Thirty years ago this evening, the last time I saw The Jam in concert, it’s the next ACLF playlist. Anyway, with apologies to Paul Weller:
You better stop dreaming of the quiet life cos it’s a football club we knew
And quit chasing that runaway ball because those rosey days are few
And stop apologising for the signings that never come
‘Cos time is short and Arsenal’s tenth
So it’s up to us to change this club called malice
Rows and rows of disused players on loan at clubs near and far
And a bench of lonely substitutes clutch empty first team dreams to their hearts
Handing in their transfer requests for clubs that never buy
Their wages high enough to stop them leaving as the fans become upset and furious
At a club called malice
Victories are a struggle,
Fourth year after year
The atmosphere’s ain’t that nice
There’s abuse in the stand and on the interweb
About a club called malice
A whole stand’s belief
In Santi’s magic feet
Gets dashed in front of the Clock End
To either cut down on beer or Theo’s new deal
It’s a big decision at a club called malice
The ghosts of Bergkamp, Pires and Henry haunt Giroud as he leads the Arsenal attack
Every move is bound for nowhere, the ball ends up in the crowd
Placards on kids and creaking seats, there’s no laughter in the eaves
Arshavin could on for now, Aaron Ramsey probably will
It’s time to put some joy back into a club called malice
Arsesession.
“Arsenal needs to buy a couple of game changers, like a Fellaini. Arsenal seem leaderless.”
Spot on.
Merlot @ 9:42
I agree with Arsesession. We have plenty of good players but this squad lacks impact players and game changers. I recognize its a risk to spend a lot on 1 or 2 players but that’s the sort of player this team needs. I am not campaigning for messi or falcao but if we are going to spend let’s get a real difference maker.
Give it up, arsene. The managers email, I mean.
Yogi.
I just listened to the clip in your post from The Jam and looked at the lyrics you wrote again.
DAMN, You are good!!!
.
Dont Read it.I believe it is not compulsory.
felliani and baines..
raid everton in january..
“raid Everton in jan..”
who do u think we are JonJon, Manchester Shitty?…Chelski?
Get a gooner grip!
@Highbury if you’re around.
Had to dash off to meetings yesterday and missed your reply so only able to respond now.
The Harare comment was just that, an observation based on the thought on how much the world has changed and moved on.
It was not any sort of expectation on my part that you would use the name that was in use at the time. I think you’re being a tad over-sensitive and took that completely the wrong way.
Similarly, I think you were getting way to specific on your definition of what criteria could be used to judge whether Arsenal were a recognisable brand outside England.
Even in your recent iterations of goalpost shifting, you were “surprised” that wasnt taking into account that according to DSTV Arsenal had gone from 3rd in the “big 3″ list in Africa to 1st in that list.
Then you basically intimated that for Arsenal to have been an internationally renowned club they would have to be the discussion of topic of choice amongst a specific racial category in a bars in cities in Africa.
Neither of those two were anywhere close to being the point of the discussion.
Firstly, no-one was discussing whether Arsenal was 1st 2nd or 3rd in the list at any point, in fact the point that Arsenal was anywhere in any list like that supports the point that Arsenal always were a world brand. Discussing the comparative hierarchical position of that brand amongst a limited group of peers is another discussion entirely.
Secondly, whether a specific demographic was aware of Arsenal or not was not the point of the discussion either. The fact that there were large groups of fans around the world, of ANY demographic, and clubs were named after Arsenal, indicates that Arsenal was a recognised brand outside of England.
Thirdly, you have absolutely no idea what my circle was or how large it was. It might have been a boarding school which might have given you the impression that it was a small, isolated community, but we had students from Zambia, (what is now)Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mocambique, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Taiwan, Bermuda Islands, UK, Canary Islands, and many others, so it was a little less isolated than you might have thought.
@Bob
I agree, the e-mail grates, but then I’ve felt that about them ever since they started.
It’s not Wenger composing a mail, it’s some lacky piecing it together from his various interviews and quotes, so it never comes across as credible to me anyway.
That said, I am a little ambivalent about Wenger’s response at the moment.
Part of me is happy he’s come out swinging, which shows me there’s still fight left in him.
Another part of me is worried that he’s pulling a PG and has plunged his head into the sand.
The solace I cling to is the hope that he’s aware of the issues and will open his eyes to work it out.
He’s perfectly correct that we have to find a solution before January anyway, and that there is quality in the squad.
I don’t buy the drivel about it being “fashionable” to criticize Arsenal atm.
There has always been an element out with the knives, but right now intelligent people are asking hard questions that are valid, so there is a concern that the swinging is coupled with blind stubborness to be proven right instead of a determination to fix the problem.
Time will tell.
http://tinyurl.com/cdkg5gb
Makes you wonder whether following football is worth it after seeing this.
That is shocking, dups.
Too much bloody hype in the game. Too many emotions running way too high Very little sense of balance or common sense.
Agree with cBob re the manager’s email. It always goes into my junk folder. On the rare occasions that I retrieve it, it really isn’t worth the effort of the extra clicks!
Yet another failure of the Aresenal media team.
George with his head in the sand……never.
So did we establish wether we were any good before Wenger ?
So maybe Wenger is just leaving us where he found us then.
Be sensible about life Bob and leave sense out of football, winning is the only thing that can make sense of the EPL.
After all, ‘Participating in a run around,’ doesn’t wash with the U9s let alone when they are being paid equivalent to a stinkingly wealthy persons yearly salary every week….. to kick a fucking ball around.
They used to do it for fun and team and local pride. Going back to YW’s earlier point this week about a ‘splinter’ European League – maybe it should be a Super League for non-sustainable football Clubs and the Financial Dopers can go jack up in Little Napoleon Michel’s living room and leave us alone.
Or is that why they created the Championship?
Today’s post
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=10142