Its now two years since Positively Arsenal swung open its door and welcomed people into it warm and friendly community.
Well. alright, we welcomed in those we agreed with and shut out those we don’t. I have no problem admitting that comments that are overtly abusive or just daft are not approved. In other words comments from the type of person I talked about in one of my first posts, repeated below.
You might think that despite the club doing everything the malcontent fans said they would not do, that these fans would have learned. But they don’t ,and everything I said still holds true.
They either won’t learn, or just don’t want too.
It is now obvious that even the signings of world class players and silverware has done nothing to make them reconsider their regurgitated poorly formed opinions.
So read the post again and tell me if you think all is as it was, or is the tide turning?
“Is it just me or are others infuriated by ignorance and stupidity?
Now I don’t blame people who are stupid, simply because they are. I mean they are born stupid. Nobody chooses to be an idiot. Mostly they can’t help it. Such is life.
No, what annoys me is that some stupid people insist on thinking they are smart. And smart to the extent that they know more about a given subject than a top professional.
Of course this likely happens in all manner of activities, but I want to talk about football – and Arsenal in particular.
I am told all the time “I am entitled to an opinion”.
Of course when I claim that in that case, I am entitled to hold the opinion that they are idiots, that same ‘entitlement’ doesn’t appear to hold true for me.
If an opinion is formed from a position of almost total ignorance or built on falsehoods and misinformation, what is it worth? It is in fact worth less than nothing. I would prefer to hold no opinion on matters, rather than one which proves I am a foolish halfwit.
If I have a heart complaint I’d go to see a specialist heart Consultant. If he tells me I am in decent health and half an Aspirin per day and some light exercise will see me well would I then insist that I need a quadruple bypass simply because my plumber mate down the pub says that’s what I need?
Or if I read a blog by an accountant in which he insists he has strong opinions on the matter, and I should therefore accept what he is saying, would I?
No!
Well why does anyone who watches a football match and follows Piers Morgan on twitter think that they know better than Arsene Wenger? The reality is that in all likelihood, Doris the Tea Lady knows more about football and Arsenal than them. I get told “I am a season ticket holder, 30 years of watching Arsenal, that entitles me to an opinion.” Well I have been watching Westerns for 50 years but I would not presume to tell John Ford how to direct one. (I know he is dead by the way.)
Buying a ticket entitles you to nothing more than a seat and a game to watch. It does not buy you the right to pick the team, choose formations or set tactics.
If someone tells me the world is flat, I don’t feel the need to debate the subject with them. There could be only two reasons they believe that.
Complete stupidity. Or ignorance.
Ignorance can be excused. But if they have been told the facts and shown the evidence, ignorance can be excluded and stupidity is all that is left. So when someone says something like “Wenger does not understand defence” they immediately fall into the stupid category. And they should not complain when I tell them that they are a moron.
Or when people insist that Arsene has refused to spend money.
Again, idiot.
The annual accounts over the past 10 years prove there has been no money. Arsene has said there has been no money. So if they are going to ignore the facts then they can only be stupid. There is no alternative.
The biggest problem is not people like bloggers claiming to understand things that they clearly don’t. There will always be people who hugely overestimate their knowledge and intellect. No, the problem is the masses of ill-informed halfwits that accept and repeat as fact, the opinions of these leaders of opinion. Hitler was not the problem. It was the millions of followers he attracted that was the problem.
Some want-to-be manager writing a blog about Arsenal is not the problem. It’s the pathetic halfwits that believe that what he is saying has some real value, who are the problem.
People claim to know why Mata did not sign for Arsenal, for example. When in fact they have no idea at all the reasons for him going to Chelsea.
Here is the thing.
I have opinions about players, formations and tactics. Ask me on a Saturday morning to pick the team and I will have a go. But the difference is that by Saturday teatime, if we have lost I won’t claim it was because the manager was too stupid to pick the team that I did.
Pointing to an outcome and claiming it would have been better if your advice had been heeded Is nothing but evidence of your own arrogance and stupidity.
I really can’t understand why so many people believe that their one field of excellence is football and Arsenal.
But I can understand why they infuriate me with their ignorance and stupidity.”
Positively Arsenal 
fans are still ignorant and stupid, the fact that blogs, twitter, facebook etc have given them a platform to express and show their ignorance and stupidity actually has left most of them with a distorted value of their views and we have been left with a generation of self entitled fans out there.
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I cannot believe how many people believe they know the players better than a man with Wengers intelligence and experience. Are these people in the training sessions? The dressing room? No. Angers me also.
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As has been pointed out we also have the most followers online I believe. So just playing the numbers we know there is going to be a very large number of idiots making sure we understand that their opinion is of great importance to the vast world of Arsenal Football Club. Just a fact of life. There will be pretenders in all activities as you so rightly point out, George. Just wish these posers and pretenders would give our legendary manager the respect he rightfully deserves. Too much bashing in the xenophobic media has created a Stockholm syndrome with some of the more nationalist parts of our support and has created a huge divide. But that’s always been the enemies plan. Divide and conquer. Anyone who has studied psychology and Freud even the tiniest bit realizes what’s going on. Adam Curtis did some wonderful documentaries for the Beeb on such subjects in fact. Sad some are completely oblivious
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Forgot to note Wenger’s masterful reaction to such bologna. We field more British than any of the big clubs too which has largely gone unnoticed when you contrast that with the treatment he got for fielding no English players.
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I don’t mind their ignorance to be honest.
Their stupidity I can stomach.
It is that they are so unrelentingly and invariably miserable that aggravates me .
Now I know dysphoria is a very difficult, debilitating condition to suffer from. Admitting they they have the problem is the first step, and a rare one. No they prefer to follow like minded depressives and cynical manipulators, and dress themselves in odd outfits, bin bags, black scarves, blue snoods and the like.
I am sure and the incidence of the condition is sadly far too frequent among football fans, and among Arsenal fans it is epidemic. Moths to a candle perhaps ?
But thank goodness George set up this safe haven for those who of us who have to meet and interact with these chronic cases. Long may it flourish.
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I am not an AKB but I know he knows a hell of a lot more than the many illogical idiots that I have to put up with at the Emirates at every home game. For example if they think a player is crap and he has a terrific game then they still won’t see that he played very well today etc. A few months back they were on Santi’s back (a typical mediocre AW signing) and he’s been brilliant over the last couple of months, so, the idiots rather than admit they were wrong just move onto some other player to attack.
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in wenger i trust……..i don’t know how and why some people are still blind ….Arsenal won something (“oh 2 trophies”) when they were getting backing financially….i dont want us to end up like leeds….in wenger i trust
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It’s the self-importance that does my head in-idiots? I just ignore em.
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http://www.arsenal.com/home
its official and campbell gets new longb term deal as well
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I could have written this myself. Brilliant.
I have an opinion. I am not an experienced, qualified and talented expert with insider knowledge. And even experts make mistakes, that does not make an idiot cleverer than them. Why do people find that concept so difficult to grasp.
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My congratulations on a well written article. However, I would suggest that your observations, whilst most certainly apply to a particular brand of Arsenal fan, is simply a reflection of society in general. You only have to watch any political debate to realise that most politicians are ignorant and stupid or more disturbingly, using peoples ignorace and stupidity to manipulate them into believing propaganda. Just like the anti-Wenger persuasion amoungst Arsenal fans, many have been manipulated into their tone of thought like the droves of UKIP supporters around the country, by misinformation, stupidity and prejudice.
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Great post my first time on your blog and I love it ,, I love looking at the world in a positive way especially arsenal. The reason I support The Arsenal is because we do things differently , we have morals, norms and standards that were set by a long time ago which The Arsenal still follows this is why I support the team, this is why people who know football always praise arsenal. Those negative supporters are everywhere we had a facebook blog in south africa then there were a lot of negativity so we had to create a new blog on facebook only for those who supports the team through better or worse. Why because those dumb stupid anti arsenal supporters couldn’t be learned the right.
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Happy birthday and happy second anniversary PA!
Well done George, just remind the masses what this blog is about……sensible, evidence-based debate…..
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stupidity and ignorance are everyday problems we all have to face, however there is something more within the AAA. We all know the media have, for a long time, had an agenda against us and the first successful overseas manager to grace our game. Historically us little englanders have not liked people coming from abroad telling us and showing us how to do things better. Why do you think basic managers like arry, fat sam and the welsh clogger are all held in such esteem by the press and the AAA and yet the cultured Proffesser is derided and abused. Rascism surely not? but I am ashamed to say its load and proud as a ukip purple poster.
next its self promotion, wheather youre need is to promote your waneing career, sell more badges and earings or re-invent a particular fan movement because the reason it was set up is no longer relevent, the main protaganists of the AAA all have their agendas and reasons to constantly critiscise the club. After all we know praise tends to get lost while a good slagging will always get you noticed.
In the main the disgruntled are frustrated fans not clever enough to think of comebacks to their mancity, manure and chelski mates who will obviously use whatever banter they can to slap the club and any representatives put in front of them. Many of these sheep use useless vengar and evil stan as a defence mechanism against a barracking. Agreement that your club is led by idiots is a great shield when a bloke in a new blue shirt is showing you all the photos of what his club has won since a few billion has been thrown at it. To be honest a feel almost sorry for these types and always suggest they should read a few ARSENAL history books and grow a pair a much more effective way of countering these plastic PL fans.
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So it’s official, the archangel Gabriel has finally proclaimed his arrival…..and Diego Costa has been charged….
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Unfortunately, we live in a media driven society, and the likes of Adrian Durham (on TalkSport) are given the green light to carry out their moronic witch-hunts without comeback. He clearly hates Arsene, and although he claims to respect Arsenal as a club, he takes every opportunity to knock our club, and unfortunately, there are many stupid listeners who actually believe the nonsense he broadcasts, rather than looking at the facts and forming their own opinion.
I’d be interested to know what it was that originally sparked his obvious hatred of all things Arsenal, maybe they didn’t offer him enough free champagne, when he was there ‘reporting’, who knows ?
I was a steward at Arsenal, and I can tell you first hand, that the rubbish these people in powerful positions broadcast, is well and truly taken in by the noisy minority because you hear them regurgitating it almost word for word on a Saturday afternoon, usually after a skinfull of lager, I suspect.
Yes, every true Arsenal fan craves success, and of course, when things aren’t going brilliantly, it’s fair to discuss the manager’s options, we all have opinions after all, but what isn’t fair, is to ignorantly slag a man off who’s brought our wonderful football club so much, not just in terms of silverware, but possibly even more importantly, a footballing ethos which fans of clubs all around the world, admire.
Neuveau football fans, please our leave our club by the nearest available exit, Stamford Bridge will always welcome you !
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Poor old Diego – victim of a wicked conspiracy
He has until 6pm on Thursday to “respond” to a violent conduct charge (ahem – before receiving his three match ban)
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It’s the sense of false entitlement these fuckers have George, that boils my puss.
Us folk, on the sunshine bus are apparently accused of having no ambition and just love Arsene, not Arsenal. The fucknuts haven’t an original sound bite in their tiny little minds.
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Well done George. Keep fighting the good fight and lets also hope that the current team goes on to prove the doubters wrong. There are some good players there, and granted a bit of luck they have every chance of making quite a name for themselves as the next set of legends. If they do, and there are still elements of the fan base unhappy, then we will know that something most insidious is going on.
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oh I forgot congratulations to George, Steww and Andrew and all those who have made this site a success and to make it feel like youve just wrapped yourself in a warm ARSENAL blanket everytime you visit here.
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it seems arsenal did not need to buy Alexis, Ospina, Welbeck, Chambers or Debuchy last summer, well that is all I can assume going by the amount of Arsenal fans reaction to Gabriel’s signing, as a comments I see a lot of is “we finally signed what we need in a transfer window”
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congrats george and the positively arsenal family. two years since the end of an era prophesy, right?
welcome gabriel to arsenal. at last the waiting is over.
costa deserves more than three match ban. this is not the first time. hope the club feel the full consequence of the ban as well. maureen can say what he likes, but if costa had been sent off 12 minutes into the game, liverpool would have won easily.
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the laughable thing about Costa getting charged is, that he only got charged for one of the two stamps, and possibly the lesser of the two at that.
On signing Gabriel, I see he got photoed wearing an Arsenal shirt and holding an Arsenal shirt at the same time, must mean he is an idiot, after all the whingers said that is what it proved when Bielik done the same.
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I can only conclude that Wenger did not want to sign Gabriel, seeing there is no interview with him on Arsenal.com extolling the virtues of our new defender, well I conclude this as that is what the AAA were saying when no such interview was posted when we signed Welbeck and as we know these guys know it all
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so the latest whinge from these ignorant and stupid fans are that Arsenal have signed Campbell up to a new long term contract, before sending him out on loan, as it only safeguards his future value if we want to sell him in the Summer.
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This comment was so good it needs to be repeated:
“oh I forgot congratulations to George, Steww and Andrew and all those who have made this site a success and to make it feel like you’ve just wrapped yourself in a warm ARSENAL blanket everytime you visit here.”
Ditto from me. I was all set to give up my online Arsenal presence altogether until George and co. came to the rescue. I’m very glad for that as I would have missed interacting with all of you on the site.
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MS19 @mikesanz19 · 9h 9 hours ago
In the 7 games that Özil & Walcott have started together:
Özil – 4 assists & 1 goal.
Walcott – 6 goals.
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PG, thank you.
Not forgetting Arsenalandrew for priming the site?
Mr Wenger is blamed for the Dunkirk evacuation and of course, the formation of the Vichy Government, in 1940.
Others, of course, blame Mr Wenger for the 100 years war, some centuries ago.
Without giving the easting and northing of Mr Wenger’s residence, it does contain the word – Willow! The willow tree bows before the tempest, as Lord Nelson was quoted as saying, rather than the oak, which can be uprooted.
Finsbury, for some reason, was not mentioned. Finsbury, in December 2011, stated or pointed to an article that suggested that The Emirates could be expanded. Of course, I had to look at the planning applications and some of the drawings for both The Emirates and the White Hart Lane Stadium!
The stadia are in different boroughs for a starter. Neither the police nor the residents affected, will allow any further expansion?
What is this to do with PA, research, research and research. Make sure that the source is noted in your archive, for the rebuttal of the ignorant!.
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Man Utd’s FA Cup game has been picked for TV coverage, this will be their 45th FAC tie in a row that has been live on TV, unbelievable.
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Congrats on the two year anniversary PA. And thanks to the people who made it happen and all other contributors. This is one of very few blogs where the comment sections reflect the quality of the well written and thought out main articles. I share Passenals sentiment, this is really the only online football site I can go to after a loss or even a draw. I hope more Arsenal fans can find their way here.
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Andy, 5:04 pm
I think the hatred among certain media people and doomers probably started long way back. It was always simmering but because Arsene was so successful it was held back. I think the knifes really came out of the shadows during the 2011 season. All summer it was building up and after the 8-2 loss they saw a chance to stick it in. A leading figure was martin samuel, the chief editor of daily fail where adrian durham and neil ashton are picking up their livings. If you look back at articles from that time you will see that samuel was driving a badly concealed campaign to get Arsene the sack. He didn’t succeed but the tone was set and the naked aggressivity have remained since then.
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FH, something insidious is going on. Keeping on like they do after Ozil, Sanchez and a FA cup win, that’s really far beyond stupidity.
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Correction, martin samuel is chief sport writer.
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They used to be a statement in business circles that you could never go broke under estimating the stupidity of people, Unfortunately some Arsenal and football fans in general, seem to do there best to prove they are in fact foolish and incapable of there own rational thought,
The fact is, this problem of moaning whinging fans is predominately male reasonably well off, 25 year old + fans,I do think a Psychiatrist somewhere will have a name for it (probably ending in disillusion),
Meanwhile the post was one of the finest I have ever agreed with!!
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Watching the highlights, or the lowlights, of Bareclona’s win against Athletico Madrid.
That Madrid ended with nine men on the pitch was remarkable as they easily earned another two red cards – and have you ever, ever seen a player take his boot of and deliberately chuck it from a distance of five yards at the lino’s head ? ( he missed)
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The AM bubble will burst before long: to me they seem little more than a hyperactive Pulis side.
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anicoll5 – and he only got a yellow card – surely physical violence towards an official is a red? Maybe only if your aim is good.
AM got frustrated because Barca just kept the ball in the second half. Haven’t seen any stats but anything under 80% possession would surprise me.
Congratulations to all involved on your second anniversary – from a self-confessed idiot (sometimes).
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Exactly what deal has Joel Campbell signed? Can’t seem to find it anywhere.
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Andy – Durham’s son is a Gooner so one can only imagine it’s his disappointment that Adrian Junior isn’t following Dad’s supporting footsteps that drives the pillock’s passive aggression towards the club as expressed on his tragically inept Daily Arsenal feature and elsewhere.
***
Here’s to the next two years to all of us who have made a brand new home here; it’s been a real pleasure. Just can’t quite get my head round how quickly time has passed …
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I am lobbing some grenades on twitter. The knuckle daggers are beside themselves.
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I reckon you can probably class pretty much all goners in 2 categories. I’m not talking AKB vs WOB’s. No, no. I’m talking Goldfish vs Elephants. Those of us lucky enough to see the bigger perspective, i.e.: the long view. Vs those who can only see as far as their fingertip, on an outstretched arm…The short termers, as it were.
Wenger has plenty of faults. But, he’s done his best to try to rectify them in the last few weeks/months/years/decades.
He’s been called tactically inept more times than I care to remember. But, after beating City like that. I think, as was said on this very site, that it’s more a case of the players available. If you haven’t got a full squad, your tactics are restricted. That last Sunday, we had what we needed.
“History tells us….” that Arsene does not buy the players we need…..
Erm, well, errr, yeah he does. Just not when he can’t get them at the right price and standard. In any other industry, that would be called common sense, or good business practice. But, of course, ‘football’ isn’t supposed to be a business, is it?!
Yeah, we all wish we could’ve bought a proper DM and CB last august. But, as it happens, it wasn’t that simple (see Manure’s barren squad as proof, in fact, they still need a cb, and we’ve solved our conundrum already).
Trying to be realistic, I’d like to see Sissoko take Diaby’s place in the squad. I’m sad for About. His is an unfortunate story. So much potential. But, a career ruined by the same bloody tackles that refs are still allowing these days. And now we have tw@’s like Savage with punditry like “that’s a good foul”. FFS, a self perpetuating cycle of mediocrity.
I digress, then again, i’m pissed, and it’s 12:47am.
Loving this site. Nice to realise the world isn’t ALL as dumb as it seems!
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I’m thankful that I get to talk with like minded, incredibly Football literate and decent human beings.
Pires says Ivanovic is the best player at Chelsea. I agree. He is the best RB in the League. I hope he misses the game in Saturday.
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Gains – how dare you call me a decent human being. I’ve made a career out of not being anything of the sort. I demand an instant retraction of such slander.
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It looks as if the depth of the Chelsea squad will be tested over the next few games, as indeed has been the case with Man City. Its not easy playing top games without your best players. As for us, the angel Gabriel came down, and glory shone around. Well, let’s hope so anyhow – and lets also hope that Danny W is recuperating nicely and is ready to re-join the fray soon: I fancy him to make a big impact in the second half of the season.
This is an excellent site, and I love all the comments. I wonder though whether some of our regular writers shouldn’t undertake to produce a piece each week so that we can look forward to a new post nearly every day.
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I am all for more writing on the site FH – it would be a bit daunting for people (i.e. me) to say I will definitely produce a piece every week though. Setting aside the lame ‘busy at work’ excuse there are some weeks when I would struggle to find anything to write about Arsenal or generally. When the spark is lit though, the bonfire blazes – modest aren’t I ?
One advantage we have over the media rabble, and quite a few bloggers from what I can see, is that we do not have to churn out a piece every day to keep the hit rate on the site up and ensure the cash keeps rolling in. There are times when silence and contemplation may be sufficient.
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Notoverthehill @ 8:44 pm
The founding fathers of PA were George, Adi and Andrew!
–
Re: The new Arsenal Stadium.
No requirement for a Planning submission for a prospective project that if successful would only be valid for a few years. An official submission that would’ve failed (transport infrastructure etc.) would count against future applications.
There were definitely conversations had between councillors, MPs and the club about greater capacity in the early pre-planning design phases of the project. Which is normal. It’d be a worry if the club hadn’t of had such healthy dialougue from the very beginning *coughs Tottenham coughs*. And about improving access to Holloway Road & Arsenal tube stations. But funding as you know better then is tricky for such works – the gold used for the refurbishment of Highbury & Islington Station was found under the Olympian/East London Line expansion umbrella.
It’s possible to argue that the other two smaller stations should’ve been refurbished anyway* when the stadium was built. So, the club did well to get the stadium built as it is? Add in Finsbury Park and Harirngay Council’s desire to rake in the lucre from concerts that wreck the park and it’s almost a necessity to refurbish these stations as it stands.
*Ignoring mid-week games, and horrible schedules from broadcasters, if the access to the local stations would be improved would we see less people leaving early on a Saturday etc.? As discussed with Frank I don’t think so, the self-entitled fan/consumer/self-declared Expert is too important for such considerations?
–
“Emirates Stadium is a four-tiered design, simply adding an extra tier(just like the overlapping tier between the first and second tier) will add the capacity required or simply to keep adding steps to the original stadium as it is, ie increase the steps from the back row.
e.g.:
There are approximately 1,000 seats in the last row of the stadium. If you take an extra 10 steps upwards, then that would be 10,000 seats.”
It has been described as a “future proof” design. When building a house or building you might not have permission to build over a certain area or up to a specific height but this does not mean you can’t make your foundations strong enough or to chuck in a couple of extra beams all to help facilitate with any future works or extensions etc. The same technique people use to build up their homes over time as they work they way around Planning issues. Most products we use in our everyday lives are over-engineered for safety etc. (you’d hope!), no different to that.
The above quote is from a someone who claims to have worked alongside designers on the project. There’s also a consideration as to why the pitch is raised so high with that slope (unlike the Amex for example), i believe it’s to allow another undercut and add some seating whilst lowering the pitch but that could be wrong.
The existing stadium is not taller then surrounding buidings because the stadium was sunk so deep into the site – after excavations a large lake covering the site formed from ground water had to be pumped out of the cleared before foundation work could begin. It’s my understanding that the act of sinking the stadium so low allows the potential to go up at a later date if desired. That could be wrong but it all makes sense to me.
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Gabriel’s number has been confirmed as No. 5
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New post is up http://wp.me/37nXa
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Whether one follows Arsenal for 50 years or since 2004, you have the right to be ignorant. Whenever Arsenal lost in the past (maybe pre-invincibles), I dealt with it in private, got over it and looked to the next game. Now (and since 2004) there are a growing number of fellow “fans” who want call and tell me what went wrong and why – furious that Arsenal is such “a terrible team”.
I’ve stopped answering these calls as I think I might have found out the simple basis for, a kind of poster-wankers’ fury after losses, and complete silence after amazing wins.
They talk about the time and money they invest in Arsenal – and that’s where I stop listening. These people are not Arsenal fans – they’re not even football fans – they’re CONSUMERS. And when their product doesn’t deliver they feel entitled to some sort of compensation. I feel sad for them and for football fans who have to deal with them.
And I applaud professionals who completely ignore them.
I used to try to ask them questions about why they, for instance, would play Gibbs instead of Monreal on a given day (in hindsight of course). I ask them how the player’s form was at training the previous week, how his diet was working and how his general mood and motivation was on that given week or if they had any issues physically or socially. They look at me like I’m their grandmother, not knowing anything about football. They seem to think all footballers are robots who just need to be placed on the pitch and they will perform perfect.
If they play badly, well, then they’ve been misused…
An adivce to these consumers, would be to start following your team by their side instead of with only Your own argus eyes.
Thank you for a very refreshing blog in the midst of the sea of consumer blogs!
Andy, Norway.
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