by Tony Attwood
Now here’s a thing. The supporters of Real Madrid jeered Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale during a 5-0 defeat of Rayo Vallecano. Carlo Ancelotti then pleaded with the Real Madrid fans to unite with the players.
Both events were strange to my mind. Strange to boo such talented players in a 5-0 win, and strange for the manager to try to reason with people who clearly don’t support the club, the team and the manager. Pleading with such people never works. Just watch Arsenal.
And it wasn’t that C. Ronaldo played badly – he even opened the scoring. The booing came because with Real Mad 4-0 up he missed a chance to make it five. He was booed for not passing to Alvaro Morata, but instead try to score himself.
Worse, Ancelotti said he was bemused by the fans. But he shouldn’t be. That is what some people do these days, having followed the blueprint of the AAA at Arsenal, who in turn copied the oafs who booed our championship winning side in the early 1950s, and booed Chapman’s team.
In Real Mad’s case the fact that the club were beaten by the now disgraced Barcelona and Seville was too much to take..
“We need the help of everyone,” said Ancelotti. “Whistling Cristiano is incomprehensible. I have always said that sometimes I understand whistles because they can be deserved. Right now? No, the players are putting in a lot of effort.”
So maybe there should be a course in supporter malfunctions for all senior manager which explains to them that there are idiots in the ground. Maybe there should be signs on the doors within the club which say, “watch out, idiot about”.
Bale was booed for having a duff game. Then rather amusing Ronaldo had a go at the poor sap for wasting a late free-kick against Seville as Real went down 2-1.
Ronaldo then did score a superb goal later in the game and got cheered for that, but he knows and the manager knows, the boos will be back very shortly. But whether they will get the fabled Decima (the 10th European Cup) is not at all certain.
Quite why people pay to go to football matches, see their team wining and then boo, is a matter for psychologists to explain. However I have asked Dr Billy the Dog McGraw of the University Hospital of the North Circular Road to give us a more fulsome explanation.
His report will appear shortly.
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- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
Do you fancy writing for Untold? Here are the guidelines.
I’ve long considered that you are getting obsessed and I’m not sure it’s healthy.
Dear Tony,
Could it be that we are witnessing the great evolution in homo sapien sapien’s stupidity progression? Or could it the discovery of a new sub- species? Homo sapien stupien. Oh, the story never ends. Why Sir Charles, why? You were right all along. But why Sir Charles, why?
I would suggest that for many there is a disconnect between the supporters and the actual players. Players are, much like an enemy combattant is, objectified and as such can be vilified or additionally in the instance of modern footballers placed on a pedestal, without any actual understanding of or empathy for their situations. In battle, you don’t want to feel for your enemy. A friendly football game on Christmas Day 1914 scared the wits out of both sets of generals. National aims, propaganda and bullets kept both sides hating each other. In football, there is no way that a player can be known by all the fans in the stadium. Time, money propaganda and safety concerns ensure that fans are kept away and as such fans build up unrealistic notions of what is going on AND many don’t care.
On the subject of the AAA’s…..Black Scarf.
As I’ve mentioned before I don’t buy ‘papers’ anymore except Saturdays for the Racing.
I also buy them for big race meetings, Ascot, Cheltenham and this week Aintree.
Now I don’t buy them because they are full of ‘shite’. More specifically ‘shite’ about Arsenal, but when needs must.
But on the back page of the Sun today was a small headline RAMBO IS BACK. I started reading and much to my surprise having read the entire first paragraph on the back page all seemed positive. Safe to turn to page 68 and continue I thought. Wrong. Having touched on the fact that RAMBO does indeed seem to be on the way back, we soon moved on to the real point of the piece. Apparently the Black Scarf brigade have done a survey and HALF the Arsenal fans think Wenger should go if we don’t get into the top 4.
You see I knew, I just knew the SUN could not have a piece on Arsenal that was positive.
The sneaky gits lured me in just to hit me with the usual negative crap.
God I hate that rag.
Anyway, who where that Black Scarf mop asking. They didn’t ask me I know that !!
It is disappointing to see the BSM raising their ugly and unnecessary profile once again. The impression the Black Scarf Morons give is that they are more interested in destabilizing the club, possibly in the hope of an aggressive takeover, than supporting the team.
My impression is that the BSM are a small organization always trying to punch above their weight. I am surprised that a national paper gives them any credence, but then I suppose one should never be too surprised at the Sun.
Tony, this article is just pointless. Real Madrid are not copying an AAA blueprint. One, because the AAA doesn’t exist. Two, because why would Real Madrid fans copy Arsenal fans. Three, I cant remember a player being booed at Arsenal whilst we were winning 5-0? Some might but it must be very very rare. Your insistence on casting any fan with valid questions about the club and the management into a mythical cult called the AAA is getting somewhat worrying now. It’s becoming an obsession with you.
Why don’t you just accept that many fans behave in different ways and that no one single approach can lay claim to be ‘true’ supporters of the club?
One of the great ‘Arsenal’ movies, Fever Pitch, portrayed a typical example of two such fans – one negative, one optimistic… was one a better fan that the other? I think you often confuse the motivations of fans who question why Wenger has not been able to win anything for 8-9 years. Clearly money as an argument has now been put to bed, with Liverpool competing nicely with Chelsea and City. Questioning why Wenger has underachieved does not make one a member of the AAA.
Are you actually kidding on the Liverpool point? Did you remove the memories of the couple hundred million they have spent over the last few seasons?
The issue Tony raises isn’t around Arsenal fans who have differing opinions around Wenger or the running of the club it is around those who consistantly look to the negative at every turn.
Its quite interesting actually to take Liverpool as an example in terms of fans, despite being uncompetative in the league since 2009 and having no title for over 20 year. Every year they believe they will win everything and the media act like they will too.
Jayram,
simply looking at how much money Liverpool has spent in recent years compared to Arsenal would be enough to show that Liverpool is in fact one of the biggest spenders in the PL.
jayram,
Maybe AAAs don’t exist, but YAAAPs are a palpable occurence 🙂
Well said Florian & are the AAA YAAAPing when they are in denial?
Liverpool are operating within FFP and are making a profit – without dodgy sponsorship deals. The point is that they ARE able to compete. The argument that Arsenal can not has always been a red herring. Arsenal choose not to spend even though they can afford to. That is not to say that spending is the answer – you can never be sure. But the fact remains that Liverpool, a club who make less revenue and profit than Arsenal are operating within FFP and are challenging for the title against City and Chelsea.
oops I just looked at the last two years – Liverpool are financially cheating too. Damn, when will it ever end?
AAA and expectations.
On the Barcelona thread of late, I have a comment.
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/34953#comment-783148
I had been looking at the final standings for Arsenal since WW-II. Most of the graph is quite noisy, and Wenger’s period is distinctly different.
So, I constructed centered moving averages (except I used median instead of average) with widths ranging from 3 to 17 years, and then for each centered window, picked the standard deviation which was lowest from windows of width 9 to 17 years.
While the pre-Wenger median is 5, when you move a smaller window across the data, you see a window median that is mor often greater than 5th than less than 5th. I would expect that just about any long term Arsenal fan from WW-II on, expects Arsenal to finish something like 6th or 7th. It is only in the years leading up to Wenger, and with Wenger here, that high finishing AND consistent finishing are in our memory.
Maybe the numbers mean something else to you.
Hair Loss?
The Arsenal.com website did not contain anything I could find on this, but the whorenalists are saying that Wenger is warning athletes about using hair loss products.
Male pattern baldness is an inherited trait as far as I know (and I have it). As a teenager, I seen it all through my dad’s side of the family, and it was hit or miss on my Mom’s side of the family.
There are two things you need to lose hair via male pattern baldness (as I understand things): genetic predisposition, and you need testosterone. If you are predisposed, but low testosterone count, you will probably keep your hair.
What do you need to be a good male athlete? High testosterone count. Many training activities, also serve to increase testosterone count. Hence, male athletes probably have a higher incidence of male pattern baldness than other occupations.
What seems to be happening is a testosterone metabolite, closes up selective hair follicles. The only hair “medicine” I have studied much about, is Rogaine. I believe this was originally a heart medication (and may still be one). Hair growth was a side effect that was spotted in studies.
If it causes hair growth, what it seems to cause is the very fine hair typical of babies. It may cause thick hair to grow, but that isn’t as likely.
I suspect a real cure of male pattern baldness will come along sooner or later, and you will need to see your doctor to get it. I really doubt you will find it at spas, at the coffee shop, or the local steroid pusher. I don’t think it will come along quick enough for me to get the top of my head covered again.
Im sure the players are trying their best. Arsene is ruthless when it comes to players who’s passionate and strong mentally. Wiltord, Reyes, Arshavin and Gervinho springs to mind. Many of us also heard of the infamous Zlatan meeting Arsene. He might not be the loud battle-crying, machine gun carrying Rambo like manager but gets it done like a silent assassin. Only that he does it for the benefit of the club in general, not for himself. However, the demands and expectation of the fans are most of the time unrealistic. The way some of them criticising Arsene’s tactic and point out their own tactical solution is hilarious. Gotta blame CM2 for that. I will never forget what the fans at Ems did to Eboue. Every players (successful and unsuccessful) improve a lot at Arsenal because Arsene’s liberal and unique man-management. Even the ‘great’ Gourdiola and the ‘choosen one’ Mourinho admitted that they left clubs because the players over grown them. Quick way out. Arsene never dictates the club but the respect and trust towards him just so huge that we might think otherwise. I hope fans will stop looking a quick way out and start concentrate to push this team to fulfill its potential.
Happily ever after ? Forever and ever ? Really ?
From….
http://www.ba-bamail.com/Content.aspx?emailid=9364&memberid=763708#.Uz9ytXaBpLM
Before and After the Wedding…
Husband: At last! I can hardly wait!
Wife: Do you want me to leave?
Husband: No! Don’t even think about that.
Wife: Do you love me?
Husband: Of course! Always have and always will!
Wife: Have you ever cheated on me?
Husband: No! Why are you even asking?
Wife: Will you kiss me?
Husband: Every chance I get!
Wife: Will you hit me?
Husband: Hell no! Are you crazy?!
Wife: Can I trust you?
Husband: Yes.
Wife: Oh my Darling!
This was BEFORE the wedding, read from end (bottom) to start (top) to see what happens AFTER the wedding…
Dire warning ….
A priest and pastor from the local parishes are standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that reads, “The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up the sign to each passing car.
“Leave us alone you religious nuts!” yelled the first driver as he sped by.
From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash.
“Do you think,” said one clergy to the other, “we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge Out’ instead?”
Of course they should have, why on earth did they not just do that in the first place? Also, why didn’t the local authorities, or even police put up signs. This joke, despite its mild humor, and of course being untrue, begs the question….am I a complete tool?
Well, AM I????
If it were an AAAA driving the car ,what would YOU do ?
Have a good night Brickfields. As I am going to turn the lights out (to go to sleep), I thought about lightbulbs.
—-
How many mathematical logicians does it take to replace a lightbulb??
None: They can’t do it, but they can prove that it can be done.
How many numerical analysts does it take to replace a lightbulb??
3.9967: (after six iterations).
How many classical geometers does it take to replace a lightbulb??
None: You can’t do it with a straight edge and a compass.
How many constructivist mathematicians does it take to replace a lightbulb??
None: They do not believe in infinitesimal rotations.
How many simulationists does it take to replace a lightbulb??
Infinity: Each one builds a fully validated model, but the light actually never goes on.
How many topologists does it take to screw in a lightbulb??
Just one. But what will you do with the doughnut?
How many analysts does it take to screw in a lightbulb??
Three: One to prove existence, one to prove uniqueness and one to derive a nonconstructive algorithm to do it.
How many Bourbakists does it take to replace a lightbulb: ?
Changing a lightbulb is a special case of a more general theorem concerning the maintain and repair of an electrical system. To establish upper and lower bounds for the number of personnel required, we must determine whether the sufficient conditions of Lemma 2.1 (Availability of personnel) and those of Corollary 2.3.55 (Motivation of personnel) apply. Iff these conditions are met, we derive the result by an application of the theorems in Section 3.1123. The resulting upper bound is, of course, a result in an abstract measure space, in the weak-* topology.
How many professors does it take to replace a lightbulb??
One: With eight research students, two programmers, three post-docs and a secretary to help him.
How many university lecturers does it take to replace a lightbulb??
Four: One to do it and three to co-author the paper.
How many graduate students does it take to replace a lightbulb??
Only one: But it takes nine years.
How many math department administrators does it take to replace a lightbulb?
None: What was wrong with the old one then???
—-
There are an infinite number of other lightbulb jokes.
Another one.
Q: How many light bulbs does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One, if it knows its own Goedel number.
—
I’m just an engineer, and have no idea what a Goedel number is.
Gord,
Minoxidil (Rogaine) was initially considered for use in hypertension because it dilates the very small vessels at the end very small arteries, thus helping indirectly in dropping the blood pressure. With better drugs on the market, it did not become a hit among anti-hypertensives, and excessive hair growth was duly noted, a serious problem for females with high blood pressure. With systemic use considered a failure, local use on the scalp became the new commercial strategy, and it has limited success, such as covering a bald spot, but not really when the user is a complete egg-head.
As far as light bulbs:
How many body builders does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Four. One to do it, and three others to observe the deed with admiration and keep telling him “yes! great! good job! you are huge, man!”
@jayramfootball
Why do you assert Liverpool are challenging for the title (for the first time in a number of years) whilst insinuating that Arsenal are not. You have clearly indicated you possess the necessary qualifications for membership of the AAA, real or imagined.
It would be really annoying to see Pool win the PL. Imagine if Suarez had played all of pool’s games and not had the ban at begin of season, ergo the reason many are saying that we needed and need a more accomplished striker, forgetting that injuries and injuries alone(well, a few dismal displays too) is responsible for Arsenal’s position at the moment.
I’m sure that Arsenal club is aware that to take Arsenal to the next level, Arsenal are going to have to start to attract proven world class players now without abandoning their youth policy. If we want to challenge and win any of the 4 competitions every season, a next step is needed, as well as the many injury problems that seem to plague us every season.
Concerning the second, i hear that Arsenal are indeed looking into it, and i hope they can see solutions to the problems which can be implemented for the new season.
Arsenal players need to realise NOW that they are no longer kids, and are shaking and moving with the top clubs, making us also a top club. This needs to be taken on board right now without getting too over-confident.
Having watched Arsenal struggle through the last 3 seasons to still be at the top and in the running, those of us who understand the reasons for that(stadium, paying debts), are now waiting for the next level of Arsenal as a club and as a team.
May it come this summer.
BFG,
Haha. Before and after joke was one of the best ever, man. How do they come out with this shit? Haha.
@Jambug
There’s lies damn lies and statistics.
The BSM is not anti Wenger. Some of their members are anti Wenger, just like some of the AST members are. The black scarf survey was open to all. I follow one of the guys on twitter. I completed the survey via a twitter link from him. If your’e not on twitter or FB, dont visit their website or are not a member you wont get asked! Why would you? They asked a range of questions. Not once did the vote for ‘Wenger out’ exceed those that want to keep Wenger. Admitidly it was closer if we did not win the Cup and did not finish top four. Now the results surprised me I thought they would be much worse for AW. So I view them as positive. The results are on their website. Go take a look.
The BSMs real thrust is not Wenger it is the cost of following Arsenal. This is a worthy cause and why I follow some of the guys on Twitter. They surveyed on this topic as well. 97% thought the 3% rise was wrong. I bet The Sun didn’t rport that?
For what it is worth I voted for Wenger in all categories.
@Para
“It would be really annoying to see Pool win the league”
Why?
They have an ambitious and a trophy hungry owner who’s willing to take some chances. They have a young manager with a clear vision for the club who alters his formation and tactics from game to game.
They don’t have the financial backing of an oil rich country or an oil oligarch with a shady past. They haven’t been artificially propped up by PGMOL and League’s financial agenda. Oh wait a minute! I think I’ve just answered my own question. Yea, you are right. It would be really annoying if they won the league 🙂
Mick
“Why do you assert Liverpool are challenging for the title… whilst insinuating Arsenal are not?”
Simple. Liverpool control their own destiny and if they win all of their remaining games , they will claim the title.
Arsenal , on the other hand, would need all three clubs ahead of them to collapse in a spectacular fashion in order to win it. In the last ten PL seasons only once 72 points was enough to win the league , which is the maximum amount Arsenal can accumulate . Now if stating these obvious facts make one an AAA candidate than sign me up. I hope the membership fees aren’t too steep , with the financial crisis and all 🙂
That’s 78 points and not 72
Note to self; don’t try to do three other things while posting.
That’s 82 points not 72 or 78 . Sorry!
“the reason many are saying that we needed and need a more accomplished striker, forgetting that injuries and injuries alone(well, a few dismal displays too) is responsible for Arsenal’s position at the moment.”
para,
Most striker opinion is that we’ve needed more than one striker as a complement to Giroud. To say this, or to say like Walter today that Giroud has not been injured is blindness to the fact that Giroud has worn down from overuse. In addition, while he is very good in the holding dept., he is mostly not clinical in the last third. And some of the dismal displays that you allow for (in your parentheses) have included Giroud’s tired and not clinical combination. The last draw with City showed the same, and our lads (in interviews on Arsenal Player) alluded to his missed chances (without naming him, which is fine). Let’s keep Giroud, as many have said, but bring in a quality, clinical complement. Is that so hard to accept or advocate? Or is any admission of a flaw in our current composition a form of heresy? I wouldn’t put my love for Arsenal second to yours. But I love the team enough to reject blind love.
@Tom
If you want to confine the statement to the last week or two OK but the gist of his statement inferred that we have not challenged in the recent past which is nonsense seeing as we topped the league for weeks on end and were making a better challenge of it than Liverpool before losing half our first choice players to injury. Plus of course we could still win it, unlikely agreed, but untill we cannot we are still challenging for goodness sake.
Thanks Ray
The mythical AAA are going on tour to Madrid. Hilarious. Jayram says it well and the main mystery at Arsenal is why we haven’t replaced RVP properly. Maybe we will this summer, it’s just a shame that we didn’t have a better striker than Giroud for if we had we might have won the league this year. We certainly won’t now.
Talking of ‘Mythical’, here he comes, Rupert Cook, the ‘Mythical’ Arsenal supporter. Pathetic !!!!
@jambug, you’re most amusing. I don’t know how long you’ve followed Arsenal but if you did you’d know that nobody bar Tony has ever heard of the phrase AAA. It’s never been mentioned in my near 45 years of supporting the club, only on this blog.
@rupert
It is true what they say then, “wisdom doesn’t comes with age”
Oh and btw rupert, it is true that the terms AAA is only at this blog, well because that is the term tony use to address people like you..
Btw, i suggest you to stop supporting Arsenal, it’s bad for your aging body, if you can’t take the heat… If you are trully supporting arsenal that is…
LOL
What the rupert needs to realise is that when he is antagonistic/sarcastic to the club, this site or another contributor then it invites a response or retaliation. Usually when that happens the rupert in confusion whinges about his right of free speech.
Perhaps the rupert will learn that if he is pleasant/positive to the club/team/manager/this site/other contributors, he in turn will not attract criticism and may be able to contribute to debates in a meaningful way.
The rupert has been previously challenged to do this, perhaps not quite in these terms, but clearly enough, lets hope the penny drops before another 45 years pass!
bjt,
rupert is perfectly aware of what effect his posts have. He’s just a bored househusband with nothing better to do in his life. He himself admitted that. His only purpose when launching inflammatory posts is to draw the attention his poor deserted soul is craving. I don’t expect him leaving this site – it fits his target public all too well. But we really need to either ignore his noise, or make fun of each and every letter in his posts until he snaps up and throws the computer out the window. Here’s to us fighting the depressive sewer rat with acne and a lisp yaaaper of yaaapers.
@Florian
I was trying to make him consider coming back from the dark side, but I don’t expect he will.
He was quite nasty to Walter on the earlier thread “Keeping the Faith” – an unprovoked insult – there was nothing really new in that but there was something between the lines that was particularly disappointing. He certainly seems a strangely unhappy creature.
With all due respect, it’s a bit different for Real Madrid fans.
It is a known thing, and at least I was aware of this for years – the Real Madrid fans have very high expectations out of the club: attacking football, scoring a lot of goals, winning all the time.
It is true that booing in a 5-0 game is a bit weird, but if you watched enough Real matches, especially domestic, you know that it is quite common. I mean, do you know any other club that has the “white handkerchief routine” like the Madridistas? (for all of you who don’t know, it’s a tradition, for YEARS, that Real fans wave white hankies when they are not pleased).
So to me it’s different from the AAA (I don’t like the expression, I think it’s inaccurate and counter constructive to generalize like this, since not all fans who criticize Wenger are the same).
To me it’s a case of a little bit of tough love…
However with Arsenal it’s different: you see people who are so pessimistic, that they cannot find it in their hearts to truly support the club. They have a general bad opinion about the club and the manager, and are always looking for justifications for their grim predictions – which IS the problem in my opinion.
Which brings me to my point: it’s ok to criticize Wenger sometimes, he’s human and can make mistakes. It’s ok to criticize the performance of the team on a certain day when they don’t show enough desire, or some player if he seems disinterested. But it must be specific and productive.