Regular followers of my Twitter feed will know that Mikel Arteta has been my favourite player of the season. Dreamy good looks and elegant style, he has an eye for a pass, a killer shot and more importantly, experience. What he does in an Arsenal shirt may not be flashy or make the back page headlines, but he gives this young Arsenal team assurance and balance in midfield.

So the statistic that Arsenal have failed to win a single game without him this season is not surprising and on the flip side hugely disappointing.

And so it proved again today when we were held at home to a Norwich side that have nothing to play for.

And that draw leaves our hopes of qualifying for next years Champions League in tatters. There’s no other way of describing it.

Because we are currently in 3rd place but only 2 points ahead of both Tottenham and Newcastle who have a game in hand. Win that and we find ourself in 5th. And that’s before we play our last game of the season at West Brom, while Tottenham and Newcastle have more straight forward games against Fulham and Everton. And both challengers are in much better form than we are.

While it’s conceivable that one of them may slip up (Newcastle still have to play Manchester City), even if we manage to fluke 4th spot we could still be in trouble. Roberto Di Matteo (or John Terry) has the golden touch and it’s not a forgone conclusion that Bayern Munich will lift the Champions League trophy in their own back yard.

That’s why 3rd spot is so so important.

The biggest frustration is that going into the game against Wigan at home, 3rd was all but sealed. A sloppy performance was punished and since then we’ve been complacent and lazy.

While the Arteta stat is easy to point to, the fact is he is one of the experienced players who drives the team on and helps us see out games. But the fact we can’t win without him is a damning reflection on our team.

The bottom line now is that Arsene’s brilliant record of getting us into the Champions League year after year is no longer in our hands.

I’ve just watched the 25 minute press conference for Roy Hodgson as he was unveiled as England manager, and the obvious crap about Harry Redknapp was asked time and time again.

Seriously, is everyone that stupid?

Just because ‘Arry’s drinking buddies all work for the football media he was painted as the odds on favourite for the England job. And in that respect, I’m pleased he didn’t get the job.

Roy Hodgson has by far and away, the much better record in football. I don’t need to tell you how he’s done with Fulham and West Brom in the Premier League, as well as his stints at Inter Milan, and his record with the Swiss International team.

He has respect throughout Europe and is the far better coach.

I for one will be 110% behind Hodgson and for the first time I think he will give the England team some respectability for the first time in no long.

He won’t come across like a headmaster like Capello, or a star-lover like Sven.

And going back to Harry Redknapp, what has he actually achieved in football? He won the FA Cup with Portsmouth.

And that’s it.

People will point to Hodgson’s record at Liverpool, but the fact is that with a team that didn’t have £35 million spent on Andy Carroll and God knows how much on Adam, Henderson and Downing did better than they are doing right now, which is a team being lead my Liverpool legend King Kenny.

So in retrospect maybe he didn’t do too badly - considering Liverpool are a shambles anyway.

My hope is that Hodgson weeds out the jokers like John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and the other “old boys” who are well past their sell by date and goes with young players who are hungry and deserve a chance.

The public should get completely behind the new England manager and recognise that he is a man who deserves the utmost respect.

Although with ‘Arry’s mates in the newspapers that’s probably unlikely to happen.

What can you say that hasn’t already been said?

We all know Fabrice from his time at Arsenal and we all just pray that he makes it.

All our thoughts and prayers are with Fabrice and his family at this traumatic time.

Arsenal (2) - (1) Newcastle United
Van Persie (15′), Vermaelen (90′+4)
The Emirates Stadium, London

Arsenal have done it again.

We have set a new Premier League record - winning 4 games in a row after trailing in all 4 games. First against Sunderland, then Tottenham and then against Liverpool.

Tonight, Newcastle took the lead against the run of play when the talented Ben Arfa cut inside and lashed in a shot at the near post. Kieran Gibbs was poor on that occasion and Ben Arfa took full advantage.

From then on, Arsenal dominated.

There was only one team that was interested in taking all 3 points and it wasn’t the visiting team in the black and white shirts. For the entire second half, Tim Krul was intent on taking as much time as possible over every single goal kick and freekick to waste as much time as he could.

We have had teams try to frustrate Arsenal at The Emirates but the negativity from Newcastle in the second half was frustrating. Szczesny was hardly tested apart from the goal from Ben Arfa.

Arsenal struggled at times during the second half to break down a resilient Newcastle team but we were also guilty of missing some really guilt-edged chances. Gervinho, missed an absolute sitter and the in-form Tomas Rosicky got his bearings wrong and lashed an effort wide when he should have done better.

Mental strength is something that Arsene used to talk about and at the moment, this Arsenal team have that in abundance. To react like that have to going a goal (or two) down and still come out with the win is outstanding and all the players deserve all the praise they get. Against Sunderland, Liverpool and now Newcastle, Arsenal have unbelievably scored injury time winners.

Remarkable, outstanding, you can use any superlative you like.

And the end result after a fantastic run like that is we have managed to claw back a 10 point deficit on Tottenham Hotspur to a single point. That is amazing and a team tipped to not even be in the Top Four is in with a real shout to be in the Top Three.

19 points from losing positions this season tells you about the character and fight this Arsenal team has. We’ve been found wanting at times but at the moment this Arsenal team are fighting for the fans, fighting for the manager and more importantly fighting for themselves.

The winning goal tonight was special. With the last attack of the game, Arsenal managed to win the ball after Newcastle were trying to waste time in the corner, and once that happened 8 Arsenal players bust a gut to get into the penalty area and when Theo Walcott was played in he needed to make sure that he produce a decent cross. His delivery was good and Newcastle’s inability to clear meant the ball fell to Vermaelen, and there was only going to be one result. The outstanding Belgian ran his heart out in the last minute and thoroughly deserved his winning goal.

The momentum is with Arsenal and we need to keep fighting and making sure we keep winning games. You can accuse Arsenal of many things this season but being boring is not one of them.

Some people will say that the spat between Van Persie and Tim Krul is something you don’t want to see but I like to see passion, desire and fight in our players. It shows they care and want to win for the club. You might think it’s not how a captain should act but I say screw that, Van Persie is the man and it shows you don’t f*ck with us!

On a side note, I don’t think our recent good form and the absence of Per Mertesacker is a coincidence. Vermaelen and Koscielny have been outstanding together recently and that has to be our first choice defensive partnership. Sagna is solid and energetic as ever, Gibbs is improving all the time and our midfield now has real options with Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Arteta, Song and Ramsey all in good form.

Our only problematic areas are in attack - losing Van Persie is something we can’t even thing about and Theo Walcott’s form is too inconsistent. And both Gervinho and Chamakh are just so off form it’s unreal. Hopefully Podolski does come in the summer and adds some bite and firepower to our wide positions because we are over-reliant on Van Persie for goals.

But that’s another discussion for another day. Let’s just enjoy another important victory and look forward to our next game - a tough away fixture at Everton.

As ever with the t’interweb, there is no shortage of Arsenal news all over the place. You can read about Arsenal on football websites, Arsenal blogs, Twitter, Facebook - so much so that I pretty much shield myself from all of that. I don’t have time for rumour and gossip, and quite frankly it bores me. My Arsenal knowledge and opinion comes from watching the matches, the official Arsenal website, Arseblog and the BBC Football website.

So it peaked my interested when it was reported that Arsenal have agreed a deal for Lukas Podolski. Apparently we have agreed a deal with Cologne, although Podolski has yet to pass a medical or agree personal terms.

So it’s hardly a done deal.

But if all of this does happen, then what does this mean for Arsenal?

Essentially it can only mean one of two things. It means that Arsenal are finally bringing in quality players so they can compete at the very top, or it means that Arsenal are preparing to lose their captain Robin Van Persie.

The problem is that we have a reputation of losing our captains year after year. We lost Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas while they were Arsenal’s club captain. I’m not sure whether giving a player the captains armband is Arsene’s secret way of telling the world that is our star player and they’re up for sale. With the exception of Gallas, obviously.

The other problem is if you had to name another player in the game today that is most similar to Van Persie, then it’s Lukas Podolski. You can be as pedantic as you like, but they both have a a truly wicked shot with their left foot and can bury a chance when the opportunity presents itself. They are both technically excellent on the ball and both of them have 5 letters in their first name. The only difference from what I’ve seen, is that Podolski has more natural pace.

And the key question is, can you imagine Arsenal playing Van Persie and Podolski together?

The answer is yes, but will Arsene use Podolski out wide or down the middle? Podolski is equipped to play down the centre, in Van Persie’s position or with his pace, on either wing. Does Arsene see him more of a provider or a goalscorer?

The answers to these questions won’t be answered until he starts playing for us (if he does come) or when and if Van Persie leaves.

Has Arsene had enough of Gervinho and Walcott?

The possible arrival of Lukas Podolski poses more questions than answers.