Wherever you stood on the future of Arsene Wenger, if you wanted him to stay or if you want him to go, all Gunners seemed to be united in one way of thinking.
Nobody wanted him to go out in a way where his legacy was tainted, where he was ridiculed and disrespected.
Well, we reached the point on Tuesday evening where that changed and it will stay with me forever.
It wasn’t another humiliation in yet another big game that bothered me. The reality was the damage had been done in Germany and once Bayern got in a position where they could defend a four-goal aggregate margin with a man advantage, then I expect most teams would have found it hard to lift themselves.
What would have hurt Wenger instead was the events before the game kicked off. Not the protest, he’s a smart enough man to know his future divides the Emirates’ crowd. None of the banners were offensive despite a weekly competition for grown men to show off on social media that their precious sign was shown on TV.
No, it was a chant I heard during the march that got to me:
“Arsene Wenger, you’re killing our club” shouted ‘Arsenal supporters while making sure they got their faces bang in front of the BT cameras.
Some will say it is harsh of me to doubt them being proper fans. After all, as they like to remind us on their numerous YouTube channels, Twitter etc., they pay their hard-earned money and therefore have a right to an opinion. I just find it hard to accept that any true Arsenal fan would dare accuse Wenger of killing our club.
The man has been a staple of my childhood. Unlike most supporters, I have only known one manager at the club I love.
The latest fashionable thing to say is, if you dare think the Frenchmen should sign a deal, it is because you are naive, living in the past, that you support Wenger more than Arsenal FC.
I wanted Wenger to stay because I have no faith in our board. There has been overwhelming evidence for years that our owners do not have the ambition for us to win the major honours.
I have argued that those who want Wenger out are the ones, in fact, naive for believing a change of who is in the dugout will change our transfer policies and wage structure. I could point out that Stan Kroenke, a billionaire, has still not offered Alexis Sanchez anywhere near the going rate to even tempt him into staying. I could question how any of that is Weneger’s doing.
But Tuesday changed that.
My respect for the man, for the memories he has given me, my support for him suddenly wants him to leave. Even though I fear that we as a club will go backwards, I support him so much that he does not deserve another two years of the ridiculous chants that I heard on Tuesday.
You see, that’s what a supporter does, they stick behind the team and show loyalty in the good times and the bad. Loyalty like he showed us when he could have walked away when he realized his bosses were lying to him about the move from Highbury being based on us trying to be a major force in Europe.
He watched as year after year, his best players were sold, the talent he produced, for money never reinvested back into the squad. For the sake of having more trophies on his CV he could have jumped ship to a Real Madrid or PSG but he stayed loyal because of his love for the club.
Love, a word used to easily in football. But make no mistake, Arsene Wenger loves Arsenal.
Did we have a history before him? Of course, but to respond to that ridiculous chant, this is not a man who took us away from glorious European nights, they didn’t exist before him.
Name your greatest ever player to put on the red and white and I bet he was signed in the last two decades. In 2017, we are still recognized around the world as playing the game the right way, compare that to before 1996.
But what will hurt most is not the 12 years without a league title or not winning the Champions League, it’s that when he really needed it, he didn’t get the love or respect back from fans he has served so well.
I saw one fan with a smile on his face saying that even if we win the FA Cup in May, he will proudly stand there with his banner on display. How is that not having your own agenda?
Fans who record themselves watching the game so their subscribers can see their reactions to goals?
Fans patting themselves on the back because Gary Neville mentioned you, ignoring the fact he said that the same faces were embarrassingly a fan base around the world?
Fans who post their greatest hits of verbally abusing the greatest manager in our history?
How’s any of that not having your own agenda?
There have been protests at clubs like Charlton and Coventry, protests about a lot more serious issues such as the club’s future and having a stadium and we are going to hold up banners if we win another FA Cup!
And that’s why Arsene, it’s time to say enough. You deserve better than this.
Go to Barcelona or PSG and win trophies as that’s all some people seem to care about.
Then when we are eighth in the league, you have the last laugh.
But that’s the point you never would laugh, you’re to loyal to us.
Shame some fans couldn’t give it back in return.
