Just a small, humble and probably hugely unpopular comment before bed if I may? Many would agree that prof. footballers are spoiled/pampered these days. I wonder if the same is true of us fans? Chel$ki fans had nothing to cheer about for donkey's years. Now they're having a go at AVB after a couple of defeats and a draw.

AFC had some fallow years to say the least before AW took office. Now it seems we're demanding excellence and a win every time we take the field. Criticising every minor slip-up.

I think it would do us good to remember that there are two teams playing and both are striving every sinew for a win. And it is not our God-given right to win everything.

Life is about highs and lows - without the lows, the peaks are not as high or as stimulating. If you're a Man-U fan, the only way is down after the last few years. They expect/demand to win. A good mind-set but if you always expect to win - and you simply cannot win always - then only failure is out of the ordinary.

I'd rather be in a place where winning is desperately wanted but not certain. Where defeat is a distinct possibility. And where victory becomes a really worthwhile and valued achievement - out of the ordinary and special.

When people are throwing stupid money at winning, I think we should be proud to support a club that is trying on the basis of fair play, on the field and financially over the long term rather than striving for a quick gain and blowing everyone else out of the water financially.

It would soon get very boring if we had the biggest wallet and that guaranteed winning everything all the time. Winning is only an achievement if it is done against a background of good and fair competition.  Winning 'against the odds' is much sweeter than if the win is expected all the time like it has been at Man-U and will become at Riyadh Rovers (Man Citeh) and Chelski because of the financial skewing of the level playing field. I should also say here that United have won on this basis in recent years and deserve our respect.

All this is why I personally am proud to support Arsenal - we want it with a passion, but we will never buy it unfairly, we will never cheat in order to win, we will respect strong competition and, in the end, we will enjoy our victories because they have been achieved on the basis of fairness and genuine endeavour.

COYG

So, would you prefer an Arsenal win or a defeat that proves you right?

To say it's been a difficult few months to be an Arsenal fan is like saying the sinking of the Titanic was a minor naval incident.

Last week I commented about a fellow Gooner tweeter who seemed to be so down in the dumps, so depressed about Arsenal, that I felt I had to say something, kindly meant, about cheering up or looking on the bright side - I mentioned 'getting a grip'. Thankfully he took it in the spirit in which it was meant and all was well.

Then on Saturday, during Arsenal's embarrassing 4-3 defeat to Blackburn Rovers he sent me a DM asking 'do you still think I need to get a grip - we're in deep shit etc etc'. It was almost as if he preferred the fact that Arsenal were being beaten, because it proved his point, rather than winning because that would undermine his negative outlook. When some fans are of a mind that they'd prefer a defeat so that it underlines or justifies their stance then something is going seriously wrong.

And don’t get me wrong here, I’m not criticising him. I can fully understand how he feels after months of frustration and, seemingly, mismanagement at The Emirates.

  

While I have continuously tweeted about Wenger being the best manager we've ever had and that he needs our backing now, more than ever, one can, I think, understand how some people might be beginning to see an increasing amount of evidence on the side of my depressed friend and that my own optimistic attitude is based more on hope than reality.

I have commented before that being an Arsenal fan does not come with an ‘unfollow’ button. It is a lifetime commitment and is non-negotiable. Many people have been tweeting about what it is to be a 'true fan' and supporting the club come what may and I completely agree with that.  However some people have also been saying that anyone who questions the team or the manager or the board is effectively a traitor to the cause and, therefore, an enemy who should be abused.

With all due respect, it’s not quite as simple as that.

I think that one can still be a fan and be able to point out some of the shortcomings of the club, particularly after what has happened at Arsenal in the last few months. This does not necessarily mean that they want Arsenal to lose any games or to have any bad luck – but just that they care about the ongoing success of the club – and I think that’s fair enough.

Surely if you cannot comment when your team looks like it has effectively retreated from being at the forefront of the European game* as well as being a serious contender in the ‘best league in the world’ (the Premiership), to being an ‘also ran’ in just a few short months, then when would these ‘real fans’ suggest is the appropriate time to comment? Or should one just walk away and not give a fuck?

It was obvious that last year’s Premiership was a ‘soft’ league in relative terms and that the big money clubs would be spending big this summer in order to revitalise their title hopes. It was also obvious that we would not be able to compete financially with Riyadh Rovers (Man City) or Chel$ki but that, therefore, we would need to have a good plan, be well organised, be ready to move quickly and be ready to make the necessary money available to make the plan work. Essentially, we would need to be smarter and better organised than our rivals (not all of whom have billionaire backers by the way) in order to be able to ‘push on’ in terms of the quality of the side and its ability to compete this year on all fronts.

However, looking from the outside, it seemed like there was no plan. Or if there was, the club has done an amazing job of making it look like there wasn’t.

It was also obvious that Cesc and Na$ri would go, causing a major problem in terms of quality, but their departure would bring in a considerable amount of money for replacements. Now here’s the thing: I know that they didn’t go until the end of the window but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t buy any replacements before they were sold. I’m sorry I don’t care what the club is saying about this. We are not a two-bit taxi company that has to put the last fare into the petrol tank in order to take on the next job. We are a £1.3 billion global sports brand. If we cannot forward finance a deal to buy a couple of £30 million plus, world class players in order to maintain our position at the top of the world game, then what the fuck are we doing and what is the level of our ambition?

Sadly the result of this inaction in the summer and the subsequent ‘trolley dash’ on deadline day is that we are now going from game to game, hoping to win but not really being confident because we simply do not have the ‘special’ quality that Arsenal have always had in recent years.  We have reached the ‘tipping point’ whereby every defeat convinces a few more fans that we are going in the wrong direction and adds to the manager’s problems in terms of criticism. When you’re playing great football and have fantastic players who are committed to the team and will die for the cause, the odd defeat is no big deal.

However, when you are struggling because you do not have the quality, when the (poor) performance is not about confidence or luck but about ability – then it’s a different matter. At that point it’s got to be about the quality of the team that has been assembled by the club, the board and the management. Sorry but I don’t think there is any getting away from this.

Like I say, I remain a committed fan of the club and I am not calling for anyone to go. I think we’d be mad to get rid of Wenger right now.

But I am struggling to see how the team can win enough games to keep the fans happy or how it can achieve the position in the league that the fans demand.  I personally will continue to support the team wherever it finishes in the league, but sadly, it is really starting to feel like we are only one or perhaps two embarrassing defeats away from the point where change will start to become inevitable. I am also looking on the forthcoming games we have against top sides with dread rather than excitement and optimism.

Wenger is clearly annoyed by the current situation where his performance is being questioned. This is the first time I can remember Arsenal having to wheel out the chief exec to support him. And hitting back at criticism in the media, after a win against Shrewsbury, rather than winning the league, is both unjustified and dangerous, since it gives them (the media) stored ammunition for future failures.

We have been spoiled at Arsenal over the years in comparison with most other clubs and Wenger has perhaps spoiled us the most. He is clearly a great manager, one of the most influential the game has ever seen. However, I’m increasingly doubtful that we’ll be spoiled by the current team.

I think Wenger has to change. Has to admit that he/they fucked up this summer, ask for our understanding and support and then get on with turning the situation around. He is loved by the vast majority of Arsenal fans and if he is honest, in this way, they will back him (mostly, not sure about my twitter friend!). However if he carries on being arrogant, carries on claiming to be right about everything and that he has never made any mistakes, then frankly, in my opinion, his days are numbered because he simply has not got the quality of players to ride out the storm this year by achieving positive results.

Maybe it’s me who needs to get a grip.

*(The only team to beat Barca in the CL last year and, at the time, closer than any other team in Europe to playing the ‘total football’ that the Catalans have made famous)

if you want the same story but a different order of words...

Then read my new blog. oh and please retweet this, so as many people who already know this stuff as possible, can be equally bored with it.

No names and no pack drill - I am not targeting or singling out any blogger, nor am I trying to cause offense but how often are you pointed in the direction of a 'new blog', particularly in the sporting field, in which you already know everything that is recorded therein?

'Big game last night' - I know.

'Difficult opposition, they were champions in their league last year' - yes I know.

'We took the lead in the first half' - yes, like everyone else who is ever likely to read this blog, I was watching/listening too.

'Would have been nice to hold on for a win' - yes that's kinda what we were aiming for I'd hazard a guess.

'But they got an equaliser near the end' - drumming fingers..yes, like I say, I was watching too.

'Still we'd probably have taken that at the start' - yes, away to the best side in our draw in the Champion's League and our players not yet on first name terms after the transfer deadline trolley dash..

'So there you have it, don't miss my next blog about where bears shit and what religion the Pope practices'

Thanks.

Lock 'em up and cut their benefits but don't then think the job's done

I have blogged elsewhere about what I described as the 'Fuck you' society (apologies for French) that we seem to live in these days. Not condoning in any way those involved in the recent, totally unacceptable riots in London, Birmingham and elsewhere, but trying to understand in a small way, their mindset. Not a popular position to take when everyone was shouting for them to be locked up and the key thrown away - as well as cutting benefits and even evicting people from their (council) homes.

Since then many have been imprisoned and some of the sentences seem to me to be very harsh, almost certainly a case of 'pour encourager les autres' (apologies, see above!). No doubt many of these sentences will be quietly reduced in the coming weeks and months as rationality regains some influence - I hope so.

One young guy who was interviewed said that 'it's all about greed' and that 'we have been told, time and time again by this society, that greed is good.' I happen to agree with him. These people were not 'stealing Trevelyan’s corn so the young might see the morn', but nicking tellies and trainers - they are not on the bread-line by any means and that, the point of this blog, is part of the problem in some ways. Please don't condemn me as a raving right-winger for that last comment, please hear me out!

Just very briefly, my contention is that the rioters have seen rich greedy people avoiding tax; greedy MPs falsifying expenses; fat cat public sector leaders making cuts to public services while taking double-digit pay increases and premier league footballers earning more in a week than highly qualified and hard-working nurses will earn in ten years. In the face of this conspicuous greed, essentially these so-called leaders of society or role models saying 'fuck you' to everyone else, I can understand some people. Misguided perhaps, returning the compliment.

There are of course criminal elements to the rioting, gang activity etc., but my concern is really about those normally law-abiding people who got involved and are now being severely punished. Yes if they committed a crime they should be punished but I humbly suggest that catching and charging these people is not the absolute solution to what is a much wider problem. Of course we cannot have lawlessness on our streets, whether people are rioting under the flag of tuition fees or social depravation and we also cannot have the police standing watching people stealing booty - that was mad. Nor should we tolerate benefits cheats and I am glad to see Cameron taking an initiative on this. But I have a serious question to ask you:

There are young girls in a town near where I live for whom 'starting a family' is seen as a genuine career option. And just to provide some sort of counterbalance to my earlier 'breadline' comment, I am on their side. Brought up on benefits by a mother who took the same option, probably when she was under age and who was also copying her own mother, these girls can, by having a child, jump the council house waiting list and secure considerable welfare benefits, without having to do a single day's work or make any contribution in taxes, National Insurance etc.

It's not illegal, it's just playing the system - a system that has become completely skewed over several parliaments to 'help' the poorest in our society - BUT IT'S NOT HELPING. 

Of course, in the short term it helps her, she can eat, keep warm in the winter, live in a dry, actually quite nice 'decent home': Evidence suggests that she can probably afford to smoke and go out for the odd drink and have Sky. If you asked her she would probably say that she 'does OK', has a reasonably nice life. She is accountable to no one, doesn't have to get up and go out to work in the morning. Doesn't have to do anything really, except have sex at the outset in order to secure her 'career'.

Outraged of Tunbridge Wells (that's not the town by the way) would say that this is disgusting. 'How can we allow this in our modern society?' The point is, it's not her fault. She's just playing the system. And if she wants to better herself by getting a job, going out to work and become a valued member of our so-called 'society' then she can of course.  

But how many girls who left school at 14 when pregnant and therefore didn't get any qualifications and who has no CV at all, no work experience, will be able to walk into a job paying more than the at least £300 a week she needs to just match the benefits she is already getting? £300 a week is £15,600 a year net, so she'd need to walk into a £20 grand job just to stand still. And why would she. What possible incentive is there for her to do this even if she could which is virtually impossibility. No pun intended but I think the word 'virtually' is redundant in that last sentence.

The bottom line is that this situation is both real (tens of thousands of our population live like this) and clearly not their fault.  The fault lies with the system that is creating an underclass and lost lives by trying to help people.  I don't have the answer, but I do know that we, collectively, have a massive problem to solve in this country.

Why is it just the affluent that can get away with greed?

A young student by the name of Yohannes Scarlett was interviewed on Newsnight last night, and whilst he was largely obliterated by a combination of more gobby, better prepared, more street-wise and media-savvy fellow panelists, nonetheless made a point that I have not really heard on any other blogs about this situation to date: He agreed that the looting was not about politics or cuts and that a lack of discipline at home was an issue, with some kids 'needing a slap' occasionally.

However the major issue behind the riots in his opinion, is greed. He added, "remember this is a society that runs on greed. That sees 'greed as good'".

I find his point difficult to dispute.

I do not in any way condone the behaviour of these mindless thugs who have simply been out 'nicking stuff' in a completely selfish way, without regard or respect for their own communities and in a way which is effectively 'shitting on their own doorstep'.

However, when they (and we) see failure in the banking sector being rewarded by 6, 7 and 8-figure bonuses for individuals while everyone else suffers; when we see barely literate professional footballers being paid more in a week than a qualified nurse will earn in 10 years; when so-called community leaders in local government close libraries but accept double-digit pay rises for themselves, we are seeing the affluent in our society effectively saying 'fuck you' to these young people and indeed to the rest of us.

As I say, I do not condone these looters in any way, but I think I can understand something: I think while we have, for years, said 'fuck you' to these lost people, they are now saying 'fuck you too'.

In the short-term I hope these looters will be locked up and made to understand that the law is sacrosanct.  However, I also hope that we might see this as a wake-up call and evidence that we do really need to address some of these wider issues in our society. I hesitate to use the phrase 'Broken Britain' since it has party political connections, but fixing this problem is critical for people of all backgrounds and political colours. Critical to a prosperous and law-abiding future for this country.

I am a Tory voter who, broadly speaking, believes that Blair and Labour have essentially fucked the economy and left Cameron et. al. with no choice but to try to restore financial solvency and credibility to this country.  I believe in creating an environment in which hard work pays and rewards the individual but also (please note) that the better off in society should contribute to looking after the health and wellbeing of those less able than themselves - i.e I am not a Tea Party-style right winger.

However I do believe that the welfare state has been allowed to billow completely out of control, to the point where many families simply have no incentive to work and where many young people (young girls in particular) see starting a family as a viable, realistic, even desirable career option, allowing them to by-pass social housing waiting lists and settle down to a reasonably comfortable life on benefits, with no need to got out to work.  This is simply not a recipe for the development of a stakeholder-based society in which everyone has roles and responsibilities and a sense of value and pride and has therefore, in my view, contributed crucially to riots/stealing carried out by a disconnected, 'lost' youth who have no sense of law or respect for authority or societal values.

I am also of the view that the looters who have been decimating areas of our city centres for the past several nights should be more robustly challenged by the police (who seem to have been afraid to tackle them for some reason, possibly the threat of future human rights prosecution?) and should be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law - with a combination of custodial and properly organised community work in order that they put right some of the damage they have caused.

My fervent hope is that if these terrible scenes can have a positive legacy it is that our politicians will now understand that the need to fix society in this country is not a slogan, but one of the most pressing realities we now face.

Time for Cameron to 'man up'?

It seems to me that all new Governments start out with ideals and a zest for action, with ideas and a 'can do' attitude.  There are usually some low hanging fruit following on from a previously bankrupt administration in terms of actions and policies and making a difference - 'they got bogged down but it's OK, we're here now, with sharpened tools and motivated ministers: Relax everyone, things will now get better, much better.'

The devil, residing quietly in the detail, smiles indulgently.

It normally takes a few years for the reality that is the civil service, together with their allies in other major public sector bodies like the NHS and Education to take complete control of the agenda and quite often they allow a new regime to win a few minor battles on policy, a few new initiatives that create positive headlines. But in the end it's like a small group of clever, motivated and agile flies, trying to move a massive boulder.

They keep trying, don't get me wrong. They try everything and anything, money, publicity, threats, the moral high ground, they try to undermine the rock, to wobble it, to take away its foundations, they cajole it to move, persuade it, flatter it. But the rock is just bigger, more solid and much more permanent than they are, so eventually they give up on this big difficult stuff and instead move on to easier tasks. They ban hunting, or introduce a freedom of information bill or go to war or sell forests or build runways or railway lines - in short, anything that doesn't involve the impossible task of moving the rock.

And yet. And yet. The rock continues to consume vast amounts of money to operate - exponential amounts as far as the health service is concerned, and health outcomes do continue to improve because of advances in technology and medical science, albeit at a vastly inflated price to everyone. The last government poured £millions into healthcare with little result. Doctors pocketed the extra money and now put in fewer hours of work. Why? Because they could. The checks and balances were not properly worked out and they took advantage of that.  Technological advances mean that this sector is effectively strapped to a vehicle that has an upward trajectory such that poor individual performance is completely offset by gains elsewhere. In other words doctors or even entire hospitals can under-perform spectacularly, but the overall upward momentum is guaranteed by technological advances that consume ever more money but cannot be refused because of the positive statistics compared to the outcomes secured by other forms of investment.

Think of it like the oil industry. Because demand is so universal, so inelastic, the 'industry' can perform as badly as it likes, can be as inefficient as it likes (can take out full page ads in the FT for £20grand a pop talking about 'Beyond Petrolium) but it will still secure massive income because there is no alternative.

Education continues to be (seen as) the most important thing a government can provide: more money is put in, day after day, but outcomes do not improve markedly. But we cannot address this properly for fear of harming the outcomes of our kids - and we all have kids and aspirations for them, so they too are like oil. Not negotiable and not even 'tinkerable' let alone properly changed for the better.  The risk of failure is simply too great.

So we continue to accept a health service that is poorly run and inefficient because it's the best we can do. We continue to put up with an education sector that, if it were a commercial enterprise, would have gone bust every year for decades because of piss poor performance. It is failing our kids and thereby, our country, but is, it seems, too big to move, too big to change.

It's time for this Government to 'man up' and tackle these big ticket items and to stop asking people with vested interests to advise it on policy.  It is time for the change that was promised and time for this government to retrieve these issues from the 'too difficult' drawer and to address them properly once and for all.  Otherwise they will, quite rightly be judged as being full of hot air and spin and PR and ultimately ineffectual.

You have this one chance Mr Cameron, to really make your name on a world and historic stage. It's a big as Thatcher transforming the country by standing up to the miners and it's just as necessary today as that was then. It's time to bring the health service into the modern age with deeds and not just spin and aspiration.  It's time to stand up to the teaching unions - the last refuge of militant laziness - and bring genuine reform and truly modern outcomes for our kids.

Don't blow it.

Are we going down without a fight?

Perhaps one shouldn't blog at this time of night, especially on a day in which Arsenal seem to be in some sort of meltdown but since noone reads this stuff this is really about getting this off my chest. Excuse my french but frankly, I can't help wondering what the fuck is going on at the Emirates. I know that most of this is coming out via the media and not directly from the club itself and you could argue that maintaining a dignified silence while the real negotiations are taking place behind the scenes is a good policy. But it is starting to look as if our rivals are running rings round us both in the boardrooms and in the media and our silence is becoming deafening.

It is now true that we cannot compete financially with many of our rivals and after a relatively 'soft' season in the Premiership the likes of Chel$ki, Citeh and Man-U know that they have to spend big in order to compete next season. The difference is that they can spend big - they can shop in the Harrods of world football whereas we're looking for the sale in John Lewis. Where we have always been able to punch above our weight in the past is by bringing on younger players and putting them into a system that is more than a match for our rivals - we are (were) closer to the 'total football' displayed by Barca than anyone else in the Premiership last year. But if we cannot keep the top quality 'core' of that team and build upon it, especially by shoring up what was a woeful defense towards the end of the season, then we are not just looking at another season without a trophy, we're looking at a situation in which we'll have to let the big three (financially) go ahead and be left competing to be the best of the rest against the likes of Liverpool, Spuds, Villa et al.

We cannot go on building a young team for the future and then selling that future every time the big money men come calling.  We've fucked up (again apologies, see previous) contractually with Nasri, we've not yet plugged the defense and it looks like we might have to (have to? why for god's sake) accept the departure of Cesc for less than the £45-75 million that he's worth (given the value of other transfers recently).

If we don't secure some big name players and quickly, we'll be seen by the world as a second rate team. A selling club. A training ground for the top clubs, rather than being a top club. I hope that our silence is an indication of quiet confidence with big news in the pipeline, but I fear that we're about to squander, again, the potential that has been so carefully nurtured by Wenger at the club.

Frustrating and worrying times to be a Gooner.