Raging against the machine

Today is a day to be raging. Osama Bin-Laden has been killed and our national news media tell us that we should even more scared than ever, for fear of reprisals. Bill Hicks would have a field day with this one, if only he was still alive. Hmm, perhaps not the most promising start to an Arsenal related blog ever, eh? In fact, against the background of potential reprisals from an organisation so ideologically opposed to the capitalists doctrines of the western world that they... well, you know what they did you don't need me to repeat it, the complaints of the average Arsenal fan seem, well, insignifcant by comparison.

But we're going to complain today anyway. So, you have two choices now: you can go and read something else, by Helen maybe, or you can strap in for the ride and stick with me, whaddya say?

Starting with the easy target and Mr Stuart "Arsène only has 100,000 people to worry about, I've got 60m people to deliver a trophy for" Pearce. Er, what, Stuart? Do you really, the (intended or otherwise) slight on the Gooner nation aside, do you really, really, believe that there will be 60m people on the edge of their seats when the England under 21s go into battle this summer? For a start, I doubt half that figure would give a damn about the senior side. I don't have a clue where the under 21s are playing, I don't even know what they're playing in, but I do know that in putting the imagined desires of an entire nation on the shoulders of one boy with less the fifty starts in the Arsenal first team is slightly ridiculous.

Oh, I know that Pearce hasn't said anything like that, but it's the implication in his words- as though Pearce would be letting the whole nation down were he not to select Wilshere who is, lest we forget, already a full international for this competition- whatever it is. In a statement that defies belief, Pearce then says,

Two years ago, I had the same conversation about Theo Walcott and 'Did he need to go an Under-21 tournament?'

"The proviso was then that there was a World Cup coming up in South Africa and he would be burnt out.

"Then Theo didn't make the squad for South Africa."

And why, pray tell Mr Pearce, was that? Oh, that's right, it's because Theo didn't get that summer off because he did play in your poxy tournament, so started his pre-season late, got injured during that pre-season and never really recovered from that. I bet he thanks you for your insight everyday. The bottom line, for me, is this: Wilshere is a full England international, he should not be playing for a team that is there to give the experience of international duty to players not quite ready for the real stuff. Think of it as drinking Fosters when you first start drinking- nobody starts out on the wife beater, do they?

I've just realised that analogy could get quite dangerous and perhaps legally problematic, so I'll happily leave it in, but leave it there. Suffice to say, Wilshere is not drinking Fosters anymore.

Next up: Two days after Arsenal restore a little bit of goodwill within the fanbase by beating Manchester United, the Arsenal board have blown it again. I come home to find a flyer celebrating Arsenal's third home shirt in three seasons- with a 4th in 4 to come as sure as night follows day next season. It is a fine shirt, I think. I would go so far as to say that I prefer it to this season's rather classic effort. I may not be in the majority there, but that's okay by me. Is it really neccessary to keep changing the home shirt though- at a cost of £45 a pop- every season? Especially when the away shirt is also changed every year? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

And then we come to the much rumoured increase ticket prices- with Arsenal levying a 4% increase to go with the 2.5% increase ConDem shackled the country with last year. It's not as if Arsenal tickets aren't expensive enough, is it? It beggars belief that, given due consideration, the Arsenal board couldn't find another way to get more money out of us all. Especially given the current feeling of what is a growing number of supporters. Most of you reading this will have suffered directly, or know somebody who has; from my point of view, I turned down a ticket for Sunday on the basis that £70 is too much to spend on a football match. Not that I haven't paid it before, I have, but I can't afford to now. My good friend, and season ticket holder, Ben has been selling his season ticket off for the last couple of years- but £1400 to sit in the upper east corner of the North Bank is apparently proving a tough sell- any offers?

Ivan Gazidis says,

"We thought about this increase, the first in three seasons, very carefully. We fully understand fans are facing rising costs in many areas of their lives and their club faces the same issues.

"We have acted responsibly over the years to balance the impact of even inflationary increases on our fans with the rightful demand that we compete at the highest level and we will continue to do so."

The comments of our Chief Executive on this matter lead me to think on the following; if this is what it costs to watch the likes of Denilson, Eboue and company, then how much will it cost to watch the team should we get the marquee signings that everyone is clamouring for? I still support the current regime, I'm glad it's Kroenke, not Usmanov- but to borrow a phrase from The Tuesday Club's Keith Dover- don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining.

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