I seem to remember Arsene Wenger arriving at Arsenal with a reputation of being something of an unlucky manager. Certainly, last season’s FA Cup Final aside, all the trophies he’s won here have all been merited, and by and large haven’t been blessed with dramatic twists like United’s treble, Liverpool’s Champions League triumph or even George’s unforgettable title of 1989.

When you think that his three titles have all been ultimately fairly comfortable (although they never seemed like it at the time) and the big cup games at the business end of the season, where we’ve faired well, have been bereft of last minute winners or much drama (again ignoring last year’s steal).

Then you consider some of the traumas we’ve had to endure when things haven’t gone so well; having the title slip from our grasp in the penultimate game at Leeds in 1999 and the capitulation to United’s charge to the title in 2003. Defeats in big cup games have not been kind either, penalties to Galatasary in 2000 (indeed we exited from every cup competition on penalties in that year without ever losing a game), Giggs’s wonder goal in 1999, Liverpool’s dramatic turnaround in 2001 at the Millennium, and I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been edged out of the Champions League for the want of just a tiny slice of good fortune.

During Wenger’s longest trophy-less spell between the doubles of 1998 and 2002 we came second in no less that five competitions as well as a semi-final defeat in the League Cup and a Quarter final defeat in Europe.

Could it just be that the events of the last few weeks have seen a reversal in this trend? Despite the fact that since the Villa game we really haven’t played as fantastically well as we can, look how it’s all turned out! First we scrape through to the Champions League Final thanks to our much maligned nutter of a goalkeeper, and now we’ve pipped our most hated rivals to the final qualifying spot for next season with the aid of somebody’s dastardly culinary experiment.

To be perfectly honest, I agree with Henry’s comments about how nobody had any sympathy with Arsenal when we had eight or nine players out injured earlier in the season, so tough luck on Tottering. Despite all their bleating now, it’s not just about one game, it’s about the season, and the records show that we won two more games than them, scored 15 more goals than them and conceded seven less!

And now, as if that wasn’t enough, after being berated all season for failing to play enough English players, we’ve miraculously provided the country with the next big thing to get excited about now that Rooney’s injured.

So, aided with this welcome period in lady luck’s company, whilst I’d love Arsenal to thrash Barcelona 4-0 with the most breathtaking display of football ever witnessed, I’d celebrate a last minute winner off Campbell’s huge arse with just as much enthusiasm!