Rocky the King
Ok, let me start by thanking all of you who took the time to read my maiden blog on this site, in addition of course, those who decided to reply via some interesting comments. I have been writing blogs for some 10 years now. I began at Arsenal Forum followed by many enjoyable years at Arsenalinsider under the guise of Fabregas_The_King. I became Rocky the King after CF4 was sold to Barcelona. I have gone full circle with AW. For those replies to my blog "Despite Ozil, Stan is not the man" that are derogatory, it's like water off a duck's back for me. I’ve had worse abuse in my time. However what perhaps motivated this immediate and fulsome reply was the pain I continue to see in many replies from Gooners who frankly understand what it means to be a fan, but are conflicted by mistaking frank criticism for disloyalty. This state of confliction is a dreadful disease.
I write my blogs honestly and they reflect my position as a true Arsenal fan. I do not have to prove my club loyalty to anyone. For evidence of that I can state that I am a life member of the AST, I enjoy singing with the away supporters and hold two Gold seats at Emirates Stadium. I first wondered about AW when in 1998 I stood frustrated at the old Wembley screaming "Ian Wright Wright Wright" along with thousands of other Gooners and realised that this marvellous servant of the club who was the best finisher that I have ever witnessed at Arsenal, was being side-lined by this new French manager in favour of his chosen Anelka. I felt Ian Wright's pain, and even though he has been professional never to make anything out of this failure to give this legend even 2 minutes upon the hallowed turf against a beaten Newcastle United side during this FA Cup final, for me it was a slap in the face.
Then later after having travelled to Paris to see Titi Henry miss that chance in the CL final that would have put us two nil up against Barcelona with only 10 men in 2006, despite the loss, I was as proud as any other Gooner that night. I felt cheated by some pathetic professionalism by way of simulation. So I have felt the ups and down of ordinary Gooners. I have often wondered to myself why it seemed that all our best players ended up leaving under AW? Despite this I grew to accept and love AW and so much so that you can Google "FTK Sky Sports News & Arsene Wenger" and see my passionate interview in support of AW in 2009. I wrote what I regard as a classic blog in 2011 after we beat Barcelona in the CL. If you still remain unconvinced of my passion then why not Google and read "FTK blog and call to arms” to understand what I mean by supporting my Club. However why do I feel pain? This is because I perceive the current club motto having changed from victory through harmony "Victoria Concordia crescit" to "Victoria discidium crescit" or “Victory through division”
In August 2012 I said that Arsenal was not well run contrary to the prevailing consensus and finally agreed with others that AW should not be offered a new contract. I began to reflect why I had turned full circle against AW and the management side of the club. These are my honest opinions. I suppose it started with my take on the changes in the boardroom. Now let state by saying Danny Fizsman was a legendary fan and leader of the board. So RIP Danny Fiszman. However I cannot forgive him for leading the calls for the sacking David Dein in such a humiliating way in April 2007.
I honestly feel that this was the catalyst for our current woes. Fiszman loved AFC but was blinded by his fall out with David Dein. Fiszman saw the collective will of the board being undermined by the entrepreneurial spirit of David Dein. Yet what did Dein do wrong?
David Dein realised well before the rest of the PL that player wages could undo club finances. So increased Club revenues were needed but from where? Dein was a true visionary and this grated with the old Etonian chairman Sir Peter Hill-Wood. Danny Fiszman saw mutiny in Dein introducing a billionaire to the AFC Board in an informal manner. I have spoken personally with Nina Bracewell-Smith and believe me, if many of you passionate Gooners are conflicted, so was she. Recently she tweeted her frustration which can be found on the Internet under other providers if you look hard enough. She understood Dein's view that the board needed fresh blood.
Dein saw that AFC needed to capture the emerging digital market, and that there was one man who could do both. So who did Dein bring to the club, that so angered PHW and Fiszman? In the cruellest irony of Ironies, the one and only Stan Kroenke our current owner. He was married to an heiress of Wal-Mart, had excellent connections in the digital business and was a billionaire.
What I respect about SK is that at least he has been honest. Coming to the Arsenal was purely a business proposition. He openly confessed from the outset that "I wouldn’t want to be involved if I thought we would struggle."
The sacking destabilised the club for a short while. I recall fearing that we would lose his close friend and confidant AW who said at the time
"It is a huge disappointment because we worked very closely together, David has contributed highly to the success of the club in the last 10 years and even before that as well. Red and white are the colours of his heart"
Even the great Titi Henry later admitted that Dein's departure as vice-chairman had dismayed him and left him in no doubt that it was time to move on...
I later bumped into David Dein outside the Stadium two seasons ago and begged him to return, he also looked conflicted. He said nothing, we had just lost another home game and fans were very unhappy. Fiszman later entered into a pact with none other than SK to prevent David Dein's new sponsor from Red and White, Alisher Usmanov from gaining a stake in the Arsenal. Now for all his alleged baggage, and opportunistic tendencies, Alisher Usmanov is richer than Abromovich, owns 29% of the shares but cannot get a seat on the Board. Surely someone who has invested so heavily in the club has a right to have a say at Board level? SK would still own the club, but at least he would be exposed to alternate views. Usmanov and Moshiri have shown more maturity in their public utterances of late, realising that commenting upon the weaknesses of the club when times are bad have left them open to charges of crude opportunism. They have resorted to constructive strategic suggestions and I hope to hear more soon as the AGM approaches.
Recall that it was Red&White that argued for a share issue that would not only have provided much needed cash to buy players but also would have helped AST's fanshare scheme in my view, but the Board was against it. Some say of Red&White that this was a cynical attempt to dilute the value of SK's shareholding. I believe eventually when figures merit it, SK will sell up and move on. Something unheard of in his history of owning club franchises. He will have made incalculable profits when remember he took out loans to purchase his shares. This meant the minimising of personal risk in my opinion. Not typical of Arsenal owners of the decades previously. In fact I viewed the departure of PHW with a tinge of sadness despite his famed eccentric outbursts. Under the Hill-Wood and Bracewell-Smith partnership, Arsenal Football club became a marque to be proud of not only in doing things with style "The Arsenal Way" but also on the field by regularly setting national transfer records. How much has changed eh?
So back to the theme of conflicted fans of our club. I believe that many fans see loyalty to their Board as a badge of pride, they also see loyalty to AW as a true philosophy, they wish to state publicly that they are as fervent in their support in bad times as well as good times, and this means that fans cannot bring themselves to show a united front against bad management, this is not "the AFC" way. Pride has blinded us. They prefer to turn upon anyone who dares criticise the club with a savagery which produces stupid comments like telling me to go and support the Spuds.
Yet they ignore the way that the board has taken the club out of the reach of ordinary grassroots’ fans who after buying their tickets cannot afford the food at the stadium let alone Diamond membership.
Also the Arsenal Board if manifest by their website will not tolerate any criticism what so ever. The site's typos have become as legendary as those of The Guardian broadsheet. They want as many Facebook likes as possible and have used their lure of financial reward through click throughs to persuade almost blind allegiance from bloggers. Remember Arseblog? It used to be "F**king Excellent" but even reading a recent article by Tim Stillman you can feel Stillman’s painful state of being conflicted. Fair play to Arseblog, it's about making a living, but I wonder if he can really sleep easily at night after changing the name of his blog and the original rudeness of his style of writing?
This kind of totalitarian tendency from the site worries me. Control the criticism and guarantee survival it seems to state. Yet while apparently supporting or some might say indirectly controlling what it sees as a mainstream Gooner blog, can fans now expect ever increasing amounts of benign loyal copy to be written? They might be forgiven for pointing to the saying "He who pays the piper calls the tune"? So who will stand up and in true Yorkshire style say it as it is?
If we are to keep the true heart and soul of this club then the Board needs to change and embrace different views from moderates or sadly the extremist solutions become ever more attractive. So please support your players on the pitch and AW their manager this season as they strive to bring back the good times at the club, but remember not to so blinded that you cannot make constructive complaints or observations about the way your club is run off the field or during transfer windows. Equally you are allowed to make constructive criticism of the manager after bad results come in. Yes Arsenal Football Club and AW have no divine right to win trophies but I firmly believe in accountability and this has not been evident from the board's posturing. It's not about saying I told you so, it's about giving all supporters respect on either side of the divide. It's about bringing the club back closer to its grass roots whilst still being able to fund the kind of club that can compete at the highest level.
Now about listening to those around you, why oh why must AW control everything about the club? If he had welcomed alternative views and more help, he would not have tarnished his legacy. He is so proud that he often exclaims, why buy someone in who is no better than the ones I have? A classic cause of our confliction, for we have to accept what AW says or see the evidence of our eyes in Stepanovs or Squillaci? What will AW have learned from his pursuit of Suarez? That some clubs will never strengthen a rival under any circumstances. A lesson to be learned too late after AW gifted MUFC the title with sale of Robin van Persie. So attack me if you wish, but my passion and love for this club will not stop me saying that AW's pride has blinded the great man himself. I have tweeted in the past about AW "All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil, the only crime is pride... Sophocles"
I also feel that the divisions over the manager at the club have been the greatest that I can ever recall, ok there was division over O'Neill but was it this hostile? I think not. So if you disagree with my take on history at the club, please feel free to articulate a response. However if you wish to throw abuse in my direction remember it’s very easy to tow the party line. It actually takes courage to say what is right even if it flies in the face of the prevailing consensus. So in return provide me with your solutions as the status quo is not bringing unity to the club.
