Going down to the wire

Everyone’s on the beach — mentally at least — apart from north London’s leading clubs.

The fight for fourth is the only thing left to play for in the Premier League’s final round of  fixtures, unless you’re one of those managers getting ready for the dreaded ‘end of season assessment’ with the board.

One those, Alan Pardew, could have a huge say in who inhabits the final Champions League place when his Newcastle team take on Arsenal at St James’ on Sunday.

The Magpies have suffered in the league this season, Pardew’s grin slowly morphing from smugness into worry, distress and then downright anger when newspaper reports detailed the (allegedly) abysmal morale in the team.

For Arsenal, fifth place would be nothing short of a disaster — and Arsene Wenger knows it.

He also knows good times could be around the corner.

This column has accused the Gunners and Wenger of going stale this season, of not progressing and failing to get the quality in they need.

But with investment mooted this summer — Gooners fans will have heard that before, though, to be fair — and a relative degreee of instability at Manchester United following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Wenger must see opportunities on the horizon.

Standing in his way on Sunday at least are the club’s most bitter rivals — Spurs.

Andre Villas--Boas has done a fine job and his team look less mentally brittle at this time of the season than normal — how often has Spurs’ form petered out?

A home win over Sunderland is very likely, and such a result would pile the pressure on up at St James’, where Newcastle’s horde of French players will either be frustrating the life out of Arsenal or shrugging their shoulders in indifference as they contemplate a summer of fine wine and cheese. Not that I’m reverting to stereotypes, of course.

My prediction: Arsenal will have too much ability  and motivation, and will get the win they need.

But they’ve spent the entire season clambering up to the position they now occupy. The reality is this year must be a shot in the arm for all those at the Emirates at the way they are falling behind Man City and Arsenal.

What they have in their favour though — and what Wenger will rightly point to — is stability.

With solid foundations, that should make the recruitment drive all the easier, which of course is what many fans have been saying for a number of years now. So apart from seeing Sir Alex and David Moyes saying farewell — again — it’s up to the teams from the capital to entertain us on the final day. n