Last weekend, Arsenal were courageous.

After the horrific injury to Aaron Ramsey and the game poised at 1-1, you could be forgiven thinking Arsenal wouldn’t rally and grab all three points.

But that’s what they did.

There have been comparisons to the Eduardo injury and how that Birmingham game panned out. We went a goal down, got ourselves into a winning position thanks to a Theo Walcott double and then we conceded a last minute penalty. William Gallas completely lost the plot and the rest is history. At the end of the season we would look back and point to that game as the turning point of our seasons title challenge.

But against Stoke City, we showed great character and mental strength to win the game.

And the major difference? We have a winner in the team. Someone that has been there and done that. A player who is obviously greatly respected in the dressing room for what he has achieved in his career.

That man is Sol Campbell.

When you compare him to William Gallas, who was effectively and ironically Campbell’s replacement, it’s clear that while the Frenchman is a fantastic player and athlete, he doesn’t command the same respect as someone of Campbell’s stature.

Campbell has had his critics, but he is a leader and players follow his example.

When Ramsey was shockingly hacked down by Mother Theresa, Sol was the first man to show his frustration and square up to Shawcock. Players like Fabregas, Vermaelen and Clichy followed his example and also his determination to win the game.

I’ve said in the past that with this young group of players, we are missing the raw anger when we score. If you don’t know what I mean, watch the goal celebrations from Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira, Pires, Freddie and the rest of the team in those successful years between 1998 to 2005.

Take a look at these celebrations from years gone by:

Patrick Vieira versus Spurs
Dennis Bergkamp versus Manchester United
Thierry Henry versus Spurs

There’s that swagger and arrogance about them. It’s a “f*ck you we’re the best, get in there!” attitude you have when you’re a winner. Winning is a state of mind and the only player who goes mental when they score is Robin Van Persie. He believes that his goals will make the difference and could contribute to winning a trophy.

The celebrations when Fabregas and Vermaelen scored against Stoke were just like the old days. Of course, the horrific injury to Ramsey contributed to the adrenaline filled celebrations but everyone went crazy. Vermaelen’s celebration was full of emotion and who was leading the fist pumping?

The Sol Train.

You can’t fault the guy’s record – he is a winner pure and simple. When he saw the light and went to the red side of North London he won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, and won the FA Cup with Portsmouth a couple of seasons ago. Credit to him, he even won a League Cup with Spurs, which is an achievement in itself.

I’ve said that once Van Persie’s injury we’ve missed his arrogance and determination on the pitch. Obviously his goals and assists, he is a winner. He wants to win. Winning is everything and he is one of the few leaders in the squad. You have players like Denilson and who don’t seem to care half the time.

We’ve all said that experience makes the difference when it gets the business end of the season, so if Arsenal can pull off probably one of the most surprising title wins of recent years then Sol Campbell could well be one of Arsene’s greatest ever signings.

Arsenal have been missing that winning influence, to keep on fighting until the end even when things are going against you. That ruthlessness to kill off games and take home all the points.

So in a team that is full of players who don’t know what it’s like to win, Sol could just be that difference come May.

What a crazy weekend.

Youngster Aaron Ramsey suffered a horrific injury at the hands of Ryan Shawcross. You know my feelings on that one so I’ll move on but we wish him all the best.

In terms of football though, it was a great weekend for Arsenal.

In Saturday’s early kick off, Chelsea were surprisingly but comprehensively beaten by a recently struggling Manchester City. Struggling so much in fact that some sections of the media believed that this would be Mancini’s last game in charge. But Team Bridge’s second in command Carlos Tevez was on fire with two goals, and sent out a clear message to John Terry, by not only completely embarrassing him on the pitch but standing up to the disgraced ex-England captain when there was a minor scuffle in the Chelsea penalty area.

I love Carlos Tevez, and not because he hates John Terry as much as I do. If there’s any player in the Premier League I’d have at Arsenal it’s him – his work rate and quality are top notch.

I did find it quite amusing that when Tevez squared up to Terry the cheating low-life had to get his team-mates to step in and do his dirty work. He can’t even back up his hard man image – he’s got no balls which is ironic considering all the allegations that have been flying around recently. John Terry is becoming more and more pathetic as the weeks go by, which to me is fantastic news as his performances for Chelsea drastically nose-dived and he has become a liability.

Chelsea made a huge mistake in publicly supporting John Terry and it is now coming back to haunt them.

I realise John Terry is bigger than the club (and Abramovich’s best mate) so in a way they had no choice but now that has caused Chelsea problems as they look foolish in backing a player who doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Terry’s (on the pitch) performances are badly effecting the team on a whole and the great thing is that they can’t suddenly drop him or give him time off as that would go against their whole hymn sheet. And long may it continue as far as I’m concerned, because the more he plays the more likely they’ll concede ridiculously poor goals, and ultimately, drop points.

Everton, Inter Milan and Manchester City won’t be the last clubs to take advantage before the end of the season.

So despite being dead and buried after the defeats by Chelsea and Manchester United at home, Arsenal find themselves an amazing 3 points off the top of the table.

Absolutely staggering, and the Arsenal players deserve a huge amount of credit.

I said exactly a week ago that the form of Nicklas Bendtner was paramount to whether we win anything this season. Without Van Persie, he is our only real target man and his performances are vital to how the team performs as a whole. And yesterday, he popped up with such an important equaliser. And credit to the boy, it was a fantastic headed goal.

In the same piece, I also wrote that Eboue should play a lot more, whether as a right back or right-sided attacker, because he has the skill and pace to beat players and the final 12 games of the season (see our new ‘Arsenal Title Charge’ graphic to the right) which are essentially 12 cup ties. I maintain that if we want any chance to pulling it off, we need to win all 12 games.

Yesterday’s game against Stoke was a courageous performance.

Arsenal went a goal down to a trademark “throw in goal” from the boring Stoke after only 8 minutes, and you wondered how mentally tough this Arsenal team where. We found ourselves one nil down at a notoriously tough place to visit – this really was a massive test.

But they came through with flying colours.

Bendtner scored that vital goal to keep the hope of 3 points alive and despite the horrific tackle on Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal rallied themselves and managed a late surge to score twice late on and seal the victory.

Watching the game, you couldn’t help remember the similarities to the Birmingham game only 2 seasons ago. Eduardo broke his leg, and in the final minute there would be a last minute penalty that would decide the fate of our whole season.

In 2008, it was Birmingham that won a penalty and scored it, to massively dent our title ambitions, but this weekend it was a penalty awarded to Arsenal that would determine our fate.

As Cesc stepped up to take what was probably the biggest penalty of our entire campaign (although it was only the third we’ve been given this season) his 50/50 record was slightly worrying. Score, and we’d be right back in this years title race, but miss and it could be another one of those almost seasons. In the end, our captain kept his cool and rifled the ball into the bottom corner and you just wonder how massive that single kick could be to our season. If we do end up winning the league, after all the heartache of Ramsey’s injury, you will point to that spot kick as the moment we believed we could do it.

Arsenal could have easily crumbled after the shocking injury to Aaron Ramsey (and in all fairness, you wouldn’t blame them) but they really stepped up and finished strong. Maybe Williams Gallas not being on the field made the difference, who knows, but Arsenal really did take advantage of Chelsea’s slip up and we need to keep the determination and performances going right until the end.

Arsene Wenger might just well pull off the ultimate miracle.

In 2006, I wrote about About Diaby breaking his leg in a horribly late challenge by Dan Smith of Sunderland. That was a shocking tackle which no-one in the media cared about. I was incensed by how everyone glossed over the whole incident and was in total disbelief that the challenge only resulted in a yellow card.

The first paragraph stated:

“I’ve had time to think about the tackle by Dan Smith on Abou Diaby, who we now know is out for at least 9 months – a devastating time out for a young, promising player who really looked to have got into his stride at Arsenal.”

Unfortunately, not unlike the situation Aaron Ramsey finds himself in.

Then in 2008, I wrote about the horrific ‘tackle’ on Eduardo.

I should really just repeat what I said in the article about Eduardo. To me, the whole situation is a complete disgrace.

Arsene Wenger is completely right. A challenge like that is completely unacceptable.

I am absolutely furious. I am so angry that this has happened again and I am sick and tired of all the bollocks that is spewed out in the aftermath.

As per, the opposing manager comes out with the whole bullshit about how a player isn’t dirty, and it isn’t in his nature. They have the fucking nerve to criticise Arsene Wenger and his comments, despite the fact one of his players has broken his leg! Then, for good measure, you have all these fucking retards who feel sorry for Shawcross, because he fucking cried after making the challenge!

Awww, poor Shawcross, did you hurt your leg breaking Ramsey’s? Don’t make me sick.

I thought Phil Brown was a cunt but Pulis is on another level.

What a fucking joke.

I’ll stand by what I said when Martin Taylor broke Eduardo’s leg.

Teams believe that because we play football a certain way they think they can bully us out of games. Another way to put it is to kick us off the park. The “experts” say it’s not being dirty, but it’s just out-muscling Arsenal.

The fact of the matter is, there’s making a legitimate challenge and then there’s being reckless. Yes, he may not have had the intent to break his leg but the challenge was completely unnecessary and to fly in at that pace (enough to smash someone’s leg) is always going to risk serious injury to the recipient.

I don’t buy this accident bollocks. We all watch football, we all play football and something like Shawcross’s challenge was ridiculous. It infuriates me even more than these football pundits who come out with the classic “he was done by a bit of pace” remark. As if it was comparable to something like leaving the hot water on.

Footballers know what they’re doing, and if they didn’t then surely we would have broken legs every week. Football is a physical game and you know when something is reckless and late, or mistimed. Shawcross swung his leg with so much force that he managed to break Ramsey’s leg, despite the fact he was wearing shin pads.

And the challenge was high.

Before Ramsey got the ball it was played to him on the ground so unless Shawcross’s co-ordination is so bad that he imagined the ball was bouncing in mid-air then it was at the very least reckless. He followed through about a foot off the ground. If he didn’t intend to injure Ramsey he was certainly trying to clatter Ramsey after “winning” the ball.

I guess I’m not making much sense, as I am still devastated about a promising young player who is facing a major setback in his career. If you want more sense, just read my Eduardo article, I had a few days to compose before I wrote that one.

And I’m sure I’ll get slaughtered for labelling Shawcross, Pulis and Stoke City for being a disgrace. But you know what, I couldn’t give a flying fuck.

Aaron Ramsey, I hope you make a speedy recovery and our best wishes go out to you.

I’ll write about Arsenal’s courageous performance and the weekend’s football tomorrow, once I have calmed down.

I’ve heard lots of things regarding Portsmouth and the effect it will have on the Premier League season.

From what I understand (which is probably wrong) is that if Portsmouth end up being “wound up” then they will cease to exist and all the games they have played this season in the Premier League will become null and void.

And this directly effects the title race.

Manchester United and Arsenal have both played Portsmouth twice, so will lose 6 points, and a hat full for goals in the process. Chelsea however, have only played Portsmouth once meaning they will only lose 3 points.

Currently Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have 11 games remaining but while that wouldn’t change for United or Arsenal, Chelsea will have their remaining games cut down to 10. Which essentially means that Chelsea are one game less away from keeping their advantage, and both Manchester United and Arsenal will have to play an extra game more.

So effectively Chelsea gain 3 points while we have a game remaining to make up that 3 point deficit.

So Chelsea gain a slight advantage because they have one less game to play while we have an extra game to make up 3 lost points. So any slip up will be costly for us.

Anyway, I’ve setup up an ‘Arsenal Title Charge’ graphic which you can see to the right. Once you see it blacked out then we’ve blown it.

Fortunately, with the win over Sunderland, our challenge is ‘still alive’.

We’ve got 11 cup games until the end of the season.