This blog is about the demise of the weekly show on Arsenal Player , hosted by Adrian Clarke.

Last year Adrian and his The Clockend  show replaced Tom Watt and The Fans Forum.

Some years ago when we had Arsenal TV the Fans Forum was two hours long. It was reduced to one hour when it reappeared on Arsenal Player. If my memory serves me well it went to a 90 minute show until it was replaced by The Clockend, which was back to only one hour per week.

I now learn that the show is to become monthly. Personally, I find this very disappointing. And I’m sure I’m not alone. Here are some words written by fellow blogger  @Alternativearse.

“The Clock End running out of time.

With the start of a new season, the Arsenal machine is back in full effect; all the usual news media and opinions being wafted around the various channels with the usual gusto.

Except this time round, there is a slight gap in the proceedings.

Like a school kid who has just lost one of their first gnashers. You see the same face, it’s just not quite like it was before. Something is different, and only unveiled when you start asking questions.

For the first time on Monday, the Monday after the Charity shield victory, Adrian Clarke hosted the first edition of this seasons Clock End chat show. If you are a regular to Arsenal Player, then you have probably caught the live broadcasts or the highlight show at some point in the past.

It was a Monday night staple for some fans; the perfect way of connecting with the club, being part of the analysis of the team performances and a bonfide method of passing on your opinion to the club without the anonymity of the internet.

Twitter, Facespace and the rest of them are all very good methods of connecting, but they are fairly impersonal. You just can’t beat a good old fashioned phone in to chat live with the shows host and the emotion that is conveyed.

The BBC’s 606 is a perfect example of this interaction working a royal treat.

And it’s that interaction is an important aspect of being a fan of any sport. The ability to connect and feel apart of the big show is critical, and the Clock End show provided that link for many supporters.

Sporting the Arsenal colours and that sense of pride it gives you is important.

Feeling like a part of the club you shout for each weekend is important, and being given opportunity to be involved in some way shape or form is also very important, especially in this global age of instant communication that we now live in.

Take members day for instance; 100% in your face connectivity.

Unfortunately for the Clock End Show, Arsenal Media have deemed it necessary to shorten the availability of the weekly show, turning it into a monthly installation instead, citing poor viewing figures as the reason.

The podcast recording of the same show does do well. It received thousands of listens per episode, but the live performance has unfortunately received the hatchet. (not the full axe in case you are wondering)

But the podcast is a recording.

It may be cost effective, but it is history, and offers little in the way of connectivity for fans. You can’t phone into a podcast, nor can you react to another opinion apart from sounding a bit mad and talking back to your computer, or, if you listen to it on the train, the stranger sitting next to you.

This is not the best way of connecting with your club.

But it is only when motions like this curtail something that is loved, that people start to take notice, and often it is then too late.

Football clubs are marvellous things in the way they attract attention, but this support goes far beyond podcasts and favourite tweets.

There are supporters out there who really will support a clubs ambitions  Arsenal Media  with it’s productions, especially those created in house , have clearly tried different formats and presenters and time slots to boost the viewing figures. They have done their bit and now its up to us to do ours by watching .

Match footage, is of course off limits – that has to be tightly controlled, due to licensing and fees, – but in house media, such as the Clock End, could be streamed, advertised, shared and promoted by individuals across the globe, potentially increasing audience and involvement.

In this day and age, you can watch live TV inside a pair of glasses as you walk along a hill top…so why can’t Arsenal take advantage of it’s colossal fan base and benefit from its outreach and connectivity?

I for one would be very keen to promote my teams activities, I am a supporter, and can offer a lot more than just buying the shirts and watching games.

If it’s for the benefit of our football club, then there should be no issue whatsoever.”

Now then, to get to the point.

Although I feel the club could perhaps have done more to promote the show, there wouldn’t be a problem if more of us had tuned in. Its a great show and we can only blame ourselves that its not to be aired weekly.

If the club are to invest in its production then the least we can do is invest our time and watch it live. If there is a demand the club will cater for it.

So, lets all tune in every month, that way the viewing figures will justify a return to a weekly show.

Arsenal Media will , like the rest of us , be working on a budget. They do ,in my opinion, produce some fantastic shows. If I were them, my budget would be used towards the shows that attract the most views. So its up to us to ensure that The Clockend is one of them.

If you have never tuned in I promise you that you will not be disappointed, its an excellent hour for all keen Arsenal fans.

Please support it and promote it !

I’m pedantic george @Blackburngeorge , thank you for reading and I hope you will all help with this matter.

It’s Gooner-stic, I say

Sight and sounds of opening day

Red army to the fray

Proud, ambitious, ready to slay.

While pundits babble and predict

Bringing comfort to the pessimist

Gooners remain optimists

Full in knowledge that signings are no mist.

So Palace to be the test

Fully prepped but leaderless

From the south they came

Up for the physical game.

Emirates buzzing

Fans anticipating

Twitter palpitating

Some surprise the gaffer is springing.

Tweet goes the whistle

At last an end to the tattle

Arsenal on the front foot probing

Palace in the trenches, countering.

First blow, set piece comes their way

Hangerland causes dismay

Down in the bottom corner, scoring

Visions of an upset soaring.

But this Arsenal refuses to fade

Making attacks, forcing a foul to break-up the play

Up step Alexis, ball in flight

Around comes Kozzer, neck muscles tight.

So its second half to decide

Substitutes tilting from the side

Chamakh yellow, Puncheon red

Palace clinging, as if ready to bed.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

A corner won, arcing from right hand

Downward header by Giroud, Debouchy lashes

Never in doubt as Aaron smashes.

Three points bagged, no scapegoat to blame

Gooners are happy, doomers ashamed

Onwards and upwards is the positive claim

As the joy of opening day forever remains.

We are moving up market with Shotta. Poetry now, whatever next?

Here is to Giroud and co terrorising defenses this season!

By Sensational Arsenal  @Madras_Periyar

The other night I tweeted this

“I’m going to stick my neck out here and say this is Arsenal’s strongest SQUAD ever.”

Of course my Time Lime was immediately swamped with mocking toddlers who were quick to tell me that I was deluded and the 04 team was better.

Clearly these people were unable to distinguish the difference between “squad” and “team” . Why was I not surprised ?

Before we go any further I should make it clear that I don’t think our current best eleven is better than that of the 04 team( Although I don’t think there is much in it).

“But we have only added Sanchez !” 

They say.

Well Yes. Since last May. Thats sort of true. if we say Debuchy= Sagne, Ospina= Fabianski and at a stretch Chambers=Vermaelen. (and conveniently forget Campbell).

However if we look at it over the last two years the squad is almost unrecognisable in terms of true quality.

In that two year period we have added Santi, Mesut and Sanchez . Those three are arguably considerably better than anyone at the club was, prior to Santi arriving.

There have been others like Podolski, Giroud and Monreal, but I think its fair to say we had players that were in the same class as them. I believe that Tomas is in the same class as  Santi, Mesut and Sanchez, but thats for another day.

We don’t however only have those three in the very top bracket though. Aaron Ramsey can stand shoulder to shoulder with any of them. We didn’t have this version of him two years ago

Then we have Koscielny. If there is a better central defender in the world, I haven’t seen him. I would not have said that two years ago.

Gibbs is now a really good leftback. Again much better than two years ago and the best we have had for at least since Cashley slunk across town.

Also its fair to say that AOC and Jack are much better than they were. Especially Jack as then he was out of the game totally.

Per and Giroud are also very much better than they were, having fully settled into the league.

Finally, Just look at what Szczesny has become compared to himself or Almunia two years ago. I believe he is the equal of any keeper in the country.

So,  Santi, Mesut, Sanchez, Aaron, Gibbs, Koscielny and Szczesny are massive improvements on what we had just two years ago. Then Per, Giroud, Jack , AOC and even Theo are also improvements to one degree or another.

We must take into account the improvement of our existing players when looking at the team, not simply the players we have signed.

Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Unsigned CB, Monreal, Flamini, Jack, Rosicky, AOC, Giroud, Podolski ! Swap Abou for anyone if you like, and that is our second string eleven. If anyone can list a second team that we have ever had that comes close to that, be my guest.

So I am convinced this is indeed our strongest ever squad.

By the way, we haven’t even finished shopping.

By pedantic george @Blackburngeorge.

I wait Nine years for a piece of silverware, and I’m buggered if two don’t come along at once !

Well ok, its not a real trophy, but its sure a lot better to be winning it than losing it.

We fans , and the club, have to listen as people tell us we cant beat the big team. Bollocks to them then, I’m counting that as a win.

At very least it should assure the players that they can indeed beat the top English teams. The importance of confidence cant be overstated.

When we had anything resembling a full squad we led the league., then when we got anything like a full squad back we won the FA Cup. Now this. The way I look at it is that if our players are fit we win shit.

More importantly the way we played in the first half speaks volumes. City players looked like sulking hound dogs after 10 minutes, as by that time they had realised that it was our ball and they were not going be allowed to play with it.

You all saw the game. Loads of positives. Sanogo, Chambers,Gibbs and Jack were all very good. Well, everyone was really, but they stood out.

However my man of the match would have been old “no legs”himself, our new club Captain, Mr “cant hack it in big games” Mikel Arteta. He never put a foot wrong.

Mikel is everything you would want in an Arsenal Captain and a lot more. The perfect professional and representative of the club.

So come on you Positistas, lets hear three cheers for Mikel…….hip-hip…………hip-hip………hip-hip

By pedantic george @Blackburngeorge.

It seemed a sensible time to review the “Closed Season” as 24 hours from now we shall be locked back into the 2014/2015 season.  Either our first silverware, will be safely on its way to the trophy room at the Ems, if not then the scarved mob will be forming up, pitchforks at the ready. Not of course that there is ever a ‘Closed Season’ in modern football, far too many people’s jobs depend on the 24/7 sporting cycle, but you know what I mean.

In contrast to the Summer of 2013, the past three months have been a serene and very pleasant interlude. For our mighty club to finish the season with the FA Cup victory, achieved in such dramatic circumstances, brought me into the break on a high.

There followed a great World Cup, best for 20 years +. Brilliant football, plenty to talk about incident wise ( steady Hunter), and the final won by the best team in the competition. With Ozil key in the German victory, Per playing a good part earlier in the tournament and Poldi, errrr , there.  I suspect Poldi is worth his place on character alone in the dressing room. Breaking into that German side would have been some feat for the boy.

And with the FIFA engraver’s tool barely back in its satin bag the REALLY IMPORTANT part of the closed season started, and the transfer window opened !

And Arsene moved, moved decisively, moved to secure the payers he had decided would take our club forward. And the Groaners made such a FUSS about his beach holiday. You know the names, you have a similar expectation of what they can and will bring to the club as I do. I need say no more.

Now there are 100 reasons presented on the internet and in the media as to how and why Arsene appears to have pounced like a panther into the transfer market and all or none may be true, partially true, or total bollox. I did not see one of the players who we signed as potential recruits on Cup Final day. “Callum who ….?” Now they all seem obvious targets. How clever am I ?

What is however pleasant for me as a simple supporter is that I have not had to put up to the usual CASCADE of abuse, contempt, disrespect, dislike, sneering condescension that degenerates over the weeks into outright hatred for the club from far too may who describe themselves as ‘supporters’. As I said in my opening remarks the pitchforks may only have been temporarily stacked but the past few weeks have nevertheless been a refreshing break from the civil war. Discourse has been sane, creative at times, funny even.  It has led to a wave of confidence in the players and the club that will carry us over a few obstacles in the next few weeks.

A final thought on tomorrow’s game, and in fact the opening weeks of the PL season, that occurred to me as I have been watching and England v India this afternoon. If you find yourself in a hole, stop fucking digging.

I am in Block 140 tomorrow so if anyone is about give us a shout.

I thank you for your attention and your patience.

And Thank you Andrew @anicoll5

So The Arsenal, one of the great clubs in the world, puts on a pre-season friendly tournament in the capital city, and invites three decent European sides, Benfica, Monaco and Valencia to come and join the party. They throw the doors open to their wider fan-base ensuring a full house of 60,000 on both days of the weekend, many of whom are children visiting the ground for the first time. There is a real carnival atmosphere, and although the Sunday game does not go entirely to script (it is after all a proper match, albeit one played not quite at full pace) a clear cut foul on the home team’s striker in the penalty area ensures that a moment of high drama will see the match end as a draw. Not quite the perfect result, but the young crowd will experience a home goal in front of the North Bank and glow as their heroes parade the trophy that they all but guaranteed in a five goal romp against Benfica on the Saturday. Just about perfect in every way, and the officials (who have been treated with the utmost respect and looked after all weekend so that they too can get up to match speed for the coming season) don’t even have to massage the rules to achieve the result desired by all those who flocked to the Emirates.  Just about perfect in every way. It is almost as if a script has been written. God, or at least Arsene Wenger, is in his heaven and all is well with the world.

Except between them the linesman and referee manage to find a way to avoid making the right decision. Instead of the initial penalty awarded by the ref, the linesman’s intervention results in a mere free kick. The match ends in defeat and the spoils go to a Valencia side that few in the crowd have even heard of. The disappointment is tangible and the young fans drift away: some will return, many won’t.

I cannot think of any other major club in the world that would have its hospitality so cynically abused. And if, given all the peripheral reasons for ensuring that justice was done on the Sunday afternoon of an essentially meaningless Emirates Cup, the officials still choose to disadvantage the home side, what chance is there that a level playing field will exist when we travel to Manchester, to Liverpool, to West London to contest not friendlies but proper matches where points and prestige are at stake.

The mind quickly returns to the FA Cup Final, May 17^th 2014. The Arsenal, rocked by two early Hull goals, slowly but surely gain a foothold in the match through the excellent Cazorla and go about securing their first trophy for several years. Referee Lee Probert, who once infamously sent Arsene Wenger to the stands for having the temerity to kick a plastic water bottle in frustration at yet another anti-Arsenal decision at Old Trafford, turns down three obvious penalty decisions in a show of breathtaking indifference to the actual rules of the game he has been chosen to oversee. This time his meddling makes no difference and an extra-time winner secures the spoils, but few would deny that Probert made it much harder for the victors to impose their obvious on-field superiority.

Penalties are game-changing moments and as such spotlight the referee’s competence, not just in applying the rules correctly, but also and perhaps more importantly, of having the courage to do so impartially, no matter what the situation, no matter how hostile the home crowd. They are real talking points, and it is no wonder that at times it is obviously easier to wave play on. However, while penalties clearly do affect results, they are not necessarily the most important decisions that referees are called upon to make. An early Yellow Card not given for a professional foul sets in motion a whole series of cynical assaults, all designed to break up the rhythm of the better side – playmakers are targeted for rotational fouling, so lax officiating not only amounts to a cheat’s charter but also threatens the skilled player’s entire career. Any team that plays a passing game does so to maneuver their opposition out of position before making the final and telling assist: little unpunished professional fouls allow the out-maneuvered time and space to regroup. The Arsenal are particularly vulnerable to this tactic, but, and this cannot be stressed too strongly, this tactic cannot work if the referee is doing his job properly. Every time you see the official keep his card in his pocket when a yellow should have been given you will know that he is, either intentionally or unintentionally, favoring the transgressor over the transgressed. Every time you read an opinion that suggests that The Arsenal have been contained or beaten by a manager that does tactics, ask yourself whether the referee has also played a part in those tactics. And if you find that yes, in fact the ref has had an influence, then you might also begin to ask about the validity or the motive of that anti-Arsenal opinion.

Any Arsenal fan will have their own particular examples of games that have been refereed in a particularly anti-Arsenal way, and it will be interesting to see the comments section fill up with moments when the decisions have literally beggared belief. The best Arsenal site for detailing the vagaries of specific referees is Untold Arsenal, and it is always sobering to read their referee reviews before any game. There don’t seem to be many refs who call it evenly, and I leave it to you to think about why that might be the case, and why so few Arsenal blogs draw attention to that situation. But I think they should, and I think that all Arsenal fans have a responsibility to speak loudly and clearly about the way the games are officiated. If there is an anti-Arsenal bias then we should all draw attention to it. Fans interviewed on Arsenal TV should talk about the decisions of the referee, fans on Twitter should point to the man in black, influential bloggers should have the officials firmly in their sights. We all enjoy having our own views about what the manager should have done, and who has played well or not so well, and there is a time and place for those opinions, but I would suggest that in the immediate aftermath of a game the performance of the officials should be clearly and vociferously scrutinized.

And perhaps most importantly of all, those who go regularly to the stadium should be very loud and proud in support of their team – and even louder and more hostile towards the referee if he shows any signs of getting it wrong. The season ticket holders need to be the 12^th man, and referees should expect any decision not correctly given Arsenal’s way to lead to a violent storm of ear-splitting hate. We expect marginal decisions to go against us at Old Trafford, the Bernabeu, and the Allianz for that is the way of things, but we must do all in our power to ensure that when we play at home we at the very least get the rub of the green. It would be nice to think that on match days all Arsenal fans would put aside their differences, and unite to make The Emirates a proper fortress that our players adore and opposing teams and referees fear. Make some noise, create merry hell and make the referees mind up for him. Together we can indeed be stronger and when we go to matches we need to remember that supporting The Arsenal means exactly that – and that proper and noisy support can and does lead to key decisions going the home team’s way

Today’s article was given to us by Tim Head @foreverheady

Yesterday I tweeted this:

“Same philosophy, same tactics, same vision, but increased spending power.  So, NO, ARSENE HASN’T CHANGED, his credit limit has.”

A few days ago I had this to say:

“Wenger isn’t back, because he’s never been away. He hasn’t changed and he certainly hasn’t  listened to fans, or the media.”

It doesn’t take a lot to irk me [No shit – Ed] but the insistence from certain sections of the fan base and the media that Arsène has changed infuriates me to the point where I could punch a puppy.

They are adamant that Arsène has changed. Well, he has. He is older and wiser.

He has not, however, changed in the way they are insinuating.

These idiot halfwits (trust me that is the nicest description I could muster) want us to believe that they were right. He had “lost it”.  He did want to feed his enormous ego by trying to win with a bunch of kids and cut price players. He was choosing not to spend the money that was available. He was happy with 4th and a last 16 place in Europe.

They have to think these things otherwise they would have to accept that they have been wrong.

Very wrong.

Completely wrong – and they won’t do that!

They have been wrong about Arsène.

They have been wrong about Ivan being incompetent.

They have been wrong about Stan being an asset stripper.

In short, they were wrong about everything.

However, having spent years talking absolute bollocks, they have to find some way of justifying their stupidity.

They want us to believe that they were right. Their lack of support for the great man – our greatest ever manager – is to be excused because “Arsène has changed“.

You hear things like, “we wanted him to buy world class players and now he is“.  Completely ignoring what has been clear to anyone with even half a brain for 10 years.

He didn’t have the money to spend!

Or this little gem  “We wanted to win trophies and now he has!”  Again ignoring that he didn’t have the players to do it given that there were three clubs spending north of a billion pounds to buy up the said trophies.

I repeatedly hear “mistakes were made” and yet the vast majority of these perceived mistakes can be put down to the simple lack of funds.

They will do anything, and say anything, rather than admit they were the ones that were making mistakes.

Arsène is the same as he was last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 18 years ago when he first tipped up.

These people were unable to understand the simple economic realities that hamstrung the club. They spent years writing blogs, doing podcasts and tweeting about how they could do a better job than Arsène and the board. Make no mistake, if you are telling someone how to do their job, it’s because you think you know better.

Well they didn’t, not a single one of them.

The divide in the fan base was caused by them. It was not caused by those people who held their position of simply supporting the club. Both sides of the divide were not to blame. It was the uninformed pea-brains that thought they had the answers. Not those who just wanted to support the club.

It’s alright to be wrong. We are all wrong from time to time. But it’s not alright not toaccept being wrong, look for an excuse for your wrongness and hide behind it.

The most popular excuse seem to be Arsène has changed. 

Well he hasn’t, so admit that and stop digging.

By pedantic george @Blackburngeorge