It means that next summer will not be as empty as it might have been and I will have an excuse to put any DIY projects on hold that much longer. Happy days!!!
The man I am pleased for most of all though is Sven Goran Eriksson. The guy has had to put with all kinds of stick despite having a record in competitive matches that is nothing short of excellent. How many other managers around the world can say that they have seen their team lose only once in a competitive game? How many managers can say that their only defeat came against the team that went on to win the World Cup? I think that it's high time that people in the press should stop trying to undermine him and start backing him.
Enough of that though, time to get back to the REALLY serious stuff and by that, I am talking about Saturday, of course.
I have to admit that I have never really bothered looking too hard at the fixture list to see when we played Chelsea in the past and at first I didn't look too hard this year either. By the time the season started however, my usual indifference had suddenly given way to mild curiosity.
It would be safe to say that the new regime down at the Bridge has caught the imagination of a lot of people. There is hardly a pub or club in this country that has not been awash with debate about what has been going on there.
Nobody embraced the arrival of the Cossack from the King's Road more warmly than the press and the media. The arrival of Abramovich has been effectively like Manna from Heaven for the press in particular. They have never found it easier to fill column inches in their papers with rumours and speculation.
More than that, the press and the media had effectively discovered a new Great White Hope – a man, in other words, that could potentially help alter the status quo that has existed within the Premiership over the last six or seven years – or part of it at least.
You see, the vast majority in the press and the media wouldn't have a problem if that lot from Old Trafford went out and won the Premiership title every year for the next five years or so. After all, they are widely regarded as the be-all and end-all in this country if not the world, aren't they?
In contrast, the fact that Arsenal have not only had the audacity to actively compete with United for titles, they have beaten them from time to time as well. That, deep down, has been extremely galling for our friends in the media.
The thought of Arsenal continuing to defy all the critics in the future and potentially winning titles at the direct expense of United is something that does not sit well with the press and the media. In fact, when you hear them gripe about the Premiership not being exciting enough or competitive enough it's not because United have been regulars in the top two but because Arsenal have been as well.
This, particularly if the press and the media have their way, is where the newly cash rich Chelsea hopefully come in, not so much because they see Chelsea as a potential threat to United, it's because they see them, first and foremost, as a potential threat to Arsenal.
The fact that Chelsea are, of course, a London club is, above all, an even bigger bonus for the media. They have rarely ever been able to even question Arsenal's status as London's number one side and (without wanting to appear as though I'm defending them at all) I suppose that in part goes some way to explaining why the press blatantly went out of their way to aim a sly dig at the Arsenal every time Chelsea unveiled a new player during the summer.The man I am pleased for most of all though is Sven Goran Eriksson. The guy has had to put with all kinds of stick despite having a record in competitive matches that is nothing short of excellent. How many other managers around the world can say that they have seen their team lose only once in a competitive game? How many managers can say that their only defeat came against the team that went on to win the World Cup? I think that it's high time that people in the press should stop trying to undermine him and start backing him.
Enough of that though, time to get back to the REALLY serious stuff and by that, I am talking about Saturday, of course.
I have to admit that I have never really bothered looking too hard at the fixture list to see when we played Chelsea in the past and at first I didn't look too hard this year either. By the time the season started however, my usual indifference had suddenly given way to mild curiosity.
It would be safe to say that the new regime down at the Bridge has caught the imagination of a lot of people. There is hardly a pub or club in this country that has not been awash with debate about what has been going on there.
Nobody embraced the arrival of the Cossack from the King's Road more warmly than the press and the media. The arrival of Abramovich has been effectively like Manna from Heaven for the press in particular. They have never found it easier to fill column inches in their papers with rumours and speculation.
More than that, the press and the media had effectively discovered a new Great White Hope – a man, in other words, that could potentially help alter the status quo that has existed within the Premiership over the last six or seven years – or part of it at least.
You see, the vast majority in the press and the media wouldn't have a problem if that lot from Old Trafford went out and won the Premiership title every year for the next five years or so. After all, they are widely regarded as the be-all and end-all in this country if not the world, aren't they?
In contrast, the fact that Arsenal have not only had the audacity to actively compete with United for titles, they have beaten them from time to time as well. That, deep down, has been extremely galling for our friends in the media.
The thought of Arsenal continuing to defy all the critics in the future and potentially winning titles at the direct expense of United is something that does not sit well with the press and the media. In fact, when you hear them gripe about the Premiership not being exciting enough or competitive enough it's not because United have been regulars in the top two but because Arsenal have been as well.
This, particularly if the press and the media have their way, is where the newly cash rich Chelsea hopefully come in, not so much because they see Chelsea as a potential threat to United, it's because they see them, first and foremost, as a potential threat to Arsenal.
However, I remember seeing journalists on TV a few weeks ago suggesting to Arsene Wenger in a press conference that Chelsea have become the biggest club in London. His answer was to say that the last six years do not illustrate that. Wenger was only partly right – the last 90-odd years do not illustrate that either.
Still, I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that Saturday's game is just an ordinary one. It's true to say that the Arsenal, in terms of winning titles (and doubles for that matter), have got the T-shirts and virtually everybody knows how good our record is against this lot in the league.
At the same time though, this game is not just about three points for the Arsenal- this about pride. REAL pride. If the Arsenal were to lose to this lot then you can guarantee that we will never hear the last of it from the press and the media. I can almost picture an ironic headline now relating to a shift in power- and NOT in Arsenal's favour!!
On the other hand if we win then you will know because the press boys will revert back to their usual stance of indifference. Now taking everything into consideration, if you gave me that right now, I would be more than happy to settle for it.