Questioning My Religion

I enjoyed a conversation over a pint the other day with the man who runs the excellent Arsenal-Land site. He asked me if I thought Arsenal had made progress this season.

Now you will have worked out that I look at life through spectacles so rose-tinted that my eyebrows have greenfly! ‘No question’, I assured him, pointing out we had more points on the board than at this stage last season. ‘Look at the kids we have blooded in the process’.

I always seek to justify any opposing point of view. ‘The problem is it’s the first time in the Wenger era that we have not had a title challenge or Cup Final to look forward to in the closing months of the season, so the nay-sayers think we are going backwards’.

‘We’ve already been in a Cup Final’, my friend pointed out. A good point, and one that bears out my view. I trot out my belief that the critics, by virtue of age, or simply that they have jumped on the band-wagon in the Wenger decade, have never known such a flat end of term and are hitting out in an irrational fashion.

Then yesterday I see something that blows my argument out of the water. On News Now I see an article that blasts Wenger and his perceived failings. No names, no pack drill, but the reason this article sticks is that I know this guy, at least by sight.

Thirty years or so ago I used to travel to every game, home and away. More often than not this guy was also there. I recall the song we sing to Chelsea fans these days, ‘Where were you when you were shit?’ Well this guy was there with me when we were shit!

There were a couple of years in the mid-seventies when we faced an end of season battle for points at the wrong end of the table, and this guy was there. I am struggling to understand why he is being so critical of the man who has given the club so much.

So now I find I’m questioning my blind loyalty. I’m assuring myself that we have suffered injuries this season that nobody else, bar possibly Newcastle, have had to contend with. As a result we have blooded some outstanding young talent who took us past the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham in the Carling Cup, and have gained valuable experience both domestically and in Europe.

We have Champions League qualification in our grasp again. We’ve beaten United twice, Liverpool three times, and Tottenham twice. On the whole life is good, isn’t it?

I’m reminded that perception is a subjective mystery of life. We’re all different, thank goodness. I will listen a little bit more to those who disagree with me and try not to be so dismissive in my responses. But you’re wrong, you non-believers, so very wrong!