Hamza Ali Baksh
A few statements that would do you no harm to keep in mind in your journey through the near future as an Arsenal fan…
(I will, at times be playing the role of Captain Obvious, since it seems like some of us live in an alternate universe)
• Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger will not be fired at the end of this season. Nor will he resign. It's just the reality.
• The same Mr Wenger will not be making any “big-name” signings during the off-season, and will not be clearing out a mass of players (we know their names well) to make room for a number of new signings (we’ve all made our mental lists). People don’t change drastically overnight. And, if you don’t believe that, he has already publicly stated that he won’t be making big-name signings… so there!
• Stan Kroenke will not be “shaking things up" at the Arsenal. He has not done so thus far at the Arsenal, despite his large shareholding and being on the board of directors. Plus, a recent article posted here has shown that this is not his modus operandi in the other sport franchises he owns. So don't get your hopes up for nothing.
• The Arsenal shareholders and board have no preference to winning trophies over making money. Oh, of course they want to win like every other person, but they’re not football fans like you or I (or Roman Chelskovich for that matter), so they’d be just as happy “winning” the booming increases in their share value as they would winning the Champions League. Thing is, they own and control the club, not us. And, unless a significant number of them suddenly take ill (or get on board Oceanic Flight 815) and are in need of replacement, or unless they start to see the financial benefit in making the Arsenal a winning club, this approach will not be changing at the Arsenal.
And now a word to our beloved team, manager, board and owners…
• To Messers Almunia, Denilson, Eboue, Rosicky, Squillaci, Koscienly, Diaby, Vela and Bendtner… at this moment in time, you’re not good enough to take the Arsenal to the heights that we fans want to see it at. But you can be better if you try harder. All through history, the greatest achievers in any given profession will tell you that the biggest part of their success was the amount of time, effort, and passion they put into the quest for the improvement of themselves. Try harder and you will be better, and we (the fans) will love you for it. Wouldn’t you love to hear the fans call out your name every week with passion and belief? Come on, guys… Do it for yourselves. Come on Arsenal!
• To Mr Wenger … Albert Einstein said that the definition of Insanity was to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. I admire your imagined word where justice prevails, and the opponents don’t cheat by having billionaire owners that can throw millions at new signings faster than your boys can concede a goal after scoring, and the opponent treat you with respect rather than kicking you off the park, and referees don’t always blow in ManU’s favour, and the game is perpetually a beautiful. I admire this world you have imagined and perhaps in time you can play a role in creating it, but today, right now, this is the real world we have to live in, and it’s time for you to live in it and try something different. I, myself, have never worked half a day in football, but you've put in a fair shift and I’m sure you have an idea or two … something different to try out. Might I suggest two little old things called “tough love” and “performance based selection”?… in the real world I live in, that seems to work quite well. Just a thought … use it / don’t use it.
• To the board and shareholders … we understand that the primary focus of your attentions is to make the club self-sustaining and profitable. In these tough economic times, and especially with the move to Ashburton Grove, you’ve done a terrific job and not just succeeded at that objective but over-achieved. Well done! But spare a thought for the fans… those who make this club what it is. All of this richness (money and otherwise) that is the Arsenal Football Club can only exist because of the returning masses of fans that love the Arsenal and pay hard earned money to fill the stadium each week, and people like me who are thousands of miles away and have never even seen shores other than our own, but who love the football of The Arsenal and so we fork out our money to pay the satellite-tv subscription fees and sit on our couches every week with our Arsenal kit on, watching the Arsenal playing live and singing the songs from our lounges across the world. But don’t just spare that thought for us for the sake of sentimentality… No, no... this is the real world we live in, so look closely at how much more you could make the Arsenal (as a brand, and as a self-sustaining, profitable entity) if only a little more focus and effort was placed on making the Arsenal a team of winners. In this real world we live in, only you can be the tools of change.
