JCB wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 8:01 pm
I thought I was ready to come in from the cold: back into Arsenal, back into football, to join in on office conversations on football and start to feel the passion again. However, if Arteta is the chosen one, I think we're looking at another couple of dark, meandering, meaningless years.
I'm in a similar position, but tbh I just don't have the energy to protest and take a stand now that the Wenger situation has finally ended. It was a highly stressful situation that took a lot out of the fanbase (to say the least), so it's bewildering when I heard people say, "He's gone now, let's move on", the day after his final game. Did Fritzl's daughters just up and leave the basement and toddle off down the street for a cup of tea as if nothing had ever happened too?
I'm sure I'm in the minority with the following, but I honestly don't care if we finish 14th (or whatever) next season. Aside from not competing, one of the most deflating things about Wenger's reign of terror was the predictability and 'com-fort-ability' of it all. You could look at the fixture list every single June and pretty much predict the outcome of all 38 games there on the spot. Win at home to Burnley. Lose at Liverpool. Beat West Ham. Lose at Chelsea. Et cetera, etc. It was so tedious, especially when beating enough of the weaker teams was somehow deemed a success in its own right. Arteta's completely out of left-field, and certainly not an appointment I'd endorse, but at least there's an element of unpredictability. I like not knowing exactly how the season is going to play out.
Also, don't forget the 90s - one of my favourite decades in our history - was full of ups and downs. One minute we're champions and nearly undefeated, the next we're 10th. Then we're winning the ECWC, and flirting with the drop zone the following year. Then Rioch comes in for a cup of coffee. Bergkamp played in the same team as Glenn fucking Helder. Next thing you know, we've won the double. It's all this crazy shit that I want as a fan - not just treading water and having the same 'groundhog day' season over and over. Yes, Arteta probably will flop, but at least it's something different. And having waited 11 years for this, I simply don't have the strength to start from scratch with a brand new protest against a manager who hasn't been appointed yet.