I might not have held up a banner myself but I can understand what drove some Arsenal fans to arrange a protest at the home game against Norwich City yesterday. For one thing, the protest was not just about Arsene Wenger but at the whole issue of leadership and ambition and it does seem that things have gone stale and need a shake-up.
But I was also pleased at the support showed towards the manager and the team and I feel that it might end up having more of an effect than the the protest, on the under fire Frenchman at least. Wenger will no doubt be reflecting today on what happened and realising that the desire for him to leave is by no means unanimous but it is there.
After the narrow win, which put Arsenal back above Man City into third place and strengthened our grip on a Champions League spot for next season, Wenger spoke about the fans and his wish to make us happy and from his words reported by the BBC I think he is beginning to feel guilty about the frustration that our latest faltering title challenge has produced.
He said, “We respect the opinion of everybody. We gave absolutely the best.
“I’m really sorry I cannot make them all happy but we will continue to work hard to achieve it.
“It was a bit of a strange atmosphere. I think the fans were behind the team, and I believe as well that we did not have the stylish performance that could raise people off their seats.
“We had a serious, studied performance, a bit subdued at stages, but we wanted absolutely to win the game and we did it.
“Maybe it is as well because we have been remarkably consistent. This season was a bit special because we were in a position for a long time where our fans believed we could win the league.
“We didn’t and that’s why I think it’s more disappointed love than real aggression.”
It is almost certain that Wenger will be in charge again next season and what we want is for him and Arsenal to win the title again but there is the fear that he will make the same mistakes again. In that respect I think the boss may well respond better to what he calls disappointed love than he would to bitter anger and accusations.
Might the support he got after the protest make Wenger more likely to look at himself and the club and do whatever it takes to give us the success we so badly want?
HE WILL CHANGE
have he in last 12 years..all the great manager in time learn what is wrong bt our mistakes have continued for long tym nw..
every person who follows epl forget arsenal any club knws what is lacking with us and i guess a manager who is one of the higest paid one could have figured it out atleast the problem 5 years back
bt there is arsenal with same excuses same tactics same 4th place
Oh! Really?
Let’s go back to 1998 revisited for that one!
Arsene Wenger = Angela Merkel. Nobody wants they but they stay. Why? Freemason!
What does freemasonry have to do with this?
Lol. And Angela Merkel 🙂
Maybe its Mason leaving
on a free 🙂
I’m all for people voicing their opinions and expressing themselves, but when you go as to disrespect organizations or people you absolutely have no knowledge about to make yourself seem important then you’re just an attention seeker with a negative spirit…
Robin Vanpayslip: *calls Sky helpline* Hello, there seems to be a problem with my Sky box. It’s all in slow motion.
Sky customer service executive: Hold on sir, I will check if there is an issue with the system. *comes back 2 minutes later* we seem to be getting a lot of these calls. Are you watching Arsenal vs Norwich by any chance?
Robin Vanpayslip: Indeed I am
Sky customer service executive: There is no problem with the box. That is just how fast Giroud runs
Robin Vanpayslip: *tear rolls down cheek* thank you for your help
I’ll wait who he’ll buy for next season before giving him support. But currently I don’t trust whatever Wenger said, let alone support.
I will support my Team ARSENAL……….. As for wenger, he Lost my support Ages ago and can only regain it if he changes for the best and learn new tricks(which an old dog never does exactly)
why am i even saying this?……I want him Out already!
Most people are only given a 2nd chance…..but wenger, he’s had 19 chances
nuff is nuff!
The Wenger brigade is out to thumb us down guys!
Yeah, coz you only talk points here and they are here to thumb you down. Or may be you are still stuck deep in Wenger’s a*s that’s why they won’t stop thumbing you down? Get out of there, come back to reality mate
It’s true some of the time. I seen fans make total liars out of themselves but because they were having a pop, they got the thumbs up. The most ridiculous statement ever could be said in here on a certain day, if it’s angry or disrespecting it will get the thumbs up.
If it is time for wishful thinking, let me tell you my wish.
Wenger is given an advisory role for the club, and a new manager is brought in straight after the season.
No matter if you are for or against Wenger, you cannot disregard the fact, that we will have to replace Wenger either now or within very few years, So why not now?
The only way Wenger leaves is by stepping down, imagine the media AFC sack Arsene Wenger will never happen as much as there is a need for a fresh face. I actually believe that he is holding out until Henry is ready to take the seat, got to admit its a bit poetic really
haha I am disgusted,amused and feel sad coz we will see this movie nxt year also.I ask u guys do u think arsenal will win epl nxt season? do u think we will compete for the epl? trust me wenger is a smart guy knows the target nxt season is a top four coz nxt year epl will be competitive and is fooling us to give him another shot.I fear we fans are now content with top four finish
This week in response
to criticism Arsene has
portrayed himself as
a misunderstood and
under appreciated savior of the Arsenal Football Club.
In a series of ever more perplexing parablesk sermons
he is reminding us of how he single handedly led Arsenal
from the wilderness into the land of prosperity and light.
Even though George Graham actually broke the 18 year
Arsenal trophy drought 7 years before Arsenal arrived.
“The bankers held me hostage”
I could have left but I would not forsake my people.
Then there is the “disappointment love” parable.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
And they cast lots to divide his garments. Luke 23:34.
Here endeth the lesson.
But was the lesson?
Football works in mysterious ways perhaps?
It’s alright. I want to declare this: Many Arsene Wenger fans believe that Arsenal don’t have what it takes to be champions, otherwise they would earnestly demand for it!!!!! So they see what he does and they are like..man, the guy is a genius, plus they know that success is only signing Messi and Ronaldo who aREN’T available!!!!!!Oh God. Ask anyone of them to tell you what they expect Arsenal to achieve next season and an argument starts……Or whether we can go past last 16 and they will mention Barcelona and Bayen somewhere……
CAN’T WE FIND A SOLUTION????????
Some Arsenal fans really do disgust me, seeing at the Emirates many fans who had the “Time for Change” banner up, during a game while our boys were on the field really took more of what confidence they had left absolutely disgusting. Personally as much as I hate to say it Kroneke will only step down when his bank balance reduces, putting a banner out only effects the players, which is the last thing we want. Support your team during those 90+ mins, many teams especially the lower teams grab points because of the fans giving there full support. How about we do that for a change?
If we didn’t support our team , we wouldn’t be asking for a change in tactics, nepotism, favouritism, etc etc. We played against the 3rd bottom team facing relegation AND we didnt take a shot at goal for 45 mins? Manager telll’s players not to shoot from far so I assume his message is to walk the ball into the net? Plays the donkey Giroud who some AKB’s praise as a great hold up player….errr hold up doesnt mean getting rid of the ball as soon as it gets to you. I used to think he was hopeless as a striker but I admired his teamwork and workrate but recently, even his work rate has gone so we are left with a donkey (and thats insulting to donkeys – they work hard) as our main striker
Can someone explain to me why are many of our fans blaming kroenke or gazidis?
As far as i’m concerned, the job of our owner is to provide financial backing and stay away from matters related to football. Kroenke does both pretty well. I think most of the fans are mad at his statement “i’m here to make profits”. But i think we can all appreciate a little honestly for a change, something that is extremely rare at this football club now-a-days.
Gazidis is our director..NOT firector of FOOTBALL… his job is to ensure that the club is doing well commercially and making profits.
No one has ever criticized the club for its financial performance or instability, our problems lie on the football pitch…the problems that should be taken care of by the MANAGER…
They can only be blamed for not being bold enough to sack wenger….but judging by the ‘Real’ fans present at the emirates chating ‘one arsene wenger’ (after losing the title to LEICESTER), i can see why they are afraid to sack the manager….. But wanting them out just seems like a desperate attempt by the AKBs to deflect blame away from arsene wenger.
Kroenke actualy said “If you want to win championships then you would never get involved”. The issue is that most fans are “involved” to win championships.
There is therefore a conflict between the owner and fans aspirations. The owner sets the managers targets, the owner releases money for transfers.
Last summer payments were due on existing players contracts, basically deferred payments to their old clubs, so Arsenal made a financial trading loss in that period. Last summer no outfield players were signed, was this because Wenger did not want to sign anyone or because Kronke would not release the money from reserves. Were Kroenke’s objectives to improve arsenal or borrow money using arsenal as security to buy a Ranch? I do not know.
What I do know is that Kronke has a controlling influence on player transfers and he sets the managers targets/objectives. I also know that Kroenke is not “involved” to win championships and I am.
Yes and Arsene
referred to the team
“doing our best”
one assumes with
the resources we have.
And he backs that up by saying
“it takes a billion pound to build an ECL winning team”
Yet of course Leicester may win the EPL title
with a squad costing less than 25% of Arsenal’s squad.
So it’s a scatter gun spray of conflicting numbers and cause and effect
theorems being thrown around like confetti leaving many none the wiser
and more inclined to slip further into fatalistic apathy.
I was not aware of the players contract situation..so you may be right regarding that…but wenger has said that he has the financial backing from the owner so i think kroenke is not the one to blame for not signing any outfield players. Wenger himself has said that he did not sign any outfield players because ‘he could not find anyone who would have improved our squad.
And regarding that kroeke statement “If you want to win championships then you would never get involved”, he meant that the owners should not get involved in the football matters like abrahimovic does…which i think is absolutely correct.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not supporting our owner…i’m just saying we are wrong to blame him for wenger’s failures
Interesting interpretation.
But Kroenke did say also
“If you don’t have a good
business then you can’t
really afford to go out and
get the best players”.
You have a point…but i still think he was talking about how his role is to manage the business and not the football matters… and i also think he wanted to say that arsenal have a strong business foundation and can now afford to get the best players..
Whatever might be the case do you think that kroenke was responsible for this season’s failure?
No Kroenke had nothing
to do with Arsenal not
winning the title
this season.
All the top teams have so far
been shamed by little Leicester.
Nokia920, thankyou for the polite and interesting response. I took kroenke’s comment to mean that he was not involved to win championships as opposed to abramovich and sheik mansour who definately are involved to win championships and have spent a fortune of their own money to do so.
Your interpretation of involved is that kroenke does not involve himself in football matters. Abramovich does do this, i think sheik mansour probably does not but may employ someone to do so on his behalf. I looked at kroenkes comments again, he also said
Over there [in the Premier League] it was sort of like ‘well, we’ve got guys from the Middle East, the oil price is over $100, they can spend anything they want’. “But the problem I saw with all of that; those people can lose interest. It doesn’t mean that they will, but I sort of threw that out there: ‘What happens when the Middle Eastern family, this thing’s costing a lot of money and they decide to go home?’
So I think kroenke meant he did not purchase a majority share in arsenal to win championships, but I can see your interpretation. Perhaps Kroenke could clarify what he meant because all other comments I have seen on this have interpreted it this way.
Wenger did say he had financial backing from owner, but he could hardly say otherwise.
Actually I think that this season, with the poor performance of manc, manu and chelsea, arsenal had enough opportunities to win but have bottled nearly every one of them, and that is down to the manager/players.
Nokia… well put.
I honestly think Ozil and Alexis are not happy.
We need these two players to stay at the club
But we also need to sign some WC players if we are ever to seriously challenge for the Title
and especially CL
I bet you that if Leicester win today, Wenger will say that it proves his philosophy of spending low works. But he won’t admit that we were better than United, City, Chelsea because the just had poor season in the PL race
However City won the League Cup
City could conceivably win CL
United could win FA Cup
Liverpool could win Europa
Spurs finish ahead of us in 2nd
We win 3rd or 4th place trophy
Thanks Arsene for fantastic season
Swansea scores three against pool and deluded akbs are proud of wenger whose team of sissies somehow manages to score one against the second last team
this is the problem i have with some ridiculous views on here.. when liverpool wins against swansea you would say “look klopp shows wenger how to defeat swansea, which he isnt able to” but when swansea beats liverpool instead of accepting that swansea is indeed a strong team who can beat top team you turn it to support your point again. look if another team wins against another you can always turn and flip it around to compare it negatively to our situation, criticise wenger for the mistakes he does make but dont turn each and every action in the league to ridicule our team and wenger that isnt intelligent even if you think it is
Don99, case point here. Krish is completely correct here, fans do this all the time. The biggest clubs lose games that they weren’t supposed to, this happens all the time. But you get some AFC fans saying the most stupid of things, like this means they are a better team than us. And I also don’t like the double standards which Krish alludes to, it’s too squirmy for my liking.
The biggest teams lose games that they weren’t supposed to.
First off, except in money terms, we stopped being a “big club” years ago. We’re more like a middle club who somehow seems to keep getting into the top 4 every season against all odds, which keeps fans happy, as that’s all they really expect – otherwise, we wouldn’t be as Happy with Wenger as we are now. Liverpool is still a work in Progress. I’m sure even you know that. And its certainly not due to managerial ineptitude or repeating failed tactics or using incompetent players. They’re still well in contention for the Europa League as we comment. Did you see them against BORUSSIA DORTMUND? WE couldn’t beat a third level Man U team away, or Swansea at home. Etc. Double standards? Like Wenger’s statement that playing Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday helps build competitiveness {or something like that} in pre-match conference – and then using THAT as an excuse for failing that same week? Look, let’s not get into an argument on the facts of Wenger’s failures – you’ll lose.
K… wow, you managed to post without insults. Thats the way to discuss… not your usual that idiot etc just because the comment was anti wenger
AKB’s have come on to criticise wengers tactics or lack of, his lies and they have made suggestions. True there are some who insult…death etc and they are idiots but the majority that get YOUR insults do not deserve it so if you are only here jusdt to insult then STFU
By the way are the vocal AKB’s – Tr.., Mid.. NY.. and you satisfied with our current and past 12 years situation. If so why and if not why and YOUR suggestions?
I don’t understand why is wenger keeping so much blind faith in Giroud. He has shown for the past 4 years that he is not good enough to score more than 12 league goals a season. Add to that he lacks pace, creativity, poor mentality, no movement, and is very predictable. I would rather give opportunity to 17-18 yr old young striker than Giroud. At least they will improve unlike 30 yr old Giroud. Wenger will get even bigger abuse next season if he refuses to buy top striker. Ozil and Alexis look very frustarated this season due to lack of top signings.
i still think tactical and technical side we do good… the problem is with the HUNGER… Wenger shud really hire a psychic to improve their mental hunger… play dirty give that extra bit every time… this is what wenger lacks… see athletico players dey die for the win on de pitch.. our players r happy playing “nice” football… cmon give dem dat fighting spirit nd dis team can win ne title… just better cf required….