Tag Archives: wenger out

The Arsenal Revival Continues

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What is it about Arsenal performing once there is little else to play for? We have seen it time and again in recent years, a late end of season run when we have a dozen+ points off the title, off the pace from top 4, and then we put a run together to secure Champions League football.

It is almost as if our mindset changes when we start to be written off in the press. Disregarded by the footballing public. The odds on top 4 extending. And this season it is déjà vu.

After we as a club, a fan base, a team, hit rock bottom on a Monday night 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace, we were all done. It was time to pack up and go home. 4 wins in 12 games, 2 of which were against the might of Sutton United and Lincoln City. After the defeat to Crystal Palace, an FA Cup exit against Manchester City was on the cards.

A month to do the day of that defeat against Crystal Palace and things look a little better. A run of 5 wins in 6 games has seen us get into the FA Cup final and claw back points in the race for the top 4. The only game we dropped points in was that awful defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

The revival comes as Arsenal moved to the 3-4-2-1 formation.

Personally, I refuse to give Arsene Wenger any credit for changing formation. It is too little too late. And this is where this positive happy blog takes a darker turn.

Just because I am happy Arsenal won, it does not change the fact that Arsene Wenger needs to go.

The fact he took so long to try out another formation is sickening. By the time we moved to 3-4-2-1, the title had gone, finishing ahead of Spurs had gone, we were 6th. Fans have been calling for a change in tactics for years, and it took an awful run for Wenger to react. It sums up Wenger’s second half of his Arsenal career. He is a reactive manager rather than a proactive one.

He follows other teams tactics rather than develops his own. If his side wins a game one week, he puts out the same side the next, not thinking about the opposition. He has struggled. He has been left behind. Winning 5 games from 6 does not suddenly make him a poor manager. Does not justify the 2 year contract that has allegedly already been signed.

Too many of our fans are fickle. The protests have dwindled. The noise on social media hushed. A couple of victories and everyone has fallen back in line. You do not have to be one or the other. You can want the team to win, whilst still calling for the managers head. Still celebrate victories whilst demanding Wenger Out.

I glance across at Juventus and see them in the Champions League final. Their second in 3 years under Massimiliano Allegri. Allegri flirted with leaving Juventus at the end of this season. He has since signed a new contract.

Was it just a power player to get more money from The Old Lady? Or was he genuinely looking to leave? It certainly felt on Tuesday, whilst watching them celebrate making the final, of a bit of Bully “here’s what you could have had”.

Did Wenger’s situation at Arsenal stall the club on making a move of Allegri? How many other top managers will we miss out on as Wenger digs his heels and stays? Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have already gone, Carlo Ancelotti and Unai Emery also recently made moves. Reports are today that Diego Simeone could be making a return to Inter Milan. Another we have missed out on.

Wenger’s arrogance, his ignorance, his stubbornness is damaging Arsenal. It is meaning we can not move one. Then again, if you were due to earn £19m over the next two years, why would you step down?

Lets turn this blog into a shit sandwich and finish on a high.

Beat Stoke on Saturday afternoon and the pressure is on Liverpool on Sunday when they visit West Ham. Victory will leave us a point behind Liverpool, 3 behind Manchester City (assuming they beat Chelsea in the early kick off).

With home games against Sunderland and Everton to finish the season off, you would not beat against us sneaking into the top 4. 8 wins out of 9 will give us great momentum to face Chelsea at the end of the month. And ultimately that is the real trophy.

Give me the FA Cup over top 4, over progression any day of the week.

We are all in this together.

Arsenal Meme and it’s all Embarrassing

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It is all just getting a little bit embarrassing isn’t it?

A couple of weeks ago we had Plane Wars as Arsenal banners fought it out in the air space above the Hawthorns. And then this weekend, Arsenal fans dragged the formally class name of the club further into the gutter with their actions.

Firstly we have the van.

Now I fully understand why people are upset, and I kind of understand the logic of having a billboard on a van driving around Holloway. It spreads the word.

One of the best recent protests was the billboard hired by the BlackScarfMovement back in 2011. It was simple, classy and effective.

The van on the other hand, whilst good meaning to the Wenger Out cause, was embarrassing. It lacked class. It ended up looking like Arsenal were on a political campaign. I was half expected a battle bus to turn up with Corbyn on the top deck waving to his followers. Next to him Donald Trump trying to hold on to his toupee. Boris slumped on the bank seat, drunk.

At the protest, fans were being handed out a step by step guide how to protest. How embarrassing and cringey can you become?

Actions included instructions to sign a petition, paying them more money (but they won’t tell you what it is being spent on), tweeting Arsenal sponsors (like the work experience boy who deals with the twitter accounts cares) and sending emails of complaint to the sponsors and partners customer services with #WengerOut at the end of the complaint.

It is all just embarrassing.

We then have fans fighting in the stadium. It made national news. Well done lads.

Then the attack on Arsenal Fan TV outside. Is there anything more embarrassing at Arsenal at the moment than Arsenal Fan TV? A bunch of attention seekers who want to be the centre of everything. One of the plonkers even grabbed a microphone at the protest, recording himself screaming down it. It is all about him, not about the protest.

Arsenal Fan TV getting attacked was actually a positive. They shame and embarrass the majority of Arsenal fans every weekend. The quicker they shut up shop the better. A brilliant concept reduced to embarrassing rants all for profit. None of them care about Arsenal. They only care for the profiles and how much money they can make.

Let the attacks continue!

Fans who record the arguments are perhaps worse than those who are willing to throw punches for their view are those that stand by and record what is happening for a few hits, a bit of attention, for their notifications to go off as their tweet go’s viral.

If two (or more) men (or women) want to has a punch up over their views on Arsenal , I do not actually have a problem – as long as no innocent bystanders get hurt. The problem becomes when people around the altercation get their cameras out. Those recording what is happening are grasses. The police and club no longer need to use CCTV evidence. It is all over Twitter.

The fans who attacked the cast of Arsenal Fan TV had it right when they pointed to the crowds saying they were the problem. People videoing other people videoing some melt doing an ‘interview’, that is embarrassing.

We are grassing on each other, getting each other banned, all for a few hits and 30s of fame.

When it became clear that the ‘In Arsene We Trust’ was paid for by a group of fans in Hong Kong, a lot of fans vented their anger. This was the problem with modern football. Foreign fans interfering. But now we have fans around the globe holding up Wenger Out signs. They have been spotted at events throughout the world, including at Wrestlemania this weekend.

Ignoring the fact that grown men still watch wrestling, which is embarrassing in itself, fans holding up placards at events where Arsenal are not playing is simply embarrassing.

Wenger Out not longer has a message. It is now a Meme.

There have also been responses from fans holding up Wenger In signs, bringing us full circle. The tit for tat infighting is embarrassing.

Arsenal Football Club is now a Meme. We are embarrassing on and off the pitch. We are becoming our own worst enemy.

I actually do not want to go to games for the rest of the season. It has nothing to do with performances on the pitch. Through thick and thin I am Arsenal. It has everything to do with the embarrassing fans off the pitch.

Your actions are shaming yourselves, your club, and your fellow fans.

Stop being an EMBARASSMENT.

Arsenal Football Club are not a Meme.

Keenos

 

 

The Arsenal in Limbo

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I write this, two days after Arsene Wenger informed us that he knows what he intends to do about his future, and that he will share this with us, very soon. Sadly, this leaves the football world in limbo as far as Arsenal are concerned. The press are having a field day. Fans are openly warring all over social media and radio phone ins shows are full of pundits and former players having their two-penneth worth.

I’m not sure what purpose a statement like this serves ? The only rational conclusion seems to be that it deflects from the dreadful performance, away to West Brom ? Or, perhaps it’s a cunning plan by Wenger to flush out the two sides and get a good handle on public opinion before committing himself to the new deal that’s, supposedly, on the table ?

Either way, we seem to fast approaching the end game. We are on a dreadful run and its going to be tough to get back into the top four. The FA Cup has three other strong sides left in it, so that’s another very difficult route. Even a cup win would only feel like small consolation this season.

The fanbase is very divided although the tide has definitely turned in favour of the out side. There has long been a very vocal out group, often undermining their own effectiveness with uncalled for personal abuse towards Wenger. But now we are seeing a more measured and moderate group asking for change. This isn’t the rantings of a few disgruntled fans but a ground swell of opinion.

Of those who want a new contract for Wenger, most accept that something isn’t quite right at the club and lay the blame at the door of Kroenke and the board. There is still a large number who believe Arsene’s hands have been tied and he has performed miracles on a limited budget.

There are also those who oppose the manager and the board and hold them jointly liable to what has happened to the club. They claim Kroenke is only in it for the money and that a top four finish guarantees to swell the coffers. They also insist that Wenger can do nothing to get the sack so long as the money keeps rolling in, and because of this he has taken his eye off the ball and is coasting.

I don’t want to debate the rights and wrongs and the merits of each camps arguments. I’m not sitting on the fence, my personal opinion just isn’t relevant to this article. But if everyone’s opinion has a modicum of truth the final outcome will be resolved before the end of the season.

If Wenger feels he has lost the fans and/or the dressing room he will announce his departure at the end of the season in the next week or so. If Kroenke is all about the money then he wont miss the fact that Champions League qualification is looking very dodgy. He will also be wary of rewarding an unpopular manager with a two year deal knowing that if form doesn’t turn round quickly he could be stuck with around a £20 million compensation package to fund. A hard headed businessman will be fully aware that a new manager will want to assess the current squad and bring in summer additions. He will also know that £20 million wasted on compensation could be well used in wages to tempt new blood.

It’s difficult to see any scenario where Wenger is able to sign a new deal without a backlash from the fans. Not impossible, but it’s looking less likely that Wenger will be in charge next season. One things for sure though, something has to give one way or another. I just hope the priority for everyone who loves Arsenal is the club and the whole thing doesn’t turn into a farce as its seems to be in danger of at the moment.

MD