First things first. Fair play to Plymouth. The visitors arrived with a plan, managed to exert some pressure in both halves, and played on the fragility of confidence currently evident in the hosts.

Arsenal clearly resembled the famous ‘curate’s egg’. Parts were, I assure you, excellent. Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie, captain for the day, were prominent in most of the good things that happened. Emmanuel Eboue too had his moments that included going closest for the Gunners in a frustrating and goal-less opening half. Others were less accomplished.

Those who, like me, were unable to get to the Grove found streams at a premium. One good one was found, and in a seperate window I had a wonderful shot of some Spanish-speaking fella’s TV . He was about a minute ahead so I enjoyed his hilarious commentary.

He understood clearly the difficulties Arsenal currently face. ‘No speed, no fast, very very poor’ he stuttered, Manuel-like, toward the end of the first-half. At the start of the second he was to release the cry of ‘GOL’ that he had been saving when Robin van Persie headed home a Nasri corner.

Our Danish centre-forward was being berated by the stream-provider as ‘Bendy, the worst player in the world’, when the second goal arrived. Bendtner himself was taking the credit for the own goal by David Gray. This isn’t a season of comfortable victories though, and Duguid had Plymouth back in the contest within a minute. When Rory Fallon curled one just past the post I think many were starting to fear a sting in the tail.

To be fair though Arsenal too were contributing to an enthralling second-half, and Keiran Gibbs, substituting for the injured Silvestre, was involved in a couple of our best moments going forward. An introduction for Carlos Vela also helped. The third goal arrived when the two outstanding talents combined, with Nasri the provider for van Persie’s second.

At the end of the day you can only acknowledge the fact that we did what we needed to. Nobody will herald a hard-fought triumph over Championship opposition as a turning point in the season. At the same time those who had feared the worst should take some heart from the performance of most of those in red.

We can also be magnanimous and acknowledge the contribution of the visitors to the contest. I hope the 8500 travelling Green Army enjoyed their day out at the Grove.  For a while in either half you were given some hope by your side. I hope you enjoyed the trip back to the West Country.

We can now look forward to a week off before entertaining Bolton, beaten today at Sunderland. Then it will be off to Hull who face a replay before hosting us on the 17th. Could our fortunes be on the turn? Let’s hope that’s the case. Make the most of the weekend, ‘holics. I have a selection of malts to taste. I have a feeling they will be a little more enjoyable this evening.

Make no mistake, the FA Cup third round tie with Plymouth Argyle has become a significant fixture in Arsenal’s season. The early signs are that Arsene Wenger is taking the opportunity to give some squad players another taste of first team football.

For over a decade we have got used to Arsenal not falling in cup-ties to sides from outside the top flight. For those of us who had witnessed some of the horrors of the past against sides like Wrexham, York, Peterborough, Walsall, and Swindon, this has been a welcome change.

All that changed, however, on a cold and miserable night at Burnley last month as the Gunners came a cropper in the Beer Cup quarter-final. The warning is clear. No longer can we take for granted that lesser raiders will be summarily despatched by a young side.

It looked very much last season as though Arsene was prepared to sacrifice this competition when he sent a very under-strength side to be mauled at Old Trafford, but for some vociferous and restless supporters the FA Cup represents our best chance of silverware this season.

The squad was going to have to be utilised anyway with Toure, Denilson, Fabregas, Walcott, Rosicky, and Eduardo all ruled out. Early reports confirm that we are also sticking with the policy of playing the number two goalkeeper in cup ties, so there is a recall for Fabianski.

Over the years Arsene has started young sides at this stage and employed some of the senior professionals from the bench if required, but Plymouth are not without organisation, and the Championship club will be roared on by the biggest visitors allocation yet seen at the Grove, having taken all available 8,500 tickets.

Ahead of Fabianski I would start Eboue at right-back. Following Gavin Hoyte’s loan move the Ivorian is definitely our back up for this berth, but stop the tinkering there. Djourou, Gallas, and Clichy would get my vote, although I suspect Silvestre and Gibbs will get the nod from Arsene.

The midfield choice will tell us much. Could Ramsey and Wilshere get a start, possibly alongside Diaby and Song, or will Nasri be asked to grab hold of the contest from the beginning? Will Bischoff or Randall be given a chance? The starting quartet will answer whether or not we are taking the competition seriously.

The key to the result will, in  my humble opinion, rest with the attacking duo. There have been question marks about the attitude, and the application, of Adebayor and Bendtner in recent weeks. Robin van Persie’s improved form may render him too great a risk to be involved at this stage so I would expect to see Carlos Vela promoted to start alongside probably Bendtner, although my preference would be for Adebayor.

The ‘holic pound has been consistently surrendered this season, but tomorrow I am aiming to get the new year off to a flyer. I’ll be looking for the best price on Ramsey to open the scoring. That’s because I remain optimistic about the outcome, but I will not take it for granted. There is some hard work to be done and I’m sure we will have a starting line-up that is prepared for the task.

Have a great weekend, wherever you are taking in the contest, ‘holics.

I cannot let the old year pass without dropping by to wish you all a very happy, and more importantly healthy, new year. 2008 has been one in which we have travelled the whole wave of emotions, but that hardly makes it unique. 2009 will be no different, I suspect.

Much importance is being placed on the acquisition of new talent in the January transfer window. The wicked glint in Arsene Wenger’s eye as the name of Andrei Arshavin was put to him as a potential arrival could have had one of two meanings. Most are assuming we have a deal prepared to be announced.

I’m not so sure Arsene wasn’t sporting a wry smile brought about by people not realising it just isn’t in his nature to spend huge sums on a twenty-seven year old. A four year deal, with wages, would set the club back somewhere between thirty and forty million pounds, and at that point he would hold no value. Those who criticise Arsene’s transfer policy may care to think about that for just a few moments.

I am taken very much with Arseblogger’s choice of Mikel Arteta, although I have a sneaking suspicion that those papers linking us to him are in fact recycling the original Arseblog article putting the Everton midfielder on our wish list! Everton have already issued a hands-off warning to Manchester City, also rumoured to be interested. If the Middle-Eastlanders are looking at him I think we would face a bidding war we would not entertain.

Don’t be surprised if the first arrival is Clement Chantome from PSG. I’m given to understand the young midfielder was in the frame during the summer, but that deal fell by the wayside when deals for Samir Nasri and Francois Coquelin came to fruition. Wenger may come to the conclusion that either he, or Blaise Matuidi from Saint Etienne, may settle in more quickly. That would be an important consideration in mid-season, and the younger players would remain a saleable asset!

There I go, speculating in a way that drives me nuts. We have a month of it to follow, and however much it infuriates we have to look at every little story, like rubberneckers in a motorway queue when you reach the scene of the crash.

So there it is. Have a great time welcoming in the new year and come back soon, for another roller-coaster ride with the best club in the world. Have a happy one, ‘holics.

Hello ‘holics. As expected I was missing for a few hectic days, and time may continue to be scarce as a new year approaches. Thanks for your good wishes for the management, who hopefully is now on the other side of a particularly deep trough.

If I was looking for the Gunners to raise the spirits I was to be just a little disappointed. Sadly I missed the Villa Park contest as I was at the hospital and was intending to watch it ‘live’ at midnight on Boxing Day, only for ‘holicdad to ruin my careful avoidance of the result on the phone. “I hope she does a lot better over the coming days than the Arsenal did today.”

He did me a favour. Had I witnessed the late capitulation at nearly two in the morning I would have almost certainly woken the neighbours with a loud tirade. I settled for the Match of the Day highlights. We certainly looked to have enjoyed some rare good fortune in the opening half as the in-form team in the Premiership threatened to take us apart.

Full marks then to the boys for all but grabbing the contest by the lapels after the break. I was absolutely delighted for the often unfairly maligned Denilson and Diaby when they scored. Had Robin van Persie’s effort gone inside, rather than against, the post we would almost certainly be celebrating six points out of six over the holiday.

Events today have persuaded me to gloss over the Villa comeback, set in motion by a reckless challenge in the box. It is quite interesting to consider, however, that had William Gallas not been around over Christmas, our points tally may have remained unaffected at four out of six, but the three would have come at Villa Park, and the one against Portsmouth!

Yes, the former captain certainly got us out of jail today. On a bitterly cold afternoon at the Grove the paying punters deserved a heartwarming performance against a team even more out of touch than us. Sad to say it didn’t happen. It would be easy to point at the Cesc-less midfield and say that is where the problems lay. I’m not sure that is fair.

If you looked at the individual contributions I thought that Eboue, Diaby, and Nasri were mobile, switched around constantly to keep the visitors on their toes, and behind them Denilson just ensured that no gaps appeared in front of what is probably our most vulnerable centre-back pairing.

It was more than a little frustrating to see the ball keep coming back at us when Adebayor, and particularly Bendtner, failed to retain possession and bring others into the game. Come the finish we had 58% of the ball, thirteen shots to four by Pompey, and a corner count advantage of eleven to two. Where does that tell you we lacked sharpness?

When the first substitution came I felt sorry for the luckless Eboue. Bendtner had started badly, put in little effort, and had become anonymous, so it was a mystery why he was switched to the right flank. I was also surprised to see Diaby make way for Ramsey, but delighted to see the young Welshman getting some Premiership experience.

The goal finally arrived when ‘Calamity’ James flapped at a Denilson free-kick and William Gallas turned from villain to hero with a brave header. Afterwards Arsene Wenger tried to talk up the unbeaten run. “In the last six games we have won three and draw three and out of the three draws we were leading in every single game, against Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Villa, and the teams won’t always come back to us.”

I suspect that last bit was a little tongue-in-cheek. Arsene will know only too well that this side is not organised enough to consistently hang on to leads. For now though we can anticipate a couple of weeks without Premier League action. By the time Bolton pitch up at the Emirates we may well have spent a few shillings on resolving the shortcomings in the squad.

People would do well to reflect that we have made it to the transfer window with an over-analysed, and over-criticised squad within ten points of the leaders. That they deserve to be behind is not in doubt, but the hysteria that greets every poor performance has become massively annoying.

Thankfully, my Christmas has put things back into a little bit of perspective.

The ‘holic Christmas shut-down was supposed to be a brief appraisal of our chances against Aston Villa and Portsmouth. The arrival of ‘holicdad on Christmas Eve, and the need to nurse the management, means this will be my only post this side of the weekend.

A dirty great grey cloud has descended over my anticipation of the holiday with the news that Cesc Fabregas will out for months, not weeks. The vociferous pessimists have already gone into meltdown, and it’s hard to conjure up a picture that is anything other than worrying.

Do we really feel confident taking on serious rivals for our top-four berth with a likely midfield quartet of Samir Nasri, Denilson, Alex Song, and Abou Diaby? The performance in the last half-hour against Liverpool suggests they have the capacity to surprise and delight, but prior to that you would have to say we are likely to be lacking in both experience and accomplishment in the centre of the park.

I thought before this weekend that our needs in January had grown from a defensive midfielder and a central defender to also include a winger. Now we need to replace Cesc as well. Do I see us buying four players? Of course not. The chances of settling four new faces into an established squad mid-season are slim to none.

No, we just have to hope a couple appear, and that a couple of the players currently getting pelters can step up to the plate and prove a few of the doubters wrong. Johan Djourou may have made the new central defender less of a priority. A couple of midfielders have surely jumped to the front of the queue of potential January targets?

Anyway, I’m off to drown my sorrows. If the ‘holic pound is to be placed over the holiday it will be on something frivolous. How about Alex Song to score against Portsmouth? Good stuff, this Jamesons!

Anyway, may I take this opportunity to wish all of you, and your families, a very happy and healthy Christmas. If you are off to Villa Park give the boys an extra cheer from me. Have a good one, ‘holics.

One of the things that a number of people of my vintage share is the fact that back in the sixties and seventies, when we were too young to follow the Arsenal (or, God forbid, anybody else!) to the far-flung corners of England there was usually a decent non-league side to follow.

The Isthmian League covered a vast swathe of the south-east and I had the good fortune to witness some of the top non-league sides of the day at Wycombe’s old Loakes Park ground. Dave Roberts was from as far east of London as I was west, and followed Bromley. He has recorded his recollections of the 1969-70 season in his book, ‘The Bromley Boys’.

He had the nasty end of the stick. While I was watching Wycombe challenging the all-powerful Enfield side for the League title poor old Dave was following Bromley around in their doomed bid to finish above Corinthian Casuals at the foot of the table.

Luckily for him, Dave recalls that one of his schoolmates was an Arsenal fan and the two went to Highbury to see Arsenal defeat Burnley 3-2. The ’sea of sheepskin’ he witnessed that day was to lead to him receiving a C&A car coat for Christmas. Ah, parents and their presents. I was luckier than him there too. My ‘crombie’ came from Burtons! I’d forgotten monkey boots too.

Anyway, if you want to know the emotions involved in following what is described on the front cover as ‘the worst football team in Britain’ then I can recommend this book to you. Published by Anova Books, The Bromley Boys is available through Amazon at just over a fiver if you search around. I can also confirm that decent High Street bookshops are carrying it as well if you are looking for a last minute gift.

Thanks Dave, for stirring a few fond memories.