How the opinions have changed on this board.

[bignev]

Can't disagree with any of that. As for opinions changing - I am one of those who has finally 'lost faith' recently. As I explain on the other thread, I was prepared to live with the necessary re-building after the stadium project; prepared to accept that it is harder to compete with the rich boys; prepared to accept that project youth was tried, and ultimately failed, and to give the manager a chance with his post project youth reincarnation, and a change of coaching personnel.

I still believe that many of those calling for Wenger's head years ago were precipitous - and the fact that they had little patience then does not make them great sages now, in my view. But there is no evidence whatsoever that the fundamental issues with our style of play; the team's mentality and the tactical (or rather non tactical) decisions made by the manager and his players are being addressed, and every evidence that our manager is so stubborn and myopic that he will run us into the ground (relatively speaking) rather than fundamentally alter his approach.

The continual sales of our best players simply exacerbates the situation.

I believe firmly that the club is basing its entire approach on FFP and renewal of sponsorship deals. But even if a miracle happens and the playing field is levelled properly - will Wenger suddenly start spending money or stop taking stupid risks? Will the team suddenly become full of grit, determination and character? Will there be a tactical revolution? I think not, and I would prefer a fresh manager to be installed to take advantage of the situation in 2 years' time.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

football has changed. it's all about now and the impact you are making at this very moment in time. 15 years ago, you had time on your side and you could wait for things to build both on and off the pitch. its different now purely because of the increase in revenue for winning trophies. the landscape has changed and there is a lot more at stake. on top of that, there's the birth of social media which means people can air their views at the click of a button. thats why you'll see players being hung out to dry after 1 bad performance or 1 bad miss. social pressures and mounting expectations give rise to impatience.

if football has changed and evolved, you can't expect fans and their expectations not to. we are not backwards people, we move forward and our expectations develop. it's a dog eat dog world out there so its only natural we want the best for our club in the shortest time possible. unfortunately, we support a backwards club that thinks football is still being played in the 90s, with the same values and morals it had back then. on top of that, we have a manager who is out of touch with the modern game, someone who is clutching onto how he thinks football should be played only to be backstabbed by those closest to him.

there's a danger we're gonna be left behind and quite frankly most of us have had enough of the constant mistakes being made. we all knew we had to tighten our belts when we moved stadiums but that patience has been tested. over the past few years we've watched other clubs like chelsea win a champions league trophy at their very worst yet we can't even get to the final at our very best. its no wonder we've had enough.

[Syn]

For me the difference is I rate Wenger's managerial abilities. I think he's a good manager. Maybe not a top manager since he is not without his faults which leaves us very frustrated, but if you're looking at net spend and wages and his overall performance, he is at least doing what is expected of him (without any miracles). His name in football is big and with good reason. Where I am disappointed and feel let down is that Arsene has now shown himself to be a company man rather than an Arsenal man. He is reportedly the highest paid manager in the league and that is buying his co-operation on ludicrous, disgusting decisions like selling Van Persie to Man Utd.

For a man that is so connected with what has happened to the club (good and bad) over the last 16 years, it has to be humiliating for him. Being the figurehead of humiliating tasks in exchange for big money - that is the definition of a sellout.

[Xhaka Can’t]

My opinion that you are a spud hasn't changed at all.

[tpyo]

Long time lurker very occasional poster here.

You're called a spud because you typically only post when Arsenal are doing badly and rarely seen when they're doing well. Nothing to do with wanting Wenger out.

[gooners]

It amazes me how the opinions have changed on this board in the last year or so.

I was slated repeatedly for saying that Wenger needs to go but now people have realised that Wenger is a spent force.

It was obvious what was going to happen, and now it has!

The only difference is that no one else is called a spud!

I was at the Norwich away match and so many people were saying that Wenger (and the board) need to go!

you will be called a spuds fan --- because you spotted the malaise a long time ago and back then it wasn't a collective sheep mantra; and more importantly it went against the grain and the opinions of the gw royalty

rip to RkaNE as well --- i enjoyed him

[Cripps_orig]

Ashburton 2006

Was spot on all this time

[Olivier's xmas twist]

you will be called a spuds fan --- because you spotted the malaise a long time ago and back then it wasn't a collective sheep mantra; and more importantly it went against the grain and the opinions of the gw royalty

rip to RkaNE as well --- i enjoyed him

No he was called a spud, cause he always talks rubbish about the club regardless and has done for years now.

[jelgoon]

I was saying it years ago on here. So was Zim. It was obvious.

It amazes me how the opinions have changed on this board in the last year or so.

I was slated repeatedly for saying that Wenger needs to go but now people have realised that Wenger is a spent force.

It was obvious what was going to happen, and now it has!

The only difference is that no one else is called a spud!

I was at the Norwich away match and so many people were saying that Wenger (and the board) need to go!

[jelgoon]

i agree. His response to the other day was telling. He denied that there was a problem with the defence and said that he wasnt going to worry about it ( or something to that effect). Of course he was wrong - the defence is shit and has now let in 2 goals in three of our last four games ( i ngonro the 5 we let in at Reading with Kos playing)

I think the key thing is that we are literally in a death match with 3 teams that are patently better than us. We were so lucky last year that Chelsea found a perfect storm of AVB and RDM which left the door open for us to take 3rd. Even after we managed to overhaul the Spuds we still did our very best to throw it all away in the last 5 games. Who among Mancity, ManU, Chelsea are we better than. None? We are fighting just to make the 4th place our own. We cannot afford Wengers eccentricities if we are to maintain the last semblance of dignity left to us. Seriously..we are no longer interested in 1st place can we take 4th place for granted. The terrible form that saw us lose to Norwich this year also gave us demoralising defeats against Wigan and Swansea last season characterised by a system of play that is was both insipid and ineffectual. The Spuds who ran us close have improved their squad greatly while we have lost our greatest asset.

Wenger simply does not wish to change. He believes in his methods despite falling way below what were his previous standards. The club must be made to realise that the fans will no longer accept mediocrity as our lot. We only aim for CL in order to play 8 games in the competition, not to win it. As far as that competition goes, if Wenger never came close with his squad of 2000-2005 with Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Wiltord, Campbell, Keown et al. to my mind the most talented group of individuals that ever played for this club, then he does not have a prayer with the sea of averageness that he now has before him.