Graham Perry
My defence of Arsene Wenger immediately prior to the Southampton draw brought forward a strong response – almost all of it critical - of the case I made. So be it. We know the blogs are active as are the call-ins and the press reports. Critics make the most noise. Protest always grabs the headlines but that does not mean that they are representative of all supporters. No Gallup Poll has been carried out. No Prof Casey to carry out exit polls as we depart the Emirates. So we need to keep matters in perspective. Wenger does have his critics. In fact in some cases it turns into a quite unacceptable hatred. There is no room – no room at all – for hatred in football. That human instinct is reserved for fascists and bullies and racists. Arsenal supporters, however frustrated they may feel, should never surrender to the base instinct of the mob. I joked recently about the gallows being reinstated at Tyburn but read some of the messages and you can re-create the mood of the mob at public hangings.
It is one thing to be passionate – it is another to go for the jugular and be personally abusive. There is a valid case that can be made against Wenger but please no hate, no personal vituperation. This is football. We are not moving populations to new locations or closing down places of employment or issuing banning orders or exit orders. Football is football is football and politics is politics is politics. Two different worlds.
The case against Wenger was summarised by Stuart Leveson (Post 87939) in his response to my most recent Circular. In summary he said “same old, same old...the stubbornness of Wenger... this man [fails] to understand what it takes to win the Johnson Paint Trophy... the years of having no money are long gone... 15 years to replace Seaman.” He talks about shopping at Sainsburys instead of Harrods and more of the same. Stuart lets himself down when he refers to the Paint Trophy. Admittedly the FA Cup has fallen from number two to number three in the pecking order of trophies but we have beaten Everton, Liverpool, THFC, Man U in the last two years en route to winning the Cup in the last two seasons. He also makes a cheap comment about buying players at Sainsburys instead of Harrods. Large sums have been spent wisely on Ozil and Sanchez and in any event it is not the case that spending big guarantees success – look at Man U, look at City’s central defenders and then look at Coquelin and Bellerin and the promise of Iwobi. Our central defence has been rightly criticised for failing to keep clean sheets but against Southampton they did so well. They were disciplined and committed and successful.
The truth is that we are having a bad run. Draws against Liverpool, Stoke and Southampton and the defeat by Chelsea have undermined our confidence. This whilst THFC and Leicester and Man City continue to chalk up wins and move ahead of us. No question it is a worry and those of us who want Wenger to succeed now begin to question whether we might fall away. It can happen. A few more reverses and we might not be able to challenge for the top. The opposite can happen as well – we can put together a few wins and find ourselves back in contention.
My point is this – too many people have settled agendas. Their strong anti-Wenger feelings has led them to jump the gun and shout the odds against Arsene. No question the manager can be frustrating. Sometimes – not always – he is a bad loser. His touchline behaviour sometimes invites ridicule. Whilst he does on occasions criticise his players after a bad performance he tends to deflect the blame from them and protects them by having a pop at the referees or the opponents. Other coaches do that as well. And of course Wenger has to accept responsibility for not bringing in new players in the last two transfer periods. His case is that he has a settled squad and wants to rely on the collective spirit. If he wins the title he will be vindicated. If he falls short he will be humiliated. This year should be our year and if the team falls short it will be a rough ride. But Arsenal supporters are on trial as well as the manager and the Board. We like to think we are Arsenal and we are different but things could turn nasty. If they do there are some amongst us who will not jump on a bandwagon and join in the character assassination. You have your standards. We have our standards.
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