What happened last Wednesday and Saturday was unacceptable for a club of our standard. There is clearly something wrong in the team, there has been since the Fulham defeat.

On Saturday at Stoke even in the warm up there was no desire on the faces of the players, it was more like “Let’s get this over with and get out of here”. There is/was no unity in the team, they didn’t look up for the task and you cannot have that attitude at this level, especially if you want to win trophies.

After winning at some tough places like the Reebok, Ewood Park and Upton Park, we drew, albeit luckily against Sunderland, laboured against Everton and we know wtf happend against the Spuds! I think Wenger’s defended this team far enough, there’s no shame in holding your hands up and making a mistake, you look more of an idiot if you don’t.

He’s been caught out for not spending big on experience in the summer, Silvestre and Nasri aside. What do the other signings have apart from talent with the ball? Letting Gilberto leave and not replacing him was a big mistake and we are paying for that on the pitch and in the dressing room. Also Sol hasn’t been replaced properly. We’ve no defenders who can win the ball in the air. Gallas seems to be concentrating on scoring rather than defending, Toure’s been in and out of the side, Silvestre is still finding his feet and Sagna is not fully fit. Cesc looks out of puff and needs a rest - but who can replace him? Here is what I think should be done come January:

An experienced centre midfielder should be bought – i.e. Bouba Diop, Abdou Faye (Stoke), Lassana Diarra (who shouldnt have left in the first place) or Sissoko who already have Premiership games under their belt. From abroad there is Yaya Toure, Stephen Appiah (who is still a free agent), the list goes on and a lot of the players mentioned wouldn’t actually cost that much and when they tackle you, you know about it.

A decent, mean, centreback should also be purchased, one with the old-fashioned ‘get past me once and only once with your legs intact’ mentality, like Adams and Bould. Joris Mathijsen, Dan Van Buyten, Luisao, Juan, Chiellini or Mellberg of Juventus are a few names that spring to mind. Why not even ruffle a few feathers like he did when he got Sol Campbell or Gio Van Bronckhorst or go in for somebody like Martin Laursen of Villa or Dragutinovic , Mosquera or Squillaci from Sevilla. Then there’s Lucio from Bayern Munich or Pepe from Real. These are players the younsters can all look up to, proven internationals who give their all on the pitch. We’re blessed with so many creative players we just need the people who can do the ugly jobs like we had in the past.

Failing the two acquisitions above, I think there must be a change at board or manager level or both, as we (and I think I speak for the many Gooners out there) will simply not stand for this any longer. At a time when money is tight, fans will simply refuse to fork out what you charge to go and see an under-achieving team that wins nothing. A half-full Ashburton Grove? I dread to think of it, but if something isn’t done now that’s what will happen.

This is not just a letter of sour grapes because we lost to a mediocre team. There is a problem, everyone else can see it - so why cant the hierarchy?