Wenger Out protest thread

[SPARKSY]

well the reality of the situation certainly hit home last night..

got to the "protest march" about 5 minutes late, - i looked up Avenell Road towards the East Stand, didnt look like there was anyone there and so thought I must have missed it. Went into Gillespie Road but could only see the regular match going "zombies" walking towards the stadium. Spoke to some guy selling copies of the Gooner and he told me that he thought that the march had been cancelled.

continued on to the stadium, got a beer in just before kick off and wondered how many people would not go in...then it hits you that most people are totally oblivious to any protest. there are of course the usual latecomers, but they were just heading straight to their seat.
watched the first 10 minutes on the TV, I certainly didnt appear to be missing much! then headed to my seat. the guy next to me was taking a selfie

easy 3-0 win (once we had scored the first goal) but West Ham offered so little it wasnt a proper contest. They could well get relegated.

basically the vast majority of the Emirates crowd are happy the way things are, it matters very little to them where we are in the league.
yes we might well get top 4 again, but really that is no longer a big deal I dont think. For those who dont go to games now you have to realise that like the manager they are not bothered about winning things anymore - going to the Arsenal in 2017 is about the day out, the experience, the buying of over priced crap food, the buying of plastic tat from the club stores. If Arsenal score 1 or 2 goals it is just a bonus.

I can't see an end in sight.

I'm afraid that is exactly it my friend. The club likes the tourists and i believe they decided some years ago to target those people above the long term supporter. Why?
Because they spend money, on merchandise (see the growing number of half and half scarves), on expensive tickets, on food, on drink, very much in the same way they do in America.
Tourists, unlike us, also don't kick up a stink when things don't go well, as they are there solely, to be entertained.

Arsenal is effectively, a franchise, run along the same lines as American NFL teams. It is not about winning. Great if they do but no great issue if they don't. As long as the paying customers have seen great action and plenty of goals, either way, then they will probably go back a few more times that season.

The Americans have no great affiliation to one team, or a family history of supporting a club, they go to watch a game of football and while they may side with one team, they ultimately go to see a game, usually just a few times a year. If that team wins a trophy great but if they don't ( as only one team will win the Superbowl) then it doesn't matter as it is entertainment.

So it is easier to see where Arsenal are heading these days, in fact, well down that path, under the ownership of one rich American.........................................

[armchair]

I felt that the protest march part hadnt been promoted and publicised quite as strongly on social media as the previous marches.

Perhaps considering last nights protest was a two-fold effort, ie:- the march and not entering until 13th min. the march part was somehow overshadowed?

I may be wrong but thats what I feel happened and possibly contributing to why numbers were down for the march.
Also perhaps some may feel they've done the marching thing already? Posdibly people could be thinking time for something new maybe? Its difficult to keep people engaged if they're not as commited as us.
Coupled that with a mid-week game with nothing really to play for and numbers are bound to fall.

But I defo think the march part of the protest wasnt pushed as hard as the others.

[NickF]

Arsenal is effectively, a franchise, run along the same lines as American NFL teams. It is not about winning. Great if they do but no great issue if they don't. As long as the paying customers have seen great action and plenty of goals, either way, then they will probably go back a few more times that season.

The Americans have no great affiliation to one team, or a family history of supporting a club, they go to watch a game of football and while they may side with one team, they ultimately go to see a game, usually just a few times a year. If that team wins a trophy great but if they don't ( as only one team will win the Superbowl) then it doesn't matter as it is entertainment.

So it is easier to see where Arsenal are heading these days, in fact, well down that path, under the ownership of one rich American.........................................

Sorry that is just wrong. Go into the blackhole at Oakland or Lambeau Field in Green Bay and tell them they don't have an affiliation to one team!

[SPARKSY]

Arsenal is effectively, a franchise, run along the same lines as American NFL teams. It is not about winning. Great if they do but no great issue if they don't. As long as the paying customers have seen great action and plenty of goals, either way, then they will probably go back a few more times that season.

The Americans have no great affiliation to one team, or a family history of supporting a club, they go to watch a game of football and while they may side with one team, they ultimately go to see a game, usually just a few times a year. If that team wins a trophy great but if they don't ( as only one team will win the Superbowl) then it doesn't matter as it is entertainment.

So it is easier to see where Arsenal are heading these days, in fact, well down that path, under the ownership of one rich American.........................................

Sorry that is just wrong. Go into the blackhole at Oakland or Lambeau Field in Green Bay and tell them they don't have an affiliation to one team!

Those 2 teams i don't know to be honest but i think you get my general idea............................................

[NickF]

I felt that the protest march part hadnt been promoted and publicised quite as strongly on social media as the previous marches.

Perhaps considering last nights protest was a two-fold effort, ie:- the march and not entering until 13th min. the march part was somehow overshadowed?

I may be wrong but thats what I feel happened and possibly contributing to why numbers were down for the march.
Also perhaps some may feel they've done the marching thing already? Posdibly people could be thinking time for something new maybe? Its difficult to keep people engaged if they're not as commited as us.
Coupled that with a mid-week game with nothing really to play for and numbers are bound to fall.

But I defo think the march part of the protest wasnt pushed as hard as the others.

Don't think it really helped that the match was just a couple of days after the previous one.
Also maybe the violence on Sunday, albeit nothing to do with the march, didn't help.

[NickF]

Arsenal is effectively, a franchise, run along the same lines as American NFL teams. It is not about winning. Great if they do but no great issue if they don't. As long as the paying customers have seen great action and plenty of goals, either way, then they will probably go back a few more times that season.

The Americans have no great affiliation to one team, or a family history of supporting a club, they go to watch a game of football and while they may side with one team, they ultimately go to see a game, usually just a few times a year. If that team wins a trophy great but if they don't ( as only one team will win the Superbowl) then it doesn't matter as it is entertainment.

So it is easier to see where Arsenal are heading these days, in fact, well down that path, under the ownership of one rich American.........................................

Sorry that is just wrong. Go into the blackhole at Oakland or Lambeau Field in Green Bay and tell them they don't have an affiliation to one team!

Those 2 teams i don't know to be honest but i think you get my general idea............................................

Not really, other than stereotyping Americans as knowing nothing about sport and going for the entertainment value only.
Unfortunately that happens with every major team in any sport, in every major city.

[DB10GOONER]

the number of people wearing a West Ham/Arsenal half and half scarf last night truly staggered me

this is supposed to be a London derby! what is going on these days!

I've never understood that. Why in the name of fuck would you want anything from any other club on your body, particularly anything to do with the vile murdering wham scum? A lot of our modern fans are cúnts.

[Clash]

I felt that the protest march part hadnt been promoted and publicised quite as strongly on social media as the previous marches.

Perhaps considering last nights protest was a two-fold effort, ie:- the march and not entering until 13th min. the march part was somehow overshadowed?

I may be wrong but thats what I feel happened and possibly contributing to why numbers were down for the march.
Also perhaps some may feel they've done the marching thing already? Posdibly people could be thinking time for something new maybe? Its difficult to keep people engaged if they're not as commited as us.
Coupled that with a mid-week game with nothing really to play for and numbers are bound to fall.

But I defo think the march part of the protest wasnt pushed as hard as the others.

I didnt get out of H&I station until gone 7:30. There were severe delays on the trains and tubes last night. Admittedly I didnt allow myself much time for any delays which was stupid, although I cant just leave work when I want either. Its enough of a pain in the arse just getting there for kick off time in midweek. The delays cant be the only reason why so few turned up though.

I am not sure how much the 13th minute thing had been promoted. I only knew about it from Mark Halfpenny's article on the main site. I dont use Twitter or Facebook. Me and my mate were the only 2 on our part of the concourse (block 16) that stayed out there for the whole 13 mins. And when taking our seats some bloke in his early 20s (when having to stand up to let us get to our seats) muttered ''you're taking the piss'' so presumably he didnt know why we were going in late

I was at the marches for Bayern and Lincoln but didnt have a ticket for those games. Last night was the first match I have been to for ages and the whole atmosphere wasnt anything like I was expecting. Despite a poor 1st half the only murmurings of discontent were directed at the ref. The only Wenger related stuff was from the away end.

However there was no singing Wengers name at any point and I stated to the end. The crowd were so quiet that Id have heard it if there was. So whoever told Wenger that the fans were singing his name is wrong.

[VoiceOfReason]

Arsenal is effectively, a franchise, run along the same lines as American NFL teams. It is not about winning. Great if they do but no great issue if they don't. As long as the paying customers have seen great action and plenty of goals, either way, then they will probably go back a few more times that season.

The Americans have no great affiliation to one team, or a family history of supporting a club, they go to watch a game of football and while they may side with one team, they ultimately go to see a game, usually just a few times a year. If that team wins a trophy great but if they don't ( as only one team will win the Superbowl) then it doesn't matter as it is entertainment.

So it is easier to see where Arsenal are heading these days, in fact, well down that path, under the ownership of one rich American.........................................

Sorry that is just wrong. Go into the blackhole at Oakland or Lambeau Field in Green Bay and tell them they don't have an affiliation to one team!

Those 2 teams i don't know to be honest but i think you get my general idea............................................

Not really, other than stereotyping Americans as knowing nothing about sport and going for the entertainment value only.
Unfortunately that happens with every major team in any sport, in every major city.

Exactly. I follow US sports closely and to say that fans aren't hardcore is ridiculous. And allegiances are definitely generational.

Yes, the big four US sports in general have more elements of entertainment - cheerleaders, popcorn, music etc. - but that's not a reflection on the fans.

There's no correlation at all between Emirates tourists (who genuinely don't support Arsenal) and American sports fans.

[Skooner]

Wasn't there in time for the march but was in the upper tier and didn't go in until the 13th minute. For the entire 13 minutes there were people streaming through and going straight to their seats, I counted 4 other people (other than me and my sister) that seemed to be actually staying out as part of the protest. As others have said I think it is a combination of people not knowing about it and people not caring. It certainly wasn't noticeable that others were going in on mass on the 13th minute. Real shame as if there had been good numbers think it would have been the most persuasive protest yet.

[Trevor Ross]

Agree totally with armchair, apart from apparent transport problems think march fatigue set in last night, coupled with the feeling that the march went under the radar for many compared to the 13 minute concourse protest. We've proven 3 home games in row that there are decent, consistent numbers willing to march (actually think the numbers are better than decent when you consider so many of those sick and tired of Le Fraud have long since decided to stop paying his wages via match tickets and travel in fair distances purely for the protests- that's what I do).
Got some crap press over last night but we've had so much brilliant press over the past few weeks it's all been worth it, maybe smaller targeted demos like the training ground event is the way to go for a while but you organisers on here are fcuking legends, proper Arsenal prepared to get off your arses do something positive for our club while so many sit on their hands hoping that a narcissistic liar will do the decent thing.
Thank you guys.

[WLG]

It is time for a white hanky protest?

It's easy for people to take into the ground, it's visual, everyone knows what it means. It is a lot more impersonal too, people feel less attached to it than something like carrying a 'Wenger Out' banner. AND it can be done at any match, home or away, with little organisation.

I'm sorry, but a 3-0 home victory against an extremely poor Whammers should not be allowed to let him feel like he is king of the world again. Ffs there's four of us in my household, the missus, my two girls and me, and I've only got one working leg but I'm pretty sure even we could have given West Ham a game last night, they were that bad, so he is not the messiah, he's just a very average manager.

Palace will hopefully be up for it, Boro will be another case of us flat track bullying, then it's on to Wembley for the semi. We have to keep the pressure on.

[Sidney]

.

[NickF]

It is time for a white hanky protest?

It's easy for people to take into the ground, it's visual, everyone knows what it means. It is a lot more impersonal too, people feel less attached to it than something like carrying a 'Wenger Out' banner. AND it can be done at any match, home or away, with little organisation.

You're still not getting it, people in the Emirates are not interested in protesting. They do not care either way...

[WLG]

It is time for a white hanky protest?

It's easy for people to take into the ground, it's visual, everyone knows what it means. It is a lot more impersonal too, people feel less attached to it than something like carrying a 'Wenger Out' banner. AND it can be done at any match, home or away, with little organisation.

You're still not getting it, people in the Emirates are not interested in protesting. They do not care either way...

It's 'kin disheartening isn't it? This whole 'respect for Wenger' thing is preventing most from voicing their feelings whilst watching the club descend into mid table mediocrity.