Published: 8 March, 2012
by RICHARD OSLEY

* Sings: THOOOOSE WERE THE DAYS my friend, we’d thought they’d never end… lah, lah-lah, lah-lah-lah and so on *

Apologies for a tuneful beginning to this week’s despatch but I’m feeling wet-eyed nostalgia for the old days, those heady, forgotten days. Of February 2012.

Now a whole misty fortnight ago, try and think hard to remember with me what it was like.

I can vaguely pick out Tottenham Hotspur on the brink of opening up a 13-point lead on Arsenal… they only needed to hold onto a 2-0 lead in the derby if I remember correctly.

Wacky times, weren’t they?

You'd get Spurs fans walking around saying “mind the gap” and quirky stuff like that.

I know it was a long time ago now but I can just about recall those fresh spring mornings with Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael hand der Vaart telling us they could still win the league.

Crazy times, looking back.

Nobody had any money, but it was fun.

Fun.

There was a leap year day where women would go around joking about proposing without any of them actually doing it.

And crazy old Blur babbled on so long at the Brit Awards that we couldn’t hear Adele – remember Adele? – do a speech.

The Artist won all the Oscars and that Sun On Sunday newspaper had only just begun then.

And, of course, people, way back then, said Arsene Wenger should leave Arsenal because his team were so jam-rubbish compared to AC Milan.

It seems so long ago.

Two weeks ago.

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