Now that our season has been declared over officially (although I don’t believe a win at Old Trafford on Sunday would have made any difference) it’s time for a measured assessment of where we are. The near hysterical “analysis” of the Liverpool-biased media over the past few days needs to be ignored and treated with contempt. As does the blinkered view offered by Wenger. Yes, there have been some shocking refereeing decisions, bad injuries, etc, but let’s not forget the keystone cops defending as well.

Last August, the general consensus outside of the club was that we would do well to retain a top four slot - the Spuds were going to break into the top four, the scousers were ready for a title tilt and the poor old Gooners had lost their superstar. For Arsenal fans I recall a little more optimism, albeit a step into the unknown. A likely finish of third, CL quarter final and a Carling semi-final - was that considered realistic last August? I would suggest that the season has been a qualified success. 80 odd points with only three defeats in the league constitutes progress on last term.

However, this needs to be qualified as the negatives need to be highlighted:

1. If fringe players are going to be used for the domestic cups (a policy I would support), then at least make sure that they go into the game with the right attitude. The embarrassments at WHL and OT were down to the attitude of the players. This is the manager’s responsibility. I really don’t mind losing to the Spuds in the Carling Cup but the shameful manner of the defeat was unacceptable. I was there for the 5-0 in 1983 and really thought I would never witness that again in my lifetime.

2. We need to get mean - at the front and at the back. Whilst it’s good to see defenders playing their way out of trouble, the obligatory hoof into row Z every now and then (especially just after we’ve scored) is no bad thing. Up front, collectively, we need a much better conversion rate of chances into goals. Where’s the ruthless streak? How many points have we lost because we have not put teams away, eg Birmingham away when the Clichy penalty incident should not have mattered.

3. That hoary old subject - clean sheets. We have less chance of keeping a clean sheet than a Rolling Stone on tour. Yes, Toure has been pants since coming back from Africa, so why not bring in someone else? If Djourou and Senderos are not good enough for this, then why keep them? Ironically, Song came in yesterday, but why has it taken this long? I like the look of him at the back every time I see him there, so why has he only played there four times? The team in general needs to improve here because if ‘The Wall’ is off in the summer, where will the protection for the back four come from?

4. Whilst I like the idea of playing one up front, Adebayor is not the answer. He is not good enough for us. At best, he is a glorified Emile Heskey with the same poor first touch.

It’s natural at the end of a season to think about how to improve and transfers for next season, so I’m going to stick my oar in. Assuming that Lehmann and Gilberto are on their way, a keeper and a holding midfield player will be the minimum. Personally, I would get rid of the fringe rubbish - Hoyte, Djourou and Diaby. If Flamini doesn’t want to play for us, so be it. If Eboue was consigned to the role of reserve right back, he can stay. I never want to see him in midfield again - this has been a complete failure and Wenger should be blamed for this, not the player. The priority positions are:

1. A centre-half who can deal with the physical stuff (Vincent Kompany or John Heitinga spring to mind).

2. A wide midfield player (or two) who can provide some competition for the injured Rosicky and shot-shy Hleb (Bastian Schweinsteiger, Rafael Van der Vaart, Frank Ribery).

3. A forward who can put away the one chance of a game (like Eduardo, who we can forget about for next season) - any suggestions?

4. Finally, we need a captain who everyone will respect, leads by example and shows the bottle (and composure) for a fight

I really don’t think this is major surgery – we’re on the right lines.