marble Halls. After we had signed in and got our passes (plus gift bag) he took us up to the director's lounge. I don't want to get all arty here but you could feel the sense of history in the old building and, if it was possible, boy, I bet these walls could tell a tale or two.

The director's lounge is a lot smaller than I expected but very tastefully decorated and it got me to thinking whether they ever gave us poor sods a thought when we are freezing our nuts off in the middle of winter while they sipped their brandies at half-time - no, of course they don't. In the lounge you are given a choice of hot drinks or orange juice and biscuits whilst Charlie signs autographs and has pictures taken with gob-smacked fans, who in their normal lives most probably have respectable jobs, who are upstanding pillars in society and who can definitely string more than three words together without going ga-ga. I could not believe I was standing next to and having my picture taken with the man whose 1971 FA Cup winning goal was the first time I had cried over a football match; well, apart from the time I got kicked in the "nether regions" by Michael Meanie after I scored a goal against him in his back garden when we were 7.

Once in the director's box you really realize that there is a "them and us" situation in football. I played Sven to Kats' Nancy and the thing I noticed was that if Sven leans forward slightly he could quite easily throw things at Arsene without him noticing. From the director's area we followed Charlie down to the changing rooms. Charlie is chatting all the time giving us stories and recollections about his time at Arsenal, some funny, some obviously recited for the umpteenth time.

Entering the changing room and seeing all the shirts hanging out in the place that they would on a match day was brilliant but this is where it got silly as grown adults rushed to the sit in front of their favourite player's shirt. It was dog eat dog in there and I didn't really care that the kid was only six; I wanted to sit in front of Dennis' shirt - so the kid can come back when he's older and stronger and then he can push others out of the way.

Charlie talks us through his personal thoughts of the current team, which I will tell you about at a later date and then you are given time to take photos, not only of the changing room but also the shower and toilets, and yes, before you ask, I did have a photo taken in one of the cubicles - what is the point of being in the Arsenal toilets if you can't say you sat on the same throne as Dennis or Thierry?

From the changing rooms it's through the players tunnel, again a lot smaller than what it seems on TV and out to the dugout. The thing that struck me was how bad a view Arsene has, which makes it all the even more remarkable that he can see things that we cannot (or not in some cases) and he manages to make the decisions he does during games. From the dugout it's on to the final part of the tour, the Arsenal Museum in the North Bank, where you can see a collection of shirts, medals and a chance to view a history of the club in the mini-cinema plus classic memorabilia such as Mickey Thomas' boots that he wore the night he scored that goal.

If you come to London make sure you book a tour, all-in-all well worth 30 pounds and, for those a little younger, you can book a tour with either Kenny Sansom or Paul Davis.

I Heard It Through The Grape Vine
Okay I didn't expect the club to make the announcement about the kit last week but this is what I had as this weeks "grape vine": "The new kit for next year will be purple, as that was the color we wore when we first played at Highbury". By the way, next week's winning lottery numbers are 6, 18, 20, 30, 37 and 43.

Life After Arsenal
Brendan Batson played for us in the early 70's and then went on to Cambridge United before finding fame and fortune with WBA. He is now the assistant secretary at the PFA.

Spotted out and about
Jeremie Aliadiere having dinner in Pizza Express Southgate with his rather attractive girlfriend. Spotted by my daughter Marina.

Players We Have Been Linked With This Week
Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Zagreb) Midfielder.
Trianis Dellas (Roma) Greek Euro2004 winning centre half.
Timo Hildebrand (Stuttgart) Another German keeper. What happened to once-bitten?
Gerard Lifondja.(Anderlechet) 15-year-old midfielder (15?).
Stefan Klos (Rangers) What is it with us and German keepers?

Useless Arsenal Trivia
A total of 12 players have played both for Arsenal and in the USA. The first was Bill Harper in 1927 who played for Fall River and the last being Steve Morrow who played for Dallas Burn.

Celebrity Gooner
Michael Moore, film director.

This weeks "Totally Irrelevant" link to Arsenal
Sparta Prague changed their kit from black and white stripes to red following the visit of their president to England in 1906. He was so taken aback by Arsenal's red shirts that he took a set back with him and they have been the team's colours since then.

All the best,
Teabag