First, Pile of Krappa, Load of Ballacks etc to Arsenal.com's Richard Clarke for describing Eboue as having been "rightly adjudged" to have pushed Woodgate before his "goal" in his match report. Even Sky's anti-Arsenal pundits said it was legitimate. Whose side are you on, Richard? We've enough detractors from without, thanks.

And also Pile of Krappa, Load of Ballacks to Arsenal and O2. I thought I'd watch the derby at the E******s live screening and duly turned up with £10 in hand, only to find it was open to online purchasers, guests and competition winners. So I was forced to go to a local pub, choosing orange juice over the p*ss they were passing for beer / lager. Arsenal and O2 must be doing well in the economic downturn if they can afford to turn away cash buyers of their product.

Arsene uses the word "intelligent" to describe footballers he admires as frequently as Sven used the word "absolutely" when answering in the affirmative inane questions from the British media. But there was nothing intelligent in Eboue's latest antics. Of course he was frustrated at the injustices; Sagna should have conceded a throw-in, not a free-kick (again Sky's "experts" agreed), but an intelligent footballer would have walked away after his first or second jibe. Not Eboue, though, who got his first booking. The second yellow, as Arsene concurred, was inevitable. The man many Gooners hypothesise to be Arsene's illegitimate love-child is, shall we say, a loose cannon?

A question. If Arsenal finish outside the top four (I still think we'll make it but it's looking less likely), would we fans prefer to also be outside the UEFA Cup places? May seem a silly question but think about it. We'll be forced to pay - through our season tickets - for matches we don't want to witness.

On a positive note... Amongst all the doom and gloom, it's well to remember that this young, injury-ravaged team have not lost a meaningful game since the catastrophe that was Citeh away. I'm generously ignoring 2-0 reverses away at Burnley in the Carling Cup and Porto in the CL, when Arsene fielded a Carling Cup-type side as we'd already qualified. So the effective unbeaten run is 14 games. With 5 of our next 6 games at home (if we prevail against Cardiff, that is) and the other at WBA (whose best player will be ineligible!) that run could and should get into the 20s.

The Cardiff game should be brought forward to 14th February, and to hell with complaints from supporters' WAGs and Setanta. Then the winners could play Burnley in round 5 on 17th or 18th February instead of being a round behind come 7th March (quarter final day) if Arsenal win through. But TV must come first in couch potato-land.

Finally, with Cesc and Theo being touted for early returns, Eduardo already selected for Croatia and even Rosicky forecast to play within the next three years, I'm far less pessimistic than most Gooners. Our midfield may look formidable before too long, especially once Arshavin gains match fitness and acclimatises to the various demands of the Premier League. If middling sides such as West Ham and Bolton continue to demonstrate the lack of ambition witnessed against Arsenal of late, one centre back may be enough in the final half hour if we are still chasing the game, although getting Arsene to re-work his formulaic substitutions' policy may be asking too much.