Oi! stumpy I thought you said you could actually play guitar!DB10GOONER wrote:OneBardGooner wrote:Mon Deiu !!!
Got shyte faced on Brains Black and Tequila last night - and had some good banter and chat with 2 other football fans, one a Toffee, the other an Aston Villa fan and we were talking about the changes in Football over the last 20 years or so, and we got onto the changes within our own clubs and to football itself recently...and from those conversations and arguments) btw: One thought Wenger should go, the other thought he should stay !
I had a few (Tequila influenced) thoughts...
When we signed Ozil at the thirteenth hour last season - I was "flabberghasted" - as I had already resigned myself to the situation with my team and club being managed (and controlled at all levels) by a manager who was not going to sign anyone of note because it didn't fit in with his doctrine.
When that signing happened - i actually thought 'wenger has woken up' - he has seen the error of his ways and things are going to change and improve for the better.
Then as the season wore on and the leaks of his being made to sign Ozil started to filter out, I realised nothing had or would change as long as he (AND the present Owner/CEO/Board/Structure is in charge. But I think Wenger needs to go, so when the Owner and Board get a manager who demands to spend, then that can filter upwards instead of their shyte always filtering down onto us.
So like most peeps I come on this thread already knowing we are not going to sign the players that are needed if we are to realistically challenge for the Prem and/or Cl Cup. And we mostly have a laugh etc, so why is it I still 'hope' (beyond hope) that we might actually sign someone of note a "World Class Striker"?
But there is something I no longer have ANY hope for, because I know with 100% of my being that The Arsenal I knew as a child , through my teens and onwards IS GONE.... and will NEVER be the same again - Okay, that's part of how it goes in all sphere's of life as it unfolds - things, politics, people, friends, families, cultures etc all change, but I have seen The Arsenal become "The Personal Chess Set" of a man who having worked miracles on his arrival - seems to have allowed those initial successes to go to his head (his ego is now out of control) and having positioned himself in an untouchable position within the club, has allowed him to be part of something that has changed the club's - Character and Soul - with the changes in the boardroom, the arrival of an American Owner - who was at first vilified and was described as being '(that sort) "Not being welcome at our club" - who being involved purely for financial game, (at least Abramovich is a football fan) - was given the thumb's up by Wenger - because he was first and foremost for profit even at the cost of winning trophies.
Yes, all Top Football Club's Need Money, But, the best and most efficient way to achieve Profit is to be successful - Success brings, trophies, reputation, the best players, more trophies, more profit, a bigger share of all the other profit related marketing brands and strategies and so on and so on
Which is why I honestly believe that having now achieved the move from a limited (though dearly missed) Highbury to a new Ground, the club have now made those initial financial measures and constraints put in place to see the change of ground succeed, the 'rule of thumb' even though there is no longer any need for such stringent financial measures.
The way the club is now being run has also meant that THE Arsenal is gradually becoming just another club in the sense of it being a brand name in football/sport and is that distinction it once had and for want of a better term I think it is 'Losing its "Class" ', and that is something I cannot forgive.
The Beautiful Game - in the truest sense of the word - no longer exists - not just because of the Money Making machine it has now become, which in turn, turns players heads, beliefs, morals, which has exacerbated and perpetuated the cheating and diving, dis-respect for officials, the fans, the club. Players kissing the badge one week and selling their souls and shirts for more money the next, all of which contributes to Football becoming just another sport, and how those Football Clubs once renowned for being a Class above the others, being perceived as noting more than a Business within a Sport, and so with it their "Class".
And whilst all clubs with any sense of history and tradition face a real battle to maintain their identity (not corporate) and those roots that gave them that sense of distinction - (Class), because of the New World Order, which governs (strangles) the world by Money and Financial Profit. I (sadly) see the "Class" that was a by-word of Arsenal (The Arsenal) - being gradually tarnished and so slipping away.
I don't know about any of you Gooners, but right from when I first realised I 'Loved Arsenal', when I understood we weren't (just) Arsenal, but THE Arsenal, I automatically thought of us as being a "Class" act. When I thought of Arsenal I thought of "Class".
I say this because I think part a contributing factor to how our "Class" feels less like it once did, is also to do with all the in fighting between Arsenal fans - yes, there will always be differences of opinion on players, formations, etc etc, but I have never ever known the polarisation between fans ( so called AKB's and WOB's) be so extreme - to the point of fighting amongst our own kind - even amongst those caught in the middle, who because of their love and devotion to their club, feel somewhat lost and overwhelmed.
I recently had a conversation with a friend of my older brother - they used to go to Highbury together through the 60's, 70's and 80's. And he said 'It always used to feel like "family" - if he ever bother going these days (when he can afford it) he said 'I almost feel like I cannot say what i really feel because the person next to me might start a fight or report me to a steward' - also 'the players love the money and fame first, more than the game itself'.
(Edit)
* *Class = showing stylish excellence, being of a particular kind that is anything but ordinary
Fucking hell, why is it those taller than me (that's everyone in the world) write alot! I got as far as "I had a few (Tequila influenced) thoughts..." and then I just went and had a poo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs8F7vt6NAw
I meant Wenger OUT! 
of the highest order. Basically the only way Wenger or indeed his eventual successor will achieve success is if there is more ambition shown at board level. Currently there is none. 4th place is the height of ambition and has been since we moved to the Emirates.
...... 
