From John Feeney
Myles,
We have all seen the warning signs for a number of seasons.
I was hoping that we were wrong and that, in fact, “he did knowâ€.
I think I first started to turn away from Wenger in 2006. During the Champions League final , Henry was spent .He had no legs.
I screamed at the telly…”Get Reyes on ! That boy will run them ragged!â€
Of course I knew that would never happen.Henry was king and that was the end of that.
That was the end of the 8 year era of Champions. A period where, every season, Arsenal contended for the major trophies and punched above their weight.
Yes there was a barren run in the Premier League in 1999,2000 & 2001 but Arsenal still contested cup finals so, despite somehow losing the title in 1999, blowing the cup finals in 2000 & 2001, they were there or there abouts.
So, as fans, we were happy.
Similarly, in 2003, Arsenal choked in the Premier League\’s final sprint but responded like Champions in 2004. I would contend that but for having to play Chelsea 200 times in 5 weeks , Arsenal would have probably won the Champions League that year but that will have to be consigned to a “what if?”
Since then the champions have all gone with the exception of the Little Matador.
I wish him nothing but success and health at Barca, where he will grow into Xavi with goals. We are left with blue and black away strips, 5 quid hot dogs and Carlos Vela.
I am so glad that I am not a season ticket holder anymore. And that is the first time I have said that in 33 years of being a fan.
I really do have better things to do every other Saturday.
From Dave Tapsell : Really, is it that bad?
Hi Myles,
I wanted to write a defence of the future based on your more recent hopeless posts.
But when I started, I actually thought that was silly.
Not because I don’t disagree with you, or that I’m not hopeful. Rather I thought it’s time we could start to tentatively dip our toes into the wider context as adults and fans.
Having just watched friends and fellow workers strike for protecting their pensions, I’m saddened that in the same breath we (football fans) cry out for our clubs to pay millions for players. Whose salaries would support a nursery for a year, run a ward on a hospital for a year. Keep thousands in jobs for a year.
I work with the most vulnerable sections of society (children with mental health issues). Yesterday we lost five members of staff due to the cuts. Their combined salaries per annnum was less than the weekly wages of the so-called stars. These peoples experience of over eighty years working to help others has just gone. My stomach for We need a marquee signing or We should pay Nasri this or that has gone.
When I try to get a child a summer scheme, so he does not have to be at home all the time with his dying mother, and find they have been cut, I wonder what world are we living in. When I talk to teachers at school about a child who is failing, as they cannot read, yet the support services have been reduced, I wonder what it means to support one of the big clubs.
I am at a point where I wonder how long can I go on chanting and cheering in stadiums whose revenue on one day would support a whole service of people working with those in need. How long can I contiue to discuss this or that signing while friends and colleagues are losing jobs because of cuts. At the same time players argue, sulk and complain about 100 thousand pounds a week and whether that’s enough.
Football has always had the myth of being in touch with society and I bought it, if I’m honest.
But really, is it now time to stop? Is it not now time for us as adults to start to question if we can continue to support such a morally reprehensible system?
Can you honestly say Cesc is worth 45 million when we are losing hospital wards, day care, mental health services, support services, social workers, cleaners,support staff etc etc?
Hope, Myles, football used to bring me hope. But what price do I now have to pay to keep it?
I like your writing but maybe we can start writing about football in its widest context. Change has to start somewhere and blogs may be the difference .
Cheers mate, hope you and yours are well and your friends jobs are safe.
Myles replies :
At least we agree about the state of the nation.
This Tory govt is utterly incompetent.
Utterly, totally incompetent. U-turns everywhere.
Osborne is a dickhead who didn’t have to cut so much so soon. And Ed Miliband is embarrassing. Clueless. A minister, maybe. A leader? No way.
I knew we were in trouble during the Open House London weekend in September 2008.
There was no queue to get into The Bank of England that Sunday morning. I was baffled. Normally, there is a queue 200 yards long. Seeing from a distance that there was no queue, we walked over and spoke to the dark-suited young woman in charge.
She said, “I’m sorry we can’t give you the full tour today, as we have a lot of staff in working today. I can’t show you Mr King’s office while he’s using it.”
I thought : If Mervyn King is working in his office at 10.30 on a Sunday morning, when the Bank was supposed to be open to hundreds of visitors, UKPLC has a problem.
Still, we were allowed in to see the museum, which was fun. I had no idea there is a museum in The Bank of England and that you can go inside the building during the rest of the year.
Staff showed us an interesting little film in a small theatre. And you could handle a gold bar by putting your hand into a perspex box. There was a security guard on the box, even though it was impossible to remove the gold bar.
A digital display told you the price of the gold bar at that moment . It was worth over £188,000 when I was holding it. I really liked that gold bar. I wanted one.
Often, when I think about unemployment, cuts and poverty, I remember that I heard those words before the seriously bad news began to be public knowledge. The bad news was the direct result of New Labour’s deregulation, which led to irresponsible and catastrophic casino banking.
For me,in retrospect, those words signalled the start of this deep, damaging and avoidable recession : ” I can’t show you Mr King’s office while he’s using it.”