Deadline day

Deadline day 1st June time for the multitudes, including yours truly, to pay up and shut up. That is clearly the case. The board are safe in the knowledge that there are enough die hard Arsenal supporters who will renew their Season tickets season after season no matter what. Add to that those who don’t want to give up a season ticket as the thought of going back to eighty thousand and first in the waiting list is unconscionable. There is also the group of supporters who are giving it ‘one more season’.

The season ticket is not just a seat in the stadium it’s a commitment to turning up week in week out until the final whistle. Or is it? Feeling under appreciated by the elite at the club and feeling sold short by Wenger’s lack of ambition and philosophical dead end causes the doubts that result in deadline day renewal. Leaving it until the last minute is a clear sign of apathy and resignation.

I parted with my hard earned money today knowing deep down that Carling Cup and FA Cup games would be a waste of time but hoping otherwise. Thinking that the best we can achieve are draws in the big games against Manchester United and Chelsea but considering the joy of taking 12points. Accepting that we will still be subjected to The Wonder Of You and Denilson / Diaby in midfield but wishfully thinking otherwise. Resigning myself to the fact that the summer ahead will not be one of major changes yet thinking perhaps 'you never know'.

So still I retain a seed of hope that The Arsenal will achieve something this time round despite of, not because of, our manager’s dogma.

I guess the bottom line goes back to a quote from Woody Allen in which, if you imagine the relationship we have with Arsenal, makes perfect sense;

“I thought of that old joke, y'know, the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.”