Our Arsenal will not change untill Gazidis and Kroenke leave!

The problem is not Wenger, it's the board. Let's persuade the board to re-install Mr Dein. I'm sure that would be hard but it's worth a try.

I have been attending the match vs Man City last sunday, arsenal charged me £ 95,70 for a ticket (incl booking fees) for the clock-end upper. I was astonished to find out that the touts around Holloway were willing to sell from £ 80,00 (And maybe less if I tried a little haggling).

I am 25 years old and am a lifelong Arsenal fan. Unfortunatley- due to geographical location and a lack of money I am only able to attend 3-4 home games a year, however, I watch all of the games with fellow Arsenal fans at the local pub.
Whilst I think that some of the views put forward on this page are very sensible, realistic and a good way of moving the club in the right direction, I also feel that it is totally wrong to even consider boycotting our home games. Fair enough if you want to boycott the food, drink and merchandise stalls run by the club, in protest but I simply cannot understand how you can expect the team to win if they have an empty stadium to play in. I'm sorry but I just don't understand. No doubt when the bad results come at "home" you will all be calling for Arsene Wengers' head- when infact it'll be down to the empty ground and the lack of support from the "fans". The players both need and DESERVE our support.
I agree that aspects of our cherished club need to be changed; the ticket prices are quite frankly outrageous and the boards' austerity- whilst admirable- is leaving us miles behind the Manchester clubs in the race for silverware. But this is not the fault of Arsene Wenger or the players. From what I can see most players give their all every single week and I think that to question their effort is wrong. Players such as Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Thomas Vermaelen, Santi Cazorla and others run themselves into the ground every single game to the point where I spend the last 15 minutes of games praying that they won't get injured through giving too much.
To conclude, I think the best way to express views to the board over the issue of ticket pricing and lack of investment into the team is to write to them and attend the AGMs. Where Has Our Arsenal Gone should continue the good work they are doing by continuing to write to Ivan Gazidis, making petitions and highlighting the issues that supporters have. If this does not work and boycotting becomes the only option, I hope that the true Arsenal supporters continue to attend the games and give our full support to the players. Instead we should refuse to pay for food, drink and merchandise inside the ground until the board take notice.
Up the Gunners!

I used to watch Arsenal regularly in the 80s and 90s with my brother. It was a relatively cheap day out - nowadays it is a treat! Hence I only get to 1 or 2 games a season. I find the atmosphere so far removed from what it used to be at Highbury. At the last game I went to, two tourists got up and left at half time - having sat mutely through the first half! Many 'supporters' around me didn't engage with the game in any way and therefore I presume were also passing through! I feel very disappointed with the way the club that I have supported for many years is going. It is run by a board purely interested in commercial issues and making money, satisfied with 4th place and from the reports I read about the last AGM, totally uncaring and disinterested in the views of real Arsenal fans. I wonder what would happen if fans did stage a protest and stay away? Would they care? I would love to attend more games but won't be able to whilst the extortionate ticket prices remain - perhaps the prices will drop when we don't get 4th place, a very distinct possibility this season. We are simply not good enough and even worse, several of our players lack passion and ambition. Several half hearted displays this season prove that. Give us back our Arsenal! Well done to the BSM for trying to do something.

After yet another disappointingly predictable defeat at the weekend it is again compounded by Wengers complete indifference and apathy....I have been an Arsenal fan since first going to Highbury in 1977 and the current apathy within the club breaks my heart..no ambition,no direction and no desire.....when the season starts and almost immediately Wenger is talking about coming 4th that just about sums up the club at the moment. I think Wenger has gone from being one of the best managers in our history to possibly the worst....he has presided over the current malaise while making no attempt to address our obvious shortcomings and where at one time he used to buy strong,powerful, athletic players...now he just buys players nobody else seems to want ( I accept he bought 3 good players this summer )..but players like Santos, Squillaci,Park.????....I cannot honestly believe he had ever seen any of these guys play or he would surely never have bought them and some of the players from the "developing" squad that he spent years telling us to be patient about...despite the fact that it was obvious to everybody else but him that they weren't very good we now can't even give away...(djorrou, bendtner, denilson etc). I have been saying for years that we will never, ever win another trophy while Wenger continues to mismanage us and the club continues to be driven by greed and I have never felt so disillusioned as an Arsenal supporter. On the plus side it was great to see that Man City returned 900 tickets as their fans were reluctant to pay the extortionate £62 a ticket, costing the club £55,800.....it would be great if some of our own supporters started boycotting games ( I gave up my season ticket 4 seaons ago because I refused to continue supporting the current regime ) as the only way to make the club sit up and take notice is to stop giving them our money.....as long as we keep buying tickets without questioning current club policy the greedy will continue using the club as a cash cow with no concern or regard for us supporters.

Iv been an Arsenal fan for 14 years, since I was 5 years old. I'll always support the club even if we were relegated and ended up playing playing Macclesfifeld Town every week, i'd turn up and cheer and sing. I hate how this once great club has become more of a business than a football club. Comparing our team now to the team from the invincibles season in 2003/04 to our team now is just a joke. Too many average passionless players earning far too much money. All paid for by the fans. We pay the highest ticket prices around and have to lump signing 14 year old kids who turn out to either be useless (Amaury Bischoff) or bugger off the second they become good (Samir Nasri). Its just not good enough, I see one player on the pitch that will fight and give every ounce of his energy to play to the best of his ability and to try spur the team on. Jack Wilshere. If we carry on down the very slippery path we are currently on, he will be off too. Some people inside the club really need to be reminded that first and formost we are a football club. The way we perform on the pitch matters. Making us pay extraordinary ticket prices to watch a load of passionless deadbeats walk around the pitch and over play the ball for 90 minutes every week is not right by any stretchj of the imagination. We want our passion back. We want our pride back. We want OUR ARSENAL back!

I still don't think handing our club over to Usmanov/Red & White is the answer. All he wants is dividend money!

wenger out.... pep in !

totally agree with Mr B .... STOP buying all food drink programmes and merchandise......also all season ticket holders could agree to take a GAP year break ... that 'll hurt the club financially !

Years ago a question appeared in the programme "Why don't Arsenal list runners up in the honours page?"
The answer was "If others feel the need to boost their honours list with things they have lost then it's up to them, we have more pride than that or words to that effect.

Is qualifying for the champions league like a trophy? I don't think so

Does being in the champions league attract the best players, apparently it does but we will never know becuase we have never bought one.

Could Wenger honestly say, had he been Arsenal Manager when Bergkamp was for sale he would have bought him

With Chelsea and Man City not as consistant has they used to be and the fact that Man Utd are only being bailed out by RVP
I can't help thinking did we sell the Title for £25 Million ? And I ask the money man Ivan Cashgreediz what's the nett loss on that then?

To Highlite the exudsus from Arsenal, Theo has become one of our best players without actually having to improve his game.

My first game at Arsenal was in 1975 we won the cup in 1979 and nothing again until George won the League cup in 1987
One trophy in 12 years. Didn't feel anything like this though.

i have been an arsenal fan for six years. 10 years ago, arsenal was club praised among everyone across the world. the invincibles season and lets not forget how we were 15 mins away to winning the champions league. Arsenal was always a title and european title challenging team that was known in all areas of europe. the real downfall was not when we lost to birminghamin the league cup final or barca, it was he fact we let the man who lead arsenal to becoming the predominant force in europe slip through our fingers. Ever since fabregas has left the club, we have turned into a team that start bad and finish the season on a high. for a team like arsenal, trophies should be coming in every season. but why?, the board are too interested in the profit coming into the club rather than the success of the club. Gazidis shows no desire for the club and kroenke is a man who just cares in the shares. if theres anything that they care about on the pitch its whether we finish fourth or not. as for wenger, fail to make arsenal finish below 7th by the end of this seaon then he might as well get the axe. yet, i am baffeled by some arsenal fans saying that we should keep wenger?, really?. we lose to a team 64 places below us and find our self in a tricky situation ( although winning 3 league games in a row). adding onto that, we have a draw against a team who has won the champions league four times and are on their way to a record breaking season. This season is set to be arsenals worst in the record books in all the 16 years arsene has reigned on. Wheres arsenal going to end up if we have players like gervinho, chamakh and squillachi in the team. Wenger MUST spend during the january transfer and spend all of the 70 MILLION arsene has in his pockets. otherwise, the club will be in perish.

I am a Northampton Town fan. We pay £19 per game in LEAGUE 2. Swindon Town charged us £25 to go away last year in LEAGUE 2. Clubs know our loyalty borders on addiction and will not stop rising ticket prices. We need a TICKET PRICE CAP NOW! Now is your chance to do something positive to stop the profiteering once and for all. Call for a 1 day strike for a TICKET PRICE CAP!

im jay and im a huge arsenal fan , its a joke the way our club has gone im really dissapointed in the way the team performs each week and the attitude of the players , i think we dont work hard enough as a team and where shit in defence and i dont understand why wenger doesnt work on the defence , im also a big fan of the bsm and the work there doing for the fans , bsm bsm bsm

To coin a phrase from Shakespear about the best of times and worst of times this is how I will remember the Wenger years. To entirely blame Wenger would be wrong in the sense that he was only part of a regieme that turned the club I have followed since 1972 into a joke and possibly the most unambitious big club in history. Only a cleasing from Weger up will stop this mailaise, as a true football fan I understand that there must be lean years ,I cannot accept the pure acceptance from within the club that 4th is enough and nothing else matters. This acceptance has rubbed off on the players which is evident in continued under performing. Time for change or lose Arsenal for generations.

Boycott of buying Arsenal goods------Could we start a boycott of all Aresnal goods from the 1/1/2013 not tickets has we still must susport our team! but have a boycott of buying food, drink, programs and all goods from the Aresnal shops till we start to spend our £150 million we have in the bank ---------

you no spend , we no spend ---------

hit the broad where it hurts in the pocket!!

Hey all, my wife and I have been Arsenal supporters for many many years. Although we are from South Africa and probably will never really understand the situation in London(England), we are however avid & passionate Arsenal supporters. In the last 7yrs the team has seen many changes and still no silverware. The manager and board however are still the same. You do the math yourself. Those two areas needs addressing. For my wife and I we feel strongly Wenger needs to go. He unfortunately has no clue as to direct his team, to break down a 10 man defence. Last nights Bradford game proves this once again. Sir Alex knows how this is done, hence Man U's Premier League position. I do not believe that Man U's player individually are better than Arsenal's current squad. Their coach is just better at directing them into a powerful force. The board needs changing and Arsene needs to be replaced I am afraid. Buying a whole lot of top players will also not solve our dilemma. Thx

Hello

I have been following Arsenal for a while now. Although, I live in the US, I still watch every single game even if I have to wait early in the morning to do so. It has been several painful years since we last won a trophy.

But that is not why I am writing this to you today. Today I witnessed something I had never seen before. Today I witnessed a below average PL team get thrashed by a team 64 places below in the pyramid. Yes, I am talking indeed of Bradford City beating us. I do not care how good they played, but our team boasting of some of the "top quality" players was simplye pathetic. It would be easy to blame a single person for a loss, but in my opinion Gervinho is probably the worst player wearing that shirt.

There is only one way of making our voices heard since we obviously cannot run a riot. I request you all to please stop going to games and stop buying their merchandise. All these years I convinced myself that we are still a very good team on the day than the likes of Man Utd or Chelsea. But now I have realized that we are nothing but absolute shite! It is sad and it is only the right thing to admit that we are indeed pathetic and we will be for some time to come.

I am not calling for our board or AW to go. If all that we are told by the media are to be true, then yes they need to go. I have been a great admirer of AW throughout my life but it pains for me to say that enough is enough! We, the fans, dont deserve this. I can only imagine the agony that season pass holders and other travelling fans go through each time they see the team lose in a rather horrible way. It would be better if at least the boys put up a fight. But going down without one is just painful to see.

AW's policies have been employed for several years now. They worked on a number of occassions but they are not, anymore. A new management and a new era beckons if we are ever to compete at a level. And this can be only be done if we dont support the club for now. I know Arsenal lives in all of us and always will. But I feel we are being taken granted for. And it is up to us, the fans, to take charge of what belongs to us. Indeed, we need our arsenal back.

I hope I make a difference.

Gooner for life.

At last, I realise I am not alone .....

We are now into our 4th generation of Arsenal fans , my grandparents stood on the clock end every week with my Mum , I had a season ticket for years , followed the team home and away through the lean years of the 80's and my 3 sons were succesfully baptised into the fold. We were there on the last day at Highbury and the first at the new ground . ( I can't call it after a foreign airline )

Our visits have become less and less . Last season we managed a single game ( Man City in the league cup) , we sat in seats that the following week would have cost us £350. ( £500 this year)

This season it is all but over, having paid £150 to renew our 4 membership cards ( we can't give them up without going to the bottom of the list) we then can't afford to go. My hope is that the new pricing strategy will go next year ( some hope) but it is clear it is having an impact. Tickets for Man City , Liverpool and Tottenham would have sold out in the first few minutes of the silver level sale date. If you weren't sitting by the computer first thing then forget it. Currently there are whole blocks available for the Man City game weeks after they went on sale but at £72.50 and £82.50 for a seat who can be surprised.

I do not have detailed knowledge of the clubs financial policy. My understanding is that the repayment of loans for the stadium is going well and the club is in a healthy state . I abhor the approach taken by other premier league clubs , Man City , Chelsea etc which are ruining competitiveness and pushing up salaries. Man Utd are in a mad position where the interest payments on their loans is enough to allow them to admit their fans in free every week if they did not have to pay them back .However, the policy is affecting the team . I am not sure if it is the lack of available funds or AW's more recent lack of success in picking winners in the transfer market which is the problem but the team is not performing . It was not reassuring to hear that 3 of our subs in Greece were Swiss . .. no matter what their potential what happend to the huge investment in the training academy ...can it not deliver quality English players ?

Well done for starting to fight back ! I was always proud to support Arsenal for their tradition and the fact that there was ' the Arsenal Way' . In some respects they still adhere to some of the old principals but they seem set on a path to alientate the fans. It will have an impact .. attendance is falling , it is hidden because they always declare attendance including all season tickets when we can clearly see rows of empty seats. They will not be able to do this once the non season ticket holder sales continue to fall off.

I have to say I have become more and more fed up with whats been going on at this club. Since David Dein left it seems there is no connection between the fans and the board. The rich seem to get richer and the fans get nothing.......no investment in the team.....no trophies.....nothing!!! The yank seems to have no interest in the club he has invested in and hardly ever shows up and now has invested 83m of the clubs money into his new Ranch......well enough is enough. Its about time the board realised that the fans give everything to this club and they give nothing.
I am not anti-Wenger, I think he is as fed up as the fans are and its beginning to show, he wants a successful side, a powerful winning team that others fear but he is not getting the vocal or financial support and I fear we will lose the manager that has given the fans what they wanted, a team that competed against the very best and was once feared. How can we be feared when we sell our best players to the very teams we are meant to be competing against??
Its time for the board to give the reigns to someone willing to invest in the TEAM, invest for the FANS and give us back what we had....a winning team with a winning mentality and feared by most. Usmanov and Dein would bring back those glory years and re-invigerate Wenger which is what we all want to see.
Arsenal FC is not an investment bank, its not a money making organisation....its a Football team fist and foremost and needs to be given the love and investment needed to make it the team we all once cherished. I am fed up losing to teams like Norwich and Swansea, nothing against them, they are well run family clubs but Arsenal FC should be better than them, is better than them and its time to give us them back!!

Lived in Avenell Road (corner of Lucerne, number 121 if you want to have a look) from when I was born until I moved to the countryside when aged 6. Remember my mum doing tea for the programme seller who used to stand outside the house. I used to look after cars parked by the supporters for 6d a time. My dad, god rest his soul, took me to my first game in November 1959, a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Hammers; that was big step for us both because he used to take my mum to watch Spurs when they were courting ! Big step for me because it set off a love affair with the Arsenal. I couldn't get to games after moving from London and, frankly, we couldn't afford it. I'd save up my pocket money and went to games when I could. Used to watch northern away games when I went to Uni at Hull and, having got a decent job afterwards, started going regularly. Purchased my first season ticket in 1979.
You felt proud to support the Arsenal, a club that placed its emphasis on tradition and doing things the right way. I'd lap up the stories about Norris, Chapman, Bastin, Rooke et al and, even if the football wasn't great and there were better teams out there, Highbury just oozed class. What other club could boast the Metropolitan Police Band. And Arsenal built on that until they moved home.

I'm not sure I recognise the old girl these days, it's almost as if she's gone doolally tap and doesn't know me; screens telling me to cheer, co-ordinated name-shouting, Elvis Presley, over-priced food and clothing, no peanut sellers, no roasted chestnut sellers, no singing, no standing, the club telling me how I ought to feel about my own team, no banners unless approved for content and design. Worst of all ? The fact that, as a season ticket holder, I have to pay more for this than the man who buys his ticket from match to match. And I have to pay for it up front. That's what the club thinks of my support. I was never one for buying team shirts or merchandise but I made sure that the kids were well stocked; not no more, I'm not supporting a regime that has no regard for its own supporters. I won't buy any food or drink from Arsenal and I haven't bought a programme for about 2 years now. The only thing left is the season ticket. I haven't decided what to do yet but I can see myself thanking the old girl for all the good times we had and walking off into the sunset, leaving her to see out the rest of her befuddled days in the comfort of the nurses in the care home. 53 years is a long time, old girl, but your condition doesn't look as though it's going to improve. That game against Wigan on 12th May could be an emotional one - a reminder of a final game not so long ago that marked the end of an era.

I think that our club is getting worse. We only sign foreigners, bring 1 or 2 through the youth system and keep foreskin face for our manager, and for what? no trophies in how long???? Spurs have won more trophies than us in the last 6 years. Steve Bould was a great appointment wasn't he? home defeat to Swansea in last 5 mins on the counter. Michu raped us. Our away kit, what the hell is that? it looks like a dennis the menace shirt for gays. We have this nice big stadium but our ticket prices are a rip off and we don't even sing, well, when we're winning we do but other than that, you can hear a pin drop. Corzola is our best player, but what player in the right mind would want to come to Arsenal? RVP - see ya, Song - see ya, Nasri - see ya, Toure - see ya, etc, etc. Our club is a joke.

As i remember it the canon could stay as it was but the design was already oened outside UK so with Internet etc Arsenal couldn,t use it global so to me the canon being a disappointment was neccessary as to all else i agree with BSM the thing that amazed me was at the time y all fans seemed to like this selfstainable reteric didn,t they know what it ment it means u the fans pay and we the owners never put our hand in our pocket not to take money out of them anyway Kronke is not rich enough to do it any other way he has no claim to Walmart money or access to his wifes billions he has about 1.2 b of which about 800m is assets not cold cash he had to borrow over 400m to buy Arsenal ps. no one go to games no one renew there tickets u r being robbed watching 3rd raters force the board ie. Kronke out force to sell to Usmanov a man with 18B who doesn,t want to make a profit doesn,t need to make a profit like the Shieks and who will inject say 500M the day after he buys

The sooner we go back to playing how we did before Wenger came along and walked all over our history with all his fancy ideas, the better. Fancy dan players like Henry, Vieira, Overmars, Van Persie and Fabregas won't win you anything. We need to get back to the days of where we could attract the really big names like Bould, Morrow, Hillier, Helder, Winterburn, Limpar and Swartz. . If we sacked Wenger tomorrow, it's guaranteed we'd have Mourinho, Guardiola or Klopp in by Thursday, closely followed by all the top players in Europe who would have been clamouring to play for us for the last 15 years were it not for the shame of having to play under a manager such as Arsene Wenger. We need Tony Adams to come in as manager to bring back some Arsenal pride and passion and to attract the really big names back to the club. Why shoudn't we be winning the league ahead of Man City and Chelsea just because they can afford to invest the best part of a billion pounds on players over the last three years.

I've just read this idea elsewhere so won't claim it as my own, but I love it.

How about the 1,000s of empty season ticket holder seats are given out to local teenagers at half time? For free.

The club needs to reconnect with a more local fanbase and ensure we protect the long-term future die hard fans coming through.

As a Liverpool fan, who follows my team home and away i wish you all the best in your campaign. Arsenal are (were) a wonderful insititution and a clun hiolding traditional values not dissimilar to ourselves

It is sad to see a club driven in the manner it currently is.

I hope you succeed in getting Arsenal back and being able to attract the kids back to watching your team iun the future

Kopitedave

I have been a Arsenal fan since 2000. I was there listening to all the lies and crap we hear whenever we lose a match. Its TIME Arsenal fans stand up against board and importantly Wenger..Wenger is still i 1990s. Rather than just demostrations outside stadium, Arsenal fans need to do more. The current crop of players are not playing for the club. "STOP GOING TO STADIUM ON MATCHDAY. LET IT BE KNOWN TO THE MANAGEMENT AND TEAM THAT WE DONT SUPPORT THEM UNTIL THEY START FIGHTING ON PITCH. LET THERE BE EMPTY SEATS, A LOT OF THEM. LET THE EMPTY SEATS TELL THAT WE DONT SETTLE FOR A 4TH PLACE FINISH, NOTHING LESS THAN THETITLE.LET PLAYERS AND MANAGER COME TO THE FANS. LET IT BE KNOWN THAT FANS ARE THE HEART OF FOOTBALL CLUB NOT SPONSORSHIP DEALS.

I am ashamed that as a passionate Arsenal fan since I was 10 yers old (43 years ago) I have not discoverd the BSM. Like 1000's of others, I have allowed my faith in the club's hierachy to overshadow the reality. Arsenal FC care very little for their normal, everyday supporters who have the red and white blood flowing through their veins.

I have only been to the Emirates an average of 1 game per season since we moved from our beloved Highbury, partly because of cost, but mainly because of the widening gap between the Club and everyday supporters.

I read a letter on the website earlier about the experiences of 1975 and it could have been me writing it. I saw 40 league games out of 42 that season, we played crap, but every player gave 100% in every game and it was evident that they played for the shirt.

That is evedently missing and in my opinion, the Arsenal players work the least hard of every club in the Premiership.

There is no easy fix, but I urge every supporter to join the BSM as I have done today and campaign for a voice to win our Club back from the faceless people who pretend to love the club as we do.

I was a young boy and for my 11th birthday my sisters boyfriend took me to Highbury to see Arsenal v West Ham , this was over 50 years ago , Billy Wright was the manager , we stood on the lower tier of the west stand and could see the Beverley Sisters in the three seats in the centre of the East stand,we watched the band of the Met Police marching up and down the pitch and heard Consrtable Alex Morgan sing and the Arsenal Song played to the tune of Anchors Away ,i can remember George Eastham , Joe Baker , Jim Furnell and an up and coming forward John Radford , we paid 5 bob each [ 25p ] and stood in a crowd of over 58,000. This was my baptism , i was hooked ! For the last 50 years i've gone whenever possible either by myself with friends and in later years with my wife who is also a comitted and dedicated Gooner , i was there when they won the return leg of the fairs cup final [ i still have a handfull of grass from the pitch ] i was there when they beat the " spuds " 4-0 which prompted the song Aye aye aye aye , Chivers makes lousy jelly and arsenal beat tottenham hotspur 4-0 and Sammels is better than Pele . i was there when we beat the Mancs 4-0 and Peter Storey never let Besty get a look in and Bob Wilson made a fabulous save at the feet of Best . i was there when we played warm up games against Glasgow Rangers and got showered in glass when they were hurling bottles in the North Bank , i was there when we won and lost at Wembley i've was there when we had great teams who played with " Team Spirit , i was there when we had poor teams , i was there when we left Highbury , i was there when we moved into the Emirates and saw Denis Bergkamps farewell [ boy how we miss him ] and i'll tell you what , i'll still be there through thick and thin because its MY ARSENAL , i cant get to every game now , it costs £40 for two train tickets £88 for two match day tickets , a programme , drinks and eats after the game , you do the maths . my how i wish i had to live on £80,000 per week , John Radford told me his highest wage was £180 and that was after he left Arsenal .Supporters are now having to finance the ridiculous wages of players whose only loyalty is to their bank accounts . It always has and should always be OUR ARSENAL , the board must take note of our feelings and act accordingly . My dying wish is to see My Arsenal where they should be at the top of the premiership playing football with panache and attracting admirers , weve done it before and we will do it again and i hope i'm still there either on the Bank or Under the Clock to see it . My blood will always be Red !.

Well done for those who attended the event yesterday despite a cold weather. Nevertheless, I'm sceptical about effectiveness of such an action as I can't help thinking that the demonstration is for participants themselves to release frustration, not to a message to the board. I don't mean that the event is useless but the way the event was handled didn't look most effective.

Firstly I wonder if it was possible to do that inside the stadium during the game. They could have sung songs against the board throughout the game when viewers around the world were watching. Gadizis may not have noticed even the presence of such an event let along what they sung outside. Alternatively, you could have kept quiet (quieter than a library) for the whole game even though the team scored (no need to worry about the yesterday's game, though). Secondly, the best way is to boycotting. I guess that most of those who attended the game watched the game after the event was over because once the game was under way, everything went as usual as any game. Showing a big hole of empty seat section where the most passionate supporter to the world through TV is also as damaging as the method as I mentioned earlier.

Gadizis and the board can ignore these fans easily and they know that the ignorance doesn't damage the club's operation. Firstly, they know that fans come back to the club despite any ongoing troubles or problem. The fact that participants who attended the demonstration watched the game at their usual seats as if nothing happened beforehand proved it. Secondly, even though we pay arguably the most expensive tickets at any regular sport event in the world, the biggest financial contribution to the club is not from tickets sales but from sponsor deals and TV deals. Therefore, his attention to Gooners can be kept minimum as long as they don't harm club's image and commercial activities. The Arsenal board and Abramocvic of Chelsea are, to some extent, the same since neither cares about fans. However, we have more chances than the Chelsea counterpart as their money comes from him, which means that he shouldn't be influenced by any outsiders whereas our finance depends on outsiders like sponsors or shareholders. The right approach could change the situation even though it takes time and patience.

Many of you still want to believe that a football belongs to fans and the community but such a nostalgic idea has long gone since the arrival of another money-monger AKA Rupert Murdock two decades ago. Many sing "we want our Arsenal back" but when do you want to go back? A dark age of 70s or 80s with a full of violence and racism, or the Invincible time which is impossible to repricate now given our finance. I feel nostalgic of such a good old day but there is no point to look back but we look like a loser if we stick to the glorious past because it looks like that we have no future. Singing the songs of the past players doesn't look like a demonstration to the current board but like a tribute event to the past. If you want to change the board's attitude, there are millions' other ways we should consider.

There is more politics going on at Arsenal than football. Let's hope or not - depending on your point of view - that the board can make a fist of winning the power struggle with Red and White Holidings - because it is clear they don't have a clue about winning trophies. When David Dein and Arsene Wenger were a team we were winners and going places - now we 10th in the league and going nowhere.

I am constantly dismayed by the lacklustre performance of the players, but this is related to their lack of belief in a severely flawed system. You cannot sell your best players and then replace them with weak stand-ins, the result can only be what we see today. Compare Arsenal with Everton who have developed a truly balanced squad this season, they have spent time tweaking their team over several seasons without any expectation of winning and now they are curently having a good run. Is this what we want for Arsenal? The occasional good run. What about Man U? We all hate Man U. Why? Because they win at a constant rate, making all other teams look poor in comparison. We despise them for taking away RVP and we despise RVP for leaving and yet you can almost forgive his move as we showed no backbone, no vision, no winning qualities, let's sell our best players and then watch MU kick our ar*e agan and again. Is this the Arsenal we want?

I don't hate Wenger, but I do believe that he really doesn't know too much about football on the pitch during a tough match, he shows that his substitutions have little effect on the game. He often puts out a team with poor balance, and then blames the players for not producing. Well Arsene I think you need to stop watching football matches of other teams and start watching your team playing to understand your repeatedly flawed line-up.

The real joke is that the players are now being reminded of terms of their performance related pay, with little threats about how not qualifying for the Champions League will mean a big reduction in salaries to "protect the club". Well "Professor" Wenger, if you had invested a bit more and not sold the best talent, none of this would be necessary, and you may have actually won some silverware. The flawed "let's qualify for the Champions League" as our only goal has back fired this season (yes I know it's not over yet but this is our worse start for 18 years), and this can only mean a mass exodus of the few good players we have. But hey let's not worry as this will improve the only good thing the club excels at, feeding other clubs.

So there you have it, Arsenal should have been leading the pack, now it feeds the pack. One final note, apparently today (1/12/12) we were seeking a 0-0 draw with Swansea and that was our goal (I am paraphrasing the great Prof Wenger here), we weren't even seeking the win. What a complete w*an*er.

I WANT MY ARSENAL BACK ARSENE AND YOU CAN KISS MY AR*E!!!!!!!

Been a gooner 40 years and have a seat West Upper.
The price for this is far too high. Can't afford to keep it unless I rent it out and that is now getting harder to do.
I can't see how we can go on like this with the economy in general.
I would love to keep my seat for my son when he grows up but I now can't see it happening.
A player can have a bad day but I still have to pay extortionate amounts for their bad day.
I will also say that the atmosphere in general has changed with times not only at The Emirates.
Us supporters are not allowed to say boo to a goose soon. I'm a grown up and I fucking swear if I want and call yids what they call themselves!
We are hounded and filmed and any misdemeanor does not go unnoticed.
I want my Arsenal back and I want my football back.

I have read your statement regarding your planned march or walk today and believe that you have embarassed yourselves and most true supporters of Arsenal. Had you stuck to issues relating to ticket prices you would have had a lot more support, but I believe that you needed to bring the other issues in in order to beef up your arguments. A lot of smoke and mirrors.

I would like to respond to two of your objectives. Firstly, why do you want Usmanov on the board? What are your real motives, and please don't tell me it is because he owns 30% of the shares. Not one of you care one iota for Usmanov's interests. It is only about what you perceive he will do in terms of "investing" in the club. You have no guarantees in this regard and no guarantees that he will not want a dividend or take money out of the club in the long run. It is a known fact that the R&W shareholders were not unanimous in their decision to buy Arsenal shares since they are not both Arsenal supporters. Usmanov has a very shady past and it baffles the mind that you would trust his word over that of Stan Kroenke. Please explain to us in clear terms and in complete honesty what your motives are for supporting Usmanov.

Your statement regarding the misallocation of your money by the club's management is so ridiculous it is not funny. Apart from the fact that it is not your money, which I will ignore, I would like to know on which known facts you base your complaint. As fair as investment in players who have to be sold, this happens in any club. Look at Ferguson at Manure who bought Berbatov, Bebe etc. Do you know for a fact how much the players you want the club to get rid of are being paid? Do you know for a fact whether the club has tried to sell any or all of them? Is your opinion of any of them more important than the manager's (other than in your own mind) - and before you answer that one, tell me what did you think of Theo a year ago, Jenkinson when AW signed him, LK when AW signed him. As for commercial deals, you do not know all the facts. Besides this issue has been addressed by the club, explained to supporters and continues to be addressed.

You should have stuck to the prices of tickets and pies, because trying to beef up your arguments only make you look stupid.

I have come to this website to see what your latest plans are and read the article on 'how times have changed' and i think it is so precise about how we all feel.

I have been supporting Arsenal since I was 7, which is 35 years now, am a season ticket holder and i have seen a lot of changes in this time. I used to work at Ashburton Grove for the council where I was helping people pay the rent. We were asked to move to a new site to accommodate the Arsenal. I used to sit on the top floor at Ashburton handling complaints for Councillors and the two MP's for Islington who are were Jeremy Corbyn and as was Rt Hon Chris Smith. I would look over at Highbury and see the top of the stands amongst the terraced housing and it would give me great inspiration. I would go to lunch and maybe get a chinese meal from the little restaurant across the road, which still remains or pop into Clancy's and have a pint. On the way back i used to walk by the back of the office and would see rats scamper about as the waste disposal was nearby. I was born in Archway and on my housing estate, the conversation never veered far away from Arsenal talk as a lad. I am proud to say that I have worked in most parts of Islington and it means so much to me to see Arsenal fans all over be happy and the people of Islington do well. So i was really buzzing to see development as one thing is for sure this new stadium brings new jobs to the area for people local and beyond. These feelings come from a want and desire to be social and this is the fallout that happens when you follow any form of popular culture with dedication.

However,In the last six years since our move, I have seen and felt my direct association with this club wane as I no longer feel that I am relevant or loved anymore by Arsenal. I am sure many people feel this way. I feel like a number through the turnstiles these days.I am told to sit down when i stand up and sing my heart out and I am waiting for the day when I am sitting down and told to stand up by the thought police to take six of the best...

I was talking to a friend who comes out of the 'cally' in Islington and he said to me that he no longer sees people come out the estates on a saturday/sunday with a spring in their steps excited to be going to the game. And ofcourse this is to do with the cost. i am just about holding on to my ticket and justify it because for me I always felt i belonged to something - 'Arsenal family' That sense of belonging is so important to all of us. I remember a time many years ago when i was not going to the games as much being teased by my spurs chum about this and I had a massive argument and a tear in my eye. It means so much to us.

Now i see corporate greed and takeover. We are the people who have toiled with our support and dedication for this club going back over a 100 years for it to be snatched by the global capitalists.

I use these words as I have seen this personally in direct action. I needed to go Highbury Hse one time time about my ticket and rocked up looking like a pauper and I got looked at by one of the corporate heirarchy like i was a bad smell. Needless to say, he had a transatlantic accent and i just sat there thinking - you just do not have a clue about me or my life or my love for this club for 35 years you know! I can only say it felt like the feeling a person gets when they have just found out that their son does not belong to them..

I could go on and on but i want to finish with a comment about the state of our team as I read a book by Alan Greenspan, the economist who wrote about how the Stock Market works and he said that the outcomes and results are principally governed by hysteria and fear. I always believe that we should win the league and act accordingly and so am nearer hysteria. Because the day you start to fear something you are dead in the water. If you think we should settle for 4th then we will end up eighth.

"sit down and shut up cos we have respectable people here... " Maybe I am getting that way - thanks for the memories !

Hello, Im supporter of Arsenal from Kazakhstan.
Summer 2012 I have visited Arsenal - Sunderland game.
And i was really angry. Stadium was so silent!!!
Only few people was singing. Me and some guys around
And other fans??? They was just sitting, chating, some of them was sleeping!
Why They came to the match if They dont support team?
WHERE ALL ULTRAS???
WHERE ATMOSPHERE???

WE ARE ARSENAL FANS AND WE SHOULD SUPPORT, FIGHT AND DIE FOR OUR TEAM!!!

I love Arsenal, have done since I was 9 and Bergkamp arrived, and then Mr Wenger. I have seen stupid highs and the current, Middles, Not a low!

Arsenal have gone through a huge change recently, a new stadium, which was accepted will reduce our funds for a few years. Not getting a fantastic original sponsorship deal with emirates (now been rectified), as well as David Dien leaving the club. External to Arsenal has seen the rise of billionaires buying up clubs and pumping money into them, Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City. This money is something we just cannot compete with despite having a billionaire owner ourselves, who as you can see buy the success of his american teams has experience in knowing how to run a club or two.

Having qualifed for the champions league, umpteen times as well as hitting the knocking stages almost everytime is a huge result considering the circumstances. Do I wish we have won a trophy or two, of course I do, we have been close a couple of times, but like any club, we have made mistakes and these things happen in football usually at the wrong times.

I fully believe in the near future, as long as we stick to the plan, keep wenger at the head and band together we will get back to the days of competing at the top. Especially if finacial fair play takes effect.

However, My single most biggest disappointment of the last few years. The Fans. I do not enjoy going to watch Arsenal anymore because of the infighting of the fans and the desperate need some of them show to be against the club, rather than behind the team.

There are so many Fan movements now, all pulling in different directions and all wanting different things, it takes away from what is important, supporting your team through thick and thin. If you all ask yourself "would I stop supporting Arsenal if they were in the championship" and you answer yes, I suggest you stop going to Arsenal now because you are not a fan. I would never stop supporting arsenal whatever the outcome.

So I want my arsenal back, the arsenal I remember where fans would get behind the team, the fans who would still be singing at the top of the north bank in the dead of winter during an evening match despite being taken into extra time by wigan in the cup.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just wish people would step back, take a look at the bigger picture, come together and support the club through this period.

Remember, for the older fans - victoria concordia crescit, for the younger ones - Victory through Harmony

Hello there to all the loyal fans of AFC.
I'm a fan of "my Arsenal" for a long time now although far far away from London England but still i've been supportng this club since 1996..I'm not a man that gives up on things easly or w/o givin a chance i dont want this to sound as im giving up on AFC cuz im not but i did gave up on the board...From far away u can see that they are just selfish bastards and all they do care is the Dow.
Getting cheap meadiocre players and selling our best and most expesinve players has been this clubs ambition for the past few years now,and i cant freaking take it anymore...Every season one or two top players leave followed by a not proven new player or 2,and playing mediocre football whole season,in the end we are supposed to be happy or sattisfied with just 3-4 place so that the next year they can take the money from CL and give us the same bullshit that they've been feeding us for the past 4-5 years.
They say we are spending money on players,we don't earm much and stuff like that,sincerely coming from a scumbag on the board with 5k suit saying that u have to think AFC fans are morons,there's the respect we get for supporting this club for decades.
I havent missed a match for the past 3 years although i watch it via stream cuz dont have the PL channel atm and although im 5 thousand miles away i cheer for them as im on Emirates,the board also owes me 2 chairs so far and 1 keyboard and a monitor(JK those things are to expesive for them so i wont ask for it ).Anyway back the the suporting,i feel for the fans in London and its just bcz they can afford to be there but these last few seasons really guys its been hard for you.Stars leavin the club seein all that,Arsenal bellow Shittnam on the table at the moment and fighting with those scums for the 4th place...whats enuf is enuf. I wanna be clear im not aginst AW i love him,but that board has to change smth and u guys that are there must do the dirty work since we are not able from across the sea.
I will always be a fan of this club that i love so much although its not my home club but man have i lost it for Arsenal,thats why it pains me to see our club in such a place,i find my self more and more watching old videos of arsenal back in the odl days with Henry,Pires,Berg,Vieira,LJumberg,Sol,Sea,Lauren,Keown,Adams,Silva..bcz thats the Arsenal i dream of seeing once more.I hope we make it trough this hard shit those money grabbin sums have put us and good luck and god bless to all our fans and our club.

If AW and the board continue to lead the club to the pits of oblivion and expect the supporters to back the team in what ever the circumstances its a farce. There should be some justification for whats happening at the club and as supporters we should learn to draw the line and say enough is enough. If AW got the sack four years back, we would have our best players on the filed and this would have also exposed the board and their greed. Right now the board is using AW as the scape goat and AW is trying to prove a point which got him the sack from Monaco many years back which is integrating youth rather than buying experience. So both the board and AW are happy but how about the fans we don't want to be a bunch of observers in their failed experiment. Promoting youth is fine but we also need to bring in quality players not replacing the world class with average Joes. Need to revolt against the broad and what it stands for with no real vision for matters on the field and grater precedence on matter related to generating money is killing this club and what it stands for…. I want my Arsenal back!!!!!

I dont mean to sound completely at a loss, but the biggest problem for me was when we gave up Highbury.

The stadium is the tribal home and soul of any club, it's where all the tradition, pride, energy thrives, and we got rid of all of that to keep up with the football financial boom.

I remember back in 96? when chelsea became the first club to field an all foreign team and i just thought please god dont ever let this happen to arsenal, not for xenophobic reasons, just that it was an indication of the future distancing between the fans and the players that would dilute the passion of the game and leave us all 'supporting' teams that have no emotional loyaly to their clubs.

When I was nine, my dad took me to see Arsenal vs Liverpool for my birthday as he did every year. Sat at pitch level, the one thing I remember most vividly about that game, was Rocastle, about 3 metres away going in for a tackle near the corner flag. I couldn't believe how fast and furious he went in for that ball, it was like he was on fast forward, he looked possesed, haha It was obvious he was giving it 200%

I know footballs a business, and times change and the past wasnt perfect, but christ, i went to the Emirates a few months back for the first time, and as soon as they started booming out at a deafening volume that arsenal glory 'propaganda' video on the big screens before the players came out, I just thought to myself, is this how bad its got? is this what the future is for football? Fake 'passion' imposed from the money men above? At a home game? Something is very very wrong here.

I hope this movement takes off.

Arsenal fan of 25 years - I have never felt so unwanted and taken for granted by the club. It is incredible how many Arsenal fans feel the same - our club is not only losing touch with it's support but actively taking the piss with ticket prices whilst producing mediocre and unambitious football. Scraping by into 4th place each season is now the club's aim and that is totally unacceptable, especially when whilst paying massive prices to watch average players wearing the shirt. The club are no doubt estatic that Wenger's cheap buys continue to be sold for mega profits rather than retained so that we might actually win things.

The club's identity has hit rock bottom with it's core support, with the tourist or JCL today's fan of choice for the profit hungry board who now run our once great club.

Kroenke is shrewd and is well aware remaining silent about his intentions is his easiest course of action. Gazidis is paid to be the club's mouthpeice and is frankly laughable, his corporate personality and ability to talk and spin for hours without actually saying anything of note make my skin crawl. Unfortunately Peter Hill-Wood has done himself no favours recently with his disrespectful comments to fans (and fellow share holders!) at the AGM that just showed his distain for the very people he should be proud to represent.

I am so pleased the BSM is growing in public awareness and I am looking forward to partipating in the BSM walk before the coming Swansea home game. Hopefully the board will be big enough to recognise and respect their own fan's actions, but I suspect not.

Sadly I feel the only long-term action that they will understand is the boycotting of rejoining memberships, home match tickets and buying merchandise - basically hitting them in the pocket. However boycotting matches will be the hardest thing to do as surely no Arsenal fan (myself included) would ever want to do this.

All in all it is great that the BSM exists and will continue to grow - I feel AISA (who share some similar views) are simply too polite and that BSM gives us supporters a real platform to air our frustrations to the club.

I now sit in the prawn sandwich seats at £2300 per seat per season i have 5,had 8 last year but got rid of 3,do the sums,the amount i give to this club,why do i sit up in club class?,because i could never get a seat at highbury,so when the opportunty came up me and some pals thought that it would be great now we have all done sort of ok as we got older why not sit together in a bit of luxury.When i hear people say the "real supporters" sit in the main seating areas you must understand,you are no more a supporter than me!.I lived next door to Highbury uin Aubert court flats,went to gillispie rd schol as did my 5 brothers and sisters,we moved out of the area for family reasons,i was there when henry cooper lost to muhammed Ali,,i was there when some monunmental games were won or lost,i was there when charlie george scored that great goal at wembley,i was there waiting outside the club for a quick hello from the players when leaving,this is also my arsenal!.I am the one who writes continualy to this dreadful board including the two cowboy parasites Gazedis and Kroenke,but never get an answer except from Arsene.So pleased dont think because we sit in nclub level we are less of a supporter.So everyone do what i do and write a letter to the board at 125 Drayton park,the exact names and addresses are easy to find ,tell them you hate what they are doing and within that hate them,make sure if Gazidis or Kroenke is there heckle them,! make it clear that you hate there "vision",take along home made banners and put them up,they may not last long but the cameras will get them.MAKE A STAND,together we are strong devided we are nothing,we should have a different colour scarf,not black as arsenal also sell these.We must let the club we love know that we are not accepting it.Kroenke\Gazidis has turned this into a coroprate enterprise,well we didn,t want "AFC.Inc" ITS OUR CLUB,not an english arm of an american investor. STICK TOGETHER AND PROTEST !!!

Not making investments ( not cityesque yet substantial to keep the best players at the club )... seems to be backfiring. If there's so much concern on financial prudence...why doesn't Wenger / Gazidis take a pay cut until they steers the club to a trophy. Gazidis cut your and wenger's wages first. Kroenke out .

The fan love Gooners even they are young or old. The fan love Gooners even they are black or white. The fan love Gooners even they are on the bench or on the field. And it is what made us being so different to the other clubs. We know love and we love Gooners. Dear the Board, I don’t know what’s your planning and I don’t know what your strategy. Maybe us cannot see forecast of the next 20 or 30 years like you. Maybe us don’t have a deep and thoughtful planning like you. Maybe us only know how to love and love and that being stupid, crazy and never able to stop loving this club. But I believe it’s the only thing that you don’t know. You don’t love your fan, you ask them to contribute their love, their money and in return, you blended it into profits and remunerations. You don’t love your Gooners because at the end, you sell them after you grew them to be super stars. You don’t love our symbol because you believe some days, MU, Chelsea or Man City will fall and now you let them to smash us on the field. For a long time, they don’t see us as a symbol of England, of Premier… for a long time, they only see us as some random guys who came from random towns. Dear the Board, maybe you know everything but without love, it doesn’t make Arsenal. Dear the Board, you told us to believe our team have quality. Dear the Board, you told us to believe our team have strategy. Dear the Board, you told us to believe our team have plenty of money. Dear the Board, you told us too many things to make us to believe. Dear the Board, I don’t believe. I’m not a professional football advisor or a genius strategic planner. I’m just a fan and I am only able see the result to make me to believe in you. Dear the Board, I don’t trust you. Dear the Board, I felt hurt when I see our Gooners score but when they are in the other color, the color of the other team. Dear the Board, if our quality is good enough, so why we play like the idiots by only able to pass the ball around, on our side. Dear the Board, if our strategy is good enough, why Chelsea or Man City always able to find the way into the net of any team, but we don’t. Dear the Board, I have plenty of things to talk to you. But dear the Board, I was too tired to speak with you because you never listen while you told us you do. Dear the Board, you made us being hopeless. Dear the Board…

As much as I admire what Arsene has done for this club, now is the time when fans need to speak up. Enough is enough.

No other manager has the quality of spotting talent like arsene - henry, vieira, song, fabregas, rvp among many others signed for next to nothing. But ultimately our squad is not good enough to compete for titles, which is exactly why the club cannot justify having the most expensive season tickets in the premier league.

Chamakh, bendtner, squillaci, djourou, santos, denilson, fabianski among many others are all players which are not good enough - and why are we putting effort in to signing players like park and giving them absolutely no chance to prove themselves? A decent sum of money is there, or thats what Ivan and co tell us so when we depart with the likes of rvp (25m), fabregas (30m) song (15m) and nasri (24m) we simply need to be buying more players with the ability of players like cazorla otherwise that 4th place seems like all we'll be able to achieve.

But thats enough for the board and it's does'nt seem like its about to change any time soon.

me again >;o)

It was good to see the BSM get good national coverage this week. How does the BSM plan to build on that ?

And do they as an organisation plan to approach the club about the Safe Standing trial and supporting the introduction of Rail Seats that can be converted by a plastic key to safe terracing ?

If we want our atmosphere back, that's key in my opinion.

I'm a 30 year old Australian. I fell in love with the Club because of the beautiful football, the majesty of Highbury, the beauty and brawn of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljunberg, Sol Campbell and the individuality of David Seaman's ponytail. As the Invincibles were dismantled, from afar I fell out of love. I fell back in love following the near fairytale of the 2007/8 season. How the Club failed to provide Cesc Fabregas with adequate support on the pitch must represent one of the greatest missed opportunities in the Club's history.

Since then the class of Arsene Wenger in the face of more recent tribulations has reinforced my feelings for the club compared to its competitors. It may not be a great moment in the Club's history, but the image of Arsene Wenger standing atop the Old Trafford dugout will remain with me.

Victoria Concordia Crescit only works when victory is the common goal of those at board level and its highest servants put the Club first. Unfortunately this is no longer the case.

The club needs this organisation desperately. Long live The Arsenal.

Hugh Denton

I'm 16 and am as big of an gooner as you can imagine, i go to every game i can. I can only afford to go to Catagory C games reasonably regularly as i can only sit in the family enclosure (dead atmosphere) and its all i can afford to go to. Fans are being priced out of going, which is one of the reasons that i cant go to football with my dad as i am sure many of you did when you were younger. I, like many, am becoming increasingly disillusioned with Ivan and co. They're in it for the money and the money only. Greed is a huge factor in our recent league finishes, as money is being put to use else where, as heard at the AGM today, in Gazidis' and Friar's pocket's in the form of bonuses. I, personally, am sick of PHW viewing the fans as an annoyance and to be perfectly honest, the whole board with not providing funds for Wenger to use. What does it say when we make around £250m in a year, and yet Arteta has to take a paycut to join us from Everton, possibly the poorest club in the league. I'm not one of those fans that wants us to take the Man $hitty and Chel$ea route by spending money we dont have, but as the 5th richest club in the world we surely have funds to spend. We should be inviting FFP as it will give us an advantage with the current model, and on the whole the current model is successful, the only changes that need to be made is making Gazidis take a backseat and look after accounts and not the whole football club, get rid of PHW as to be honest his attitude stinks and he's out of touch with us, and put Usmanov on the board. If anything, he and Kroenke, provided he doesnt do what Hicks and Gillet did at Liverpool, and the Glazers at Man Utd did, and put money in his own pocket from our accounts, should work together to secure a future that enables us to compete, financially, commercially and on the pitch, with the best in the world; because thats what we deserve.

This is an excellent site. As an Arsenal supporter for over 20 years I have duly sat back with all the other genuine gooners through all the excuses through the past 7 trophyless years, but this season Arsene and the board really took the biscuit. As much as we are annoyed that RVP left, he saw what was happening. He wanted the club to retain him and add to him the extra quality that would really allow us to compete for the title (not compete in Arsene Wenger terms which means we will be within a few points til december and then just aim for top 4), but he knew that when Arsene and the board looked at him they simply saw dollar signs and resale value. Now, he is top scorer at Man Utd having scored 8 goals for them in all competitions while we have failed to score in 4 of our 11 league and euro games this season. Gazidis this morning at the AGM has told fans that within 2 years we will compete with the top clubs in the world, what he neglects to mention is that its not going to be because we will start spending proper money on proper players, its simply because FFP is going to handcuff everyone. What that also tells us as Arsenal fans is we can kiss goodbye to being serious contenders to the title for at least 2 years, yet we still have Arsene telling us to keep believing in him and the team. Why Arsene, what is it you see in the bumbling Gervinho and the "shockingly low on confidence considering he was top socrer in the french league as you keep telling us" Giroud that makes you believe they will be able to score anywhere near the amount of goals RVP hit last season. Then theres Santi Cazorla, absolutely quality player on his day, but he appears to be the the replacement for fabregas, nasri AND song. Allow me to give you some advice Arsene, if fab wasnt playing well we could turn to nasri, if nasri wasnt playing well we could turn to song. Care to explain who we turn to if cazorla is not playing well? Jack Wilshere i hear you say, no pressure whatsoever on the shoulders of a youngster who has sat on the sidelines for over a year and wont be anywhere near his best for at least 6 months. Who do we have in the meantime, Serge Gnabry, seriously? What we need is for the board to swallow their pride and replace Gazidis with David Dein. This man had Arsenal in his blood and would have no qualms in standing up to the board when they attempted to put their desires over those of the fans. Since he was kicked out the board have run amok, worried only by the numbers in their bank accounts, totally oblivious to the worries of the fans. The time for change is here and we will not be silenced.

The club have got everything turned upside down. The problems are blindingly obvious for everybody to see. A lack of real quality on the pitch, a lack of real depth in the squad, a failure to secure the services of our best players and most pressingly a lack of trophies Instead of dragging our players across Asia on pre-season tours, launching ever more kits to flog and charging ever more ludicrous ticket prices, how about focusing solely on the simple philosophy that SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS! The more we win, the more players will want to stay at the club and the more top-draw players will want to come and join the club - and not to be paid ludicrous sums, but to be part of a winning outfit. And of course, the more we win, the more attractive we become to investors, sponsors etc. As we're going, before long, there will be no season-ticket waiting list, the stands will be half empty on a permanent basis (stop flogging that rubbish that there are 60,000 in the stadium - it's a lie!) and the cash-cow that is the Emirates will top lining the pockets of the Board and it's sozzled chairman. It's time for substantial, progressive change. From the top down.

I like the way Mark Johnstone has written a short list of changes he'd like to see happen. I completely agree with what the BSM stand for, but can't help thinking they get a bad press because people misconstrue what they are all about. Would it help to draw up a list of very clear changes/objectives they advocate, so that people could read through them and see whether they agree with the proposals? (Apologies if this has already been done.) For example, 1. Ditch Elvis - check...2. Give us back our yellow and blue away kit 3. Sack the current crest and pay more respect to the art deco one. 4. Abandon the cringeworthy shout 'em back of players' names - check..5. Cheaper tickets for kids, etc, etc, etc. Ban anyone over a certain age who arrives late/leaves early, doesn't know the words to she wore a yellow ribbon, tells anyone creating an atmosphere to pipe down, or generally falls under the category of JCL, with immediate effect. A definitve list of aims for fellow fans to subscribe to. Once everything is crystal clear and more and more people realise that they also agree, it will snowball ...

Im 50 years old and have been going to Arsenal since 1970, I have 2 boys 21 and 19 . my oldest is 22 on 28th sept. we are all silver members. so for his birthday I thought Id get Chelsea tickets. On the day of sale, by some miracle I managed to get through to the box office at 10:05. The cheapest tickets available were a staggering £62!!!! with the booking fee it has cost me a ludicrous £191.00 as much as a season ticket at Charlton!!!!! I think the future is in the pub with like minded gooners!!!!!

i'll keep it short and simple :

1. dump that cartoon of a crest.
2. stop producing three new kits every year - and our away kit is blue and yellow.
3. cheap tickets for kids under 12 - 10 or fifteen quid for all home games. they are ouf future.
4. Bring back David Dein. He loved the club and served us well. Gazidis is hopeless.

We need to take action, fan protests, anything but we can't sit back and let Hill-Wood, Gazidis and Kroenke ruin our club. The other fans groups are just becoming mouthpieces for the club and have put no pressure on them whatsoever.
All I keep hearing are more and more life long Arsenal fans sayign they are giving up their ticket, the club is being taken from us by a bunch of money grabbing, greedy ba******ds.

The main thing is clear. We have to take our stance here. We should let the board know that we will not let them have any profit off Sale of Players. It SHOULD be reinvested on quality. The fans has to strike them where it hurts most - INCOME. We cant boycott the home games, no matter what, we are bound to support the men on the field wearing Red n White.

- Keep 30000 seats empty, except on derby days (Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man utd and City). Support our team within the remaining seats, if we could do it at highbury with 38000 ... we can do it here as well.

- Boycott all goods from the Armoury and arsenaldirect. Buy the kits directly from Nike.

- Either reduce the ticket prices or invest in quality. The fans should set quality standards for the players to be recruited:::

23-29 Years old
Regular Starter in the top 10 clubs in England, or Top 5 Clubs in Italy, France, Germany or Spain. Or top 3 in other leagues.

If they cant invest, fight till they step down. Sell their shares to some1 who is willing to take the club to glory days. The voice of the fans should be heard. It is OUR club. Only WE will remain to support the mighty Arsenal. The way the board is going, its Deja vu River Plate/ Leeds or Portsmouth.

I used to support a football club and was proud when we competed for trophies and had a manager who believed that the club's assets should be on the pitch and not in the bank (remember that statement Arsene when Roman came calling for Thierry with a £50m bid?). I now find myself supporting a sporting franchise whose prime objective is to make money for the shareholders. Fourth has become the new first; those clubs who spend money to acquire the best players to compete for prizes don't live in the real world; finance and economics now rule ok.
I'm now expected to bask in the glory that comes with being the world's best run football club and not forgetting, fourth place, a major achievement. Frankly, I much preferred the original. Can I have my football club back please - Peter, Stan, Ivan, Arsene - anyone?

PS: I'm now being asked to believe in the God that is FFP. Platini will ride to our rescue and ensure those clubs who spent too much money will, in the future, only be able to buy super, super quality like Chamakh, Denilson, Park, Silvestre because their lavish spending will be curtailed. On the other hand we who have suffered the effects of those super, super quality acquisitions will be able to buy the Hazards of this world. And at more modest prices that reflect the new reality of FFP. Believe it? No more that I believe in Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. Problem is Arsene does and Peter, Stan and Ivan aren’t about to disabuse him of the fact because they don’t give a (sporting) fuck and more importantly, from their perspective the bank account overfloweth.
Who was it who said Arsene knows? Well, Arsene you’ve had the benefit of the doubt for the past seven years and if you know something we don’t know now is the time to share it with the rest of us. Alternatively, when (hopefully) you have a lucid moment you could give Pep a call, tell him you’re leaving because you just found out the Tooth Fairy isn’t real (sorry FFP) and you’ll put in a good word for him with Ivan, Stan and Pete.

Just paid my membership fee. Joined on recommendation of friend having some months ago been banned by Online Gooner for daring to suggest Gooner Ed Kevin Witcher and his boss Mike Francis had sold their souls to the club being totally non critical of anything done by Gazidis Kranky and co.

55 years of age, a season ticket holder since standing season tickets started, I gave up my season ticket this year. Its not about glory hunting or not winning trophies for seven years- my generation have endured worse - but its the realisation that i am now supporting a club that has made a calculated decision not to try and win trophies. The F.A. cup is now treated with the same disinterest as the League cup; the goal in the Champions League is to reach Knock out stage knowing that unless we have the extraordinary luck of Chelsea we will never be good enough to win it without serious investment; and in the league theonly target is to come 3rd or 4th to qualify for another tournament that the club has no true intent of trying to win and this the club with the highest gate receipts in the world, the highest prices in the world and fourth largest turnover which should be much higher but for the incompetence of the commercial and marketing departments who have locked the club into various deals at unfavourable prices.

Being the sad git that I am, if match live on tv i will try and plan my life around it. Yesterday I made a breakthrough. The choice of watching us v stoke or as game starting going off to beer festival at pub with no tv - i opted for the latter.

Nothing at club will change until such time as people on mass stop paying the ridiculous admission prices. If the addiction is too great to stop going, then dont buy the rip off shirts etc and tell the club the reason for your discontent - Gazidis direct email address is readily available.

and black scarfs unlike Gooner Ed and his boss dont fall into the trap of opening a dialogue with the establishment only to become part of the establishment.

I am just hoping this movement goes viral every where; the internet world, especially the stands because unless we hit where it hurts (Kronke, Wenger's fat offshore bank accounts), we have lost this club permanently. The new fans are a delluded bunch and dumb enough to pay those crazy ST prices minus any knowledge of this club's great 125 year history. They think Wenger made the history. Sad state

Personally I'm no fan of people who get angry behind a computer screen but being a new convert to one of the forms of social networking has introduced me to a pool of supporters of The Arsenal who generally share views on the club that has not only been a major part of my life but also my Brothers, Father, Grandfather, Uncles etc...

I have been a paid member of ASIA for a good few years now but to be totally honest I do not believe that they represent my opinions. I have even visited a certain student’s union bar on match days where I became aware of a whole breed of supporters who not only did I feel completely separated from but even made me question whether we supported the same club.

Yes I miss the old days, the old ground and my old seat but I also accept that eventually things have to change. What I don’t accept is what the club perceives as change and how my loyal support is no longer at the core of some “business plan” intended to make money for some faceless yank.

I’m giving my season ticket one more year Wenger/Gazidis/Kronke and then you can find another mug to sit in it. If you struggle to fill my seat or one of your corporate boxes or even one of your diamond club seats I don’t want you to worry about me saying “I told you so”.

I think people need to be very clear about what many fans' beef (notably the old school) is with modern football and Arsenal's position in it all. For me, it isn't about how many years we've gone without a trophy. It's important, but that's really not the point. I'm old enough to cope with that and remain loyal irrespective of success. (I've seen some genuinely mediocre Arsenal teams, so this lot are a blessing.) Had we beaten Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, the problems we have wouldn't have been eradicated. So when I see comments on here about signings and so on, I think they are misguided. It's the changed fabric and identity of the club that bothers people. It's the kinship between fans. I get the hump when I look at many so called fans that have found their way into our home. Arriving late (munching on a hot dog with no real concern for what's happening on the pitch) and leaving early, sometimes booing whilst they sit on their hands and offering negligible support. Basically, not a clue about real support. I sometimes look around and don't recognise the club I fell in love with. Meanwhile, people who care more about Arsenal than all these people put together have been locked outside. Priced out by corporates, tourists & JCLs. These people weren't around during the dark days and certainly won't hang around if it went genuinely bad. Many quality fans have had enough and got the hump with the whole 'match day experience' and buggered off for a better atmosphere down the pub. We aren't allowed to actually enjoy supporting the team they way we want to. It's deemed too boisterous. We are told to sit down and be quiet. Where is the joy in that? The club seem to target once a year day trippers who spend cash in the club shop, over core supporters who live, breathe and sh*t Arsenal. To me, this is so very wrong and a perilous game to play with loyal 'customers' as Keith Edelman once called us. So many things that made us so special and The Arsenal have been pointlessly neglected for the sake of 'progression'. Things that warm the soul ..The art deco crest, the yellow and blue away kit, having a consierge on the door outside the main entrance, a proper cannon facing the correct way, etc ...pure class. None of it is irreversible with effort and pressure from real fans who are the fabric of the club. Let's not give in to the clueless clowns calling the shots and telling us when we are allowed to shout and cheer and sing. WE ARE THE ARSENAL.

I have to say over the last 6-8 seasons Arsenal have been made to look like fools as the board won't give Wenger any money and he decides to sell all our best players

Just to highlight how out of touch with the traditions, identity and fabric of our club the people running it are, we now have a purple away kit.

Plenty are planning to go to away games in classic Arsenal yellow. Boycott the purple. Keep buying the glorious merry month of May yellow. Yellow and blue bar scarfs are selling well apparently. Expect to see them twirling at aways.

The club only take notice where £ is concerned, so spend wisely.

1971, 1979, 1989, 2004 - a co-incidence? No.

Stop sitting on your hands its time all suporters who share the same views to make a stand the BSM should be our main voice.

Hi,
Just listend to Danny Kelly on TS with Stewart Robson and i've gotta say that tonight with 99% of the callers on from youngsters to the old guards, old ST's and Away Section, and even a couple of swamp dwellers!! it all was spot on with the mood and the feeling of the fans at the moment.
What the board has done to this once great club is absolutely unforgiveable and you can throw AW into that equation as well as he must have more than a good say on the 'IN's' of the club.
I hav'nt got any issue with RVP ''the one season wonder' as i hav'nt had any issue with any players in the last 10yrs that leave or want to leave as most of them are out for as much money as they can make, nothing wrong in that and as such i could'nt give a toss and will welcome that if any players want to go then get as much as we can and move'em out the door Asap, all i care about are the one's that are playing in that famous Red/White (blue!!) jersey's.
My only disgust go's again to the snouts in the trough board members who continue to take the rise out of each an every fan that gets anywhere near 'The Emirates' or the Arsenal shops!
Hopefully someone will give the last bit of share holding needed to the Russian and then we may see a shift in power in regards to trophies, managers etc and people who actually want to make AFC a sucessfull football club not a sucessfull cash cow.
In the words of chief gin swilling trougher Hillwood 'We don't want your kind of people'
Ian H

Does anyone now pay any attention at all to what AW and IG say? Or, indeed, believe any of it? Talk is cheap - adding the much-needed genuine quality to our squad (not just Podolski) will not be. They should hold RvP to his contract (as a minimum) and get on with it! Radamel Falcao's arrival would improve my mood...

Although i'm desperate we've still not notched up a trophy or even come close to one this year i was feeling quite positive in the way the teams been playing and coming on strong in the latter part of this season after the disasterous start, i was even pleasently suprised that now we've seem to have discovered a core support and from the Spuds game onwards the atmoshphere has been great and finally the crowd has a voice!
And although we lost to Wigan and we got what we deserved out of that game, i'm quite positive that we'll finish top London Club which although not great, beats coming 6 or 7th below the Spuds and Chavs!
But Yet again we seem to shoot ourselves in the size 12's !!
At the Wigan game Silent Stan turned up expecting to see us bury 'little' Wigan but hopefully now if he has half a brain and some better quality hair plugs! he will see that we need at the very least 4 top quality players in key positions 'Positive' although we lost.
Then i open up a paper and find a pic of RVP going to the Barca hotel to have a spot of dinner with 3 of the players? Now it may be totally innocent but surley being Captain and also being in the same dressing room as Fabregas last year he could'nt be that dim in thinking that the tongues will wag and something like that could have an unsettleing feeling in the squad and may wreck some of the team bonds that they've fostered to get us back in the top 3!
Then i see on the Arsenal web-site the unvieling of a bust of Ken friar! i know he has done more than most in the boardroom through the years to put AFC on the map but seeing all that lot together slapping each other on the back makes my skin crawl!!
What next ? a bridge to be named after him! FFS? Maybe it would be a good thing that the club invest in some Pictures moulded in the bottom urinals of Peter Hill-wood and Gazidis? mmmmmm! NOW THATS AN IDEA!!
Just further evidence that these people who run the club are out of touch with the real Arsenal fans who pay the highest prices in europe to watch our team play , and still come up short!
Back where i started the season 'depressed'!

You need the nerves of a cat-burglar to play center forward in the BPL. You need the nerves of a cat burglar robbing Don Corleone’s wife to be Ivan Gazidis. Gazidis, in what has to be the height of arrogance and gall, is calling for Arsenal fans to unify behind Arsene Wenger.
The call for unity behind Wenger is not a new one, nor is it particularly controversial. For all the mistakes Arsene has made in the past six years, and to be fair there have been a lot of them, most Arsenal fans still believe in him. Why wouldn’t they? He led the club to the most glorious period in its history. A vast majority of the silverware Arsenal fans have become so accustomed to seeing in the trophy case was put there by Wenger. It stands to reason that a man who was once so good deserves the opportunity to rebuild a championship squad. Like it or not, Arsene has earned that right.
Ivan Gazidis on the other hand has NO SUCH GRAVITAS. Since his arrival in 2008, Arsenal has not only been outspent, but severely outflanked and outthought by their opponents in the boardroom. Arsenal has seen luminaries like Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, Samir Nasri and Kolo Toure go out the door with precious few replacements of a similar caliber coming back in. Since Gazidis’ arrival, Arsenal has basically ceased to exist as a championship caliber football team and has instead become a for -profit cash cow, selling off assets like stolen car parts at a Brooklyn chop shop. In recent years, it almost seems like the board has been playing a game of chicken to see how bare they can strip the cupboard before a dramatic fall-off in our standard of play is evident. This year, wins vs. Chelsea and Tottenham aside, that dramatic fall-off has become PAINFULLY CLEAR to Arsenal fans around the world.
This was supposedly done in the name of fiscal prudence and respect for our ‘business model’. However as the Arsenal Supporters Trust so astutely pointed out, it’s very difficult to congratulate yourself for fiscal prudence when you’re committing 50,000 plus GBP per week to the likes of the woefully inept Denilson, who by himself makes almost as much money as Danny Welbeck and Luca Modric combined. It’s intellectually dishonest to trumpet a “fiscally prudent business model” that sees the club commit over 500k GBP/week to painfully mediocre footballers like Bendtner, Almunia, Djourou and Denilson; footballers who couldn’t get a lunch voucher at Manchester United, much less a contract. Yet Ivan Gazidis, the second highest paid executive in England, gave the green light to millions of GBP per annum in wages to players we’ll be lucky to get a case of Lucozade and a bag of footballs for in the transfer market this summer.
Now today, after one win vs. Tottenham, Gazidis has the audacity to lecture the fans about the importance of being unified in support of their manager? While you’re pontificating on the importance of unity Ivan, why don’t you save a sermon for the board of collector$ (that’s not a typo), seeing as how they aren’t even on speaking terms with Alisher Usmanov. He only owns 29.6% of the club and they’ve welcomed him into the family like ants at a picnic. Gazidis goes further, adding insult to injury by pointing out how loudly the traveling fans cheered during the debacles vs. Milan and Sunderland. He says that’s the kind of spirit we all need to show. One can’t help but wonder where Gazidis got the idea to use this as an example, seeing as how he didn’t see fit to attend either game and would thusly have no firsthand knowledge of how loudly the traveling support chanted.
Gazidis shows the world he’s in over his head on an almost daily basis. This is the man who defiantly claimed last summer that he and Arsene “plan their summer business and target players very carefully”. Respectfully Ivan, signing a 30 year old Mikel Arteta without a physical along with the obviously too slow for the BPL Per Mertesaecker instead of having closed the Scott Parker and Chris Samba deals back in May doesn’t seem like an example of “careful planning.” Gazidis’ most recent pronouncements that not making the Champion’s League wouldn’t have an impact on the club’s ability to attract top talent reveals an arrogance, a myopia as to the depth of fan discontent and a penchant for doublespeak that would make the Nixon White House proud. Simply put, Ivan Gazidis is the most overpaid and quite possibly worst performing executive in England. As much as anyone he is the overseer and architect of the club’s ongoing slide into mediocrity. He’s quite frankly a pale shadow of the man he replaced. Every time a player like Juan Mata ends up at Chelsea or a Demba Ba ends up at Newcastle is another example of Gazidis’ lack of creativity, ambition and knowledge of football.
Ivan, you are the problem. If there is any one thing Gunners fans worldwide are unified about, it’s how poor a job we all think you’re doing. Ever since you went down to the cross roads and sold your soul to the devil to become an Arsenal exec in 2008, it’s been a downhill slide for the club and the fans. If not for your willingness to shamelessly shill for the board and the painfully obvious fact that you are not a football man, we might still be winning trophies today. Instead we’re left to celebrate a victory over Spurs in February as the closest thing we’ll get to a trophy this season. Ivan asking for unity is akin to an arsonist yelling “Sis Poom Bah” while he watches the fire department put out a blaze he started. Anyone who thinks this is too harsh an indictment should first ask one question. Would Ivan be puffing his chest out right now if Spurs had held on to that two goal lead? Or would he be ‘back on vacation in Mexico’ like he was during the Milan and Sunderland games…when our season collapsed in February..again..for the 4th year in a row since he got here?

Been a fan since the early 80's, and currently a Silver Member at the club.
Too come across this site, and too hear the podcasts performed, echoing exactly how I feel as a fan, well it's a massive sigh of relief I'm not on my own.
I feel wholey disconnected from the club at the moment, but feel a part of it things when this site breaths my sentiments exactly.

I feel lost in the fact I just have not been too the Arsenal this 2011/12 for the first time in any one season. It's no wonder! The mixture of spectators, and mindless stewards, including overpriced grub, and lager, it doesn't bode well for me, sorry!

I want too be able to be the supporter I used too be at Highbury, voicing my opinions on games, singing loud and proud, and having a bloody laugh! I am a fan that would rather watch a game at home with a lager, or down the pub these days, and that is what a good majority of fans are now doing, and that's sad from what I hear.

The times I have been too the Emirates have been embarrasing for me? Why? Am I prejudice to other fans? Am I selfish in that? I don't want too be! I just think in general, the atmosphere and general matchday experience is lost! It's just not the same anymore.

I am a strong believer in bringing back the flags too the Emirates Stadium, have em' flying high on matchdays, just like Highbury!
'WELCOME TO THE HOME OF FOOTBALL' When you see the flags blowing in the wind at the stadium, that will add too the experience, it will bring back our traditions and general well being of matchday experience.

I have many views and expectancies of this great club, all as I say, echoed on this brilliant site.

KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK YOUR DOING! YOUR BREATHING FOR US ONCE LOYAL, BUT NOW FRINGED FANS!

THANK YOU!!!

I think we have all done enough talking about the numerous problems with the way OUR club is being run. It's time for action, we need to come together for the last game of the season and march, show a united front against Silent Stan and his lack of a plan.

Thank you for providing the chance for the real GOONERS to be able to vent all their grievances and frusutrations about the current plight of the great AFC (at the hands of the plastic corporate looters - who have no emotional attachment to the club but see it as a cash cow).
I stopped renewing my gold season ticket 2 years ago when I finally realised that the club was going downhill under Wenger due to his stubborn and arrogant adherence to his flawed player recruitment and selling policy plus the sacrificing of the core values of AFC by the board and Wenger at the alter of sheer greed.
The move from Highbury to the Emrates was planned so that we could compete with Man Utd, Real Madrid etc and move us to the top of world club football but guess what we still haven't won a trophy of any description since the move!! Talk about building a luxurious palace and then filling it with rubbish furniture or an F1 car with a normal car engine!! Any other club would have sacked Wenger by now but it is obvious that Hill-Wood and his board of cronies feel that as long as the cash keeps rolling in - despite winning no trophies, Wenger can can reign carte blanche at AFC and the fans aspirations and agitations should be ignored.
Many Wengerholics (aka Wenger fanatics) fail to see the wood through the trees and keep on trying to shut up other Gooners that their opinions about Wenger and AFC totally contradicts theirs. AFC annual general meetings are now the equivalent of the Politburo during the Communist Soviet Union. You are not even allowed to ask questions from the floor without it being vetted by some corporate robot from Ivan Gazidis's corporate spin department!! When diid AFC get hijacked by these corporate clowns?!!
Wenger and theboard of cronies (as led by Hill-Wood) all live in a cocoon and it is time for the real Gooners to shake them out of it and remind them of the proud history of AFC. David Dein obviously did not fall in line with their distorted vision and got kicked off the board.
I really yearn to get my old Highbury style AFC back, so that my son can experience all what I've told him about those good old days.

Arsenal mean everything to me and have done for 22 years when my brother bought my first ever top. The rest of my family are Spuds born and bred, so I guess you could call me and my brother the shining light of the family. The Arsenal I remember were know as "The Arsenal", you dont hear much of that anymore, Highbury was always a home and maybe its just me, but Emirates just does not feel right its almost as if the closeness has gone.
All this banter about nothing special has happened for 6 years, I remember going to School in Surrey during the 94/95 season and being teased from spurs fans because Arsenal finished 12th. I know I know, that season is a swear word, but it surely proves how much pain the true Gooner went through, even if you were a kid. I remember going to school and collecting football stickers and I traded so many just so I could complete the book with the Arsenal team. I looked through books and the history all the time, just so I could know more and more about the club I love. Everything had to be Red and White, the dogs collar had to be red, the cats collar had to be red and still now the collar has to be red. When they changed the badge, oh boy did that break my heart, it was as if the club was becoming a franchise, blueprints and artists impressions of the new stadium came up, I initially thought wow, but then I looked at highbury and thought, "this could be the end of an era".
The Arsenal will always be true too my heart, Im only 27 but still I say "its not like the old days, 1.0 to the Ar-se-nal, the famous back four" now I say to people "I miss the days of Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Adams and Winterburn" to me that was The Arsenal, that was entertainment, that was a team.

I will always support the team, no matter what, but i can't take the lies of the board any more. Show some ambition, invest OUR money and show some respect to the loyal supporters of the club!

I stumbled across a link to your website whilst on Facebook. I'd like to say that I agree with everything you guys are doing. I'm only 18, live in Swindon, and despite many thinking they own the world, I know I will not change the World. However, having supported Arsenal since a young age, and being brought up to do so by the last 3 generations of the family that used to live on Holloway Road, I am extremley concerned at the state of the football club.

I've been going up to Arsenal for years, never week in week out as it is not financially doable, but reguarly enough. Despite being like every fan and not exactly smiling at the ticket prices, I do it because of the massive love for the most Traditional, Classy football club in the Country. However, when I believe that I am now being taken for granted, with regards to additional ticket pricing and feeling as though the gap between the club and its fans is growing.

Obviously we only are told the good bits as fans about how the club is making this and that. Naturally the fans want to see further investment in the team, and this is a worry of myself too.

I'd like to extend my full support to your gorup and I'd like to help in any way I think I can..

I stumbled across a link to your website whilst on Facebook. I'd like to say that I agree with everything you guys are doing. I'm only 18, live in Swindon, and despite many thinking they own the world, I know I will not change the World. However, having supported Arsenal since a young age, and being brought up to do so by the last 3 generations of the family that used to live on Holloway Road, I am extremley concerned at the state of the football club.

I've been going up to Arsenal for years, never week in week out as it is not financially doable, but reguarly enough. Despite being like every fan and not exactly smiling at the ticket prices, I do it because of the massive love for the most Traditional, Classy football club in the Country. However, when I believe that I am now being taken for granted, with regards to additional ticket pricing and feeling as though the gap between the club and its fans is growing.

Obviously we only are told the good bits as fans about how the club is making this and that. Naturally the fans want to see further investment in the team, and this is a worry of myself too.

I'd like to extend my full support to your gorup and I'd like to help in any way I think I can..

Great stuff lads, toatally agree with what you are trying to acheive just hope you will incorperate an anti wenger sentement to your cause as he is part of the problem.

I came across your website having read issue 218 of the Gooner. Having been a supporter for over 40 years, I was surprised not to have heard of WHOAG before, hence me going to the website and me now writing this. Incidentally, I love the yellow, just not sure about the black!
Having experienced just about every high and low of being a Gooner over the 40+ years (I was at Anfield, Copenhagan, Sampdoria, Madrid, Paris etc) of going to Arsenal, I do try and take a somewhat realistic view of what we are currently experiencing or I did until I attended the recent AGM.
I retained my one share mainly because I wanted to still have the opportunity to attend the annual AGM and hopefully be inspired (?) by the Directors of our club and of course get the opportunity to hear Mr Wenger, something in the past I have always enjoyed and been mightily impressed with much of what he has said. Oh how times have changed. To say it was an embarrasing event would be an understatement! I know the press used words such as "Churchilian" but from where I sat, it was anything but. The sooner we oust Mr Hillwod from being Chairman of our great club, the better. Judging by his appalling handling of the AGM, it is imperative that he is removed before we become the laughing stock of football and more imporatntly many of the shareholders do, for once, stand up for waht is so obviously wrong. It also doesn't help when the owner of our club, Mr Kroenke, stands up in front of the shareholders and supporters and states "I have been asked to speak to you but I don't know why". Not the most impressive way to address us! What then followed was a classic way of how not to traet your shareholders and supporters as despite some fairly pertinent and very relevant questions being asked (all submited in advance and veted first by the club) Mr Hillwood would ONLY read from a pre-prepared written answer from which he would not deviate despite in several instances not actually answering the question. What Mr Kronke made of it, God only knows. Please, please bring back David Dein and the sooner the better!
I think it's important that we the supporters are aware of these things as even though the truth may sometimes hurt, at least we do know rather than being forced to speculate or worse, believe what is being read in some of the press. Mr Wenger also missed a great opportunity in not explaining the embarrasing debacle that took place just prior to the end of the recent transfer window and just lectured us in the importance of being "United" (did he really mean that given the 8-2 thrashing) and that this team may "surprise" us as the season progresses. He also did NOT take any questions from the floor which I belieev is the first time for many years which did somewaht sum up what is happening and shows the fear in which our Board and arguably our manger are living in.
The fact remains and it should not be overlooked or ignored, that we have NOT progressed in the past 6 seasons. Yes, we have qualified for the Champions League, but arguably and ignoring for the moment the obvious fianancial benefit, so what! Challenging means being close to the winners, not being in 4th place, being in Cup Finals and ideally not blowing them against inferior opposition and when the sitaution demands i.e. in the January transfer window, when we so obvioulsy needed a centre half, not buying one which arguably was the main reason why our season imploded over the last 3 months despite looking so good up until then.
I know that there are much wider debates taking place about the club that so many of us love and I do resent it although respecting the harsh economic climate we are currently in, when so called supporters people tell me they are not going to home games despite being season ticket holders or are thinking of not renewing unless things improve (those people were not around in the mid 80's!). Now is the time to give more support to the team than ever before. However, if we are forced to continue with the current Board and especialy our Chairman, then I believe we will have to contend with even more serious issues in the future.
There are many, many more issues that I could comment on but for now this is enough but I look forward to being part of the WHOAG in the future in the hope that someone at the club does eventually take notice.

support wenger and the team.its the owners that need sorting out there to busy letting the club run it self down so they can get it cheaper from each other ( yank to the russian or the other way round ) they won't spend proper money untill they own it all.who ever takes over the team won't have any money to spend like everyone seems to thinks untill this has been sorted

It's finally happened. It took over half a decade but Arsenal's policy of selling off world class footballers like stolen car parts and not replacing them with similar talent has produced an inevitable decline in footballing standards. A team comprised of recent outgoing transfers would include Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Emannuel Eboue and Emmanuel Adebayor in the attack with William Gallas, Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy holding down the club defensively. That's not chopped liver. Before his suspension, Kolo Toure and Vincent Kompany were one of England's best tandems and many have argued (quite rightly) that for all of William Gallas' many faults, he's an upgrade over Koscielny, Djourou and DEFINITELY Squillaci. The form Fabregas showed in Barcelona before his injury was electric and Samir Nasri has added a lethal dimension of creativity to Manchester City, who was over-reliant on David Silva last year. With all this talent featuring in Europe for other clubs and not adequately replaced, is it any wonder the club has struggled so mightily this year?

The real question is how does a club which has the temerity to charge fans 25GBP just to be a member of its official website, a club which supposedly moved to a new stadium to 'compete' with the big clubs from a transfer budget and wage packet perspective, become Coventry City when it comes to acquiring talent? It's almost as if Wenger and the $hoard of collectors doesn't even think we're smart enough to remember what they say from one day to the next. Here are two direct quote from Arsene Wenger over the summer: "We were 95% of the way to a title last year" "You can not sell your two best players and say you are ambitious after that."

The first statement is blatantly false. "95% of the way to a title?" NOT HARDLY. Yes this club was competitive last year. Yes this club had talent last year. But mental toughness is in many ways, an even bigger part of winning than talent. Championship caliber teams are mentally tough by definition. The cold hard fact of the matter is Mentally tough football teams don't throw three month long pity parties and quit on themselves, their manager and their fans after bollocksing the Carling Cup final. Did Manchester go into the tank after losing to their cross-town rivals in the FA Cup, which is a much more prestigious tournament than the Carling Cup? Did Barcelona fall apart after losing out to Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey? No, they picked themselves up off the mat and collected more silverware; not simply because they're more talented than Arsenal, but because they're mentally tougher than Arsenal and ther manager's coach them to be that way. Any team that would fall to pieces in the fashion this club did after the Carling Cup was never going to win the BPL or Champion's League. Simply put, no club which is as lacking in mental toughness as we clearly were last year, and still are, is 95% of the way to a title. But even if you would stipulate that this club was 95% of the way to a title last year, then where are they now that they've sold their Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy? Seventy percent? Sixty Five percent? Certainly not closer to a title than we were at the beginning of the season last season.

"You can't sell your two best players and say you are ambitious after that". Sadly that statement is very true. We have sold our two best players and in the same summer season ticket holders were hit with a 6.5% ticket price hike on what was already the most expensive ticket in England. So what is Arsenal right now? We certainly aren't ambtious. The levels of myopia and disengenous spin coming out of Gazidis and Wenger of late has been rivaled in recent history by only the Nixion White House. For years, Wenger's only fig leaf, what he hung his hat on was the idea that "making the Champion's League was bigger than winning the FA Cup". Now that the club he put together, or more specifically has failed to put together since taking a sledgehammer to the Invincibles, has stumbled out of the gates to the worst start in club history Gazidis says it's not a disaster if we don't make the Champion's League. Again, the question looms larger. Who are we? We certainly aren't ambitious according to Wenger because we have sold our two best players. Our words and deeds reflect this lack of ambition off the pitch. Is it any wonder then that the malaise has bled down to the product on the field? Why would players take any individual pride in set defending? It's not ast if Wenger will be in the market looking for a replacement. According to Gazidis, the Champion's League is no longer a reasonable or realistic goal either. So the board expects a 65,000 seat stadium to be filled every week and hundreds of thousands of team kits to be sold world-wide because of the immense pride our rabid fan-base is supposed to take in....finishing 6th if we're lucky? Where has our Arsenal gone indeed? I'm ordering my Black Scarf TODAY!

The 15th of April 1989 will always stay in my mind. Not only for the horrible events occuring at Hillsborough, but because this was the day my father and Grandfather took me to Highbury for the first time. Three generations of Arsenal fans enjoying a match together. It's probably my fondest memory of my youth. Despite the years passing, I can tell you we won 1-0 against Newcastle. Brian Marwood scored the winner in the second half as we edged towards that night at Anfield.

I can also tell you that the tickets for that match (I still have mine), were £5. Three tickets, 2 programmes, 3 burgers probably all for under £25.

Every other birthday, my dad would buy me the new home shirt. Every other Christmas, the away shirt (even the yellow and blue zigzag one!). I was a Junior Gunner. After my mum passed away, just days after my first trip to Highbury, my dad wrote to Arsenal, and explained about my mother. The wonderful people at the Junior Gunners saw fit to make me a mascot the following September (a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, Rocky missing a penalty). The wonderful Arsenal staff didn't stop there though. Once at Stamford Bridge, my dad was told he couldn't stay with me, and to collect me just after kick off. The Arsenal staff weren't happy with that, and made sure my dad and 2 sisters all come through to the players bar and after that, the dressing room, with me. George Graham permitted us all to stay in the changing room whilst he did the team talk!

I had the video of every season review. I could tell you the score and scorers of every game we played for probably 5 seasons. I had Arsenal bed sheets, Arsenal curtains, every bit of Arsenal merchandise my dad could afford to get me, he would.

The reason I mention all this, is because I have recently become a father. For as long as I can remember, I've longed for the day I can take my father and my son to watch the Arsenal. I wished that my son would have the some love for the team that I did (and still do) as a boy. The problem is, that it's no longer a football club, filled with people. It's a souless, empty, money making machine, filled with Accountants.

If I were to pay for my father, my son and myself to watch the Arsenal, with 2 programmes and 3 burgers, I'd be looking at the best part of £150. A 600% increase in just over 20 years.

In the weeks preceding my sons birth, I wanted to get him an Arsenal kit. It was £25. It will fit him for about 3 months.

As soon as I got home after he was born, despite having been awake for 30+ hours, instead of going to bed, I went straight to register him as a Junior Gunner. It was also £25.

Could you imagine the scenario in the 3rd paragraph occuring at today's Arsenal? Not a chance in hell.

At the weekend, I sent a message to my dad, saying I'd let me son pick his own team. My dad said he didn't blame me. A man that has supported Arsenal for over 60 years, watched his first game (a 5-0 defeat to Wolves) in 1958, went to every Cup Final we were in between 1958 and 1981, spent hundreds of pounds on mine and his shared love of Arsenal, didn't want his grandson to support Arsenal.

If I'm honest, I was just angry at the current state of the club (I don't just refer to the results). I'll pass this hereditary disease down to my son, just as it was passed down to me, and down to my father. I just don't see how my son can have the same enthusiasm for Arsenal that I had as a child. Arsenal used to be associated with class, from the much publicised Marble Halls to the much less publicised family friendly behind the scenes staff.

I see very little class about Arsenal anymore. I hope we can be restored to former glories, and I don't mean just the trophy winning, but somehow, I doubt it.

Over to you Arsenal Football Club (not Arsenal PLC)

The 'How times have changed' article is spot on. We know where our Arsenal has gone, but can we get it back? Perversely, Usmanov may turn out to be our only hope...on all fronts.

What a change i have seen in my time supporting the Arsenal,days when players wanted to be a part of something truely special are long gone ,with the only present exception of Jack Wilshere who is a Gooner through and through.We really need to get rid of the present board and restructure our club as we are falling behind .I have been going since i was seven (1979) so have seen the good and bad we have had to offer.David Dein is clearly what we need to lead us and assist Arsene back to stability and a level that is the Arsenal way,you must remember when we were so different to all the rest in the way we did things.The transfer window was a joke , I am not saying that we should spend silly money but alot of players even potentialy good players have turned us down and now we can see why,the club is in free fall and if we dont do something and quick we are looking at a season of mid table if we are lucky.This is supposed to be a special year 125th of the club and yet all we see is rising season ticket prices ,expensive food in the ground and a board that wont back the manager.Ivan recently partly justifed season ticket price rises by stating that the electric bill needed to be paid and yet we post massive profits again,it was announced of the the last day of transfer window ,on CNN that we had made a 100 million profit true or not we are making silly money and we see no reinvestment or even negotiation with the board of ways to reduce prices etc .I dont know if anyone else has noticed that there are more and more empty seats every game,if they ,the board, are not careful this could all come crashing down around us and them.
Glad i have found you but i feel we need to get more active and presure the board to change its thinking,it is a great idea to have something like this but lets all get together and make some noise ,we need to be heard.you have my full support .
COME ON THE ARSENAL!

I thinkh everything has already been said about the way the board and wengerr go on with their transfer policey. what i would like other tthan getting some good top quality signngs is a bloody atmosphere in the ground. It is so dead and un supportive of the team. You can see on the players faces they seem to hate playing there. It not all the fans fault either. The stadium management have alot to blame for it as well. As soon as the fans get up to sing and cheer on the players the stewards are straight down to get everyong sitting again. Just a bit of imagination is required to get all the fans going and the players enjoying their football at the stadium becuase at the present time nasri was right, the place is dead and fans are to critical, even when we are playing well. Fans should support the team and sing even when they are playing crap. What about a club band at both ends of the ground to start the fans going and to put a bit of vocal pressure on the away team at corners and freekicks? A fearsome theme tune to come out to rather than elvis? Some music when we score? Banners at everyone home game that the fans can wave rather than at only cherry picked games by the club? Allow the fans to stand for more than a millisecond before telling them all to sit down? A banner for each player that can be hung from club level? Where known as the libery and i think its time tha changed and we start to make it a fortress by letting the fans support their team considering the extremely high tickets prices they pay, thats the least they deserve. And wo knows maybe that will breed confidence back into the team and getting teams fearing us again. A fortress is meant to look fearsome sound extremely loud and strike fear into anyone who enters it at the moment you might as well bring your libery card to each game. p.s the crappy games are the ones you need to bring out all the fancy stuff for not just the big games, its easy for a fan to get into a big game and support the club but for game like qpr wigan and on evening games you need to spark that and then they will spark the team.

At last, a clearly defined protest group with one voice. You get my support.

I have one important suggestion that would help the campaign immeasurably;

If you make the scraves Yellow & Black STRIPES, they will instantly be picked up and recognisable on the TV cameras.
The black scarf (although it is good), does not get picked up on TV cameras. This is because when looking at a general crowd background, it's predominantly a darker shade, and anything black; clothing/jackets etc just do not stand out.

You only have to look at the recent example of the Yellow & Green Man Utd (Yes, I know!) protest.
It got national recognition very quickly and in just a few months, it was getting press in all the tabloids.
Why? Because on every crowd shot on TV you started to see one stand out Yellow and Green scarf because you couldn't miss it. Then at the next game you saw 3 and 4, and very soon after, it got up to about 40/50% , every crowd shot you saw yellow and green.

(I am guessing that wasn't done because it could be taken to look like the Yellow/Navy Blue scarf. Possibly a little, but, we hardly have anything Yellow this year, and you could do the stripes in other ways, say thinner stripes, or vertical stripes or some other sort of patterning that wouldn't look like the Yellow/Navy Blue bar scarf.)

The point is, the combination of broken yellow colour stands out a mile and would propel this campaign into the stratosphere in the shortest possible time.

Hope you consider this, because it would definitely help maximum publicity. Cheers.

Well, going into the final day of the transfer window I was angry and fed up with the greedy capitalists that make up our board and Wengers refusal to spend decent money on quality players. We missed out on Juan Mata who is a fantastic player, because we wouldn't pay that much, and he instead went to Chelsea. We ended up with Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun on loan. To be honest, I was happy we'd got players but would've prefered some great talent. Wenger told us money was going to be reinvested properly and promised us a stellar signing, we didn't get it. Supposedly we had a 20 million bid for M'Vila rejected, go higher, money rules this game now and your philosophy, although admirable, is outdated.
As ive seen lots of other people touch up on, I wish Arsene would take the Carling Cup and FA Cup more seriously as at the moment I think there the only trophies we have a chance of winning. The first season at the Emirates, Wenger used the Carling cup to experiment his new youngster project. We got to the final, and Wenger thought "Lets play a first team Chelsea side with inexperienced youngsters and hope to win. If it doesn't work, what the hell." We should have lifted that trophy, back then we had Henry, Gilberto and other great players, we ended up playing Aliadiere and Theo Walcott and losing. Wengers youngster project has left him deluded and it seems that the young talent we bring in from around the world, Nasri, Adebuyor to name just 2, use this club as a stepping stone to greater things. Wenger needs to win something, buy proven quality as opposed to taken a gamble on young players. He wouldn't spned 17million on Gary Cahill, but found it appropriate to spend 12million on Oxlade-Chamberlain, a completely unproven 18 year old from league one. This project of his is getting worse and worse and he is going to take the whole club with him

As I seeth this evening as the transfer window draws to a close, I recalled picking up a card from a Pub last season with details of this site and I can take no more !

My last effort at reasoned complaint was not particularly successful as it was an E Mail sent to Frank Stubbs, who writes IMO the ridiculously pro Arsenal blogg on the official site.

I enclose the transcript below which was sent on May 30th 2011 & predictably received no response.

It was no great foresight on my part, thousands of Arsenal fans would have echoed similar sentiments but sadly it seems not the AFC Board or Manager. If there is any protest before, during or after the Swansea game I want to know about and to be part of it...I want my Arsenal back:

"Well Frank, your last article was as about as close to criticism as you've ever come - reading it via the Arsenal website felt a bit like seeing a Chinese journalist tentatively making a slightly less than favourable judgement about the "regime" ?!

The facts of the matter are that after 6 years we are as close or as far from winning a trophy as we were from the outset. Whilst the players need to take a long hard look at themselves, it is largely the same group of players who have flattered to deceive time and again over the last few years.

That this state of affairs has been allowed to continue lies at the door of the Manager, who now has one summer to do what could have been achieved incrementally over the last few years. As a result the 6 in, 6 out clear out we now really need will be beyond him as a Manager, in the sense he has become (and allowed to become by a doting Board) too set in his ways and also will be beyond the resources of the Club.

I don't make these comments as a Jonny come lately but as a Season Ticket holder of many years standing, whose very first game saw a Richie Powling goal secure a 1-1 draw at Coventry - we went 1-0 up after 20 mins & immediately I wanted the game to end (some things don't change).

I worry that Wenger's reign will end as it began, trailing on the coat tails of the trophy winners as we strive to hold onto 4th or 5th.I will renew my season ticket of course (its not a choice but an obligation, given the many years of enjoyment & comaraderie that has gone with it) but this year more than any other recently, I do so with heavy heart."

Hi I would like everyone to read the linked article before commenting on what I am about to say. The article highlights all of the problems that have become evident in the past few weeks. From this article I have concluded that due to the privacy policy of the club, things have been really bad but Wenger knew and on Sunday he had to take a massive gamble and played our players that he doesn't know whether they will make it by throwing them in at the deep end. Unfortunately for us and him they sunk but after this defeat the board have realised the error of their ways and publicised the fact that he has their 100% support and hence has finally been allowed to personally say who he does and doesn't want with the money that we have. At first I thought he may have thrown the game on purpose as a protest seeing as there was no news of one on the horrizon. After Nasri's comments I think supporters have to do a better job and provide a better atmosphere at the Emirates but as a child I went to one match at Highbury, and i was in awe, it was incredible...and it was a friendly i didn't know people could be that loud...unfortunately that has happened on very few occasions. This was highlighted and thanked by the club on Sunday. Maybe some of this has been our fault for not encouraging our team enough on those cold dark days up north but I have never been to an away game but i seem to hear you guys pretty loudly on the tv. I really would like to attend the protest but if it is during the game I think that would be a very bad idea. Now more than ever we have to try and help our new (10 new players possibly) team and for that first game, lets make it something special.

The freedom to protest is almost sacred. I'm so glad there is a group who want to put their message of disatisfaction across. Over the past few months Players, Ex-Players, Fans, Pundits, Commentators and Managers have all come together to question what Wenger and the Board are up to. It became patently obvious that after 6 years of policy, that brought more and more very young players into the club WITHOUT any mature support, something was wrong. Issues at hand were sacrificed to keep a conveyor belt of young kids rolling in. Jenkinson, Chamberlain, Joel Campbell, recently. Wenger had obviously been negligent, but was totally unnaccountable. Perhaps there are fans happy to constantly finish forth, fifth or sixth, but the majority of fans, players and ex-players want success and present policy is sending the whole club into a downward spiral. It has taken a massive humiliation to show Wenger that this club is not his 'PLAYTHING'. It is the fans club and Wenger should be competing to win things on their behalf. Sadly Wenger has seen the club as his toy and become a dictator who suddenly realises the people are rebelling. Use this wonderful freedom to protest.

Thank God for your site i am a season ticket holder and have been going since 1967 this is really hurting.

todays performance has highlighted just how crap we really are without depth in the squad, we can all see where in the park we are lacking, but we have a board that couldnt nagotiate there way around a corner and a manager that has lost all sight of the goal, too busy focusing on a dream. so many fans have got something so say over social network sites and forums, how many of you have got the nuts to march on down to the board and speak up for your club!!!! RED ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have respect for what you people have set up here but i am starting think that arsenals situations is now irreversible, and the "good old days" will simply never be seen again. Everyone knows arsenal is overun with tourists from surrey* and other plonkers who run to buy the latest white away kit or happily spend £6 on a hot dog....they're exactly the sort of fans who wont be on this website!!! Over the next 10 years we will go down one of two routes.
1. Descend into a Aston Villa type of side finishing 5th-10th each season. The grove will see atmosphereless crowds of 35,000 regularly, still pricey but alot of the tourists/corporate/skinny jean "new era" fans will dissappear. However most fans will still feel dissolusioned and talk about the good old days at Highbury. Away games will still be enjoyable.

2. Usmanov takes over the club and pumps in millions as we enter a wages/transfer war with Man City/Chelsea. We will attract major players, and maybe win trophys however ticket prices will be increased to obscene levels so that we further become the most expensive club to watch in the world. Corporate/day trippers fans take over and the original arsenal fans will be watching in the pub telling their grandson about the good old days, as he asks if he can go to a carling cup game for his birthday. (£40 a ticket). The bankers sons will enjoy their club level season tickets and claim they are the real fans.

I am seriously considering handing in my arsenal season ticket at the end of this season and just watching the EPL at home on the internet. At the end of the day the club wont care (some other fan will snap it up), the players wont care (they still get paid), and the other fans wont care but i will be £1100 better off. One can have more fun on the terraces of Barnet with a few mates and a beer than heckle on the balcony's of the emirates whilst scoffing £6 hot dogs and haagen diaz.

*there are some decent fans from surrey too, i just used this county as an example.

Please go to link and lets get some momentum going on this

...Title celebrations in N.London again!! AFC win the Barclays ISA title again!! Here's hoping we can add the Barclays GOLD ISA title this year!!!.....We we're sold a dream but they sold the team!!

Well here we are, the day in my view that Arsene Wenger has sealed his doom, the straw that broke the Camels back.

This is what AW said to a German football magazine called Kicker when asked about the potential interest in Per Mertasacker:

"We currently have four central defenders, and so there is no need for another.”

For me this confirms that AW's stubbornness has now over taken his rational thinking. It could be argued that this is a ploy by AW to put others of the scent while his negotiates for a much sort after centre back/centre back's. However would you really be surprised if it wasn't? It has become clear that funds are not an issue, the board are not an issue, the players wanting to join the club are not an issue. The issue is AW refusing to admit a failing and correct it. That failing in at centre back, you don't have to read a newspaper article to be persuaded that Koscielny, Djourou, and Squllaci are clearly not up to the job. It is questionable as to whether Squllaci is indeed a football player! Yet year after year we have to deal with poor defences, Luzhny, Cygan, Stepanovs and Silvestre to name but a few and why?

I look at Phil Jagielka, Chris Samba, Gary Cahill and ask myself would any of them not want to play for Arsenal given their current position....not a chance! Would any of them be after extortionate salary's compared to the current Arsenal Squad...no way. So the only issue is agreeing a deal with their clubs but this seems to be the major stumbling block for ultra tight AW. He is not willing to spend the 'ridiculous amount' of £20m on PJ, 'Obscene amount' of £17m GC, 'The extortionate amount' of £12m on CS, however, he is over the moon at spending £15m on a 17 year old who has played half a season in League 1 and plays a position where we are adequately covered and £10m on a player who has never played in the Premier League or the Champions League! The key criteria for any player we are looking for is Premier League experience. I don't ask for guarantees of success but all I expect along with all Gooners, scrap that, all football fans is that their club see that if their is a problem that can be rectified then do it, don't just let if fester because your to concerned with your reputation to do something about it!

So the next 'gem' that AW pulled out of his interview before the first game of the season was that there are two transfer markets, internal and external. He goes on to say that by internal he means our youth team players being brought through. So once again we are being asked to invest in the prospect of this team one day being great, the prospect that we have been investing in for the last seven years. Why. Why do we have to wait for a player to emerge that will save the day. Why, when we can go and strengthen now like all out competitors do and do it within budget. Speaking of budgets, here's a quick scenario for you:

In: Jenkinson £1m + £20k s, Jagileka £20m + £50k s, Cahill £17m + £50k s, Parker £8m + £70k s, Mata £20m + £60k, Gervinho £10m + £50k = £76m + £300k s

Out: Eboue £4m + £30k s, Clichy £7m + £50k s, Fabregas £35m + £115k s, Nasri £22m + £60k s, Bendtner £8m + £52k s, J.E.Thomas £1m + £10k s = £77m + £317k s

So if you worked on that scenario, Gooners would have what we want, Wenger would have what he needs, we would make £1m profit and reduce the wage bill by £17k!!!

But back to another 'gem' from Wenger, he has today said that the Fabregas transfer issue will be resolved quickly. Really?! Well why has this been dragging on for three seasons, why did you insist on keeping a player who didn't want to be here, why drag it it out for so long and still not get market value for the player? There is not one football fan who would want a player at their club, no matter how good they are, that doesn't want to be there. Yet this is what we are put through, we had it with Overmars and Petit to Barcelona, Anelka to Real Madrid, Vieira to Juventus and Henry to Barcelona, long running transfers that cause pain, anger and disruption to the club. This is where you have to admire Fergie, see a problem and sort it no matter who they are, Stam, Beckham and Keane have all suffered a man who will not have this thing going on at his club, except for Ronaldo, but then he did get a world record fee for him!

It is a sad end to a man who has been the most successful manager of all time, a man who redefined a football era but has unfortunately been able to keep up with the pace that he had set. I hope he pulls something out of the bag before the season starts that makes me eat my words, but if he doesn't then I fear the worst.

I note David Dein comments that sacking someone does not make the situation better, but it can stop it from getting worse, which I think we all agree it is.

I don't devote myself as a supporter to be told we meet budget every month, I devote it to support the team including the manager but I am not afraid to have my voice heard if I feel either are not acting in the best interests of the club. There is no one man bigger then the club, and that includes Arsene Wenger.

Hi,
Gerry just read your post and i caracked up at your signature..brilliant. Im kind of in the same bracket as you i was born into Arsenal I never had a choice my dad had bought me an Arsenal bunny before I was born ffs!..anyways your absolutely right mate the core of the real fans have been priced right out of the game. its lost its arsenal family feel I just feel like im going to watch a corporate spectacle now especially at the emirates...highbury was so much better and had all of the real history of the club.

I am an Arsenal supporter from more than 10 years,I am not the kind of person who supported Arsenal for trophies.I supported Arsenal because I saw something in the eyes of these players,something different.There was passion in the eyes of these players.They cared about Arsenal,they were real Gunners as well as mature players.They had the personality of real champions but now we have nothing.We only have the small chance to win a trophy every season but it all ends as if these players can't play a whole season or they lack personality.I NEED MY ARSENAL BACK ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being 21 im one of the lucky ones to have grown up at Highbury whilest the old girl was standing tall and proud i was there week in week out standing on my seat as a kid in the Clockend block 19 row 30 seat 82 with my old man. What an amazing family that was people around us who stuck together and sung at the top of their lungs for AFC. Being a young'un at the time people were making sure i didn't get squashed! or lending me a jacket on those cold champions league nights. I was 14 when i watched my heroes lift the premier league title unbeaten to watch players who loved The Arsenal and fight for the club no matter who we played and stuck together through thick and thin. What an inspiration for me growing up to watch those role models unlike today with the absolute joke that is chelsea, mancs, liverpool and yid scum.

But now i go to the emirates when i can but whats the point my dads been outpriced so i have the only season ticket and im surrounded by people who couldn't even name the first 11 and make no effort to make an atmosphere when it counts. The kind of people who sing that stupid Elvis song that has nothing to do with Arsenal the people who tell you to sit down and shut up and first to slag the team off but first to sing their names should we win at the death.

With no effort by the board (who care only for profit ) to improve the squad its hard to feel apart of the club i fell in love with. We've gone from unbeaten champions to a laughing stock feeder club with over paid average at best players. All i can say is how lucky i am to have been there watching Tony Adams, Wrighty, Keown, Ljungberg, Bergakamp, Henry, Vieira, Pires etc. Going over the Arsenal was the only thing i truely loved to do Highbury was my life and now i am one of many alienated from the club i gave years of support, money and many miles spent travelling up and down the country and Europe for the AFC. I love the website and what you guys are doing suddenly i dont feel as alone anymore il do whatever i can as i could never turn my back on Arsenal but it feels like il never have those glory days again just as it should be starting.

Arsene Wenger seems to be backing off of adding new defenders in his public comments in Asia. This should be a source of concern for several reasons.

1. Even when Arsene IS interested in a player it takes about six weeks to get a deal done and there are barely six weeks left in the transfer window now.

2. We have a brutual opening month of the season that includes games vs. Man United & Liverpool along with two legs of Champion's League Qualifiers.

3.Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results"

If Arsene honestly believes our defense isn't weak, he doesn't intend to reinforce it, meaning that he views Vermaelen's return as a "new signing". Every year for the past six years we have heard how the return of an injured player from the training table is "like a new signing". That rosy assessment ignores the fact that even BEFORE the injured player went down, we didn't have enough strength or depth at their respective position. I'm as happy to see Vermaelen back as the rest of you, but let the record reflect we gave up 40 plus goals as a unit the year before last, with Vermaelen a fixture in the line up.

So it stands to reason then that Vermaelen's return to the line up does not in and of itself improve our defense sufficiently to eliminate the need for a dominant center-back. What Wenger and the board fail to understand is that Wenger-speak like "player x coming back will be like a new signing" or rationalizations for our lack of ambition in the transfer market like "bringing in an experienced player would kill Denilson, it would kill Diaby" are falling on deaf ears now. What specifically are we doing differently this summer to have a reasonable expectation of achieving different results? This is the question Arsenal fans all over the world want, AND DESERVE an answer to. This is a question that can not be answered with trite platitudes about "having learned our lesson from coming so close last year" and talking up the mental toughness of a side which clearly lacks it. The simple fact is a "mentally tough team with a fantastic attitude" wouldn't have spent 3 months feeling sorry for themselves after losing the Carling Cup Final. More and more it feels like Wenger and the board have taken the fan's patience for granted, forgetting the old maxim that still waters run deep.

A more accurate description of the dissatisfaction in the Arsenal fan-base is to call it a powder-keg, needing only a spark before it explodes with such fury, such intensity that anything and anyone near it will be a victim of the fall-out. What might that spark be? There's a million lit fuses around Ashburton Grove right now. Consider this scenario; a written transfer request from Fabregas followed by a public declaration from Nasri that he'll leave on his Bosman and join United next year. Perhaps those two departures force Robin Van Persie to re-think his future at the Arsenal as he will undoubtedly not want to be part of a second rebuilding project in five years. Then Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere start stalling on signing new deals. Or maybe we start slowly out of the gates next month. Fixtures against an improved Manchester United & Liverpool with two legs of Champion's League Qualifying stages mixed in will not afford us the luxury of a slow start. Especially if Wenger stands pat and the defense picks up where it left of last year.

With all this at stake, and those doomsday scenarios very possible, how is it that our manager is openly flirting with the idea of standing pat in this, the most critical transfer market of his career? This summer window is perhaps Wenger's last chance to prove to the world, our fans and regrettably now even our own players that we do have the ambition to win a championship, both on the pitch and in the boardroom. Sadly, Wenger doesn't seem to understand that loyalty is a two way street. He doesn't understand that implicit in asking players like Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas to 'give you one more year' is a promise that he as a manager will EARNESTLY ENDEAVOR to address the club's weaknesses, not simply cross his fingers in hope that the club's weaknesses won't betray the side down the stretch yet again. Wenger doesn't seem to understand that his recent public comments about the defense not only defy logic but even worse, serve as another lit match haphazardly thrown in the direction of the powderkeg of fan discontent.

Players who lose trust in their manager's vision can be replaced. The same can't be said for millions of Arsenal fans worldwide if they lose their faith in Wenger's vision, which many of them already have. You can count me among them. The clock is ticking Arsene. You are running out of time.

Been a supporter since the summer of 1995.
Spent a small fortune on kits, jackets, sweaters etc over that time.
I miss maybe 2-3 matches a season...even though it means rising at 3:00 AM on Wednesday and Thursday mornings to watch Champions League matches (because I live in Asia) and then trudging off to work tired from lack of sleep.
I cannot believe where our once beloved Gaffer Arsene Wenger has taken this Club the past 4-5 years.
It hurts to see The Arsenal being dragged down to levels approaching mediocrity because our Manager and Board refuse to re-invest in the Club. It has all been so avoidable...and that is what stings the most...the malaise and demise in our abilty to win silverware has been...wait for it...SELF-INFLICTED.
Throwing my hat in the ring with the rest of you...I WANT MY ARSENAL BACK.

Karlos

The crest on the new kit has the word "Forward" on it.......nothing could be further from the truth as this club is going backward if anything. Once they lose the core support they are finished and i am sad to say it as i have been a supporter for 38 years since i was 3 years old.

I have made my mind up that if Fabregas and Nasri go and we dont get decent players replacing them and improving us i will write to the club to ask for a refund on my season ticket as i am not going to pay for the dross we have to endure season after season.

I have stopped buying anything from the club shop, programmes or food/drink from trhe concourse and the more supporters who do the same will send the board a serious message of intent from us supporters.

I am also peeved that our new owner Stan Kronke has not even said one word to us, what does that say about his intentions for the club.

Dear all,
I feel that I have to comment on many things concerning The Arsenal but I suppose a few will do as not to send you to an early bed.
I come from a time when Arsenal were poor for many seasons, that didn't matter! It was all about meeting your mates ( all local ) and having a bag of chips, then walking down the road with the rest of the lads. Beer came later!
The main concern was the whole day out with your pals and hopefully cheering on boys to make Saturday a great night.
We were born into it, no choice and never wanted one!
We now have a fanbase who know the ins and outs of a ducks arse ( re finances ), travel from afar in their smart motors and have absolutely no real feeling for the club.
The pricing is a big factor and the middle-class invasion is another but I feel that the continuous mantra that we MUST be succesful at all costs has led many away from the real meaning of being a fan!
It is in you heart, your blood, the crest.
You have been given a marvellous thing or chose it. Either way respect it.
Don't let those from lesser clubs see that we are in a so-called crisis, Do not denigrate what has been built up by my/your grandfather and father.
It is not about knowing the most it is about feeling the most.
What else are you going to do, change?

Up the Arse!

Gerry
Platinum level, BMW driver, Tory voter and Merchant Banker!