THANK you Aston Villa, Liverpool and – as much as I hate to say this – Manchester City. Thank you for giving the Gunners another go at qualifying for Champions League next season.

After the little help from their “friends”, Arsenal now have their Champions League fate in their own hands.

Let’s be honest Gooners, we are lucky to still be in the race anyway!

It has been painful to watch the Gunners blow their chances these past few weeks, even more so in the game against Norwich City last week.

They could have buried the game way before half time but what did they do instead?

They gave Norwich the lead. I say “gave” because Norwich’s goals could have been prevented if not for stupid mistakes by the Arsenal defence. And in that game of all games, their new “Reliable Hands” Wojciech Szczesny went all wobbly hands, sending the already shaky back four into a tizzy.

At least Robin Van Persie was in the scoring mood last week, and hopefully he will want to find the back of the net this week too. He needs to score at least another two goals anyway if he wants to take home the top-scorer-in-a-38-game-campaign record.

The Arsenal captain should have lots of chances in the match against West Bromwich Albion tomorrow but whether he would bag any against the Baggies is another matter. RVP purportedly is the top player to hit the woodwork this season.

West Brom seem to be on form, undefeated in their last four games. Plus, they have home advantage, and with this being the last game for their manager Roy Hodgson, they might want to give their gaffer a parting gift.

It will not be a walkover for Arsenal, that’s for sure, especially if they don’t shore up their defence and midfield. Arsenal have missed Mikel Arteta since his injury – Norwich really exploited that space in front of the defence last week – and it is no coincidence that they have not won in the last four games without him.

Theo Walcott should be back though, so maybe Wenger should just take a risk and throw in all of his attacking force to have a go.

Or maybe they can pray for more help from friends – Fulham, Everton, Blackburn and Bayern Munich later.

Hariati has some lasagne ready, the same as the one that caused food poisoning in the Spurs’ camp in 2006, costing them their CL place, just in case.

SO it’s finally come down to the end of the season and what a ride it has been.

I have to admit that it has been a largely disappointing season for us Blues supporters.

After a promising start by Andre Villas-Boas, things took a turn for the worse and bad results just can’t come any quicker.

That we’re not going to finish in the top four for the first time since Roman Abramovich took over the club is probably testament to what has been quite a bad season.

Talks of a dressing room break-up and players unwilling to throw their weight for the gaffer was really demoralising news for fans.

With AVB eventually given the boot and Roberto Di Matteo given temporary reins over the club, things seems to have gotten better.

An FA Cup triumph, a much deserved one over a lacklustre Liverpool side that only played for 30 minutes ensured that at least we have some silverware in the bag.

Liverpool fans may continue to argue that Andy Carroll should have deserved a second goal and perhaps the trophy but that’s rubbish.

From six yards out and no one marking him, the giant striker had the whole goal at his mercy but had to head it near enough for Petr Cech to claw it upwards and against the upper bar. No goal – end of story.

Of course, the Anfield faithful got their revenge a couple of days later when they thumped our second stringers, a bunch of players who had not started in months for four goals. No big deal seriously.

But what matters to me is that defeat to Liverpool significantly ended whatever slim hopes we had of making the top four.

The prospect of not competing in Europe’s elite for the first time since Roman’s takeover is looking increasingly possible.

But of course we at Chelsea always have a fail-safe plan – win the Champions League.

Given our incredible bad luck with referees and bogey teams in the past, not to mention slippery footwork and penalty shootouts, I’m actually feeling pretty confident this time around.

I mean we’ve gotten rid of Barca and there’s no other Spanish team in the final, plus our opponents are not Manchester United.

If we were meant to lose in the Champions League, we would’ve gone out on a whimper against Napoli in the second round but no, we’re in the final after surviving a red card, two goals down and no centrebacks at the Nou Camp.

Surely fortune has to favour the brave now and it would be a perfect fairytale ending.

It would also surely, ensure that Robbie gets a more than decent half-chance at keeping the job he has performed so well since taking over a little over two months ago.

Unless UEFA and the English-hating Michel Platini decides to pull their cards and hand Bayern Munich a win at their home ground, our moment of glory beckons and I can surely sniff the feeling of victory come May 19.

Meanwhile business in the EPL is now meaningless as we will not be able to finish above sixth even if we beat Blackburn in our final match.

But it would not be good for morale to lose this one game before the crunch tie next week and I expect the Blue Machine to step up a gear and crush the Rovers who had a rather sad season thus far.

All in all, it will be a perfect build-up for the moment Chelsea are crowned Kings of Europe.

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High.

Kng Zheng Guan believes the faith and patience the fans have shown in the team is finally being repaid and we will taste the feeling of being European champs for the first time.

THIS must be one of the most difficult seasons for all Liverpool supporters.

Yes, we love our club – no matter what the result.

Win or lose, we sing You’ll Never Walk Alone loudly and proudly as we cheer our Mighty Reds on.

Having said that, this topsy-turvy of a season has left many of us wondering which is the real Liverpool.

I mean, one week we see a Liverpool playing such fluid and fast football and the next week we see the same team showcasing a lumbering and languid performance.

This has led to some doubting Kenny Dalglish’s ability to restore Liverpool’s fortunes.

That is plain silly, really. Dalglish should be given time to mould a team capable of challenging for a top four spot first. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves by targeting the Premier League crown.

Many Liverpool fans continue to have high expectations of the club. And they should, rightly so. This is Liverpool, after all.

But they must also understand that we are no longer the force that we used to be.

The rot set in over two decades ago. It did not just happen overnight.

So, to expect King Kenny to undo two decades of decline in just one season is simply unrealistic and unreasonable.

Lest Liverpool fans forget, we must also realise that luck has deserted us this season.

For how else can you explain the fact that we have hit the woodwork more than 30 times this season?

How on earth did we squander full points despite playing some wonderful football?

And don’t forget that we also lost three of our most valuable players – Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva and Luis Suarez – at various times during this season.

Gerrard and Lucas were out with injuries while Suarez had to sit out eight matches after being suspended for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

Then we had to make sure that the new signings – Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Jose Enrique – and the youngsters – Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing, Jack Robinson, John Flanagan and even Raheem Sterling – managed to blend seamlessly into the side.

This season, which comes to an end tomorrow, has been all about getting the newcomers and youngsters adapt to King Kenny’s style of play.

That, perhaps, explains why we have had as many misses as we have had hits – 14 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses in 37 matches.

If only those 30-odd shots had not hit the woodwork, we would probably have a few more wins under our belt, wouldn’t we?

But what’s the point of talking about the ‘what ifs”.

Overall, it has been a poor season judging by the high standards we set for ourselves.

The players have let themselves, the manager, the club and, most importantly, the fans down.

But no one can deny that there has been a small hint of a Liverpool resurgence of late.

Even in that 2-1 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea, the Reds were the better team in the second-half. And they continued from where they left off by trouncing the Blues 4-1 at home in their penultimate Premier League match last Tuesday.

Let’s hope King Kenny’s men can end the season on a high against Swansea tomorrow by playing with the same kind of intensity and exuberance they have shown of late.

The Swans have caught the eye this season with their splendid passing game. Their free-flowing game has seen them capture the imagination of football fans far and near in just their first season in the top flight.

Brendan Rodgers has done a wonderful job with the Swans and it is no surprise that he is being targeted by the bigger clubs.

Can Liverpool end the season with a bang? Or will it be with a whimper?

Which Liverpool will turn up? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever happens, though, We’ll Never Walk Alone!

R Manogaran is confident King Kenny will get it right next season, with the addition of just one or two crucial signings. I dare say here that we will be in the top four next season. YNWA!

THIS is the moment of truth when all scores will be settled in the English Premier League. There will be long and loud shrieks of glorious triumph, matched in equal measure by tears of bitter disappointment.

Such has been this campaign, that it can only be described as being a brilliant advertisement for the very fabric of British football.

But amidst all the delight and upheavals over the past nine months or so, there has been no lesson learnt more soundly than that nothing can, or should, be taken for granted in the Premiership.

The fortunes of all the sides in the thick of things – especially the top two of Manchester City and Manchester United – have been impacted one way or another by results that have gone against the grain.

And it is for this reason that Roberto Mancini has been preaching caution this week. The Italian mastermind knows fully well that after their hard-fought and much-deserved victory over Newcastle last weekend, all City need to do to win the League title is beat Queens Park Rangers tomorrow.

Quite rightly, the Etihad boss has put a stop to all celebrations ahead of the do-or-die fixture against the London team, a game that could well etch Mancini’s name into Manchester City folklore.

It has also been encouraging to note that the Citizens are approaching this most crucial match of their best League campaign in more than four decades with the same spirit and determination that has taken them to the top of the Premier League, where they lead their cross-town rivals only on goal difference.

For their part, Alex Ferguson’s United will travel to Sunderland expecting to win. Thus, for City to make absolutely sure that they follow in the footsteps of the great side of 1967-68, they must emerge with nothing short of victory when QPR visit tomorrow.

The football purists will have a field day should City go on and clinch the Premiership crown as so many folks have forecast. They will look back to that triumphant campaign 44 years ago of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, who won England’s top-flight title on the last day of the season with a 4-3 victory over Newcastle, and smile.

With the likes of Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell, City consigned Man United to second place in 1968 and they would do the same to the Old Trafford side tomorrow if they get past QPR, albeit with a star line-up spearheaded by, among others, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott.

In the prelude to QPR’s visit to the Etihad, a lot has been hyped up about Mark Hughes returning to inflict pain and misery on his former employers, and Anton Ferdinand doing his brother and Man United defender Rio a favour by thwarting City.

For those who support Man United, this makes so much sense, but in reality it is merely a case of hoping that City slip up and the Red Devils sneak in through the back door for a 20th League title.

The manner in which City have conducted themselves over the past five or six weeks has been the stuff of champions – complete and utter professionalism. It was this rich vein of form that came after a bumpy start to the New Year, which saw them relinquish their grip on the title race to Man United, before regaining it with some fire in the belly.

And now as they sit on the brink of writing a piece of history of their own, all of City’s fans will be watching and waiting to see if they can put QPR to the sword and at last be crowned champions of English football again.

It would be an accolade bestowed upon a team no less deserving and, of course, start celebrations that would really wake up the neighbourhood.

Shaun Orange is quietly confident that City will see off QPR tomorrow and win their first League title since 1968, a feat that would be most deserving of Mancini and his squad.

A COUPLE of weeks ago QPR chairman Tan Sri Tony Fernandes visited Menara Star.

Touching on his team’s dire situation vis a vis their league position, Fernandes vowed to fight until the end.

“In the end, if we are relegated we would have gone down fighting,’’ he said, adding that manager Mark Hughes would not be sacked but would be retained to carry on his team building efforts.

Fighting is literally what his team has to do because they are faced with the mother of all challenges – to get a result at the Etihad against champions-in-waiting Manchester City.

The equation is simple – get at least a draw against City and QPR are safe, no matter what the other relegation candidate Bolton achieve at Stoke. United would then be crowned champions, providing they beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

I think I speak for all Manchester United fans, when I say that we hope Fernandes and Hughes will stop the blue tide and get a result in Manchester – against all odds.

The implications for QPR would be enormous. It is estimated that a EPL club make £40mil in two years, just by staying in the Premiership. A result at City, would also mean the world to Hughes. The Welshman was a legend in his two stints at Man Utd in the 80s and early 90s, earning him the nickname ‘Sparky’ among the United faithful.

That alone would be incentive enough for Hughes, but the City game also represents a chance for a measure of revenge – Hughes was sacked by City in 2009 – something that still rankles him.

QPR’s players are confident enough. Their record signing Djibril Cisse believes the Hoops are more than capable of getting a point.

“They will be going for the title and maybe they will be nervous but this is not our problem. Our problem is to stay up and we will be giving everything to do that,” said Cisse.

Ultimately though, the title is City’s to lose. And United will be kicking themselves. With five games remaining, United were eight points ahead of their bitter rivals. You would have bet the house and car on the Red Devils taking the title, but the unthinkable has happened. Both the manager and the players need to take a long hard look at themselves. Ferguson got his tactics badly wrong in the away match against City two weeks ago – fielding an overly-negative team that barely registered a single shot on target. The players? Starting from the Everton match, when they let slip a two goal lead in the last 15 minutes, the Red Devils have not exactly covered themselves with glory.

To be honest even if, miraculously, City stumble and Manchester United snatch the title, it will feel like a hollow victory. A victory gained not by their own endeavour, but by the failings of their opponents.

Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s matches, Alex Ferguson must and will rebuild next season. It has become increasingly obvious in the past three seasons that United’s owners, the Glazers, have placed the club under financial restrictions. United are consistently rated as the most valuable club in world football, but when the likes of Newcastle and even Stoke are beating them in the transfer stakes, something is seriously wrong.

“We’ll keep the Red Flag flying high, cause Man Utd will never die!”