“It was utterly moronic and shows that, for some people their time in the spotlight has become more important than the good of the Club…We fans have a huge role to play in getting behind the manager and the team for the rest of this season and beyond.”
Following on from Matt’s excellent post yesterday and in preparation for this afternoon’s fifth round FA Cup clash I thought I’d offer us all a bit of comfort. The above quote is the kind of comment we might expect from one of the PA crew, beset as we are by organisations who purport to represent us, vehemently anti Arsenal blogs who claim to be like us and bannerwankers who apparently just need a hug and understanding. But it may surprise you (it may not after all I have no special insight beyond my glass balls, you can find this stuff on the net just as easily as I can) to hear that this is taken not from an Arsenal fan but from the first response of a Blackburn Rovers supporter to news that his club’s resident ‘action group’ are miffed at the appointment of their new manager.
The dickheads we all have to put up with on the internet and for some of you sadly in the stadia where our boys go into battle might genuinely have some cause for alarm if our club had endured the recent history of today’s opponents. I’m not talking about the managerial merry go round, the owners and meddling back-room boys, nor the fact that the club is being sued by a former manager or that horse meat is being served in Lancashire schools. Oh wait, sorry over enthusiastic scanning of the headlines in the Lancashire Telegraph there, disregard the last bit. No the utterly horrifying news greeting Blackburn’s fans this morning is that the club have failed to keep David Bentley from returning to their playing staff. The midfielder who once compared himself to Dennis Bergkamp… Oh Jesus. Give me a moment. Just typing that makes my spleen start to hurt. Ahem. Right here we go. The midfielder who once thought he’d be as good as Dennis Bergkamp…
Aaaaaaaaaaaargh.
The young footballer who once set his sights on emulating the inestimably brilliant Dennis Bergkamp, but who ended up not good enough even for Spurs, is returning to Ewood Park on loan for the rest of the season. You see, some people think we have it tough but the guys who George shares a bus with have to digest not only the fact that their kids are eating Shergar but that their home town club has to have that rodent faced little underachiever in their side not just once but for a second go around.
Don’t you feel just ever so slightly better about your life now?
If not, just the simple fact that it’s FA Cup fifth round day should give you a scintilla of pleasure, a slight shiver of spinal sensation at the prospect of a home tie in the country’s premier knock out competition. There’s a whole lot of guff spouted about the devaluing of cups and Arsene not caring enough about this particular tournament but our record in it is second to none. Apart from a team I refuse to acknowledge that is, so second to none as far as I’m concerned. Arsene always looked pretty chuffed at winning the thing and while the Champion’s League and the way qualification for it is organised has altered the balance of power so that in our minds we have to shoe horn in a top four finish to the old hierarchy of European Cup, League Title and FA Cup, there is enough history to keep the pursuit of the old trophy an exciting prospect.
I’m trying desperately not to slip down memory lane into one of my nostalgic diversions. I haven’t mentioned Ronnie Radford, Wrexham, Jim Montgomery, Bobby Stokes, Dave Beasant or Bournemouth in ’84. I’ve been good haven’t I? We have of course been on the receiving end of our fair share of cup upsets and we have to take them on the chin, they are for many old romantics (whatever happened to the new romantics? I suppose they became old in their time) what makes the competition special. I’m not mentioning any of the above mentioned because I’m sure you all have your own FA cup memories both happy and sad and don’t need to read of mine. We can share in the comment section. This flim flam is really only the lure to draw you all here, the light around which us Positive Arsenal moths can gather, the real meat is in the comments as far as I’m concerned.
There are of course FA Cup memories which will bind us all together depending only upon our age. Charlie George lying flat on his back and gazing down at his erection after one of the best ever FA cup final goals and poor Geoff Barnett unfairly carrying the can for letting the loathed Leeds beat us the following year. The sense of utter disbelief when we lost to Ipswich being wiped out by the crazy ending to the 1979 final against United. And the bitter return to Wembley where we somehow contrived to let West Ham score their ping pong goal and beat us the following season. There have been finals which didn’t concern us but nonetheless stick in the mind. I’m certain I only need say Keith Houchen and Gary Mabbutt and many of us will remember diving header and own goal with a warm sense of satisfaction.
As I say I shan’t meander down the roads of my memory for that is a sad habit into which us old men must take care not to fall. I merely wish to set the scene so that you all can relive and share past glories and failures in this venerable competition.
Of course the cup isn’t all about traditions and the past. These days it has a different but no less important attraction. It is a chance to slip out of the suffocating “3 Points A Must” straight jacket of the Premiership and experience life in a different arena. Points are not at stake and a defeat elsewhere for a hated or feared rival means they can be scratched, torn from the wall chart and need not pose us any future threat. Today we are likely to see a different side take the field. There may be old faces returning to the line up from the treatment table as they rehabilitate or youngsters staking a claim in order to alleviate an injury crisis. Fringe or bench players have a chance to shine as their first choice colleagues are rested ahead of supposedly sterner tests. This all gives the FA Cup a feeling of being in a different place, of stepping outside of ourselves for a day and seeing the world through an altered perspective. Of course we want to win, I’m not for a moment suggesting otherwise. I don’t care too much about the league cup but I sure as hell want to win it every year. But there is a tangible relaxation of the weekly grind, of the usual pressures and it is replaced with the allure of cup glory, the promise of a May moment in the Wembley sun. There is the chance of something special at the end of the season, a way of forging a link between these players today and Charlie George’s hard-on and for that reason alone today is a special day.
Positively Arsenal 
“seem”, I should say, since I’m only listening, not watching
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3 subs. Theo, Jack and Santi for best player on the park TR7, Gervs who has done well and The Ox who has worked hard all day 20 to go
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Oh hells bells. Come on boys!
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Bloody Hell!
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Freak goal from B’burn 0 – 1. out of nothing Szezzer saves but ball drops to B’burn player who miss kicks and somehow it balloons up and in off the post.
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Charmed life of B’burn goal somehow continues after goalmouth scramble.
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Trying to pass through two banks of five on the edge of their box. So difficult. But we can do it.
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Last ten minutes. Free kick to B’burn
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My team is causing me to age by the minute.
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penalty turned down – offside looked like we were through 8 minutes
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Oh goodness me
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Nacho snap shot needed just a touch but sails wide.
6 minutes to preserve PA unbeaten record
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sorry andrew can’t keep this up too tense
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Fuck you Mike Dean. Fuck you
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And Fuck that fucking keeper
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Shit . Coquelin took a kick to the face
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I honestly cannot believe we haven’t scored. Unreal. When you see what a fluke their goal was that is unbelievable.
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Fuck me, we are unlucky!
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Oh, damn damn damn. I can’t take this in.
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Why are these idiots booing?
Steww, I am shocked also. How the heck did the team not score.
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I was so sure we’d manage an equaliser at least. Their keeper on fire, our finishing a bit off?
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Totally gutted. Can’t believe we didn’t score, how many chances and shots deflecting off B’burn players. Crazy game this.
Imagine how the players feel. I just hope they can lift themselves for Tuesday.
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Warren Barton saying that AW is on thin ice. What a clown.
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Well what do you say about such a game. No way we deserved to lose this. So frustating.
Oh well, roll on Munich then.
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Shit happens. We’ve got Bayern Munich on the 19th.
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Don’t listen to him Paul. we know what we saw today. A team dominating their opponents a weird fluke of as goal then so many chances against a packed defence that one ought to have gone in.
Lady luck and stubborn defending not to mention a keeper having the game of his life will do that.
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I’ve had better afternoons – needed a bit more quality in the box
That will have lulled Bayern into a nice warm feeling – and so we shall pounce
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FunGun, we did miss some chances but It was just one of those games, they parked the bus, got one good chance and goal.
This performance deserved a win but it did not happen. wow!
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Warren Barton is an idiot.
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We were dominant ,we were unlucky ,but we could have played a lot better also
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I am off to ride my bike for an hour get this out of my system.
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He is just an annoying person Steww. Chatting pure rubbish.
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thought we played wel triple subs seem to unsettle the team when the three players coming off had all played well. i dont know but it looked like theo was asleep for their goal ox had tracked back well all afternoon . usual hacks will come out with the same old should play best team from the start and rest players when your 3-0 up but i just think bb was lucky today
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Paul @4:52- Because they are idiots.
If only Gerv had scored. Let’s hope the players pick themselves up. Shit happens.
COYG.
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We could have converted from our corners. I thought we were poor from those.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n09_Q7Y9pY
arsenal = surround me..understand me ….
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Walcott did not track the runner and he scored but even with that, I am shocked that we did not even get one goal.
I know Sahil.
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We usually don’t score from corners. We do need to improve there but damn!
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It’s a good thing I am on a self imposed exile from other blogs.
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are we sure ratata’s shot at the end wasnt in ?..maybe it punched a hole through the net that noone saw it..bring video technology even mikel didnt know.. aaah
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and whats with these keepers having the games of their lives in our ground ? voodoo ?
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The delivery was rather poor from the corners Gains. Still we should have won.
Off to do something else now, take my mind of this.
Arsenal!!!
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I am out. The wife and baby are going to JA tomorrow and I have some things to get done.
I’ll be back!
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Not the best performance by our guys but should have been good enough to beat BR.
We really need to do something about our corners though. All a team has to do is clear the ball for a corner knowing it’s a safe bet. If we scored more from them they would panic a bit more when trying to clear their area.
Thought the 3 changes disturbed the rhythm for long enough for them to score their lucky goal.
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Having 26 shots with only 6 on target is also a problem
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16 corners & their keeper needed to make 1 save from them
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Thanks you guys. Rescue me from the meltdown occurring elsewhere. Maybe because I follow US college sports, this doesn’t seem like the end of the world to me. You lose sometimes. To teams you should beat. It happens. But your fans shouldn’t abandon you, and call you shit, and boo you off the field, for God’s sake. That is an attitude I just don’t understand. Yes it’s a poor result, but there were good moments in that game, too. We were a bit unlucky; their keeper made some great saves.
Oh, and f**k Warren Barton. “Wilshere may walk” , he says. F**k you, you ass. You, I have anger for. And FoxSoccer shows tweet from Piers Morgan. F**k off. See, I direct my anger outward…where it belongs.
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BBC stats Arsenal 54% – BR 46%
Must have been watching a different game to me
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Paul N
The booing was at David (I am the one) Bentley
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If you have a bit of spare time this video is well worth watching. May alter a few opinions to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_MaGEFH8g
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