Saturday 30 April 2016

My One Man Protest At Today’s Match Versus Norwich

So it appears the fans will try for the umpteenth time to protest at today’s match. Going by all the information floating around social media, it looks like 3 of the better known Arsenal fan associations are behind today’s protest.

Effectively, the discontent that started at the Everton away match when some fame seeking overweight twerp displayed that banner, has now gone mainstream.

Fans are divided with some believing the protest must go on during the match while some believe that any protest should be after the match so as not to distract the players.

I am all for ensuring that nothing we fans do distract the players. I am a firm believer in the 12th man and I am convinced that fans can help influence the performance of players. Football is big on motivation and confidence and if fans can offer their players these two things, it can help the production of dopamine. There is a science to that, in case science is your thing. You can see that here

Apart from not distracting the players, I disagree with the protest though as it is pointless. The overall aim of the protest is that “something must change”. The organizers have not specified what should change exactly.   They just want something to change. That change can be:

Kroenke leaving. Hopefully he doesn’t take his ball (the club) with him

The Board leaving / self sacking themselves I guess

Kroenke firing Gazidis

Wenger leaving / presumably with Gazidis sacking him

The club appointing people with football experience into executive positions

Quite how we want to achieve the Kroenke sack is beyond me. He & Usmanov own the club, lock, stock and barrel. They stomped up the money to buy the club and now appear to be united on the general direction of the club. Yes you the fans have supported the club for a 1000 years. Thank you. Someone else now owns it. I suspect fans can stump up the money and make him an offer he cant refuse but no.

Rather than start to organize around buying out Kroenke that veritable offspring of Satan, the source of all that is bad in the world. No. We  (grown middle aged men) will rather carry two - bit placards like Aston Villa fans and ask a very astute businessman to walk away from his investment. Good luck with that.

A lot of the vocal fans who believe that Arsenal FC is not managed properly have yet to highlight the model of a club they want Arsenal to emulate. Manchester United with their money tree and trophy winning model currently hoping to win the 4th place trophy and that irrelevant FA Cup that Arsenal won two years in a row? Chelsea that swash buckling club with one manager every week and their relegation flirtations or Manchester City who are richer than Croesus and will be willing to buy Theo Walcott for £100m seeing as Theo is at least twice as good as Raheem Sterling.  Or maybe its Spuds with their coach who is miles better than Wenger. He has been a manager for the last 7 years and has yet to win a trophy. Faced with the best attempt to win the league in a lifetime and a trophy, he’s fluffed it.

No. But we are fans. We know better. Something must change. I wonder if it is the fan base that needs to change.

The protest is knee deep in listening to idiotic messages on all forms of media. Fans feeding on the bullshit lines about the club. Fans who don’t stop to think through the messages they are receiving, the motives behind those messages and what can really be achieved. The protest to change anything is a call for anarchy and it is misguided.   

Personally, I will be undertaking my own protest today. It is a protest to affirm my support of the club, its manager and its players.

I make bold to say if Arsenal had a season like Tottenham some wont be happy still. There were many who even wanted Arsene to leave if he had won the league this season. Clearly this goes beyond the issue of winning the league and competitiveness.


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