MADLY PASSIONATE or SENSIBLE FANS? Which is better for Arsenal? by JON FOX
Any regular on JA knows pretty much what most of the other regulars think about most important Arsenal matters. We know who liked and who still likes Ozil, who passionately still wants Wenger to come back, and who could not wait to see the back of him. We also know, in the main, who exactly are the minority who still would keep Xhaka.
Of course, I speak only about the long- or medium-term regular JA Gooners, as new readers are constantly joining JA, just as our club is constantly finding new fans across the globe. So far then, so good!
Though it may surprise some, seemingly, to judge from certain comments JustArsenal, we ALL crave instant and evermore success for our beloved club. We all want to win every match, starting with our next one and to never lose any game ever. We want our manager to make sure we win all the time and entertain while doing so, winning multiple trophies along the way and being fabulously entertaining. We can, in short, all dream!
Dreams are good, dreams are healthy and without dreams, or if you prefer, real ambition, no club ever succeeds in the long term and hardly ever even in the short term either.
But you may ask, surely all normal people can separate dreams and fantasies from the reality of life. We would, I suggest, all like to win the Lottery or become fabulously wealthy but hardly anyone ever does so. That state is called life’s reality, and most of us quickly become attuned to it and accept our fate in life, even while sometimes striving in vain against it. So much in life is simply chance happenings or what we call fate. We are not much given to publicly railing against our general fate or moaning or boasting online about what is happening to us. We would be thought very odd if we did this. Especially if we did this several times every day.
There is however one particular activity we on JA share that bucks this trend. No prizes for guessing what it is! Passion alone cannot surely be the only reason we moan and bitch on JA. Most of us, I sincerely believe and hope (for all our sakes), have other passions beside Arsenal in our lives. I stop short of saying “all of us,” because practically nothing in life is ever common to absolutely everyone. For some folk, Arsenal IS the only real passion in their life and as a compassionate man I am going to excuse those few fans from any further comments.
But for the rest of us, in the privacy of our own hearts and minds, many would admit to thinking it odd that we spend so long on JA. My wife does about me for sure and surely, she is far from alone in that sensible reasoning. I at least have the, admittedly lame, excuse that I spend a lot more time than merely being on JA in writing about the other passions in my life. Others will doubtless do the same.
But the most sensible Arsenal fans are probably not on JA or other fan sites social media at all and can then at least claim not to waste so much valuable time on something over which we all have no say whatsoever! And that lack of say or lack of having any serious input personally, is the source of frustration which we all share and is probably the single factor, apart from love of our club, that binds us all. Yes FRUSTRATION! THAT CONSTANTLY IRRITATING, EVER-PRESENT ITCH!
Have you ever thought what would be like if that frustration were gone? Imagine if none of us were glued to the latest transfer window news almost every minute. Not having to wonder if we are signing an out of the blue, unexpected, world class striker, midfielder, right back etc. etc. before the window closes. We would all be in severe danger of becoming “normal”, and which addicted football fan wants that fate to happen to them! Not me for one! (Shudders at the ghastly thought!)
What then if you are a fan who just goes to games, or just watches them on TV, even talks about them at work or in the pub, but who can forget about Arsenal for most of the day and for whom watching Arsenal is just a pleasant or unpleasant (according to results) pastime and who could justify the tag of a normal sensible fan? There are many of those about and all clubs have them too.
But this article asks which sort is better for our club; sensible or daft as a brush fans! If we were speaking about our players, I would venture to suggest a bit of both madness and sensibleness would be ideal. Imagine the passion of such as Tony Adams allied with the cool calm head of say Dennis Bergkamp. That would be the ideal. Of course, it helps that both could play a bit (understatement of the century alert!).
To be totally serious, I believe the same mixture applies to our club, where we fans on JA are concerned. I think all fans have the right to let the club know if performances are substandard and we do so in the main. But constant, sometimes way over the top criticism is, I believe, unhelpful, even though real passion is the glue and life blood of all fanhood, and MUST be a very vital and valuable, even a raison d’etre for our beloved sport and club existing at all!
COYG
Jon Fox