I don’t go to as many games as I would like so when the opportunity came to attend the Wigan game I grabbed it with both hands! I’m a regular reader of the online articles as there seems a good cross section of opinion and it’s always good to know what other fans are thinking. This has been varied due to the teams much talked about ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ performances so far and after the win against Chelsea the atmosphere was a lot more optimistic than I initially expected! There seemed a general consensus that this was a massive game, 3 points all important after the Chelsea game etc etc…

However there was an overriding sense that we Arsenal fans have accepted that the reality is that we are just not good enough where it matters. We aren’t consistent enough, we don’t defend well and the void between the club and its fans is far bigger than the club will admit! The spin that ‘we have a strong enough squad’, ‘I believe in this group of players’ is all fine and I think that most fans would expect the boss to come out and publicly back his players. But where this breaks down is when the fans believe that behind closed doors the manager is doing nothing to address the problems that, for us as fans, have been slapping us around the face! Gallas wasn’t stripped of the captaincy for what he said – It’s how he went about saying it! In my opinion he was never the right choice but in fairness at the time, who else was there?

I don’t think any of us now truly believe what we are told anymore – Club announcements were always to be taken with a certain amount of spin, but at this present moment in time they are spiraling out of control! As fans we just want to know what’s going on with a certain degree of truth! We don’t expect chapter and verse but we do want to be kept informed. Are we really in a position to strengthen the squad? If not then say so! Whilst we may not be happy with it, the feeling that the club AND fans are galvanized with a ‘in it together’ attitude will encourage supporters to support and those who merely want to be entertained to…. well to put blunty, p*** off and support Chelsea! But it’s just these types of supporter that the club now feels it has to attract and looking around me on Saturday there are plenty of them! Those who started ‘supporting’ Arsenal in 1998 and have been brought up on caviar and not sausage and mash!!

And so on to the booing debate of Eboue. I think those who did so fall into two categories:
1. The new ‘I want to be entertained’ types I have spoken about – What a shame they are not so vocal in getting behind the team more often then perhaps the atmosphere would be something the opposition would fear more!
2. Supporters who have quite simply had enough. Ok, Eboue isn’t the most talented of players but fans will always back players if they feel they are giving 100%! We hear about how ‘this squad of young players is ready’ yet we don’t use them! There is only so much we fans can be fobbed off with before we start asking questions and voicing our opinions and what other way do you let the club know what you’re thinking! The booing was as much a show of dissent against the player as it was to the manager and the club!

These are challenging times for the club and Arsene – It’s all about getting the balance right and at the moment that just isn’t happening. True supporters will never turn their back on the club, yet the club should never even seem to be turning its back on true supporters!