flobaba wrote:

Thats the thing Nela, who can you really associate with in this squad? Honestly, none of them have been here long enough for me to feel too attached. I like Arteta, Wilshere when on form, and Cazorla, that's about it.

The rest just don't have the quality or personality required to be Arsenal players.

Well then I can see why it's difficult to be happy about anything Arsenal right now. Usually the best way for me to deal with that type of feeling, is looking at specific Arsenal players.

We have the most talented English player for years playing for our club, coming through our ranks since he was nine. We got the Ox who many other top PL teams wanted, and who's going to explode next season. We've got a classy pair from Malaga. Santi has performed as well, if not better than Hazard. We've got two English fullbacks with big potential. We've got Poldi and his brilliant personality who willl be awesome next year. We're going into the first summer for a couple of years, were we don't have to stress about a transfer saga and can hopefully look forward to some new exciting additions. And Arshavin and Squillaci are finally off our books in the summer.

That not stressing about anyone leaving is massive for me. Hated reading all the doom and gloom stories in the press about cesc leaving.

Actually feel we'll spend too

flobaba wrote:

For the old-timers amongst us (no disrespect intended), how did the periods of drought in our past compare with this one, not in terms of length, but more in terms of cause, and the club's ambitions. And how did you manage to stay interested and supportive?

I'm feeling particularly depressed, angry, and out of love with Arsenal today, and this season in general.

I started following Arsenal when my dad came back from the 0-1 fa cup defeat to leeds in '72...I'd watched it on the tv {trying to see my dad} and I was hooked.

During my childhood, we were terrible, it's all I knew, and I had to wait until 1980 to see us win the FA cup...the final the year before was another disappointment. We went 18 years without the title, and I never believed we would ever do it again.

Then, nothing, again, until the glorious '89 season. We started to look like a real club that could build on that and although the GG years had us slipping a bit at the end, it didn't take too much for Wenger to build on.

We all got spoilt, even us older gooners. I knew at the time it was a golden era with Bergkamp, Henry etc and felt blessed that the best football ever seen in England was at my club, the same club I never believed could win the league, let alone getting to a CL final and going the season unbeaten.

But, I'm as gutted as anyone else. We've not built on our success and we've been naive in believing Wenger had all the answers, he clearly took a wrong turn...we're too conservative in just letting our success loop around again {and it will] without competing financially for the best players. We should have built on our consistency and nailed sp*rs into the ground. !0 years ago they were ten years behind us. We let them creep back in, year by year, and, although we've sold our best players in the past, I don't remember ever selling so many so quickly with our real replacement.

So, 8 years {nine years} without a trophy is nothing as far as our history says, but we had a golden chance to be consistent and we've almost blown it for good...there is just a small glimmer that we may actually spend big before we let the Chelskis and manchester teams pull further clear, and let the Sp*rs, liver polls and whoever else catch up. This summer is key for the next decade in my opinion whether we finish in the top 4 or not, we have to look at ourselves as to who we really are and what we want.

Good to see you Famous.

We won the FA Cup in 1979 though.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

That not stressing about anyone leaving is massive for me. Hated reading all the doom and gloom stories in the press about cesc leaving.

It really does add so much stress and misery. Even the idea of Theo, who I'm not the biggest fan of, leaving on a free to a rival drove me nuts.

If we get a CL place, I really think this could be an exciting summer for us.

...but, as for remaining interested, how do you stop? You either support your club or you don't, it shouldn't be measured on trophies won.

Most of the clubs in England will never win anything substantial, even the majority of London clubs will never win the league, and sprs, even with the best season in ages and our worst for years are no further ahead than us, really, and are not building a dynasty...it must have hurt like hell being a sprs fan for decades watching us win things, but, they still keep on. That's support.

Tony Montana wrote:

Good to see you Famous.

We won the FA Cup in 1979 though.

Yeah, we did...I can never remember if ut was 78-79 season or 79-80 but there you go.

Nela wrote:

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

That not stressing about anyone leaving is massive for me. Hated reading all the doom and gloom stories in the press about cesc leaving.

It really does add so much stress and misery. Even the idea of Theo, who I'm not the biggest fan of, leaving on a free to a rival drove me nuts.

If we get a CL place, I really think this could be an exciting summer for us.

I don't think it will be that bad even if we don't get champs league. I'd fully expect us to mount a challenge in the league. Will be that much sweeter this time next year.

I actually agree. Obviously I want top 4, but I do think the importance of CL football to signing quality players is somewhat overstated. I also don't think we'd fall away like Liverpool. As annoying as Wenger, Gazidis and the board are, we have a pretty strong base to the club.

Famous no 10 wrote:

...but, as for remaining interested, how do you stop? You either support your club or you don't, it shouldn't be measured on trophies won.

Most of the clubs in England will never win anything substantial, even the majority of London clubs will never win the league, and sprs, even with the best season in ages and our worst for years are no further ahead than us, really, and are not building a dynasty...it must have hurt like hell being a sprs fan for decades watching us win things, but, they still keep on. That's support.

Cheers for the response Famous. Appreciated.

I know what you're talking about of course, and for me, it's not the lack of trophies that irks, as much as the lack of any sign of ambition from any of the top brass. I'll take a trophy if it fell into our laps, yes, but not even really trying? That's fucking ridiculous. Infuriating. I mean when will this satisfaction will top4 and averageness end? We all know we can and should have done better over the years. How can we just support the club when they are just carrying us along for the ride? I'd like to make a distinction here between the club and the team somehow. The team isn't fun to watch now, but we watch all the same. They are the only part of the club an international fan like myself can truly appreciate or have ties to now. I'm totally disillusioned by the direction we are heading at the moment, which is nowhere to me. At least Spurs always try, in our case, The club is sucking and feeding on the success and glories of the past with no plan at all for building for the future. That's just wrong.

of the sports team i support, arsenal are the most recent champions. i have to go back to the mid-90's for any success with my american teams. as long as they are trying their best and getting the most out of their squad and the front office is making the right moves, i'm pretty ok.

flobaba wrote:

For the old-timers amongst us (no disrespect intended), how did the periods of drought in our past compare with this one, not in terms of length, but more in terms of cause, and the club's ambitions. And how did you manage to stay interested and supportive?

I'm feeling particularly depressed, angry, and out of love with Arsenal today, and this season in general.

Its normal to feel that way Flobs, this is the 3rd ice age I've lived through.
The first was 72 - 79 we won the double in 71 and lost the FA cup in 72 as as kid you assume that every year will be like that, by the time we had a good team again I was older and wiser.
The next freeze started after we lost the 80 ECWC that one really pissed me off and it added to a very turbulent period of teenage years in my life where I took less of an interest in football until reignited by the return of GG.
And this is the 3rd and longest one I've lived through, I'm definitely more acutely aware of the passing of time and the urgency of every season because you know glory is fleeting that's why all this a waste and a disgrace.

Biggus wrote:

I'm definitely more acutely aware of the passing of time and the urgency of every season because you know glory is fleeting that's why all this a waste and a disgrace.

That's a class sentence.

Glad you like it Capi.

I lost interest last season for a long period. Was just about watching our games but that was it. No reading the news, posting on the tolly, or any real interest in footy between games. Even then I watched like a zombie at times.

But, the passion came back, I can't really explain why. I'm not all doom and gloom mind you, I genuinely think it will be a decent summer and next season will be interesting.

This squad is better than most people think or have thought, including me. We can't afford another summer of upheaval, just 2-3 additions to fill the holes and we're good for next season.

Yep. After the final day madness of the summer before last, and the patchwork Cazorla-Giroud-Podolski surgery of last summer, we need a couple of players of the quality that we've let leave to give the Arsenal Frankenstein a brain and some balls.

If we can get Jovetic early and find a striking solution that isn't deploying him at point, half of our problems are solved. For me, a goalkeeper should be a priority signing as well.

That's purely in terms of signings, we need some other changes as well.