A dark day in the history of Arsenal Football Club
As Bob Dylan once said “The time’s they are a changing” I’ve been going to watch The Arsenal for well over 50 years now and must admit I was shocked and embarrassed by my fellow Arsenal fans reaction when Xhaka’s number was held up on the electronic board by the fourth official yesterday. I was in the stadium and the cheer that went up made me feel very uncomfortable indeed to be an Arsenal supporter.
I couldn’t imagine our fans behaving in this manner in years gone by. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that had a fan turned on one of their own players like that on the terraces back in the day, they would have got a right-hander and the rest of us would have cheered that wholeheartedly.
A Captain’s reaction?
I was also equally disgusted by Granit Xhaka’s actions as well. I expect any Arsenal player when we are trying to win a game to sprint off the field in order to get the substitute on as quickly as possible in the same way as Kieran Tierney did yesterday. However just as I was feeling sorry and saddened for Xhaka. I started to get very angry at him for sauntering off the pitch then goading the Arsenal fans by waving his arms and cupping his ear. What people watching on television didn’t see but I did as I can see about 10 yards into the tunnel was Xhaka after taking his shirt off throw it on the floor as he stormed off down the tunnel. Apparently according to Talksport this morning he immediately, after getting changed, left the stadium.
WEnger stripped Gallas of Captaincy
This is completely unacceptable behaviour from any Arsenal player let alone the captain of Arsenal Football Club. His actions are right up there with William Gallas having to be told to get up off his arse by Arsene Wenger up at St Andrews back in 2008. Gallas was rightly stripped of the captaincy for that and I think Xhaka should be as well.
It all comes down to standards in the end. Both of the supporters and the players, in particular the captain. I was brought up to get behind every Arsenal player that wears our shirt and for me that still stands today. However, I also expect the Arsenal players to conduct themselves in a certain way especially our captain. Being Arsenal captain, I consider to be a great honour and whoever the captain is they must maintain standards. Just as I couldn’t imagine an Arsenal crowd of yesteryear behaving as they did yesterday, it would be unthinkable for Frank McLintock or Tony Adams to do what Xhaka did on Sunday. It’s a dark day in our history and neither the fans or Granit Xhaka come out of it in a good light.
Not in his day
The fans think they are entitled to do as they wish due to the massive amount, they now have to pay to watch football and the players think that the fans are beneath then due to the vast amounts of money they are paid. Football is losing its way and both players and fans need to take a long hard look at themselves.
Started going to Highbury in ’66. Season ticket holder since ’76. Love The Arsenal. Need I say more?
The “fans” were wrong. Xhaka was also wrong.
But there is no equivalence – Xhaka’s actions were a spur of the moment thing. The “fans” were poised to humiliate him. They have been after him for some time. They knew what they were doing. Once they applauded his substitution Xhaka reacted. Our “fans” are terrible – not all fans but a sizeable minority. They are turning me off big time. Not people I want to be associated with. It started with Wenger and it is continuing big time. The mood and the norms have changed. I do not want to be surrounded by horrible people. They won’t stop coming but I can see myself pulling back
I supported the protests against Wenger, not just because of the poor standard of the football. I protested because he refused to change anything despite the dissatisfaction of the fans and quite often he made it clear that he did not rate their opinions. Well, I am sorry, but nowadays it is a fact of life that social media is where people mount their protests. Having said that those protests should be done in a civilised manner.
I agree that it was wrong to explode into booing and clapping when Xhaka was hooked off. The way he reacted was an insight into his personality. He is Captain of Switzerland and he has been revered by his countrymen as a top player. he thinks they are right and he has an exagerrated ego which is probably the reason why he was selected as Captain. He has the aura that goes with the ego and therefore he was furious that those for whom he plays at his illustrious level turned against him like a pack of wolves. It was humiliating and in his eyes, uncalled for, so he made his grand exit and he stopped just short of throwing his shirt away in full view of the fans but he took his time and mocked them with gestures. To him it looked as if the patients had taken over the asylum!
None of this did Arsenal FC any good at all.
Trouble is, in what other way does your average fan get his voice heard? I have not been able to afford the price of a ticket at the new stadium and if I could scrape the money together i would voice my disgust at the turgid performances, especially by the captain. We pay more and more and get less and less. We are sold the dream every season and it’s not the results but the performances that are disappointing. The fans have been patient for years getting behind some very ordinary squads, understanding the financial restraints of the new stadium and swallowing the soundbites of Wenger and Emery. They have every right to voice their opinion in the only way the football club will listen to them and if the players can’t handle that they are entitled to seek employment elsewhere.