Arsenal
How lucky are Arsenal fans? Celine Dion is on a downer
Cheer up
By Celine Dion
September 3 2010
The end of the transfer window has nailed it for me. I'm officially on a downer and I don't care who knows it. If ever there was a clear statement of intent from a football club this was it. As clear as the 'statements of intent' from Manchester City and Chelsea are when they sign another 20 million pound player.
TweetOur statement of intent is that we intend to stay roughly around third or fourth place this season and if you don't like it, well, you need to say ten ‘Arsene Wenger's and lock yourself away with a DVD of the 2004 season to remind yourself just how magic the man is. That seems to be the surreptitious message coming out of the club, and through Wenger's statements, and from the still prominent pro-Wenger lobby at the ground, on the internet sites and so on.
Do you not realise how lucky you are? Look where we've come from, look where we were twenty years ago, do you not realise what an ascent we have had? What do you want? Actual Cups!
All arguably true, but if that's what luck feels like, then I don't feel particularly lucky nowadays. I would argue that supporting Arsenal at this moment is almost unique in its sterility, its turgidity, its predictability, and its hollowness.
Before the standard annihilation starts and I am dismissed as a Spurs fan (and those who know me will assure you that I am not), let me develop this most depressing of notions.
Following a pattern
Even the most pro-Wenger and pro-club cannot dismiss the fact that our seasons nowadays follow a static pattern, and there is no real reason to expect this season to go any differently. We generally enjoy a good start, the grass is green, the weather fresh, and our usual sick notes can usually keep themselves out of the treatment room for the first six weeks.
We then have our ‘November blip', where a pile up of Champions League group games, injuries, and poor weather brings about a couple of defeats on the trot are accompanied by the usual cries of ‘crisis'. Things pick up over Christmas, when there isn't any Champions League and our weakened team has usually been knocked valiantly out of the Carling Cup at about the quarter final stage. If we are fifth in the league, and our Champions league place is seriously in doubt, then the club will spend some money to safeguard our eventual position, but otherwise it won't.
The Champions League starts again, whether we are first in the league or fifth we forfeit the league games to try to put up a good show in the last eight. The team gets knocked out as soon as it comes up against one of the real big boys, and we limp into third or fourth place with a squad missing half of its bigger names. Oh yes, and we got knocked out of the FA Cup away from by some cr*p northern team on a snowy night in February but nobody cared because they were all excited about our second round CL tie with AC Milan or someone.
Sound familiar chaps? We've reached a kind of economic stalemate. To my mind we're one of the first clubs to actually do it. We can't spend money like United, Chelsea or recently Man City. Even when we've had half a chance at the league at Christmas the club hasn't seen fit to stick its hand in its pocket to give us a final push over the line. Last season it was comically tight in only signing Sol Campbell who played great as long as it was once every two weeks, because he was in his mid thirties. Sadly, our games were coming along more often than that.
Scraping the barrel
This summer we've had to watch the club scrape around pathetically trying to get a knock down price for f*ck*ng Mark Schwarzer of all people. Sorry, but when did we suddenly become Charlton Athletic or West Ham? Even George Graham at his most stingy would have set his sights a bit higher than that.
Is it any kind of coincidence that the club has only spent money ‘out of character' twice in the last five years, both at Christmas, firstly with the Walcott/Adebayor/Diaby 24 hour spending spree, then the signing of Arshavin at something approaching his proper value, when there were lots of other top clubs after him. What links these two events? We were, at the time, teetering on the brink of fifth place and our European place was under threat.
Economics
Now I am not so daft that I cannot understand the reasons for this. I firmly believe that our economic, and team development plans were sound at the time we set out to build the stadium, and the club did not anticipate the Abramovic era (how could it have done). Once the scene with Chelsea and United was set, it has probably taken the only sensible economic path, i.e. to protect the fourth or third place and retain the services of the manager whose entertaining blend of football and ability to do something with nothing will keep the punters rolling in.
What's the beef?
But this whinge isn't about that. It's about how it actually feels week in week out, year in year out, to be a committed Arsenal fan. I have long believed that supporting a football team is a relative experience. I measure out my football experiences in ‘days'. A bad day is a boring game that you don't win with very little beer and no atmosphere. An ordinary day is a decent enough game that you win against ordinary opposition with a fair amount of beer.
A good day is a win against one of the top sides with the ground better than usual - when this occurs beer is irrelevant. But a GREAT day, a great day, a great day is one you will still be talking about in 10 years time. Wembley 1987 or Anfield 89 for those lucky enough to be there, Coventry at home 1991, Copenhagen 1994, United away 2002, Leicester at home 2004, or the Lane for that matter. These are all trophy winning occasions yes. But there are others I can think of along the same lines, Spurs away 1987 in the league cup Semi, Sampdoria away in 1995, Old Trafford 1998 when Overmars scored and you could tell we were the best team in the league and looking to replace United.
Lost the buzz
These are all cast iron Arsenal historical moments of course, but my point is, these were days where the crowd, for anyone lucky enough to be there, were BUZZING. No part timers, everyone on their feet giving it to the other fans, nobody with shopping bags with rubber hands in them, no Mr Kipling's cakes. Just pure adrenaline football rush.
And my point is we don't get that any more. Or I can think of about two occasions in the last 5 years, maybe the Juventus home and Villareal away games in 2006 and perhaps, I don't know, Chelsea away in the league two seasons ago if you could get a seat, because a win at Stamford Bridge is highly unusual.
Because we set out each season knowing, if we are honest, that it's' extremely unlikely that we are going to get one of those moments. We might beat United, we might beat Spurs, but it won't be as some kind of glorious title charge - we're just as likely to get done over at Sunderland the following week. And because the club pitches big, because were' all supposed to believe in our supremacy, that we are just a few fit players away from world domination, because we throw the cups (and it would be embarrassing to get too excited about winning the league cup anyway wouldn't it, we're too ‘big' for that).
Drifting
Well, we're just drifting around, drifting, drifting, and the good days (like Spurs or West Ham at home last season) are feeling like great days because I can't remember what a genuine great day is like and I can't honestly see where the next one is coming from.
Other fans get great days, all relative to their success and history. Newcastle and West Brom would have had them when they went up last season. Spurs fans would have had it in the away end at Man City last season; you could see that by the way their crowd went up when Crouch scored that goal by accident. Liverpool have won a champions league (OK, they won't be winning any more for the foreseeable future), Chelsea and United carry off the Championship nowadays, your West Hams and your Sunderlands look to the cups for their jollies (or a win over us).
We are in a unique group of one that are a bit too small time for the big stuff and a bit too big time for the small stuff. Maybe Everton are our junior version - overachieving due to a quality manager but without the spending power to jump to the next stage. And even they got a Cup Final a year or so back!
Money men have taken over
To me, we are the ultimate embodiment of capitalist football. Footballs had the passions strangled out of it by greedy men and political correctness, and our club has had the passion strangled out of it by the Champions league format, a Russian with too much money, a load of accountants, and a manager who is looking increasingly barking mad.
Just what are we supposed to get excited about nowadays? A f*cki*g great big football ground with red seats that cost about forty five pounds to sit in. A possible CL Quarter final against Chelsea which we will inevitably lose, over two legs, because half our squad will be injured. It's like supporting a great big spreadsheet, with trend lines that look the same every year.
Genuinely, about all I can look forward to this season, is drinking a load of very expensive beer, maybe a win against Spurs or if we are lucky United or Chelsea, and laughing at our succession of incredibly sh*t goalkeepers. Now does that sound lucky to you?
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon03/09/2010 11:16
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:12:11:47:45 by Padre Pio.
they are the third most successful team in their country
they won the league in 2002 and 2004
they have been, over the last decade one of the 10 or so most successful teams in europe
they too felt the need to move into a nice shiny new stadium
unfortunately for them, despite selling their best players, they have had to stop work on the stadium because it has finacially crippled them
now i get that you seem aware that there are very good reasons why we're not the best team in the country anymore but seriously you have your sights set too high
those great days are great because they don't come along all the time. hopefully our financial model is setting us up for more days like that but until then you just have to live in hope. and while you're at it settle for arshavin scoring four at anfield, or cesc fabregas walking through the whole spurs team, or samir nasri against united
In fact Wenger has been taken over by the post war ethos of the club, he didnt invent it, he adapted to it.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Quote:Wenger has divided Arsenal fanbase
By Myles Palmer
From Bert Wright : Genuine supporters?
Myles,
Treat that last comment with the contempt it deserves, mate.
There is a view out there - a preposterous and Stalinist view - that to criticise the manager is tantamount to treason of a sort.
In other words, if you criticise Le Boss, you're not a True Gooner. Which is total bollocks.
Arsenal will still be Arsenal when the Wenger Experiment is over and fans and commentators have every right not to toe the party line like the sychophantic toadies of the Arsene Knows brigade.
The one thing which I think we all find a bit sad is that Arsene Wenger has now succeeded in dividing the fanbase of the club totally.
We are a house divided. There are the Arsenists who like his fiscal rectitude, don't mind not winning trophies, and are happy to go on finishing fourth. Then there are the @#$%&-kickers who believe that Wenger has totally lost his way in the last five years, failed to manage the transition and is now lacking all ambition beyond his own personal agenda.
Like so many of us, we're at a loss as to how to rectify the situation which is almost unique in world football.
We have a manager who is set no goals, is not held to any standard of achievement, and knows that his job is a sinecure for as long as he wants it. Most managers would kill for that kind of sweetheart-deal contract.
So if the club don't care how we perform, just so long as the books look more or less balanced, what can we do?
Most of us are stuck in rut of resignation, whereby we know he won't ever pursue quality transfer targets like we used to (Bergkamp, Overmars, Viera, Petit, Gilberto, Henry, Pires etc). He's a Lidl shopper now, dragging his buckled trolley around the bargain basement. Name me one fan who would have selected Koscielny, Squillaci and Schwarzer top of their wishlist for the close season!
And yet we're grateful for any kind of movement because they might be better than the other losers they're replacing.
We're now seriously comparing the respective merits of Almunia and Schwarzer, neither of whom should be anywhere near The Emirates.
Sure, the new players may improve the side ever so slightly and they might keep Bendtner, Eboue and Denilson on the bench which is all to the good but are we now title and Champions League challengers?
Deep down we know we're not, as Mourinho has reminded us. If we bought a keeper like Lloris or Given in January, if we get lucky with injuries or the lack thereof, who knows?
That's the other thing which irks the critics. We know that we're not far away from being serious challengers.
A spend of £20-30 million would achieve that but do we think he's going to do it?
Not a chance, so on we go hoping against hope, while basically knowing that all we can do is it wait out the Wenger years, until he goes or gets pushed.
Depressing really.
Source: ANR
Quote:We are in a unique group of one that are a bit too small time for the big stuff and a bit too big time for the small stuff.Maybe Everton are our junior version - overachieving due to a quality manager but without the spending power to jump to the next stage.
Basically you are saying a mid table team in disguise..
Quote:
Protests Needed
The board and Wenger seem to be completely isolated from the fans
By Conrad Drykoningen
After the debacle of no new goalkeeper arriving at Arsenal (or a holding midfielder), which almost certainly guarantees us as also ran status for yet another season, it is time to let Wenger and the spineless board know our true feelings. When everybody and his dog can observe a Kamikaze situation developing then surely it becomes a duty of supporters to let those whom have control, our immense dissatisfaction known. Currently the only way to let off steam is via supporters’ websites like the onlinegooner or individual abuse at players during a game, which is counter productive.
The Chuckle Brothers – Which one will be in goal next time?
How and where we protest I don’t know, but it was very interesting to hear this week that Man U, for the first time in living memory, having not sold out all their season ticket allocation for this campaign. Was this solely due to the current economic climate, or has the very well orchestrated anti-Glazer lobby been successful again? I say successful simply because all you ever see now is green scarfed Manure fans and hence the publicity for the cause is very visual, and continues to show the average fan’s disapproval of the way their club is currently being run, and they deserve credit for that.
Obviously I realize that their campaign is of a much greater core issue than our frustrations regarding either of our Chuckle Brothers being in goal for a football game. However the board and Wenger seem to be completely isolated from the fans. I for one have had enough of supporting the best balance sheet club in world football today, and simply yearn for the focus of the club to go back to winning trophies by investing some (not all) of that profit into quality playing stock, to increase the probability of success on the football pitch, rather than inventing new ways of fleecing the fans to presumably line the board’s pockets. If there is no intention to ever spend any of the vast profits then stop pretending that we want to be no 1, and start refunding the fans for the over-priced tickets. We are happy to pay if we feel it is being used to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning trophies, but when we see this is not the case, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, and a sense of being fleeced as our loyalty is simply milked to ensure shareholders stakes become more valuable as the debt continues to fall on the new stadium.
Football is unlike any other business, and indeed I don’t wish to view my club as a business in the first place. However I accept that a responsible way of running the club must persist to ensure the long term future over the short term (e.g. Leeds and Portsmouth). However Arsenal and Wenger have now gone 100% in the opposite direction, where they fleece their customers, but categorically refuse to invest where glaring deficiencies are evident. The relationship between club and supporter I feel has been badly broken at Arsenal as the balance sheet is now undisputedly the no 1 priority, and indeed is today’s trophy for the exclusive joy of the board.
In a previous article I wrote about David Dein coming back, because at least he genuinely wanted Arsenal to be the number one club in the world for its achievements on the pitch, rather than as currently with results from the accountancy dept. As if evidence were needed how out of touch our pathetic board are, the sanctioning of a 3 year extension to Wenger’s contract takes some beating. Why when Wenger himself admitted it was now or never for this squad this season, would you rush out into offering a new long term contract? It’s a bit like Liverpool having given Benitez a new 5 year deal, only to discover 12 months later they wanted rid of him, and hence had to pay handsomely for that privilege. Another example is the FA with Capello, whom I bet they would love to sack right now, but simply can’t afford to because of his premature contract extension. The reason the board gave Wenger his new contract is because they are delighted with the way he runs the club, because it is lining their pockets, if not today then tomorrow as their individual shareholdings will be worth vastly more once the debt of the stadium has gone, and at this rate it will be gone by the time Wenger’s new contact expires.
So where does that leave us mere mortal supporters? Probably looking at 4 more years of winning nothing, other than plaudits and going greyer and angrier by the day as our club and in particular Wenger refuse to go the extra mile to tip us over a winning line. Fabregas wants out, as he can see what we can all see, and it’s only a matter of time before the clubs currently below us catch up, and hence I feel something needs to be done to alert the club of our deep dissatisfaction at the way it’s being run, like a championship club with very limited funds. I am not advocating the ridiculous transfer policies of Money City or Real Madrid last season, but is it too much to ask for a goalkeeper and a holding midfielder whom are competent, so we don’t have to have kittens every time we hear the names Almunia, Fabianski or Denilson on the team sheet?
Quote:Celine Dion
Spurs fans would have had it in the away end at Man City last season; you could see that by the way their crowd went up
Noticed that then as well
imagine someone is so smart to understand that the club is taking them for a ride, yet not smart enough to get off that bus
you don't walk into a gordon ramsey eatery and complain about chicken prices..(its still only chicken after all) you just don't go...
If people are really pi.ssed off, they will stop going to the games...until that happens the board will simply continue doing what they are doing
Dein said we will need a sugar daddy because he knew that this was the direction the team would have to go if one didn't come in...so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone about our current course of business
Everyone is frustrated with the goalkeeper situation, but what world class goalkeeper was truly available? Almunia isn't the worst keeper in the world, but if you're going to replace him at least let it be with someone way better than him...we looked and didnt find..simple
Anyway, honestly for me...Arsenal isn't that important in my life for me to worry about if the board is making money on overpriced seats...I've supported them for many years and will continue to do so...but they are waaaaaaaaay down on the list of things I concern myself with on a day to day basis
Quote:Anyway, honestly for me...Arsenal isn't that important in my life for me to worry about if the board is making money on overpriced seats...I've supported them for many years and will continue to do so...but they are waaaaaaaaay down on the list of things I concern myself with on a day to day basis
I doubt this statement Mr. Rockstaar...take a deep look deep down in your heart..it's one of the top in the list..that's why everyday you come here and that's why even if the sky fall down still you support the club...and I could bet just like my home club now in 11th place(last season was the winner) and if one day plays in Sere B, I will still have that same feeling..that's why sometimes money grabbers could play with the animal willing to be slaughtered that's the fans.
This site is entertainment for me..since I'm practically always online..and Im working while posting...visiting AT is actually no effort
My life is business and music and when I watch people on telly or sporting events..I only see people earning a very decent living doing what they want to do...so I can spend my time worrying about them or trying to improve myself and my companies to be more successful
Being in the entertainment field for as long as I have, you have a better understanding that everything we watch or read...there is a business behind it...so Arsenal hasn't had that great impact on me for many years. My goal is to create a brand or music that is recognised and loved around the world mate
not care if cesc fabregas stays for another year on a £100,000 pr wk pay packet
When we went through the barren spell in the 1980s it was famously broken by the 1987 littlewoods cup final win v Liverpool. Now I realise that winning it did not represent any great footballing achievement, but you could not have told that to any Arsenal fan at the time. The following year at Highbury the upper tiers at Highbury were full of pictures of kenny Sansom lifting the league cup.
Can anyone imagine the same reaction now? Obviously not, We dont even bother trying to win the domestic cups. Remember the stick we gave the spuds when they won the league cup a while back. We are the club with supposedly the bigger fish to fry.
Except when the time comes to fry them, we are sh*t at it.
Now thats a completely new kettle of fish. If we were the same set up as the 1980s or mid 1990s then an FA Cup win would be welome and I would celebrate just like I did in 1993.
But that simply isnt where we are any more.
Then I looked forward to the next game -season,then along comes this French guy with glasses and wins us the double,@#$%& hes emulated the man Bertie Mee,but he does it again,he @#$%& red nose off and I love it,to top it all we go unbeaten Im in heaven its better than sex(lie).
Suddenly we build a new stadium and we need to budget ,but we stay in the CL which has become the holy grail,we dont are about the FA or CC anymore but seem happy to tread water,but despite my @#$%& and apparent negativity I ferkin love it Ilove all that is Arsenal and always will,gooner til death.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
An interesting parallel is the talk of David Deins rise to the FA.
He went against the board and has been villified by the board, it`s PR machine and most AFC fans as being un-Arsenal. And IMO he still wanted the best for the club as he went down the path he took.
The fan base backed the board. That same board that attaches itself to the values that concern you guys. The values that say that the finances and stablity of the club are more important than the competition it was created to compete in.
Since the end of WW1, 1919, when the FA restarted its 4 tier football league, with Arsenal fc in the 1st div, there’s only ever been one club to have never been relegated from Div 1/ EPL.
Arsenal fc
Let’s keep making history
The whole world love that mini-cooper and ROlls ROyce is renowned for its hand-tooled quality, an overpriced product based on exclusiveness and explioted snobbery...exactly liek PHW & Board exploiting Arsenal fans to pay for an overpriced ticket...
But for every Mini-COoper, there is always a Beetle, a Nissan Sunny, a Toyota, a Hyundai....lying in wait to supplant it...
Similarly, Arsenal like Rolls Royce, still living in a past world of its own....unable to adjust to a brutal competitive world with a Beemer, a Benz, a Lexus and an Infiniti waiting to overtake it....
That is the visceral fear of a groqing segment of Arsenal fans:
Is Arsene Wenger's Policy outdated and fair to innovate and upgrade against growing competition for the past 5 years?
Like telco got ambush by Iphone and Ipad?????
Like Arsenal getting ambush by CITEH, S*CUMS, et al with Liveprool being the 1st casualty..and ManLeeds or Arsenal the next...?
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Die-hard ROlls lover just grinned and bear it while being overtaken by Beemer, Benz and Lexus.........every year hoping a power engine will make its appearance during summer launch...
In my view its a dangerous game when one man is so powerful,the board love him,he runs the club on a shoestring and yet does just about enough to keep the fans happy.
As stated by others AFC have always been reluctant to try the next step,in the late nineties early 00s we could have dominated,but caution won,then Roman came along and we built the stadium,suddenly we were told the cash is available,well Im still waiting.
Simply that Wenger will continue with his youth policy till he leaves Arsenal in 2014.
Can We Now Trust The Process 🤔🤷🏿♀️ or Should We Still Remain Cautious 🙇🏿♀️
This is the season where all parts came together to form an integral whole.
Problem is whether that "Made in Spain" Engine will sputter or purr like a finely-tuned F1 Engine.
Quote:We are a house divided. There are the Arsenists who like his fiscal rectitude, don't mind not winning trophies, and are happy to go on finishing fourth. Then there are the @#$%&-kickers who believe that Wenger has totally lost his way in the last five years, failed to manage the transition and is now lacking all ambition beyond his own personal agenda.
I am ofcourse of the latter. I love Wenger as a man, and the day he leaves I will cry my eyes out because I grew up watching his team play his magical brand of football. Im talking about the here and now though, and it seems to me his personal agenda and stubborn attitude is what is holding this club back.
Our net spend this summer was about 12 million. Had it been 20-30 with a keeper, better centre back, and maybe a couple of other additions, I would be chuffed, and the thing is 20-30 mill is well within our budget, but it seems if Wenger can't get some one for a price he wants, he will simply just leave it, forget a replacement, thats it, he's had since May to look for a new keeper, for god knows what reason he went in for Schwarzer toward the end of last season, Fulham rejected the bid, and we havent been back since, or in for anyone else.
Now are you telling me he is the ONLY keeper in the world that is better than what we have? The problem is some people believe in Wenger a little too much, and he is far too comfortable to do what he likes and play the strict economist role, constantly contradicting himself, and creating false promises, which many overlook, because of the GREAT things he has done in the past. All I would like to see is the club take the next step up and actually invest a fair amount into the squad for once and just give the big spending supporters something to be excited about for once.
Kos, Squillaci, and Chamakh may be fine players, but deep down they are all somewhat average. When Wenger came out with those words of intent after the streak of poor results, then going and losing 6 or 7 players, and replacing them with 3 somewhat average players, is not what anyone expected but he's somehow managed to win a new contract regardless and that is what really grinds me.
Call me pessimistic, call me a miserable b*stard, but atleast I want to see the club progress unlike some of you Wenger Knows Brigade fundementalists who are still living in the Arsenal dark ages hoping we can return to the 70s barren spell to "teach you all a lesson".
Regardless of success or failure, my pirmary interest is to follow keenly on the progress of all those youngsters - Theo, Ramsey, Gibbs, Wilshere, Nordtveit, JET, Lansbury, Barazite, Aneke, Benik, Galindo, Wellington, Botelho, Szczesny, Rhys Murphy, COnor Henderson, Angha, Bartley, Ozakhup, et al.
And Arsenal '10 emulating Ajax '70s with the same amount of success or even surpasses them.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
StreamFootball - Arsenal
More Arsenal headlines
Arsenal latest threads
- Pre season
- Off Topic: Remember the Clamour re Jhon Duran
- Vinicius Junior
- You can sign one player this window
- Sign valverde and kill 2 birds with one stone
- Can this team with the champions league next season?
- Tzolis signs - official
- 2026/27 Arsenal Squad
- What’s going on?
- For those interested.. Arsenal Women Continue to Strengthen