ARSENAL CONTINUE to reap the rewards of their magnificent form. The second string defeated Newcastle midweek with a bullet header from fringe man Nicolas Bendtner and a wonderstrike from Denilson. Off the pitch, Arsenal have confirmed that Wenger has significant spending power should he require it, and all this weeks after Arsenal wee confirmed as England’s richest club. My question- is this too good to be true?

The last time Arsenal dispatched West Ham in the league was 4 years ago, a 3-1 win over the Hammers at Highbury. The four meetings since have been frustrating affairs to say the least: A 0-0 at Upton Park in 2005, that terrible evening at Highbury last year which saw Sol Campbell allegedly walk out during half time, a late defeat at Upton Park last season and the nailbiting affair at the Emirates at the tail end of the last campaign where Robert Green was the unlikely hero between the posts. But times have changed since the last meeting. Arsenal are flying high, with Cesc Fabregas leading the line. West Ham are on decent form themselves- they’ve taken 10 points from a possible 15 and now sit 7th with a game in hand over Chelsea.

Team news then: Eboue is pushing for a recall after a return from injury against Newcastle on Tuesday. Hleb is also returning, so it is unsure whether Wenger will choose the Sagna- Eboue combo on the right. Walcott is rested, and Gallas isn’t yet ready for action. Gilberto will be back in the squad, and is looking likely to start alongside Fabregas. Diaby will continue for the injured Rosicky I imagine after an impressive display against Derby. Lehmann and Song are also out.

There’s a familiar name in West Ham’s squad for the visit of Arsenal; Freddie Ljungberg is in the 22-man squad and looks likely to face his former club. Bellamy and Ashton should start up front, and Scott Parker may make an appearance after coming through the League Cup tie against Plymouth unscathed.

Thus ends an enjoyable run of home games- Arsenal are out on their travels again. Upton Park is a bit of a bogey ground for the Gunners, but our new found brilliance should see us through this one, but I don’t think its going to be one sided by any accounts.

My prediction: 2-0 to Arsenal

FIRSTLY, I’d just like to say what a fantastic performance the boys put in last night. Beating Newcastle (and perhaps more significantly Big Sam) is a good result with your first team, but to do it with your fringe players is something special, especially the manner in which the game was won. Great performances all round, especially from Bentdner and Diarra, but a special mention must go out to Alex Song. Has Arsene pulled another one out of the hat, turning him from a midfielder to a centre back? Too early to tell yet but the early signs are promising.

Now onto Gilberto. He’s been quoted as saying today he may not renew his contract when it expires in 18 months. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s been a great player for us and a fantastic ambassador for our club. Another who’s never in trouble, just gets on with playing football and the way he stood in for Thierry last season as captain was a major factor in us finishing 4th in what let’s face it was a difficult season for the club.

However, with the likes of Flamini, Diaby, Denilson and now Diarra really stepping up to the plate this season, could his time be coming to an end? We already know Arsene is never too keen to hold on to players once he feels they’re past their best (normally when they turn 30), and we also know Gilberto’s punishing trips to South America and back will start to take their toll now he’s older, so maybe this could be the time to let him have a final big pay day in Italy or Spain. God knows I wouldn’t begrudge him that if that’s what he wants. I’d still like to see him remain for the next season or two to help these guys along, but after that I’d say it’s up to him. If he wants to stay and fight for his place then great, if not then I feel the players mentioned above really have what it takes to take over his role. and with Djourou coming back in Jan and Song looking good there last night, perhaps we don’t need as much cover for CB as we all think? Especially with the guy Nordtveit getting great reviews from the youth management.

Whatever happens, in my eyes Gilberto will be remembered fondly as a great player and a great guy.

Thoughts please…

IT’S AN ARSENAL WORLD, everyone else is just living in it.

At least it certainly feels that way this morning. Two days after dispatching bottom-of-the-barrel Derby 5-0 in spectacular fashion, Arsenal have released figures this morning that put plenty of financial clout behind their finesse, without aid of Russian oligarchs.

I’ll save you the number crunching and get to the exciting figure: 70. Million. Pounds. That’s the ballpark for Arsene Wenger’s transfer kitty this year. If you were startled by a large thud this morning, don’t be alarmed, it was just a couple hundred thousand jaws hitting the floor at once. Or maybe just Martin Jol’s ample chin all by its lonesome.

It’s a gigantic number, made only better when put into context with other clubs, even those with unrelenting financial backing. Only Real Madrid can boast a higher operating profit and depend on regenerating cash assets the way Arsenal now can.

The news gets better. According to ESPN Soccernet’s report this morning, Arsenal posted an operating profit increase of 274%, to nearly 50 million. That’s 35 million “extra profit” after paying back the debt and the interest bill for the year, a cost that has been fixed for the whole 25 years of the loan. With a new television deal on the horizon, clearly it’s a good time to be in the Arsenal business, which should put any takeover talks on hold for the time being.

While every now and then you have to step back and wonder if there’s much of a fundamental difference between a club run by several millionaires or a single billionaire, there is certainly cause to double-check the billionaire owner model that the largest clubs have been eager to adopt these past few years.

With Mourinho’s tortuous tenure at Chelsea now drawn to a quick and unceremonious end, it would seem that there will be even greater cause for shareholders to delay the sale of their club. There will always be clubs trying to make the jump to the next level, and I’m sure there are few Chelsea fans who would look back on the Mourinho Era as nothing but a complete success, as they should. But thus far, however, it would seem that the results, both on the field and off, are affirming the Arsenal Way™ of doing business for the long term. Obviously a great deal of this is due to the acumen of Arsene Wenger, and I don’t think his role in the club’s future success can be overstated, but financially any club with a strong supporter base and a reasonable chance of drawing 50,000 fans per game can look to Arsenal as, at the very least, an extremely profitable alternative to the Russian Sugar-Daddy business model.

One of the main reasons for some of our more high profile exits has been the uncertain air that seemed to choke the club lately. Being part of a league whose press corps doesn’t need anything remotely near the truth to go to print with the latest tidings of doom for any big club can often lead to a lot of needless anxiety and a slow summer in terms of transfers certainly had many of us on edge. However, with Arsene signed up, the club far more profitable than even the most optimistic of supporters could have hoped, and huge amounts of cash at the ready to pluck the high-priced talent to complement our already beaming squad, Arsenal’s grass is looking greenest of all.

Now all we have to do is convince Arsene to actually spend it.