Part one of a two-part guest post from Poznan In My Pants (PIMP).
The Charms of Criticism
There is a lot to be said for criticism.
It is necessary, even essential. I’m all for it, myself. I love a spot of considered, knowledgeable, criticism. But a bottomless sea of criticism leads to negativity. Isn’t it funny that no one wants to be labeled as “negative?” What does that tell you about excessive criticism? They all want to be known as realists. And I don’t blame them, because negativity is cancerous to the human spirit.
(Ultimately, this is actually a post about the NextGen Series though it will take me until the second part of this article to get to it).
But criticism, measured criticism that is, is positive, up to a point. When my (hypothetical) wife criticizes me I always strive to embrace the experience so as to become a better man. Surrrrre I do. On the other hand, when I get a continuous stream of criticism from my (hypothetical) wife, I just shut it off.
Some feel that staying positive in tough times is just having your head in the sand. One person in particular chastises Gooners for accepting mediocrity while having their head in the sand. I’m amazed he can see, from where he has his own head stuck. (He must have taken a breather at some point to have a look around.)
I shared a train with him once, from Birmingham to London. It stopped at Leamington Spa, among many other stations along the way. “Oh, cool, I used to live here.” I said. He replied, “You’re excited about Leamington Spa when we’re on this train to get to London? Absolutely typical. Settling for mediocrity again.” I sighed.
The Positivity Ratio 3:1
The do-ers in life are generally very positive. Studies show a ratio of between 3 and 11 positive thoughts to every one negative thought (ie between 3:1 and 11:1) leads to action, creativity, solution finding, being open to ideas and being empathetic to others, and most importantly, enjoying your life. And by extension, it leads to having the wherewithal to actually make things better: the ability to find creative solutions, the ability to understand others and bring them together, and the energy to actually do something about it. It has been rigorously studied. As you all know, it’s what we do in America. We study shit.
Note: You have to get above 11:1 to start being dysfunctionally delusional. There is plenty of head-room here, guys. You’re not even close.
So, excuse me if I am slow to join you, Debbie Downer.
But A 1:1 Ratio Is Still Good, Right?
Many would look on a 1:1 ratio as simply being “realistic,” but even that ratio can leave you in a rut of inactivity, complaining, with a narrowed and bleak view of possible solutions and outcomes. This may be counter-intuitive to you that 1:1 is not good. But remember, it is saying that every second thought you have is a criticism. How would you like to be married to that? On the other hand, it certainly explains why being a so-called realist is still code for being depressing. If these “realists” suggest action, it tends to be of the “burn it down” variety, with a distinct air of blameyness. That’s why so many of today’s solutions for Arsenal tend to involve getting rid of people – players, manager, owners etc., or on a good day, buying new players (which is also code for getting rid of people.) In manufacturing they champion Continuous Improvement Methods, which are apparently more effective than the alternative “Burn It All Down And Start Again” methods of manufacturing improvement.
So if 1:1 is not particularly good, imagine what a Gooner who has a 1:5 or 1:10 ratio does to himself and to those who have to listen to him. “Oh, but I’m just being realistic. You’ve all got your head in the sand and are settling for mediocrity. Whereas I’m just the man to criticize us all the way back to the top of Europe.”
In all seriousness, I try to apply the 3:1 ratio in life. And it’s challenging, really, really challenging. But it changes everything when you manage it. And I will grant you that Arsenal doesn’t make it any easier at the moment. But Arsenal is a great subject to practice on. And from there it could change your life.
Humans run on positivity. Positivity and optimism don’t stop you from wanting and demanding improvement, they tend to empower you. It’s the fuel for making things better. Negativity is the fuel of the armchair critic, and it tends to lead to views like “they’re all shit: the team, the manager, the board and the owner. The problems go right to the core of the club. We’ve been heading down hill for X years in a straight line. This was inevitable.”
We don’t get to pick the team, select the tactics, sign new players, hire a new manager or find a new owner, though you wouldn’t know that based on the angry debates we inflict upon each other.
We do get to support the team. We do get to cheer or boo. We get to encourage our fellow supporters, or to depress them by painting scenes of seemingly impending apocalyptic nightmares.
So, if you really want to show that you want to win and that you won’t settle for mediocrity, cheer the beejaysus out of every moment that an Arsenal player is on the field instead. Let them sense your ambition from the roar. No one will be under the illusion that you don’t have ambition. Oohing and gasping and grumbling when it’s not going well doesn’t help to communicate ambition: it just tells the players that you’ve lost belief in them.
I was at a few matches in St. Etienne when I was in France, and fuck me, they knew how to support their team. Winning, drawing or in particular losing, they chanted and sang their lungs out all game long. They had a song or chant for everything. What they were singing, I have no idea. Perhaps they had a chant for “You’re all mediocre and you’re showing no ambition” but it did seem to be more uplifting than that. Who knows?
Of course the football culture in both countries is completely different. But don’t tell me it’s against the law for the Emirates to cheer more. We’ve all seen the Emirates rocking when Arsenal had their backs to the wall against Barca. It was even pretty good against Bayern for most of that game. A little Battle of Britain spirit is required for these next matches. Screw the performance and the score. Scream your lungs out regardless.
For now and the near future, the team is the team, the squad is the squad, and for this and another season, the manager will be the manager.
There is nothing wrong with those supporters who choose to look at the positives, and continue to look for improved fortunes. It is for their own good, for the good of those around them, and for the good of this team and manager.
I’d like to dedicate this post to Anna Lvova, @madruskigunner, one of the joys of twitter, as well as her wonderful @AFCphotobank account which might be my favourite thing on twitter. You can find me on Twitter @posnaninmypants. Part two of this post will appear on Positively Arsenal later this week.
Positively Arsenal 
This is so true. Constant moaning is joyless but above all, pointless. Top post. Poznan-style mad scientist bonkersness.
****
From yesterday…
@ Passenal March 10, 2013 at 8:49 pm
“Those who can do. Those who can’t go on the internet and bitch about it.”
oh yes.
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It’s a great read and in some ways explains ‘creeping negativity’ – how one gradually becomes subsumed by one’s own outlook as a result of thinking mainly negative thoughts.
Part of the AFC fan base appears in this way affected.
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Daily read now, so thankyou.
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Well written, I recently defected from another blog, where I got very fed up with constant moaning, wringing etc
it was hardly uplifting. Great to see some positive thinking here and similar mind sets to myself.
Brilliant to see the spuds come unstuck yesterday and a replay won’t help Chelsea.
So here’s to a positive future starting Wednesday night (even if they go down fighting)
I salute you fellow positive Gunners
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Excellent! Thanks.
Negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s certainly contagious.
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Hello Bob – will be interesting to see how the Spuds react to that set back and Chelski may not welcome a replay.
A lot to play for …
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Positively excellent PIMP. Now I see why George keeps harassing you on Twitter. A crazily expressive way of explaining the value of unashamed, unvarnished support for our football team. No apologies needed.
10 games to go, so much to play for.
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Great posts on PA these past few days.
–
Phillpe Auclair, who I am sure is accepted by the self declared realists as ITK for his critiques this season, was happy to report that the gaseous Neo-PSG (via Qatar & the WC in 2022 or whenever) were in for the Arsenal manager last Summer.
And I’m happy to quote Bayern legend Uli Hoeness from the orifice of the Telegraph no less:
“Hoeness told The Sun(!!!!): We did try to get him at Bayern Munich a few times. “There have been a few moments where we have discussed his name over the years.
“He has always remained loyal to Arsenal which is fantastic behaviour. But it is true we wanted him at Bayern a few times.”
–
Well.
There it is.
Even though he’s been wanted by ALL the big clubs since he has been at AFC and been approached by these clubs more then once in many instances it is clear is it not, AW still can’t coach a defence, can he?
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Thanks Andrew.
Have been supporting the boys for a long time through good and bad times. When I was at school in SE London I was just about the only Arsenal supporter in the school. I remember when Peter Storey scored that last minute pen against Stoke in the 71 cup semi. I went crazy.
I was one of the thousands standing outside White Hart Lane (can I mention that place here?). When we did the double. Have a print of Charlie George on his back in my dining room.
When we had the Michael Thomas moment at Anfield I was running up and down the walls when my wife said “shhh you will wake the baby”. I replied this is the greatest moment of my life… Huge mistake.
That said there has been low points as well. That horrible season we flirted with relegation and purchased Terry Mancini to save us. Going to an evening match at Highbury he was sitting opposite me on the tube…. He was playing!
Anyway I could ramble on for hours, but suffice to say you have to put up with bad times and remain positive. The good tines will return and the glass half empty crew will claim it was as a result of their knowledgable posts. Funny
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Fins – interesting stuff; was it also the case that Bayern approached AW BEFORE he became famous in his pre-Arsenal days?
Bob – I was at school in deepest darkest Kent, that bit that just about tips into the North Sea – and for some reason most of the kids circa 1970 were supporting Chelski. I’ve ‘hated’ Chelski for longer than any one – or anything – else I’ve ‘hated’! (Hate’s a strong word). Even more strangely, I only learned of the inter-club rivalry between us and the Spuds some years later.
Funny you should have sat opposite Terry Mancini on the way to a game! I’ll spare you the details but my Dad was once in a railway compartment just after WWII with, unbeknown to his fellow navy personnel, included one of the Arsenal defenders who’d had a howler in the game played earlier that day. They were busy ‘slagging’ of the poor fellow who had evidently cost the team the game when his identity was made known to all and sundry when his papers fell on the floor when the ticket inspector did his rounds.
Ouch.
No idea if it was the first recorded instance of ‘Blog’s not fit to wear the shirt’, but you never know.
Different worlds …
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Fantastic Poz, I know I’ve said it before but some people enjoy being miserable and when it comes to their football team they’ll use misinformation or hearsay to back up their misery and moaning, even use the “I go to every game so I’m a better supporter than you” line, now the booing bannerwankers have proved that’s not true because they go home and away, I’ve just realised I’m moaning about moaning bastards, oh bollocks to it!, it’s Monday-I hate Mondays, cold an’all it is,bloody freezing,why won’t that French git spend any money?, 4-3-3’s clearly not working, poz-your in the states can you get me Tony Robbins phone number?
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One of life’s great mysteries, when Arsenal were away I’d sometimes venture to Stamford Bridge, Upton Park etc.
Now Arsenal have a great stadium
West Hams stadium used to be about 3 inches from the pitch, now you could almost put a running track their.
Chelsea on the other hand did have a running track around the pitch, now the fans are almost on the pitc
Seems to me their is only one winner
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AA,
according the Telegraph (which quote The Sun!) Bayern did approach AW when he was on walkabout in Japan. From what Uli Hoeness says it appears as if he chose The Arsenal over Munich back then, and at times afterwards too.
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Great stuff PIMP. All so obviously true to anyone with half a brain.
I made the mistake of trying to talk to a negative ninney who was using Liverpool’s great come back against the Spuds as an excuse to slag off our defenders. No I can’t tell how that mind must work either.
The question he was unable or unwilling to answer, and by the way I urge everyone to ask it, was this. How does you calling our players crap actually help?
He answered questions I didn’t ask such as; have you a right to complain? is it a free country? do you think the players deserve being called crap because we let in two goals against Spurs? As I say I never asked that I asked how he thought it helped the team for him to complain, exercise his right to free speech and call us crap.
He even tried to convince me that calling our players crap in a public forum wasn’t abusing them.
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i almost cried…goosebumps…. right on the money regarding fans ambition…. we rise !
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cancerous ….yes yes yes lets get rid of the cancer eating from within our players psychology …humiliate them wherever you find them…whoever boos will get booed back and if he gets touchy ….well…” im entitled to an opinion arent i? ” ..see how they like a taste of their own medicine.
“but ive paid for a ticket, i ahev the right to question”
at this point take whatever coins you have in your pocket and throw them arrogantly at his feet and tell him ” here , have this for now and next week i give you the rest you cheap bastard you can get the fuck out now cause youre spoiling the atmosphere for me and i have also paid so have some fucking respect before i drag you out and smash your ribs you pathetic crybaby ”
ok the above is a bit aggressive…but the alternative is to rat them out to stewards and then complain to club for the idiots who wreck the experience for the rest…. its the civilised approach..but we are dealing with savages so why treat them with civility ? ah wenger we still have a lot to learn ….
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Hi-de -hi
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I too am a great believe in he “punch in the mouth “school of diplomacy .
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george i cant take it any longer …i see some shit going round about arsenal being the 3rd most succesful english club …who makes such ridiculous claims i wonder?
nottingham forrest has two and villa has one too….and arsenal fans consider arsenal the third most succesful ? what has arsenal ever done outside england?
do they really think that 10 champion titles , with majority of them won in the 30;s is an indication of POWER and HISTORY? … 13 fucking champion titles spread across 130 years of existence… 3 of them now with wenger (modern times) and 5 even before the ww2 ffs…..
where was arsenal in the 50;s when puskas madrid was owning them all?
where was arsenal in the 60;s when benfica and eusebio were ruling?
where was arsenal in the 70’s to show ajax how its done?
where was arsenal in the 80’s to knick it from liverpool and the milan sides?
what about the 90;s and the galacticos or juventus and ajax ?
what about the 00 with madrid again and bayern etc ?
with the exception of the 30;s has arsenal ever dominated this country in football ? i dont see anything other as condensed as the wenger era of 98-05
so clearly history shows us that arsenal was only a big enough club for the london area and maybe 3rd or 4th or even 5th in terms of european pedigree for the whole of the country.
hamburg has won it ..steaua has won it…who the hell is arsenal for their fans to have aspirations of a milan fc or a juventus..?we havent even done a napoli and our fans talk about history and success as if arsenal was in the same bracket as the clubs it finds itself in today.
wihtout ever winning the big one, arsenal todays gets comparisons for its stature with the trully big clubs….it is with wenger that arsenal started to be considered as aprt of the world elite ..not before him. before him we were shit and we all know it.. class and history are totally different to dominance like the claims of “3rd best” indicate….. as 3rd best it makes us the equivelant of an athletico madrid in spain or a roma in italy…. so better adjust your expectations silly old fools…. i havent heard roma fans expecting their club to dominate against milan and juventus …i havent heard atheltico fans being as arrogant as to expect their team to replicate the form of a barca or a real madrid.
im sick of all these wallies who dont have a clue about continental football and think that what happens here is a mirror for your prestige and stature world wide. do they not know that many in europe laugh their heads off with the impressions people have here about their football and what they consitute as success….they parade the f.a cup as if it s the euro or something… never heard madrid or barca tell the rest how big they are because of their copa de reys,nor have i heard italian giants shoving their copa italias in everyones faces to show their history and tradition…
milan is known for the 7, madrid for the 9, ajax for the three in a row… what is arsenal known around the world for? because of the 30’s or because of wenger and the modern transformation….
id say the latter…. and so would millions worldwide…( in cotrast to the couple of thousand bitter locals) ..fuck you old guard with your non-sensical , non-applicable revisionist bullshit.
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and fuck the internet with all these idiots typing out their arseholes….opinions and bliogs…leave arsenal alone !!!
“arsenal fans are confused”
yeah you fucking twat , of course youre confused…you were playign with alcoholics for the 1-0 and you thought that was football because it brought a cup or two and a memorable title in extreme circumstances…. you thought that 13 champions titles .i.e one every decade in average is the characteristic trait of a BIG CLUB ….when other big clubs have 20+ domestic champion titles and 3+ european big ones….
how could you ever possibly imagine that yoru team would be playing breathtaking football and setting records on the way with evryone at the world respecting us for our ethos and what we bring to the game…?
the fact noone knew your fucking arsenal outside of england before wenger escapes your pragmatism apparently …
realistic my arse….. kill em all…
they talk about “where do we go from here” ..we have just started you fool…others started ages and decades ago…barcelona has cruyff there the last 4 decades you fucking mug, what have you got? you got wenger for the last 16 and in his first decade he brought you titles in a style youde never dream of and in the second decade he launched the club in ISO quality and brought you to a level which was unthinkable twenty years ago….
it is shocking how the people who follow arsenal for more than 30 years can have any complaints about today …shocking….
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i am sorry george …but those idiots should be reminded that a 16 year continous run at domestic pos 1-4 and european 1-16 …is somethng that has NEVER happened before in arsenal;s history.
and also..back then ..we didnt have a stadium to build and carry as a burden for a while neither did we have to face russians and sheikhs…
how can they say such things ……
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Calm down .
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Absolutely excellent read. How have I managed to miss this blog?!
I couldn’t agree more about, well, everything really! In the football aspect of it, get behind your team and stop moaning. It’s a negative effect on everyone involved, no good comes of it, and the sooner those the boo-boys realize that, the better. Although, I highly doubt that will ever happen. We lack so much confidence at the moment, I feel for the lads, I truly do. They need our backing, big time.
I’ll be following this blog from now on, that’s for sure!
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and because im fed up with the old guard
uefa club co-efficient rankings
lets give a few for the 80s and then 95 onwards to allow for the period where english clubs were banned ( i wont count those years…only the previous and current history) yes? since english clubs werent allowed before….
lets see now : year /ueaf club ranking position
1980 – 75 Arsenal Eng 1.1660 1.7770 2.943
pos 75 ladies and gentlemen……. lower than city, stadar liege and cska sofia…
1981 – 76 Arsenal Eng 1.1660 1.7770 2.943
pos 76…progress allright
1982 -37 Arsenal Eng 1.1660 1.7770 1.5000 4.443
pos 37…wow…astonishing…
1983 37 Arsenal Eng 1.1660 1.7770 1.5000 4.443
pos37 again…no change
1984 – no rank at all ..ban started so lets check further down the years huh..we all get the point about ueaf team rankings dont we? pos 79 to 37 in the 80;s
90- nothing, 91- nothing, 92 – nothing, 93 – nothing
lets see now from 1994 onwards
1994 – 69 Arsenal Eng 0.7500 2.0000 2.750
pos 69 ladies and gentlemen …kama sutra arsenal…
1995 – 36 Arsenal Eng 0.7500 2.0000 1.6660 4.416
pos 36…lower than as roma, panathinaikos feyenord leverkusen
1996 – 31 Girondins Bordeaux Fra 1.6660 1.2500 1.5000
.FC Kaiserslautern Ger 1.2500 1.1660 1.5000 0.5000 4.416
Arsenal Eng 0.7500 2.0000 1.6660 4.416
we join with two others in pos 31..
1997 – 43 Arsenal Eng 2.0000 1.6660 3.666
pos 43 joining grasshopers and eindhoven
1998 – 33 Arsenal Eng 2.0000 1.6660 0.5000 4.166
pos 33….
1999 -46 Arsenal Eng 18.6665 2.1665 3.7000 4.8925 10.7185 40.144
pos 46…
and from then on we reach 2004 were we are 7th in uefa ranks Arsenal Eng 28.7850 23.6750 15.8185 17.5200 17.7125 103.511
and we have remained there with today standing at uefa rank position 6 . 6!!!!
i repeat 6!!! and we have been there for the last decade … 6 you fucking idiots.. pos 6 in uefa ranking systems.
read it and weep …( with your 30;s dominance and bollocks and 3rd best in england bollocks).
wenger for life…no question, no doubting..we know what is good for arsenal and we will support it…we dont need to question things every two days….we know who we are what we want and how to get it!
im done
( source for uefa club rankings : http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method3/trank2004.html ..fuck all you doubters)
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i think ive calmed down now george… 🙂
cant wait for the next prick who will tell me arsenal was a big club before arsene wenger…uefa ranking system is more of a mirror than the fa or cc cup… even the epl….
clubs like leverkusen panathinaikos and galatasaray had more european pedigree than arsenal prior to wenger’s appointment. and today we are in position 6 without ever winning it……
the old guard needs some education before commenting on arsenal and wenger.
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Hunter.I feel you are talking to others on other blogs whist posting here.
Curb your enthusiasm.
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As rants go, it’s up there…. Marvellous!
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The Positivity stuff is very interesting PIMP…. a darn good read that
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‘ello folks!
Wasn’t able to post over the weekend but the posts and comments have been off the charts. You all get an A+++. Seriously, this blog is top class. Thank you all!!!
Excellent stuff today, Poz. I have kinda turned a page when dealing with the realists. If I do come across one, I get to the point and tell then don’t know nearly as much as they think and move on. No long drawn out debate, I just want to let them know that they are full of crap. I am trying to find different things Arsenal to celebrate, there is so much. You can go from the NexGener’s, to the players who are on loan to our first team squad. There is way more good than bad.
While we are speaking of being positive, I celebrated my eldest daughters 3rd birthday yesterday, a wonderful child. God bless her!
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Hunters line about throwing money at the miserable bastards feet and telling to come back next week for the rest because their ruining it for him is poetry.
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I’m looking forward to the NextGen game against Moscow. (£4.00 a ticket and hopefully no snow on the night!)
In other new Vela’s Sociadad became the first team to beat Falco’s Atletico in Madrid (this season) last night.
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Finsbury.do you know if Vela has been called back up to the Mexican side. He was not in the squad the last time I watched them.
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Further quotes from Uli Hoeneß:
“At Bayern we don’t look always for short-term success. I’ve won about 20 titles. To win the 21st title I’ll not sell out the club. But if somebody comes in who’s won nothing, he wants to win quickly and under this pressure he makes decisions which can be very difficult.
“I do not compare ourselves to United for instance which is a very big club and famous and one I admire greatly. But Mr Glazer didn’t know where Manchester was 20 years ago. He doesn’t do it because he loves United. He wants to make money.”
Asked about Wednesday’s Champions League opponents Arsenal, whose majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has recently been linked with selling his stake, Hoeness said: “I’ve a very good opinion about Arsenal’s people and how they think. They do it correctly.
“At the moment, OK, they have some problems in the squad but in their financial behaviour they are correct. If Mr Kroenke says, ‘I want to make money’ then he has to find people who love the club. Arsene Wenger for a long time has been a good icon for the club. He has done a great job.”
Uli Hoeneß only won a World Cup and European Championship as a player among other baubles. I think I agree with Uli. And Cruyff. And Bergkamp. And Nick Hornby, and….the all the others. I’m happy to ignore the ginormous football brains of people like Piers Morgan who haven’t a clue about anything in football above the level of Rushden & Diamonds (Sunday League).
I’ll refer again to Tottenum fans slagging off their own managers for trying out the sort of tactics that weren’t seen thirty years ago in the last two seasons. Yes that does refer to ‘appy ‘arry who for all his off field distractions, for all his famous errors during games (the first 5-2!) I have to admit that he does have more experience on the pitch then little old me.
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Fins – that could be a tremendous game on the 25th v Moscow; it’ll be interesting to see how much of the stadium they actually open up for that. Last time I was there it was the top deck opposite the directors stand which, for the kids, was a helluva turn out.
Off to Underhill tonight to brave the arctic conditions and see the U21s take on Southampton’s Reserves – not sure whether that means players of any age from Southampton but should be a good game as the AFC lads can only be buoyant following recent results. Incredibly the entrance is normally free at Barnet for these games but then you do have to invest a bit in the nuclear fusion otherwise known as Bovril which is served up with asbestos gloves and protective face-wear to keep you warm for the duration …
Happy birthday to Paul’s eldest – they grow up so fast these days, don’t they, ha ha!!
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Fins 3.53 – thanks, interesting.
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Thanks for all the positive comments here everybody. I hope the blog was well received.
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A rattling good read PIMP
“What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Arsenal
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Yes, they do Andrew (smiley emoticon).
Being positive, it is partially faith. You just believe that it will turn out better. It is not that you overlook what is happening but it is believing that the players will improve and the the manager will get the team to where they need to be. You look and say “by next season the players will have a better understanding of each other and that will make us hard to handle”. You cannot put your finger on that but you believe. This faith is not blind though, we have seen AW do it time and time again.
In me being positive, I also look at facts other than wins and losses. I look at injuries, I look at being outspent how many times over, I look at players who I thought would stay the course being weakminded and wanting out and I look at the terrible ref decisions that usually go us, the most glaring being in the CL against Barca (In all the research that has been done on refs, Arsenal come out with the crap end of the stick. And, not only Untold Arsenal). In other words, I think the club has been hard done by, by a host of unfortunte situations. I am sure mistakes were made, being that managers and players are human (like the the rest of us)but when compounded by all of these other factors that we have watched through the years, it is a miracle that we have remained in the top 4 and we will again this season.
Arsenal!
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Very good read, PIMP. My problem with the way in which some Arsenal supporters criticize the club has to do with their ungratefulness. As far as I’m concerned, one can bitch and moan to their hearts content, but at least be relevant. Asking for Wenger’s ouster sounds really good when one is upset, but, upon further inspection, that’s just nuts. We work on a budget and there’s no way we can absorb a managerial merry-go-round and not have it affect our league standing. We’re not like Chelsea or Man City who can buy a whole new squad every season in order to remain competitive. Shit, I’m convinced we are where we are because we’ve kept Wenger around for almost two decades. Then there’s the fact that very few managers are as good as Wenger. Seriously, if these wankers want to see a series of sub par managers turning up like they do at Liverpool, they can go do one.
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Happy third birthday to your baby girl, Paul. I hope you enjoyed the curry goat.
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Thanks Gains!
No Curry goat, Gains. Did have some Chicken and Beef Patties though. My mother in law did fly in for the party and she has been cooking up a storm. Had some salt fish and brown stew chicken yesterday and she made stew peas on Saturday. What!
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Great read, Poz, well done. Good to see you around here.
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Paul N,
It looks like Vela might not be playing for Mexico in the near future at least:
“The Real Sociedad forward alleged personal issues in order to decline the invitation for Mexico’s Feb. 6 match against Jamaica….
The manager of the senior national team, Jose Manuel de la Torre, as well as national team director Hector Gonzalez Iñarritu, established communication with Carlos Vela, who asked not to be called up due to personal motives,” read the statement.
Vela has not played for Mexico since 2011 and declined to be considered for the U-23 side that went on to win gold at the Summer Olympics in London last year.”
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/114/mexico/2013/01/24/3697238/carlos-vela-declines-mexico-call-up
Maybe he’s trying to calm it down and doesn’t trust himself on the National team party tours? No idea.
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Watch out for the cold up there in Barnet Andrew.
My phone tells me that with wind chill it’s about -7!
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Hello everyone. & a very interesting read POznan imp. Got b.Munich on my mind. And ARSENAL in my heart. Should be a fantastic game and I have a very good feeling about the outcome. Hope the victory margin is large enough to see us through to next round.
Great comments all around but I tell you guys something. No matter
How heated the arguments get at times I personally have a very hard time raising my hand against anyone wearing an Arsenal shirt or scarf.
now if it was a black shawl it would be a different story altogether.
Happy birthday to your oldest daughter PAUL. god bless.
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Cheers Fins – just heading out now (gulp!).
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Excellent pimp.
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Sorry that should be ‘excellent, pimp’. It is a brilliant article.
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just realised that bayern will be without ribery, shweini or boateng for the return leg in bavaria.
thats that then, if i wasnt already convinced 😐
1-5 (remember san siro anyone? :D)
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poznan in pants – thanks for the article..it was such a pleasure
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