Gonzalo Higuain should be an Arsenal player via teletext

If
the Twittersphere is anything to go by then we are in for a season of turmoil,
if our leadership at the club was anything like supporters’ opinion then I’d
dread to think how our club would be performing on the pitch.

Thankfully,
we don’t have any input into the running of the club or the key decisions that
are made by our hierarchy. I’ll be honest, I love Twitter and I’m slightly
obsessed by it. I love the interaction but recently it’s started to become a
stressful experience just by refreshing my timeline. Not necessarily the people
I follow but the RT’s of other accounts. 

I
ask, can anyone be bothered with the 43 player links per day via tedious (at
best) sources? Why bother getting excited or frustrated about it? 

When
Arsenal announced the signing of Yaya Sanogo, the @arsenal account got blasted
because it wasn’t Gonzalo Higuain. I mean for heaven’s sake. Who would have
thought that a player that was a free transfer would sign ahead of a possible
club record transfer fee? It’s just pathetic.

Then
there’s the spend some money opinions. Well guess what folks, we have another
59 days to spend. Nations like Italy, Brazil and Spain have just finished the Confederations
Cup and yet there’s surprise at the lack of movement in the markets. Even the Under
21 Championship, a hot bed of knee-jerk signings has only recently drawn to a
close. Think about the amount of players that involves. Players that surprising
are going off on well earned holidays.

I
was growing frustrated with the lack of activity but then it dawned on me. No
matter who sign or don’t sign, I’ll be there supporting our side, no matter who
pulls on out fantastic shirt come the start of the season because that’s
what’s most important to me. 

I
remember a summer when Eddie McGoldrick was our only signing for £1m from
Palace. Imagine we recreated that now? It would be amusing to watch the
reactions that’s for sure. 

Wednesday
saw a day begin with the tabloids linking us with Gareth Barry or to use the
trendy name Manchester City fans have for him – GazBaz and later that day Sky Bet
announced that odds had been slashed on Luis Suarez to Arsenal. The touch paper
had been well and truly lit.

Then
came the news that Higuain’s dad had said that Higuain had permission to talk
to Arsenal, strange that considering terms had been agreed. People are
reporting sights at airports, working out flight plans medicals and if you are
really privy to Arsenal information, some even know how long Higuain’s contract
– How? How do people know that? More importantly why do people stress about it?
What’s the point? If he wants to sign, he’ll sign. If not, he’ll use us to get
a better deal elsewhere. 

So
again, I ask, do you care more about supporting the side or getting would up/involved
in fictitious rumours? The fantastic @woodyirish recently showed that actual
success rate of rumours to reality (in the tabloids), of course it is low, but
take a look for yourself HERE.

For me being part of the Arsenal support is something really special,
especially away games. I used to love home games much more though, the walk up
the few stairs to my seat in the Clock End, seeing the pitch and players and
ultimately feeling a massive part of the game. Highbury had its negative
moments but I always felt that the crowd were together, there weren’t any
agendas, no supporters groups wanting change or answers, everyone was just a
supporter. The Emirates for me, doesn’t have any special feeling to it, however,
it is the place where I get to see my team. Our support is divided, fans are
desperate to argue with one and other, the place empties 10 minutes before full
time on a regular basis, even earlier if things have gone tits up. 

I
do however appreciate the clubs efforts to Arsenalise the stadium but that has
come from the profit the club have made on items like Arsenal stones. The
statues help as well but it all feels rather forced. I thought we’d cracked the
supporting lark in 2011/12, the atmospheres against Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan
and Newcastle United drove the team onto victory, it gave them the belief but
that was a false dawn.

Then
you have the best aspect of supporting Arsenal, attending away games. There’s
nothing better than being in the minority of supporters at a football stadium.
Our support has been first class ever since the 8-2 humiliation at Old
Trafford, it brought us closer together, the singing has been immense and in
stark contrast to home games. I know Red Action try to encourage singing but
again it is another forced aspect. On away days you know you are going to sing
and you expect to lose some of your voice for the following day. The scenes of
celebration are also much different. I posted a video from YouTube showing our
fans celebrating an equaliser against City earlier this season. Take a
look.  

Now
at the end of the day we drew 1-1 and I’d imagine if that equaliser came at The
Emirates it wouldn’t have been half as good. There were people jumping over
seats, charging down gangways, hugging anyone in sight. We were at the home of
the champions and the least we deserved was a point, probably even three but
maybe I’m biased. We could see the players determination and commitment to the
cause and because of Laurent Koscielny’s strike we got our rewards. It was a
great moment. Even in lower moments, such as defeat at Spurs, it was
infuriating to see such a flat back four and possible the worst offside traps
ever seen at Arsenal, but there was no negative spiral from our end. There were
more pressing matters, we were losing to them, we needed to get back in the
game, which we did but ultimately came up short. You have all the time in the
world to dissect a game after it’s finished, why pay good money to whinge and
moan? Why spoil enjoyment of watching at home/pub by tweeting how crap
everything is and how Arsene Wenger needs to make three subs at half time. It
genuinely baffles me, you may think I’m a hypocrite, as I can be negative on Twitter
but you’ll never see me blast the side during a game. If you have never been to
an Arsenal game and you get the opportunity to come over, try your hardest to
go to an away game. The experience is much better. 

So
in summary, why worry about who we may or may not sign. Why stress about things
you can’t see nor impact on. Don’t the actual side provide enough genuine
stress for us all to cope with? I say bring back the dark days of teletext and
clubcall. A time when transfer came out of the blue and took everyone by
surprise. Despite a lot of views we have a fantastic club, one that we all love
supporting and at this moment in time I genuinely miss going to see. It’s my
release and thrive on being there and no matter how good or bad we are we
should always pull together and not try and tear them apart. Remember things
are never as bad as they seem. 

Michael
Jeffares

Follow @mj_afc

Michael Jeffares

I’m a 30 something year old Gateshead lad but thankfully my Dad is a cockney and he put me on the right path in life, taking me to my first Highbury game at the tender age of six.

Despite my obvious geographical disadvantage I am a season ticket holder and I attend quite a few away days as well.

I like to express my opinion which resulted in me starting a blog. I’m delighted to be part of the WTTGT team and you can read ’The Michael Jeffares Column’ every Friday without fail.

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