"NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING"

As much sense as what's going on?

 

The current squad finished 16 pts off the top of the table and failed to reach the semi-final of the 3 cup competitions that we entered into so I think it's not unreasonable to suggest it can't compete without additions.

The key word is ‘compete’ and a good gauge of being competitive is taking part in the Charity/Community Shield on a regular basis. The Arsenal have failed to take part in this showpiece since defeat in 2005. The Shield itself is somewhat meaningless in itself but what it represents is that your club have been competitive and it gives an early opportunity to lay down a marker against your fellow competitor: this year’s being something of an exception.

In this need to be competitive I think it has generally been recognised that our current squad needs additions to become competitive again, and as a result of that recognition expectations have been high that the required reinforcements would be arriving: reinforcements of a quality commensurate with ambition one would have thought.

Inactivity and seeming procrastination during transfer windows is something that all Arsenal supporters should be used to by now, having had several years of practise, yet it is still frustrating to say the least. This frustration manifests itself in many ways: not least in niggling in-fighting. Out there on the information super highway there is nothing to feed on other than conjecture and the feeling that we are all being kept in the dark and have been for a very long time.

 

It's an almost surreal situation as the majority can see what the patient needs but the medical team don't seem to have taken a pulse or put their gloves on.

Nobody knows anything as William Goldman famously said. His quote was referring to Hollywood, the Dream factory, and the same could be said of The Arsenal where, in lieu of information, the dream seems to be all that is keeping us, the humble supporter going. The dream that things will turn out alright, the dream that was promised in 2006 that the Arsenal would be able to compete with the best clubs in Europe. At the moment would most of us settle for competing at home first? If so we need more than blind faith or hope, we need some physical manifestation in the form of the type of players that will add quality. We need some winners.

 

Yes I'm well aware that things are not that simple, what with avaricous agents, disfunctional players and dellusional chairmen however it's a matter of context. Ours is a club with the resources and the expectation that should demand success, or perhaps more importantly demand a team that genuinely competes. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.