I have always thought that nothing life ever stays the same but after seeing the Arsenal throw away a victory in Europe yet again on Wednesday night I am not so sure anymore. In fact, because the Arsenal are so prone to mishaps in Europe, I am almost getting to the stage where I am seriously considering phoning the National Accident Helpline just to see if I can get some compensation for the emotional trauma I seem to always go through in the process of watching it happen!
Yet, whilst I say that purely in jest, I have to say that Wednesday was no laughing matter for me at all and nor was it for Arsene Wenger either. In the post match interview, the Boss put a diplomatic spin on things but, although I'm not the world's greatest expert of body language, what he said and how he said it, betrayed the thunderous look he had on his face.
Wenger talked about the team being overcautious but he knew as well I did that too many members of the team were guilty of being casual, sloppy and careless.
Now, there are times when I have defended the team, looked on the bright side and counted my blessings as a Gooner but you can't go on making excuses forever and the truth, whether we like it or not, is that what happened in Trondheim on Wednesday bloody served us right.
I'm not going to waste time going over the story of the game because it was all too familiar from our point of view and I think that Gooners everywhere must be wondering whether we have learnt a damn thing from all the years that we've spent playing in the Champions League. I know I am.
I did feel sorry for our back four though. They hardly put a foot wrong between them all night. It was in midfield (Ljungberg apart) where we were a nightmare at times. Reyes played on the left hand side of midfield and had a night he will want to forget pretty quickly but in his defence, it is his first season playing Champions League football. The same cannot be said of the likes of Vieira and Edu.
Now I kept quiet over Vieira and the shenanigans that went on during the summer but I am definitely one of the many Arsenal fans who remain sceptical over his true commitment to the club. Though some Gooners would argue that he isn't match fit yet, the fact is last night's performance did nothing to dampen any scepticism I have.
As for Edu, well, both he and Vieira were caught in possession, in their own half, on at least half a dozen occasions between them in the first 45 minutes alone. And it was as a result of a similar dalliance from Edu that the Norwegians plundered a well taken equaliser early in the second half.
For me, the two of them symbolised a performance that was simply not good enough in too many ways and if Gilberto was fit and available then I would drop one if not both of them for Saturday's game against Charlton. And believe me; I never thought I would see the day when I heard myself saying that to anyone!
Still, the Gunners have a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday when Charlton pay us a visit. The Addicks certainly had a better start to the week than we did after beating Blackburn last Monday but I thought they were a touch fortunate to pick up the three points.
In a game that was every bit as tight as the 1-0 result suggested, Blackburn were denied what was an absolutely stick-on penalty and had Charlton on the ropes for long periods after the Addicks took the lead.
That said, with Kevin Lisbie and particularly Radostin Kishishev were both guilty of missing golden chances to wrap the game up I'm sure that it didn't do an awful lot for Alan Curbishley's nerves either.
As is the case at so many other Premiership clubs, there has been a lot of movement in and out of Charlton recently. In midfield, they lost Claus Jensen and replaced him with Danny Murphy but the most intriguing deal they did was to bring in Francis Jeffers to compensate for the loss of Paolo Di Canio.
Now, I doubt if many of you Gooners will agree but I was genuinely sad that things didn't quite work out for Jeffers at Highbury. I have always believed that he has what it takes to be a cracking striker if he can stay fit long enough and I still do. However, I also agree with people that have been saying that his move to Charlton is definitely make or break time for him and I hope, after Saturday of course, that he makes a real go of things at the Valley.
With the squad somewhat beset by injury and new players to bed in it has been difficult for Curbishley to get his side balanced and I have to say that the side he put out on Monday was a little lopsided in that respect.
That in turn makes it difficult to pinpoint any obvious dangers to us on Saturday. I suppose you can point to the likes of Euell, Bartlett and the Finn Jonotan Johansson who has caused us one or two problems in the past.
For all that I think that there is far clearer and more present danger to Arsenal at the moment – and that is the team itself. We have been sloppy in the last few games and I hope that Wenger doesn't shy away from wielding the axe if necessary on Saturday. It might shake one or two individuals out of their comfort zones.