I don’t know about you, but when Arsenal are suffering, I am miserable.
My long-suffering wife leaves the room at kick-off and checks the score before she comes back.
If we lose, she keeps a healthy distance and it can be some time before I can raise a smile. I can’t sleep for a couple of days and eating is a chore. Now I know it’s ‘just a game’ and I should not make other people miserable because of it.
I just can’t help it.
I love Arsenal with an unhealthy passion.
I know I am not alone. I know it’s also not something that’s exclusive to people who adore the manager and players. I understand that miserable gits, malcontents and know-it-alls also feel like this.
But me being a selfish old curmudgeon, I don’t care about them.
When my head goes down I want a place to visit that makes me feel better. Not a place that wallows in the misery and offers endless opinions on easy fixes proffered by idiots with little or no understanding of the small picture, let alone the big one.
I don’t want to be told that player X, Y or Z is not fit to wear the shirt.
Or that the manager is a senile old fool who has lost the plot.
I don’t want to be reminded of every bad loss or the perceived ideas of why players left. Apart from the fact I have heard them a million times before, and argued against them a million and one times, it just depresses me further. The attitude of those I am arguing with makes me more than a little irate.
Discussions degenerate into arguments, arguments into rows and rows into slanging matches. This suits the malcontents fine.
Now everyone is miserable and irate like them.
So it came to me some months ago that what is needed is a blog where like-minded people could gather and make each other feel better rather than worse.
And here we are, “Positively Arsenal”.
An oasis of joy in a desert of misery. A place where people can rejoice in all that is good about the club. Somewhere for us to look forward with enthusiasm and expectation.
If people want to discuss tactics, formations and personnel, fine. That’s what makes a blog go round. But if they want to play Football Manager and imply that they could run or manage the club better than the top professionals that actually do the job, here is not the place for them.
The idea was easy, implementing it the hard part.
So I did what I do best, and got someone else to do it for me. That someone was, as you now know, Adi. He did all the spade work and a damn good job he has done – I am sure you will agree!
We now have regular contributions from Andrew, Stew, Adi, Frank and Bradyesque. And I have to say the standard of writing has exceeded my wildest dreams. The quality of comments is something I hankered after, yet never expected. The first two weeks has been quite a success. I hope it goes from strength to strength because it can only bring us all joy.
I see this as a family, a positive community. One where each poster feels at home and part of the experience. And I hope you all feel the same and continue to bond and flourish. Everyone who writes and posts is as important to the future of the site as myself or Adi.
Thank you all for making me a very happy little Meerkat.
By our very own @BlackburnGeorge aka Pedantic George
Positively Arsenal 
It cheers me up no end to be able to read this blog. Congratulations to everyone who contributes. There’s a perspective here that just doesn’t take its starting point from whatever the mainstream media are dishing up to agitate us.
This may be helped by the fact that I’m currently looking forward to matches rather than half dreading them 🙂
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George, it’s us should be thanking you. For the platform to write but more for giving us back what the internet always should have offered us. When I left the other blogs I used to read it was because they had actually began to poison my enjoyment of the game. The online community should be a family just as you say where we seek solace in the bad times and someone to pick us up and encourage us on when we’re down. It should be an extra dimension to our enjoyment of the match and not a way of making us feel depressed just because we dare to like what we see.
Thanks to you and Adi I can not only look forward to the game but to discussing it as well.
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Ahh George, so you are a big old softie after all.
I love the blog & comments here. I’m much like Stew when watching a game hate reading some of the nonsense if we make an error only then to read how good we were if we win.
Supporting your team is for life, good or bad as the results may be.
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The unbeaten blog that’s unbeatable, frequented by proper people that are proper Arsenal.
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Group hug in the centre circle 🙂
Like minded fans who want to enjoy football and Arsenal Football Club – who treat those twin impostors just the same
Long may it flourish
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Yes George. Maybe I’m getting old (no question about that), but the reason I arrived at a certain other blog in the not too distant past, was the sense of positivity, that the folks there UNDERSTOOD implicitly, you didn’t have to explain what was blatantly obvious. I felt like it was an oasis of sanity re: Arsenal, somewhere I could feel that sense of “community” online, an illusion perhaps, but you sensed like minds kicking against the pr*cks in their own way. Alas, those days are gone, and I increasingly find myself in the minority elsewhere. That’s ok by me. I have no desire to tell people what to think, I just don’t want the ceaseless negativity rubbing off on me. And after a while it can. I shouldn’t be dreading match days, anticipating the next hyperbolic explosion if we lose (or draw).
This site is a fine antidote, and you are doing a great job guys.
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BTW George when you have sorted out the tea, the tactics and the finances could you sort out the ticket office – I have just spent an hour fucking about with it for two tickets to Everton – ridiculous shit
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Amen to that George. Six-seven years of of fighting the same blooming negativity wears on you. Supporting one’s football club is supposed to be fun, not a bloody grind. As observed by everyone else, you and Adi are serving a need, building a community where we can mutually rejoice in our success and lean on each other in times of defeat. In contrast, at that other place I gradually found myself stepping on egg shells, fearing to antagonize the host and his captain, both of whom had had made it plain, repeatedly in writing, that the club was wallowing in decline and the manager was on his last legs. That was the signal to “malcontents” to not only wage war on Wenger (throw in Ivan and Stan for good measure) but especially on those of us who defended the manager and pleaded that this was the time when support was most needed, a time of rebuilding and transition from the Cesc-Van Traitor era.
Now there is obviously some good writing and some good people at those other blogs but to quote Harry Flowers:
” I have no desire to tell people what to think, I just don’t want the ceaseless negativity rubbing off on me. And after a while it can. I shouldn’t be dreading match days, anticipating the next hyperbolic explosion if we lose (or draw).
“This site is a fine antidote….”
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Now I am such a bigwig ,I expect the club will give me a complementary box.We can all go together soon !
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In spite of my unyielding support for the club the ticket office has finally driven me over the edge
YOU CAN STICK YOUR MATCH TICKETS UP YOUR ARSE – I WILL SAVE MY £51.65 AND SPEND IT ON SOMETHING ELSE
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Morning Gent’s.
Shouldn’t everyone be happy today?
Grinding out two 1-0 victories back to back!
It seems the Banner & Bin Bag wankers have indeed ‘got their Arsenal back’, so maybe the miserable bastards will stop whining.
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That’s a good point Matt. They’ve got their 1 – 0 to the Arsenal back and we have our 1 – 0 to The Football Team.
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What Stew said. That.
And Red K, Dups, Mel, Harry, oh and in particular especially Shotta (shared experience there, I think).
Anicoll5 – I have always found the AFC ticketing operation a tricky beast to tame.
I have never yet had the confidence to tackle getting tickets for away games and have only ever sat incognito in with the home fans when traveling beyond north London. Not sure why it’s so difficult to get tickets for home games although TicketMaster once told me Arsenal was the only Premiership ground where you couldn’t buy specified tickets next to, say, an existing season ticket holder. I’ve repeatedly had to join as a red member in order to buy a ticket for a visitor and even then not been able to sit next to them during the game.
Deeply frustrating – if other grounds can do this why can’t we?
Maybe a friendly letter to Ivan awaits writing …?
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AA @ 11:55 am – Shared experience and no doubt unmitigated joy at being reunited with some of our old comrades who have been equally disenchanted.
As the Good Book says: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong… etc
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Nice one George. I too have sought a blog with a positive slant. I’ve been a gooner for a mere seven years and in this time two things have struck me forcefully: 1. The more I have come to learn about the club, the more I have come to love it, the manager and everybody committed to it (even Silent Stan) 2. Most of the doom-sayers are shockingly ignorant. Thanks a lot for Positively Arsenal. I bookmarked it the first day I read an article on it.
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absolute pleasure george and congrats to all the creative team !!!
now lets do an exercise
– who started the x trophyless years taunts ? was it not manure and chelski trolls?
– who started the feeder club nonsense ? was it not again manure chelski and spud trolls?
– who started the “they dont like it up em”, “soft cheating foreigners”, “divers”, was it not the media
there are like more than 100 arsenal blogs…how many chelski and how many ttotenahm ones? about 10 altogether? poor kids havent got anything else to do..but i dont blame them….i blame our own who swallow it all and accept it.
the truth is simple, from pos 1-2 we got “relegated” to pos 3-4 while playing with kids and repaying our stadium…in many occasions we were in the chase for trophies till feb march and april….our kids didnt have the character to cope with pressure refs and media…no big deal..we are still here and will still be here for yeas to come thanks to the foundations being built. sure the board could have taken a small risk here or there and assist wenger with a key player but if they really could, they would have done it i suppose.
it takes great strentgh to swim against the current and our club is doing exactly that, the fans support is imperative.
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” from pos 1-2 we got “relegated” to pos 3-4 while playing with kids and repaying our stadium…in many occasions we were in the chase for trophies till feb march and april…”
In a nutshell, there it is.
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ive got two three fans in another site claiming that they have the freedom to critisise. i m trying to explaint ot hem that they only have the freedom to EXPRESS an opinion, and that whether that opinion is heard or not or taken into consideration or not is something totally different. they dotn get it, they call me a fascist and a blind follower….as if i am stupid and dont know what i support and why.
when you press these guys into explaining what makes them feel entitled to critisis,e they reply its because they pay a ticket, thus they have the mentality of a customer….
then they go on about telling me how theyre doing nothing wrong and that debates are healthy…hang on a minute..debates are made between two sides..one pro one anti..why would any arsenal fan uphold the role of the anti in any debate about his club?
who fits the profile of pretending the objective so as to pass critique and raise tensions? is it not the profile of a troll ?
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i know steww and it does my head in when they present this reality as a “decline”…they are taking the pi55 obviously and a stronger support would have laughed such suggestions off…. unfortunately the fickle and easily manipulated bit the bate..
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*bait
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“.why would any arsenal fan uphold the role of the anti in any debate about his club? ”
Fuck me Hunter you’re on fire.
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the joke about gg’s back 4 being wenger;s foundation for the invincibles is a claim that only someone who is looking to beliitle arsene would make. ..i.e a spud….
it is my opinion that the spuddies know how important wenger has been for arsenal ( what with looking at their patthetic club spreading its legs for us ), they can see the change and organistaion and sophistication he brought to the club and are absolutely sithening its us and not them. they dotn like it that arsenal fans are arrogant due to wenger spoilling us, so they will bring us down and to do that they will first bring down the manager we worship, telling us he aint all that, previous regimes did better, and so and on…
christ a few years ago trolls were all over arsenal blogs scrutinising wenge;rs record at monaco…..lmao….
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heheh stew i have figured out the psychological profile of the anti….what and why would make an otherwise fan of arsenal be so vindictive towards the manager who changed the club for the better ?
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“.why would any arsenal fan uphold the role of the anti in any debate about his club? ”
Fuck me Hunter you’re on fire.
Oh fuck off Stew ,I wanted to say that !
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but the worst of all…the absolute bottom of the barrel…is that tim payton lad….though here we are dealing with somehting different..here i believe its more of a case of usmanov lobbying rather than hate for the manager….
so , we have rivals trolls taking the pi55, the fa and the refs bias towrads our “cheating foreigners”, the biassed media with their “decline” talks and them so called “supporters” group who are craving for arsenal to become like chelsea just because a billionaire happens to own 28% of the club and they want us to follow the “big spenders” …. play the game of big business..take madrid and united on head to head.
in the middle of all this wenger has been trying to first instill the playing philosophy ( like van gaal at ajax/barca etc) and try to keep it all within the financial limits already imposed. he has kept the club in the champions league paying positions, has made a profit every season and his team is always one or two ingredients away from being the finsihed article. without winning anything in terms of trophies the club has climbed to 5th richest club in the world.
those who complain are stupid.
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haha george ..thnx buddy. seriously an oasis this place….i feel sorry for ml and a couple of others who have to deal with shit supporters all day. how is the kung fu doing?
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Nice post George. It seems that everyone is grateful to everyone on this blog. It’s no surprise that those who respect the club, the manager and players are those who generally respect others. There is an inherent decency here and I love it.
Long live Positively Arsenal.
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Great posts Hunter.
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thank you arsenalandrew ..crucial month coming up ….players and fans need to act as one from now on.
funny how everyone was critisisng wenger for lack of transfer activity in january when his emphsis was the fixture schedule formations and so on…lol what transfers we have more important things to deal with…
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Ironically, the signings – including the re-signings of Theo and co – were easily the best developments of any club in the EPL this winter.
Lost count of the number of nay-sayers convinced Arsene was too busy asset-stripping to strengthen the squad.
Numpties, the lot of them.
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Well said George!
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Hunter, you are killin it dude. Good stuff!
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this place must feel like hell for the doomers. 😉
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Shotta, it feels much more like the beginning of an era than the end of one. Arsene is building a serious team that will take the PL by storm next season. For those who actually watch football and can see beyond the little set backs (due to many things) it is easy to see. Can you imagine Santi, Poldi and OG with a year under their belts? and there is no hint of them wanting out either.
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What is going on with Podolski.? Was he not MOTM with a goal and 3 assists,and he has not started a game since ?
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I agree with those who say that it is much more fun watching the Arsenal nowadays. We will all be dissapointed if we lose but I know I can come on here and not dread the bull crap about RVP being sold, having 180 mil in the bank, the club being cheap and stacking money so that the board can stuff their pockets and worse of all that AW tenure is coming to an end.
I just don’t need that on a daily basis, if at all.
ARSENAL!
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George, maybe Arsene is resting him to play against Bayern?
What about Rosicky, is he back as yet?
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Paul,
i really agree with you that next season will be very interesting.
on.
i don’t know how liverpool and spuds attract players even without CL football, but i don’t want us to find out or try it.
if we get any trophies on the way, then it is a plus, but what we need to do now is just make sure we have champs league football next season. 4th is the minimum target, but i think 3rd is still pretty much up for grabs.
and then, hopefully, next season will be the first time in a while where we actually can prepare for it without any disruptions. (hopefully bacary sagna’s contract gets sorted out soon)
i read an article a while back on goal difference telling the story of how good a team really is. the example highlighted was newcastle, who finished 5th last season with an amazingly low GD. the writer argued that newcastle overachieved, and their less-than-stellar campaign so far seemed to prove him right.
if you look at it, we have the 4th best GD in the league right now, though we are 5th. i think it shows that our team has the inherent quality required to compete, but we have dropped many unnecessary points, which i think is down to the fact that this is essentially a new team playing together for the first time. we have had games where everything clicked, and games where nothing came off. i think that is simply down to playing time together.
that is why for now, we just need to get over the finishing line. next season, we will be a different proposition.
p.s. i think you have to give giroud, poldi, santi and monreal lots of credit. they have settled in quite quickly.
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george,
i think wenger is waiting to unleash poldi on bayern? anyway, heard that he had been struggling with an ankle problem, which explains why he has been taken off after 70 minutes in most games.
i think against sunderland, he would have come on, if jenks hadnt gotten sent off or jack didnt have to come off.
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is Gerv available for the blackburn game? would like to see him unleashed against them.
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There are two types of Arsenal supporters. The ones who watch for the football and the ones who need to have a team to brag about to their mates on Monday morning. If you’re in the former camp, then you’re delighted to watch Wenger pull a rabbit out of his arse every season, in order to get us a CL spot, and you’re delighted to watch how the players develop. If you’re in the latter camp, you’re a spoiled, miserable idiot who writes negative comments on blogs when we eke out a victory away at Sunderland, down to ten men for much of the second half. Seriously, who the hell complains about an away win at a tough place like Sunderland? If I lived in London and I heard someone complain about that win, I’d have George grind them up.
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Hey meerkat, you done good!
Isn’t a bit of a statement on the affairs of mice and men that you need to set up a blog to be able to freely support one’s own club!
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Effort has been made to try and sharpen some blunt blades in anticipation of a 5th placed finish. I guess some were disappointed last season! Which is why this forum is important for many of us who are not playing that lame Game.
Thanks Sensei.
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correction: “who are not fans of that game”
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I’m glad this blog is up because I couldn’t express my excitement when Wenger finally played Theeeoo through the middle.
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If Wenger is so crap, why are the two teams directly above us playing Thursday nights and we’re still in the Champions League? The Manchester Oilers were bottom of the group this season and didn’t even make it to the Europa League.
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Gainsbourg69 February 11, 2013 at 4:00 pm
spot on! you complete me
paul – n i was reading your mate’s jon-jon comments elsewhere …. ahahahahah he is holding it against his club that rvp and cesc werent kept…as if arsenal had any say … i bet he would have liked us to act like tough ol ‘fergie and tell em both to eff off and say no to 55-60 million just like alex did with ronnie and said no to madrid’s millions…. ahahhahaah…
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If Wenger is so crap, why are PSG and Real Madrid chasing him ?
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Hunter, yep, that is the type of bulls that does my head in. I am kool with them, but I cannot stomach that ongoing rubbish. I would much prefer talk about now and what is to come. The player that I cannot wait to come is Joel Campbell, that kid is class. And what about Ryo? I still have very high hopes for that kid.
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@ 3:26
I agree with that, Kori.
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