As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
rolypoly wrote:thats something i forgot to mention in previous post.
an all embracing red action would be fighting for real ale bar to be installed at the ground. not rocket science to get few barrels in to start with and see how is demand.
its getting more difficult to find good real ale pub near ground. i reckon me and my fellow old farts would give it a go so long as not ridiculous price so what could club lose.
such an obvious idea for red action to propose but as full of lager louts whose brains have been befuddled by the chemicals they imbibe no member has given it a thought.
Roly if you like a nice real ale why dont you try the wetherspoons on Holoway Rd i think its called the Coronet, they do a fine selection of real ales and all at a very resonable price for you OAPs! They also do a third measure glass as a try before you bye so you can try 3 different beers at a very good price!!
rolypoly wrote:thats something i forgot to mention in previous post.
an all embracing red action would be fighting for real ale bar to be installed at the ground. not rocket science to get few barrels in to start with and see how is demand.
its getting more difficult to find good real ale pub near ground. i reckon me and my fellow old farts would give it a go so long as not ridiculous price so what could club lose.
such an obvious idea for red action to propose but as full of lager louts whose brains have been befuddled by the chemicals they imbibe no member has given it a thought.
Roly if you like a nice real ale why dont you try the wetherspoons on Holoway Rd i think its called the Coronet, they do a fine selection of real ales and all at a very resonable price for you OAPs! They also do a third measure glass as a try before you bye so you can try 3 different beers at a very good price!!
I think roly said that he was barred from that one.
rolypoly wrote:thats something i forgot to mention in previous post.
an all embracing red action would be fighting for real ale bar to be installed at the ground. not rocket science to get few barrels in to start with and see how is demand.
its getting more difficult to find good real ale pub near ground. i reckon me and my fellow old farts would give it a go so long as not ridiculous price so what could club lose.
such an obvious idea for red action to propose but as full of lager louts whose brains have been befuddled by the chemicals they imbibe no member has given it a thought.
Roly if you like a nice real ale why dont you try the wetherspoons on Holoway Rd i think its called the Coronet, they do a fine selection of real ales and all at a very resonable price for you OAPs! They also do a third measure glass as a try before you bye so you can try 3 different beers at a very good price!!
I think roly said that he was barred from that one.
Nos89 wrote:I would say the 15ft high image outside on the side of the stadium is tribute enough for Vieira. If you're gonna do a banner can't you do a picture of Vieira changing to a picture of Cesc over4/5 images like they do in the tabloids? A nod to the past but recognising the present.
rigsby wrote:I think we do need more banners around the ground, if we did then the Vieira one would be a welcome addition no matter what game, but being as we're not allowed to have many it'll stand out too much. Thats my only problem with it
afchackney wrote:weve been at the concrete bowl for how many years??
red action are tryin fair dos to them
but what have they acheived
there the only ones with a 'voice' who the club listen to and what do we get
laughable united nation flags
still have to put up with wonder of you
sombreros
'arssssssssenal fc were by far the greatest team' every ten seconds
atmosphere is worse than ever (unless ur in that one block)
but the rocket is open for pre match drinks
im sure they aint all dickheads but majority come across that way
at least it looks like there will soon be an alternative
The wonder of you will eventually go we believe. However the club do get as many 'pro' comments as they do 'anti' about it.
Funny enough that one block is where the majority of REdaction sit / stand, and if it hadn't have been for us pushing for it the club would never have even have thought to have such a section, so maybe we achieved something there?
All you rother points have been answered before but I take them all and will pass them on (still not sure why the flag is so bad however?)
MM99 wrote:alan, do you not realise that people are reluctant to join redaction because of its reputation? more often than not you lot come across as a group of numpties, trying to do the right things but always getting it horrbily wrong (flag idea). clean up redactions act and you might find more arsenal fans willing to join up and contribute.
I take your point but I think 'always' is a bit strong. I think some peoples characterisation of REDaction as 'numpties' is based on ignorance as well.
Without exception within REDaction I can assure you that the guys and girls who do try and organise things definitely have their hearts in the right places. Whatever we do we are always going to come up against someone who doesn't like the idea. I always remember one bloke coming up to me on the day we organised the tribute to Dennis Bergkamp and being told that we were out of order as he didn't deserve it!
My own thought pattern for what its worth if I was on the outside looking in at REDaction would be at least they try but they need help to take things forward in a correct manner so why not get involved and show them the error of their ways.
Just out of interest as i don't want to assume anything what is exactly your problem with the flag?
I just dont think redaction accepts criticism of its ideas, and criticism for its own sake should be accepted by yourselves, seeing as any ideas implemted may affect us.
I don't suppose most people like criticism, especially when they are trying their best. However I accept your point and if you have any ideas etc let me / us know, victory through harmony etc
Percy Dalton wrote:I know Alan and I ahve had our fall outs about RedAction but I think quibbling about a flag and a scarf is a bit meaningless.
The flag is better than no flag and the scarves were a gimmick.
My issues with RedAction are to do with what I feel are more important issues.
I do not have a problem with the march, although I would never be involved, but I do have a problem with how late this sees our apparently noisiest fans enter the ground. To be honest I have stopped noticing but has there been any change in this Alan?
Also, I have long said if you want to do something about atmosphere then instead of creating this in a student bar a mile down the road why not speak to the club about staging the meet inside the ground? The beer prices in The Rocket are not that cheap and anyone inside the club with any commercial nous must see there is a deal to be done here.
By all means use The Rocket after the match and for your parties etc but why use it before hand? All truly great atmospheres start well before kick off but ours start when certain individuals turn up, right on kick off or after.
The Rocket to me is a distinct distraction from what RedAction aim to acheive. To trumpet the cause of trying to raise the roof in the ground while you spend the minimum time in it possible is both contradictory and counterproductive.
The old RedAction, before they became cosy bedfellows wioth the club, used to make a lot of noise inside the ground before the game. Why no longer? This was one of the core values of the organisation and the loss of this why I doubt the true meaning of todays band.
It has long seemed to me that a slightly cheaper pint in The Rocket is of a higher priority than making a significant change. RedAction has the perfect opportunity to remind the club that the average supporter isn't a club level member with a frequent user card for buying tat in The Armoury. The Average Joe's amongst us who like a few beers before the game can now no longer have a few cans near the ground and when we go into a pub we are forced to stand behind some weird red and white barrier if we wish to stand outside.
Making the ground a more welcoming place to drink and using this to create an atmosphere should be the main caause of RedAction but all the time their biggest marketing tool is The Rocket this will never happen.
In all honesty no change with time of arrival. We have tried again this season to get things going as far as leaving earlier but it just seems most want to stay in the bar. One thing that has been put forward was to try and get a general call out re getting in early for the Porto game. Therefore not just making it a 'Rocket' thing and hopefully get other people involved such as yourself who would not either drink in the Rocket or join in the march etc, what do you think, might it work.
We have spoken to the caterers on untold occasions and they have even approached us and asked us why people don't get in the ground earlier. We have said its not rocket science what you need is cheap prices and fast service, but it just seems to completely pass them by. We will keep pressing the point however and lets hope they see sense.
Totally agree about inside the ground and really hope that one day we will be in that position.
Well it is the same group so no change there and we have asked for the opportunity to do at least an equivalent of the old North Bank Knees Up we used to have, but again we get blocked by Stadium Management and health and safety etc. I know that sounds a bit of a cop out but it is the truth.
Point taken with regard to inside the ground and let me assure we are trying.
augie wrote:In principle I totally support the idea od redaction but being honest the principal and the practice seems miles apart to me.
Maybe I am a militant guy by nature but it seems to me that the really core issues that redaction should be fighting the club on are forgotten about as they negotiate on, shall we say cosier topics. Over the last few years we have seen a blanket ban on banners, to a ban on any banner that has a national flag on it to all of a sudden having a united nation of Arsenal banner which has several national flags on it It is not that I was against this banner per se (though it does give ammunition to the dickheads from other clubs who slate us for not having enough/any english players) but it does seem hypocritical of the club.
You rightly say that the ban on standing is a political issue but this is an issue that the clubs should be taking up as they certainly would have more clout than a few fans here and there. Germany is a fine example of how standing area's can be a success at football grounds and if we are serious about improving the atmosphere inside the grove then it is a fight that both the club and the fans should fight together.
I have to say that I lost a huge amount of respect for your organisation the day they marched to show their support for wenger and the club last season. The current policy employed by wenger and the club is clearly not working and the shareholders were perfectly right to challenge the people concerned at the agm if they felt it wasnt working and lets be honest here it is a view that is shared by a majority (as in over 50%). However your group organised a march to show that the fans were totally behind wenger(redactions words not mine) and I felt annoyed and angry that the one group who could really relay the depth of frustration amongst the fans sold us out for a typically pc response That day convinced me that cosying up with the club was more important to redaction than fighting any real causes amongst the fans
Finally can I just say that your suggestion that people who are unhappy with the work your group does should therefore get involved themselves does appear a bit lame. Surely the people involved get enough feedback and suggestions from genuine fans to b able to say that this suggestion or that suggestion is a good idea and should be persued rather than need the person who made the suggestion to get involved themselves ?
Anyway as I said already I support the principle of your group but they do need to get more agressive if they genuinely want to represent the fans. I respect you for coming on here and both keeping fans in the loop and arguing your point and I do feel that any personal abuse to you is unwarranted
The original idea of the United Nations flag was to show up the National Flag ban for the petty restriction it was. We thought that if we got one made with every nations flag on it then how could they ban any individual flags. Unfortunately events overtook us in that the new chief exec when we are asked to meet him was of totally the same opinion of us that the ban was stupid and then withdrew the ban just as the flag was being delivered!
I am not sure that many Arsenal supporters are that worried by the lack of Englsh in the squad. I personally don't care if the player comes from Mars as long as he tries his best for the Arsenal. We have always had a hugely multi cultural support base and the flag was also meant to revel in that fact and stuff right back up all the lttle englanders out there. I'm obviously not aware of your 'background' as far as your support is concerned, but if you are of a 'certain' age then you will know that some of us who followed the club up and down the country stood with brothers of all colours and creeds against many groups of racist morons.
Totally agree we should stand and fight together withg regard to the standing issue. We always bring it up at meetings. I even brought it up in a meeting with the Minister of Sport last year. However the 'powers that be' just don't get it and do not have the political courage to make the move.
The idea of the march was to support wenger not particularly the status quo. Our opinion is generally the same as the ASTs in that we do not want to see any one person taking over we believe in plurality of ownership and custodianship. We do however feel that the board have not supported wenger effectively. Yes the majority of us do support wenger and think he is the greatest manager the club has ever had. I would dispute your comment that the 'majority' think he has failed. He still has some credit lef tin the bank as far as we are concerned.
The simple answer to the assertation about feedback is no we do not get enough. Most of the ideas people seem to moan about on here seem to get mainly only positive responses to us.
Thanks for the final paragraph and maybe we do nee dto be a bit more aggressive and to that end we are going to shake the group up a bit in the summer with a few changes. I agree a few things said have been a bit personal but there you go I can't be everyones favourite person
Boomer wrote:The Club can't really argue this point.
Many Away fans throughout the season stand for the entire length of a game. This is the same for most away fans at grounds including ours that travel away.
I, myself despite attending most games (missed the odd few) have now not sat at the grove for well over a year. I'm in block 5 and I'm not at the back either around midway down.
The club know this so they can't argue about safety but will only harp on about the legality side.
It's a good point that RA should be drumming into the club to be proactive and help the situation and lobby whoever.
The club should be reminded that we're not asking for the reintroduction of terraces again but 'safe standing area' To be honest standing at my seat with a seat infront will not, as the club say "cause a domino effect" and that includes raucous celebrations.
Maybe the club don't understand what we're asking. It probably won't even effect the current attendance. As the seats would still be needed in the CL games.
Totally agree but it needs more than just the few of us lobbying. We have to show there is a strong majority in favour
rolypoly wrote:i had the misfortune to go to the rocket once recently and sadly it lived up to my extremely low expectations. a soulless dump selling crap mass produced chemical filled gassy lager with not a sign of real ale on draft. this in turn supported my belief that red action aint about representing all types of supporters because plainly it aint interested in old farts like myself going to the rocket.
so i cant help thinking are red action members made up of the type of ignorant morons that go to the likes of prague and spend all day at the george and dragon drinking the same crappy shit chemical filled lager which they drink at therocket when they could be induging in fantastic local beer in fantastic local boozers. accept i could be wrong but that is the impression red action portrays.
and then i hear about stupid marches and sitting down on the road - how moronic is that
and now i read about a ridiculous idea about a banner for vieira - a player however great he was caused mass disruption at least three summers running as to whether he would stick or twist. worthy of a good reception but nothing more. in those summers he was totally selfish thinking of himself only and making it impossible to plan properly for following seasons
which leads me on to redaction singing songs about vieira bergie etc even now. hardly a ring of endorsement or encouragement for our current crop of diddymen -frail in body and in temperament.
so red action -have no doubt well intended - but give impression of not being run by the brightest of sparks, out of touch with views of average gooner - average gooner does not go to the rocket - and certainly not all embracing
Well firstly I consider myself an old fart and like a bit of real ale myself. However you will know that real ale needs a lot of tlc and the rocket during the week is a student union bar and I doubt whether many of them are to keen on the finer things in life like a good pint of crouch vale for instance. Therefore its unlikely they are going to get a barrell in anytime soon, but I might just ask.
I caqn assure you we were not in the George and Dragon and we were quite happily sampling the locals brews in various hostelries in Prague.
I do go on the march its quite a laugh but I don't like the sit down bit so i don't do it. its known as freedom of choice.
We have a song for every memeber of the current squad they might not all get sung all the time but we do try and come up with them. I also seem to remember singing about a certain Liam brady long after he left, and still do after a few light ales
Maybe I'm not the brightest spark, but then again you don't me or indeed us so maybe your view is not based on fact. If we don't represent the view of the 'average' fan then maybe we are being told the wrong things by unaverage fans. If you are mr average then we need you
Alan can I just clarify a few of my earlier points -
1. I too could not give a flying fcuk where our players come from as long as they are good enough (a different discussion for another day ) but being an Irishman it might be easier for me to say that. There are football fans over here that give me stick about us not having enough english players in our team (to which I always remind them that they are Irish so what the fcuk do they care ) so I can only imagine how much grief fans over there get from the more "patriotic" english fans
2. The point I made re wenger is that this project has failed not that wenger himself has failed. I am 100% convinced that the majority of fans also share that viewpoint regardless of his past acheivements. On the other issue I personally think this current board are a shower of self serving arseholes who are absolute hypocrites - in it for the long haul but yet selling shares left right and centre plus they oppose single ownership of the club whilst basically operating like like puppets on strings which are controlled completely by fizsman This egotistical prick is using our club to settle scores against former board members at will and personally I wish the *word censored* would crawl back to geneva under his little rock and leave our club for good
augie wrote:Alan can I just clarify a few of my earlier points -
1. I too could not give a flying fcuk where our players come from as long as they are good enough (a different discussion for another day ) but being an Irishman it might be easier for me to say that. There are football fans over here that give me stick about us not having enough english players in our team (to which I always remind them that they are Irish so what the fcuk do they care ) so I can only imagine how much grief fans over there get from the more "patriotic" english fans
2. The point I made re wenger is that this project has failed not that wenger himself has failed. I am 100% convinced that the majority of fans also share that viewpoint regardless of his past acheivements. On the other issue I personally think this current board are a shower of self serving arseholes who are absolute hypocrites - in it for the long haul but yet selling shares left right and centre plus they oppose single ownership of the club whilst basically operating like like puppets on strings which are controlled completely by fizsman This egotistical prick is using our club to settle scores against former board members at will and personally I wish the c**t would crawl back to geneva under his little rock and leave our club for good
It is not that I was against this banner per se (though it does give ammunition to the dickheads from other clubs who slate us for not having enough/any english players) but it does seem hypocritical of the club.
That day convinced me that cosying up with the club was more important to redaction than fighting any real causes amongst the fans
) but being an Irishman it might be easier for me to say that. There are football fans over here that give me stick about us not having enough english players in our team (to which I always remind them that they are Irish so what the fcuk do they care 
