I felt ashamed to call myself an Arsenal supporter

Robsy · Post by **Robsy** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:05 pm

I totally agree with this article.

I was p*ssed off at full-time yesterday, but boo-ing the team is just wrong. It doesn't help, all it does is demoralise a team that are obviously low on confidence.

We do not want the team to become scared of playing at home because of our own 'support'.

One thing I noticed is that some of those boo-ing yesterday were not season ticket holders, they were people I've never seen in my area before, that angered me much more than the inept team performance.

Arsenal86 · Post by **Arsenal86** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:44 pm

There are a few realities here - not least the comment made by Robsy. I too am a season ticket holder and have been since 1995 (supported since 1986) and it is clear that with the new ground came football tourists and arm chair fans.

However, the money these supporters generate is important for the club going forward and I cannot imagine that all those booing yesterday were the 'once a season' fans that get a lot of stick from us lucky enough to have season tickets which we carried over from the old ground.

I didn't and would not boo - although after watching the utter shite we were served up with yesterday, the week before against Sunderland and a couple of weeks before that against West Ham I am not surprised many did.

If the home support is a bit harsh then it may have something to do with the fact we have had four very presentable league games at home (Bolton, West Ham, Sunderland and Fulham) and won only once and scored only once - is that good enough?

I an optimistic about the future and believe we have a very good chance of winning the FA Cup however Wenger has got to get players playing in their correct positions for a start (Vela and Arshavin were glorified full backs for most of yesterday - although anything is better than Bendtner in the team) and either find out what the bloody hell is happening in the physio room or get some players in to replace those who seem to appear less often than Santa.

You and I may not like those who boo, but I think you have got to acknowledge why they may do so.

Basil is a Gooner · Post by **Basil is a Gooner** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:04 pm

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=1023

I was surprised by the booing too, I guess it stems from frustration.

At least their finishing was worse than ours.......

NBM · Post by **NBM** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:48 pm

I'm a regular and I booed, but I also sang and chanted for the whole game.

If the players can't even be arsed to chase Fulham shadows then they've got to know its unacceptable, especially in comparison to the efforts on Tuesday night as well.

Yesterday was utter toss and they deserved it.

neamman · Post by **neamman** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:04 pm

Those who booed should be bloody ashamed of themselves. i would rather we had 40000 committed fans attend than the additional 20000 hangers on. Bloody disgusting.

Goal-baggio · Post by **Goal-baggio** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:04 pm

the people who booed, and you call yourselves fans? the fans should be behind the team when its bad times. Look at the anfield, everybody is singing there and liverpool do shit right now.

Lethal · Post by **Lethal** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:20 pm

Goal-baggio wrote:the people who booed, and you call yourselves fans? the fans should be behind the team when its bad times. Look at the anfield, everybody is singing there and liverpool do shit right now.

no there not

thats a myth,they booed the team off for a 0-0 which sent them to the top of the league

get your facts right first you self righteous prick

Lethal · Post by **Lethal** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:22 pm

Goal-baggio wrote:the people who booed, and you call yourselves fans? the fans should be behind the team when its bad times. Look at the anfield, everybody is singing there and liverpool do shit right now.

you live in some far away country and can barely speak the lingo

and you call yourself a fan ?

fuck off

just fuckin fuck off

TeeCee · Post by **TeeCee** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:27 pm

I am seriously pissed off with Wenger and the team at the moment, but have never, and will never boo. But I have no issue if anyone else does want to boo......why? Well let's start with:

Wengers refusal to address issues within our squad that HE highlighted at the end of last season

Players who go out on that pitch earning a fortune each week and not giving 100%. Why do they 'get themselves up' for a game against Chelsea or Man U but not against the likes of Fulham, Hull, Stoke etc etc. Yes I'm talking primarily about Greedybayor but he's not the only one.

Wenger playing players out of position, especially when we have players available that play NATURALLY in that position
Why is he playing Arshavin wide?? The man is crying out for a central position!

Wenger making pathetic substitutions - he has cost us several points this season with unbelievably bad substitutions

Wenger for letting dogshite like Song and Eboue and poor players like Diaby, Denilson and Bendtner anywhere near our first team on a regular basis. I can't wait for Wenger to go to Real Madrid and come calling back for those players....surely he will won't he???

The Arsenal board - for letting Wenger do whatever he likes with our club, because the bottom line is, Wenger doesn't cost them much money, that's the reason they want him in charge.

I could go on but I really piss myself off when I think about it so I'll stop there.
Next year would be my 30th as an Arsenal season ticket holder but I am 75% sure I won't bother turning up every match the way I feel let down by the club now. It's just a question of whether I renew and let someone else use my ticket for the year or whether I get rid and buy tickets on a match by match basis as a silver member (I am also a bondholder).
I never thought I would question my own loyalty but Wenger has pissed me off beyond belief and quite frankly, I don't think I want him at the club any longer.

Robsy · Post by **Robsy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:09 am

Robsy wrote:I was p*ssed off at full-time yesterday, but boo-ing the team is just wrong. It doesn't help, all it does is demoralise a team that are obviously low on confidence.

We do not want the team to become scared of playing at home because of our own 'support'.

I understand why people defend the boo-ing, I don't agree, but I understand.

However, I still stand by what I wrote originally, if the boo-ing becomes a habit, the team will begin to hate playing at home.

I think this is what has happened to Ade and part of the reason he's not scoring (how many goals has he scored at home in the league this year, I can only remember 1?!?)

TeeCee, DON'T GIVE UP YOUR TICKET! I know a fair few people who have, over the years, done this and every one of them regret it eventually...especially the fella who gave it up at the end of 94/95 season! Thing's are bad now, but they will change, maybe Wenger will move on sooner than we think, or maybe he'll spend wisely in the summer.

NBM · Post by **NBM** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:39 am

Goal-baggio wrote:the people who booed, and you call yourselves fans? the fans should be behind the team when its bad times. Look at the anfield, everybody is singing there and liverpool do shit right now.

Damn right we f**king do! We come, we part with a sh*tload of money at a time when people's jobs are under threat and are "treated" a load of millionaires strolling around not giving a toss! They then go home to their protected little bubbles full of money while we work our bollocks off all week to afford another half-arsed effort.

What would you rather, something was done about this piss poor mess of a team or we carry on, applauding sh*te performances like a bowl of mindless performing seals???

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And TeeCee, don't surrender your ticket. My old man made a similar mistake in the 90's and had to wait a decade to get it back. Worst mistake he ever made.

kentgooner71 · Post by **kentgooner71** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:28 am

Please can we step away for just a few minutes to look at the bigger picture of the team being booed. Yes I am as frustrated and disappointed with our season as the next person but what does booing OUR OWN PLAYERS achieve. Exactly what we have seen over the past few games, players frightened to make a mistake, players frightened to shoot, players frightened to try the killer preferring to pass the buck. And why because the Arsenal fans will get on their backs as we have done so many times this season. We have become frightened of playing at home and as such I am sure the players prefer away games when the Arsenal fans get behind their team.

Lets all think to our own individual jobs. I know none of us have 60,000 supervisors but if you were constantly put down would this be productive to you producing your best work for the company. You would wake up each morning dreading going into work for fear of someone putting you down and you would soon be looking for a new job. I know professional footballers get paid far too much money but for them to perform to the best of their ability then we have to back them 100%.

Nice_Guy · Post by **Nice_Guy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:44 am

[quote="NBM"]

Damn right we f**king do! We come, we part with a sh*tload of money at a time when people's jobs are under threat and are "treated" a load of millionaires strolling around not giving a toss! They then go home to their protected little bubbles full of money while we work our bollocks off all week to afford another half-arsed effort.

[quote]

I think this is the problem these days, were obsessed with money. Because were not winning people blame the wages. I dont believe for one minute that these guys are out on the pitch & dont care about us. Its an easy excuse.

But dont for one minute think this is just an Arsenal problem. The Pool fans booed when they drew 0-0 with West Ham to go top of the league. The Villa fans were particularly bad yesterday at Full Time as well. The Premier League is not a happy place to be at the moment.

NBM · Post by **NBM** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:59 am

kentgooner71 wrote:Please can we step away for just a few minutes to look at the bigger picture of the team being booed. Yes I am as frustrated and disappointed with our season as the next person but what does booing OUR OWN PLAYERS achieve. Exactly what we have seen over the past few games, players frightened to make a mistake, players frightened to shoot, players frightened to try the killer preferring to pass the buck. And why because the Arsenal fans will get on their backs as we have done so many times this season. We have become frightened of playing at home and as such I am sure the players prefer away games when the Arsenal fans get behind their team.

Lets all think to our own individual jobs. I know none of us have 60,000 supervisors but if you were constantly put down would this be productive to you producing your best work for the company. You would wake up each morning dreading going into work for fear of someone putting you down and you would soon be looking for a new job. I know professional footballers get paid far too much money but for them to perform to the best of their ability then we have to back them 100%.

Frightened of chasing their man down? Frightened of running? Frightened to break sweat? I agree with you that it has no benefit (the booing that is), especially on the players, but even if you're afraid of putting a foot wrong you still bust a gut to win the ball. We didn't see that Saturday.

Nice_Guy: Sadly its a symptom of the times. The current economic climate has made people re-evaluate their priorities, which many of us still see as being The Arsenal thankfully. But that just makes the half-arsed dirge even more painful to watch.

Jumpers For Goalposts · Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:26 am

My article in next weekends Gooner magazine covers this topic.

Watching Arsenal at the moment is as frustrating as I can remember in my 29 years of Highbury & the Ryanair Stadium or whatever it's called.

I can remember only too clearly the shite football in the mid 80s (0-0 draws against Luton & Oxford) and the fag-end of George Graham's reign but what's happening now is probably worse.

Why? Because we're paying stupid money for our tickets, the players are being paid ridiculous salaries, they don't seem to care as they know they can just move on to a new club (how many end of season supporters' drinks are Hleb and Flamini going to come back for????), Moan Utd are leaving us for dust AND the manager's public comments seem to indicate that he thinks we're doing just fine.

I haven't booed this season but I totally understand the fans that do. We're going to hear a lot more of it before Stoke visit on May 24.