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1. Cesctastic

   Mar 17, 2011, 17:43 #3731

   All of you are calling for Arsene's head but who would you rather have instead?

2. Marcus

   Mar 17, 2011, 16:56 #3730

   Clock End - Block 10 you said exactly what I have been saying for the last few years: "I want my club back". I started supporting Arsenal after being taken to my first game when I was 7 in 1990. Until Wenger started his vanity project from 2005 onwards, we were a team that always fought and never rolled over, a team of men not spoilt brats who all wear gloves and snoods. The deluded Arsenal fans think our history began with Wenger. Here is a lesson for you, we were the 3rd most successful club in English football history before Wenger arrived, 15 years on we are still the 3rd most successful club. Arsene is deluded and the prawn sandwich brigade buy fully into his propaganda leaving the real Arsenal fans out in the cold. I want my club back.

3. MartinH

   Mar 17, 2011, 16:46 #3729

   "They have been replaced by the likes of Bendtner, Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Rosicky, Almunia and Arshavin" None of these are first team players.. why did you not say "Fabregas, Nasri, Song, Walcott, Van Persie, Szehney, clichy, vermaelen, sagna..." as thats a fairer reflection on the 1st team.

4. Booted

   Mar 17, 2011, 8:49 #3668

   Richard, it was only a few weeks ago that you preeched Arsene Knows and all the moaners should p*ss off to White Hart Lane and support Sp*rs. Opinions change, but when it finally dawns on the Arsene knows brigade that we will not win anything with Arsene in charge then there will be problems. I fear that they will take their frustrations out on the manager and will be very bitter in doing so as they have been made to look like mugs.

5. N40

   Mar 16, 2011, 22:59 #3663

   Totally agree with you. About time our supporters voiced there anger instead of singing "there's only one arsene wenger"

6. david melluish

   Mar 16, 2011, 22:28 #3661

   After a few days contemplation i now feel that wenger must go we have become a joke, poor quality players poor or no tatics,easy to outwit in all departments, after over 40 years i have supported this CLUB we have become to believe that the high expectations of arsenal,should and would be backed by the board well its now over to you to prove it,it may mean a few steps back,but if it is to believed we have a strong base,remember this is a football club today will always be more important than tomorrow?i love this club and iam hurting , please dont tell me that we are still in with a chance of winning the league,is that is though our great endevoures or the poor form of others? highbury gooner,.

7. Nutty's Right Peg

   Mar 16, 2011, 22:11 #3660

   Spot on sir, I have no intention of renewing in May, little point really. How can it be Gallas is playing out of his skin down the Seven Sisters now ?? Wenger struggled to raise a smile out of him. All sides get injuries, we just don't prepare for that eventuality. Djourou is injury-prone but a quality player, ditto, Van Persie. So we have to have quality replacements. Until TV is fit (shades of Rosicky anyone ???) we have Laurel & Hardy at the centre of defence to look forward too. Wenger has been nothing short of a genius since Aug 96, however I fear he is in danger of "doing a Georgie" & allowing it all to turn sour. I'm old enough to vividly recall Graham's last months at the helm, a side littered with sub-standard players. Sound familiar ???

8. mark

   Mar 16, 2011, 20:06 #3658

   richard i am 100% with you. we were all duped. i heavily invested in 3 club seats at the emirates - my wife nearly divorced me but i was really taken up with arsenal moving to a world class club and now to be honest im really deflated. its not just the not winning trophies for me its also the way we surrender like lambs so often. i miss petit, viera, keown, cole, parlour, ljunberg as much from the perspective that they were all fighters as well as winners. i love todays squad when were in full flow going forward which we do against mainly weaker teams but when we come up against a team with spirit then we now all know were are in real trouble. we have to spend money on new players

9. Nick

   Mar 16, 2011, 19:25 #3656

   I would quickly like to point out an alternative viewpoint to the current negativity on this board at the moment. The only shocking result of the last 2 weeks was losing to Birmingham but lets face it that was to a freak goal against a team we were dominating 2nd half and whose goalkeeper was man of the match! The other two cup exits were disappointing yes but certainly not huge upsets, indeed one of them is perhaps the greatest club side in the history of the sport! My point is this, why are so many losing the faith at precisely the point when the tide might actually be about to turn for us? We have 10 games left in a season that could easily see us lifting the big one in May - why hold the post mortems now? As for singing/protesting against the manager at games I think its ridiculous - our team needs us more than ever right now! Im not saying that we will win the league this season or that Wenger should remain in charge afterwards if we dont but what I am saying is that lets at least persevere for another couple of months and see what happens. There's always a defining moment for any team or individual in sport when they finally 'arrive'. That moment can often arise from painful defeat(s) and perhaps this team are about to deliver for us . . . and if they did who knows what they might go on to achieve over the next few years with the confidence and experience of league champions? One way or the other I feel sure that the next 2 months are going to mark the end or the beginning of an era.

10. Ando

    Mar 16, 2011, 18:27 #3654

    I miss the geezer selling peanuts out of a brown paper bag on the terraces,at least you could throw them at people-lol Seriously though I think we are a laughing stock and lack a quality that AW recently said an opposing manager had in abundance- Innovation and the desire to keep winning. The players should also take responsibility occasionally and go against the coaching doctrine of trying to walk the thing in the net, have a shot when they get a sight of goal however far away they are and risk wengers wrath. You never know we may even score a goal.

11. lionspin

    Mar 16, 2011, 16:56 #3651

    'Developing kids has not worked out'...ironic sub-heading really, because had we gone and bought big names to replace the stars that left then I bet Richard B would be the first to bemoan the strategy (and blame Arsene for buying the wrong players, while wasting money at the same time) - you have to think long-term my friend! Would you rather we ended up like Leeds??? As for the rest of you short-termists, go and support the big spending clubs if it makes you feel better. We can all have selective memories. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should'nt feel frustrated when we're so close yet so far, but b*tching for b*itching sake will get us nowhere. I ain't no Arsene a*se-licker, but not everyone's perfect remember...why don't one of you whinging lot take your coaching badges and show Arsene (and the rest of us) where his tactical abilities are lacking? No takers? I didn't think so! Now where's that prawn sarnie?

12. al

    Mar 16, 2011, 16:47 #3650

    what we are desperately in need of is sum steel,some fire in the belly,a winner! unfortunetly we do not have that as the majority of team have been playin together since they were 20 and have never had (bar a few,clichy,rvp,cesc) that keown veiria adams campbell to look up to.its been kids leadin kids not senior players leadin kids putting them right,making sure when they make a mistake they dont want to do it again! the team was taken to bits far to quickly after the invincibles and we lost the balance and winners menatality,even when wer completely outplayed in 2005 f.a cup final we had enough steel to hold out til pens and nick it,winners! cum on arsenal!

13. gunner03

    Mar 16, 2011, 16:08 #3649

    the great arsenal defense never got past quarters in the champions league while arsene's 06 team did.. i do think he has too much trust on some of his players but i did hear something in teh start of the year that this is final year of the 5-6 year plan that if they do not succeed he will the needed players to finish the team...i still hope they can win the league this year cuz they are so close

14. Gare Kekeke

    Mar 16, 2011, 15:23 #3647

    100% spot on Richard. Wenger's place in The Arsenal's history is assured but we can't live on past glories. Theo, go and brush up on The Arsenal's history. Even when finished 10th in 1993, we still became the first club in England to win the two domestic cups in the same season and as for 12th in 1995, we still got to the final of the European Cup Winners Cup. The last three paragraphs summed up what people like me are feeling. I agree that too many under-21's were intergrated too quickly at the expense of the proven winners. When Fergie gradually intergrated the likes of Beckham, Scholes & Butt in the mid-90s (when apparently we were rubbish), he combined them with the experience of the likes of Bruce, Pallister, Cantona & Schemeichel and they young players at the time were willing to learn. How often has Beckham & Gary Neville amongst others have cited Cantona as an inspiration? Our young players felt uncomfortable wih Henry, Pires, Bergkamp et al and now they are paying the price for not willing to take on board their experience. Think I'm talking crap. Whilst on loan at Birmingham, Bendtner told then MD Karren Brady that he should be a regular for The Arsenal and not the record goalscorer and then-captian Henry. The board are to blame also. Wenger has too much power and influence over all of them and his only target from them is to finish top 4 purely for the European Cup revenue when they should be putting pressure on him to win silverware. People like me want to be proved wrong, but sadly we are being proved right and we take no joy from it either.

15. Willie Youngs Uncle

    Mar 16, 2011, 14:14 #3643

    I’m not advocating that we dispense with Arsene’s services, but I would like to see an obvious successor starting to be groomed. If Pat Rice leaves the club this summer, we must install a defence orientated individual as the Number 2. Keown would be perfect. He is articulate and has proved with the makeshift backline during the CL 2006 campaign, that if you know the system, you are less likely to concede and confidence grows. The current keystone cops approach will shorten all of our longevity. The burden put on Cesc and RVP are the reason they are always injured, we don’t have the strength or quality in depth. There’s no quizzical science to why the club has struggled to dispatch Ipswich, Leyton Orient, Huddersfield, Leeds, Braga (Away) this season. The general squad quality is poor and one dimentional. How many of Bentner, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Vela, Diaby to name a few would get into any of the starting line ups of a top half PL team. Does anyone else notice that around season ticket renewal time Arsenal are linked with a number of landmark signings. The same happened during this January window. Squillaci had endured a hamstring injury and we were looking short in numbers. Low and behold Vermaelen was pronounced as being days away from a miraculous comeback. We are still waiting and now Djourou is out for the season. Oh but Song can fill in.............. GG and AW are both Arsenal legends. One thing to remember is that GG created his dynasty without any help from Sky. (Probably just as well)

16. Beero

    Mar 16, 2011, 14:07 #3642

    You may remember GG got tight about spending money on quality players which turned us into a cup team that was crap in the league. We just ended Liverpool's dominance but through prudence with money actually allowed Man Ure to start their spell of Premier league domination. It is a nice idea of promoting within but you need to add proven players to the youngsters especially when you are also cashing in on some of the established players.

17. Toffee

    Mar 16, 2011, 13:37 #3641

    Waa, waa, whinge, moan - Poor us, we havnt got any trophies for 6 years, 'oh no' our wanker mates can make fun of us in the pub and we dont have a come back! What a bunch of whinging tossers! Your team plays the best football in the country, your stadium is beautiful, you have the best player in the league (cesc) and potentially the best young english midfielder in the country (wilshere) and all you can do is bitch! You have been spoiled by your manager and although he is losing his many of his fans its not like he has plunged you into mid-table! You should be fearing the day that Wenger steps down not trying to encourage it! Typical London fans, you go to your west end shows and then pop down to the football.....this isnt directed at all gooners, the ones who understand and appreciate football can see the wood from the trees but only Arsenal fans could be in a civl war! My team maybe small in comparison but we would give our right arm for what you have got! Look at Liverpool, at least their fans are still kidding themselves that they are a big club! They are on the decline and do you think the change of managers has worked for them? Arsenal is moving in the right direction and trophies are so close it must be painful but get some god damn perspective!

18. AugustusCaesar

    Mar 16, 2011, 13:23 #3639

    This article is pretty simplistic and naive and I'm amazed at how many people are applauding it. So 'developing kids has not worked out' - that's that is it. Unequivocal. And winding back the clock presumably we should have abandoned the youth policy, told Cesc Fabregas he's not welcome, bankrolled the club and bought every player under the sun in a blind quest for glory. I'm being facetious and I agree that the squad transition could have been handled better but clearly there's a balance to be struck rather than this matter of fact 'the youth policy has failed' codswallop. I can only assume the author would have signed Scott Parker for £10m in the Summer while Wilshere kicked his heels on the bench.

19. Peter

    Mar 16, 2011, 13:03 #3637

    F**k-all will change unless fans put down their prawn sambos, get up off their arses and start a noisy campaign for a change in approach. The Board need to understand what is required to win trophies and give Wenger a new mandate. I live in Ireland so there's not much I can do directly.

20. tres

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:48 #3636

    about losing to Birmingham, it just happens you know. Let us take a look at Barcelona. They lost this season at home to Hercules with 0-2. Hercules are joint last in the Spanish league and are the team with the second lowest goals scored. So they are very likely to go down at the end of the season. But they have beaten the mighty Barcelona in Nou Camp. Incidently Hercules had 24% possession in that game. And still Barcelona can win 3 titles this season and probably will winn a few. So picking out one result to show that we will fail for all the others is bit easy I think. Shit happens you know. That is why it is football…

21. Mar 16, 2011, 12:38 #3634

    Theo - you may care to take a closer look at our history. You may notice that from 1989 until the mid 90's we did actualy manage to string a couple of passes together and even win a few trophies. Arsenal didn't start with Wenger.

22. joe

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:34 #3633

    Totally correct on all counts. Wew ere a mid table team in the 80's until GG came along but his time came to and end and whilst AW has done loads for us he has spent 6 years taking us nowhere with a ridiculous project based on youth and midgets!! Thanbks for the memories Arsene good luck at your next club

23. Clock End - Block 10

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:34 #3632

    Even aside from the farcical end to every season, the 'Football Club' comment is what sticks with me. I feel exactly the same. Nothing about going to Arsenal these days feels me with the feeling of following my football club like it used to. Surrounded by JKL's who simply don't understand in a ground with no soul. I go every week because I love the football club, not because it's fun! Our identity is being lost. As much as Evra is a mouthy c0ck sucker - his comments about Arsenal being an academy for players is true. Yes we're more famous around the world, but famous for being this nice little place where players go to improve themselves (sort of). We were never dealt with such contempt back in the day - it is literally killing me at the moment. I want my club back.

24. 5am

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:28 #3631

    we stopped winning trophies after the Board kicked out Dein. That's the real ingredient that's being missed here and nothing else. Would do better trying to get him back and turfing out the ol' crust Hillwood and Fizsman

25. Elkie

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:21 #3630

    Arsenal is run like a business by the board and anger should be fired firmly at them. But, come on we've had massive bad luck, Birmingham were ragged and the game was going to extra time and there was only one team gonna win that game. in Barcelona we were unfairly cut to 10 and even then squandered a chance to take us through and against Man U Van Der Sar was man of the match. if we'd have found the net a few times on saturday, or spoon foot bendtner had've found the net against Barca or Koscielny hadn't of fucked it at wembley none of thjis would be coming out. grow up true fans stick through thick and thin. in know way am i an AKB supporter but even i can see in my mere 18 years of supporting Arsenal that we were nowhere near the top 2 in the mid-90's when we supposedly 'used to be a football club' it's funny how it seems to be as an arsenal with little experience of anything other than the tail end of Graham and Wenger, that the younger fans like myself are able to stay positive whereas the older fans seem hell bent on change despite memories of previous longer trophie droughts under Terry Neil etc. and an 18 year time gap between the 71 title and the 89 title. title or no title this season i will always remain positive because thats what you do as a fan and i'm proud to say we're up there competing for the title withoput some rich sheik, russian or yank coming in. Yes we've had a long wait for trophies but we haven't been far off remember teh CL Final and Henry's squandered chancxes to seal it, remember the Carling Cup final against Chelski, remeber the outright lead we had in the title race and Eduardo's brek and Gallas' tantrumits not been 6 years of shit but 6 years of progress and transition and challenging. 9keep the faith, keep supporting and lets not have this divide coz after all we are ALL GOONERS!

26. RICHARD ANSELL

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:14 #3629

    Spot on Richard. I just do not understand how so many of our fans can not see what is staring them in the face.

27. Gooner Kev

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:05 #3627

    Love how you slag off the team only to have Arsenal stadium tours ad banner on your webpage. The shiny stadium is to provide a long term future which will put Arsene Wenger down in the history books no matter how much you plastic fans who want instant success want him gone

28. Danish Gooner

    Mar 16, 2011, 12:00 #3626

    Wenger will never spend,so forget it !!!!!

29. ed enough

    Mar 16, 2011, 11:44 #3625

    Reply to theo....and your point is? Mid table is the same as second or runner up....you win nothing...another typical prawn sandwich eater is is happy to qualiify for champions league every year and then moans when we get knocked out. Wenger had his glory days built on a defence built in the early nintys by GG. Since then we have empty trophy cabinets and 30,000 fans like you...

30. James

    Mar 16, 2011, 11:03 #3619

    True. It's all excuses now. The FACT is, Arsenal are a massive club - the third most successful in England. They should be competing for trophies every single year and a six year barren spell is not acceptable. I don't care if there's been bad spells before, those managers were sacked and so should Wenger be. All this shit about 4th place, as if that's a trophy!? About time this club started doing what 98% of other clubs have to do, if it wants to buy players sell the shit ones.

31. Hendrix

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:59 #3617

    100% agree! Simple and perfect post!

32. John Thomas

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:41 #3616

    I totally agree with every word, too many Wenger lovers including the Board.

33. Gf60

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:34 #3615

    Lord protect the real gooners from the "I want it now and I'll scream and scream until I get it" brigade.

34. Kipmonster

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:34 #3614

    Theo ......... We were mid table team for ONE season in mid 90s before that we enjoyed great success with a winning mentality manager. Wenger has gone too far with his pet project that is driven now by his vanity & ego to prove pundits wrong rather than pragmatism. We were told moving to Emirates would allow us to compete at top end of transfer market. It's been a big fat lie & it's tiresome NEVER having the joy of a stellar signing & NOT signing players to fill the obvious weak positions.

35. Sandip

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:18 #3613

    Fully agree. Its time to prove that we are not really training ground. A lots respect to Mr. Wenger but he needs to start thinking about supporter and start winning trophy for us.

36. Mar 16, 2011, 10:18 #3612

    The embarrassing part was Alec Ferguson could put in seven defenders in the FA cups and still could win against us. We are that predictable.

37. AcGooner

    Mar 16, 2011, 10:13 #3610

    your biological parents experiment has failed, you moron.

38. danalovAFCXI

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:59 #3609

    Vieira, Henry, Bergkamp, Lauren, Cole, Campbell, Pires, Gilberto and Lehmann. Those were the days my friend. BUT THEY ARE GONE! we have what we have grow up and get on with it and quit being such a bitter betty. We would all like a big name signing or two but its not happening while these football stars demand excessive wages. Im not a Wengerite but i am realistic in whats expected of us with the challenges we face from teams with seemingly limitless finances. Suck it up and hope we can grab the title with these nearly boys.

39. Stoney

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:56 #3607

    Spot on - I have long been a supporter of Arsene and have constantly tried to justify his stance on producing and developing young players but we have become something of a joke figure due to sheer bloody minded-ness and a 'vision' which whilst admirable just isn't working !! Too many players are just not good enough to be part of a team challenging for all the major honours and time to ship out the dead wood and dust off the cheque book...... ...... and please get someone who can defend !!

40. Steve

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:52 #3605

    The last three paragraphs sum things up perfectly for me. Arsenal PLC has overtaken Arsenal FC to the extent that the latter is now considered a minor irritation. Why else are the likes of Silent Stan and Ivan Gazidis involved with the club? It's all about brand (pre-season to far east anyone?) and balance sheet. As long as those two items are considered healthy, Arsene will be left to carry on at the coal-face as he desires. Hence we can all moan and groan as long as we like about players, tactics and signings (or lack thereof) - all to no avail. Until "the numbers" take a turn for the worse, nobody above the manager cares enough to seriously challenge him. Gooners, prepare yourselves for an Spring of deja-vu and heartache and a summer of rumor, innuendo and certainly little or no spending!

41. lance (south africa)

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:50 #3604

    amen!

42. Ian

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:49 #3603

    Nothing wrong here. Agree 100%. It has reached a stage where I thought even if we had of beaten United on Saturday that we would only go on and fuck it up in the next round! I hate feeling like this about the club I love. Having attended my first game in 1987 aged 4 I have vivid memories of the passion displayed by the Adams', Rocastles and countless others through the eighties, nineties and first part of the 2000s. Sadly the time has arrived and passed where I trust and believe in Wenger's tactical abilities, and therein lies the real problem.

43. theo

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:42 #3599

    "Arsenal was a football club not so long ago". Yeah from what I remember we were a midtable team in the mid 90's until wenger came

44. Nooshkie

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:38 #3597

    I agree 100% your comment is spot on.

45. ed enough

    Mar 16, 2011, 9:37 #3596

    Agree with all comments...about time someone told it like it is..