Offering stuff like #sacktheboard and #WengerOut is all good and all, but where are the alternatives? Sack Kroenke? He essentially owns Arsenal! How can you sack him?! Sack the board?! Who will come in? All of Stans men. Then the complaining will begin again. Right now, our best option is Arsene Wenger, changing manager NOW will not help us in any shape or form, you’re only kidding yourself if you believe that is the answer. Sacking the board isn’t as easy as you think either, it takes a lot more than just a tweet. I know you want a new manager, but AVB took over, and Chelsea are 5th and struggling. Kenny Dalgleish took over and is dragging Liverpool through a

I’m hurting. There’s no two ways to say how I’m feeling. Seething? Angry? Raging? In the same vein but with extra venom. Today was almost an annual ritual of sorts, that one day in February when Arsenal find themselves out of every competition (or on the brink of it). It dawned on many fans, practically most, that Arsenal were out of all competitions and their only redemption was fourth spot. It’s sadly a reality we all have to face, that fourth spot is our trophy now. But then it’s the aftermath of a loss that is deeply disturbing.

I am an avid user of Twitter, I’m sure you are too. The days we lose, everything goes Pete Tong. Criticisms of players come to a head, fans calling out other fans on what they said, some fans basking in the loss just so they can say “I told you so.”, Twitter really becomes a venomous battleground after a loss. There seems to be a divide of “Arsene Knows Best” (AKB) and “Wenger Out Brigade” (WOB). One side calling Wenger out and saying he is leading us into mediocrity. The other half saying Wenger is the greatest man to have ever lived and he shouldn’t be criticised for what he has done/is doing for the club. This begs the question, why should we divide ourselves?

I find it completely unacceptable fans have audacity to say “You’re not a real fan if you don’t support your team.” Absolutely unfathomable. Since when was being a real fan blindly supporting whilst pretending everything is peaches and cream? I believe you are entitled to criticise the team as you see fit, not many may agree, some might even be angry, but that is your opinion. I recently got told to “shut the f##k” up about 5 times for saying the team let Arsene Wenger, Arsenal and themselves down. It seems the players aren’t to blame for lacking the desire and the heart to give fans the results they deserved for the support given. But end of the day, we all support the same team, why must we be at loggerheads with ANYONE that disagrees? No one lives in a pretty world where everyone is on the same wavelength, why must you feel the need to attack someone when all you do is disagree with their opinion? Isn’t that the point of diplomatic approach? To sort it out by talking?

In many ways, you can say the divide is brought on by the team and Arsene Wenger himself, they really aren’t helping themselves. Over the last 2 games vs Milan and Sunderland, we were comprehensively outplayed by one, and the other, we got caught cold respectively. I’ve always said this and I’ll say it now, taking a loss is never easy, but it’s much harder when the players don’t show any determination, desire, heart, pride, commitment to that cannon they wear so casually on their chests. I am struggling to find any positives to take from either game. All 11 individuals that started both games were poor each time. It doesn’t help we’re having defensive problems with injuries, but surely, that might galvanise the team to strive and win for them? No. What bothers me about Arsene is when we’re down and out, like in Milan, he sat there with his head in his hands. I was like a lost puppy, thinking to myself “Where are these players meant to draw inspiration from when the coach himself doesn’t have the answers?” It’s been a struggle accepting what has happened. But it’s been more of a struggle talking with fans who have no sense of how a company works, one even as big as Arsenal.

Offering stuff like #sacktheboard and #WengerOut is all good and all, but where are the alternatives? Sack Kroenke? He essentially owns Arsenal! How can you sack him?! Sack the board?! Who will come in? All of Stans men. Then the complaining will begin again. Right now, our best option is Arsene Wenger, changing manager NOW will not help us in any shape or form, you’re only kidding yourself if you believe that is the answer. Sacking the board isn’t as easy as you think either, it takes a lot more than just a tweet. I know you want a new manager, but AVB took over, and Chelsea are 5th and struggling. Kenny Dalgleish took over and is dragging Liverpool through a crapstorm right now, new managers doesn’t guarantee success, it just guarantees some fickle fans get their wish. Regardless of what side you sit on, remember who you are and what you represent, you are a human being first, a Gooner second, don’t let your sport allegiances stop you being a decent human being to other people and be accepting of their opinions whether you agree or not. Talking down to someone over the internet doesn’t make you any better, in fact, it makes you look the stupid one. Case in point, support your team, have an open mind and last but not least, chin up, our day is due.

As usually, I’m available on Twitter through my handle, @Bosscielny. Hit me up for anything you might’ve disagreed with on this. Peace.

Mean Lean’s Response

I’d honestly forgotten how poisonous the Arsenal online fanbase has become. It doesn’t matter what side of the fence you sit on, how balanced or imbalanced you may be, you are not safe from the vitriol thrown around by another Arsenal supporter. This had almost totally vanished from blogs and comments sections post Tottenham away until our bad run around Christmas.

This whole back and forth war with other Arsenal supporters is over the top and I try and avoid it if I can, I’d rather go curtain shopping with the missus than have to read abuse for posting my own views.

Tim, a Gooner who posted on another thread shows that you can have very different views and still remain respectful and civilised, unfortunately not everyone who posts online are either old enough to construct a sentence or have an IQ high enough to surpass their age.

What the run of good results a few months ago told me is that we will have a united and content fan base as long as we are winning games, although it is in some Gooners DNA to need to moan and complain about something.

We all have our ideas as to why we are not better than we once were but hopefully Arsenal fans want the best for this team.