Written by Squid Boy on Monday, 15 August 2011 15:49

So...interesting weekend, eh? Not going to rake through the ashes of the game itself as Mean Lean has already done that here.

Instead of focusing on the on-pitch matters such as how our back-four held firm; how Szczesny commanded set-pieces; how Song was solid yet his alter ego Songinho is a nutter; how Rosicky was good but we still lacked in creativity; and how Gervinho is an unfortunate but silly boy, I’m going to focus on the chant that echoed around the away section on Saturday evening.

“SPEND SOME F*CKING MONEY”

Isn’t it sad when we Gooners now speak of “that chant”, we no longer know whether we are referring to the horrible one directed at Arsene from cretinous Mancs or Spuds, or the one levelled at him for his transfer market habits from our own fans?

I’m not getting all high and mighty here and saying the chant should not be aired at all. Nor I am in any way insinuating that any Gooner who does chant it is approaching anywhere near the level of a Manc or Spud (that is against nature anyway, for they are the lowest of the low).

But in my opinion, there is a time and a place.

Fulham away, last game of the season and a virtual dead rubber after we couldn’t even finish third in a two-hour race? Understandable, acceptable, and fair – especially after a 6.5% rise in the season ticket price combined with the mother of all collapses. There was little riding on that game for the players as Man City had pretty much sown 4th place up, so it was the perfect stage for the fans to vent. Indeed, the legend that it is Tim Stillman (he of VitalArsenal and Arseblog fame; find him here - informs me that 80% of Gooners in the stands that day were singing it, and the other 20% weren’t exactly muttering their disgust at the chant.

Newcastle away, first game of a new season, injury time, down to ten-men with our backs to the wall and defending to hold on to a precious point. The players need us to be behind them at that time, they do not need to hear vitriol directed at the higher-ups and certainly do not need to hear how we are crowing for replacements for some of them. Can you imagine the mutiny if that chant had affected Koscielny, for example, with all the speculation surrounding a potential new centre-back? A moment’s distraction and BANG! Newcastle grab a cruel late winner. Horrible thought, isn’t it? Yet the very fans singing that song may well have contributed to our own downfall. I’m not saying there’s a guaranteed definite link; I’m saying it could have played a part had it gone pear-shaped. Thankfully the chants were not as widespread as Fulham last year, with the aforementioned Mr Stillman telling me that some 50% of fans sung it, with 30% frowning at the (timing of the) chant.

Even the recent Emirates Cup, where we gave away two leads in two matches, saw boos at the end of the second game. Had more “regular” fans been present on that day, I would wager that the chant may have broken out again.

I’m certainly not saying that there is no basis for the chants and boos. Far from it. While I didn’t particularly enjoy the angry cacophony that day at the Emirates Cup, I understood and even defended the rationale behind them. They weren’t directed at our inability to win our “own” trophy. They were directed at the lack of evidence that we had improved, that we had not learnt from our previous failings, and that there was fear these failings would persist into the new season.

There have been many people I respect who actively defended that chant on Saturday, including my kindred spirit and fellow panicker and all-round good guy Tim Clark of www.arse2mouse on the premise that there’s no other forum for such a chant to occur and the message to be rammed home to Arsene and the board. Yet even he agrees that such a chant should be reserved for after the full-time whistle.

To be quite honest, I think the chants throughout a virtual non-event like Fulham away last season may have been called for and could even have had a stirring effect; a timely reminder that the faithful was sick and tired of paying the highest prices in the WORLD but seeing no evidence of improvement. Even during fallow periods in Saturday’s match I can see a reason for them as fans get frustrated at our inability to break down an average Newcastle side. These fans spend a bucketload on tickets and travel and have EVERY right to voice their opinion. I didn’t like it, the timing was not great, but I understood it.

But during the dying embers of the game? When our team has already been handicapped due to somewhat unfair refereeing and need us to support their travails on the pitch against a pumped up Newcastle side and crowd? No, just no.

So here is my impassioned plea to those going tomorrow. The Champions League qualifiers are the biggest games of our season. They will shape the morale around the Club – in the dressing room, boardroom and stands. They will even shape our transfer kitty and ability to attract players. I’m not going to go all accountancy on you, and we may have a cash windfall from selling wantaway players, but mark my words – if we crash out then: 1) the Champions League television revenues that we include in our budget will disappear and money from the transfer pot may have to fill this gap; and 2) what’s to say a Mata or Jagielka or Cahill wouldn’t rather see out another season with their current clubs if the Champions League carrot at Arsenal is no longer on offer?

Tomorrow night it is on our patch. Our chance to get behind the boys and roar them on to, hopefully, a comfortable win and clean sheet to take to Italy for the second-leg. And if we aren’t going to roar them on (as is often our wont at The Emirates) then at least please do not resort to mindless booing and chanting DURING the game. It will not be beneficial because it detracts from supporting those on the pitch, and any new signings will not be able to help us qualify in any case. For these two qualifying games the existing squad is all we have, and if we want it to match or exceed the sum of its parts then it needs our support.

If things do go awry, I envisage ugly scenes and sounds in the stands. But at least save them for after the final whistle.

In the wake of the sale of certain players, our team needs us more than ever for 90 minutes tomorrow night. Let’s not let them down. Let’s make them proud and in turn give them the best chance to make us proud.

Twitter: Squid Boy

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Comments (22)

• 15-Aug-2011 15:58 | | MeanLean
  

  Very well said SB. I echo your sentiments totally.
  
  We are all so wrapped up in ourselves that we forget the reason for supporting a team in the first place.
  
  How on earth is the team supposed to get over the final hurdle if our own supporters are on the backs of the players?

• 15-Aug-2011 16:14 | | BnT  - What will be will be
  

  A lot of people posting things like this now however it wont make a bit of difference, the cats out the bag.

• 15-Aug-2011 16:18 | | stephen haggett  - s haggett
  

  can some one tell me if nasri is band from playing for arsenal tomorrow .will that count as plying for arsenal and as so can stop him from plying for anther team in the champions league . and if not why not.

• 15-Aug-2011 16:23 | | Mr K
  

  I completely understand your views and you've aired your thoughts in a concise and reasoned manner. I am not a season ticket holder but I attend between 10-15 games through my red memberhip and will provide my opinion from the games that I have been to.
  
  Although I would never boo my team, I can relate to those who chose to do so against Newcastle on the opening game. You're saying that these players need our support and this is undoubtedly true but how else do Wenger and the board hear exactly how most fans feel? We pay for the most expensive ticket prices in the whole of the UK (maybe world?!) and we're given a mediocre>good team in return. We've spent 4-5 years hearing complete and utter drizzle from Wenger saying that this team is close etc when in truth, EVERYBODY can see that we lack the mental and physical side of a winning formula. He continues to confuse us by saying one thing at the beginning of the summer and then going back on his word later throughout the year because we "couldn't find the quality for the price that we wanted".
  
  He needs to wake up and understand that football has changed over the last 5 years and he is not going to dominate by signing little gems that can become World beaters. Especially when the likes of United, Chelsea and Manchester City are spending such large sums of money to acquire the world's best players. I am not even asking for £30million+ signings, I just want some steel and experience to compliment our obvious ability on the ball. These same feelings that have built up over the last 4-5 years have to come out some way or another and the greatest opportunity will ALWAYS be on the terraces.

• 15-Aug-2011 16:41 | | Man United Killa  - bottom line
  

  By all means we will support our team but still .."SPEND SOME F*****G MONEY"..

• 15-Aug-2011 16:56 | | Tim
  

  I agree with everything you said insofar as that the team will do better if the atmosphere is supportive rather than poisonous.
  
  That being said, if we're being honest, this team is going to do f*ck all whether it's well supported or not. Let's be serious here, this is the same team as last season minus its two best midfielders. Yes, WS13 will probably save us a few points over the course of an entire season that Almunia blew and sure, Gervinho looks to be a nice player but these two additions come nowhere even close to making up for the losses of Cesc and Nasri, especially when you consider our rivals have added or will be adding players like Nasri, Aguero, Ashley Young and Neymar, just to name a few.
  
  I'd also point out that while, yes, I'm in agreement with you that the matches at the end of last season were a comparitively good forum to vent frustrations, it would seem to have not had the desired effect, as the board and the manager have done virtually nothing to put a better product on the pitch this season.
  
  And to add to that, it is completely flabergasting (or agould I call it Fabregasting?) to me that, after the poisonous atmosphere that surrounded this team towards the end of last season, the board and the manager would allow this season to begin in such turmoil. Whether right or wrong, if Arsenal go a goal down tomorrow and the atmosphere gets poisonous (which it undoubtedly will if it happens) the board and the manager will have no one to blame but themselves. They had to have known this would be the case. One would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not be able to see that there's been a storm brewing and that positive changes were absolutely necessary.
  
  Furthermore, the fact that we're even in this do or die position is again something that is the fault of no one but the board and manager. Anyone could see that we needed another CB last season. Had we gotten one, I believe that we would have at least been able to finish third and not had such an impotant match this early in the season; a match that we are completely unequipped for.
  
  Wenger and the board knew full well that RvP (and Nasri, as if it matters) was suspended. They had to have known full well that Cesc was off. An injury/suspension here and there and this "huge squad" AW keeps referencing is paper thin. Has it escaped him that players get injured? With this team's history it certainly shouldn't have.
  
  Perhaps I'm wrong (I wish I was, although I know I'm not), but the current situation just reeks of a board and especially a manager (who I have backed 100% until last January's transfer window closed) that have completely lost the plot. Here's the way I see it:
  
  We've got four matches in the next two weeks which could not only make or break this team as far as this season is concerned, but as far as the foreseeable future is concerned as well.
  
  Going into tomorrow's vital match, a match in which we must absolutely find a way to score at least once, we will have a starting front 6 that will likely consist of Rosicky, Ramsey, Arshavin, Frimpong, Theo and Chamakh, with literally no impact subs behind them, unless you include Bendtner, who doesn't even seem to really be an Arsenal player anymore. Even with our recent history of never really buying anyone, I simply cannot believe that the club have allowed it to get to this point. I thought that even if they didn't come to that realisation on their own, that the poison that followed the team at the end of last season would have foced them to. Sadly, it hasn't.
  
  As much as it pains me to say it, our once great manager has truly and completely lost the plot. Even if we somehow manage to keep the sky from falling between now and the end of the month, it doesn't change that fact. At a minimum, a defender or two should have been signed and replacements for the wantaways should have already been scooped up. It is absolutely inexcusable that this is not the case.
  
  I will always, of course, support the club, but I can honestly say I've never felt even close to being as melancholy about the club I love as I am now. I'd finish with "sort it out Wenger FFS" but I'm past the point of hoping that he'll do so. The fact that a supporter of the over optimistic variety such as myself has come to feel this way is a testament to where our once great club now is.
  
  Semi-rant over.
  
  Come on Arsenal.

• 15-Aug-2011 17:07 | | g.clarke  - arsenal boo boys
  

  no player wants to join a club where the fans boo their own team the brainless will boo arsenal done the drain

• 15-Aug-2011 17:42 | | Okeke  - Wait?
  

  So are we to wait till the end of the season to do the chant? Hell we the fans have friggin tried and have been supportin the team 4 the past 6 years! only to watch and see the same mistakes made over again! ENOUGH! We have had it! and then the season is startin without any redress and u expect the fans to just support? Please tell where we are gonna do the Chanting cos it sure as hell not gonna be in may!

• 15-Aug-2011 17:59 | | feeno
  

  it will do no good, you've seen the blogs, some of the fans want the failure so the wish of wenger out will become a reality, it will be sung, there will be boos.

• 15-Aug-2011 18:10 | | MeanLean
  

  This is the thing, it is not actually about you. Neither myself. This is about the team. About the players on the pitch regardless of how much you may think Gary Cahill is better than Laurent Koscielny.
  
  Our home support is supposed to encourage the team and give us a better chance of success. Booing the team is a selfish act in my opinion that harms the chances of any success we may have.
  
  I would advise those who are not happy to pass their season ticket onto other people who are willing to get behind the team and not just sit on their hands until they moan and boo.
  
  What is the point in having a home support that counts against us? Pointless.
  
  I am not asking you to be happy about everything about the club. I have my own concerns but showing negativity on match day only cuts off our noses to spite our faces.
  
  I kinda like my nose and would rather just bloody keep it as it is.
  
  Those who are not willing to back the team through difficult times should just stay at home and wait until the good times come back again. Personally that is not what supporting is about but if you pay money then it is your right. It shouldn't be your right t o harm your own clubs chances though.
  
  Rightly or wrongly, those are my views and I stand by them.

• 15-Aug-2011 18:54 | | Dobbi
  

  Yes please can we have a more vocal support for a change against Udinese. Look what it helped achieve against B*rca last season. Even RvP acknowledged it after the game that it was a real tangible factor in the fightback. And its not like its a Mickey Mouse game on Tuesday, our season hangs on a thread... Arsenal forever!!!

• 15-Aug-2011 19:58 | | beck
  

  well said mate.lets get 100 per cent behind em 1st to last always
  great chance tommorow for the many who claim getting tickets for the arsenal is a dark art.
  its on general sale from 35 pound.
  come and sing and shout your lungs out

• 15-Aug-2011 20:48 | | MeanLean
  

  Tim,
  
  Why are you assuming that the team we see will be our finished team? Especially knowing that Wenger has spent late in the transfer window so many times.
  
  Many people are assuming that Wenger will not replace Cesc and Nasri, why? Having all our players now would be helpful but it is not necessary.
  
  The league is 38 games long not 36 or 37. As long as we get what we need before the close of the window then there will be nothing to complain about... Well, ok I am sure people will find reasons.
  
  So many teams haven't finished their business and neither have we.

• 15-Aug-2011 21:15 | | SquidBoy
  

  No. I said wait until the end of the game.

• 15-Aug-2011 21:16 | | SquidBoy
  

  And well said ML, tomorrow night of all nights is about putting the team first.

• 15-Aug-2011 21:24 | | john  - its inevitable if we lose
  

  i understand your principled stand ML, but the fans have not created the mess (imo) that we find ourselves in. I think Tims excellent and objective post above summed everything up perfectly .Tim used to be an over optimistic supporter like yourself, but is now totally disillusioned with Arsene and the boards management. Is one of your concerns that maybe Arsene has brought it on himself if it doesnt go as i hope it does tomorrow night.(or is that a step to far) I am not a fan that wants Arsenal to lose to speed up Arsenes departure ML as i believe the writing is already on the wall . But i do think he has lost the plot as Tim articulated very well. I would settle for a 0-0 tomorrow night

• 15-Aug-2011 22:26 | | Fatso
  

  "Newcastle and Arsenal have been charged by the Football Association with failing to control their players in Saturday's Premier League game."
  
  We should be behind our players no matter what?

• 16-Aug-2011 04:16 | | joe blow me
  

  shit article

• 16-Aug-2011 05:06 | | MrK
  

  Tim's post is SPOT on. What really aggravates me I'd the fact that some fans believe we should get behind the team and show our support. If that support would be the difference come the end of the season and we're lifting trophies then what you're saying would be COMPLETELY justified....but the truth is that it will just help to convince Wenger to continue with a second rate team (who will probably have enough to beat Udinese and turn a few heads with some pretty passing) throughout the whole campaign.
  
  Let's say we do as you're suggesting and the players turn in a fantastic performance. Everybody knows that Wenger will be giving it the told you so and then talking this team up as title challengers. He then chooses to keep the current squad because 'they are top quality' and 'he couldn't find anybody better than what he has'......WHAT CRAP! What kills me is that he takes advantage of our love for the club because he almost has us believing him throughout the early Premiership months that the current crop are good enough. You'll then get the Chelsea and United players warning us that it'll only be them involved in the title race, even though we're 4-5 points clear with a game in hand. All Arsenal fans then start believing the Wenger hype when he doesn't sign anybody to replace the injured RVP come January and that Afobe is like a new signing. I'm not even going to continue with the rest because everyone knows what follows on from February.
  
  If the fans don't make a stand by showing their disapproval of the way the club is currently being ran then we're just going to have another season like the last 6 and I'm not standing for it anymore.

• 16-Aug-2011 06:32 | | ballstothewall  - Support the club or support the team?
  

  If you want the team that appears on the pitch to do their best then don't boo. If you feel you need to make a point about the management (whether Arsene wenger or the Board) then organise to wear a particular coloured scarf or a banner or hit them in the pocket by not buying tickets BUT don't BOO the team that are doing their best (however inadequetely you may personally believe) on the pitch. A coloured scarf or visual representation will show everyone (including the Board) how great the feeling is or really isn't while not placing distractions on our team. Put yourself in the players position. Booing / Negative chants is not productive to performance. A Cheer for their effort is. Cheer the team to better heights or Boo the team to abysmal depths - your individual choice. Try to keep the management issue separate from team performance on the pitch.

• 16-Aug-2011 08:54 | | MrK
  

  I would like them to do their best but we all know that their best isn't good enough! What bloody difference does it make it we cheer for them or boo? At their best they're not good enough. A club like Arsenal needs trophies so I'm not willing to 'cheer' the team on to second place or another semi-final.
  
  Do you honestly think the current crop are capable of bringing a trophy home? If you do then I completely understand your feelings towards those that boo. If you don't then it just sounds to me like you want us to cheer so that we can get closer than we have been in previous years but not actually take anything home. That will just fill us with MORE frustration. We MUST make a stand and let them know it's not acceptable to go into the season with the current personnel.
  
  Also, whoever made the point about wearing different coloured scarves is living in cuckoo land. If you think that wearing a Black scarf will get the club to listen to our frustrations, you're deluded. United fans wore Green and Yellow scarves but still cheered their team on because the problem wasn't related to what they had paid to come and see, it was to do with a bunch of Americans that have plunged their club into debt. Let alone the fact that the Glazers still own Manchester United FC, do you honestly think that will make a difference.
  
  The quicker ALL Arsenal fans start letting the club know that we wont stand for such a mediocre squad, the better. If things continue, you'll find a certain Mr Wilshere handing in a transfer request once he is captaining England but not winning a sinlge domestic trophy. We must act now......

• 18-Aug-2011 18:58 | | Tim
  

  MeanLean,
  
  This reply is a few days late so you may not even read it. Because of that, I'm just going to quickly spew out the first thigns that come to mind...
  
  I assume that we won't do much for the rest of the window because history repeats itself. Look back over the last few seasons and we sign one, and only one impact midfielder each season. That player this year is Gervinho. Will we add one more? Maybe. I'll believe it when I see it. I hope so. Will this player be of the caliber of a Cesc Fabregas? Not a chance. Besides, we need more than one, and it is inexcusable that we do not have them in as of yet.
  
  Wenger himself has said the defense needs strengthening, then did a complete 180 that the squad is huge and we don't need any more defenders. Wenger himself said we can't afford to lose Cesc and Nasri because blah, blah and blah. Next thing you know, they're gone, and we're scrambling for replacements.
  
  I will always love AW for what he did for the first decade he was here, but his f*ck ups over the last few campaigns, and especially this summer, are just too glaring to ignore.
  
  The league may be 38 matches and not 36 or 37, but I don't really see what you're getting at there. Dropped points are dropped points, whether they occur on match day 1 or 38. Look at what Aguero did for City on his debut; that's what true world class talent can do for you. I'm not saying we can or should try to compete financially with City or even come close to it, but a quality player or two would have surely helped us muster more than a handful of shots on target over the course of our first two matches.
  
  Furthermore, I completely disagree with your assertion that "if we get what we need before the transfer window is over there will be nothing to complain about." What about crashing out of the Champions League before it begins; would that be something to complain about? Surely you'd agree that we were extremely lucky to have not conceded against Udinese and that we were outplayed for much of the match. That, to me, is unacceptable, and if we play like that again in Italy, there's a good enough chance that we'll be going out. Then what? That's 35 million quid, or Sergio Aguero's transfer fee, down the drain.
  
  So we'd rather gamble on putting a sh*t team that can barely create a chance out there to try and qualify than take a gamble on signing someone of real quality? That, for me, is where this whole situation is beyond baffling.
  
  A question and one more reply to something you said..
  
  First, I'd be curious as to what it is that you believe "we need before the end of the window." For me, we need a striker and a minimum of two midfielders and two defenders.
  
  Up front, I have no idea what happened to Chamakh after his promising start last year, but he looks like the worst player to ever wear the shirt at the moment. All he does is jog around and fall over as soon as the ball comes near him. What happens when RvP inevitably picks up an injury that costs him half the season?
  
  In the middle, we lost our two most creative and influential players; what more is there to say? I love Jack and Aaron, but they're not enough. Not nearly enough, at least not yet.
  
  In the back, we're two matches into the season and Squillaci is already on the fringes of the first team again; simply not good enough.
  
  We are one of the most profitable clubs in the world and we as supporters pay more than any other to see our team play. The bottom line is that we deserve more ambition from our club. Much more. We've become a punchline in world football. As was said last night during the broadcast of the Barca match, "during the last 6 years at Arsenal, Cesc couldn't win a wooden spoon and now he's been at Barca for 10 minutes and he's lifting a trophy." Yes, the unearned money of the Chelseas and Citys of the world have played a part, but a 10 mil signing here and a 10 mil signing there and we would've lifted a few trophies over the last few years. The clubs with unearned money excuse only goes so far.
  
  Lastly, you say that a lot of other clubs "still haven't finished their business" as if that is some sort of consolation. 1. All that means is that these other clubs, who are already stronger than us, are going to get stronger. 2. All of these clubs, while still looking to add, are good to go with what they have. That cannot at all be said about us.
  
  As I said in my last post, I'll always passionately support The Arsenal, but I'm sorry, the current climate at the club is f*cking sh*t.
  
  P.S. Nice article over at Le Grove today. Check it out:
  
  http://le-grove.co.uk/2011/08/18/3-things-that-must-change-for-true- progress-cescs-barcelona-upset-me-with-great-football/

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