... or is it?!
"Is it down to the lake I fear? Ay, ya, ya-ya yaaa ya! Ay, ya, ya-ya ya yaaa ya ya!"
Well, someone was bound to refer to the Haircut 100 song after that headline, so I thought I'd get in first. Anyway...
What a mess this club is in. On Friday I posted a plea to matchgoing fans to get behind the team, as the players need all the help they can get. We all know what happened on the pitch so I won't go on about that.
You will have seen that in the early hours of Sunday morning, we published a letter which we'd sent to Ivan Gazidis, expressing our deep concern over the state of things at the club. This was by no means a knee-jerk reaction following Saturday's lame defeat; it followed a summer where we'd made a decision not to pester the club. We wanted to give them a chance to act with ambition and focus, but yet again it's been another summer of Arsenal doing nothing.
To say the letter received some interest is an understatement. The news article on our website attracted over 130,000 hits, we've picked up a hell of a lot of new followers across social media, the letter received national press coverage, we've had over 1,000 new members join the BSM, and our mailboxes are overflowing.
A fair few people have asked us whether we think Ivan Gazidis will respond. With the amount of coverage our letter received, I'd like to think that he or someone else from the club will have the courtesy of sending a reply. It would be foolish not to, in my opinion.
As for the position the club finds itself in, we now have less than two weeks until the transfer window closes and yet again there's talk, and more talk about who we're looking to sign. Today I've seen more about Ashley Williams (yes please), and Michu (yes, he'll do too) in a double swoop on Swansea. Not the mega signings that would necessarily bring the Bergkamp and Campbell kind of excitement among fans, but we'll take pretty much anyone now please! Strangely, today I've also seen Paul Pogba linked. Paul Pogba, the bloke who got released by Man United? Seriously?!
Only thing is, as we hurtle towards that window slamming shut, it becomes even more of a seller's market. You know Arsene Wenger always says how much he hates the January transfer window because desperate clubs are taken for a ride by sellers who demand higher transfer fees? Well we're about to walk into that overpriced shop now. I've seen Michu being touted at £25m today... that's what we'll get for leaving it late.
Uncle Ivan's words in June about our "financial firepower" would have alerted any sellers at that point, anyway. "Arsenal have loads of cash, let's up the price a bit". However, we've now got to the point where the season has started, we've lost our opening game at home to a team we should beat every time, we're desperate, and the wheels of the trolley are being oiled for the latest dash. We'd better take along an extra few quid with us on that dash, because our piss poor dawdling has put us in an absolutely poxy position.
All summer I've seen the uber-positive types tell fidgety fans to stay calm, that it will all be okay. As the days and weeks have passed, the messages have become a bit more frantic. And a bit more, and a bit more. The last time I checked, it was at Chip Diller (played by a young Kevin Bacon) in Animal House level. Now those people have either passed out, been trampled under the waves of realists and/or 'moaners', or they've given up hope themselves. Feeling among fans is the lowest I've ever seen, and the blame for that lies squarely at the feet of those running our club.
The clock is ticking. Still. And sellers are rubbing their hands together. For the sake of the club, the team, and more than all, the mistreated fans, come on Arsene, Ivan, and Dick Law. Pull your fingers out and get busy. Now.
Up The Gunners
'Highbury Harold'
Well, someone was bound to refer to the Haircut 100 song after that headline, so I thought I'd get in first. Anyway...
What a mess this club is in. On Friday I posted a plea to matchgoing fans to get behind the team, as the players need all the help they can get. We all know what happened on the pitch so I won't go on about that.
You will have seen that in the early hours of Sunday morning, we published a letter which we'd sent to Ivan Gazidis, expressing our deep concern over the state of things at the club. This was by no means a knee-jerk reaction following Saturday's lame defeat; it followed a summer where we'd made a decision not to pester the club. We wanted to give them a chance to act with ambition and focus, but yet again it's been another summer of Arsenal doing nothing.
To say the letter received some interest is an understatement. The news article on our website attracted over 130,000 hits, we've picked up a hell of a lot of new followers across social media, the letter received national press coverage, we've had over 1,000 new members join the BSM, and our mailboxes are overflowing.
A fair few people have asked us whether we think Ivan Gazidis will respond. With the amount of coverage our letter received, I'd like to think that he or someone else from the club will have the courtesy of sending a reply. It would be foolish not to, in my opinion.
As for the position the club finds itself in, we now have less than two weeks until the transfer window closes and yet again there's talk, and more talk about who we're looking to sign. Today I've seen more about Ashley Williams (yes please), and Michu (yes, he'll do too) in a double swoop on Swansea. Not the mega signings that would necessarily bring the Bergkamp and Campbell kind of excitement among fans, but we'll take pretty much anyone now please! Strangely, today I've also seen Paul Pogba linked. Paul Pogba, the bloke who got released by Man United? Seriously?!
Only thing is, as we hurtle towards that window slamming shut, it becomes even more of a seller's market. You know Arsene Wenger always says how much he hates the January transfer window because desperate clubs are taken for a ride by sellers who demand higher transfer fees? Well we're about to walk into that overpriced shop now. I've seen Michu being touted at £25m today... that's what we'll get for leaving it late.
Uncle Ivan's words in June about our "financial firepower" would have alerted any sellers at that point, anyway. "Arsenal have loads of cash, let's up the price a bit". However, we've now got to the point where the season has started, we've lost our opening game at home to a team we should beat every time, we're desperate, and the wheels of the trolley are being oiled for the latest dash. We'd better take along an extra few quid with us on that dash, because our piss poor dawdling has put us in an absolutely poxy position.
All summer I've seen the uber-positive types tell fidgety fans to stay calm, that it will all be okay. As the days and weeks have passed, the messages have become a bit more frantic. And a bit more, and a bit more. The last time I checked, it was at Chip Diller (played by a young Kevin Bacon) in Animal House level. Now those people have either passed out, been trampled under the waves of realists and/or 'moaners', or they've given up hope themselves. Feeling among fans is the lowest I've ever seen, and the blame for that lies squarely at the feet of those running our club.
The clock is ticking. Still. And sellers are rubbing their hands together. For the sake of the club, the team, and more than all, the mistreated fans, come on Arsene, Ivan, and Dick Law. Pull your fingers out and get busy. Now.
Up The Gunners
'Highbury Harold'
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