Bob Bayliss
I was at the march last Sunday, and while I enjoyed being among kindred spirits a quick glance round suggested there were probably no more than about a couple of hundred or so, which is hardly going to register more than a shrug of the shoulder from the powers that be at Arsenal.
If we are to stand a chance of being a force for change we have to move the argument beyond vague statements about "getting greed out of football". That ship has sailed. It started to sail long before the E******s was a twinkle in Danny Fiszman's eye. The beginning of the end was when the social engineers at Arsenal (led by David Dein) rode eagerly on the coat-tails of the post-Hillsborough Taylor Report, knocked down the North Bank and introduced a Bond Scheme to finance the soulless all-seater that replaced it.
What we loved and treasured about football was well on the way to going before the move to the new stadium, but it was largely masked by the wonderful achievements of the last great Arsenal teams from 1997-2004. Although Arsenal was more than compliant with the changes to the fabric of football which slowly but surely alienated so much of its loyal fanbase, in terms of where we are today the board could legitimately claim that these are now wider issues which it is unable to influence. King Canute cannot turn back the tide, even assuming he wanted to.
Where we can legitimately hold our club to account is that, in this new climate where money is king, they are charging wholly unreasonable ticket prices for what they are providing in return. The second part of that clause is absolutely crucial and the Where Has Our Arsenal Gone movement need to grasp it, and grasp it quickly. If we had invested properly in the team, if we had continued to win our share of trophies alongside Man United and Chelsea over the past six seasons, the increases we are now being asked to pay would be more palatable. And what is now beyond question to all except the current manager is that, whether we like it or not, we can only become successful in the world of football today by spending money – serious money - on established top-class players. No more spin about being 'only a couple of players away' - we are short of at least six or seven top quality players to compete with the best.
So, in conclusion, you may not like the game as it has become any more than I do. I would much prefer the days of terraces, real atmosphere before and during the match, regular Saturday 3pm kick-offs, players who cared for the club, first-choice teams fielded in every competition, etc, etc. But we won't get those elements of 'our Arsenal' back, because those ingredients were lost when the game at its highest level sold its soul to television.
The best we can hope for is to get back the Arsenal who are hard-nosed winners, not everybody’s lovable losers. But that can only happen if we are prepared to revolutionalize our approach to building a squad. The bottom line is that the current manager can't, or won't, drive forward that revolution. It is completely alien to his principles. So, to the organisers of the black scarf march, that's the challenge - to focus on what we can achieve through change at our Club, or to continue to punch thin air in opposing what is beyond Arsenal’s control. Let's go for it.
