Wenger: Much to applaud (ShaunBotterill/Allsport)

I have no particular affection for Arsenal, that much is true, but I have to take my largest hat off to them and Arsene Wenger for the way in which they have performed in the Premiership and the FA Cup this season, particularly in the months since Christmas.

To not lose a single away match (Manchester United remain the only side who can ruin what would be a feat unachieved for 100 years), to have scored as often as they have and not to have shown any weakness either against the smaller clubs or against their equals makes them deserving champions.

That they will win the Premiership seems beyond doubt, thanks in part to their early elimination from the Champions League, in part to the late season form of Freddie Ljungberg and mainly to Wenger's restrained and clinically professional approach.

Rather like Sven-Goran Eriksson, who seems to have successfully dismissed the Ulrika incident as if it never happened, Wenger has a continental coolness that sets him apart from the more passionate home-grown managers.

Sir Alex Ferguson has relentlessly tried to rattle his cage - even amazingly claiming this week that United, not Arsenal, had been the best side in England since Christmas - but Wenger is no Kevin Keegan.

He has not got carried away with the scent of victory, nor terrified by the sight of Manchester United over his shoulder. His self-assurance has transmitted to his players, who have been translating training-ground moves onto the pitch with the maximum effect.

Apart from a strange comment earlier this year blaming the narrowness of the Highbury pitch for the number of red and yellow cards his players have picked up, Wenger has been the model of intelligent, tactical and inspirational management.

Arsenal deserve the Premiership because they have been able to raise their level when it was most needed.

They have had to keep up their form and even improve it, just when they would want to have been easing off. United and Liverpool have kept them up to their work and it has been all the more enjoyable a contest for it.

There. I hope that sets the record straight. As for the FA Cup Final, though, no one can predict whether a team deserves to win it or not.

Current form counts for little. The ability to take chances is all that matters and the side that do will be the deserving winners of the Cup.

Millwall season already a success

That Millwall have achieved as much as they have for as little financial outlay as they could afford is, in short, incredible.

While Birmingham have spent £7.5million rebuilding from last season, Millwall have stuck for the most part with the players who took them up from the Second Division 12 months ago.

It would be a triumph of careful husbandry and highly competent coaching if Mark McGhee can guide his side into the play-off final in tonight's second leg against Birmingham.

The loan signing of Dion Dublin from Aston Villa was astute, but the confidence and experience of their star striker will be the key to success or failure at The Den.

McGhee has given Dublin the respect that he craved. To feel wanted and needed is sometimes the key to unlocking ability that seemed to have waned. The younger players around Dublin have fed off his insight and he, in turn, has flourished alongside their enthusiasm.

That a club once renowned for lack of discipline among its players and its fans can now be proud of its prudence illustrates how far the wheel has turned. They are not in the final yet, but the season has already proved a resounding success.