John Cross - Wenger's arse licker

[franksav63]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion ... 57421.html

Why it's the Arsenal fans who don't know what they're doing, not Arsene Wenger

There is one chant that really sticks in the craw.

Arsene Wenger had it ringing in his ears at the Emirates on Sunday and Mick McCarthy had to suffer it at Molineux three months ago.

You know the one. It goes: "You don't know what you're doing."

McCarthy got it when he was 2-0 down at home to Swansea, made a double substitution and Wolves ended up snatching a 2-2 draw.

Wenger suffered it when he replaced Arsenal's best player Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with public enemy number one Andrey Arshavin. The boos rang out and so did that chant.

This may sound comparatively trivial. After all, Wenger has suffered a lot worse year in and year out at Tottenham.

And let's not pretend Arsenal fans are innocent either. They chant abuse at Ashley Cole and Emmanuel Adebayor. Two wrongs don't make a right.

But this particular chant really gets me when it's aimed at managers.

Mick McCarthy is battling relegation. Wolves will do well to survive. But this is their third year in the Premier League, they are trying to rebuild the stadium and McCarthy is in there fighting.

If it was that easy, how come Wolves have spent the majority of the Premier League era playing outside of the top flight? That's quickly forgotten.

I don't want to patronise Wolves fans. But what do you expect? It's a long process. Hopefully one day you will enjoy security. The sort of security Tony Pulis has brought to Stoke. What an incredible job he's done.

Swansea and Norwich are going great guns. But let's see if they manage three seasons. McCarthy is performing miracles, in my view.

And if McCarthy is performing miracles then Wenger deserves more respect. He's transformed the whole club, has won trophies galore and got his players playing wonderful football.

The stock response is to point out Arsenal haven't won anything since 2005 and you can't live in the past.

All that is true. Arsenal frustrate their fans by not spending money, charging sky high prices and not winning trophies. Then Wenger makes unpopular substitutions. It's not a happy camp.

But Wenger doesn't deserve that horrendous chant. He's a brilliant manager. If Arsenal fans think it's time for change then that's their right to voice their opinions.

Let's hope they don't blame the media and don't forget it's the fans turning on Wenger now - not the media. So don't start whining about media campaigns when Arsenal come back into form.

Because, believe me, they will come back into form. They will push for fourth. Will it be enough? I've got doubts. I'm not even sure whether it will be enough for the Champions League let alone persuade Robin van Persie to stay.

These are difficult times. Times in which one of the greatest managers in Premier League history has to take abuse from fans. It's their right.

Did Nottingham Forest fans turn on Brian Clough? Towards the end. But it's like falling out with your favourite uncle. It's heartbreaking.

But surely Wenger deserves respect and patience - at least until the end of the season.

It's like the keyboard warriors who complain that pundits who are failed managers failed as managers and therefore are second rate pundits.

It's as if they think they know more from the hours spent playing Football Manager. Heaven forbid that they actually go to games.

Just read Wenger on the abuse he took earlier in the season. "We live in a society where everybody has an opinion on everything," said Wenger.

"I'm like somebody who flies a plane for 30 years and I have to accept that somebody can come into the cockpit and thinks he can fly the plane better than I do. But that is part of our job and we have to accept that."

Everyone thinks they can do better. People on Twitter think they can do my job. It's the power of social media. But fitting a new toilet seat (my only bit of DIY for many years) in my bathroom recently hasn't left me believing I'm a plumber.

Every fan is entitled to their opinion. And I can't properly explain why that chant upsets me so much. But it does.

This may be time for Wenger to go. I don't think it is but I respect the opinion of those who do.

The latte-sipping classes at the Emirates should be entitled to their voice. They can call for him to go if they want.

But do they know better than Wenger? No chance. That chant suggests they think they do.

Treat the guy with respect. Down the years, he's done enough to earn that at the very least.

Personally, I still think he's by far and away the best man for the job. I criticise him from time to time but I'd never suggest he doesn't know what he's doing even if I disagree with his decisions at times.

But people will only appreciate his brilliance when he goes. And you'll miss him when he does.

***

It's for Andrey Arshavin to move on.

Fans love a trier. That's why they took to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. It hasn't looked as if Arshavin has tried for months.

I don't like players to be booed. It can be destructive and confidence draining. The same for the whole team.

But Arshavin doesn't look as if he cares and that's hard to take.


++++


John Cross, the Tom Watt of journalism, the only thing he missed out in the above arse licking article is the boring ''be careful what you wish for'', he mentions patience several times and I think, on the whole, we've been pretty patience over the last several seasons especially how this present set up was sold to us.

[Deise Gooner]

He comes across as a masssive wanker in that piece. Inparticular the line about playing football manager for years leading to knowledge of the game To suggest that chanting you dont know what your doing at Wenger is on par with what he has to put up with at OT and WHL lane is laughable to say the least for fuck sake. Wenger has to take the flak from fans as he has done a lot to deserve it and continues to treat us like idiots week after week while this *word censored* sits on his high horse and slates the fans who pay top dollar to see games while that mug gets in free

[donaldo]

He's a disgrace as a journalist.A Wenger apologist who never pays for his ticket having a go at fans who pay more than a grand for their season tickets. Its *word censored* like him who are so out of touch with the fans who give Wenger an easy ride in his press conferences every week.Instead of putting Wenger on the spot he is kissing his arse.As Frank says hes the Tom Watt of the press

[stg]

Isn't it rather hypocritical of a man from the media who reports on football to moan about how fans react. He reports that we are a football manager lead generation who think because some play football management games we think we know how to manage a team and who should be playing where etc but do not sports journolists the same many have no or little real expertise in the actual game but still report on it and give their opinions to millions of people every day. Where do they get the right to call manager turnips or players donkeys if we as paying fans through tickets or sky can't express an opinion then a freeloading media man can't. Bloody hypocrite

[flash gunner]

Embarrassing article

[REB]

saw you had a go on twitter frank, have to say i agree with you and it is a bad piece to write, john cross knows who his friends at arsenal are and is not going to upset them

[flash gunner]

saw you had a go on twitter frank, have to say i agree with you and it is a bad piece to write, john cross knows who his friends at arsenal are and is not going to upset them

Well done Frank for giving him stick

This is the opposite end to Babatunde's 'Wonderful Article' but just as embarrassing

[SWLGooner]

I think Cross is a good journo (grassing people up aside) but I also think that article is an unbelievable load of rubbish.

[SteveO 35]

And this is precisely the sort of article that plays nicely into the hands of those running the club and the lapdogs that hang off every word that comes from the mouths of Wenger and Gazidis

Honestly, even if the club sink to mid-table this season there won't be any mass protest. The guy is here till 2014. He is managed by non-entities without any knowledge of European football, has more allies then enemies in the media by far, and still has at least 60-70% of the fans on his side. In terms of fans that go to games its more like 80%+

Patrick Barclay is in the same category as John Cross - a Wenger apologist that harps on about the revolution he brought about in the late 90s. Nobody doubts that - but all great leaders and companies are the ones that can re-invent themselves for years on end. I'm afraid Wenger has never been able to do that in the way that Ferguson has. How many years do we have to put up with this before the 'revolution of the 90s' ceases to get a mention.

By the time he signs the contract extension till 2017 it'll be 20 years since the so called revolution of the English game. Will we still be hearing about it then when we're clinging to a Europa league spot by the skin of our teeth

[SpanishJoe]

Forget the substantive points he tries to make. The article is shit because it is self-contradictory throughout (fans have a right to complain.....but they shouldn't chant, AW's won nothing for ages, we're charged sky-high prices.....but we should be patient and not complain).

It's a lazy, piss poor piece of journalism.

[REB]

he tweeted you back frank

[franksav63]

he tweeted you back frank

Yes, fair play to him at least he replied but it's still a shit article.

[REB]

he tweeted you back frank

Yes, fair play to him at least he replied but it's still a shit article.

and now your fighting with the black scarfers

[butcher boy]

AW will be kept on simply because the board will not want to pay compo, or get rid of the legend he is.

As for JC its a ridiculous article of blindness, endemic at the club, for now.

finish 6th and all may change, anything else and its 15 years of europe, business as usual

[franksav63]

he tweeted you back frank

Yes, fair play to him at least he replied but it's still a shit article.

and now your fighting with the black scarfers

I don't know where he is coming from, he reckons I was slagging off ex-Arsenal legends