Apparently, now is the time for change …
Just prior to kick off, the above scene presented itself to thousands of fans arriving from the south east of England ahead of the crucial Manchester United encounter. This was a game that had United won, would have seen one of our greatest rivals consolidate their unlikely position at the pinnacle of the Premier League, one point ahead of Citeh, six points ahead of Arsenal and eleven points ahead of the Champions of England.
The timing of the protest left everything to be desired, not least some support, and even managed to clash with the nationwide “£20’s Plenty” campaign to reduce ticket prices for fans of visiting teams.
Positively Arsenal would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the size of the photograph illustrating this article. As you can see, it is a very small banner with an even smaller turnout from the supposedly seething anti-Wenger ‘masses’. Forensic examination of the image reveals as many as nine gathered around the bannerette which reads:
“ARSENE Thanks for the memories but it’s time to say goodbye”.
The image was tweeted just before kick-off, supposedly a contemporaneous scene set above the Armoury Superstore. It’s as laughable as it is inconsequential but it did lead this writer to wonder: just how many people really do want to say goodbye to Arsene Wenger?
Naturally there are many of us not backward at coming forward to express disappointment at the occasional under-whelming performance/near total disaster in Europe. One of Wenger’s greatest achievements is that few of us can actually quite believe our eyes when our boys lose the occasional game. But reading Twitter from a safe distance suggests that there are followers of the club who think it’s time for Arsene to hang up his zip-unfriendly coat and say farewell. After match-day setbacks, the numbers of these fans seem to quell exponentially, as shrilly hysterical on Twitter, blogs and radio shows as their incoherent, and generally random, blunt barbs are hot-headedly inconsistent.
Yet when the team is doing well, these ‘contributors’ to the Gooniverse are largely silent. At such times, the phrase ’empty vessels’ springs to mind and the quieter majority bask in the golden sunshine of an Arsenal era quite unlike any other.
So just how large is their number?
Well, in the aftermath of the Olympiakos defeat, an online petition was launched to have the evil dictator, I mean Arsene Wenger, removed from office once and for all.
“Now is the time for change, do the right thing Arsene Wenger and GO!” exhorts the internet petition, replete with its own little red logo of a cannon and the words ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH WENGER OUT!
Ah-ha, at last, a handy metric for calculating the true scale of this pluckily determined protest group seeking to mobilise the views of the dispossessed, the disheartened and the disbelieving. And, at the time of writing, some seven whole days after the launch of the petition, the numbers signing it have risen to the heady heights of almost 1,300. Numbers seem stuck on 1,265 today and if the instigator of this petition and the carriers of the banner, above, were hoping for support to match the recent Mike Dean petition (106,445 signatories and still rising), then they have been badly misled.
However, all is not lost for the would-be revolutionaries, as there have been at least four other ‘Wenger Out’ petitions in the last year alone and support for some of them have even reached double figures. No fewer than forty end-of-their-tether types have pitched up to sign up to see off Arsene. So the latest petition, with nearly 1270 names has actually done comparatively well.
However, when you consider the official Arsenal Twitter account (@arsenal) has 6.3 million followers and Arsenal Facebook has 33.5 million ‘likes’, then it looks as though the petition has a fair way to go yet. As a percentage of Arsenal’s Facebook following, the petition has attracted almost 0.0037% of the fanbase. By comparison, the organisers of the banner-led mass-protest achieved a far superior result, attracting nearly 0.016% of the estimated 57,000 Arsenal supporters swirling around the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Cleverer statisticians than me (that’s most readers) will point out that even if all 57,000 had joined the banner protest, this would still have been a small percentage of the club’s total global following. But the fact remains that online, there are (virtually) no geographical boundaries, so a petition conducted in cyber-space really should be doing a little better. Indeed, to achieve parity with the laughably slim turn-out at the Emirates, the petition should by now have reached an absolute minimum of 3,500, which would of course, give it 0.016% of Arsenal’s Facebook following.
Yep, all of us hate losing games and most are fed up when the team doesn’t appear to fulfil its potential. A fair number will make a fair racket on Twitter. But very, very few, actually want Arsene Out, it would seem.
So maybe, as far as the Wenger Out Brigade is concerned, enough really is enough?
Positively Arsenal 
… poor Aguero.
He’s just a footballer but someone should’ve forced him to take it a little easier after he’d already had a hamstring niggle this season.
I fully expect to see a battery of unemployed sports physios to take to the ether in order to protest at this outrageous injustice (“Shock. Horror. Footballer wants to play football.”), and upon various man City blogs and disingenuous and sanctimonious social media (what do you mean there isn’t any?) led by experts who choose to write for extremist far rights oligarch loving whinging media outlets in order to protest against the unprofessional conduct of their oligarch owned football club in allowing a passionate and much loved footballer to, you know, play some football.
Yes. I’m looking forward to it…
…click…click…click…
LikeLike
Having watched Alexis’ goal celebrations with his team mates + half a dozen blokes in suits he looks in substantial danger of being crushed to death by the heap of bodies who all jump on him !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t it amazing, Hector was an unused sub for the Spanish U21s …are they sure. If that is genuinely his level then the England team might as well give up and go home now as he would undoubtedly be England’s first choice right back if born here.
LikeLiked by 3 people
a_or_b – you actually wonder who is playing right back for Spain!
Andrew – yes, I saw that; if he Alexis wasn’t injured before the goal celebration …
LikeLike
LOL for bolt in the shirt… looks nice but he certainly looks harassed. happy for the gunner that ut in that bet!
LikeLike
Without Rooney, England looks like a newly liberated team. Will England finally banish the ghosts of the over-hyped “golden generation”? 2:0 so far.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That England team had a lot of good young players in it – God knows how they will get on against the top countries but they have some potential
LikeLike
And hopefully with Jack to come into the middle of the England midfield to add quality and energy
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great blog. Love it
LikeLiked by 4 people
Theo looks really sharp, but it was clear the young england side didnt know how to get the most from him yesterday. Oli got some time because of benzemas injury and Santi got a brace as well. With Iwobi making his full debut for Nigeria and Maitland-Niles scoring for the England U21s its been so far so good.
International weeks are usually nervous affairs while we wait for our heros to come back in one piece, however sometimes they can also play an important part in form and game time for some of the squad who are not playing regularly.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Good morning all you of a positive disposition. I haven’t been able to comment as much as I want, but trust me, I’ve been reading every post and subsequent comments and as usual, they’ve been too notch.
So far so good with the interlull. Our boys seem to be in top form, helping themselves to goals and generally playing well. I pray they come back in one piece.
On a side note, someone (I think Eduardo it was) posted a link to Jose’s post match interview after losing to Southampton and the sky reporter started by saying “Commiserations Jose! What did you make of your teams performance?” That was as far as I could stomach. I’ve never heard Arsene, or indeed any manager receive such empathy after losing a game. Not even when we lost 8-2, 6-3, 5-1 or 6-0 to United, City, Liverpool and Chelsea. The arse licking is simply outrageous!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Morning Santi
Oh go on, watch the full intvw. You’ll learn so much, though nothing new. I liked the bit where he talked about being pushed in the technical area, cos this is a piece of bolux whereby history has been rewritten, in my opinion. After all, it’s hoe-say who walks into Arsène, and anyone who’d allow the odious one to walk into them without defending themselves would surely be foolish – given the well, yet underplayed, documented eye gouge in Spain. And of course, the continual showing of Wenger’s shove never comes with any context, such as the preceding assaults on Arsenal’s players.
Oh, how the refs never give Chelski anything (apart from the ‘everything’ given to them last season, and the ‘everything’ given them every time they play Arsenal, eh?)
Moano rattled on for 7 mins straight and wasn’t interrupted by the person interviewing him, then when he finished, done a Cameron by doing an about face and walking out.
Fab may do some walking:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-midfielder-cesc-fabregas-caught-6605332
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hoddle, co commentating on England’s match last night, gave MOTM to Ross Barkley.
He also slagged off Theo for crossing a perfect ball to Sterling, suggesting Walcott should’ve gone outside his man instead, seeing Raheem isn’t tall.
Was Harry Kane really so wonderful and unlucky last night? (Given the opposition).
I can’t wait to see highlights of Arsenal players with their teams.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m interested by Klopp, or at least the effect that he has had on Liverpool already. I work with an intelligent young man, Dublin born and bred who is a lifelong Liverpool fan. He’s had a real spring in his step this week, in a way he never quite managed in their wonder Suarez season. He had no time at all for Rogers, loathed his “corporate” approach, and had all but fallen out of love with the whole business. While I happen to think that things won’t be entirely straightforward for Klopp, I can’t ignore the feel good factor he has already engendered, and I wonder if this is one of the indefinables that make the whole business of fans and support so fascinating. Ancelotti may well have been a better choice, but he wouldn’t have had the same immediate impact on the rank and file support I guess. I wonder if this is what causes some of our banner holders to act they way they do? Not interested in sober logic, they look for messianic change to take them to a fabled promised land. And maybe that is the point – the dream of something better than now. I guess religions have been adopting that idea for some time now, and there have been no shortage of prophets and chosen ones to mark the way: whether it is salvation they have delivered, or merely the road to dusty death remains to be seen.
What I do think though is that a fully firing Liverpool are always a handful, and I expect them to come out of the blocks against the Spuds like men possessed. But whether they can maintain that intensity over a run of matches against fully committed and skilful opponents I rather doubt. Or maybe he will just run his players into the ground, like Jose.
LikeLiked by 2 people
foreverheady @ 11:36 am: We can expect a temporary lift at Liverpool with Klopp taking over; the classic the new manager effect. But enthusiasm can only carry a team so far. Compared to Dortmund, Liverpool’s squad has some serious defects especially in defence and midfield. Where are the Goetzes and Gundogwans? Benteke is no Lewandowski. Where are their Hummels and Subotic?
For example Coutinho is their #10 with a season stats per Game of 81% Pass Completion, 0.71 Key Passes, 0.29 Assists and 1 Chance Created .
Ozil in comparison is 89%, 3.86, 0.57 and 4.43 respectively, swamping him in all categories.
Similarly David Silva is 89%, 2, 1.20 and 3.20. Again, simply no comparison in quality.
Klopp is on record as saying this is a 3-4 year project Given their recent history the Fenway hucksters are never patient with managers.
LikeLike
Fair play to John Henry – Fenway have brought in probably the most sought after manager in Europe to the club who was available. Apparently they are paying him a fortune and I hope it works out well as I like the German.
I think the raw materials K has to work with are a bit basic but he cut his managerial teeth at Mainz so he knows how to work with players of all abilities.
LikeLike
Donyell Malen scored his first goal for Arsenal today
LikeLike
Wales lose to Bosnia but qualify for Euro 2016 thanks to Israel losing to Cyprus
turkey now 2 pts ahead of Holland in race for play off spot
LikeLike
Mandzukic rated 3rd worse and Kondogbia 4th worse signing in Seria A so far this season
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQ5HV4hUwAAiFWr.png:large
LikeLiked by 1 person
Regarding City’s schedule, AFC also have 7 games in three weeks – it’s just that so far our players seem unscathed. I didn’t like it this evening when Aaron appeared to be hobbling a bit near the end – don’t know if he ran it off – he played the full 90+ anyway. Fortunately Wales’ last game is against Andorra which shouldn’t give them any problems. The biggest worry of course is Alexis – who knows whether his injury against Utd was only a twinge or whether he’s playing through the discomfort. He’ll also have some jet-lag I guess after coming back from the Peru game on Tuesday. I think Arsene may prefer to have him on the bench against Watford. Maybe play a front three of Ox, OG and Theo. Must surely be a good opportunity for Ollie to get some of his confidence back. But I guess it all depends on how players report back later in the week and who has most need for rotation. I’d rest Aaron too if possible.
LikeLike
Wojciech doing well on the positive list, eddy.
LikeLike
Apart from goalkeepers, none of our defence seems to be involved in the internationals – nor is Coquelin. A blessing I suppose..
LikeLike
szczesny has been very good for Roma so far
LikeLike
LikeLike
Arsenal’s U16 squad today
LikeLike
Well, my hopes about Alexis dashed – he wasn’t fully fit, according to Chile coach. If that’s him not fully fit, God help opponents when he is. Hopefully Chile can get by without him against Peru, but the problem is to stop him playing. He doesn’t seem to think long-term about who’s paying his wages.
LikeLike
If he were my incredibly talented left sided attacking Chilean with an insatiable appetite for top class football I would lock him in his room Dk.
So there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No doubt if the Chilean coach does rest him against Peru Alexis will go into a total strop, with tears and tantrums before storming off to lock himself in his room.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is best for our mental health if we assume that Alexis will be played full 90 mins vs Peru and return to Arsenal knackered or, god forbid, with a long-term groin injury. He is now indispensable to the Chileans; he knows it and they know it. Without him they are another middling South American team battling for the scraps left by Brazil and Argentina. As Friday night demonstrated vs the Selecao, he was the sharp-end of the spear that tormented a resolute Brazilian defence until it finally broke. The good thing is he belongs to both Chile and Arsenal, in that order. Give thanks to Arsene Wenger taking that holiday jaunt in the tropical delights of Brazil during the summer of 2014 and returning with the boy wonder, “El Niño Maravilla”.
LikeLiked by 4 people
We have no choice but to guess that Alexis may need record time on his return to the club. If he’s rested against Watford, then OG and TW can play together. It shouldn’t be a problem.
Let’s keep praying there are no further injuries to worry about.
I wonder what the lads left at Colney have been working at for the last week: BFG, Arteta, Debuchy? set piece plays?
LikeLiked by 2 people
These rosary beads have almost been ground down into dust but so far so good!
I’m not complaining.
The best we can hope for is that the Chile coaches and manager know how important it is for Chile and for their national football team to have the best player in the PL as one of their own, fit and healthy and in the headlines (back pages, not like Vidal!) and not on the sidelines. And therefore, logically, rest him against Peru?
Fingers crossed. But, it is unlikely!
Bearing in mind the old jetlag and also the upcoming CL games it’s possible that Chamberlain will get the nod against Watford. I thought he’d get a rest up till the Chelsea game at the start of the season, so I’m holding out here for some mercy from the Chile manager. We can’t be expecting professional footballers to not be playing football even if they **** themselves up in the process it is a part of the game/any high level athletic sport.
e.g.: Schweiny might never recover from the injuries he played through during the 2014 World Cup, it was an incredible performance from him in the final itself and there may have been a high price for it but I don’t believe that he’ll have many regrets.
–
Gabriel not in the Brazil squad? If so the Selecao deserved to lose for that alone.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“The best we can hope for is that the Chile coaches and manager know how important it is for Chile and for their national football team to have the best player in the PL as one of their own”
Steady, we have at least 2 better players in our own team.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This just brings a smile to my face.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Albania have qualified for the Euros,
Poland take the lead v Rep of Ireland, and two minutes later Walters has made it 1-1 from a penalty
LikeLike
Giroud has scored 2 goals so far in a friendly for France away to Denmark, 4th and 6th minutes
LikeLiked by 1 person
lewandoski gives Poland the lead, his 22nd goal in 15 games this season. A fine powerful header.
LikeLike
watching the Poland v Rep of Ireland game the thought that arises is just how lucky I am to be an Arsenal fan, and to be able to watch players who can actually pass the ball, this mob, 19 outfield players – Lewandoski the exception – can’t pass the ball to a team mate, woeful and inept from such highly paid internationals. We as AFC fans at times take it for granted that all players can pass the ball, defenders, midfielder and attacker, and its when you watch dross like this game, that it really hits home how privileged we really are to have the plaeyrs and manager we have.
LikeLiked by 3 people
ozil won the penalty for Germany’s first goal, and had the assist for their winner, Germany top their group.
LikeLike
AFC Stat @AFCStat 16m16 minutes ago
Mesut Ozil MOTM vs Georgia:
1 assist
1 penalty won
9 chances created
90 passes, 87.8% successful
108 touches
LikeLiked by 3 people
I didn’t watch anything but Ireland can still get through – countries like Bosnia, Denmark, Slovenia and Hungary don’t seem to be any great shakes. And they must also have a chance of going through as the third place team with the best record against the top two in their group.
LikeLike
Sanchez has as expected started to show signs of understanding what a pass is, hehe, to be fair? That chipped pass for Ramsey’s chance? Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of that. And the finish from Ozil (an Özilicious assist for Germany’s winner)
A shame that Wilshere and Welbeck are missing out on the party at the moment, they’d be getting some minutes given the schedule. Hopefully they’ll both recover well. Welbeck’s out till after the Xmas fixture Krunch i think.
Giroud scoring for France after his last game for them is welcome news.
LikeLike
Newcastle’s Tim Krul ruled out for the rest of the season with ruptured cruciate ligament
LikeLike
Looks like I’ve misread the rules for best third place team – doesn’t look like Ireland are in with a shout there.
LikeLike
As if McClaren didn’t have problems enough.
The next manager to go, me thinks.
LikeLike
the mail predicted in 2007 that this would be the England team of the future. when you look at the players listed, it just reinforces how few make the grade.
LikeLike
That Poland game must’ve gone alright, or is WS1 just in training:
https://mobile.twitter.com/GrzegKrychowiak/status/653312420262342657/video/1
LikeLike
its amazing, the negative press olivier is getting everywhere. he scored two last night, and it was like, ok, he scored two goals but he was shit. it wasnt as if france scored more than the two goals, did they?
but all that i read this morning is anthony martial giving a ‘superb’ through ball to giroud only for him to spoil it by hiting it tamely under the keeper. his second goal was also a mistake from the keeper. i thought every goal is always as a result of mistake either from an outfield player or the goalkeeper. the beautiful bride now is martial despite him costing three times giroud’s cost. and may still rise to 80m euros.
LikeLike
Layksite – the football media is largely dominated by simpletons writing for, dare I suggest it, simpletons. There are worthy journalistic exceptions to this observation just as not all football fans are thick and/or illiterate. The hallmark of any simpleton is the degree to which they are comfortable with the realities of their world (or sporting) view being represented in black and white terms.
As we know from too many of our own agenda-fed fans, players are either ‘shit’ or ‘brilliant’, when the reality is prone to impact from all manner of variables I don’t need to list here.
So at the moment, it’s Martial Awe time and the fall guy is Giroud.
Where it gets more entertaining for me is when players are appearing to move from being ‘brilliant’ back to (relative) ‘shit’ as appears to be the case with Rooney and last season Spud-wonder Kane. There is that delicious opening up of a journalistic no-man’s land as the media shy away from the evidence of their own eyes of Rooney’s decline (legs’ gone?) and Kane’s apparent loss of confidence (head’s gone?).
The reality?
Probably neither have turned to ‘shit’ overnight but Wayne’s decline is likely matched by his struggles to motivate himself in the twilight of a patchy career that saw his international form in tournaments never truly replicate his club contribution. Kane is young enough to bounce back to form though he could help himself by finding a decent club to play for.
But the media, in the meantime, struggle to digest and assess what is in front of them.
At some point they will twig Wayne’s game is finally up and maybe Kane’s development has stalled or even gone backwards. But all the while armies of football fans rely on mainstream media for their footballing verdicts, we shoudn’t be too surprised at the quality of the arguments of those same fans and the limits of their own understanding of the game.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Eduardo – your England Team of the Future graphic illustrates superbly well how difficult talent spotting is. It’s one fundamental reason so many academies seem to fail at one level or another. The only two Arsenal youngsters I felt certain of success were a 16 year old Cesc and Hector Bellerin. I never though Coquelin would come good (I know) and I still hold out hopes for young gunner Gnabry.
Of the current batch that I watch (or have watched) regularly, I have high hopes for Bielik, Zelalem and Jeff (and a good number of others, if I’m honest!). But there is no guarantee that any will succeed long term, no matter how many times I watch them play. Watching the U21’s has brought home to me just how hard it is for a player to make the grade.
It’s not just about super-human levels of fitness, skill and courage.
There is also that hard to define ‘X-factor’ which would surely reveal itself if we were just able to dissect and properly examine that most remarkable of today’s star players, Francis Coquelin.
From Eddy’s graphic, the fact that the ever-improving Theo ‘no-football-brain’ Walcott is still very much with us is little less than a footballing miracle. That none of the others command Theo’s successful profile probably shouldn’t surprise us so much.
It’s a funny old game, but a tough one, as well.
LikeLiked by 4 people
layksite I seen many so called Arsenal fans dismiss giroud’s two goals and in fact go on about him not scoring a third, seemingly he had a one on one with the goalie and did not score, so its suits these idiots agenda to ignore the two he did score and highlight the one he missed, you know only AFC strikers miss chances,
LikeLiked by 2 people