Ed. Note - Andez, well said…
During the whole Vieira saga, I admit some of the fans, including myself, may have overreacted, and appeared to have “jumped on Paddy’s back” prematurely without any clear evidence that he’s leaving. But I would also like to add a few words just to defend us, the fans, here.
First, people have to understand the “frustration” we have been going through. I’m pretty sure over 90% of the fans who appeared to have “jumped on Paddy’s back” are the fans who actually love Vieira. No one can write off and forget the commitment and contribution Vieira has given to the club over the years. But it’s also because we love Paddy, that’s why we are frustrated. If the whole thing happens on a lesser player, say Laruen (with no disrespect), perhaps the fans’ reaction may be a bit different.
For a young Gooner who happens just to have started following Arsenal in the past few years, Vieira is one of the heros, whom they have grown up with and looked up to. Same as the way we, the older Gooners did, growing up with Tony Adams. Vieira is the captain of Arsenal Football Club, a club we associated with pride and passion. As a captain, you have a certain degree of responsibility not only to your teammates, but also to the fans.
We are frustrated not only because we are worrying of the fact that the rumor is true, but also the fact that we have gone through the same thing for THREE straight years now. And I can’t help but wondering WHY we have to go through this again and again? No matter how positive we are or try to be, can canyone honestly say the first thing he looks at in the newspapers the next day morning is not to check and see if there is any progress of the Vieira transfer latest?
But WHY are we doing this? And WHY do we have to do this? Is it so difficult for the captain of our club to at least let us know whether he’s staying or leaving? Vieira himself must realize what the Arsenal fans have been going through now? How do the Arsenal fans stand in his eyes? How do the season ticket holders who paid a fortune attending every match of Arsenal just to support Paddy and his teammates stand in the eyes of our captain? How do the traveling fans who go through snow and rain traveling with the team every game every where stand in the eyes of our captain? How do the kids who wore the “4″ Vieira on their back stand in the eyes of our captain? As fans, we do not ask for much. We will be supporting our team no matter what. Personally, even the whole first team squad are gone, and we are left with the reserves, my love towards Arsenal Football Club will not change. All we want is to have an answer from our captain, probably one of the most loved Gunners for Arsenal fans worldwide. And all it takes is just a phone call from Paddy… Perhaps, we are asking too much.
12 Responses to “At the defence of fans”
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July 25th, 2004 at 7:38 am
Well I’m going to do it again: Wenger should sell Viera. We can’t have this song & dance every year. If possible, not to Real Madrid. Real Madrid is playing dirty tricks, and if we give in, then who next? I don’t have the slightest doubt that we’ll continue to prosper without him. He’s 28 and obviously double minded. The time has come to sell him, take the money and run.
I for one see nothing for us to be apologetic over. The time has come for Patrick to go.
July 25th, 2004 at 9:48 am
Andez and Co… I am not going down this road yet again. I believe whether he stays or goes, you are off base. I don’t understand the commentary that he should go… that we won’t miss him very much… that we win without him anyway… etc etc etc. Its all sour grapes and sounds utterly ridiculous to me. GET A CLUE. Arsenal are not a better football team without Patrick Vieira. If you think we are… you don’t understand the game very well. Teams without a dominant midfielder STRUGGLE against teams that have one. The midfield controls the match… and we have the best in the world currently.
Maybe he is torn. Maybe he is unsure of what he wants. Does that make him a bad person? Does it make him evil? Less of a player? Perhaps he has always wanted to play for Madrid… is that uncommon for a player to have a dream team???
Basically, its all said in the following website. Do me a favor and click on it when you get a spare moment. One of our fellow Arsenal Americans posted a few days back. It reads the way I feel and the way I wish I had written it.
http://www.theginge.com/news-2004-07-23.html
July 25th, 2004 at 12:00 pm
Umm, Stag, I guess my point was entirely different than what u have translated. In one of my previous article, i already stated the future is now, and we can’t win the CL without him. That’s how much i rate Paddy. My whole point was only for him to come out and make a statement to clear thing up, whether he’s staying or leaving.
July 25th, 2004 at 12:33 pm
The question is whether or not selling a “torn” Vieira as you put it at this time (assuming he would not object to leaving, blah, blah, and so forth) would serve Arsenal’s interests than keeping him. A difficult question.
July 25th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
I must say, Andez, that I am surprised that, since Paddy’s return to training camp, there hasn’t been any attempt whatsoever by anyone to clear the issue (unless his return alone was supposed to be a major clue).
Even though it is probably good advice to ignore it as we’ve been forced to do for the past three years, as Paddy gets older and his cash value begins to hit its peak, the reality of his departure becomes more of a possibility. I agree with you that their has been a climate of discount in regards to the fans. But I also don’t know if there is some design to the way it is being handled that is beneficial to the club and/or the player. As a fan, I’m still willing to be patient.
I’ve chosen to concentrate on the real source of the problem here, and where my frustration needs to be focused: the media game and agents who, by definition, have tunnel vision when it comes to their clients. Where football strives to create an atmosphere where no player is bigger than the club, the agent pulls in the other direction. If there is, as its been said here, “something untoward afoot”, you can count on the fact that some monkey in Prada with a cell phone in his ear and a Cuban in his hand is behind it. Agents and champion midfielders are trained differently…one is a team player, the other is anything but.
In the end, we are just fans at the mercy of the “other game”. If Paddy were to move on and make some astronomical coin, or if he is to stay without issuing a statement to the press, it will all have been due to factors out of the control of any one individual, and with major influence by the anti-fan: the agent.
Unfortunately, as fans, we pay the salaries, and show the love and support, yet we are on the outside for much of the process. Perhaps we do need to send a message. I just don’t to whom.
July 25th, 2004 at 1:15 pm
Scotty, my worst fear is assumed Vieira stays, yet he still remain tight lipped of where his future will be lied upon, and the specltation of his future continues… how that would affect the team? According to another report, it’s been suggesting Real Madrid is ready to wait till the January transfer window to get their man. Then no matter if Real Madrid is really going to get Vieira at January or not, the first half of season, the fans would still be spending time worrying about the same old thing. And will the team play well under this cirucmstance?
Come to think of it, the whole thing is really ridaculous. What the hell the word “contract” means these days? Paddy has just signed a new contract last summer, by right even the rumors is true he can’t and won’t be allowed to leave the club no matter what. But under the new transfer regulation, even with a contract a player can still leave whenever he feels want to, the club has no power to stop him.
July 25th, 2004 at 1:41 pm
Sadly true. The culture of the “the star” grows like a fungus over the culture of “the team”.
The more I read about this issue, and see ArseAmers vacillate on their positions, the more frustrated I become. I’ll tell you…if this isn’t resolved with just the right amount of care, and all the variables explained to one, big, communal “ahhhhhhhh”, Paddy will almost certainly be looked upon by teammate and fan alike with yet a larger degree of skepticism. Regardless if he gives 100% on the pitch, the scars left behind can affect the rest of the team by example. Its not that he may decide he will be happy elsewhere…that is his right to choose. Its more that he seems to react to the media’s and fan’s desire to know with a palpable disdain.
The waiting does strange things. I can feel in my own mind the subtle shift into a numbing feeling. Next stop…”I don’t care anymore”. Paddy’s obvious decision not to burn any bridges brings with it a very bad taste. Wenger has said the right thing, I think, by stating that he has other players to concentrate opon. I’m beginning to follow his cue.
Again, if their is some clever design behind this madness, I wish it would be revealed before any irreversible damage is done.
July 25th, 2004 at 1:53 pm
Perhaps you’ve seen this?
http://www.sundayherald.com/43571
And perhaps a new face on our Gunners is only difficult to imagine.
July 25th, 2004 at 2:00 pm
Andez, I know how you feel, but in practice Vieira isn’t in a position to say anything to the fans at this stage. As I understand it, it’s illegal for Real to try to try tempt Paddy away, without first making an offer to Arsenal - which they haven’t yet done. I’m in the camp that thinks there are underhand things going on, and that Paddy is definitely tempted, but it wouldn’t be in character for him to start blurting to the media about it being his dream to go to Madrid or whatever - he’s clever, charming, authoritative, and very reserved; he’s not going to screw up the deal by shooting his mouth off.
Trouble is, for us fans loyalty is everything, and the club and the players are almost like part of our extended family. But for the players the club is a workplace, a step on the ladder of what’s a very short career. They’re ambitious, money-hungry; it’s normal for most of them to put their careers before everything else. And the clubs themselves are ruthless. They want the best, which is what we want as well.
I wouldn’t put it past Wenger to persuade Vieira that Arsenal offers him more than Real - in which case, we’ll be suffering again this time next year.
Really seriously suffering maybe: latest tabloid nonsense: Hoddle’s coming to Arsenal. What dreadful things have we done in our previous lives to deserve it?
July 25th, 2004 at 2:56 pm
Yes miranda, very well analysis, a much more objective analysis.
July 25th, 2004 at 6:23 pm
I think most of here are clear. IF and ONLY IF Pat wants to go, NO FURTHER atttempt should be made to talk him into staying; he should be SOLD.
Who says Arsenal won’t be ‘weaker’ without him? But the fact is the record shows Arsenal has never slumped without Viera. It can even be argued that Arsenal players perform so well not only because of their individual ability but because of our style of play.
And yet again I give the example of Juve that sold Zidane and got Nevded. Today who would you want in your team? No one is indispensible. It’s a sad day when one player becomes bigger than a whole club.
July 26th, 2004 at 8:35 am
Andez, you are misguided if you believe players give a toss what fans feel.
I’m bored and pissed off with the whole “is he, isn’t he” situation made up by the papers and perpetuated by fans.
If he stays, fine. If all the players stay, fine. If he goes because Arsenal can’t afford to keep him, well I’ll be annoyed, for a while.
If he goes because he doesn’t want to play for The Arsenal anymore, then bollocks to him.
Personally, I hope he stays. I remember when Charlie George left us, Liam Brady etc. it’s not nice, but we’ll get over it.
One thing that makes me sick is players kissing the badge one game and off the next. They can kiss my arse.
Paddy, I want you to stay, we all want you to stay, but if you go, c’est la vie.