CARLING CUP FINAL: AT THE GRASP OF OUR FINGERTIPS BUT WE LET IT SLIP...AGAIN.

Ice-Cream Cat is going to let Jack have as much ice-cream as he wishes because he deserves better in life than to lose his first Cup final to Lee Bower.

At the final whistle, of our yesterday's Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham, there were two things on my mind:

One - I want to hug the crap out of Jack Wilshere,

and

Two - Will I ever see this Arsenal team win a trophy?

I never thought I would ever feel this upset about a Carling Cup game but here I am, feeling only slightly less depressed than five years ago after losing to Barca in Paris.

Especially since Birmingham's win wasn't a result of some refereeing cock up or cheating or anything similar. No, it was a result of determination and hard work. They wanted it more and it was pretty evident, when with about twenty minutes to go, Roger Johnson was limping after injuring himself but refused to come off.

And while saying they deserved it wouldn't be completely true, at least according to statistics, it's impossible to deny the fact, they've won it fair and square. What their game plan lacked in creativity it made up in efficiency.

Our team, on the other hand, seemed if not disinterested then definitely uninspired, at times. There were very few Arsenal players on that lime green Wembley pitch who looked like they were up to the task.

It's funny how Arsene always talks about the depth of our current squad yet the minute you take one "starting XI" player out of the team, we appear lost. And yes, I know it's not just any player, it's Fabregas but seriously, how thin does his absence make our squad look? It's when he's not playing that it becomes so evident - how truly integral he is to our team. And it's not even his passing or his creativity, it's the way he manages to keep our team together, make them "click", if you will.

Playing Rosicky in Cesc's position was never going to lead to anything positive. I said it in one of my previous posts, Tomas brings about as much to our team as a mutant crossbreed between *insert the names of two players who aren't very good*. As much as I dislike Diaby, I honestly believe he would've done a better job.

Our defense wasn't half as solid as they'd been in previous games. There was a lot of pre-match talk about Nikola Žigić and how dangerous he is and how we should pay more attention to him. So naturally, it was him who headed in the opener, after we failed to properly clear Birmingham's corner.

We managed to pick ourselves up with five minutes to go before half-time. Jack Wilshere's shot went off the crossbar, Arshavin picked it up, his cross found Van Persie in the center of the penalty box and he volleyed home the equalizer but not before taking a heavy knock to his knee.

At that point, I'm hoping it'll be a different story in the second half. And it was, to an extent. We started off brightly, Ben Foster was forced to make some decent saves but when Robin couldn't shake off his injury, he had to be replaced by Bendtner. Unfortunately, replacing creativity with confidence doesn't always work.

Several minutes later, Chamakh replaced Arshavin - who despite having a relatively poor game wasn't as ineffective as Rosicky.

We're into the final 15 minutes of the match, Birmingham has a limping central defender and we have some fresh blood in attack. Can we pull if off or will we bottle it once again? Oh god, even if you didn't know the final score, this question would have sound rhetorical.

With about a minute of normal time left to play, a defensive mix-up/monstrous fuck up between Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny, led to Obafemi Martins scoring the simplest of tap-ins he'll ever score - to win Birmingham's first major trophy since 1963.

It also guarantees them a place in the Europa League and there's nothing to say other than - "Congratulations". They did seem like they wanted it more, didn't they?

What a comically ridiculous was to lose a cup final, eh?

Is there a point in talking about what a win would've done for our confidence and our pursuit of the Premier League? About how it would've, at least for awhile, shut all the critics who gloat with glee over our trophy-less misfortunes up? About how it could affect the rest of our season? About how there is now a real possibility we might be out of all cup competitions by the end of next week?

No, no there is no point.

If I'm being perfectly honest, I had a sneaky feeling it wasn't going to be our day at the very start of the game, when Wojciech Szczesny fouled Lee Bower in the box but linesman wrongly flagged for offside. Had the flag stayed down it would've been a very different story and our defeat would've been much easier to accept.

Before I'm done, I want to say a word about Jack Wilshere - the only player who tried to make things happen for us, yesterday. The only Arsenal player who showed as much desire to win it as Birmingham did. It was his drive from the midfield which led to our only goal.

For a 19 year old to get to the Cup final at Wembley, to feel his first trophy, as a professional, at the grasp of the fingertips and have it taken away - must feel pretty awful.

Seeing him cry at the end was heartbreaking, mostly because it was like watching a fellow fan cry. I just wanted to pinch his cheeks and buy him an ice-cream. You could tell it wasn't some ego-trip, à la John Terry in the Champions League. You could tell it was sincere. Aww :(

Therefore, I believe we can all agree on one thing - Alex McLeish makes babies cry!

The end.

(*btw, the original top pic is via)

NEWCASTLE 4 - 4 ARSENAL: PHIL DOWD AND LEE MASON ARE SITTING IN A TREE - F.U.C.K.I.N.G.

"Me and Lee Mason care very deeply about each other so beat it, Hobbit boy."

It seems like only a couple of days ago I was writing a post about the Everton game and the incompetence of Lee Mason and his minions. I had never written a post about an Arsenal match - so heavily focused on referees before and I genuinely thought I wouldn't be dragged into doing that again.

I've seen a lot of costly fuck ups made by the officials throughout the years and I would have thought I'm used to them by now. But every once in awhile, you see a refereeing performance so pathetic in its inadequacy, you're obliged to react - like yesterday, against Newcastle.

Idiotic, risky and dangerous challenges by Joey Barton and Co. went unpunished the entire match. Meanwhile, Newcastle were getting free-kicks left and right. It's nothing however, compared to the penalties awarded.

The first one was soft but you can understand why it was given - clumsy challenge by Koscielny + dramatic dive + pressure from the home fans = we've seen it all before. The second though, still boggles my mind. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR? Seriously, I don't think Dowd himself knows. The only explanation I can think of - it's his way of avenging his lover Lee Mason.

How nice of Philip Dowd to show solidarity with his colleague, eh? It's typical though, isn't it? Instead of admitting their mistakes and attempting to improve the game, they go all out, trying to show us who's the boss.

I said it in my previous post, the "governing bodies" can't keep preaching to us about how the officials should be respected. It's hard to argue with the abuse they're getting when they're put on a pedestal by the FA - you can never question their decisions, publicly criticize them or post mildly amusing photoshops on twitter (the number one source for reliable and official information). 

It makes them believe they're untouchable. They feel as if they're allowed to turn their job into a subjective matter. And if you intentionally make your officiating subjective, you're a pathetic excuse of a referee.

But I have to admit, as much of a cunt as Phil Dowd is, he's not the main reason we didn't win yesterday. The main reason is our team. Because it doesn't matter how much the ref tries to make it happen for the opposition, you still should have enough to win the game you're leading by FOUR clear goals with half an hour to go.

Abou Diaby's sending off was definitely the turning point. You can't really argue with the red card but you can argue with some of the fans' reactions and proposals to hang him from the tallest chapel.

Diaby almost had his career ended by a horrendous tackle during his first season with us. Since then he's been in and out of the treatment room, thanks to some really bad challenges and that Barton challenge was BAD. Anyone, who's not a robot unable to feel emotions, should understand his reaction, especially given the fact that Phil Dowd gave absolutely no protection to our players. Having said that, he's a professional and if he can't cope with the mental aspect of the game then both Arsenal and Diaby have a serious problem.

I also want to mention, watching the "pundits" on MOTD, say that the tackle on Diaby is "tough but nothing wrong with it", was rather cringe worthy.

You know what else was cringe worthy? Our defence! When Johan Djourou went off injured, I immediately knew we would concede (not 4, mind you). Sébastien Squillaci is just a terrible, terrible central defender. I try to be cautious but comparisons with Silvestre are inevitable. Although, Silvestre has been getting death threats from Werder fans this season, so I don't think Squillaci is at his level...yet.

I could talk about how the manager should have bought a new defender in January but I will not do that because I am not a masochist.

Then, there's Tomas Rosicky who was responsible for at least TWO of Newcastle goals. It really is sad watching his downfall but he's become a clear liability. He brings about as much to our game as a mutant crossbreed of Denilson and Eboue. I'm afraid he's got to go this summer.

And I should probably mention Cesc Fabregas - who's second half performance was way below par. He didn't try to make anything happen in that second half and just sort of rode the wave, along with most of the other players. There were periods in the last half an hour when it felt like no one was leading our team - we looked lost. No one, who could have dealt with the panic.

The only positive to come out of all this mess is Man Utd's defeat to Wolves, which not only means that we've closed the gap to four points but also that our 49 unbeaten record is safe for now. They can try again next season.

And those who say, they feel worse in light of Utd's defeat - need their heads examined. Think about it...the only reason they lost is because we failed to win. They went out there thinking they've won the league. Had we managed to hang on to our lead and take all the points, the Mancs would've spanked Wolves...SO hard.

Believe me.

To conclude:

Fuck you, Phil Dowd. 

Fuck you, Lee Mason.

Fuck you, Joey Barton - as a footballer and as a motherfuckin' human being.

And if you wanna be down with those cunts

Then fuck you too

"Match of the Day", fuck you too

All you motherfuckers, fuck you too

MY FO FO MAKE SURE ALL YO KIDS DONT GROW...

...or something less violent.