It is hard to comprehend the amount of information I have taken in over the last 18 hours. Yesterday afternoon’s statement from the Arsenal left me feeling bemused and slightly irritated.
Running a channel such as The Gooner Talk my mind is almost always firmly focused on the squad. Both those within it and those who have the possibility to join. I suppose that is the nature of the beast of content production, focus on the product and grip the viewer.
Raw Reactions
When reading that 55 people had been made redundant, I now feel guilty that my initial reaction was that of how this would affect Arsenal’s transfer business and future player recruitment. It was not to how those people affected will be feeling, or what roles beyond player recruitment had been affected by the cuts.
Seeing the big names of Francis Cagigao and Brian McDermott blinded me to those whose job at the club may well be extremely hard for them to replace. Arseblog’s piece this morning gave me a strong sense of perspective and self-reflection.
On our first #TGTWritersPodcast yesterday evening, myself, Jon, Eoin and Drew (who’s latest piece deals with how the impact of Cagigao and co’s departure may affect future player recruitment) went down a very analytical route.
Waking up this morning, reading further articles and watching additional reactions I wish I had been more emotive. Our owners KSE, headed by Stan Kroenke, are worth a lot of money.
The figures, meaningless. Meaningless because its of a sum which makes the money saved from these redundancies equate to an amount found down the back of your sofa.
Quite frankly, it just is not right. Add to that the player’s wage cuts which was initiated on the provision no further jobs would be lost, that has now led to reported backlash from the playing staff.
The moral compass of our overseers appears askew and I hope the impact of this bleeds throughout the fan base like it has for me. Sometimes we need to put aside our desire to see the next big player pull on the red and white of our club and replace that same want, with a strive for justice.
Arsenal’s Forgotten Identity
Ian Wright’s tweet quoting the statement is hard-hitting. “Remember who you are, what you are and who you represent.”
Does this club know what it is? A shining beacon within the community of Highbury, Islington and stretching beyond even our own national borders. A club which helps those in war-torn nations, aids local people who are struggling to find the right path and inspires young supporters to seek a better life.
The Arsenal Foundation has done incredible things, but if those same morals cannot be consistent from top to bottom, are they simply a disguise? Positives to reference when the cruel, unjust decisions are made.
Less than a week ago Arsenal won the FA Cup trophy. I danced around the living room of a house not my own whilst away with family. I used the words “I deserve this” having slogged through the worst league season of my lifetime.
But today, I feel embarrassed. I feel a little less Arsenal because my club are making decisions not akin to the beliefs it was once built upon.
Victory Grows Out Of Harmony
Victoria Concordia Crescit. The famous slogan adopted by the club in the late 40s and integrated into its crest of the time is no longer found on the Arsenal’s modern badge. You will find it on the floor outside the club shop, old murals and tucked away within the website. But its not on the face anymore.
There is nothing harmonious about the decision made on the 5th of August 2020. Throughout the 70 years since the motto’s association with the club, times of hardship were triumphed over and dark periods both on and off the pitch eventually overcome.
But 2020 seems to have beaten us. The pandemic has sadly seen people lose loved ones and it appears it has cost the club its soul as well. I wish for change, it used to be for success. But success for me is nothing without honesty, teamwork and a shared goal that the club’s smallest part is as key as its richest.
We want our Arsenal back. But not like this.
“What matters to me is if you have a club with 600 employees, that you can pay them at the end of the month. That is important for me.” – Arsene Wenger