It's that time again. Arsenal's chances of winning a trophy this season have once again been painfully shattered like a heavy sledgehammer through thin glass, and the rumblings and grumblings over the future of Arsenal and Arsene Wenger emerge from the shadows. This is becoming a repetitive routine.
Season after season, year after year, the glass is lain upon the ground in millions of fractured pieces along with the Arsenal players' morale, confidence and belief. For Arsenal fans, this is a feeling felt so often their support is growing numb. Disappointment upon disappointment is hard to take, and to see Wenger's empire slowly erode is painful for most.
The latest episode of disaster was rather hard to look. The "massacre" as some called it, in Italy against a ruthless AC Milan side, means Arsenal are effectively out of the Champions League, but Wenger and his players were quick to announce that this must be put behind them. They did after all, have an FA Cup fifth round to look forward to against Sunderland.
This would surely be accomplishable. Sunderland themselves had been in a situation similar (granted, not to the same scale) as Arsenal, having witnessed Steve Bruce's time tick too far around the managerial clock. The club were in trouble, and in dire need of an injection of new blood - who better than Martin O'Neill? The Irishman has lifted the club mentally and physically (not quite) up the table, breathing new life into a dejected and tired team. Sunderland were on good form going into the game, but Wenger expected his Arsenal side to overcome the challenge.
They didn't. Not even close. Two goals conceded at the Stadium of Light means nothing but a gloomy darkness for the Gunners and Wenger. Only a monumentally unlikely comeback at the Emirates against AC Milan and then a stunning sprint to the final, passing Europe's elite on the way, would revive the fortunes of this Arsenal side this season.
Everyone agrees that there is a problem. Seven years without a trophy is hard to argue with; no matter how close they have come, the team has a clear lack of finishing touch and it is this quality which has come to define the ailing side. However, not everyone agrees on what the problem is.
Some say Wenger is the culprit for Arsenal's failings. He would say it's the pitch, the schedule, player absentees, bad luck (possibly caused by a mirror he may have broken seven years ago) or some other excuse he may find. There is little doubt that the Frenchman has some culpability in the mess Arsenal find themselves in. Whether it is his fault or not (or even a fault at all), Arsenal's net spend since 2006 is the lowest out of every club in the Premier League.
His policy of not spending big money has allowed the club to fall behind the pack. He may pull Arsenal into the top four every season despite not purchasing established world stars, but once he has nurtured players into world stars he is forced to sell them because their ambitions cannot be met at Arsenal. The latest example of that situation is Cesc Fabregas and the next is likely to be Robin van Persie.
This has clearly had a long-term affect on the side and its ability to win silverware against clubs without that policy.
Then there is his current crop of players. On paper, the aren't a bad bunch. In fact, they are pretty decent. Szczesny is one of the best goalkeepers in the League, Vermaelen and Koscielny are a solid pair on their day, Ramsey and Arteta are, likewise, good footballers, and Robin van Persie is, well, Robin van Persie. The players on either side of the pitch have been a big problem, however.
The left and right backs have been ravaged with injury, and this was incredibly bad luck, but there are then the players who would probably do Arsenal a favour if they were out injured. Walcott and Arshavin have been the occupiers of the wings for the most part, and the least said about them the better. The others in Arsenal's squad are a mixture of very good players like Jack Wilshere, and the players who have been rather ineffective or poor such as Tomasz Rosicky, Sebastian Squillaci and Marouann Chamackh.
What Wenger has done for Arsenal is fantastic. Few managers could have driven a side to the success and respect that he has for the last 16 years. Sacking him would be a catastrophe and an embarrassment as well as an ungrateful wave of ignorance for what he has achieved. He needs support and money - as much as possible.
He must be willing to listen to his fans growing cries - to get rid of certain players and replace them with men ready with quality, ambition and determination to succeed. This summer will be huge for Wenger. Clearly, trusting players unworthy or ungrateful of a place in the team has cost, as has not spending money and Arsenal must change this as soon as possible, with support from the board, the players and fans alike.