Sunday, August 17, 2008

Empty seats, Gallas's rant, Ade's boos and goodbye to a true Gooner.

A few topics.

Firstly, the empty seats at the Grove. It's a mockery that the club continue to claim that these matches are 'sell-outs' when any idiot can look up and see that shedloads of the seats in the stadium remain empty. The problem is, as many have already stated, that these seats are sold seats that haven't been occupied. The majority are season ticket holders who, for one reason or another, haven't turned up. Given that we're still in August and a lot of people are still on their hols, fair enough. But as a plea to the future: if you're a season ticket holder and you can't attend a game find someone to take your ticket. If you have no friends, there is a ticket exchange on the Arsenal website where you can even sell your seat if you can't attend.

There are a lot of Arsenal fans for whom attending only one game a season is a big deal; don't take your seat for granted. Lord knows we could do a few more fans who actually seem excited to be there.

Secondly: Gallas. Or, more specifically, his rants. Yesterday, after Djourou cleared the ball off the line a spat broke out between him and Gallas which was only ended through the intervention of teammates. Clearly, Gallas doesn't like being shouted at; yet, surely, the captain should be a stabilising influence within the team. They should only be a hot-head when it comes to the other side. What makes Gallas a good captain - his passion, pride and desire - also seem to still make him a bit of a loose cannon. He has a lot to prove as captain this year, as he himself admitted in his programme notes yesterday.

Thirdly, Ade: to boo or not to boo. Not to boo, is quite clearly the answer. Ade's actions over the summer are clearly reprehensible, and, in many respects, a sad indictment of the lack of loyalty in modern football. But let's not get carried away. He's an Arsenal player; and what he did is hardly in the league of, say, Cashley. You don't boo Arsenal players in my book. Shout a bit of abuse if you want, but don't let it lead to concerted booing. It's horrible.

Finally, goodbye to Justin Hoyte. He never quite made the standard for us, and a move to Boro will mean he should be able to hold down a first team spot. But JH was a true gooner, the only player for a long time who grew up as an Arsenal fan and made it into the team. He always gave his best to the club, and never thought about anything but giving his all to a cause he genuinely cared about.

In an age where players only seem to care about the bottom line and their latest contract renewal, Justin was a breath of fresh air. I wish him all the best at Boro, and I think he will prove to be a fine player oop north.

til later.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree - NEVER boo an Arsenal player, what good do you think it does? It's only going to damage his confidence and cause us more harm! Having said that, Ade showed yesterday why we should snap someones arm off if they come in with a bid over £20m. He needs a minimum of half a dozen chances to score one and he still doesn't have a clue what the offside rule is. I didn't really like him before his summer shenanigans and I can't see my opinions changing - he's nowhere near good enough.
On a plus point - Sammi played well, as did Denilson and Djourou and even Eboue had an ok game. On the down side, Walcott was absolute crap.....again!

Anonymous said...

pay your money boo away

Anonymous said...

i think the booin of ade was stupid seen as we hope after missing chances he will still step up again and again , why are we piling pressure on a player that relies heavily on confidence ,i think ade walks a fine line between scoring 30 and scoring 9 goals again so lets support the man and forget the politics! anyway the emirates stadium is often too quiet and that gives one of them sun reading sky sports news watching twats the chance to talk about what they hear and what they know like they have arsenes phone tapped and a bug in adebayors agents office ,last season gilberto was a peg leg ,this season it seems they havent made up their mind who they have it in for yet but they generally believe they speak for the masses but act like they are only talkin to the person next to them when you tell them shut the fuck up,the emirates should introduce new rules ,if someone weeps and moans non stop for more than 3 games even slagging off justin hoyte for deciding he wants first team football you should be allowed to chin the fuck out of them! agreed? ps they never slag off walcott!

Anonymous said...

i agree re JH. he was a real gooner. Boro was awesome against Spuds yesterday and i hope the sight of their wonderful performance took a bit of the sting out of his leaving Arsenal... heck i wouldn't mind Tuncay Sanli in a gooner shirt... that man works hard!!!

Anonymous said...

you acknowledge that the seats have been sold and it's just that the people couldn't make it, so then why claim it's wrong to say it's a sell-out? that's what a sell-out is, all available tickets being sold. it may not be "attended-out", but it is a sell-out so berating arsenal for incorrectly claiming a sell-out is what is wrong.

Anonymous said...

theres always plenty empty seats in august ,people always on holiday and what not!

WEG said...

1. I like Justin Hoyte. Pity he didn't make it at Arsenal, but hope he does well at Boro.
2. No booing. Adebayor's a gunner. However you feel about him, it's counter-productive. If you don't approve of his actions, don't sing his song and don't applaud. But don't boo. It's just mean.
3. We won. Let's hope we can do that 30 more times this season. There will be harder opposition, but hopefully we'll have a better side next time.

Anonymous said...

It's not Adebayor's fault that Wenger had a moment of madness and decided he was actually worth £70k a week! Le Boss had an absolute nightmare when he beat West Ham (no weren't even that keen on him) to signing Ade and then improving his contract after a freak season.

I wanted Adebayor to leave, I still want him to leave, I think having him as the spearhead of our attack is holding us back...but we are stuck with the mugg and we shouldn't boo him but certainly don't mention him in the same breath as Thierry and Wrighty.

Anonymous said...

I'm leaving the country and won't be sad to see Arsenal go. My season ticket seat will be empty all season haha! A visible reminder of how the fans are getting fed up with crap players like Ade and Wenger's myopia.

Anonymous said...

He didn't do anything in the league of Ashley Cole? We already know he talked to United barely 6 months after he'd joined us. Have people forgotten this? The only reason it's different from Cashley is that he didn't get caught.

Anonymous said...

ade could have joined united a couple years ago but he showed us loyalty and he wasnt even an absoulute first team choice! lets get behind the man afterall he is not leaving till at least next year! and stop blaming ade for last season ,if the midfield scored more goals we would be champions! stop this scapegoat business!

Anonymous said...

Ade was rightly boooeeed !!! Simple the guy is full of himself or he is trying soooo hard to get back the fans on his side but what led to the boooo was his stupid play where Samri was there to score for a tap in and Ade wasted that for his "one more miss chance".

Anonymous said...

I was there yesterday and the booing from a section of the crowd was uncalled for - for crying out loud you don’t boo your own.
Say what you like publicly about him but you silly arses that did boo him are out of order.
Some talk about him sodding off……I wish all you glory hunters and fair weather fans would you’re a disgrace to the club!

What some of you idiots don’t understand is by booing it affects the rest of the team.

Finally.....Best of luck to a true gooner Justin Hoyte

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 12.34 - hahaha your a muppet, why pay money for a season ticket and then not turn up. Your giving the club the money yet not using the ticket.
Why are you under the impression that'll show them? Your one person and I am sure as long as Arsenal get the money, they ain't too bothered if 10-20 or even 100 fans don't show up. They have the money and the true fans still show for their team. Too many plastic fans around the place these days.

As for the article, well said. If your an Arsenal fan, no matter how much you may not like a player you do NOT boo him. Its hypocritical since in some way's you are booing the teams colours/shirt and effecting the teams performance. Then the same people will complain about the way the team performed. You don't have to sing the players name after all, just sing the teams name.

Grow up and cheer for your team.

Anonymous said...

Only modern plastic Arsenal fans would boo a player when we were winning. But it was only a few and only for a few seconds. Amazing that MotD concentrated more on that than on any other apsect of the game - what about Walcott being pulled to the floor or the completely inconsistent reffing????

Anonymous said...

Ade...was awful but still doesnt deserve the boos...he ll be a huge part of our season.please a lil more support.le boss please sign a reasonably aged experienced player of some sort to make us able to run the marathon.Far as i am concerned we had the best 1st team in the league last season but they couldnt stay fit to save thier own behinds.and there was not enough experience and depth to carry us through.i love the beautiful football but i want to celebrate in may.

Anonymous said...

Just remember when you boo an Arsenal player you are booing the shirt.

Anonymous said...

Adebayor is one of the most overrated players I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt.
As far as I could tell he was getting booed because he directed a flimsy effort goalward when he could have put in Bendtner or someone else.

That is in contrast to what you are suggesting, that fans were just booing him for what he did over the summer, which obviously was part of it.

And I'll boo whoever i please thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

I was at the game yesterday and the booing came in the last part of the game after Ade has missed loads of chances, he was as infuriating to watch as always and needs to fix up. I believe he spends too much time out on the left flank, and tends to pass the ball sideways instead of attempting a shot on goal.

Anonymous said...

Adeabayor wanted more money. He got more money so now he must deliver. He did not deliver yesterday and was righty shown some abuse. Now, I would never boo any player still wearing an Arsenal shirt but some verbal abuse will do this highly paid donkey some good in my opinon.

Anonymous said...

WOOW i never thought i'd see so many fake arsenal fans in one blog!! Adebayor has the potential to being the best striker in the world with AC Milan, Barcelona and even ManUre want him off of us!! hes still young and has done some awesome acheivements for us last year! and given his offsides and missed chances, its not like he done it on purpose! its not like he stood infront of the line to piss us arsenal fans off!! its not like he put the ball wide to piss us off!! infact its the fact that we keep booing him that makes him selfish infront of goal to try and win us back!! what a player and im glad Wenger convinced him to stay!! and for all who disagree with me...stay hating!!!

cesc la vie said...

Football has changed and it's about time these money grabbing, shirt kissing twats knew what joe public really thinks of them. Incidentally, Ade was booed mostly when he selfishly failed to find Nasri who was in a goalscoring position. That epitomises everything about the egocentric thick twat, and I for one am glad he was booed. Back in the day, you'd never boo an Arsenal player, no matter how useless they were, because they had a semblance of loyalty and bled for the club on the pitch. Adebayor is not Arsenal and does NOT represent the club I love.

Plastic fans?.. I haven't missed a game home or away for 17 years. Ade the badge kissing moron means nothing to me and never will.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's a mockery for the club to claim the matches are sellout's when they have sold all the tickets. Thats just the truth.

I do agree with the rest of your points though. Good luck to Hoyte in the future.

Mab said...

On the empty seat thing, there were about two hundred people who could not take up their seat because of a computer glitch. As usual, when it comes to treating their fans as "special" the Arsenal did nothing to ensure a speedy resolution, thereby
preventing season ticket holders to watch the whole game. I saw heaps of people lose patience and adjourn to the pub to watch on TV.

Anonymous said...

To all the abovementioned hypocrites (Adebayor booers aka utter and complete twats):

- did u boo Patrick Vieira too when he was talking to Madrid and god knows who for 2 seasons in a row? boo Cesc next time coz he openly said that one day he'd like to go back to Spain, the ungrateful prick. while you're booing, do it to Gallas, too, coz he played for the Chavs, and absolutely boo Wenger for keeping faith in them. What an idiot he is building a team around these 3 players.
- can you switch on the few brain cells you manage to keep alive and realize that booing Adebayor can affect not only his, but the performance of the whole team which you so desperately seem to support?
- Are you anti-Adebayor fans or Arsenal fans?

As for his quality or lack of it, you pub-managers seem to know and understand more than the scouts from Milan, Barcelona, Manure and of course, Wenger himself. Cunts.

Anonymous said...

Good post, spot on about the need for fans who are actually excited to be at the Grove, and for people not to boo Adebayor. It was, however, the first chance many fans had gotten to show their frustration at the Adebayor saga this summer, so I personally think it was a one-off.

The mini rant between Gallas and Djourou was not a bad thing. I wouldn't say it had to be broken up by teammates either. Almunia gave them both a little pep talk, it wasn't like they had to be pulled apart. Djourou was angry that Gallas hadn't done what he expected, and Gallas was angry Djourou hadn't gone what he had wanted, and so they told each other how they felt. Kept them both on their toes for the rest of the game.

Everyone reads FAR too much into on-field discussions/arguments. I'm sick of hearing about Ade and Bendtner 'hating' each other, it happened so long ago and yet it gets brought up still. People want to see another Dyer/Bowyer incident. I'm sure if Gallas had been John Terry we would've heard "oh that's wonderful, look at Terry making sure his young defensive partner is on his toes" but there's a definite dislike of Gallas in the media.

But at the end of the day: first game, clean sheet, good team goal, and an excellent debut from Nasri. Another midfielder on the way and Cesc coming back in a couple of weeks, can't wait for the rest of the season

Anonymous said...

Adebayor is an ungrateful shit cunt and not worthy of the shirt. How dare the jumped up prick consider himself a worthy replacement to Henry. He's fucking Kevin Campbell with longer legs! I didn't boo him because I simply wouldn't boo an Arsenal player. However, I can't condemn people feeling so strongly after we have to suffer an increase in our season ticket prices due to the level lof greed in the game, and Ade is certainly an example of everything that's wrong with the game. You never heard Bergkamp moaning about contracts. He played for the shirt and he was a true legend! But the most insulting thing I've seen is to watch the twat kissing the badge after scoring a penalty in a fucking friendly. How dare he. That sums the character up perfectly. He was a wrongun before he came to the club, and he's totally failed to grasp what it means to represent a club like The Arsenal. With regard to Justin Hoyte, he is a model pro and I hope he has a long and successful career. Wasn't quite good enough to cut it with us, but always gave everything and I wish him well.

Anonymous said...

I think Gallas played pretty well considering he didnt have his usual partner next to him. His rants are over the top, but as logn as he does his defensive duties im not bothered.

And i agree totally that Adé should not be booed. He didnt have a good game, but I still reckon he'll be right up there for golden boot come may.

Anonymous said...

I gotta say firstly well said. Whoevers seats they are, they should have been there, or someone in their place, we want every seat taken in our gaff, every matchday. More voices, more noises.

Gallas is a good leader, someone the squad looks to for experience, sometimes a calm head but sometimes he needs to be dragged out of a slagging match with a team mate. Paddy never did it when it wasnt warranted, neither did Titi, or Tony.

Ades got some way to go before i forgive him, but boos are not the way to vent frustration, WE ARE ARSENAL and we dont boo any players. Especially our own.

And now to say goodbye to a player I desperately wished could nail down a regular first team spot. A true gooner, what a bloke to have waited for so long to try and stay, win a place, and gain success at this club, the love of his life he once said, but he IS believeable when in a world of footballers who kiss the badge one minute, then sell-out the next. He didnt do that. As I have said many times before, if his footballing talents and qualities were half as good as his personality, his temperament, then he would be one hell of a fucking player. Some player could learn from him the true meaning of loyalty. Good luck Justin, all the best to ya.

Gunner #1

Anonymous said...

GL4

Those clubs might have wanted Adegobayor but in the end he didn't go, did he?

Was that because they themselves thought he was overrated and especially overpriced?

He's a one-trick pony, same as that cunt Eboue who couldn't shoot to save his life.

Perhaps those boos are more a symptom of that equally cunty Wenger, who persists in playing these prima donnas, who gave Hoyte as many wasted chances as anyone at Arsenal has ever had, and who stubbornly sticks fat with a youth policy which puts our ambitions to one side whilst feeding his own immense ego.

He gave Adegobayor the pay rise, wasted in my opinion, and wastes money on the likes of Eboue who isn't much more than a good pub footballer.

And Thank God Hoyte is off the wage bill - another waste of space, if you aske me.

Anonymous said...

however bad justin played sometimes, he was always and will always be a gooner. the lad loves the club and im sure it was a difficult decision to choose to leave the club. i wish him all the best at boro

great article goonerboy - hit the note on the empty seats. i sit in club level at north end and it pains me to see a bunch of empty seats at the other end of the ground by people not attending - its not good enough-no excuses! u either turn up or sell up and let someone else come to the grove

ade was terrible yday but no reason to boo him. he never once came out and slagged the club off-all the talk of money came from his agent or rumours circulating in the papers. cashley was on a whole other level.

give ade some time!

dj

Anonymous said...

Ade looks clumbsy and will always look that way sue to his built. Torres looks fabulous. But Stats are stats; it does not lie. On stats, Ade is a better striker. Ae should be compared with Drogba, not Kanu. The first two seasons of Drogba at Chelsea had the newspapers and pundits rubbing theirhands with glee, another expnesive player to shack day in day out. But on his day, the Drog was fab; also his workrate and hammering of the CBs was frigtening. Ade does that for us. Occuppying and battering the CBs, creating doubts. Can Torres do that???? NO. That's why, Drog and Ade are the two best strikers in the EPL. Ade was courted by AC and Barca in the summer, do you think that these clubs are that stupid to buy a dud. Comeon.
Ade is Ade. Unwieldly, clumsy etc etc. But speak to any CB, and ask them for their opinion who they rather avoid playing against.....
Give him the silent treatment but please...please do not boo our own players. It looks really bad and gives the shit newspapers more amno.

Anonymous said...

I never boo a player and believe Ade wasn't going anywhere, just the media and his agent stirring up trouble.

as for empty seats, why can't arsenal go back to quoting it properly ? the guy comes over the speakers and says " todays attendence " no its not, its todays seats sold figure... i just want to know how many people attended, we all know its a sell out cos we couldn't get extra tickets for our kids/family who wanted to come.

those fans who don't pass there tickets on through the exchange system, should be ashamed of denying real arsenal fans the chance to get tickets.

Anonymous said...

never boo our own players! if you do your not a true fan, we should support our players and concentrate on boos other teams players!
All the best hoyte

Saffer_Gooner said...

The whole attendance thing annoys me too.

It's all a matter of semantics, really.

Attendance : at-ten-dance (noun)
1. The act of attending.
2. The persons or number of persons that are present.

Clearly, if Arsenal FC wish to report an attendance figure it should be based on the number of bums in seats. Failing that, they should just announce the number of tickets sold.

arajav said...

I feel a little bit of disappointment about the way they play (no professional mind in the great ability they have) like this they can't win anything in the finally big game. Theo can't show how he's improved from the last year(no professional mind and always show a cowardheart inside) Ade shows off that ,he can replace TH14 that I think it 's very stupid mind ,you're Ade and always adebayor .