Mark Halfpenny
I read Ian Henry’s blog offering on Tuesday with very mixed emotions. On the one hand, it was great to see that more and more Gooners are coming round finally to seeing that we need change in the leadership of our great Club. But on the other hand, it was depressing to read the conclusions and most of the comments.
All of the things that Ian talked about (Kroenke telling Gazidis to sack Wenger; Martin Keown being appointed as a defensive coach; Wenger losing the dressing room) are just not going to happen. I’m not trying to undermine Ian as we can all see that these things need to happen – it’s simply the case that the decision makers at our Club don’t believe that there is a problem, such is their arrogance and remoteness from the real world. It is a painful reality but Arsene Wenger is the problem at our Club – a problem made worse by the awful “leadership” of Stanley Enos Kroenke.
Martin Keown should have been appointed a long time ago, but then so should Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Nigel Winterburn and several others. What is glaringly obvious is that Wenger doesn’t want such strong men at the Club – if he did, they would already be there. Like all dictators, he doesn’t want anyone else’s opinion or input. Likewise Kroenke is never, ever going to sack Wenger. Why? Because Wenger returns a healthy profit each year and that is all that Kroenke cares about. Anyone doubting this needs only to look at the handling of his various US franchises.
Ian’s point about losing the dressing room would be a very valid one in any other walk of life, but this is football. Why would Rosicky / Wilshere / Diaby / Giroud etc. dislike Wenger? He has awarded them hugely lucrative contracts, he seemingly puts them under very little pressure, he protects them from any criticism and he allows them to operate in a massive comfort zone. No other decent manager would do this. This is the reality of modern football in general and modern Arsenal in particular – they simply don’t give a toss what we think when the stadium is full each week and they live a life of privilege that we cannot imagine.
Two stories come to mind here. One is the sad saga of Ched Evans. Convicted by a jury of raping a young woman; sentenced to five years imprisonment; on his release he shows zero remorse and won’t apologise; 150,000 people sign a petition urging Sheffield United NOT to re-employ him; Sheffield United go against all of that and bring him back into their club. Why? Because Evans is good at football and can bring success to Sheff Utd. Moral issues? Setting an example? Not on their agenda! Evans can make them money and that is all that matters.
The second story is an old work-mate of mine, a good solid Northern lad called Gerard. I used to tease him all the time because he was a socialist. When he got promoted, he opened his letter in front of me and realised that the pay-rise would move him into the high tax bracket. He smiled and said “Looks like I need to re-evaluate my socialist principals doesn’t it?” He was joking but his point has stuck with me ever since. Money talks.
And that is the bottom line. Money is pouring into Arsenal and all the recipients are living in a bubble. Why would Steve Bould tell Wenger where to go, thereby jeopardising his multi million pound salary? Why would our pampered players turn on Wenger and risk their fantastic, cosy lifestyle? Why would Kroenke sack the man that makes him millions every year? Why would Gazidis break ranks when he trousers £2million a year? And why would Wenger (the ultimate champagne socialist) walk away from total control and £8million a year?
By their actions, they have all shown us that they are quite content with proceedings at Arsenal. Fourth place + Champions League + 60,000 tickets sold each week + no dissent from the supporters = KERRCHING!!!! The only thing that will bring about the change that the majority of us now want is protest. Vocal and visual protest. Protest that is bad for the “Brand”. Bad for the “Image”. Protest that may affect the bottom line. Protest that will break this awful status quo. If there’s one thing that modern corporate types hate, it’s direct criticism.
But will we ever do it? Deep down we know we need to because unless we do, all of our moaning and arguing is pointless. We’ve done that for years and things have only got worse. So I ask again – will we ever protest? Not against some abstract point such as “Wanting our Arsenal back” but protest against Arsene Wenger and Stan Kroenke?
