Was I hearing things? Were the Arsenal fans I was sitting amongst actually booing Andrey Arshavin as he trudged off the Old Trafford pitch in the 2-0 FA Cup defeat to the Mancs on Saturday? By jove, do you know they were!
Don’t get me wrong. The little Russian didn’t have the best of games. None of his tricks were coming off, his little back heels were aimless. It was the right time to take him off. But to boo him? Were those so-called supporteres who led the chorus of derision booing when he hammered home against Barca in the Champions League? Will they boo if AA23 scores the goal that wins us the title this season? We get enough f****** stick from ignorant, envious twots who follow any number of our lesser rivals without adding to it ourselves.
And this is my point: As a fan, we are in it for the long haul. Win or lose. Ups and and downs. Our faith almost has to be a blind faith. Yes, we retain the right to be critical. No doubt. But do we have to do it so publicly when our team are fighting to get back into a game which we desperately need to win to keep our season alive? Not for my money.
A very good friend and one of our most loyal fans made sense of it for me on the long trip back to the south coast after our journey to Mancland. He, like me, was disgusted at the boos – the booze was fine, BTW – and suggested that it was because there was a sizeable element amongst the 9,000 we had at the game who, and let us put this as delicately as possible, would not pass the fit and proper person test to be a fan of the Arsenal. In other words they were probably the same core of idiots who were happy to boo Manu Eboue that time at the Ems. And who can say when they won’t do it again?
Christ, I was mightily pissed off that we, once again, dominated possession but lacked a killer touch in front of old Dutchie big nose – who, to be fair, kept them in it. But boo my side, my club? No chance. What would my dad think, or Old Ted who used to drive us to to games when I first started going in the mid-70s. Did they introduce me to the joys of following the majestic Arsenal only to see me, all these years later, spitting bile on our beloved team? To quote a good pal who is a United fan, ‘did they ‘eck as like’. As Frank said as we clocked the miles late into the night, had it been the usual 3,000 or so hardcore fans who follow the team there would have been no boos.
FTK has rather comprehensively covered most of the other points which arose in the storm of bitter crap which erupted as we crashed out of the cup at Very Old Trafford. And I thank him for seeing reason as to whether AW is the right man for the club when so many imbecilic reactionaries are so eager to spout total and utter shite. For me, they are not fans of the world famous Arsenal. This morning, I am still proud to say I am. Are you?
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