All I am saying is, if they won't listen or let us talk during the AGM which is our best chance to voice opinions and concerns then, they shouldn't complain if people boo at the stadium
I see your point. But it's not a completely logical analogy. Perhaps the AGM could be made a bit more open, but I think the last thing you want is a free for all that would descend into a slanging match. So it has to have some structure. Booing the manager in the stadium is not linked to having gripes about the chairman and the board in my opinion though, it's directly slagging off the team and that is counter productive.
Do you remember the scenes at the 2010 AGM ? Wenger having a slanging match with those posing the questions. I think this is the reason they changed the format for 2011. Of course emotions run high, this is OUR CLUB ... not their's. Of course the fans are not happy with 6 + years of going backwards, but they should be man enough to answer questions asked, even the difficult ones. What makes things worse is the club never address the fans, there are lots of unanswered questions regarding our policies and many fans are disillusioned. Kroenke doesn't speak and whenever Hill-Wood speaks he puts his foot in his mouth. We have a 30% billionaire shareholder who doesn't have a voice and Wenger keeps blaming everything and everyone but who/what he should be blaming. It would be far easier for the fans to accept what was going on if we were given a reason. Steve Kean said he was willing to talk to disgruntled Blackburn fans, why won't Wenger ? It doesn't have to be a slanging match, its pretty easy to put our points as fans across without being hysterical and insist on getting straight answers, not a politician's answers.
All of what you have stated above is correct. The opportunity wasn't removed as they did allow questions to be posed, albeit pre-submitted and not necesarilly answered fully. I can see no evidence that the AST were not happy though, but that's not really the point. However, the AST also have a Q&A with the CEO and this led to a "far-reaching debate" which they were happy with. This could also be considered an opportunity for the fans to ask questions. The sessions "which allow AST members an opportunity to hear directly from the people running the club." http://arsenaltrust.org/activity/chief-executive-questions-and-answers Just a small side point which shouldn't really affect the discussion too much, just thought it was interesting that there are other opportunities to raise concerns with the club.
There could be alot of truth in this. We have been sporadically successful throughout history but never hugely dominant, then we win the league 3 times in 6 seasons and 4 FA Cups, maybe we attracted a few glory hunters....
I think it is certainly true. The other side is that even though they may not be glory hunters and may well be proper fans, anyone under the age of about 28 is too young to realise what being an Arsenal fan was like prior to Wenger, let alone prior to Graham. Without that perspective, it is easy to have been spoilt by th sucess we have had. Whilst not saying that that means it is OK for us to decline, those with the memories of the 80's, 70's and earlier can probably be a little more forgiving.
I heard a bloke on the radio last week who said he'd been an Arsenal fan for 40 years and this was the worst team he'd ever seen.My first thought was "You must have slept through the majority of the 70's and the early 80's mate"
Mid 80's was the worst for me. Mind you, then Graham teams especially the midfield were often quite dross. But that doesn't and shouldn't stop fans from being upset now though.
I think every fan gets upset when the team is playing badly but i also think some older fans appreciate the good times when they have seen the bad.I remember in the mid 70's being really worried about relegation
I'm an older fan. I started supporting Arsenal as a "Glory hunter" at the 1971 cup final where we won the double. I try to set my expectations each year based on the circumstances we face. I was a lot unhappier with our performances three or four years ago, because I felt that we had good chances to win. This year with the loss of Fabregas and Nasri and Man City, Tottenham and even QPR and Fulham getting richer, we are facing a much tougher challenge. Then there are the injuries on top of that. Based on that, I have set my expectation level and Wenger has usually exceeded my expectations. I will never stop supporting the players and the manager. The fans are an important part of the team and negativity, booing etc, cost us points. I am not a huge fan of Arshavin, and my heart sank when he was brought on, but I was still cheering for him every time he touched the ball, hoping that he could go from villain to hero and that his redemption was at hand. On Arshavin, for me he has simply lost a few yards of pace. Remember how he galloped away with Walcott when he scored against Liverpool? He doesn't seem to have that speed any more and it makes a difference. He still has the control and the final pass, but not the breakaway speeed over 10 yards he used to have.
Everyone's a youngster compared to you mate Apart from PNE he's older and more cranky than all of us put together .....
