Ed. Note - Just a reminder, please read the whole article before posting a comment and remember, this is just the opinions of one person, in this case Coach McGuirk…
?The time has come?, the Walrus said
?To talk of many things.?
?Of sailing ships and sealing wax?
?Of cabbages and kings?
?And why the sea is boiling hot?
?And whether pigs have wings?
–Lewis Carroll
The time has come, my fellow fans, to discuss the obvious, and by the obvious I mean the complete lack of discipline that is befuddling our efforts right now. Our club is in danger of blowing what could be an outstanding season simply because they cannot control themselves, either on or off the pitch. The list of crimes committed has grown by the match, and it?s high time we, as fans, voiced our concerns to the powers that be at the club.
The club have now had their captain sent off once again for an act of petulance that cannot be overlooked, yet our manager has done just that, intimating that the play in question was ?out of character? for a character we know to be a hot head. In recent weeks there have been dust-ups following tough challenges, multiple bookings, bookings before entering the field of play(!), and enough future suspensions that we will be lucky to even hang on to the league title, let alone hoist any other silverware this season.
Adding to this whole mess is the fact that now our manager is defending the indefensible, blaming officials for our woes, and showing terrible displays of sportsmanship on the game?s biggest stage in Europe. I think we can all agree that the manager must take responsibility for controlling the players, and that until he does, our club will be labeled ?outlaws?, or worse.
What can be done? Should we, as fans, demand more for the club? How can we let the storied name of our club be tarnished by these actions? It is time we took action as the players and manager are disrespecting the club AND the game itself. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard!
Sound familiar?
Anything you?ve heard before?
Sure you have. It?s what you hear from the media and other fans every time an Arsenal player so much as breathes on an official, except when it?s Arsenal they also want a pound of flesh (points deduction) in addition to suspensions and fines.
Since the ?Battle of Old Trafford: Handbags at 20 Paces?, Arsenal have been on double secret probation, and aside from Lehman bouncing the ball of an opponent?s head, they have kept to the high road. Now that the season is winding down, it is not Arsenal with problems toeing the company line, but our pals at Old Trafford.
The worm has turned, the shoe is on the other foot, etc., etc.
Oddly enough, there are no calls for a points deduction this time, not from the media nor anyone else. The cries you do hear are those of a beaten man, trying to figure out what went wrong and why his magic touch has somehow left him.
?The ref should have given the penalty?, ?they were diving?, ?the keeper made a meal of it?. This has been the week that was for a certain manager with a red nose and a hankering to enter the horse racing business, who shall remain nameless at this time. Even his ?mind games? have turned on him, as it has been his club who have dropped 4 out of six points since he declared that ?going undefeated could weigh on them?. Perhaps he should have learned from 2002 that mind games don?t work if the other team refuses to play.
Wenger has stated that the season is not over yet, and it isn?t. There are still 11 matches left and stranger things have happened, but with the disaster of last year fresh in their minds, I doubt the players will collapse once again.
Perhaps 2004 will be remembered as the year that the mind games blew up in the face of the source, and sent him into a spiral of despair.
Then again, maybe it will just be remembered as the year Arsenal?s dominance really took hold.
2 Responses to “Where’s the Lack of Discipline Now?”
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March 3rd, 2004 at 11:21 pm
Rick, I have to start by saying a good article without any cheap shots and straight to the points. United has been hit by a lack of self-control from key players which will further weaken the depleted ?horses?. Can?t win, wouldn?t win and get booked on the bench.
Yes, I remember commenting about Arsenal disciple problems whiles others question what team I support but nice to know Mr. Wenger had reinforce in his team the belief that foolhardy actions could cost them dearly in terms of honors. But it is also time for others to stop making Arsenal the scapegoat for the lack of discipline that is sweeping the game and not only United. This week alone Millwall @ The Blades and today?s game B?ham v M?boro.
Another day, another ban for Keane, United skipper’s fiery temper and outspoken nature mean his name is never far from controversy. Nothing new but troubled by strife off the pitch and a loss of momentum on it, United had gone to the dogs of late. And the mind games for which Ferguson is famed now appear to be ineffective. When he suggested at the weekend that we might bottle the title race once again.
I have to say writing off United has always been dangerous, as they proved last season when they went on a run of 15 wins and three draws in their final 18 games of the season to overhaul us and reclaim the Premiership title. But this time around there appear to be too many shortcomings to suggest a repeat of those heroics
March 4th, 2004 at 2:19 am
I would have to say that the last 4 games that United have played have been quite a suprise to me, very happy about it, but almost shocked. I had a very good feeling before the season started that the Gunners would take the EPL by storm, but I thought that the ManU scum AND Chelski would be a close 1 to 4 points behind and there would be a 3-way race of some kind. Of coarse the season went on, Chelsea slipped further away and ManU came up with a couple of losses and the Arsenal had so many draws that I was beginning to get a bit nervous. All of a sudden there has been a break down that I know leads to the leadership of Sir Alex Bastard and I would have to say that I would have never guessed that after we let the title go back to those c*nts from very poor play in the end that they would let their composure slip and fall apart almost the same way we did being so close to end of the season, except the fact that their manager seems to have a rolodex full of excuses of why they have been sh*tty on the pitch. And though it is true that the season still has a bit to go, I feel that us Gunners will soon see the silver back at Highbury.