Is this as bad as it can be? Let us hope so, because if we are honest, it’s dire.

How did it come to this?

This was supposed to be a thing of the past, but sometimes you get the feeling that you are in some weird Matrix thing, on a torturous loop.

It feels like death by a thousand cuts. So let’s try to analyse the cuts.

Theo has started less than 10 PL games and yet despite never being fully up to speed, he has scored 5 goals and had a similar amount of assists. That’s a goal or assist in every game. Just imagine what a fully fit Theo would have done with Ozil feeding him through balls. That’s what we lost when Theo was stretchered off on the 4th of January. We didn’t know it at the time, but they were actually carrying off our title challenge on that stretcher.

Of course you could say we should have cover for him. Well ok, name me one player in the league with his skill set that we could have as a back up? No team has a Theo, let alone a back up Theo.

Our natural replacement/cover for Theo is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but he was out for the first half of the season and it’s a little more than hopeful to expect a returning 20 year old, with a career total of 5 PL goals, to fill the void.

Up until Xmas, we got away with it because we had a little bit of Theo, but we had a lot of Aaron Ramsey. In 18 PL games he had 8 goals and 6 assists. That though only tells a fraction of the story. He was the stand out player in the country, the best midfielder by a country mile. He was giving us a balance that we have not seen in the team for years. Tackles, interceptions, incredible distances covered and an almost unbelievable pass completion %. He seemed to understand Ozil better than anyone and it appeared that no matter who he played along side, it worked. Player of the month became no more than a formality for him, collecting it 5 times on the bounce.

BANG – 26th of December he limps off with a slight thigh strain and was not seen again for over 3 months. I can’t remember us playing to that standard since.

Jack Wilshere has had an in-and-out season. It’s been a struggle for him with more downs than ups. His fitness has been suspect which has affected his game. Anyway, when we needed him the most, BANG – out he goes.

Mesut Ozil, the finest number 10 in world football – he is an assist machine – but he needs runners to assist. Since Xmas he’s had none. Anyway BANG – out he goes.

Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky (32 and 33 respectively) should be used sparingly, but due to injuries, they’re being asked to play every game and it’s showing on them. Particularly on Mikel.

Abou Diaby was due back before Xmas – hello, hello HELLO, Abou???? Nope no sign.

Flamini, he was to be cover for Mikel in the lesser games. Instead he has had to play with Arteta. Needs must, but the least said about that particular double pivot, the better.

So basically, since Xmas we have been left with an unbalanced team that’s shot at physically.

But there is worse to come.

It looks like they are mentally shot, too.

Back to the thousand cuts.

United away. Half the team struck down with some illness or other on the way to the match. Some sent home, others having to play half fit. We lost to a RVP shoulder loop in a game that the very least we deserved was a draw.

Ouch, that stung a little.

Manchester City away, we have to play with only two day’s rest following a European away game. Studies show that you have 50% less chance of beating anyone, let alone a fully rested City team on their own midden. Even then we had 2 goals incorrectly ruled off-side and a clear penalty denied. 6-3.

Ouch, quite a cut that one!

Liverpool away. Early goal conceded (off-side btw) and a goal from a corner.  Start chasing the game, holes everywhere, look foolish.

Ouch, that stung a lot.

So here we are now, stripped of confidence and knackered. Having to play with 6 first choice players missing and the rest running on empty.

Sort of explaining the present dismal run of form.

Of course along the way the manager and individual players will also have made mistakes, inflicting more little painful nicks.

People do, you know ?

Fortunately for Arsenal, the fan base has rallied around the team and will carry them to the end of the season on a wave a love and support.

BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT FANS DO?

RIGHT?

I lost my innocence in the summer of ‘77, the year that Elvis died. It wasn’t Elvis’s fault and it wasn’t that sort of innocence either. For that I’d have to take you to a seedy back-street in Singapore a few years earlier, but the less remembered about that the better, and it isn’t that sort of a blog anyhow: I’m told there are better sites that cater for those sorts of tastes anyhow. It rained a lot in ‘77, and there was a big storm in London on the 16^th August, the night the self-styled King of Rock and Roll passed away. I remember that because we were en-route from Chelmsford to West Drayton: we’d just played Essex, and were about to take on Middlesex. Oh the giddy heights of the County Second XI circuit, but we stopped to pay homage at the Hard Rock Café anyway, although as we were young we didn’t properly understand why grown men cried that night, the late summer storm mimicking their desperate tears as the last relic of teenage years washed away.

But it was some storm, and although the next day dawned fresh and clear, the ground we were playing at was almost underwater: no chance of play on the first day (and little chance for all three days, to be honest, but we persuaded the umpires that there might be) and so we turned to what we normally turned to, which that summer was Three-card Brag. We’d played for matchsticks and pennies most of the season, but that day one of our players Dad’s had turned up to watch, and rather than go straight home again he joined our card school. Brag’s a kind of boiled-down Poker, relying heavily on bluff and nerve: we’d had a lot of fun with it on rainy days, but it was never the same again after Barry joined in. He watched our small-stakes bravado for a few hands, and then suddenly went a Pound blind, dramatically raising the stakes and putting the game out of most of our reach. We couldn’t double our stakes to see him for long, and despite sitting on good hands, we knew it was time to fold. Self-made man that he was he couldn’t see the point of playing for fun or skill, even against us kids: winning was everything to him, and as with so much in his life, he bragged and bought his way to the prize. I remember thinking that there was another sort of game going on, not one that I understood or cared for, but somehow important to those that played it. It wasn’t cards, and it certainly wasn’t cricket, but it was money – and that playing the game of money seemed to trump everything for those that played it.

I saw the same thing happen with wine and horses too. Racing had always been a rich man’s pastime, but first Robert Sangster, then the Arabs and latterly the Coolmore gang soon saw that it didn’t need to be a game at all. Invest heavily enough in the right blood lines, and the glittering prizes would inevitably follow: what splutterings of righteous indignation there were as the former aristocrats of the Turf found themselves priced out of their own favourite game, reduced to mere bit-players and onlookers at Ascot, Epsom and Longchamp. They couldn’t even drown their sorrows properly either: heavy investment in Bordeaux and Burgundy had now left Fine Wine the preserve of the Far-Eastern super-rich, seduced by the glamour of the famous name labels. Only the best will do for them, apparently, which is why Chateau Petrus retails at over a Grand a bottle in the Hong Kong restaurants: that it is then openly diluted with Coca-Cola somehow only adding insult to injury, and causing my mate in the Wine Trade serious problems as he smiles through gritted teeth while all the time laughing on his way to the bank.

And it was only a matter of time before cricket and football went the same way down the money road. Kerry Packer and Tony Greig saw that a long time before the cricket establishment ever did, and their World Series altered the face of cricket and the way it was played once and for all. All changed, changed utterly, the terrible beauty of the T20 game and its offshoot leagues born the moment Channel 9 saw that stay at home Aussie punters would pay to watch great sport from the comfort of their sprawling suburban homes. Sky and the bookies followed hot on their heels, just as they did when they saw that football was ripe for a rebrand, and it is essentially the TV money that explains why a few gifted lads, barely out of their teens, boast Hampstead homes and toothsome cars. But something else and more exciting happened with football as it moved away from its working-class origins and lost its automatic association with violent thuggery. The clubs themselves became the latest must have fashion accessory for the uber-rich and what better way to parade your success than to own one. The likes of Jack Walker showed what could happen when you suddenly take over and throw money at an under-achieving club: the Leeds and Portsmouths of the world showing the dangers of such an approach.

Because that is the danger for the high-rollers: you might raise the stakes, but you can never be quite sure if someone with more money might one day join the game and trump you by going “an oil-well blind”. Abramovich saw the possibilities, and for a while his spending made all the difference: indeed, he turned the game on its head for a while, partly to posture, but also perhaps to launder a reputation. But what a transformation in no time at all for that club: the greatest players in the world flocked to his side, and it seemed as if his dominance would be absolute. Except for three reasons, and they are worth looking at for a moment. Sport is unpredictable, and although friendly officials might influence a game, results can never be guaranteed: luck will play its part, and that capricious madam can never be wholly owned. Players, though dearly bought, still need to play, to be organised, to be motivated – and sometimes if they have already had great success elsewhere, their new huge salaries can take the edge of their hunger. It is not every manager that can cope with the combination of ego and slight lethargy, nor perhaps with the potential for interference from the wealthy owner. How irritating it would be if you felt obliged to play an out of form striker in a vital tie, for instance. And thirdly, and Arsene Wenger noted this many months ago now, there is an increasing pool of high quality players due partly to the success of new European coaching initiatives and partly to the shrinking of the world, leading to African and South American players more readily available. However many players you might buy to send out on loan, you can’t own them all, and the properly competitive nature of this year’s Premiership is proof of that.

There will be few who didn’t enjoy the delicious irony of Chelsea moaning about PSG’s expenditure earlier this week, and even fewer true Arsenal supporters who didn’t see the home draw against the City oil-slickers (achieved by our virtual second team) as a cause for due rejoicing. Make no mistake, the events of the last week show the footballing landscape shifting yet again. For a while, it did seem that the game was indeed all about the money, and that like those poor cricketers back in the 70s, there would be little point in trying to compete against brash new cash. But Barry had a heart attack not long after, and I suspect Jose is already uncomfortably aware of his owner’s displeasure. Barca are in trouble, and it’s a china orange to the whole of Lombard Street that a legion irregularities will be exposed elsewhere. More bankruptcies will follow as owners withdraw their support (you’d worry about Cardiff, Fulham and QPR right now), and as night follows day well run clubs like The Arsenal will continue to thrive as the post-cash injection football world becomes all shook-up. They say that cynics know the price of everything but the value of nothing – but Arsene knows that without holding on to proper values everyone will have to pay a terrible price. We were lucky to have him at the helm for the first few years of his managership – but truly blessed to have had him steer the ship for the last few when it got really difficult. And as Elvis might have said to him, our success, our stadium and our future prospects are all down to the wonder of you

Today’s post came from The Gnabster @foreverheady, give him a follow, you wont regret it.

Arsene’s contract situation is becoming a concern to me. I believe it is a mistake to leave us all in limbo in this way.

From what we are led to believe, there is an offer of extension on the table, just waiting for him to put pen to paper. There is speculation as to its length and to the amount he will be paid. We will, if he signs, be told the the former whilst the latter will as ever be left to speculation. Personally I hope its for at least 4 years and at any price, salary wise.

Others will hope that he does not sign at all. That’s fine, people are free to wish for what they like. If someone genuinely thinks its in the best interests of the club, then they should indeed want a change. I suspect however that its more in their own best interest to have him leave as they have invested so much emotion in wanting silverware and bragging rights.

At 64 years old it could be that the burden of being the main man at an ever growing mega club is taking its toll. We know he has more influence over ever part of the club than any other manager at any other club. Some, like me, are happy with this, other not so, but regardless , its a consideration. I cant imagine there being  any dilution of responsibilities, so will he be up to it for another term ?

Its clear that the board want him to stay, but are the putting all either eggs in one basket ? Do they have a plan B ?

I expect to see a director of football and a head coach as his replacements, have they identified those people ? Will they have tested the waters ? They should have, but we just don’t know.

What do the players think ? Are contracts being agreed on the understanding that Arsene will stay, or are they going to feel betrayed (like our old friend RVP)  if he leaves ?

Its clear now ( as if it ever wasn’t ) that Arsene agreed to stay and lead the club through a prolonged period of austerity. There was much less money than we were led to believe. Surely having gotten us to this point Arsene will want to reap the benefits of his endeavours?  WONT HE ?

This squad is built in his image. With a couple of top class additions and the incremental improvements of the young players, this team could be special. However, I believe Arsene is vital to it being able to make the final leap.

One way or another, we the fans, deserve to know, and know now.

You either believe in this team – or you don’t.

You either believe Arsene is still a great manager – or you don’t.

I do, but I have to admit  my faith has been tested of late.

In the context of what has gone before, yesterdays performance  was truly exceptional. So lets take a moment to set the scene.

Last week we were embarrassed and humiliated by Chelsea. Humbled by the least humble manager on the planet, and on the occasion of Arsene’s 1000th game,of all days.

On Tuesday we played with the handbrake on and a parachute open and dragging us back. To top it all we scored the most unfortunate own goal in injury time that saw us drop another two points.

Having failed to buy a really world class striker in the last three windows( for whatever reason ) our good striker looks to be running on empty with lead boots having just finished 40 Capstan full strength before kick off.

The depth of our midfield has been tested with long term injuries to 3 or 4 definite starters, including our most dynamic  ( The Prince of Wales)  and our world class and record transfer  play-maker ( Ozil ). The most pacey of pacey players is out for the season  and the best central defender in the league has joined them on the treatment table.

Mikel (aged 32) and Tomas (aged 33) who should be being saved for special occasions, are being asked to play every game. And to be fair,in Mikel’s case at least, it is telling.

So, after 19 minutes we go a goal down against the most expensively assembled team in history, having been comprehensively out played until then, and for the remained of the first half.

Be honest, were you fearing the worst ? I was.

What happened next was everything and more that we could have asked for.

Mental strength, resilience, fortitude and togetherness.

To turn the game around under those circumstances was almost unbelievable.

Make no mistake, we were by far the better team in the second period, and in the end unlucky not to take all 3 points. It was a terrific effort and our lads did themselves and us proud.

I love these players but also accept that there are some obvious weaknesses in the team. However, when they show character and skill like that, I can forgive them anything.

I am proud of every one of them. And proud of the Gooners that have stuck by them in the most difficult of times.

I was asked a simple and fair question on twitter some time ago by Andy Wood ‏@yorkshiregunner .

“Tell me George, will you still support Arsenal when Arsene leaves?”

(As people continue to misquote my reply here again  is the blog I wrote about it)

Now I understand that it was a snide question, a loaded question, designed to suggest that Arsene was more important to me than the club. I knew that before I answered with this:

 Not for 100% sure.  It would be hard to think I won’t.  But I could stop. It’s like a marriage for me, not a family. If you follow?”

This of course was immediately interpreted to mean: “I will stop supporting if Arsene leaves.”  Just as I had anticipated!

People then started screaming that one’s support for the club should be unconditional.  “ARSENAL TILL I DIE!!”

And all the other soundbites people use.

Then they saw fit to state the obvious with gems like:

 “No one is bigger than the club.” 

No shit Sherlock, I had missed that.

As the Twitter exchange continued, I tried to explain that I could not guarantee always supporting the club, because if it changed into something different to that I was in love with, it would no longer be my club.

This concept seemed beyond the comprehension of a few, and some claimed that NOTHING could make them withdraw their support.  Ever.

There’s an irony here, in case you hadn’t already spotted it …

So I came up with the most outrageous scenario I could think of, just to test their ‘position’ and asked if they would still support the club if the following occurred:

The club is bought by the English Defence League and all our players are sold, only white heterosexuals are allowed to play for the club. Do you still support?

Almost every right thinking person would say:

“No, it’s a stupid scenario, but no.”

My point being that ALL support is conditional. It’s just the conditions that are required to be met are different, and they vary from person to person.

What some people fail to understand is that “the club” means different things to different people.

My definition of “the club” includes the playing style, its class, history and integrity.  The manager, board and players are a large part of that. The whole ethos of the club is what I regard “the club” to be.

Someone told me that “the club” to him was the badge, and that is what he supported. He didn’t mention whether the badge in question was cotton or man-made, so I reserved my judgement on him.

But, nonetheless, for him, the definition of the club was different.

My main point in all of this is that regardless of your personal definition of what the club – or anything you have fallen in love with – is, if that thing you fell in love with, changes to the degree where they or it becomes something or someone you would never have originally fallen for, then it is ENTIRELY possible to fall back out of love.

And this patently includes, even, one’s own chosen football club.

Now, if you are happy to support a club, fuelled by petro-dollars, managed by a hoof-ball specialist or filled with players like Barton, Suarez, Terry, Savage, Cole and Rooney – then great. But I would find it hard to continue that support, ultimately, even if that club was my beloved Arsenal.

It would be a gradual deterioration of the relationship between me and the club, but given the perfect (and frankly unlikely) storm, I COULD stop supporting.

There has been a lot of  “I want my Arsenal back” going around in recent times.

Well, I personally want to keep THIS one.

These people that claim to ‘want their Arsenal back’ are effectively saying this current Arsenal is not “their” club.

Effectively, they’ve withdrawn their support already.

This is evidenced by their relentless attacks on the club and it’s staff – on Twitter, in blogs, on radio phone-ins etc.  Those individuals who have given up their season ticket have clearly withdrawn their support.  They are, as a result, no longer proper pucka Gooners are they?

The anger evident in their remarks is quite possibly driven by the pain they are feeling from losing their love for the club.

Well, maybe they ARE still Gooners.But they have simply come to a point where their support has been withdrawn. Do they watch on TV instead? Or has that been given up too?  Have they stopped reading the papers? Do they no longer talk about Arsenal?

If they are still Gooners, it’s clear that bit-by-bit they are losing – or have lost – their love for the club as the conditions that led them to support in the first place are no longer seemingly evident.

For THEM, at least.

Now people can say that they are better fans than me because they have supported longer, spent more money, attended more games, live in the area of the ground or because nothing could stop them supporting.  I won’t argue.

I certainly won’t care what they think either.Because they can claim all day long that they are the ‘real’ supporters of the club. But the reality, actually, is that they are drifting away from the club with every attack they launch.

***

Finally someone said:

“Morals in football are bollocks.”

To which I replied:

“Morals are only ever bollocks to those without them.”

I however ,am the last person to judge people on their morals.That does not mean they are any less important.

I can’t bring myself to talk about last night. It was horribly poor and unlucky.

Our season has stuttered. It looks like the title challenge is over. In fact after last night fourth is looking like it might be close.

Someone or something must be to blame. I mean people are disappointed, hurt, angry, they need something to vent at.  Someone has brought this about and they need to pay for the misery caused.

So who or what is to blame? Let’s look at some of the runners and riders.

Arsene Wenger – Lets start with him shall we? Has he let us down? Picking the wrong teams? Setting the wrong tactics? Not buying players? Buying the wrong players? Not being pragmatic enough? Plenty there to go at for starters.

The Players – Have they no spirit? Are they too small?  Too young? To slow? Too alike? Are they just a bunch of losers?

Injuries – Have we been unlucky, again? Do we not understand what we are doing? Bad training? Weak players?

The Board – Have they let us down by wanting to keep a huge bank balance? Have they lied to us? Do they even care about us fans?

Officials – have they got it in for us?

The Media – Are they out to get us?

Depending on your preconceived opinions, you are likely to  apportion blame in varying degrees to one or several of these culprits.

Personally my pick would be injuries.

My big new mate Peter over at Le Grove would pick Arsene.

Dim Tim?  The board no doubt.

Here though is a question. Why do we have to blame anyone?

Why can’t we just be thankful that for three-quarters of the season we have been right in the mix, had a run in the CL and still have a great shot at the FA cup?

The team should be better next year simply because of the incremental improvement of our youngsters.

We will have more money and revenues to spend than ever before. We will be shopping from the top shelf.

We are on the up.

This team has given us hope all season. That’s a huge step in the right direction.

Really, we have little to complain about.

We should be rejoicing, not moaning.

If you want a difficult job, start a blog. call it Positively Arsenal, then sit back and wait to be beaten 6 0 by the team that is everything you detest in the game, and then do a write up.

I feel like taking to my bed, pulling the sheets over my head and whimpering until August.

Six nil, that’s SIX NIL, Jesus H Christ.

There can be no excuses for losing six nil. None. Yes we had half the first team missing, but so what? Every player fielded is a better player than most teams in the league can boast, and I don’t see them losing 6 3 ,5 1 and six bastard nil.

There is something wrong. There is!

But what?

How can the same eleven that defended so well at Spurs play like that? It almost beggars belief.

Its easy to say we should have started Flamini in tandem with Arteta and sat back a little more, with the fullbacks holding their positions, but to do that you need pace in the side to break away and score. Where is that coming from?

So we play a high line and get ripped to pieces. Why?

Well from what I can recall it was because we lost possession in midfield . AOC and Santi were most culpable, but even Tomas joined in when we conceded for what seemed like the eighteenth time.

It would be fair to ask why a 20 year old was asked to play in a game this big, in the centre of midfield, when he is still learning the game. Then again, were you asking that question before the game? If so what were the alternatives?

Mikel looks too slow to be playing the holding role if we are playing a high line, and Aaron is not there to compensate, but again, what were the alternatives?

Are the lack of alternatives down to injuries, or is it Arsene’s fault for not buying? Or both?

You can’t blame the manager for the players being nothing short of woeful.

However I can’t excuse Arsene either. He has to be held responsible to some degree, the buck stop there, as they say.

Forget that the wrong player was sent off , for a non-red card offence , the damage was done. At least the chance of getting anything from the game had already gone.

That display was totally unacceptable and everyone concerned should be admonished.

Hang on though, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Let’s not forget what has been good until this point. Let’s remember what wonderful football this team and these players have given us.

We must think things could and would be very different with Theo, Jack, Aaron and Ozil in the side.

All is not lost. Top 4 and the FA cup is still a distinct possibility.

As we keep getting told, there is money to spend in the summer.

All we can do is carry on supporting, there is no alternative.

A very hard game today, but win, lose or draw, this is our club, team and manager. All we have to do is support them. It really is that simple.

Now here are some words from Zim Paul on The Boss ”

Interesting match coming up. Should Arsenal be nervous with so many out for “the big one’? No, not at all. We’re on a decent run importantly against top opposition, the momentum so far good, Flamini/Arteta axis looks sorted and quietly effective, Ox and Tomas are in tremendous attacking form, Lukas and Gnabs in contention too, the defense is as solid as can be, the keeper too, and Santi is a match winner. Chelsea are just slightly weakened with Ramirez out, the key player for them in an Arsenal type match and a thorn in our side; the other Brazil fella not so much, useful, but we could contain him anyway. Eto’o, now there’s one we need to keep an eye on. He can’t sustain it anymore, but still has that eye for goal from any angle, and will shoot.

Many decent and mostly fair comments on the millennium, the best of which simply says only two managers of this generation have actually left a legacy, Rednose and Arsene, which I think is a fair decent summary from a neutral’s perspective. The full story of Arsene Arsenal is far from told, but tellingly Wenger intimates the gong drought years are his most important accomplishment, including the Invincibles. Well, that’s been our narrative for some time, only Wenger told it better, simpler. As the money got siphoned to the stadium over 7 years (and Arsene is too polite to say it but we can, in the same period Chelsea and later City, and in their lesser way Yoo and even Pool, would contort the entire fabric of EPL football with tycoon wealth and juggernaut buying), the single critical factor was to stay in CL, year after year, for financial reasons. Failure to do so would have placed the everything in jeopardy, threatening the club.

One day people will ask the sensible question, it’ll take time but it will be asked because its the only question. How the hell did you manage to do it Wenger, it has never and had never been done in this context? In fact, there is no parallel whatsoever, it is a singular story. Wenger had so much against him, the pressure must have been immense, especially every last 3 or so months of every season (which Arsene mentions)? Because I had to will be his answer, because we had to. And that courage, humility and intellect (that threesome so often in tandem) will become obvious to all.

And players who themselves knew only part will want to say, “I was part of the amazing story”. And some will because they truly were, and some won’t or will say something forgettable because they deserted, ducked or deflated – in the selfish way of foolish young footballers and their agents – Arsenal’s great quest for something called legacy.

The legacy will outlive every other memory, failure or victory on the field or trophy quests. It will outlive us all, and all the players too. In time it will simply be a chapter in the entire history of football in England, and so will outgrow even Arsenal itself.”

That my friends is why this blog exists. So we can  thoughts lie that.

Today’s post is by Muppet

It’s not too hard to find anti-Arsenal sentiment in any given week of the season.

The narrative in the press after the Bayern defeat was indicative. It told us that Arsenal were simply not good enough, whilst plucky City deserved better.

In the backdrop of the Stoke defeat, we have also been condemned to 4^th place, veritable also-rans in the title race. The bookies followed suit, condemning us to long odds of 16/1 despite being on the same number of points currently as Liverpool.

The Daily Mail’s infamous Neil Ashton, presenter on Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement, on Twitter @neilashton_

Incredibly, Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail has written a piece, steeped in unbelievable hypocrisy, where he comes out with the risible claim that Spuds have overachieved in the Redknapp years and this over-expectation is now causing unrest amongst fans. Even if we were to entertain these falsehoods – which they are, given their £280m+ transfer net spend – they reek of huge hypocrisy, a bare-faced attempt by a journalist to stick up for one club whilst happily sticking the knife into another;  in this instance it’s us, despite the reality of the comparison being much more in our favour. Indeed, our zero net spend in the transfer market is never mentioned in the press. It is not convenient.  And how the piece actually has truer parallels amongst Arsenal fans is an irony lost on Ashton.

Neil Ashton’s recent form in the last 2 weeks is to say that Ozil was “Nicking a living”. In tandem, the Mirror produced a back page headline, at half time, castigating Ozil’s 1^st half performance against Bayern, not knowing he had a hamstring problem:

Daily Mail’s disgraceful headline from 11th March 2014 – http://dailym.ai/Ojlqq9

The Daily Mirror’s John Cross, too, got into the act, redacting statements on Twitter hurriedly, in the face of a huge backlash from Arsenal fans.

Adrian Durham, another staple of the gutter press. regularly espouses arrant nonsense on TalkSport. Durham claims to like Arsenal, which is quite bonkers, given his notorious “Daily Arsenal” show, which gleefully rejoices at whatever misfortune comes our way, and sneers at any Arsenal fans who go on the radio station to defend the club.

Sneering TalkSPORT radio presenter, Daily Mail columnist and published author, Adrian Durham, on Twitter @talkSPORTDrive

The only saving grace of Durham, is that he has correctly targeted Spuds incompetence in recent times, making him a hate figure across North London. Durham loves to champion moral causes, but fails to mention financial fair play or excesses by huge clubs. When you confront him about the pathetic lack of progress of Manchester City in the champions league, you get the reply, as I did:

“That’s strange, one supporter talking about another club.”

“Amateurish” Andy Dunn – Sunday Mirror sports columnist and Chairman of the Football Writers’ Association, on Twitter @AndyDunn_SM

Another anti-Arsenal sceptic is Andy Dunn.

Despite us being competive pretty much all season, our title challenge was dismissed back in November, even following our recent 2-0 win over Liverpool at home. Forced to backtrack on his claim that we couldn’t win the title, he said we wouldn’t win it. Dunn doesn’t seem to miss an opportunity to put the knife into the Arsenal management, be it Wenger or the board. In August he claimed that the way we were going about our business was “amateurish”.

On September 29th, he pens an article attacking the “lack of ambition” of Stan Kroenke, saying:

“You sense trophies would be a nice bonus on top of the real business – the smooth running of a financially-successful franchise.”

This is all very interesting, but Amateurish Andy offers no context about the competition and environment that we find ourselves in.  Sneering at Kroenke is all well and good, but this is just another example of a journalist who doesn’t understand economics.

It’s very simple.

Arsenal refuse to inject money into players wages or transfers that is not earned by the club.  Other clubs continue to do this.

A Mirror hack to watch out for is Darren Lewis.

Darren Lewis, another Daily Mirror journalist – this one describes himself as ‘a football fan’, on Twitter @MirrorDarren

Almost certainly a Spud.

With statements like “Why Spurs now have bigger fish to fry than Arsenal”, he suggested that the gap was narrowing in 2012. Other articles include asking Arsenal fans to admit why Spurs were no longer the poor relations. Darren Lewis made a fictitious claim that Joachim Low told Ozil that he would miss the World Cup, which is complete nonsense. After reviewing a selection of Lewis’s articles, it is pretty clear, that like Andy Dunn, he does not have a good word to say about Arsenal.

Pundits and Commentators

Understandably there is a lot of anti-Arsenal sentiment amongst pundits, a lot of them ex-Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool players.  Michael Owen, Tony Gale, Tony Cascarino are the worst perpetrators. Gale in particular just hates Arsenal and makes no attempt to hide it. How he gets away with commentating for Chelsea is beyond belief.

Cascarino is so stupid he said that “Chamakh was having a holocaust”, which almost finished his ‘career’.

Owen? He is too stupid even to comment on.

Apart from the individuals, more worryingly is the on-going stupidity of the narrative about Arsenal. Every competition we enter there is always a reminder that it’s 9 years without a trophy. Never mind that our Champions League progression in each and every year has eclipsed Manchester City since 2005.

Other annoying examples are that we don’t have a striker, when we have Podolski, Walcott and Giroud.

The questioning of a weak bench when we have eight to ten 1st team players injured.

The lack of acknowledgement of the significance of the absence of Ramsey and Walcott.

The continuing pressure to spend money, particularly in the January transfer window.

My question to the press and pundits is this – City have spent £1 billion, and their return is 1 FA Cup, 1 League title and 1 Carling Cup – is that a good return on their investment ? I would argue no. The narrative of spending money is very rarely directed at Real Madrid, a club and a team that I don’t particularly rate, who have spent similar money over the last 10 years, but have only won 1 Champions league trophy. Real Madrid are the most egregious example of media hype, considering their lack of relative achievement to their net spend.

This is not an attack on Real Madrid, but on the media.

Alan Brazil this morning was trumpeting Ronaldo and Bale this morning. But so what ? A fully fit Arsenal team would match them in my view.

The media narrative and anti-Arsenal bias continues to be self-serving and is part of the entertainment game that is being played out.

Nobody wants to question the vast sums of money being circulated, because they want to be part of it. The media talks up the need for Arsenal to spend and get in on the act. How they still do this following the embarassement of Spuds £100 million pound spend, as former owner Lord Sugar put it: “Like kids in a sweet shop”, is baffling.

If anything, the Spuds debacle shows that patient value acquisitions, achieved over time by Wenger, is the only sustainable model.

But we won’t hear of this.

The “industry” will continue to produce sensationalist headlines for the reactionary wing of the Arsenal fan base to gorge on. The same press that calls for Arsenal to spend money, and when we do, try to label them a flop.

Right now the tide is turning in our favour, and the media know this. They cannot cope with the narrative as it stands, so expect a lot of revisionism and a change of emphasis. Now that we have more money the attacks will come now about what success we should expect, and what “big” players are underperforming.

It will probably get worst.

You can discuss the headlines and more with Muppet on Twitter @MuppetGooner