Hello and welcome to this week’s round-up. The round-up will attempt to take on a spherical form as I attempt to make amends for my absence last week, for which I apologise.

First up is a very quick look at our game against the Mancs. We saw something in this team in that first half that was a bit special. It was the spirit of men who refused to lie down, regardless of the opponent. A good goal finished by Theo was undone by Bacary’s moment. We could have been in the clear, had we made more of our dominance. I think it’s probably symbolic that I spent the first half on my feet and the second chewing my fingers. Our opponents woke up and the game became tense and restricted. It finished 1-1 and I agree with Szczesny when it called the second half a bit boring.

The Votes have been collected and counted for April’s player of the month award and the accolade went to a deserving Aaron Ramsey. Now I think I believe in democracy, and I’ve never been one to Tomas voters into making a decision they’re not completely Rosicky about, but there was another way. In fact, there were several players who could easily have won the award in what can easily be described as a successful month. Four wins and two draws at the end of the season they call business, is not bad at all.

( note from editor-Ramsey won it,so Nah nah nah )

Santi Cazorla doesn’t want to let anybody down, and that is what he attributes to his excellent first season, according to this week’s interview with Arsenal Player. Having dragged our attack through a tough slog of a season, Santi has done anything but. If anyone other than Cazorla gets the Arsenal player of the season award this year, I will be furious. Unless it’s Arteta, of course. If anyone other than Santi or Arteta win it I’ll be furious. Furious! Or Per.

This week brought about the trip to Q.P.R. where three points were vital. The early-game butterflies were still mere caterpillars awaiting metamorphosis when Arteta found Theo lurking in the box and the winger slotted home. 1-0 to the Arsenal! It was the Gunners who started the game and, but for a wild header from a former player, only Arsenal players touched the ball before the goal. Rosicky was the spark but it took a composed pass to find Walcott and  the power in his shot took it through Green’s gloves. Rosicky was at it again when he created another chance for Theo but this time the keeper managed to touch his effort onto the post. A better player than Tomas may have found themselves on the end of the rebound but then a better player than Tomas probably has super powers. There were some lesser chances for both sides but it was all about winning and our refusal to concede chances made kicking on a risk deemed not worth taking. Sagna recovered well from his thing the week before and had a good game and Szczesny made an incredible save which could prove to be vital come the time to tally the points. It finished 1-0 and the pressure went back on our opponents.

There was then a shit-storm, the likes of which I once vowed to never address. There are some players who, after a few good months, fans are lining up around the block to get a little touch of his todger. Six months of quality – nothing but love, 16 years of genius – you get until the end of the season to prove yourself. I digress. I’m talking about the complete FABrication that is the story of our old, young skipper returning to the home of football. The Cesc situation is quite clear but there does seem to be some confusion draped in hope. He has gone to Barcelona to become their new midfield linchpin. Entropy spares no man and Xavi is already looking like a guy whose years are of concern. Whether you want Cesc back or not, you’re not getting him anytime soon so do kindly give it a fucking rest. Thanks.

Wojciech Szczesny has been upsetting the neighbours with some rather forthright comments about which Andy House Snake was none too impressed. The Pole in Goal remarked that Bale wasn’t good enough to get them into the top four and, to be fair, Wojciech spoke with history on his side. If it’s us or them, it’ll be us. We’re us and they’re them. It is that simple.

A huge story was broken by the writer John Cross and his Mirror yesterday morning. Arsenal have allegedly signed a deal with Puma to manufacture the Arsenal kits for some amount of time. For this, Puma will pay a lot of money over said period of time. Whether the deal is in fact concluded or not remains to be seen as we await an official announcement. The financial breakdown you have just read is a Positively Arsenal exclusive. Speed of the Puma! Bravestar, no?

Last night all eyes were firmly fixed on the crucial tie between the Spuds and the Chavs. In the blue corner was everything to detest about modern football whereas in the shit-stained white corner was the enemy of all things pure and decent. Even though a point each was my favoured outcome, I didn’t feel very good about myself after watching such filth. Positively Arsenal will be setting up a support group for those who were affected by the issues in last night’s programme. Remember, people, some things aren’t for all eyes. I won’t upset you with more details than is essential. It was a draw. The march to third continues!

That’s all for this week, thank you for reading.

Up the Arsenal

People are always banging on about us buying “World Class” players.Whatever that means.

Anyway, that got me thinking about when we did have a team full? The Invincibles?

Or have we ever actually had one?

Was it the greatest team the Premier league has ever seen, or did the stars align and give us a gift from the football Gods? Indeed, was it even a gift or is it a curse, an achievement that means that we will forever be underachieving in the minds of some of our more demanding fans?

I have actually heard people say that we failed to build and progress from that team .What did they want, a season where we won every game? What then, would we have to improve on that?Of course they completely ignore the move to the new stadium ,which ensured a few backward steps would by necessity be taken,rather than  building on what was a once in a lifetime team.

So, for the sake of argument, I want to ask and then answer a couple of questions about the class of 04.

1.  Would that squad win the league now?
2.  Would they all have been playing in sky blue by 05?

Would that squad win the league now? I am not sure it would.

I have no doubt that the first eleven would still be the best in the league, but I am not convinced the squad players were good enough to cope with the strength of the current league. I believe every team is better than they were then, including United(controversial I know). We say there are no easy games in the Premiership now; well I think there was then.

Every team has better players and more of them .Even teams at the very bottom of the league can have several full internationals.Some of the players in the bottom half in 04 would struggle to get into League 1 teams these days.Don’t kid yourselves,there were some real dross a decade ago.

They ended the season with one more point than last year’s champions and the runners up. Would they have dropped more than one point in last year’s league? I think they would.

On the other hand, perhaps they would have turned some of the end of season draws into wins.

In 05, basically the same team, finished with seven less points and twelve points behind the Champions. There is an argument to be made that if Chelsea were not a better team, they did seem to have bought a better squad.

The thing we are told now is “Teams win games, squads win championships” .The numbers would seem to suggest that the 04 squad would now be found wanting.

Would they all have been playing in sky blue by 05? The way things have gone, I believe that our team of Invincibles would not now be given the chance to stay together. As soon as Chelsea started paying inflated wages “Cashley” headed for the hills.

Because we have won nothing for eight years, players can claim they are leaving because they are ambitious to win silverware. That was hardly the case for young Mr. Cole. For him it was the money. Simple as that. Imagine how many would have headed up the M6 with the riches on offer today. Remember Ashley was a Gooner; if anyone should have been loyal, it was him.

Does anyone think that if Vieira had been offered £300k Per week and a 4 year deal,aged 29,he would not have flown the coop.Or that greatest of icons Dennis Bergkamp,rather than the one year deal he was offered by us?

I like to imagine Dennis would have stayed.But who am I kidding?

I suppose what I am saying is that people, fans, do not always appreciate just how much the Oil Money has changed the game. My contention is that not only would the greatest eleven ever seen, a team with five(I think)of the best players in their positions in the whole wide world, would have struggled to win today’s league ,but it could never come to be in the first place.

We did have though, didn’t we, us, no one else? Just us. And we will have it forever thanks to a certain French genius

Success On The Pitch, Unity Off It?

Trying to define what a ‘supporter’ actually is, is practically impossible, on a par with trying to describe what ‘freedom’ is in a liberal democracy. We can sometimes work out what it ISN’T, and, on Monday, celebrity PA contributor Mel O’Reilly did a fair job in isolating the ‘imposters’ by highlighting the extremist nature of their views – the ones that wish short-term harm on the club in the name of long-term gain.

But where does being a ‘good’ supporter begin and where does it end?

For example, it can only surely be ‘right’ to highlight the brilliance of the currently peerless Kos-Per partnership bang in the heart of the Arsenal defence. But to do so as a way of slaughtering the reputation of a less in-form colleague – in this case, Thomas Vermaelen – is surely ‘wrong’?  Nonetheless, TV is (currently) not the favoured first choice player in this partnership despite being captain of the club and that is a little awkward for all concerned.

That the support for the club is split is practically self-evident. But even this split is not at all clear-cut. Some want Wenger out regardless of any other consideration. Others want Kronke out but Arsene to stay. Others would just like to see an ambiguous (and ever-changing) list of supposedly ‘deadwood’ players disposed of.

And plenty don’t really know what they want yet ‘feel’ we need some sort of change.

Some of us – and I’m looking at you George – get told off for calling the worst of such people ‘stupid’, get called out for ‘abusing’ those whose opinions are seldom troubled by the need to reference at least some kind of factual basis for their often libellous, poorly thought out remarks. Suddenly, WE’RE the bad guys!

So where, indeed, DOES it all begin and where does it all end?

My guess is – on the pitch.

I was incredibly heartened to read very recently (Friday?) that Arsene is interested in the possibility of signing a new contract with the club. Regardless of anything else it speaks volumes about his confidence – in the club, his colleagues, the club’s finances, the squad and the players coming through. I suspect also he looks at the quality of the opposition and is similarly encouraged even if he does confess to being somewhat daunted by their purchasing power.

The splits on the Arsenal terraces will probably be only healed by ‘success’ on the pitch. But if Arsene is now publicly non-averse to re-signing then I think it can only mean he is supremely confident of the club’s prospects going forward, and in the immediate future, to boot.

About a week ago I wrote a piece for PA which was variously described (and with some justification) as bleak.  It was borne out of the tepid nature of the Emirates support for one of the biggest games of the season played a day earlier and a game – against the red Mancs – in which we went undefeated whilst appearing to throw away a largely deserved victory.  Wandering around the club the next day on a tour of the place led me to contemplate life apres-Wenger.

Frankly, its a scenario I’ve long dreaded.  As in the case of Brian Clough, I have always been of the view that Wenger would only be more fully – and widely – appreciated once he’d gone.  And like the great Brian Clough, Arsene is largely unique. and pretty much irreplaceable., at least on a like-for-like basis.

I’ve had but one wish for our current manager these last ten years or so and that is for him to get at least one contract to serve whereby the previously tight fiscal reins gripping the Emirates-era have been loosened.  It’s been no coincidence that many if not most of the current ‘great’ managers in world football have also been commanders of vast purchasing budgets.  I still hope to see Arsene compete on a more level playing field.  If his recent pronouncements on his contract are sincere then maybe we will get to see at least a version of this, after all?

I’ve no doubt the question mark over Arsene’s contract – will he sign or won’t he – will become THE running narrative of the next year or so.  If we get a great start to the season then maybe he’ll sign up at Xmas, just to end the distraction of the debate.  If the season ends up becoming one of the great battles for the League then maybe he’ll wait until the end to decide.  I imagine he will take the nature of the support into consideration given that the loyalty of the Arsenal fan base has been shown to be ephemeral, at best.

My prediction is that either way, the split within the fan base will become less of the open wound than it currently is.  A ‘successful’ season will see the majority of followers returning once more to the legions of ‘good’ supporters (which ever way that is defined).  A season of disappointment could see Arsene gone and that same support lining up behind the new manager.  For a while, at least.  The king is dead, long live the king (so long as he wins stuff).

So that’s where it could all start or end.  It doesn’t make me feel massively proud of some of our supporters but that aside, in many ways I can’t wait for the new season to start.

Because I truly believe that with Arsene Wenger at the helm, anything and everything is possible.  All we have seen so far, as we mark our eighth year without a trophy, and we move beyond the post-Fabregas and post-van Persie eras, is the end of the beginning.

And one of Arsene’s greatest triumphs awaits.

That of him making ‘good’ supporters out of all of us.

Good Bank Holiday morning folks.  Today, star of Arsenal.com and the West End, it’s Mel O’Reilly

Mel will amuse you for free on Twitter as @40shewore

I listen to a lot of podcasts,most of the football ones and at some point or other.  I’ve listened to every Arsenal one ever made. I’m not sure any other club has as many as us, neither am I sure what it says about Arsenal fans.

Maybe we have more passionate fans than any other club,maybe we’ve got more ‘got to be heard show offs’, I’m still not sure which but when you drive for a living and radio has (in recent years) followed TV into ‘cretin country’ these podcasts are a welcome relief from the likes of Robbie Savage abusing my ear holes (congratulations to his agent for getting him work by the way,I reckon he could sell sand to the Arabs).

One such podcast (Footballistically Arsenal) I recently listened to brought to light a worrying development in the shape of an ‘imposter’, a supposed Arsenal fan that actually sits at games willing us to lose and to finish outside the top 4 so the manager will go and there will be change.

As I tie my high horse to the rail outside the saloon and avert my eyes from those girls on the stairs with low self esteem and even lower morals (I wish that bloke on the piano would give it a rest as well) let me just say I think everyone’s entitled to an opinion,.One of my mates refers to Arsene as Mels ‘French dad’ such is my love for the professor. The same mate thinks Arsene’s time’s up, he’s wrong of course; Arsene’s earned the right to leave on his terms in my opinion, there it is again ‘opinion’.

Some Arsenal fans say they pay a fortune for a season ticket so their opinion is more valid.

Some go to every game home & away so theirs is more valid.

Some get up at 7am on the other side of the world to watch us play on TV so theirs is more valid.

Me? I think if your Arsenal ,your Arsenal. Games attended and location doesn’t come into it as long as when we’re playing your behind us.

Everyone’s got an opinion,valid or not.Their always better when based on fact of course but we’ve all been guilty of talking bollocks and swearing its true.

Anyway, back to our  ‘imposter’ (climbing back onto my high horse) he in my opinion is as much an Arsenal fan as I am a millionaire male model (they don’t have time to listen to podcasts),the thought of being sat at a game or in a bar watching us,near anyone like him ,would have me pulling at my holster (can you tell I’ve been watching westerns?).

He is an imposter.

He is everything that is wrong with modern football fans.

He is as the brilliant Ben Winston told him on the podcast a “spoiled  little prick”.

Its sad that he claims to support our great club, embarrassing in fact and his opinion on anything Arsenal is just plain wrong .In fact the sheriff should lock him up immediately and stick Robbie Savage in with him while he’s at it.

If some gooners think the managers times up,fine, I disagree, but when you’re willing your team to lose because of it?  Jesus wept.

Buckets.

This is what I said following the reverse against Spurs on the Fourth of March,Two months ago

”

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 of huge potential.  We simply must give them to time to fulfill that potential.  I honestly don’t see why people can’t relish the challenge.  Rather than throw their arms up and ask for change. “

Since then we have played 8, won 6 and drawn 2.

That’s 20 points and undefeated.

Three of them came yesterday.  And a fully deserved 3 points it was.

Were we at our irresistible best? No.

Do I care?  Yes, I do if I am totally honest. I would have liked to see a Champagne performance. However yesterday I predicted a poor game, the pitch is a disgrace. You can not play one touch intricate stuff, as we do,with the ball bobbling all over the place .

Am I upset ? Hell no

The points are the main thing.Its not like we played badly.But after scoring within 20 seconds ,I think all of us thought we would have a more comfortable afternoon than that which was forthcoming.

As Arsene might say: “We played with the handbreak on”

In fact if you ask me its stuck on at present.Arsene might have to visit the nearest Pound Shop and get a can of WD40 if we are to take the last six points.We will have to create more chances if we are to see off  Wigan at home and The Barcodes away.

Dont worry though, I am sure we will.

It was all a bit dreary yesterday. Of course the importance of collecting the points made it nail biting dreariness.

We  dominated, without managing to dominate. If that makes any kind of sense ?

We are constantly told that title winning sides are built on a sound defence. Well no matter how often the dimwitted pundits and match commentators say “Arsenals back four are suspect” The statistics and evidence ,since the Per and Laurent partnership was formed,tell a very different story.Those two boys are consistently excellent.Conceding an average of a goal every other game,that wont lose many for us.

Nacho,despite getting skinned a couple of times by the Spurs player on loan(who’s name escapes me ,and as he is a Spurs player I wont give him the respect of looking it up) showed enough to convince me he is going to be a great asset.

Bac, the butt of endless abuse last week, showed class is indeed permanent.  So can I just say to his abusers:  Go fuck yourselves.

Arteta again displayed everything you want in a Captain.

I feel Aaron is hesitant with his through balls.Again its a handbrake thing.He seems to be more intent on retaining possession than taking a punt.And who can blame him with thousands of fans waiting for the next ball he loses so they can vent their anger towards him.The abuse he has had this season must make him think twice before he releases the ball.And that moment is the difference.

Tomas was good again.He always is.But not so much magic as efficient conjuring.

And Wojo, another much criticised young man, pulled off a magnificent save towards the death.

Once again the amount of negativity on Twitter and other Blogs,following and during the game,is quite sickening.I really wish these miserable bastards would STFU, at very least for the next two games.

This post is not intended to tell you lot what happened,most of you know better than I do. It is just a vehicle to get us to the comments section. That is what Positively Arsenal is really for.

So please do your bit by commenting.

Thanks for reading.

Sorry  folks the three possible posts I had lined up for today have not materialised.  If one does I will publish it latter on.  Sorry about that but for new readers here is another look at an old item.  Sorry again.

Is it just me or are others infuriated by ignorance and stupidity?

Now I don’t blame people who are stupid, simply because they are.  I mean they are born stupid.  Nobody chooses to be an idiot.  Mostly they can’t help it.  Such is life.

No, what annoys me is that some stupid people insist on thinking they are smart.  And smart to the extent that they know more about a given subject than a top professional.

Of course this likely happens in all manner of activities, but I want to talk about football – and Arsenal in particular.

I am told all the time “I am entitled to an opinion”.

Of course when I claim that in that case, I am entitled to hold the opinion that they are idiots, that same ‘entitlement’ doesn’t appear to hold true for me.

If an opinion is formed from a position of almost total ignorance or built on falsehoods and misinformation, what is it worth?  It is in fact worth less than nothing.  I would prefer to hold no opinion on matters, rather than one which proves I am a foolish halfwit.

If I have a heart complaint I’d go to see a specialist heart Consultant.  If he tells me I am in decent health and half an Aspirin per day and some light exercise will see me well would I then insist that I need a quadruple bypass simply because my plumber mate down the pub says that’s what I need?

Or if I read a blog by an accountant in which he insists he has strong opinions on the matter, and I should therefore accept what he is saying, would I?

No!

Well why does anyone who watches a football match and follows Piers Morgan on twitter think that they know better than Arsene Wenger?  The reality is that in all likelihood, Doris the Tea Lady knows more about football and Arsenal than them.  I get told “I am a season ticket holder, 30 years of watching Arsenal, that entitles me to an opinion.”  Well I have been watching Westerns for 50 years but I would not presume to tell John Ford how to direct one.  (I know he is dead by the way.)

Buying a ticket entitles you to nothing more than a seat and a game to watch.  It does not buy you the right to pick the team, choose formations or set tactics.

If someone tells me the world is flat, I don’t feel the need to debate the subject with them.  There could be only two reasons they believe that.

Complete stupidity.  Or ignorance.

Ignorance can be excused.  But if they have been told the facts and shown the evidence, ignorance can be excluded and stupidity is all that is left.  So when someone says something like “Wenger does not understand defence” they immediately fall into the stupid category.  And they should not complain when I tell them that they are a moron.

Or when people insist that Arsene has refused to spend money.

Again, idiot.

The annual accounts over the past 10 years prove there has been no money.  Arsene has said there has been no money.  So if they are going to ignore the facts then they can only be stupid. There is no alternative.

The biggest problem is not people like bloggers claiming to understand things that they clearly don’t.  There will always be people who hugely overestimate their knowledge and intellect.  No, the problem is the masses of ill-informed halfwits that accept and repeat as fact, the opinions of these leaders of opinion.  Hitler was not the problem.  It was the millions of followers he attracted that was the problem.

Some want-to-be manager writing a blog about Arsenal is not the problem.  It’s the pathetic halfwits that believe that what he is saying has some real value, who are the problem.

People claim to know why Mata did not sign for Arsenal, for example. When in fact they have no idea at all the reasons for him going to Chelsea.

Here is the thing.

I have opinions about players, formations and tactics.  Ask me on a Saturday morning to pick the team and I will have a go.  But the difference is that by Saturday teatime, if we have lost I won’t claim it was because the manager was too stupid to pick the team that I did.

Pointing to an outcome and claiming it would have been better if your advice had been heeded Is nothing but evidence of your own arrogance and stupidity.

I really can’t understand why so many people believe that their one field of excellence is football and Arsenal.

But I can understand why they infuriate me with their ignorance and stupidity.

You can railroad George on Twitter @blackburngeorge

Count Down To Kick-Off: The Clock In Arsenal’s Diamond Level Bar

One of the richest ironies underpinning the world’s wealthiest sport is the way its overall value has risen in apparent equal proportion to the diminution of the loyalty that was once associated with it.

A casual glance across the footballing horizon will reveal seemingly limitless affluence.  Clubs that really ought to have gone bust by now appear to be flourishing in direct contravention of the usual rules of finance and no matter how flimsy the foundations, success continues to breed success, making trophy-orphans of any institution naive enough to worry about the pennies.

There’s little to be gained in running the rule over the precariousness of Manchester United’s financial position.  It’s well known and widely recognised that for as long as they can continue to squeeze global sponsorship dry, they will continue to behave with some semblance of ‘normality’ as a routine championship again comes their way, floated on a tidal wave of leveraged commercial deals that leave everyone else stranded, looking like mugs, in their wake.   The truth is, a long-awaited collapse may never come.  For as long as there are sovereign-sized wealth funds looking for a home, Utd’s commercial journey will as likely as not continue, in one form or another, even if the value of its footballing achievements is diminished by the relentless hawking of assets that are now sweating so hard they can hardly see where to tout themselves next.

And if it’s not Man u, then step up to the gold plate any number of oil or oligarch funded enterprises for a simple variation on a theme.  Whether Financial Fair Play will cut any diamonds is hard to call.  Whether the oil eventually runs out, or the financial bubble within which football currently operates eventually bursts is also up for debate.  If not this year, maybe next.  Or the next decade.  If anything does change, how will we then revisit the on-field achievements of these financially bloated monsters.  How do observers value the achievements of Scotland’s Rangers Football Club now that that former bastion has been brought to heel?  Can the recently re-written history of Lance Armstrong’s contribution to sporting shame deliver any lessons?

To some extent, it almost doesn’t matter.

The fact is that Man u have this season won the championship at a canter, barely breaking sweat.  All the games we have together anticipated, watched and talked and written about all counted, in the end, for very little.

When Arsenal played host to the new champions on Sunday, there was something fairly abhorrent about the whole tawdry affair.  Even beyond the self-evident hollowness of the guard of honour – itself a PR exercise which would only have garnered wider comment had there been a failure to deliver it.

Sure, the current banner boy for vacuous disloyalty, Robin Van Persie, tucked away a customary united penalty and Theo later tucked that same symbol of outrageous greed’s shirt into his own shorts.

But what, exactly, was on display, this long sad day.

Pretty much everything except the one thing upon which the bulk of human endeavour rests.

Loyalty.

The tragedy of modern football is that the one thing it can no longer afford in any meaningful measure is the loyalty that built it up, from its muddy working class roots into the financial behemoth that it is today.

Loyalty has been driven from the highest echelons of the game and is now as relevant and outdated as the bathing machines that once lined the Victorian beaches of England. Once considered a seaside ‘must-have’, they were quietly, eventually relegated to the back of the beaches and, where they exist at all, are now to be found as beach huts.

Where loyalty is still to be found in football, it too has been relegated to a place on the sidelines, little more than a nice idea living in a distant memory.

It’s not just the players for whom the value – or even the meaning – of loyalty has evaporated in the quest to line their trousers.  Few clubs show huge patience with players whose form has diminished through age, injury or other cause.  Man u, ironically, are possibly the most ruthless when it comes to getting rid of anyone not performing to the required standards.  And with super-irony, Arsenal’s treatment of van Persie on the treatment table now stands out like the sore thumb our memory of him has inevitably become.  Because we and the club DID stay loyal to him, not for months but for years and years in the hope he would again come good.  But he went bad and then simply went, in a flurry of lies and misinformation.  In his particular case, loyalty and integrity were two hostages to fortune he was simply not prepared to save.

The evaporation of loyalty as one of the game’s fundamental building blocks is also leaving its mark on the modern day fan.

Time was that only fans of your opponents would truly wade in to crucify your own club’s players yet our own fans can hardly get to the front of the queue of criticism quickly enough to lay into the latest error of judgement from players who literally sweat bucket loads on our behalf, week in, week out.

Loyalty, far from being a precious commodity, has simply ceased to exist, for the most part.  Or at least, this will almost certainly be the case within the next one, two or three years.  The disposability of the modern world has embedded itself within the game we all once loved so dearly.  That a blogsite such as Positively Arsenal exists as it does in the sea of angst and anger surrounded by the critical masses – that it simply looks so out of place for so many followers – is as tragic as it is telling.  Some blame the role of social media in all this but whilst the amplification this brings to the ignorant and informed in equal measure can hardly be denied, simply shooting the messenger is unlikely to change all that much.

Soon, back at club level, it won’t be about ‘building for the future’ but simply about who has secured the best, most lucrative sponsorship deals, the cleanest credit lines, the most generous sovereign-scale benefactor.  Those will become the criteria upon which modern ‘fans’ will judge the success of tomorrow’s clubs.

That so many Arsenal fans seemingly reject the current approach of The Arsenal in attempting to build, sustainably, for the future, could well be the final straw that kills off this brave old world.

The off-pitch emptiness of passion and spirit on display at the Emirates on Sunday, the news of Theo’s shocking shirt swap, the mindless media lauding of the Champions – and their way of doing things – all spell, potentially, the end of what Arsenal have been trying to do.  The vicious turning, by ‘fans’ on perceived weak links – Gervinho, Bacary, take your pick – the complete absence on the part of so many fans of any kind of loyalty for players old and new – spells a new kind of danger for the club.

Nothing, short of winning the league next season, is likely to prevent Arsene from jacking it all in.  I know he’ll give it everything – and most of us reading this will be with him every step of the way – but the odds will stacked against him, one way or another.  Sure, he’s fought the good fight against footballing foe on the pitch and the media off it.  But taking on the third force – that of his own fanbase – will very likely be Arsene’s very own Bridge Too Far.  He simply will not bother and who could – or would – blame him.

With the finest coach in world football gone – and with his lean frame carrying with it the departure of one of the club’s most precious assets – it would seem unlikely that Kronke would do much more than sell out to Usmanov or at least attempt to get some kind of auction going in order to maximise his return.

And with that we will join the mega-clubs and success will be judged on the size of our wealth and our ability to sign this year’s Robin van Persie.  An exciting future?  Who knows – the fans of City and Chelsea don’t look too thrilled these days?  Exactly how proud are they of their respective clubs?  Winning zilch despite the mightiest of investments?  Perhaps if anything, they are feeling a tad embarrassed at their current failures?  All that money spent and they are still, well, rubbish.

And what of us, the Arsenal fans – where will we all be, the season after next?

Will we ever be quite as bothered?

I undertook an official, self-guided, tour of Emirates stadium the day after the Manure draw and it included a visit to the club’s museum.  I’d heartily recommend both, but it is a trip of two halves, if ever.  The first half of the afternoon inside one of the most famous stadiums in world football, spent visiting the players’ changing rooms, medical facilities, press rooms, going pitchside, checking out Diamond Club level and all the rest of it.  None of which will likely change all that much regardless of who owns the club or how it ends up being run.  All of it beyond impressive.  But sitting on Arsene’s actual pitchside seat was a remarkable experience.  He is so close to his own fans he can hear absolutely everything.  And always could.

The visit to the museum shortly afterwards was possibly the most revealing of my activities of the preceding two days as exhibit after exhibit of Arsenal greats – players and managers – bore testament to a century and more of the incredible human achievements and results borne from the one thing that is today in such grievously short supply from so many sides.

Loyalty.

This is an article written for and published on Les Artilleurs by @andysternAFC that we are helping to publicise for him.Personally I dont agree 100% but near enough.It makes some great points.

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Loyalty is a funny thing in football. Is there any loyalty left in football, or indeed, did it ever exist? Whereas an abundance of loyalty can only lead one to become a fan favourite, disloyalty is one of the cardinal sins of football, and the player (or indeed manager) to commit such a sin will undoubtedly become a villain for the rest of their life. Of course, every cloud has a silver lining, and more often than not, the traitor will be welcomed with open arms at their new club.

I’m writing this article to coincide with not only the transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich of Mario Gotze, but also with the one player who is probably most revered at the moment amongst the Arsenal fans (see this poll for more evidence; at the time of writing, he [RVP] is top, with 32.26% of the votes) set to walk out on Sunday with a guard of honour, against his former club, that showed all the loyalty that they could during his career there. But this isn’t a backlash article, it’s one I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and I hope that comes across.

As a starting point, the Mario Gotze transfer is as good as they come, fortunately for me! For all the talk about how fantastically well run Bayern Munich are, they most certainly are not a homegrown side. Far from it, and whilst most of their players are German, they’re not all Bayern through and through (the obvious two Bayern blooded players are Schweinsteiger and Lahm). They’ve got a knack of snapping up the best talent from around Germany, and thus not only improving themselves, but also diminishing their rivals’ chances for the next season. Plus, it eliminates any fears over whether or not they’ll be able to adapt to a new league. Clever, eh? Mario Gomez, Neuer and Mandukic were all plucked from Bundesliga clubs, but this isn’t a recent trend. Our very own Podolski was taken from F.C. Koln, and going even further back, Van Buyten, Ballack and Lucio were all plying their trade in the Bundesliga before their moves to Bayern. Now Gotze can be added to the list, and perhaps Lewandowski too.

Okay, so maybe Bayern are an anomaly? After all, they are by far the most prestigious club in Germany, and one of the greatest in the world. What about their probable opponents in the 2013 Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund? Yes, so their squad has been assembled for less than £29m. But that assumes that either they’ve promoted players, or they’ve bought cheaply. Hummels, Subotic, Gundogen, Kuba, Bender, Reus and Lewandowski (Kagawa too, although they made a tidy profit of around £13m on him) were all bought, or signed on a free transfer. The only big players missing there are Gotze and Kehl, and whilst the former is off to Bavaria, the latter is coming towards the end of his playing days with Dortmund. Whilst these players will have very fond memories of playing for Dortmund, they don’t have the same emotional attachment to the club as you’d expect Gotze to have, given that he’s been there since he’s been 9.

Emotional attachment plays a large role in loyalty, particularly in the world of football. Just look at Fabregas – no-one’s voted for him in the aforementioned poll, despite the claims of striking, as well as the acrimonious transfer. Cesc was always going to go back to the club he was raised at (we didn’t make him, unfortunately – we developed him into the world class player he is now, but the foundations were clearly there). This inevitability went some way to softening the blow for us, and there was definitely a sense that he’d given his all for Arsenal; it was only ever us or Barcelona. Unfortunately, Barcelona were also the best club in the world – who wouldn’t want to go back there, especially when you’d be reunited with your childhood amigos. But suppose it doesn’t work out at Barca – he’d come back to Arsenal, because of the emotional attachments. They’re just not as strong as the ones pulling him to the Catalan club.

But to be honest, it’s rare that one gets to play for the club that one has supported all ones life. If that was the case, Arsenal would have millions of players on their books, and Wigan would have 17. Especially when that club is Barcelona, given the unique skill set required, and the standard to which that skill set must be honed to. If they really wanted him, I’ve got no doubt that Arteta would jump ship to rejoin Barcelona, having been a La Masia graduate. No matter how professional you are, playing for a club as a fan is only going to happen once, so you’d probably take it.

Sometimes, you have to play for a rival club at a young age – this must be very tough indeed. Whilst this sometimes doesn’t work out, those that do often result in extraordinary cases. I’m thinking primarily of Jamie Carragher and Andres Iniesta – two very different players, but each with similar histories. Carragher was an Everton fan, and Iniesta claimed that his dream was to win the Champions League…with Real Madrid. Look at them now? Carragher’s been the mainstay of Liverpool teams for the past 10 years or so, and Iniesta has been one of the key influences in Barcelona’s meteoric rise over the last few seasons (but once more, Barcelona’s a special case here, given the ratio of La Masia graduates in the first team right now).

Of course, there are other factors in transfers, and one of these is success – Barcelona has that too, but let’s just forget that for a minute. Sol Campbell joined Arsenal because we were a successful club, and because he knew that he would win things at Arsenal. On principle, that’s bad – he’s not only left, but he’s joined a rival, so that he can win the league at their ground. But I guess that’s just why Arsenal fans love him so much. Going back to an earlier point, that’s why so many big players join Bayern – they can almost always be guaranteed silverware at some point or another.

The terms upon which one leaves, and the comments that are made about the club after the move can often determine the future relationship with the fans of the club that player leaves. To use Arsenal examples here, Fabregas and Henry are always both glowing about Arsenal, which sets them apart from RVP, who seems to have blotted out any memory of us from his mind, and Na$ri just tends to be rude about us, unless he’s talking about Wenger. I don’t believe that Na$ri left for the money, I think he left for the trophies. However, he chose City for the extortionate wages. I personally think that he was good enough to have won the title for United last season, had he been there. They didn’t offer enough to him, and thus he went to City, and played a role in winning them the league.

Is success a good enough reason to move clubs, even if it means annoying multiple sets of fans? Ibrahimovic certainly thinks so – “If you move to five different places it is a real test. If you succeed that’s when you become a real champion, that’s when you get more respect”. Whether you like it or not, he talks sense – it can be easy to plod along at one club for you whole career and win very little, but in order to challenge yourself, you may well have to move. As for his move to P$G, well that’s clearly about the money, but at the same time, he could well win Ligue 1, which would add yet another trophy to his (presumably IKEA) cabinet. Another player (who ironically also shone against England in 2012) who likes to wander around a little bit is Andrea Pirlo – AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus have all had success when he’s been at each club. I guess Zlatan and Pirlo can be justified then.

But then again, I guess that’s what hurts so much about RVP’s loss to Manchester United. He was justified in his move, unfortunately – that’s clear from the fact he’s spearheaded them to the league title in his first season there, and arguably he’s been playing worse than he was last season, where he came fourth. The same goes for Ashley Cole – he’s won almost everything at Chelsea, and he didn’t at Arsenal. They might have left for financial reasons, but unfortunately, their moves were justified by the success they’ve both had.

A lot’s been said about Arsenal’s British core, and how Wenger wants to build a team around Wilshere, Ramsey, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson and to some extent Walcott (who’s slightly older) and Szczesny (who’s an honorary cockney). Loyalty-wise, Jack and Jenkinson look set, and Chamberlain is a self professed Arsenal fan too. Ramsey though? He strikes me as a model professional (playing out of position but not moaning, no pay rise in new long term contract etc.), but should Cardiff come knocking at the door with lots of money and the promise of lots of trophies, would he say no? I can imagine him going there. As for Walcott, I think he’ll be fine (as will Gibbs), but only as long as we suit his needs, namely playing him up front, either with someone else or alone (preferably the former).

Loyalty in football isn’t a given, by any stretch of the imagination – yes, you get players like Zanetti or Maldini, but they’re so special because they’re so rare. Leaving a club doesn’t have to be acrimonious, and it’s easy to spot when someone genuinely has an affection for a club (i.e. Henry) – whilst some transfers are unpredictable, almost always there are reasons why a player moves. These loyalty issues aren’t new, they can be traced back a long way, but naturally they’ve been augmented by the injections of cash into many teams. One can’t always expect loyalty, but one should expect respect – the way in which players leave clubs often determines the regard in which they are held, and whether they’re booed or cheered when they return in opposing colours.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it – please share if you did enjoy it!