I'm sure that I not the only Arsenal fan that is champing at the bit waiting both for the season to start and to see whether the usual optimisms (or pessimisms for that matter) are realised. Me? Well, I would say that I always lean slightly towards optimism rather than pessimism as a rule.
Yet, being the kind of guy that tends to give straight answers to straight questions, if someone was to ask me straight out as to whether the Gunners are going to win the league this year, I would say to you "No". Why? Well, it's not because I think that the Phoney Russian Franchise are vastly superior to us or that ManUre or Liverpool are either- it's just that I simply believe that at present we are simply not ready yet.
The smart money, as everyone knows, is on the PRF to win their third consecutive title. Am I downhearted about that? Nah, course not. I simply take comfort and confidence from the fact that it probably won't take the Arsenal 50 years to become champions of England and it certainly won't take the exclusive benevolence of some multi-billionaire to put us there either.
As I said in my piece before our game against Dinamo, the key to this coming season for Arsenal is not about who comes in or who goes but about who stays. And, based on that ideal, I personally believe that the objectives for the players that are still with us (sod the likes of Cole and Reyes) can be centred around one theme and two questions.
For me, the theme for this season (and beyond) is unfinished business and the questions I will keep asking over in my own mind are these. Firstly, what did we learn from our campaigns both home and abroad last year? Secondly how much desire do the Arsenal players have as a group to improve on the campaigns we had both at home and abroad? Time of course tells all but when you bear in mind that the only thing that happens to be black and white for certain, given the nature of the Premiership, is the strip that Newcastle where, I think it's something all fellow Gooners should really have a think about.
And so, the doors to the Emirates Stadium will open tomorrow for the first time and Aston Villa happen to be the first Premiership side we will greet there.
For a good six years or more there has been genuine angst amongst the Villa fans at how the club was being run off the pitch and how it's affected their fortunes as a consequence on it.
Central to their resentment has been good old "Deadly" Doug Ellis, the now former Villa chairman. From the outside looking in, Ellis has always struck me as a rather fascinating, complex character - stubborn yet pragmatic, ruthless at times in terms of getting rid of some managers yet perhaps a little impulsive in terms of either appointing or getting rid of others.
There was one particular time when I actually genuine felt a little sympathy for Doug. It was when we played Villa at Highbury just before Christmas back in 2001 live on Sky en route to winning the Double in 2002. Ellis was a Sky studio guest that day and I remember Sky reporters canvassing opinions of the Villa supporters before the game and asking them what would turn Villa's fortunes around. Almost every fan talked about Ellis spending more money.
When Ellis was asked for a response he referred to a chap by the name of Bosko Balaban. Ellis told how John Gregory, the then Villa manager dragged him over to Croatia no less then three time to watch the lad for himself before signing Balaban for around £6.5 million. "What happened?" said Ellis, "I paid good money for that boy yet for year he has been sat in the stand because Gregory will not play him! What can I do about that?!"- It wasn't hard, even for me, to see his point.
Still, all the resentment that has festered for whatever reason against Ellis over the years looks like becoming a thing of the past as it appears as though Deadly actually did at least two things to finally appease the Villa fans before he left. Firstly he secured the services of Martin O'Neill as manager and then he finally stepped down as chairman and sold the club in to an American billionaire by the name of Randy Lerner.
Watching Sky Sports News over the last week, you would think that the Villa fans had been witness to some sort of Second Coming. I hope that they are proved right because it would be nice to see a club (unlike Chelsea) with a genuinely impressive heritage become a major force again.
Needless to say however my desire for Arsenal to start the season as they mean to go on infinitely outweighs any sentiments I may have for Villa. I'm not the least bit interested in all the tired theories about us settling into the new stadium or the size of the pitch or the atmosphere at the new stadium. All that matters is the quality of the game that we play. Once we get that right the rest will invariably look after itself. A cracking start for the Arsenal in their new home? I'll drink to that!!