Unlikely to be Birmingham Mark Two - Captain Courageous

In many ways yesterday's horrendous tackle, and the resulting broken leg of Aaron Ramsey, felt like a rerun of the Birmingham game two years ago; except this time the victim was a 19 year old Welshman. Apart from the personal tragedy for a young player on the edge of greatness the incident raised issues of what will the consequences be for Arsenal's season.

History appeared to repeat itself, an Arsenal player lying on the ground with his leg at a grotesque angle, as his team mates were visibly shocked and sickened by what had occurred. However the similarity ended there, this time we had a captain that rallied his team to victory. Revenge would be a dish if not ate cold then consumed with controlled passion, it was a team effort and Fabregas was central to everything that happened after the injury. He rallied his team and urged them on.

Captain Courageous 

He had already created the header for Bendtner, and by the way Nik knockers, isn't it time you got behind him? It was a great cross, but it was a header of epic proportions. At Birmingham the Gunners conceded a penalty whilst 2-1 up, this time at 1-1 the penalty was a chance to go 2-1 up. After what Fabregas had gone through it couldn't have been easy to step up for a kick that could define the whole of Arsenal's season.

Miss and the chance of winning the league would surely fade; Sorenson dived in the right direction but Cesc's kick was low and into the corner. Cesc celebration demonstrated that this goal was for Ramsey, it was revenge directed at the "they don't like it up em brigade".

A minute or so later Fabregas scrambled the ball to Vermaelen who put the match beyond doubt. What should have been a moment of unalloyed joy was undermined by sadness at what had happened to Ramsey. Ramsey has now had his operation and it is not possible to predict when he will play again.

So will it be Birmingham Mark 2?

It is always impossible to predict what will happen in football, and the situation is very different to 2 years ago. Two years ago our title challenge was far stronger until Eduardo was injured. We have also lost an increasingly important player to the squad. With Song suspended for two games, and Diaby also absent I just hope we don't have to depend on Denilson. But I don't believe it was the absence of Eduardo that explains the collapse of the title challenge after Eduardo's injury. Of course Gallas's behaviour did not help, but I don't think that explained the collapse either.

For me the explanation is the traitors within, by that I mean Flamini and Hleb, in my opinion they never played a decent league game again after Birmingham. They had made their decision to leave and didn't fancy the rough tough action of the Premiership after that. The fact the rest of the team knew of their dirty secret must have undermined morale. Stories of visits to ice cream parlours with agents must have been really inspiring.

I could understand a one match hangover, but it went on for weeks until our title hopes collapsed. Fabregas has shown that Arsenal have found their backbone at last. It has taken a while, and it's taken an awful injury to make that discovery, and it doesn't guarantee success. Those who have doubted Fabregas's commitment should think again, and at least defer judgement until the season is finished. For surely this was one of the finest Captain's performances you will ever see, a performance that showed commitment to Arsenal.

When the going got tough Flamini and Hleb fled, but Fabregas stood and fought. This was a momentous victory, but it will only mean something if Cesc and his team mates can now deliver the consistency that has, so far, eluded every one of the top three. This was one of Arsenal's best performances this season, assuming there are no hidden traitors plotting their exit this team can really be a contender. It does not have to be a re-run of the Birmingham experience.