I may have mentioned this. I am, in theory, an Arsenal fan — if I am a fan of any Premier League team. (Though I could perhaps be talked into Fulham, now that Michael Jackson is leaving the premises.)

Anyway, during this long, long time as an Arsenal fan — it’s been at least a couple of years now — I noticed a strange trend, when I watched the lads play.

Any game I watched … they seemed to lose.

It was uncanny.

This is a team, remember, that hasn’t been a world-beater for quite some time now, but Arsenal has been making the Champions League regularly — which means a top-four finish in the league.

So, they are winning games. More than a few.

But I didn’t seem to see any of them.

I began to think it was me. Right through their first match of this season, a 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa that led to a couple of weeks of “Arsenal is awful, has no chance, never buys a useful player” …

I saw that one. And I had seen others.

I would stumble across the Gunners playing, and they might be up 1-0, but they would give up a goal within minutes of me tuning in.

The handful of games I planned to watch … they often were awful, as well as losers. Like the Aston Villa mess.

The whole of the sports department, here at The National, either dislikes Arsenal or actively loathes Arsenal.

I have several memories, then, of Arsenal doing poorly, here on the department TV, and a whole staff of coworkers being smug or rejoicing.

It was with some trepidation, then, that I was OK with today’s Arsenal game with Stoke getting on our one TV — while the Singapore Grand Prix was going on.

(And, side note: What does it say about F1 that, when we saw Sebastian Vettel come out of the first corner of the first lap with the lead, there was zero resistance to abandoning the race and bringing up Arsenal v Stoke? It says we knew Vettel would win easily, and he did, which means F1 is boring and predictable.)

So, Arsenal up 1-0, looking good … and Stoke with a goal. Ack.

It’s me. I’m some sort of jinx. It’s not you, it’s not Arsene Wenger … it’s me.

Then a strange thing happened. Arsenal scored a second goal. And a third.

Arsenal looked good and played well, and I was watching (well, out of the corner of one eye) for the final 80 minutes.

Final: 3-1, with Arsenal sitting atop the league table after five matches. Four consecutive victories.

Maybe my ability to jinx those guys is over. Maybe (probably) it was always my imagination.