By Tony Attwood
Sometimes newspapers publish articles just to get an audience. Sometimes just to annoy. Sometimes to fill up a bit of space.
There’s a typical “get an audience” piece from today’s Daily Mail (a right wing, English “get Britain out of the EU” newspaper that recently led the attack on the father of the Labour Party leader – calling him anti-British when in fact he served his country in the RAF during the second world war).
“ADRIAN DURHAM: So, what has Bergkamp done to deserve a statue at Arsenal? It’s an insult to proper legends like Smith and Thomas (and THAT goal at Newcastle was lucky anyway!)”
I haven’t bothered to read the story, because I don’t really want to give the Mail the pleasure of another click through. My guess is it is there just to annoy Arsenal fans, and get readers on that basis.because the only alternative is that A. Durham is utterly ignorant of the veneration in which many Arsenal fans hold Bergkamp.
Bergkamp came to Arsenal as a player not only booed and derided by fans of the club he played for, but also derided by the Italian media en masse. They named their “Miss of the Week” slot was changed to, “Bergkamp of the Week” and they humiliated the player day after day.
What happened to Bergkamp in Italy should be a lesson to all fans who think that booing a player, protesting about a player, or generally moving right away from standard positive supporting, is a good thing. The fact that the protesters at Arsenal could still be positive about Bergkamp while criticising Arsenal’s current players showed how little they know about footballing history.
Bergkamp was revered by so many of us as a player because he was not only a brilliant player who scored brilliant goals over and over again but also…
a) He didn’t bad mouth Arsenal at any time as far as I know
b) He never negotiated his contract in public (again as far as I know)
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c) He stayed. At a time when international players were coming and going, never settling, never showing long term loyalty, Bergkamp stayed and stayed.
d) He was always clean. Healthy, respectful, not a night club man.
e) He spoke better English than Ashley Cole (not difficult, of course, but still worth mentioning).
f) When he was tormented into lashing out, he lashed out against the sort of people I would fancy lashing out at although I have never had the strength Dennis had.
g) He was open and clear about his one personal problem – the fear of flying. No hiding from it, he just said yes, I have this problem.
As for the fact that Alan Smith should have a statue instead, that is rather rich coming from any part of the English media. When Alan won the Golden Boot (twice at it happened) each time the media ignored the fact, focussing on their hero Gary Lineker, who won the Boot in the year in between Alan Smith’s two wins.
In essence, the media never gave much credence to Alan Smith, and for part of the media to suggest now that they hold him in higher regard is bizarre.
Of course Dennis should have his statue, and of course we should celebrate this.
If it needs to come down to one thing, it should just be this…
- 315 game
- 87 goals.
- Premier League: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04*
- FA Cup: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
2003/4 – ring any bells?
There should be many mini-statues of bad journos like Bull-shit Durham, in the urinals located in the facilities at the stadium. I would even recommend mini-statues of such luminaries in the toilets, in case pee should be upgraded to poo on these guys faces. How about adding an ex-Arsenal.com “expert” and an ex-Mugsmasher who has just turned to punditry of the worst kind?
On a more realistic note, the one thing that will always be remembered about our non-flying Dutchman is that class is permanent.
The lengths that Durham goes to in order to make himself look an even bigger pratt is really quite extraordinary. This is on a par with his invincibles put down nonsense where he said we weren’t unbeaten because we lost a couple of cup games.
For some reason most football junos love to have a go at arsenal though sky are worse maybe they are like sky out and out m u bias what they don’t see is an arsenal team getting better full of talent many young or maybe that’s what they don’t like
Ray the idea of Adrian Durham statues in the stadiums urinal/toilet is hilarious and should be implemented immediately.
Mick couldn’t agree more… it really is extraordinary the lengths he’s prepared to go but then he and his colleagues are ‘whores’.
Hasn’t Alan Smith been quoted as calling himself an Aston Villa fan? When was the last time that Alan Smith took Arsenal’s side when the club is being unfairly attacked and ridiculed by his peers in the media? Has he not always been a willing participant on such occasions? I could forgive Ian Wright for his often misguided but non-apathetic criticism of the club but Alan Smith’s attitude is “I am neutral where Arsenal is concerned”.
Now why would Arsenal FC install the statue of such an ex-employee (that is exactly what he is) on our hallowed ground?
If only our foreign ex-players, including those hounded out of the club like Eboue, continue to be vocally loyal to the club, then only our foreign ex-players should have their statues in OUR stadium. Alan Smith was not a volunteer with Arsenal. He was well paid for his service even by the standards of his playing days. Arsenal owes him nothing.
The Daily Mail epitomises the worst aspects of the print media in Britain.
It’s editorial content is sheer right wing poison.
If the DM opposes or criticises something, I view it as clear proof of its true value.
Durham is one bloke i would seriously like to punch….repeatedly. To go one further than the durham in the urinals thing, i’d suggest putting a picture of his face in the bottom of a toilet, and charge people a quid so they can shit on his face at every home game. Arsenal would benefit as they’d make £60,000 easily everytime we played at the Emirates, it would also be a source of embarrassment to him knowing his face would be looking up at so many “Brown Eyed Monsters” unloading on his ugly boat!!!
Bootoomee, Once more you are on the money, Love the way your mind works, Just like a Swiss watch. The trouble is the quality of the newspaper. I have a small in-query. Here in New York City There are three major newspapers and one nation-wide paper. The Times, The Post, and the Daily News. USA TODAY is nation-wide. The Times is a real newspaper, No comics, No horoscopes, No Contests, None of that bullshit. Their motto is ‘ALL THE NEWS THAT IS FIT TO PRINT’ The others are just garbage. Rupert Murdock owns the Post, Nuff said. I was wondering how many newspapers London has and how many are real newspapers and how many are garbage. If they show titties on page two, They are not real papers in my opinion. Thanks a lot.
Smudge is an arsenal man, he just tells it like he sees it, he’s not a player anymore, he’s a journalist. Personally I like a journalist to tell the truth as he sees it, I won’t ask for more than that, and quite often it’s too much to ask!
as for this Durham guy, who is he? And who cares?
Ray from northfolk,
Haha. Build hero’s statue outside the stadium and build zero’s as urinals. Thats a good one. We would have the biggest toilet in the world then. Haha. Cant wait to piss on that pier morgan’s clown face. Haha. Hilarious, man.
BILL FROM MANHATTAN,
Thanks for the kind words. I’m sure that you know that the respect is mutual.
I wish to be corrected if I’m wrong but here (in the UK) most of the popular newspapers are national including the ones with titties on their 3rd pages. A popular London newspaper that I can remember is the Evening Standard. Patrick Barclay, one of the very few journalists fair to Arsenal writes for them. It is also free. The most popular free morning newspaper is the Metro which (I think) is national.
I’m sure there are many others that I must have missed but I am not a fan of newspapers – I am an Internet addict – so I hope others can produce better information for you.
Tony
As long has Arsenal are doing things Totally different from others there will b people who will bad mouth them. Everytime they pundit,journalist,media nd Sky predict somethings about Arsenal we always fall there hands down flat by doing it the way no Man has ever thought of. When the issue of stadium was to b built they all predicted relegation nd failure in all areas for US but what happen WE DID IT and they can’t just accept that we did it. Have promised my self to just watch,support,pray nd wish my Arsenal many more years of showing people that YOU CAN DO IT even if the world says otherwise.
mickw,
Agreeing with someone is not the same as them telling the truth.
Club football is a partisan affair and we only deceive ourselves if we pretend that it is not. When pundits are speaking about football, those with “Ex- Player” under their names would usually fight for their old clubs in the PR wars. Or at the very least not lead the criticism. We expect our ex-players to have the club’s back and they need not lie to do this.
If Smudge’s allegiance is to his media employers by staying neutral and not rocking the boat, then they should build a statue for him.
Hmmm even better I wonder how much it would cost to actually have some of those urinal blocks made in a mould of Durham? Worth doing just for the laugh to take the piss out of the shambolic wanker….
Lost in translation -sometime they just don’t get it !
I must have an amazing rear end because every time I finish talking to someone and turn around to walk away, I hear them whisper:
“What an arse.”
What is also often forgotten is DB10’s valuable contribution
to British gardeners, following his retirement from the game (of football).
His words of support for our great Club, direct from his allotment in Enfield,
still offer immense comfort to Gooners throughout our land…. as well as advice on how to garden under water.
“ADRIAN DURHAM: So, what has Bergkamp done to deserve a statue at Arsenal? It’s an insult to proper legends like Smith and Thomas (and THAT goal at Newcastle was lucky anyway!)”
Is Durham thinking here of the famous second goal at Anfield in 1989 but has his facts wrong? Or was there really a famous goal at Newcastle and his reference is correct?
All the same, surely astonishing that Durham thinks that Smith and Thomas should have been honoured aheead of Bergkamp. He can’t be ignorant of Bergkamp’s contribution at Arsenal. Is it simply because Smith and Thomas are British and therefore should be honoured ahead of a foreigner?
Endorse what various people have said about the “Daily Mail”. Poisonous guttersnipe of a rag which is a blot upon humanity, and edited by a cretin of the first water.
All of a sudden this Durham skunk is now interested in our beloved Arsenal or is he?.what a disgusting excuse of a journo.DM loves to irritate yes but this is another level.
Thank you UA and all those who contribute to this site.no kind of morons or cretins will change our undying love for Arsenal FC.NEVER and Durham or whatever they call you.just piss off and leave our Arsenal alone.Arsenal is for intellectuals not for low life punks who sings for their supper everyday.
Durham is an embarrasement to his entire clan or it might just be hereditary.Can a man stoop so low without being completely nuts? doubt it!
The headline is just astonishing as it is insulting.if it was not from DM i was going to be very angry but what can we expect from DM.GARBAGE
Off topic but Arsenal’s on loan Joel Campbell has just scored an absolute cracker for Olympiacos to give a two goal lead to the Greek team.
Joel Campbell just scored a beauty against Man United. Olympiacos lead 2-0.
Looking forward to seeing the lad at the Emirates next season.
Looking at the ManU game…Rooney reminds me of Syndrome from The Incredibles with his remarkably square head and his profanity laced invectives aimed at officials of law and order…and nobody says anything to Buddy.
Love or hate Roy Keane but he is a brutally honest fellow. Kind of like an annoying Untold regular 😉
Snoop’s take on that c**tface Durham 🙂
http://www.gizoogle.net/xfer.php?link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Durham
Hey guys, how do you do a smiley in the reply box, I have tried the normal 🙂 and it doesn’t seem to work?
Damn it – it worked this time – ignore the above!!
Is it wrong to feel the sort of unbridled joy that I am getting from all of Man United’s misfortunes this season?
I will never forgive their fans for leading the mocking campaign against us for celebrating our CL qualification last season. I am looking forward to savaging them with mockery when they fail to qualify for the competition this season. Their only back door seems to be getting tightly shut unless they could score 3 unreplied goals in 3 weeks.
It’s not looking good for them and I am absolutely loving it!
@Bootoomee
Agreed. When the Manures are not getting propped up by the refs they look much more like a mid table team with mid table results. Their psychotic supporters have yet to recognize that they don’t have an automatic right to at least one penalty as and when required.
“Their psychotic supporters”
bjtgooner, you beauty!
And yet the Daily Mail is the only paper brave and moral enough to out the paedophiles who haunt high office in this country. Top paper for that.
How long can the BBC suppress knowledge of the crimes?
Durham is only marginally worse than his Mail compatriot Martin Samuel. The truly great erstwhile Mail sportswriter Ian Woolridge must be turning in his grave.
@Michael Staley
He is talking about in my opinion the best goal ever scored in the league, where Bergkamp with his back to goal spun the ball around the right side of the defender, spinning himself the other way around the defenders left, met up with the ball behind an utterly shocked and bemused defender and calmly placed the ball into the goal past the keeper.
A classic Arsenal counter attack followed by a sublime piece of skill that has not been repeated by another premier league player since.
Google it if you haven’t seen it for a while, Bergkamp v newcastle, it was incredible.
That very Daily Mail put Bergkamp as the top five forwards in the EPL history a few years back. In fact most publishing magazines based in England put Bergkamp behind Cantona and Henry as the greastest. What a way to turn around the corner. Surprising but not unexpected. The region that im from is now plagued by nationalism and racism nowadays. Then again I think my country is only following examples set by the master since my country is a commonwealth country. If you know what im saying.
And That’s When the Fight Started…from
http://www.ba-bamail.com/Content.aspx?emailid=8651&memberid=763708#.Uw1rAc66ETE
My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, “Do you want to have sex?”
“No,” she answered. I then said, “Is that your final answer?”
She didn’t even look at me this time, simply saying “Yes.”
So I said, “Then I’d like to phone a friend.”
And that’s when the fight started.
Nice one Brickfields. 🙂
Dennis bergkamp was the reason of my first feelings for Arsenal
I was a teenager and when I reconsider my situation, surranding by all those glory hunting class mates and peer groups, it would be much easier to turn into a fan of a celebrity football player or a goal scoring machine, but I just couldn’t help myself not to love him and adore him every day and night!
He was my hero, pure class, with nice vision and miniature dribbling style
Selfless player and everything
He deserves the statue
The Daily Fail is a nasty paper with a history of right wing associations (Mosley’s Blackshirts anyone?) so we shouldn’t be surprised at anything they write. Harriet Harman is the current political victim of their smear campaigns. They play political, they bully, they are hypocrites, DON’T BUY THE DAILY MAIL – simples.
As for Durham, its a rather charming city in the north of England with one of the best universities in the world.
Adrian Durham is pond life
And yessssssssssss! Thumbs up for Joel Campbell
This chap is a shit stirrer. Wasn’t he the same chap who wrote that if AFC won the FA cup it won’t be termed as a success? what does he know about football anyway? Has he ever kicked a football even as a toddler because calling Berkamps goal against Newcastle as lucky is enough to know that he speaks from his arse. Even a 10 yr old will tell you that Berkamp knew what he was planning. Berkamps 1st touch and then he body movement after that shows you what he had in mind.
As for the shit stirrer, he is paid by DM to get under the our skin, and the fact that we are debating his article will give them more amo. Like the others, after reading the heading of the article, I did not bother to read the rest and I think that we, Arsenal fan should boycott reading this articles anyway.
Let him go and stir his shit somewhere else.
I like the idea of the piss pot, any chance this can happy? I will travel all the way from Harrow just to wet this f**kers face.
Shitting on everyone – the simple truth .
When top level guys look down, they see only Shitheads;
When bottom level guys look up, they see only Assholes.
http://stuffmymomforwards.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/image.jpg
I skimmed through Adrian’s article and it seems his understanding of the other players deserving a statue is Smith getting a statue of the timing of his goal that won a European Cup for Arsenal. Wright for breaking the goal scoring record, Parlour for scoring in a cup final, Thomas when he scored against Liverpool and O’leary for having represented Arsenal the most.
He is only focused on a small part of the player and he trolls on a very very big level. He can see it on his stupid face when you look for him online.
Wright doesn’t even rate his Goal scoring record that highly.
A few of years ago when asked, ‘What is your proudest achievement in football’? Wright responded with some goal he scored before he even went to Palace. Not even a mention of his goal scoring record at Arsenal.
You’d of thought Durham would of known that as he said it when he was working for Talkshite !!!
So Durham, why should we honour him for something he doesn’t even honour himself ?
That man is such a moron !
Statues are not just to commemorate the achievements of an individual. They mean a lot more.
1. Herbert Chapman – A symbol of innovation.
2. Tony Adams – A symbol fighting spirit.
3. Thierry Henry – A symbol of excellence.
4. God Bergkamp – A symbol of hard work, dedication and loyalty.