By Tony Attwood
On the HITC website there is a most interesting post by Amir Mir concerning Arsenal’s future. It reads…
PROOF IN THE PUDDING
[Actually I think the phrase is “The proof of the pudding” but never mind. Let’s continue…]
“Arsenal are sitting top of the Premier League table, their best start ever and playing some of their best football ever.
“It will be interesting to see how Aubameyang gets on at Chelsea, but those at the Emirates do seem to be better off without him.
“The main aim is still to still secure Champions League football, but given where they are now, the fans will be dreaming about a lot more.
“Well, Arsenal fans need to remember that the awards aren’t handed out in October, and come March time, if they are still in and around that top spot, then that’s when they should start going overboard.”
Several things arise from this. Last season, when Arsenal lost the first three league matches all the pundits went overboard on talking about how awful Arsenal were – a conclusion based on three games. And this seems to be a theme – ok to generalise about Arsenal after three defeats but not to get excited about them with nine wins in the opening ten.
So what sort of support does Mr Mir want, if it is not to be excited and uplifted when your club has an opening run of nine wins in ten and is four points clear at the top?
Certainly if at the next game we are all just sitting there being quiet and patient not making any fuss, can you imagine what the media would do to put down Arsenal and their fans. We’d be “so-called” fans. The ground would be called The Library. And so on. Mr Mir would like it as he wouldn’t have to make anything up: it would all be there on a plate.
What these so-called commentators don’t understand is that a fundamental part of supporting a football club is emotion. It is not rational, it is wholly emotional. And I can only suppose that Mr Mir is one of the very unfortunate, people who either doesn’t have emotions or is afraid to express them.
And in such a situation how is it possible to be a football supporter? And if not, how is it possible to tell supporters what they ought to be thinking through phrases such as “Well, Arsenal fans need to remember…”
Once again I think it is important to point out that during the last two-thirds of the season before last Arsenal were the second most successful club.
And then last season Arsenal, for the last 35 games, (that’s the last 92%) were the third most successful club in the League.
So now moving on one more season, we have Arsenal again right up there with the top clubs – and in fact this time we are the top club. How can a person who is employed to write stuff about Arsenal not know any of this and then draw a conclusion that, “Arsenal fans need to remember that the awards aren’t handed out in October, and come March time, if they are still in and around that top spot, then that’s when they should start going overboard.”
What journalists with seemingly very limited knowledge of Arsenal need to remember is that Arsenal have been rebuilding the team step by step for the past two seasons and are now benefitting from this careful patient work.. Two seasons ago they started the journey of cutting their yellow card level down from its position at the top of the yellow card league. Then they utilised that level of performance as a basis for advertising themselves to the players they wanted to bring in.
But I guess all of this is a bit beyond some journalists. What journalists really need to remember is that most of the time they know less about our club than most of the fans.
Great article.
But it’s “Know nothing”
The phrase is “the proof is in the pudding”
I mean the pudding’s clearly a bit rich if you expect and berate these evil Arsenal hating journos to research what they’re writing about but then don’t do likewise yourself?
Also it’s know nothing, no nothing makes no sense.
There’s really no need to be so touchy touchy tin hat all the time.
Every club has their knockers and haters, it sells their click bait.
But you re-amping the click bait just serves no purpose.
Or is it Untold Leeds’ turn to run with the refereeing conspiracy baton this week? Just revel in the fact we’re where we are, winning, unified and gutsy, it’s not like we haven’t all waited long enough for it, right?
The proof OF the pudding
is IN the eating .
Maybe now
The proof of The pudding
Is in the bleating
Journo Mir
Knows Mir or less nothing.
Even if you take the last 2 seasons, plus the start of this season, in their entirety, the standings would be thus:
MAN CITY 202 points
LIVERPOOL 174 points
CHELSEA 163 points*
ARSENAL 157 points
SPURS 156 points*
MAN UTD 151 points
*I have given both Chelsea and Man Utd 3 points for their games in hand.
That’s an average of 2 points per season behind Chelsea. That’s above Spurs. Yet if you were an alien reading about Arsenal compared to those 2 over the last couple of years, you’d think we played on different planets.
So, 4th best, yet how many times over the last couple of seasons has the ‘are Arsenal still a top 6 club’ been asked?
This from March 2021 on soccer Saturday:
On Soccer Saturday, host Jeff Stelling asked Paul Merson; Are Arsenal still a ‘top six team’.
Our former midfielder replied we are no longer a ‘top 6 team’ but remain a ‘top six club’. Mr Stelling very proactively queried (scratching his head): ‘Well what makes them a top six club?’
This from Gary Neville just a year ago:
EPL: Arsenal no longer a top 6 team in England – Gary Neville
And this:
18 Apr 2021 — Gary Neville: Arsenal are a shambles of a club……
Were the same questions asked of Liverpool when between season 2009/10 and 2015/16 they finished: 7th, 6th, 8th, 7th, 2nd, 6th 8th.
I don’t think so.
Yes, finally there are signs the media are being a little kinder to us, but as we all know, a run of 3 poor defeats and we’ll be relegation fodder all over again.
From Dictionary.com
WHAT DOES THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING MEAN?
The proof is in the pudding is an expression that means the value, quality, or truth of something must be judged based on direct experience with it—or on its results.
The expression is an alteration of an older saying that makes the meaning a bit clearer: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In other words, things must be judged by trying them yourself or seeing them in action, rather than on other factors, such as hearsay.
Another variation of the term is the proof of the pudding, which refers to the results themselves, direct experience with something, or the testing of something to judge its value or truth.
Quite right. I can’t believe I made such a stupid mistake.
“I can’t believe I made such a stupid mistake” should be Gary Neville’s motto.
“I’m so sorry, but my wife has made a mistake.”