Being Wenger Out Means Never Losing

Like so many, I am weary of the mildewed and bromidic use of acronyms to file away large swathes of supporters into easily identifiable guilds. I think it is lazy to apply terms like AKB or WOB with little consideration for the wider context or nuances in the argument that led you to assume such a term was appropriate.

There are many people who would self-identify as belonging to one such group and certainly the terms exist for a reason – there are most definitely considerable extremes at either end of the Arsenal supporters’ spectrum. However, I  find it incongruous to carelessly believe people can be so easily indexed. Most of us live in-between the extremes and fickly – as football supporters are wont to do – flirt with one extreme depending on the way the wind is blowing, even if the wind seems to always blow in the same direction.

Infuriating Pollyanna’s who have truly earned the derisive moniker of ‘Arsene Knows Best’ with unerring ‘positivity’ and canonising of Wenger exist just as much as frustrating ‘Wenger Out Brigade’ types do with their obdurate refusal to accept any other point of view than the manager is past it, arrogant or financially repressed, or even open themselves up to the possibility that their ‘facts’ are factoids. These extremes exist in minute proportions yet at some point we are all labelled as one or the other. I have been labelled AKB many times and, I regret to say, have also lazily thrown around the WOB moniker in return.

I am certainly someone whose wind (behave) tends to blow in favour of the manager but that is not to say I am incapable of being objective. I do feel that there are some people who feel like they need to be critical in order to be objective or, dare I say it, relevant.

Often such captious statements are caveated with “but I’m happy to be proven wrong”. Well, of course you are. I’m a great believer in the potential of Oxlade-Chamberlain but I don’t believe he is as effective as many are bedazzled into thinking and feel he is a long way off being a reliable, steady first-team player – of course I am happy to be proven wrong as it benefits the team but possibly the difference is, I am not criticising every missed pass, turnover, over/under-hit cross, error-leading-to-goal or bizarre loss of possession and using it as shady evidence to support my claim he shouldn’t be playing for the club (I don’t think that, I’m being hyperbolic) and bringing it up every five minutes.

Those who are overly critical of the manager and entirely dismissive of our chances in any given competition – or ones they deem to be important – have nothing to lose with their statements. It’s a complete win-win situation for them. Should they be proven wrong and Arsenal succeed in a ‘major’ competition they will share equally in the ecstasy. Those who remained positive and retained belief will not be allowed to point out their premature and erroneous judgement for fear of being made a pariah – no-one likes a party-pooper and frankly, “I told you so” should be the last thing on your mind after the elation of winning a major trophy.

Should Arsenal fail to succeed or match the expectations of said people they will feel entitled, and compelled, to tell those ‘blind followers of Saint Arsene’ how very wrong they were and how their dissent and disbelief was completely founded. This is considered an acceptable form of “I told you so” because everyone but the ‘indoctrinated Wengerites’ “knew” this was going to happen and how easy it would have been to fix it.

It seems ironic that those most angry at our repeated ‘failures’ are the ones who prophesised it.

Disappointment surely cannot be felt as strongly by these people as how can you be deeply disappointed by something you knew was coming? You had months to come to terms with the ramifications of your prediction so why so very irate about it?

Those who kept the faith all season, faced down ridicule and often abuse – probably giving it back too – are the ones who should be most angry. They set themselves up for disappointment. It is this reason you see so many people claim every summer they’ve given up on the manager and very few who come back into the fold boosted by promising signs or fresh additions.

In many ways I find the belief in the team, the gut feeling that this is going to be our year more admirable than knee-jerk dismissal or giving up after 4 matches because City haven’t lost yet. For these people it’s a win-lose situation. Either they celebrate the success they divined or they face further ridicule for holding such far-fetched beliefs. For them there is no glory in error.

There’s more honour in putting your head on the block believing in your acquittal but accepting it may never come than doing so in the knowledge the executioner will lose heart and you’ll keep your head anyway.

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