MA8 had a bad hair day for once
Remember Buckaroo? That poor old mule
as we kept piling spades, rope and buckets on it's back until at last,
overwhelmed by the weight he would flip out! That is a lot of Arsenal fans at
the moment and I have to say that I am that mule, looking at one of our players
as he approaches me with the water bottle in his hand, trying to see where he
can hang it. Yesterday it was Arteta and I'm afraid his judgement on hanging
water bottles was as bad as that of hanging off the back of the Fulham player in
our box!
We have the AKB's, the AWOB's and we
have the BSM who are the radical arm of the AWOB. I have no problem with any of
these sides of the argument, it is after all a free country, which today of all
days we should all remember. If you feel that somehow AW will still turn this
around, then you have kept more faith than me, but that is your choice. Surely
if Fergie can keep his powers going at his age and after so long in power, then
Arsene must be able to? The main difference is that at MUFC they know one thing,
no matter what is going on with the finances of a football club, if you can
maintain a winning team or at least one which will realistically challenge every
year for trophies, then you can pretty much fool most of the people all of the
time.
At AFC, those in power have forgotten
this, or worse still have decided that they don't care about any form of protest
over the malaise sweeping the club as in reality there is very little the fans
can do about it. If the BSM feel they can make a difference then good luck to
them. Personally I agree with a lot of what they are saying about greed in
football, but I just cannot see that they have any power to be anything other
than a voice in the wilderness. They are a minority of our fanbase, a higher
percentage of those that attend games maybe than they are of the overall
fanbase, but I still think they will be shouted down (not literally) by the
larger majority who either see AW as a God on earth or those who simply see
protest as counter productive to the playing side.
We have seen that at the top of this
club we are viewed as a necessary evil, an inconvenience that must be put up
with, at least for a few more years. My opinion is that once we have new
sponsorship deals in place and have reduced the debt on the club, then Silent
Stan will sell up to the highest bidder and walk away with a very healthy profit
on his initial investment. All he has to do is stay in Denver, well away from
any of the grubby little soccer fans that are not happy, let Ivan take all that
heat and let AW keep us in the top 4.
Is Usmanov the answer? Well he is if
fans think he will come in and provide a warchest, allowing AW to buy the 20
mill version of Arteta or the 40 mill upgrade on Giroud, plus pay the kind of
wages that the football dogs of war crave nowadays. Would we have lost the best
left back in world football under Usmanov, or would Theo have signed his new
100k contract by now? Is AW a better manager than Mancini or RDM? Of course he
is, so imagine what he could do with the kind of squad at their disposals.
Obviously there are very strong arguments about 'selling your footballing soul'
to the money merchants or those who would feel very uncomfortabl having a man
own the club with a shady (allegedly) past! How many of those would be prepared
to swallow this bitter pill in order to see our skipper lift the ECL and PL
trophies again? I think it would be interesting to see fans quickly forget their
original opposition if we had a winning team once more. I for one am sick of
seeing this team continually raise our hopes only to show that as a squad we are
weak, in terms of attitude, spirit, depth and talent. I see so many Gooners who
buy in to a run of performances and results, building their hopes up, investing
more of their emotions in to the possibility of success only to have them dashed
by a display of such ineptitude as shown at Norwich. I really fear for the long
term health of these fans!
Personally, I think it would be nice
to have someone in charge of the club who may make their intentions clear, even
if this may be lip service to the fans, just as the R&W letter was after
Voldermort penned his website resignation letter. But what I would like to see
is some accountability brought back to the club. Currently I can see no
circumstances under which AW would be sacked and given how drastic things may
need to get for that to happen nor do I! But, if the section of fans who want
rid are right and regardless of owner, AW has had his day and cannot compete in
the post Abramovich and now oil rich era, then it would be nice to think that
AFC could take the action required to do the best for this glorious football
club and not that just for the shareholders to whom we are a turkey being
plumped up for Christmas! For the BSM, I hope they continue to campaign, as long
as it does not happen during games and impact the players at that time. I do
feel however, they are pissing in the wind, but at least they are standing up
for what they believe and doing something.
Cares more about rugs than fans or football
To those fans upset by the BSM who
feel it is divisive and they should get behind the club no matter what, remember
this, which I am sure you can all adapt for your own personal circumstances and
history. Outside of my immediate family, the most important thing in my life is
The Arsenal. Not a day goes by when it doesn't enter my life in some way or
another, be that on the web or chatting with a mate. This has been how the die
was cast since the early 70's and I have been lucky enough to be able to follow
the team in person for a large chunk of this period. Whilst we have been lucky
to have some great times, more so than plenty of other club's fans, we also
manage to put ourselves through the mill. Some teams are either brilliant or
mediocre, say Liverpool for example. Some may have had a few shining moments of
brilliance amongst long periods of failure, Villa and Forest spring to mind and
of course some have only the faded sepia photos taken on a box brownie to remind
them of a long since passed period of success (no points for guessing this
club). The thing with us is we seem to chug along being there or thereabouts for
long periods, remaining tantalisingly close to the glory days, but then managing
to have them snatched away, normally through our own errors! But the fact
remains that we are there, normally being written off by the press and pundits,
but clinging on to a faint hope that this year AW will get it right. Of late
every season seems to start, pan out and end the same way!
To finish, a few weeks back there was
a Sunderland blog, bemoaning the fact that we are a very spoilt and whiny bunch
of fans, to be complaining about only finishing in the ECL positions every year
and not winning the quadruple instead. I can understand a certain part of his
viewpoint but have to say this in response. No-one knows this club better than
us fans, and having basked in the glory of 98-05 when AW made us the
superpower-in-waiting we could become due to our location, proposed new stadium,
fanbase and playing squad, we have seen a gradual decline. Now we all knew that
there were tough times ahead, all down to the building of a 60k ground, in
London, during a recession and so near to our last ground, but this cannot be
used as an excuse for all that has happened since Paddy took his last 12 yard
kick of a ball for the club.
We
have seen every year AW produce teams that have promised so much, yet eventually
have turned out to be made of straw. The list of top quality and brilliant
players we have loved and lost is by now infamous. The self induced collapses
due to weak mentality and lack of leadership haunts all of us. So forgive us
Gooners if we have a moan, but to be honest if we were shit and basically always
had been, like say, maybe Sunderland, then we would not moan quite so much. But
that's the thing, we all know we are perpetually so close, that we are only 2 or
3 players away from success and eradicating the specific problems that beset our
team. Add this to the knowledge that your club has the resources available, a
magnificent stadium in one of the greatest cities in Europe and a world class
manager. Knowing all this yet seemingly said manager is too stubborn, or your
board too selfish to release the funds, then you are entitled to be frustrated,
mystified and pissed off.
It's the hope that kills you!
Mark
Notes for those who don't do abbreviations:
AWOB Arsene Wenger Out Brigade
AKB Arsene Knows Best
BSM Black Scarf Movement
PL Premier League
AW The Manager
ECL European Champions League
PHW Senile old git
R&W Red and White Holdings (Jabba's shareholding company)
SK Disinterested rug owner who cares sweet FA about Arsenal
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