Freshly served around tea-time on the last day of this year’s EPL season.

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Well where to start?

A few dishes of Humble pie perhaps?

Before I get to gloating in a huge self-indulgent fashion, let me first say that finishing 4th is not our target. It is however a monumental achievement to finish in a Champions League position for the 16th consecutive season.

Of course there will be many who say it’s eight consecutive years without a trophy. In that they would be correct – mathematically at least.

I, however, believe the last eight years have been a huge success. As Gary Neville pointed out, in that period Arsene has spent a net £9 million on transfers (it’s actually a net of minus £40 million since 2006 – even more remarkable).  That’s £460 million net less than City. That amounts to about an Emirates Stadium.

So those too thick to understand where all the money has gone, ask your carer.

Here is what I wrote in an article for ACLF last summer:

“With the planned move to the new stadium things changed.  Arsène had to work within severe financial restrictions. Big players were sold and the fees helped relieve the pressure of the move, in what turned out to be an unexpected recession. The reduction in the wage bill must have done no harm either.  History had shown that a new stadium usually led to a rapid downturn on the field; relegation beckoned.

I would have thought that our aim would have been to stay in the league in the early years of the move. However, Arsène kept us in the top four, guaranteeing Champions League football and further reducing the financial burden with the revenues generated.

He has only recently let it be known (as if we didn’t already) that he could have left and been paid much more money elsewhere.  He gave up that financial gain and personal glory for the good of the club.  I think that this period is a greater achievement than his first 8 years of on field success. It is a staggering achievement.  And also could give him a claim to be the greatest.”

Well he did it again. Let’s see how we do with the purse string loosened. Now we have Arsene and money.

Here is what I said immediately following the Spurs reverse:

“There are thirty points still to play for.  All is not lost by any means.  But even if it was, nothing is to be gained by withdrawing our support for the team.  Every week I see a team with huge potential.  We simply must give them to time to fulfil that potential.  I honestly don’t see why people can’t relish the challenge.  Rather than throw their arms up and ask for change.  Change may come all to soon, I fear, unless the majority of fans don’t quickly see sense.”

All was indeed not lost.  We here did just that. SUPPORTED.

Well done us I say.

Have a look at what Gainsbourg69 had to tell us yesterday:

“We only dropped four points out of a possible thirty in our last ten games.
We ended up with the second best defence in the Premier League after City.

We recovered a seven point deficit and overtook the Spuds.
We have reached the CL for seventeen consecutive seasons.
We were one of four teams to ever have three players score into double figures.

All of this on the back of having lost an important player and getting three new players to gel with the rest of the squad.”

Another titbit from LeoS:

“Fantastic resilience shown by the squad. Once the new signings were properly bedded in and Wilshere and Rosicky came back from injury, about halfway through the season we turned into a results machine, winning 12 and losing just 1 of our last 16 league games. That’s over 2.4 points per game, which would deliver 92 points over a whole season.”

That’s 3 points more than the Champions this year and last. I know its over 38 games and all that, but hey!  Just saying.

Now a list of some people, experts to a man, who confidently predicted we would not get in the top four:

Hansen, Redknapp, Shearer, Piers, Bale, Smith, Hoddle, Wilkins, Quinn, Stelling, Thompson, Souness.

Well done chaps. How many times does Arsene have to teach the same lesson?  Pillocks.

The doom and gloom brigade must be spitting feathers. They though this was their year. Pillocks.

The bloggers who told us this team was crap, it was the end of an era, could not defend for shit, played the wrong formations, players in the wrong positions. Pillocks.

Did you all see the game?  Yes?

Well no need for me to say anything other than fucking get in there.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has helped with the blog and those who have made it their homes.  Don’t let any miserable bastards jump on your bandwagon.

Let them trail behind in their shit cart.

You can judge a man by the company he keeps.

This  generally holds true in life and also in the Gooner world.

Birds of a feather flock together

That’s another one that’s rings true.So why does this next one annoy me so much?

We are all Gooners together.

How often during a heated Blog or Tweet discussion does some do-gooder pop up and tell us that?

But just how much are we expected to accept from someone ,simply because they wear the same replica shirt?

Whether its right or wrong,we usually judge people by our own standards.

In my previous life there were some famous “hard men” about town.They were actually no more that bullies and braggarts.They built a reputation by beating up some poor blokes who they knew before hand had no heart for violence.

You could see them all shaking hands with each other,back slapping each other following their latest act of wanton thuggery.All pissing in the same rancid pot of life.

On any occasion I found myself in their company ,I never spoke to them.If they tried to engage me I would make a point of simply turning away from them and talking to someone I found less objectionable.They hated this mark of disrespect ,and I knew it.Which of course was why I did it.

I lost count of the times I was asked why I would not speak to these people.My answer was always the same “He is a bully and a piece of shit”

Now if you are wondering where I am going with this ,we are getting to it now.

Next they would say,”But he is always all right with you”

And I would say”Fuck him”

The reality was that I felt by simply talking to him I was endorsing his behaviour.I was saying it was fine for him to treat other people badly as long as he was Ok with me.

So way are we expected to accept crass and bullying behavior towards our players and manager,by some piece of shit ,because he is ok with us?

If someone is just being cunt about the team ,manager or player ,don’t engage them at all.

We have all seen discussions about who are better fans.Actually its an irrelevant question.Better to ask who is the better person.

Are you a better person because you have more money or a better education.Well of course you are not

Are you a better person because you live your life to a higher standard of morality,hold yourself to higher standards? Yes,chances are that you are.

So would you want Wayne Rooney at the club?

Would you want his brand of aggressive,petulant and egotistical behaviour ?

“one bad apple ” as they say.

The argument that he is better than we have ,or that he is a winner ,matters not a jot to me.

Someone like him (a man who refers to us as Arseanal btw) is going to become a big part of my life if he plays for Arsenal.I don’t want that,no thank thank you.

I know that in this case it will never happen anyway.Its as ridiculous a proposition as I have heard in a long time,but the principal is important.

When it came out that RVP had released that statement to “you guys” ,many people were saying we should bow to his demands,That because he was such a good player we should put up with his treachery .I immediately said “Why should we accept behaviour for him that we would find unacceptable in any other walk of life,just because he can bang a few goals in “

How far are we prepared to go to add to our points tally?

What is important to you.The principles you live your life by,or a few extra points come the end of the season?

A guest post by @GBVishJourno

“He’s slow”. That he is, I agree.

“And that’s why he sucks.” And that’s where you are wrong.

Just because Per Mertesacker is slow does not mean he sucks. What is that they say about Occam’s razor? That the simplest solution is always the most obvious one?

Arsene Wenger often drops nuggets of information that are more precious than gold. What not gold nuggets, no. That would cheapen his wisdom. Even comparing his life lessons to veins of platinum wouldn’t suffice.

“We have moved from a thinking society to an emotional society and we have to live with that” was what he once said.

Add the words of Mister Occam and Le Professeur and you get exactly why a majority of Arsenal fans – nay, football fans – are annoyed with Per Mertesacker. In a word where we seek instant gratification and overnight results, we fail to take a step back and see the bigger picture.

Newspapers, pundits and websites only add to this emotional side. What comes to mind is Goal.com’s post-match player ratings of Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United at the back end of last season, when Daniel Welbeck and Antonio Valencia scored for United and the gek azel (do pardon my Dutch) who plays for them now scored for us.

During this game, Welbeck was put through on goal and had well beaten Wojciech Szczesny and was about to get the ball under control and stroke home, only for Mertesacker to intervene.

The score at the time was nil-nil.

And how did Goal.com report this particular incident? They said Mertesacker was ‘running in treacle’. To them, describing what Mertesacker didn’t have was more important than actually acknowledging that he had actually saved Arsenal’s blushes by putting his body on the line.

Sure Mertesacker doesn’t have pace. But since when was pace alone the yardstick for measuring the ability of a good defender?

When was the last time Arsenal had a defender who was as technically skilled as the Big F*cking German? Before him, we had Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny as first-choice. Both players who have playing styles that are very similar to each other. Both of them are aggressive players who are a lot more sparky than six-foot six inch Per.

And how have they performed this season? Vermaelen has been inconsistent at best while Koscielny has been relegated to the bench more often than not this season. Of late, he has featured ahead of Vermaelen in the pecking order and one of the reasons for that is that the Belgian’s form and mental conditioning has been bad of late.

Of course, you can’t remove the captain of a side, so you remove his partner if you want to play both Vermaelen and Koscielny. But Wenger has always stuck by Mertesacker. That shows not just how much Wenger believes in him.

It also shows how much Wenger trusts him.

But what about before Vermaelen and Koscielny? There was Kolo Toure and William Gallas, players who were once again very similar in their style of play. Gallas ultimately ousted the last main Invincible from our beloved club.

And before that were the forty-niners. Toure was there and he was protégé to one Jeremiah Sulzeer Campbell, a man-mountain of a centre-back who was not afraid of getting stuck in and doing what had to be done to ensure victory.

But Mertesacker does not fit the template laid out by all these centre-backs. He does, however, match one that was last filled by one of Arsenal’s greatest ever.

Tony Adams, Mr Arsenal himself.

Like Adams, Mertesacker displays that deceptively languid quality that automatically makes strikers lower their guard when they approach him. Beneath the surface you have a player who demonstrates an excellent reading of the game who possesses the anticipatory reflexes that prompts football clubs to fork out millions for predatory strikers out there. Vermaelen may sport the captain’s armband, but it is Mertesacker who possesses that calm authority that shapes a leader.

That was very evident during Arsenal’s recent games against Bayern Munich and Swansea City. Mertesacker was like an orchestral conductor, waving his arms this way and that as he marshalled the Gunners to two back to back clean sheets.

Arsenal have kept twelve clean-sheets this season. Mertesacker has played in every one of those twelve games.

But as it is with defenders, their prowess comes from qualities that are not discernible at face value.

And maybe that is why Mertesacker is being given so much stick. The one-size-fits-all approach that a significant number of modern-day football fans resort to when it comes to sizing up players does not quite do Per justice.

As early as 2006, when Mertesacker was only 21 years old, he was first choice for Germany at the World Cup, then paired with Christoph Metzelder. His antics with Germany – who finally finished third – earned him a move to Werder Bremen soon after the Weltmeisterschaft in his homeland. Thomas Schaaf was quick to praise his new recruit at the time:

“Per was convincing at the World Cup and anyone who plays such a strong tournament at such a young age can strengthen us. He has enormous potential.”

He is now realising that potential at Arsenal. It is also small wonder that Bremen’s rise up the table corresponds with Mertesacker’s time at the club. Of the five seasons he did spend in the north-east of Germany, Bremen finished in the top three on three separate occasions. They also reached the final of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, where they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk. During that run, Mertesacker was a constant presence at the back until he was forced off in the semis due to injury.

As I sat down to pen this article on Thursday, a fellow Gooner told me that nobody on this site had dared to write on Mertesacker in the past. Keeping that in mind, permit me – as blasphemous and sacrilegious as it may seem – to borrow the motto of Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Audere est Facere does not mean to dare is to do, but rather daring is achieving.

At a time when there are several Facebook groups peppered with diatribe towards Per and a number of Twitter accounts which tend to write him off rather quickly, I dare to stand out in praise of our Beloved Fantastic German who has been brilliant this season.

You don’t have to believe me now. We may be eating humble pie at present, but the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Methinks it’s gonna taste like German chocolate cake in the future.

You?

Hello and welcome this week’s round-up.

The Arsenal community got their glad rags on to attend the Arsenal Foundation Ball this week. The ‘British Core’ were enjoying their weekly vogue and looking like sharp, even Alec Oxlade-Chamberlain who clearly misread the dress code and went as an ‘80s radio DJ. The players weren’t shy about flashing their respective fortunes and raised a lot of cash for some worthy charities. Jack Wilshere spent £5,000 on a signed invicibles shirt while Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey are said to be looking for two more people to pay £250 each for a round of golf in Gleneagles. Arsene Wenger donated £25,000 of “his own money” but nobody likes a show off. Who else’s money was he going to donate? The Black-tie/Jimmy-Savile-suit event also marked an important night for Liam Brady, Martin Keown, Robert Pires and Bob Wilson who were announced as ambassadors of The Arsenal Foundation.

A huge step was taken on Tuesday in the race for Champions’ League football. A convincing win against Wigan has taken us above our neighbours and left us with a hope of stealing third for automatic qualification. It was obvious how this game would play out, in hindsight. We were too good for them but they were fighting for their lives. We went one up in the first half, as we do, and then the fight-back came. Their equaliser was soon followed by the save that reminded everyone of the script and the Arsenal boys went to work. Wigan were never going to last having emptied their tanks in their cup triumph while we’d spent the best part of the week in bed. The levy broke and it finished 4-1. A somewhat paradoxical situation now has arisen for the optimistic Arsenal fan. While having full faith in David Moyes’ inevitable failure at his new job, we know that Moyes is the man to get one last performance from his team and get a result on Sunday.

Newcastle away will be the last game in what has been a roller-coaster season. Mikel Arteta is a doubt for the game having limped out of the last match with a calf problem. There has been some debate about who or what has been the catalyst to our current form and we’re all hoping that we’re not about to find out. On the plus side, Newcastle have won one game in their last six and that was against an already relegated and hilariously dismal QPR. They have won twice in their last ten. They won’t have notorious hardnut Joey Barton to bully our strikers this season, which will settle a lot of nerves among the players. With their minds already on crushing grapes in their bare feet, wearing and/or eating garlic, frogs legs, and sailing a boat down any river in France to suit this horribly offencive generalisation, our superior ability and sheer determination should be enough. It will be enough. No alarms and no surprises please.

The Europa League final was played last night and although the better team didn’t prosper in the end, it was a decent enough game and a good advertisement for matches of this kind. It certainly opened my eyes and I will now watch at the Championship Play-off final with a more open mind.

Jack Wilshere will have a pin removed from his ankle in surgery which will keep him out of his country’s international frendlies against Brazil and Ireland. Wilshere will be disappointed to miss the opportunity to test his skills against the likes of Neymar and Glen Whelan but this most miniature of procedures must go ahead. “Small, small, small” was how the manager allayed any fears of another setback. Jack is hoped to be back for pre-season and the Emirates Cup in August when he can begin his effort to battle his way back into the starting eleven.

And finally, this is a big week in the Arsenal calendar with the anniversary of the birth of the one true deity and of course the ninth anniversary of The Invincibles lifting the Premier League title in their unrivalled feat of magnificence. Celebrations may be cut short, however, as allegations emerging from one well known supporters’ club claim that Silent Stan Kroenke arranged for Bergkamp’s birthday to coincide with fans’ membership renewals. We’ll bring you more on this as it unfolds.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading.

Up the Arsenal!

I am confused, it’s not that hard to be when discussing religion or politics, but when it comes down to football and especially Arsenal Football Club I usually do well. I struggle with the nitty-gritty of finance, but overall I think I have a good balanced view of the club and how it is run.

An olive branch yesterday, just outside Blackburn.

Earlier this week I read a post in our comments section from GoonerKam, which got me thinking.  Sadly that means you are going to have to read my incoherent ramblings on the subject. But have a read of his post before we meet that challenge:

“At the pub this past weekend there was no room to sit so I asked to please share a table with three other Gooners.

They were kind and told me to bring a chair and share the table with them. Very nice guys, all in their red/white copies and spirited too.  The early early goal relaxed them a bit and the high fives were flying left and right.  The conversation started at half-time and they were talking about AW, Stan,  Ivan and the team – individual members and as a collective. 

Dear me, all in all they shared the same opinions on most topics.  AW’s last year, more investment, Stan-not-the-man, yarayarayara.  I kept my cool and stayed out since it was just the media BULLSHIVEK being repeated and rehashed.  Like Stew I have run my course and have no patience getting into this line of talk again and again. 

Then they asked my opinion on things discussed.  They were amused then shocked and interested to here more.  To make a long story short by the end of the game they were not talking the same bollocks.  All three were saying what I said made sense and they left the pub uplifted by the win and more hopeful than when they had come in.  They had a different perspective on Stan, Ivan and AW; they are looking forward to the future and a successful run at winning titles.  The black cloud around their heads had lifted significantly.  All it took was a little talking in a logical and calm tone and all the crap they had been reading was suddenly not the gospel any more.  There were other versions of goings-on out there.
Made some good friends and they got me to promise them that I’ll watch the last game of the season at that pub on the same table with them.  So all I’m saying is they are not diehard moaners and born doomers.  They had learned this way of thinking and they are now on the way of unlearning what they had read and accepted as the truth.  I’m so glad I met them and changed their thoughts on things. 

Especially regarding Sagna.   I mean, all three wanted to sell him in the beginning.  Not any more.
Keep the fight alive… Tnx PA.”

Whilst in the process of deliberating what Kam had said, I happened to be on the phone to Stew, he mentioned that he too had seen this post. I would like to say “great minds think alike” but I think that would be piggy-backing Stew’s mind somewhat. But still, it indicated that I was right in thinking the subject should be explored.

For some time now the battle lines have been drawn.  On one side the righteous, clear thinking, informed and enlightened( that’s is us in-case  you were wondering).  On the other, the ill-informed stupid idiots.

Right there we have the problem. That is how I have seen it and how I think of them.

All I know of these people is what I see and hear in the media, in blog comments and on Twitter.  I don’t like them, in fact I dislike them.  I have no time for their ignorance and stupidity and I tell them in rude and no uncertain terms.  Anyone who knows me, knows I would say the very same to their faces.  A characteristic that has led me down some paths I wish I had never trodden.

The problem with this is I don’t differentiate between outright idiots and the misinformed.  My first response is to treat them all the same.

Kam’s post suggests that I am making a mistake in doing so.

Other than ourselves and Untold Arsenal, I am struggling to think of any constant source of support for the club.  I can on the other hand, sadly think of a multitude of outlets that seek to de-stabilise and stir up trouble for the club.

Of the two extremes the negative camp greatly outnumbers us.

The problem is that the vast majority of fans are occupying the middle ground.

If politics has shown us anything, it is that you must take the middle ground if victory is to be achieved. Every party is fighting for this middle ground.

I am of a mind that rather than fighting with the utter idiots, we should do a Kam.  Educate the reasonable people who have based their opinions on what they have been told by the halfwits. They can be persuaded. The people like Le Grove can not.  So why bother?

Easier said than done for an argumentative old curmudgeon like me, but try we must.

Also we don’t have any personal relationships with these people, so our level of of tolerance is reduced. Take John Cross for example. He comes out with some things that had someone else said them I would go straight into attack and abuse mode.  All the usual tools, bad language, mocking sarcasm – all would be brought to the fore. But because I like to think I have some sort of a friendship with him, this never happens. We debate and disagree. I have to think that more would be achieved if I remembered that disagreeing with me does not make someone a bad person.

If you need some pointers on how it should be done follow @GeoffArsenal. The man is informed, knows club business that we don’t, and is unbelievably patient. He engages with both ends of the spectrum and all stops in between. I now feel that this is the way forward.

If we stick to a combative tone, the middle ground will simply see us as a bunch of extremists. Which of course some of us are.

We are outnumbered by the negative sources and if we don’t adapt, the battle will be lost, and Arsene with it.

History proves that once the majority of fans are against the manager, he is for the off.

It’s up to all of us to turn the tide while we still can.

So my disciples.  Go forth and preach my word.

I really have to get out more.