A highly pertinent question has been asked by all footie fans with North London-affiliations this week: just how many clubs did Oirish midget Robbie Keane support as a lad? First it was Liverpool, now Celtic. Make up yer mind, Robbie dear; not that leaving N17 requires a valid excuse. Still, he arrived in Glasgow in time to get turned over at glamorous Kilmarnock, known affectionately as "Killie" by the Scottish footballing cognoscenti, if that isn't an oxymoron. He has, in essence, swapped a team 13 points adrift in a meaningful league for one that's now 10 points adrift in a meaningless one. "Dodgy business," his ex-boss may conclude.

To more serious matters. I'm like an animal in George Orwell's oft-quoted Animal Farm, listening to those oh-so-clever pigs pontificate. I tend to believe the one currently speaking / whose opinions I'm reading. My psychiatrist won't be pleased come next therapy session; I can read him like a book. There have been numerous excellently argued contributions to onlinegooner in recent weeks, not least a hilarious analysis after Bolton (home) by 'Wilf Copping'.

But are things really as bad as the majority believe in their ManU post mortems? No-one has stated that we, The Arsenal, have scored the most Premier League goals this season (double Champions League-chasing Villa's total), and this despite having had only one penalty (Stoke at home at 0-0 in the 2-0 win), which Cesc missed. If we really are so bad, if our team are too small, only play pretty passes with no "end product", are too one-dimensional, have no Plan B, are full of uncommitted and overpaid journeymen, then how come we've hit the onion bag so regularly? And, lest we forget, we've had numerous injuries, especially to strikers (and left backs), including the huge loss of Van Persie, who last scored for us in October.

Our 60 non-penalty goals span just that one measly penalty awarded, a ratio of 60-to-1, obviously. Chelski have scored from five and, from memory, Frankie missed one at Citeh. ManU have scored from four, including Rooney's theatrical fall-to-ground-before-contact against us at OT, one of five penalties we've conceded, four of them scored. So the 24 non-penalty goals conceded imply a 4.8 ratio (24 / 5) at the other end. Think about it: 60 v 4.8 ! These statistics, completely overlooked, represent a chasm; yet in professional sport even wafer-thin margins determine outcomes.

Win at The Bridge and the despondency will lift, though not dissipate.

Keep the faith.