I find myself in a state of conflict.
I am ecstatically happy about results and the general development of the team and club, yet angry at the treatment they were receiving until very recently.
People who have spent years running down the board, manager and players, a situation that reached new heights during the summer, are guilty of obscene levels of revisionism.
The manager was said to be unable to “do” defence. This team has conceded 3 goals from open play in the last 18 games. It had the second best defence in the league last year, whilst still playing attacking football. It contains players of the calibre of Sagna ,Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs and Monreal. Not bad picks for a guy that doesn’t know a defender from his elbow. Are these experts on football holding up their collective hands and saying: “Oops, I was talking utter crap.sorry” ?
Where are the agitators who claimed we would never buy a world class player or ever spend over £20 million on one now? What about those who claimed that big names being linked were just a ploy by the money -grabbing board to sell season tickets? Why are they not admitting to being malcontent idiots?
Here are some extract from a post by ZimPaul that puts some great questions:
“One thing is the frustrated fan hurling cheap insults against any target, including Emmanuel, Aaron, Abou, Theo, Denilson, so many others, and always Wenger by default, to vent their infantile anger at not being at the “top table” of trophies for a rather short spell, without thought of incredible ambitions the club had already achieved, was in the process of achieving, and had set its sights on, and the calm, decent manner it was going about all this. Despicable and stupid.
Then what does one call the informed and erudite fan, who knowingly, willfully set out to manipulate malleable, weak minds with outright lies, selective lies, omission of facts, outrageous claims (often dressed up as modest, humble appeals for change and “end of an era”), manipulating and flinging about all manner of base emotions, with the objective to erode team and club morale, it’s achievements, and get Wenger out?
And then what does one call more influential individuals and journalists, pundits, ex-players, football establishment types, who conjured up and fabricated an entire anti-Wengerball culture, week in week out, appealing to Arsenal’s time-honoured (British) traditions and glories, and so set out and all but conspired to use their influence to destroy Arsenal’s achievements during a vulnerable period of building for the long term?”
That’s at least three categories of idiots who should be scoffing humble pie like there is no tomorrow. But are they ?
The relentless moaning and whinging by fans with an over-inflated sense of entitlement has morphed into “We were only asking legitimate questions.”
Where they? Or were they chatting shit?
All last year some of us were suggesting that when the new arrivals settled in and the young players followed their natural progression, that we would see a very good team.
This was deemed delusional. When we said Ramsey, Giroud, Chamberlian, Podolski, Gibbs and others would be much better, we were told that we were mad. Some of these players were classed “not of Arsenal standard” by expert fans and pundits alike.
Were they wrong? Are they sorry?
People claim their moaning was because they were frustrated. Ignoring that it was them and their fellow halfwits that were speculating about nonsense and that was what was fueling their frustrations.
They claim they were right to question. Well it’s the tone and content of the questions that separate a reasonable fan from a spoiled child.
What about those who insisted that Jack would be sold and we were content to be fourth and not challengers?
Are they contrite?
We bought Ozil and still have huge funds for future purchases. Of course the moaners will say we should have spent more and sooner. Because they would make a better fist of running the club? Right?
Anyone with even half a brain could have seen that 2014 was penciled in as the point where we moved through the gears. It was obvious. But despite the evidence some expert fans won’t accept this.
You can question the club and still be behind the team. That’s true. But you must accept that if the questions you are asking are ridiculous and being asked because you have little understanding of almost anything, then its a hindrance rather than a help.
If you are claiming that our injury crisis is a result of poor management and planning consider this. A fit squad would see, by my calculations, ten full and first choice Internationals not in the starting eleven. So swivel.
Things are going rather well at present, but there will come a point when we suffer some reverses. The wheels might not fall off, but one might come loose, or it might just be a flat tyre. At this point all the good that has gone before us up until now, will be forgotten. Blackburn and Bradford will be rolled out and past perceived failings will be regurgitated by those that are temporarily quiet (and asking for amnesty) and used to back up their wild and ridiculous claims of incompetence by some poor sod or other. Be it Aaron, Arsene, Ivan or Stan.
These stupid know-it-all fans haven’t gone away, they are just lurking and waiting for their next chance to express their football know-how.
So don’t ask me to just enjoy the football.
Did they want to allow me to just enjoy the football?
Bollocks to them and any appeaser.
Now I will be accused of not being positive, and for creating more divides with this post. Well I am sorry, but these people make me sick.
Does that make me a flawed individual?
Probably.
Positively Arsenal 
A strong post, George, and I can echo most of it. Just to give some examples: before the Bayern away game last season some people said that “Wenger had instilled a culture of losing into our DNA” and “we need a solid defence and a sound tactical plan but we are unlikely to attempt it”. Now, half a year later, we have set a new record for away wins and defensively we look as good as any team in the league.
I just find it difficult to look past those things, to pretend everything is well when I know that those same posters that said “Wenger out” after the Bradford loss or that slated team and manager for long periods seasons past, will revert back to type as soon as we come across the first stumbling block.
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Spot on.
Bollocks to them and their appeasers.
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They won’t be happy no matter what. Only if they achieve their goal of running out AW. that is the agenda. I wonder which player will have to take their venomous chants next.
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I got myself banned from another site, the one in Jellystone Park.
Questioning people who accues the Club’s manager of knowing nothing about football doesn’t go down too well.
See? Deep down they are sensitive souls.
Or they thought I was Hunter in disguise.
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We are all on such a moral high ground here that we have forgotten its all about the Football.
Really……..Harry, Really?
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HARRY seems not to have read my response to his original post. Go back and read it mate then you might understand why the reaction from these quarters.
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George,
In the spirit of the article, is there an open invitation for all comers to respond, and so to speak defend their positions?
Any other position apart from the *Positivista one seems untenable to me though, see – find them guilty and then give ’em a fair trial! Hehe.
*Posidiva – quite droll humour, Harry.
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Arteta is fit again. Yes!
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Some folk just don’t have the stomach for humble pie.
How uncouth of George to gloat about being proven right and so many people being proven wrong. Those on the other side of the fence would surely never be so boorish.
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I always find that when I have made a complete twat of myself,its best if everyone I have upset just forgets about it,and lets me move on.
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Bloody hell its gone quiet.Have I gone to far this time?
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“Bollocks to them and any appeaser ”
I’ve always liked you George, and enjoyed the confrontational cut of your jib. However that’s some seriously flawed thinking you are espousing there. Sorry. It’s a dead end. We are all Arsenal (and no I don’t include the LeGrove fella and Piers Moron and other assorted “look at me” arseholes in that last statement, but then there are always extremes wherever you choose to look…….).
DC, the posidiva thing didn’t come from me. It’s meant to be a lighthearted jibe. No more, no less. Certainly a lot less offensive than “unworthy scum” imho.
Glass houses, Goonerkam, and all that.
This argument could go round in circles and I’ve said my piece. If you wish to indulge in smug gloating now the going is good and for huge servings of humble pie to be eaten, well, best of luck with that. I think you maybe you need to re-evaluate your priorities.
I just want Arsenal to win on Sunday.
Here’s to that anyway. Gotta go. Have a good weekend y’all.
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@Harry
Hey, don’t leave so quickly. Just one question: do you believe people should be held accountable for things they have said, mistakes they’ve made, errors of judgement etc.? I believe there is a part of recovery in all walks of life if you do something wrong but surely, admitting those mistakes should be the very first step?
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Sorry if you don’t like it Harry.But that is how I genuinely feel.
The going might not always be good,but I will always be behind the club/manager/players.
I really dont see why people who have actively been aggressive towards them should be excused because we win a few games.
If someone kicks me in the bollocks every time I see him,then on his birthday wants to have a drink and be my pall.I am not having it.
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A life without consequences, how wonderful.
I think you’re the only one going far enough, George. Which makes you stick out like a sore thumb. There would be nothing divisive about it if some moaners were capable of a little humility and admit they were wrong; their myths about ambition, and negligence, and trousering profits, and stubborn adherence to youth, and poor defensive coaching all debunked. But they will squirm and flounder and keep resisting the increasingly obvious truth, and so deserve all the ridicule they get.
On a lighter note, here’s Jack Wilshere doing some karaoke:
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Well that’s entirely your prerogative George.
Yes Evil I do. Perhaps not so much when it comes to opinions re: football. How should they be held accountable?
Should we make them wear high-vis jackets? so we can punch them over the head or chuck rotten fruit at ’em? (Mind you if Tim wears one, that might not be a bad idea…only joking Tim! a bit. He’s an avid reader of PA y’know)
At some point, you are gonna have to let it go. All the endless abuse aside, It has also lapsed into self-parody. Just like the worst “doomers” did long ago. You aren’t building bridges, you are burning them all behind you.
Nevermind, just trying to give some of you something to chew on (and spit out no doubt). I really gotta go. Ta ta.
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Harry,
‘Posidivas’ yes, hehe, I do think its a lighthearted touch, which is often missed in this bitter little civil war.
I’m still waiting for an Appotomatix moment though, where the negidivas can surrender with some honour left to them. Alas, I fear the Downfall bunker will be the outcome.
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@Harry
I think I made it clear that I believe that for people to be held accountable one thing is needed: admitting to being wrong. No funny hats, no sitting in the corner, just straight up saying “I was wrong”. I think the experience of having to admit you’ve made a mistake is a good way to learn to not make the same mistakes again in the future.
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I feel the truth lies somewhere in-between. Massive mistakes of judgement have been made on all sides. Losing to Manure 8-2, was, is, and always will be an absolute no-no. Walking into a season (twice), completely unprepared is not acceptable, neither is the situation where we had an abundance of players earning far more then their peers for absolutely no reason. Similarly, castigating a 22 year old who had his leg shattered into a million pieces, while he is on the long and uncertain road to recovery, is equally retarded. Expecting world class signings whilst we repay the biggest fucking mortgage in history is silly but so is signing Petty Officer Park of the Korean army. Telling the support we can spend big but our manager won’t do it also isn’t helpful and people talk about the timing of the BSM quotes but fuck me, didn’t the board do a wonderful job of making Wengers’ job almost impossible. Over the last few years this club has been a massive contradiction and that is what is reflected in our world. As the yanks would say “here in lies the rub”: for every good thing the club have done, there is another that makes you want to scream. For every persisting with Diaby there is a Ramsey, for every we have no money for transfers because of the move there is a Bendtner on 52k p/w. Furthermore, I have only recently started feeling the same going to home games as I did at Highbury, the E** has felt like an away game for most of the time we have been here and I am not alone in that view. We are just now starting to resurface from what basically became a divorce and a job loss in our personal lives. Unfortunately, as in many marriages, when the going gets tough people turn on each other instead of offering the support that is needed and that is all that has happened. We need to accept that yes, mistakes have clearly been made and that yes, things could and should have been handled better (on all sides), but we are still the third most successful club in England, we still are top dogs in the biggest capital city in Europe, we still have the largest, most erudite support in the land, and yes we seem to have a top team that has the best interests of the club at heart, and we need to recognize that whilst far from perfect, we are making progress. There are enough fuckers on this planet that hate us, and while we should always encourage heated debate about our club, we now need to not only support – as we did against the Lids – but we need to also not let the club slack off from this point on. NO Arsenal supporter has had it right all along, NO employee at Arsenal has had it right all along, and yet EVERY media outlet and opposition supporter has been reveling in our strife over the last few years – IT’S TIME TO FUCKING FIGHT BACK. We need to start the long road to rebuilding our relationship with each other, the club and the 30000 fucking tourists playing angry birds at home games.
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“You aren’t building bridges, you are burning them all behind you.”
Lovely turn of phrase Harry – have a cigar !
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*Appomattox, sorry about the spelling my American chums.
BTW – that IS how to spell Honour, it rhymes with Colour.
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This is the blogging equivalent of Tracy Island.
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I find, almost three weeks after the close of the transfer window, or the Mother of All Battles, as it was known in the Arsenal world my mood is much more mellow.
Those who get their main enjoyment from football and supporting Arsenal from whining and moaning will whine and moan, and who am I to complain ?
They are simply wired differently – it is not their fault.
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I am not comfortable with the hurling of abuse. We are are ‘Positively Arsenal’ after all. I sincerely hope Harry remains a regular. His is the spirit we need. There are doomers who will remain so. They are already changing their narrative to explain the recent success of the team: “that the club bowed under fans’ pressure” blah de blah. That is because it is about them and their ego. But we must not become another LeGroan……Let’s celebrate and support our team and find a happy medium where we can foster healthy debate based on constructive criticism….
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I think the whole Aaron Ramsey thing was the line in the sand for us.
We couldn’t have been more right about him, on here.
And now it’s payback time. Retribution is a bitch, ain’t she?
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I mean, this culture of doubting and scapegoating players is not something I am imagening, right? It started with Almunia in recent memory, followed by Denilson and Diaby, then it was Arshavin, then Ramsey and Gervinho. At present, it’s difficult to find a scapegoat because the obvious target, Giroud, has shown his class and beyond that, we have just performed too good. But somehow, If we have a couple of nil-nils or tight losses, I am confident a player will be picked to be made accountable, even if it’s not his fault.
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Georgaki,who is being abused? Certainly not Harry.
That would not be permitted.I can promise you that.
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Quite right Georgaki – we are inclusive, we enable, we enjoy
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Well we are not inclusive Anicoll,the door policy is rigid.
And will remain so.
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There’s plenty in Daveyboy’s piece to start a healthy debate……
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I know.Diaby jumped out at me.But I thought he made some good points and deserved to be posted.
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Lol, never has an article captured my sentiments so precisely. I call it a pre emptive strike against the merchants of doom and gloom who can’t wait for the next dropped point or injury to pour bucketfuls of scorn on all our hard work. Ramsey goals are often associated(so wrongly) with death of famed fellows but his rise and rise could spell the death knell for the moaning class. KEEP THE FAITH.
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Luke 15:7
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
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Thanks Daveyboy
A good positive post.
The 8-2, like the 6-2 before it where dark days for all Gunners.
That’s why it’s important to support the club/team/manager and focus support out wards against the real enemies.
i’ll think you’ll find £50k a week is chicken feed on our rival’s wage bills, but I agree with you about Park why he was bought for £8m still baffles me.
A lot of people here like Diaby a lot. Just saying.
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PG there are some pretty strong words posted about individuals on other sites….I would hope we can maintain some decorum.
PA is my home because we are (as far as I can tell to date) “evidence-based” bloggers. I like reading opinions that have substance and are intended to inform and not mislead…
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Was that Luke or Just Another Luke?
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Georgaki,there are .And I asked for people to think about that.But I wont tell them not to.Because those sinning are absolutely slaughtered on those other sites ,with no chance of rebuttal.
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“We have no injuries from the Marseille game,” the boss told Arsenal Player. “The only player who could come back in the squad is Arteta, who comes back into full training today [Friday]. I’ll have to make the decision about him on tomorrow [Saturday] morning.
when we had players returning injured from tough away games, it was always arsenes inept medical staff that was not doing its job well.
why dont i hear anything positive ever when we have our most important players coming back well within their predicted return timelines?’
this is exactly the sort of thing that annoys some people here i suppose. spoilt kids eh?
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Now this might be controversial but I do think that Park was a “panic buy”. I struggle to see the rational behind buying him. And I was actually happy when we got him because I remembered him from WC 2002 where he was brilliant. Maybe it was about making up the numbers (and I think a lesson can be learned in that regard.)? But anyway, even if Park was a panic buy, all the other players weren’t. We wanted to buy Mertesacker, we just brought the transfer forward a season, we had eyes on Arteta for some time and, more recently, we obviously had been interested in Özil all the way back in 2008 or so and with Flamini, the club had the opportunity to look at him for a long time before making a decision.
So should the existance of one transfer that can be classified as “panic buy” provide enough evidence to let rip at the manager for years and years, especially when it’s offset by an otherwise mostly brilliant transfer record in recent times?
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Sorry, I am baffling myself.
Too much vino on holidays.
Park only cost us £1,800,000 according to Wikipedia, so I suppose he was worth taking a gamble on, he was in the Korean team and was playing for Monaco so AW must have had contacts there we spoke highly of the kid.
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We can and do rebut them brilliantly…ZimPaul and Senstional Arsenal deserve special praise…..they do it a measured way…
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Harry. Don’t leave us! : (
We ONLY want to discuss football. Maybe a smittering of other topics. And you won’t be subject to abuse or immature snide remarks that contradict the written record (i.e. be accused of saying things you haven’t said) ; )
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What? I can’t hear you on account of this tasty Schadenfreude I’ve been feasting on since Wenger added Özil to our awesome squad.
Let the doomers build the bridges. The supporters who have stayed with the club through thick and thin, are in the same place they’ve always been.
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Seriously.
Who cares about Park?
Come on!
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What I don’t really get about Park was having bought him, indeed kidnapped him from under Lille’s nose apparently, he almost never played.
On the very few occasions he was allowed to cross the white line he seemed to me OK, not brilliant, not eye catching, but OK, dependable, and someone who we could call on.
But he was quietly sidelined and disappeared – without trace – very odd
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I also thought he was playing fine in at League Cup game against Man City, the City keeper (the other one) made an unbelievably acrobatic save to keep Park’s shot out.
After that, there have been far and few opportunities for the lad to get back into the team.
66 goals in 230 professional games, not exactly Theirry Henry, but a decent record.
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A wise person on Twitter (yes, there are some) said to me last night that the problem with my wanting to shame people re: Aaron is this: they won’t feel bad about it (because they’re still jerks) and I won’t feel better. Which is 100% true, for me anyway. (And before anyone feels indignant on my behalf, I wasn’t being lectured to. It was a genuine discussion similar to the one I had with y’all here yesterday.). I’ve taken this to heart, and it’s the way I intend to move forward. Not telling anyone else what to do or how to feel – that kind of thing is what set me off yesterday! Just letting you know, FWIW, how I’m coming to grips with it.
I like this place, and I like all of you…even if we don’t always completely agree (which would surprise some folks I guess, who think we are just a bunch of obsequious lemmings.) Now, let’s beat those Orcs on Sunday. Aaron to score at least one – surely it will be so!
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Evil
I think you are mixing up our Park and the former manure Park. Our lad didn’t play in the 2002 World Cup, Our lad was in the 2010 World Cup and it took a dodgy Uruguay to knock them out.
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Anicoll:
Luke 15:7
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
Bridges can start being mended when Piers Morgan, The AST and the more prominent Arsenal bloggers issue an apology to Wenger for giving him such a hard time these past eight years.
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Anicoll
Park was not shocking against Shrewsbury when I saw him. Better then me that’s for sure!
For AFC it seems as if he was within the affordable “Bebe” range as far the inexplicable is concerned. I dunno.
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