Manchester United South East Asia Supporters Club

 

By Mel Melis

As I write, Manchester United are powering to their twentieth league title, led by our once fragile enigma of a centre forward. These humbling moments remind me of why football, even for a fully grown human, can make the heart sink or the joy burst within us.

Tonight is a bad night for Gooners.

I will take my seat on Sunday, I wont hide. If we give them the guard of honour I’ll watch our squad closely, see if they feel the shame I feel. Will they embrace their erstwhile captain, will they wish him the best? Or will they stand stoic, save their platitudes for the end of the game. Who will dare take his shirt?

The new season begins on Sunday. There’s a lot broken in this squad, we don’t seem to have many bad losers anymore. Ferguson doesn’t see us as a threat so patronises us with faint praise. I want him to hate us again. This is the way it should be. But sad to say, we are not at their level yet. Let’s be clear, this is a pretty poor Manchester United team, but their manager sets them apart. You might loathe him, but he can get the best out of an average clogger (look at how lame the John O’Shea’s are when they leave) and he isn’t afraid to chop a superstar’s legs away and sell him. He always maintains a high standard.

And we’ll have to hear it from those cockney reds, who’ve been to Old Trafford less times than you, who don’t really know what it’s like. But this sense of superiority wont be a solace. We can only hope that next season we really will get rid of all the dead wood, the disgraceful high earners like Squillaci, who even refused to go on loan to Brighton because, I assume, he didn’t want to abandon his chic cafe culture in Hampstead. Or will they all go out on loan again and come back like dog farts infesting the curtains (N.b – I don’t own a dog, so I’m not sure if this is a realistic metaphor). Good riddance to them and their comfy chairs and silken drapes. Go. Leave us. Gel your hair and bleach your bum’ole somewhere else.

But this is a subject for another blog post (Arsenal squad problems, not bum’ole bleaching). Tonight - and I promise it gets fun later, bear with me and my Ingemar Bergman existentialism for a few paragraphs - is about the Shame, the Sadness and the Success.

In recent memory, two other defeats sit heavy in my gut. Losing the David Rocastle FA cup final against Liverpool in 2001. There was a lump in many a throat as Ryan Rocastle led out the Arsenal squad. But football is cruel. The Henchoz handball, the Michael Owen winner after we’d absolutely battered them. That night was so tragic nearly a dozen of us barricaded ourselves in a hotel room with a crate of beer and played Who Wants to Be A (Fucking) Millionaire on a laptop as the bar was full of dancing scousers. It feels embarrassing even writing that. But we did it. Oh the shame!

And more recently, the champions league final. We were in the first few rows, the rain pelted us the whole game. For an Arsenal fan, and it’s all relative of course, other teams have never been to any cup final – it was a lesson in humility. Almunia played like a terrified newly born calf, his big dead mackerel eyes, dull and staring, his Ronald McDonald hands throwing shapes in front of his face and his sullen jowls floundering as he tried to communicate to his defence. Oh and Eto’o was offside. But what can you do. This is football.

What makes Sunday sadder is no matter the result, it’s out of our hands. There is nothing we can do. Even if we win, it’s only to further our own ambition to finish in a Champions League place. We cannot change who the champions are. So this feels raw and horrible.

Which brings us on to the fun bit. Not many teams can count these good times on enemy turf.

- We won the league at Anfield.

- We won the league at White Hart Lane twice, which is as many times as Spurs have won the league in their whole history (A fact which can be rolled around the palate and savoured like a good Rioja).

 

Classic Goal

 

- We have won the league at Old Trafford. I was there. We had to sit with the home fans, with tickets marked “Manchester United South East Asia Supporters Club”, but we were there… six of us. Me, Des, Danny, Kev, Mark and Sean. We were the double agents, the South East Asia Supporters Club. We still are.

When we got back to the hotel bar that night, we watched the highlights on the telly and recreated the scene where Wiltord celebrated his goal. Mark King (@mzk90) was the leaping Kanu and I was Wiltord. Wiltord on the telly watches on. It’s one of my favourite photos. It was taken on a piece of crap disposable camera as well so the photographer (I think it was Danny) deserves praise for capturing the moment.

 

Kanu and Wiltord re-visited

 

That night we were the gloaters, the piss takers, we were the Kings. It will happen again. So chin up Gooners.

 

Show me the money!

Apologies to Mark for the exceedingly late publication of this article which somehow slipped through the net.

 

Bizarrely, due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up listening to last night’s match on the radio (Bayern v Arsenal), whilst getting the opinions of those Twitter Gooners I trust, as opposed to just the meanderings of Alan Green and Lawro! It was quite surreal and took me back to being a 15 year old, jumping up and down on my bed as I realised that yes, Paul Vaessen had just scored to help Arsenal become the only English team to have ever beaten Juve in their own backyard.

 

So I am only basing my comments on the commentary and the 140 character updates provided by my social media ‘buddies’. However, in as much as the pre match comments were doom and gloom and in the main wrote off our chances completely, I would like to temper the post match back slapping and putting down of the AWOB nation with the following:

he·ro·ic

adjective

Pertaining to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine.

fail·ure

noun

An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success:  The campaign was a failure.

Jenkinson

 

Much like a turd can be shiny if you polish it enough, it is still a turd with an adjective thrown in front of it! Descriptions like ‘Heroic Failure’ are generally used by 2 sets of people; those who have done the failing and those sympathetic to them. How did you feel about Jose last week and his “The best team lost” comments? Patronising was my opinion, but as attributed to various names including Churchill, history is written by the victors!



There are positives to be taken from the game certainly; the defence performed well with Corporal Jenkinson and Gibbs particularly to the fore with their ability to get up and down. Kos showed what I believe, which is that he is a better natural defender than our current skipper and Fabianksi at least showed that there is an option to Chesney! The main thing is that a clean sheet in Bayern is something even the Invincibles could not manage, so there should be definite benefits in terms of our confidence levels as we now start our 10 Cup Final games run. The biggest positive to me is the fact that it made the trip far more palatable for the travelling Gooners who had invested their hard earned cash in the journey long before our tame surrender at THOF. Once more they did us proud and having been to Munich for the football I am sure that it meant they had an even better night  in the Augustiner Beer Keller!

Gibbs

That said, let’s not forget that this is the same manager and a lot of the same players who contrived to lose this tie in the first leg at home. A manager who has seen a virtually full strength team lose to a side in the 4^th division, and at home to a struggling Championship team, now despatched from the cup by Millwall!

Which brings me to the real question. Does some Middle East consortium from the UAE or Qatar really want to buy AFC and if so, what do the fans think? Well, the opinions on the veracity of the story vary from pie in the sky to having been discussed for some time. Peter HW says Arsenal have heard nothing. Well 3 things Pete, You wouldn’t tell us if you had as we are just an inconvenient but necessary evil don’t forget (well how could you after thanking us so nicely for our interest in the affairs of the club). Second, what on earth would it have to do with you anyway as you are a token ‘old Etonian’ figurehead and lastly, I’m not sure you really know what day it is unless you are reading it from the top of the Daily Star, your favourite mouthpiece to the fans.

For arguments sake I am going to assume there is genuine interest. Reasons being that AFC is the biggest sleeping giant in Europe; Huge brand, massive global fanbase, history and tradition, playing in the most watched league in the world, respected manager, excellent training facilities and even better stadium. Lastly, we are based in one of the world’s most vibrant and exciting cities. Basically, we are the hot girl in your last year at school, when at the prom (school disco in my day) everyone wanted to chat up; in essence, we are Megan Fox in Transformers!

So, no surprise that we are one of the major attractions for anyone looking to become a player in world football and that is certainly what seems to be the case with the Qataris or the Saudis. Throw in rumours of Usmanov, owner of the world’s largest steel company and the amount of building work going on in the area and you can see how allegiances can be formed.

The rumoured bid was a great share price for Stan to be offered. I think the shares are approx. 16k at present, so 20k is a great offer, meaning he could walk away with almost half a billion dollar profit on what he has paid for his shares. Why does Stan want to keep us in his portfolio? What is he gaining at the moment? There is no glory, only pain. Yes he can sit in his ivory tower and not care about what the fans say, but he will find that English football fans will be a little different to disgruntled US sports fans. I’m no expert, but I am not aware that any of his US teams are exactly tearing it up with bulging trophy cabinets, so while he may be an ideal proponent of ‘self sustainability’ which the AFC board and AW love, has everyone forgotten that we are a football club and first and foremost should be the results on the pitch. Whilst we were all aware that the stadium move would mean austerity measures and AW has done a great job in keeping us in the top pack of clubs during that period, we are now supposed to have entered the land of milk and honey promised to us by the board, which could only be achieved by the move!

So there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth over this situation. “We don’t want to sell our soul to the highest bidder” some fans shout, “We don’t want to be like Chelsea or Citeh” etc etc etc. Well hold on a minute, we sold our soul to the highest bidder in the 80’s, when PHW sold his shares for what was then a huge profit to David Dein, Hill-Wood thinking that Double D was mad to be investing in football. Dein then sold some of his shares to Danny Fiszman. The proposed saviour of our club every time his name gets mentioned then got Koenke involved, who rapidly distanced himself from Dein as soon as he realised that if he wanted to stay friendly with Fiszman it was the necessary thing to do. Dein then sells out to Usmanov and the last play was Danny Fiszman selling to Stan.

A lot of what our club stands for in terms of tradition comes from the 1930’s, when we were the most successful club in the country and strangely enough were nicknamed ‘The Bank of England’ club, due to the fact we had a few bob and spent it on players and infrastructure. So in effect this has been going on for years, anyone with enough money has been buying our shares. All out of some altruistic ideal of what is good for AFC? Hardly. Every seller made a huge profit on what they had originally paid. Altruism would be to give the shares to a fan’s group, but there’s no money in that is there? There is always a big deal made out of the fact that they don’t get dividends. Well excuse me, but I think that I could do without some annual interest being paid if I was assured of an extremely healthy return at the end of my investment and Stan refused to say that this was not an option he would look to use in the future. Yet our board has our best interests at heart according to many. That must explain the season ticket price rises and the inflexibility around payments, the pricing for food and beverages inside the stadium, the sale of our best players and worst of all, their continued inactivity when it comes to getting the manager to do what needs to be done in terms of recruitment. The last few seasons of inactivity from all concerned has to be a worry. I might not buy into the whole 8 years without a trophy line peddled by the media and the more fundamentalist arm of the AWOB, but I do not buy the argument about waiting 17 years between 53 and 70 for a trophy being any kind of argument to keep sitting on our hands either!

One thing that puzzles me, why do people use Chelsea as an example of how this will be the end of the world as we know it? They were a two bob club before Roman arrived and despite the trophies it pretty much still is. This is mainly due to 3 things. Jose did a brilliant job there, but unfortunately his demeanour made the club pretty unpopular and he engendered a spirit which has stayed long after he was dismissed. Roman and his trigger happy recruiting and firing of managers is just ridiculous, plus his alleged interference in the playing side of things. Lastly, the fact that they appear to have tried to recruit the same % of unsavoury human beings on the playing side as they have within their fanbase. I realise that all clubs, ourselves included have their fair share of morons, racists and thugs, but I do feel that Chelsea do rather abuse the quota and seem to be depriving an entire country of its share of idiots per village. The likes of Terry and Cole have really summed up their personal standards, add to it the transfer fees and wages paid, the recruitment and disposal of mercenary footballers and you can see a blueprint for how not to buy a football club and run it respectfully.

But then there is Citeh. Never really had a problem with them to be honest, or their fans who must have suffered more than most over the last 20 years of United dominance. So they have loads of money, which they spend on huge transfer fees and wages, often just as unnecessarily as Chelsea; Scott Sinclair anyone! But apart from sacking Hughes (not something to be criticised really) they have stuck with Mancini and he has delivered an FA Cup in his first year and the league, if only just, in his 2^nd. Two disastrous ECL campaigns aside, both in terrible groups which we would not have escaped from, he is not doing a terrible job and apart from a couple of unfortunate incidents brought on by substandard executives, they seem fairly organised and unChelsea like.

So here is the scenario. Usmanov, in league with the Middle East buys Stan out, after he decides that it is more trouble than it is worth to stick with a non US sport he knows little about in terms of the cultural gap between the MSL and EPL. Usmanov is installed as the Chairman/owner and he starts to make some changes. First, he explains to AW that he still has faith in his ability and is going to make huge funds available to him for transfers and wages. However, it is made clear that AW must be shopping at Harrods from now on and not Lidl, as the club and its fans demand and are owed the quality of player that befits our intentions. Time will be given, but results will be expected. The board members are in the main dispensed with and replaced with younger (not difficult) business savvy executives with a UK sports background. Respected ex Arsenal professionals are brought in to deal with various aspects of the club, the likes of Bergkamp and Overmars from Ajax, Paddy from Citeh and others can all play a part in the off field activities.

For the fans, there is movement on ST prices and how they are paid, with some of Black Scarf and other fan’s group suggestions coming in to play. Measures are taken to enhance the match day experience in terms of pricing and atmosphere. Home kits are red & white and away kits are yellow!

The team is finally able to challenge once more for the top trophies and has a squad equipped to do this on all fronts and wins its first silverware in 9 seasons, finally removing the monkey from its back. Yes the club is being financed by big money from Uzbekistan and the Middle East, but as we dance and sing in The Bailey on Holloway Road, does anyone really care? Is there a pocket of Gooners somewhere sitting in a quiet corner of a pub bemoaning the fact that we didn’t do it through self sustainability and longing for the days of Gervinho and Santos! The tradition of the club has remained, we still do our bit for the community, we still wave the flag for equality and fair play and best of all, Arsene Wenger is allowed to prove that given a level playing field with the rest of the ‘financially doped’ clubs he is still able to compete.

Then, in Berlin 2015, he finally adds the European Champions League to his CV as Jack Wilshere lifts the trophy after goals from Falcao and Isco see off the challenge of Messi’s Barcelona. AW takes this opportunity to retire as Manager, moving on to the board. The opening day of the 2015/16 season sees another statue unveiled outside the stadium as Arsene Wenger rightly takes his place alongside the existing 4 AFC icons.
Now I appreciate that there is quite a bit of fantasy about that scenario, but in all honesty a lot of the foundations for it to actually happen are already in place, so it may not be a complete stretch to picture.

So does selling out in terms of shares really have to equate with selling out in terms of your soul?

I say show me the money!

Mark King

NextGen at Arsenal

Many Gooners got to enjoy the Arsenal v CSKA under 19’s NextGen game played out at our Stadium on Monday night or watched it, as I did, on Arsenal Live. So I’m guessing many will now be speculating as to which of the players they enjoyed seeing perform will maybe make it through to our first team and how many will come through to achieve it as professional footballers.

Who will make the big time?

 



It’s a fun game to play but one where speculation can be little more than a guess at this stage given who is already in our current first team squad, which out on loan players will return and which current under 21 players are going to claim first team berths. The above listed groups are those which our current batch of NextGen kids must aspire to outdo in the footballing stakes. No easy task.

Also much depends on what you mean by 'come through'. These young men all want to be professional footballers but if they have any sense of realism they’ll know that the odds of actually doing that as an Arsenal first team squad player are still very much stacked against them. So if we mean ‘come through’ to Arsenal's first team as a regular first team player then the odds against any youth player achieving  that are considerable. Quite possibly with odds that are maybe more than a 1 in 20 chance for even our best aspiring 'young professionals'.  

When you think about it just to get an occasional game in Arsenal's first team as a squad player means you have to be International standard at the very least, but players such as Jack are obviously very much more than that. But then Jack was a notable exception to the run of the mill youth player. Did we see any such players play against CSKA? Or where they all flattering to deceive?

It is my perception that Arsenal's youth set up has always been about an attempt at producing well rounded kids who can cope with the outside world and make a career at football if they are very lucky. In that respect the Club do an incredibly good job given that there are dozens and dozens of professional players out there who've come through Arsenal's youth system. Very many ex-Arsenal kids make a very decent living from the game despite being considered crap in the eyes of some Arsenal fans because they failed to make our first team. Such kids are not crap; they simply do not have that extra something that it takes to be an International /Premiership player at a very top club. Getting players through to our first team squad is just one goal of the youth setup, but it’s not quite the be all and end all of our youth system. What's happened in recent years appears to be the overall raising of technical standards which helps players such as the Jacks of this world to thrive within that environment and become classier players much quicker.

Being a technical brilliant player used to be enough, being a technically brilliant player now is only part of making it big time. These days pretty well every youth player we have is technically first class. The difference between them and those who make the first team are a number of factors which I'd suggest includes dedication, ambition, dedication, hard work, dedication, sensible life style, dedication, concentration, family support, good friends, decent attitude to life, physicality, speed of thought, strength, natural ability, personality, conditioning, stamina, luck with injuries, more luck with who bars your progress to first team football and dedication. Just being a fast or technically gifted player is no longer enough and hasn't been for some time now - just ask tossers such as Pennant, Bothroyd, Bentley et al.

Our current under 19’s are certainly all in with a real crack at first team football. They all probably feel they've already made the big time. They would however all be wrong because all they've done up to now is put themselves on the starting grid and how they react to the challenge of the next 3/4 years will determine if they sink, swim or survive in the big time.

So who do you think has what it takes: Yennaris, Gnarby, Hajrovic, Angha? Well let’s face it your guess is as good as mine because I only know how good I rate them as exciting technical players but I’ve no idea about all the other stuff which will determine how far they go in the beautiful game, either with Arsenal or any other Club.

 

The cult of the goalkeeper

“He vies with the matador and the flying ace as an object of thrilled adulation. His sweater, his peaked cap, his kneeguards, the gloves protruding from the hip pocket of his shorts, set him apart from the rest of the team. He is the lone eagle, the man of mystery, the last defender. Photographers, reverently bending one knee, snap him in the act of making a spectacular dive across the goal mouth to deflect with his fingertips a low, lightning-like shot, and the stadium roars in approval as he remains for a moment or two lying full length where he fell, his goal still intact.”

Vladimir Nabakov

Goalie’s are odd, different…. unique, eccentric. From the agitated shouter, to the calming and soothing presence of a safe pair of hands, they are an enigma.

Yes, we’ve all played in goal, when we take our turn at school or when we play five a side, but someone who 'chooses' to play in goal, well, they are different. Aloof, imperious, cool headed (or equally.. mental), adopting odd mannerisms and hobbies, uncaring what their teammates think of their precious collection of 18th century scrimshaw or their obsession with topiary.

Most of all though, a good goalkeeper needs to be brave.  When the crowd and teammates see that, their limitations are often overlooked, it inspires you to be brave too, to protect, close ranks and drive on. Someone whose willing to stick their face in the flying feet of a clogging centre forward earns respect.

A  goalkeeper breeds confidence. He has the power to make average defenders brilliant and brilliant defenders average. From an Arsenal perspective, we’ve had some serious contenders amongst our regular custodians (N.b - amazing cameos like Alex Manninger’s, will not be covered).

Looking at keepers within living memory, let’s start with the great Jack Kelsey.

This was from an era where Jack would lean against his post watching play in the other half, smoking a tab. He replaced George Swindin the pre-war veteran of arguably Arsenal’s greatest period of league dominance, Kelsey won a league medal in 53, sharing duties with the older man. Kelsey dominated, commanding his area, a big man, who took serious poundings in defending the net. Brian Dawes wrote a fantastic article about him when reviewing his autobiography, ghost written by the perennially brilliant Brian Glanville, the old school football journalist from another era. http://www.arsenal-world.co.uk/feat/edz3/book_review_over_the_bar__jack_kelsey_691802/index.shtml (as found here) Glanville still holds a link to the times when top footballers somehow seemed more accessible and fragile, their careers earning them modest sums, where an injury would ruin not just your football career but potentially your life, professional sportsmen, like today, not being equipped to master the rat race of civilian life. Kelsey suffered that serious injury, against Brazil, playing for Wales, but Arsenal look after their own and Kelsey was retained as a commercial manager, people remember him in the dimly lit club shop, smoking a cigarette (as always), keeping an eye on the small amount of merchandise that Arsenal offered at the time.

2nd January, 1954. Jack Kelsey stares into the Smog. This game vs Aston Villa was abandoned after 23 minutes, Arsenal were 3-0 up at the time!

After a few seasons of solid and dependable play by Jim Furnell*, who, like Kelsey was unlucky to play in a team which struggled, despite many gifted forward players, came this middle class academic lad, Robert (Bob) Primrose Wilson, who was studying to be a teacher. I’m sure he raised a few eyebrows when he turned up at the training ground, Frank McLintock provides an insight in his autobiography.

“Bob was so untypical of footballers, with the slightly refined language he used, and the way he dressed, in a camel duffel coat and his Loughborough College scarf. It must have been a bit of a disadvantage to him that he didn’t conform to the footballer stereotype, wasn’t much of a boozer and was from a conspicuously middle class background. But he never looked down on the rest of us and we just saw him as a one-off. Later, of course – and especially when we discovered that his second name was Primrose – he had to endure the ribbing that everyone gets at football clubs… I would have expected his academic endeavour to teach him caution. Far from it, as a goalkeeper he was recklessly brave and often put his head where others would fear to put their feet.”

It took him a few seasons to become the regular number one, but the fans and the players had faith. People talk of his head first bravery, diving forwards to snatch the ball from oncoming attacks. This led him to being broken, battered and bruised on many occasions, but he inspired confidence.

Bob Wilson having been knocked out against Spurs in 1969.

From the concerned look on Bobby Gould’s face, it was probably him that accidently did it.(As Bill Shankly unkindly remarked of Gould – “he couldn’t trap a bag of cement!”

When selected for Scotland by Tommy Doherty, the English born and well spoken Bob Wilson had his club captain Frank McClintock as his minder, he wasn’t having his mate treated with suspicion, and skipper and goalkeeper brought us both the Fairs Cup (our first trophy since the 50s) and the Double in the following season. Wilson is a legend, who is still proud of his involvement with the club. “It was the feeling that you were wearing this big gun on your chest. And my goodness, everywhere you went, you felt proud wearing it” – Bob Wilson.

After Wilson, a brief interlude with Jimmy Rimmer, it’s arguable that his goalkeeping and Brian Kidd’s goals kept Arsenal in the top division in those barren years in the mid-70s, saved by two Mancs! And after Rimmer, Pat Jennings, who joined Arsenal, along with Willie Young, signed from Tottenham by former Spurs boss and Arsenal player Terry Neill. Terry is probably underrated for what he did, he managed to pick up and revitalise a waning team using the tactical knowledge of Don Howe to build a capable squad, which challenged for honours. One of Neill’s difficult decisions was to ship out a number of game but ageing players who he himself was a teammate of in the 60s. It couldn’t have been easy for him. The immaculately haired Jennings seemed a calming presence, gentle voiced but commanding. No way a bawler or shouter. He did a fantastic job for several seasons and is perhaps the only player respected by both sets of North London fans. He won a cup winners medal with Arsenal in 79, but missed out in both the Cup Winners Cup final against Di Stefano’s Valencia and the FA cup final against West Ham in 1980. The former match was particularly sad for me, as a 9 year old. Arsenal had reached a European final, and I was utterly deflated when the winning penalty was struck home. I had so much faith in Jennings, so I was so despondent when we ultimately failed. I didn’t cry though, not like football fans today. Adults and children alike. Pah!

Pat and Pat, with the FA Cup (photo credit - Arsenal.com)

 

Then John Lukic, lanky, almost cross eyed, with that ridiculous fringe, he didn’t look like an athlete! He was a no fuss goalie, unspectacular (who would a goalkeeper need to make TV saves if his positional sense is spot on), but cerebral and self critical in his concentration and analysis. Sometimes he’d be furious with his own decision making and you could see him burn and fume inwardly, trying to put things right. He formed part of that mean George Graham team which won us the league so spectacularly in 89.

After Lukic, safe hands himself, David Seaman.

What a save! (photo credit – Arsenal.com)

Another goalkeeper of quiet dominance, positionally immaculate, always in the right place, instilling confidence in a team which conceded only 18 goals and only lost the once in the league triumph of 1991. A lot of that was down to the defensive drills Graham forced the team to repeat and repeat and repeat. He later added the FA Cup in 93 as well as the league cup in the same year. Under Arsene Wenger, Seaman won two doubles and another FA Cup. He was a mainstay of the famous back five, a gift from George Graham to Wenger. The only thing I could criticise him for was his ponytail which was ridiculous. Seaman joined an illustrious list of goalkeepers. So who could replace this legend? With allegedly only £2 million to spend, Arsene Wenger took a punt on an outspoken German keeper with a chequered history of outbursts and fallings out.

Jens Lehmann. The Arsenal fans loved him. It’s weird the media and the pundits picked on his eccentricities and his mistakes, it was his personality and his determination as well as his constant will to improve which set him apart. A keeper as part of a team who went unbeaten a whole league season is not someone to be laughed at or ridiculed. And as Jens Lehmann himself said, he’s never set out to hurt an opponent, so rightly he felt aggrieved when snide players set out to injure him. He was an honest (and angry) man! When we won the league at White Hart Lane (for the second time) he didn’t want to celebrate, he was so upset at having given away an equalising penalty against that horrible little yappy dog Robbie Keane after he’d stamped all over his feet. But his teammates, coaxed “The German” (as Pires affectionately called him) out of the dressing room to dance and cheer with the crowd.

He was a monster, dominated the area, demanded the best of his team. He was one of the main reasons that Arsenal’s defence - patched together when injuries tore the team apart - kept a clean sheet at the Bernabeu in 2006. Who’d have thought a defence of rookies Eboue – Senderos – Toure – Flamini could keep out one of the best attacking forces in the world?  Zidane and all… Thierry Henry scored the important goal. Arsenal went through. When we got to that fateful champions league final, I remember an interview with Eboue, he was asked “is there anything you fear?”. His answer – a brilliant soundbite - (I paraphrase as I can’t find the original article) “Nothing, apart from God and Jens Lehmann”.

“If I have a lot of adrenaline in my body, that is helpful because I feel less pain”- Jens Lehmann (this quote makes me laugh, I can imagine him saying it quietly, peacefully, but with those crazy eyes tearing you to pieces)

Jens Lehmann and his very good friend Manuel Almunia

One of Wenger’s most perplexing decisions was to freeze out Lehmann in favour of Manuel Almunia. I liked Almunia as a human being, he seemed equipped for the lonely role of the goalkeeper. Brave, a family man, loving stuff like books on the second world war, but he wasn’t up to scratch, whether it was Arsene’s stubbornness to persist with him, a question of finances, or something else, remains a mystery. A nice guy, but not good enough. Unsurprisingly our team dipped, but Almunia was only a contributing factor, not the cause of this barren spell. “When I see Almunia’s performances, I get angry and have to make a fist in my pocket” – Jens Lehmann.

And now, the unpronounceable, confident and supremely gifted Wojciech Szczęsny has taken the gloves. He’s got all the attributes, physicality, the right mental attitude and athleticism. He’d had some unfair stick recently, in goalkeeping terms he’s still a kid, but I see him being a top level goalkeeper for at least another 15 years. Hopefully with Arsenal. His performances at times have been incredible, that save vs Pedro when we played Barcelona for instance, he kept us in the game when they swarmed all over us. But people focus on mistakes, only the mistakes. It may be that Chezzer needs an older goalie to work with, someone to share duties for a couple of seasons, someone who is willing to share tips and give generously. At the moment, he is horribly exposed at times, but this says more about our fragile confidence as a whole. But he will come good. I have faith. We’re in safe hands.

“I’m number 1!”

Many thanks to the mighty Mel Melis @melmelis for the above article

* Great article Mel but sorry to have to break this to you "After a few seasons of solid and dependable play by Jim Furnell" is a long way from the way it was - at least to the eyes of this North Bank regular. 'Fatty' or 'Fingers' Furnell as he was hailed from the North Bank wasn't fit to lace Willow's boots. It can only have been the fact that in his early days at Arsenal Willow was such a twitchy nervous wreck that saw Furnell stay ahead in the pecking order for so long.

 

Core players, attendances and wigs

Thoughts on Arsenal’s Core Players

Oxlade-Chamberlain 19, Jenkinson 21, Francis Coquelin 21, Wilshere 21, Szczczczczesny 22, Ramsey 22, Gibbs 23 and Walcott 23 are not really core players in the sense that that they provide the spine of the team, certainly not all of them, but I’m happy that they could well form the heart of the Club if not the team for quite a few years to come. It’s the most impressive home-grown group of youngsters we’ve had together for quite some time and they all have something going for them. The extent to which they are home-grown may be debateable but all home grown players come from somewhere be it Arsenal under 9’s or Southampton. They all already have International Caps under their belts (rather than on their heads) and are in my opinion are all still improving even though Szczczczczesny is having the odd glitch, which young keepers tend to and Gibbs appears to be somewhat injury prone. The future is bright – the future is red and white. And yet Wenger’s Youth policy has been deemed a failure. I just don’t get that because Wenger’s move towards a youthful team was clearly an imposed financial constraint forced upon him by the cost of a new stadium and the redevelopment of the old one. The above mentioned may not prove to be our ultimate core players, but they will certainly be the hard-core upon which the core is built. To have 8 in the first team squad looks quite impressive to me.

Born is the King of Highbury Ashburton

 

Thoughts on attendances

Some Arsenal fans with an agenda appear to be claiming that our ground is increasingly empty and our paying punters are very close to melt-down. This alleged disappearance of fans is variously put down to piss poor play, our pitiful 4th place finishes, the lack of transfer spending and the ridiculous seating prices. That and their inevitable claims that Wenger is past his sell by date.  Certainly there are many gaps to be seen but I find it rather pathetic that anyone is even attempting to use the attendance figures as a bludgeon when quite clearly our current attendances are way better than anything the Club has ever previously known. Even when we had a capacity of over 70,000 our averages didn’t even get close to 60,000. Only in six seasons during the late 1940’s and early 50’s did we ever average over 50,000 and only in six of the last 50 seasons at Highbury did we even top an average of 40,000.

Citeh away fans stump up 6d each to see the game

 

The facts show  that Arsenal still managed to sell 59,872 for the Stoke game despite it being our 5th home game in just twenty days during a cold spell not conducive with outdoor entertainment. Also in spite of this match being priced as a B game when quite clearly Stoke should be classified as Z or at the very least X-rated dross.  Montpellier only attracted 59,760 for a live on TV Champions League game but I’d suggest they have all the glamour of a Blackburn Cup tie, I say only – but when was 59,760 such an awful crowd figure, especially so given that we’d already beaten them away from home. While Swansea in a Cup replay with only 9 days-notice also failed to top 60,000. But even then the tie did manage to attract 58,359 paying fans, not that many of whom were travelling fans. There was also a loud media song and dance about away ticket pricing when Citeh visited. Rightly so. Citeh returned loads of tickets we were told. But did anyone in the stadium notice thousands of empty seats? No of course they didn’t because Arsenal fans were delighted to snap them up despite the silly prices. Whatever the doom-mongers might suggest the board will only take heed of what they’re saying when the tickets fail to sell.

In that respect I believe the last time Arsenal got shot of a manager due to piss poor attendances was when Billy Wright got the bullet following crowds as low as 8,738 and the all-time low of 4,554 in the 1965-66 season. This was at a time when Highbury’s capacity was about 64,000. Prior to our move to Ashburton the number of 60,000 plus attendances were very limited, even in the days when the capacity was over 70,000.

Thoughts on Stan Kroenke

Should he ever appear at an Arsenal home game again, or even an away game come to that, the most appropriate chant from Arsenal fans would surely be ‘Who the f*ck, who the f*ck, who the f*cking hell are you, who the f*cking hell are you.’ Clearly he’s in it for the money rather than the love of Arsenal, football or even sport. Like a number of Americans buying up Clubs in the English game I’d suggest he’s looking towards salary caps to make his fortune. It’s never going to happen Stan so why hang around?

Winner of NFL's Spot the wig Competition

 

I also think there’s a certain amount of irony in an American buying up a trophy club when we’re not actually winning any trophies.

 

 

Clive P 2012 Thoughts

At this time of year you cannot help but both reflect and look forward. I'm going to do highlights & lowlights review and then my 2013 hopes for Arsenal.

2012 Highlights

1 Spurs at Home (Feb) 5-2

Easy one yes easy in hindsight but I urge you now to dig deep in your memory banks and remember how we all felt before the game. It felt like you were going to your own funeral. Spurs were flying. Well balanced. Adebeyor primed, Bale seemingly getting taller, faster, stronger by the week. We had little form or confidence.

Two down very quickly. Bale diving to get a penalty but then Sagna scores and something was stirred in this club top to bottom. Players like Rosicky, Yossi and Theo Walcott let go of the handbrake. The stands just exploded defiantly. We just refused to lose.

It was a moment that for me reminded us why we support this club. Inconsistent yes, maddeningly frustrating - yes.

But when we get it right it’s as good as anything out there.

2. Liverpool Away - Return of Diaby

When we go through  the dark moments of which there are many in this over reactionary  world we live in - its games like this that  remind me we have a team developing, a good team that when it has the right balance is sensational.

That happened v Liverpool. Team had two young fullbacks in Jenkinson and Gibbs - they were progressive and forced the play with Podolski and Cazorla prominent. But we had a MOM performance from Abou Diaby.

A player who is a personal favourite I admit – A player whose profile any Wenger team needs IMO. Diaby represents the nearly factor of Arsenal - so nearly a world class player in fact in my opinion he is our best player but no use being brilliant if you play 5 games a season.  I have spoken to players in the club and they all say he is  the ’one’ – Has Wenger gambled too much on him. Many say yes. More are coming round to what he offers.

A rare sighting of Abou Diaby

He offers such presence and completely changes how the opposition plays against us.

He repeated the trick v City away where again we dominated the champions in all facets. Wenger gambled on him and it’s not been rewarded through no fault of the player may I add but we need that profile of player in our midfield if we are to challenge the very top table of European Football. You could argue that since he limped off v CFC we have all doubted our ability to win a trophy. It shows that type of player is vital to the Wenger Method.

It's no surprise to me that while we search for that ingredient - that mentality that culture. Maybe we just need Vieira or a Diaby

3. Reading v Arsenal - (7-5)

I chose this game for many reasons - At the time I was concerned about depth of squad.

The bench to me felt weak and I was questioning the direction of the squad building. I still do. It’s the most important thing in a club - the players. Look at City - They win the league but add the wrong players. Rodwell, Sinclair and Garcia at a cost of £40m.

Fergie adds RVP at a cost of £24m – let’s see how we go shall we.

Arsenal too has wasted money with bad choices but every now and again you see the genius of Wenger. A few players old and new really used this game as a launch pad.

Giroud - Came on and after previously been fragile in confidence he exploded on to the pitch and really showed for the first time the authority needed to lead the line at Arsenal.

Walcott - Spurned, angry a player in my opinion who is not naturally assertive enough to be consistent. Happy on the fringes happy supporting bigger players - all of a sudden an angry man not prepared to be treated like the kid on the graduate scheme in the office.

Since that day I think a new Theo was born.

You might not even know his name is Thomas

Eisfeld - Came on late but what an entrance. Mobility poise pace sharp decision making and just a player to dream of. When Wenger bought him people laughed in Germany. We all knew of Reus and Gotze but no one looked at Eisfeld and no one thought a top ten club in Europe would take an injury prone skinny kid from the Dortmund U21 side.

Wenger did and was prepared to wait. Prepared to coach and build.

Arsene I do criticize you - But you are a genius at times.

2012 Lowlights

1. AC Milan (4-0)

Arsenal will always lose games. Each one hurts far too much for a man of my maturity and age.

Why does it get worse? I should know a lot better. For me it's not the losing but 'HOW' we lose. The damage caused by a pitiful approach to a huge game. It's as though we approach games like this in a small club way.

It’s these games I'm sure that made RVP think - Can I trust my career with this club.

I'm convinced he did not want to go; he wanted Arsenal to wake up to their potential. Approached it in the wrong way yes but as much as I love Henry should we be dependent on a 35 year old forward for such moments and if we are to believe the rumours pay him more than RVP for the privilege of his presence.

Must stop it's too upsetting.

2. MUFC Away (2-1)

Ok not 8-2 but for me worse. Again our approach to the game and the 'How' we lose prevalent in my thoughts. So meek so accepting.

Our old Captain almost embarrassed to look us in the eye. Smiling, smirking back slapping - like that kid that has moved to a better house and he knew it.

This is our Arsenal - we don't do lack of stature very well. We are a club built on values, class, approach, competing not always succeeding but you can always see your team and recognize why it's your team.

I was more proud when we lost 8-2. We fought that day. The fans fought by singing non-stop in the second half. No singing this time. We realized we had really dropped our standards. It’s no longer a big game for them - this has to change. I find it quite shameful to be honest.

Talking of shame....

3. Bradford -Embarrassed

Just had this feeling of shame and embarrassment - We looked so inept. As a fan you always live irrationally and after Reading I just felt maybe for once our name was on this Cup.

It felt like more than a defeat. I kept thinking how far can we fall? Dramatic maybe but we all watched CFC win the CL and thought how lucky they were in so many respects. They were just about to play in the World Club Championship and we are going out full strength v Bradford of League 2.

You always look for that rock bottom.

Arsenal will always give you highs and lows and recently those have been more acute or is it me - is the twitter world we navigate searching for like-minded views and opinions then make us lurch in our reactions to both high and low points - I have convinced myself though this is the bottom and now we look forward.

Hope for 2013
* Bring back Our Arsenal People

I am one of those that feel we have lost our Arsenal a little but feel it's coming back. Ok I'm not one of the 'bring our Arsenal' back brigade but I do think we do not maximize our people resources.

What separates us - Arsene has created an era of progression and success. His greatest legacy is playing the 'Arsenal Way' Say that anywhere in the world and people know what that means.

That is an identity, dare I say it that is a brand to build on.

I hear that when Wenger took over we had 80 full time employees but now we have 500. But I look at the stature of men Arsene has given us - Bergkamp, Keown, Dixon, Vieira, Seaman - Is there no role for such Arsenal men?

Not being funny: but are you telling me Gerry Peyton know more about goalkeeping than Dave Seaman?

Not being funny: but if we had Vieira as a club ambassador it may just attract some players?

I look at Ajax - a club that has moved grounds, plays in a league where funds are not high so the onus on coaching and producing your own dictates how you survive. Their recent model of bring back coaches to develop a depth of identity in the club I really like. De Boar, Bergkamp, Kluivert all there helping - creating that link of generations.

Martin and the mighty Dennis

That’s continuity. Fergie does it. Any trip to MUFC academy and it’s littered with old players drilling home the MUFC culture.

I have been to Colney and there are some great staff who love Arsenal but we need to think about these players who want to help and ensure great Arsenal men like Bob Wilson are not left to talk about Arsenal from a distance on TalkSport.

Willow

 

I have watched training and understand the sense of ‘family’ that is so strong behind closed doors. I have seen the reverence at which Wenger is held. The culture of elite sport is everywhere. Attention to detail on hygiene, game preparation the lot. Imagine if we added more Arsenal people of note to this environment and extended it.

MUFC have Brian Robson, Bobby Charlton and many more. Real people ensuring fans recognize their club. I am massively concerned that there is one person at Arsenal - Genius yes but just one person - Arsene Wenger.

I want more Arsenal people around the club that help clarify our strategy. Provide a more recent Arsenal face to the written and radio press. Control our message – drive our culture - Help offer transparency from the top and supporting the great man.

They are out there desperate to help - You could take out Chamakh's wages and pay for them all such is the disparity between support staff and players wages.

Clarity of goals a clear strategy - the ability to know when to renew your people. Any top organization in any industry recognizes their number one asset is there people and how you invest in them is key to sustained performance.

A new English based Arsenal is appearing. A new core - Interesting times ahead.

Clive P.

 

Will Stan sell out - like all his predessesors?

Its not just our new owners who seemingly don't give a toss, the alleged custodians of Arsenal Football Club have all been feathering their nests for years whilst pretending to be doing us all a favour. Not one of them has put any money into the Club whereas almost every single one of them has massively lined their own pockets by selling their shares. Who needs dividends when you can make a fortune anyway? Despite all the holier than thou old bollocks that Arsenals old school custodians have spouted over the years Arsenal Football Club tried to sell out to Carlton as long ago as 1998 while Dein was still around and who must have been set for a bit of pocket lining. It didn't happen then, but Dein subsequently threw his toys out of the pram at a later date and walked away with £70 million or so, his loyalty clearly available to the highest bidder - that and his desire to spite fellow board members at that particular time. Dein it seems wanted to cart us off to Wem-ber-lee on a cheapskate rental agreement, other board members wanted to up the value of our club by building a new home before selling out for their own 30 pieces of silver. This was just one battle of the money-men where Fizsman pissed all over his old friend Dein. No honour amongst thieves as they say. Or is it no honour among board members - I forget. Anyway these were just two of the men who sold out our Arsenal. It's been one big disruptive fight in the boardroom ever since the late '90's, at least that's how it looks to me.

Life long buddies, not

The little loved old has-been Peter Hill Wood still treats fans disdainfully, he has done so for years, yet he long since sold his family's Arsenal birthright for hard cash. His father and grandfather, both long-term and relatively honourable Chairmen of the club would have been appalled at his behaviour. About £5.5 million was what his remains of the family heirloom went for. He once famously told Dein there was no money in football and yet has clung on to the Chairman's post like a petrified limpet several decades past it's sell-by date. Hill Wood has been the perpetual patsy and front man for them all, including Fiszman who had almost as much to say as silent Stan. Saint Danny Fiszman sacked our only director who had the first clue about football (Dein) before upping the value of his own holdings by building a new stadium and redeveloping our old one. He partially did this by belatedly bringing in a CEO (Edelman) who neither knew nothing, nor cared nothing about football. Edelman's idea of a new home was to leave it covered in bare concrete and if rumours are to be believed he paid off building bills with money allocated for team spending. We were not told why he was sacked, just as no-one was told why Dein was sacked. But back-stabbing is par for the course in Arsenal's board room. Ask Nina, David or Keith.

Yeah, like he won this

Fiszman's estate made £143m plus, but did he sell because he knew he was dying or because he was looking to sell anyway. I can't say I know for sure but it felt to me then, and retrospectively more so, as if the board had been looking to cash in on the golden goose for quite some time. Fiszman simply speeded the process whilst upping the value with our stadium move. Whilst incidentally ensuring his personal tax bill was kept at bay with his move to Switzerland. Events seem to prove that almost each and every one of them were all too delighted to cash in and piss our heritage, retained in their custodianship, up the river.

Did Fiszman even actively look for a massively rich Arsenal fan or group of fans who cared?  No Fiszman sold out to a disinterested American who collects sports teams as some sort of hobby. Someone previously rejected by our owners because he arrived via David Dein, who happened to be that week's arch-enemy. 'We don't want his sort' was the phrase deployed by Hill-Woodentop. Danny boy was also very keen not to sell to the Oligarch Uzbekistani another outsider lined up by David Dein and so Kroenke was thus the easy preferable option when the time came. It seems Kroenke may not even have to put all his readies up front. So what we have here now is yet another piece of English heritage, namely our Club, in the hands of yet another couldn't-give-a-shit-American. Stan 'zip-lip' Kroenke doesn't actually do anything with his sports teams he just collects them, he shows no interest whatsoever in Arsenal and leaves a lap dog to front up the Club. Just as he leaves others to front up his other assets. Not spending money despite already having already made massive paper financial gains for doing jack shit is all Kroenke has done with Arsenal. He doesn't even see why he should speak at the AGM. He won't discuss his policy for our Club's future because it very much looks as though he has no policies. But then why would you need policies if the Club's gone up in value by about £280,000,000 since he's taken over as owner.

You will note that Dein managed to fall out with Fiszman whom he introduced to the Club by selling him 10,000 shares in 1991 and also fell out with both Kroenke and Usmanov whom he also introduced. The only ones who still care much for Dein are a number of fans who think the sun still shines out of his arse because he was a 'genuine fan' who could relate to fans and introduced Wenger. I'd suggest he has only ever been motivated by his love of money and his own ego.

The one honourable exception to all these dog-eat-dog boardroom shareholders is Ken Friar, an outsider who once effectively ran the Club that has now twice begged him to come back from his well-earned retirement.

As for the other long-term custodians of The Arsenal the Bracewell-Smiths long-term historic holding was subsequently given away by Lady Nina. I say given away but she actually got well over £100 million for her 15.9% stake. Nina too was both dragged onto the board and subsequently kicked off it when it suited them. Richard Carr a perennial boardroom non-entity in his day creamed a trifling £40 million from Kroenke, despite their historic connection he and his family were only too happy to cash in big time.

Lady Nina - in or out when it suited the board

Did any of them lift a finger to assist the Arsenal Supporters Trust. No, not one of the miserable two-faced money-grubbers lifted so much as an index finger. So we are now stuck with two owners: Jabba a part time resident in London who at least watches some games but whom no one wishes to touch with a barge pole, certainly not their own barge pole. All he's done thus far is take a 30% stake and shit stir whenever the opportunity arises. The effective owner is out absentee landlord with no discernible polices. A man who resides on the other side of the pond and does nothing. Nothing other than wear a rather naff rug. By doing nothing I mean he takes no active part and has no stated policy for the future, he also clearly has only a very minimal interest in football, and quite evidently even less in the Club or the team. He and his minions have minimal control over the manager who has clearly been provided with zero guidance for years by a bunch of warring rich boys.

What more could we possibly want from a board?

Well apart from not selling our best players each season (board's score for not selling our best players each season 1/10), tying down our better players on longer contracts (2/10), purchasing some additional top quality players with what money we have earned (3/10), a clear policy for team building (2/10). Other than an improvement to the above what I'd really like is a proper football board which has a game-plan (3/10), that gives a shit for its hard-core fans (2/10), that cares about winning trophies (1/10), that knows a bit about football (1/10), that gives football the priority over money-making (0/10). Without this the Club is simply a rudderless ship run by a board whom inspire no confidence whatsoever. The Club is  currently being allowed to drift and they've been drifting for quite a few years, just as they were for 25 years or so after WW2.

All the current intent and direction being shown is financially inspired. It obviously needs to be inspired by football but they've lost track of this very obvious fact. It needs to be all about the football. Myself I don't even demand trophies, just a team that looks like it is intent on winning some. Not any old trophies mind, just the real ones. I don't give a flying fart for the League Cup. I'd like to really see us challenge for the League rather than vie for a place in the Champions League. I'd like to see us really battling it out with the top Clubs in Europe rather than just gaining a few quid from the Champion's League kitty. Thank goodness the board kept Wenger at the helm during these turbulent and stressful financial times, few other managers could have kept sane in such disruptive times. Not that the board would have known whom to appoint in Wenger's stead, they don't have a footballing brain between them and ever employ outsiders to headhunt new CEO's.

When Mr. Wenger joined the shares were worth £280, they now stand at £16,000 plus. Compare that with the rest of the World's economy and shake your head in total wonder. That in it self has been a major reason for the board not even considering any options to  Mr Wenger rather than for his footballing achievements. Not that they would understand his massive achievements in keeping our Club near the top during its recent upheavals anyway. But like I hinted they wouldn't ditch Wenger because they wouldn't have a clue whom to appoint. Unless they consult the experts - but we fans have never ever had any say have we?

Remind me again - who are you?

Please note. I've attempted to be reasonably accurate with the number crunching but accept that the figures are unlikely to be anything like 100% accurate.



Brian