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ArseWeb close-season survey 1999
In association with Match of the Day Magazine.
At the end of last season, Match of the Day Magazine correctly ;->
identified ArseWeb as "the best unofficial website about Arsenal", and
approached us for help with their guide to the new season, wanting answers
to 25
questions. The magazine came out on August 2nd and ArseWeb has thus achieved something of a lifetime ambition: sharing a punditry page with Alan Hansen,
Trevor Brooking, and Mark Lawrenson. A summary of their comments follows the survey results.
Not wanting anyone to think I was setting myself up as
a spokesman for Arsenal fans (cf "Arsenal Action Group"!) I figured it'd
be good to get the opinions of our readers. Not only does it help with
questions I couldn't think of good answers to, but it means that if anyone
doesn't like the answers in print I can disclaim responsibility! ;-)
In the magazine you'll just get brief answers to the questions.
Here we present those answers as submitted together with the magazine's edits,
plus a summary of responses
from the just over 200 ArseWeb readers who submitted their answers.
As you'll see, in some cases I just went with what the survey said,
in some cases I went with my own answer, and in some cases it was
somewhere in between. I hope that the resulting preview in the magazine
doesn't offend anyone.
A couple of things worth mentioning:
- When the survey closed it was still pretty early in the Anelka
transfer fiasco, and yet there were already many many responses
that were critical of him and his attitude.
- Kanu's name cropped up again and again. There is no doubting the
impression he has made on Arsenal fans and there's no doubt that
it has affected people's opinions of Anelka. Many many people made
the comparison between them. It seems that when we first saw Kanu play,
many of us stopped caring whether Anelka stayed or went.
Because of the above I twisted things occasionally, because I didn't
want every single answer to be about Anelka or Kanu!
Please note: links are mostly to ArseWeb match reports. They are set
to bring up new windows to make it easy to look at them while
reading this page. Just close the new window to bring yourself back.
Q1: What was the defining moment of 1998/99 at your club?
Schmeichel saving Bergkamp's penalty in the FA Cup semi-final.
(see report)- ArseWeb readers said...
Q2: What was the funniest thing that happened?
Singing "do you want to start again?" during the second FA Cup win over Sheffield
United,
and Steve Bruce's childish attitude during and after
the first.
Cheering Tottenham's goal at Old Trafford on the last day of the season was funny at the time.- Arseweb readers said...
- 9% - mentioned aspects of the FA Cup rematch incident
- 9% - mentioned Kanu (his grin, his back-heel goal at Boro, his
flick over Luke Young
at WHL, the sheer joy of his constant clever
touches...)
- 7% - Blackburn getting relegated (the Sutton factor was high here, so
I guess his escape to Chelsea makes this less funny)
- 6% - Thrashing Tottenham at their place
- 6% - supporting Tottenham on the last day of the season
- 5% - Paul Alcock's comedy pratfall in the
match at
Sheffield Wednesday ("the funniest thing EVER", "dive of the season", etc)
- Also mentioned:
- Irwin being carried off in the Cup semi
- Sheringham's display (and related chants) at the Charity Shield
- Vialli's sending off for Chelsea against Blackburn (he limped pathetically to the sidelines
- frantically trying to get subbed before the red card was shown)
- Title of Arsenal's end of season video: "Double Bypass", with a picture
of heart-op man Kanu (who apparently found it amusing)
- Wimbledon buying John Hartson for £7 million
Q3: Player of the Year...
Nigel Winterburn- why bother to ask?
SuperNige just gets better and better
Q4: Donkey of the Year...
Wenger has cleared out the donkeys.
But it's worth mentioning the luckless Kaba Diawara
who was a good player,
but will be remembered only for his unerring ability to hit the
woodwork.
(MotD magazine edited the first line out)- ArseWeb readers said...
- 10% - Diawara
- 10% - Anelka
- 8% - We don't have them
- 6% - Caballero
- 5% - Wreh
- 4% - Vivas
- 4% - Adams
- 3% - Sheringham
- and many other names including: Harry Harris, Gary Neville,
van Hoojdonk, David Batty, Collymore, Les Ferdinand, Kevin Keegan (?),
Robert Molenaar, Dabizas, Stam, Duberry, Beckham, Mark Hughes,
Bobby Gould, Uriah Rennie, everyone at WHL.
(Anelka's name was clearly cropping up, at least sometimes, for reasons
other than his footballing ability!)
Q5: Young player to watch next season?
Nwankwo Kanu.
Of those that haven't broken through yet: Matthew Upson and Paolo
Vernazza.
(MotD magazine just mentioned Kanu, apologies to Matty and Paolo)- ArseWeb readers said...
- 28% - Matthew Upson
- 14% - Paolo Vernazza
- 13% - Nwankwo Kanu
- 6% - Nicolas Anelka (some said "to watch on C4's Football Italia")
- 6% - Freddie Ljungberg
- Also mentioned: Pennant, Steve Bould (hopeful of breaking into
the first team this season, till he moved to Sunderland), Boa Morte,
Boothroyd, Diawara (too late, he's gone too), Grondin (on loan
at St Etienne for the next year), Kieron Dyer (wishful thinking?)
(I'm assuming some more would have said Kanu but many people don't seem to
realise how young he is, and I wanted to make sure the magazine article
showed how highly Kanu's regarded by Arsenal fans as shown by
the responses to all questions)
Q6: Your 'hardest' player?
(MotD magazine plumped just for Vieira, apologies to
Martin and Manu)
- ArseWeb readers said...
- 26% - Martin Keown
- 20% - Patrick Vieira
- 17% - Emmanuel Petit
- 15% - Nigel Winterburn
- 7% - Tony Adams
- 4% - Nelson Vivas
- 3% - the back four
- someone said "Dwight Yorke (in his pants)" but he's not one of "ours" is he?
(nice to see Vivas getting at least some recognition for his excellent
record at the World Cup! Do you lot really think Tony Adams is getting soft?)
Q7: Where does your team need strengthening?
On the bench.
Our first 11 is the best around, but the cover's weak,
especially with the
extra champions league games this year (hopefully!).- ArseWeb readers said....
- ...just about anything you could imagine: up front, in defence, midfield.
Most people went for some combination of the above,
but many pointed out that
in all positions,
it's cover that's needed rather than first-choice.
- other answers included:
- crutches for the back 4
- viagra supplements
- a striker who's good in the air
- more drinkers (not enough players getting plastered/jailed any more)
- looks (boy are we ugly)
Q8: Likely finish 1999/2000?
Top 2. Quarter finals of champions league.- ArseWeb readers said:
- 67% - top
- 13% - top 2
- 6% - 2nd
- 3% - top 3
- 1% - 3rd
- 1% - top 20 (!!??)
(confident, aren't we?)
Q9: Who is Public Enemy Number 1, someone who should not show their face at your club?
Teddy Sheringham's post-season comments keep him ahead of the reviled Chris Sutton.
If
he's still with us, Nicolas Anelka could get a bit of stick.- ArseWeb readers said...
- 21% - Nicolas Anelka
- 20% - Teddy Sheringham
- 16% - Chris Sutton
- 6% - George Graham
- 4% - Tim Sherwood
- Also mentioned:
- Hasselbaink (thinking of that late goal at Elland Rd, I think)
- Man Utd (most of their squad were mentioned individually by at least
one reader)
- David O'Leary (people with short memories taking press reports too seriously, methinks)
- Mick Hucknall (?)
- Celine Dion (????)
- Slobodan Milosevic (this person admitted to being a sucker for propaganda!)
- Tottenham
Q10: In an ideal world... (what would happen next season)
Arsenal would find a way to develop Highbury to seat 70000
while keeping everybody happy
(oh, and we'd win the quadruple)
(MotD omitted the bit about keeping everybody happy,
as well as the bit about the quadruple)- Most ArseWeb readers were thinking more about what happens on the
pitch. I figured most people would agree with what I wrote above,
as it's bigger than anything that could possibly happen in a single season
of football.
But amongst other things you said...
- The treble/quadruple/success in Europe
- Man Utd/Chelsea/Tottenham relegated/expelled from the league
- no red cards (get real!)
- Watford for the treble (did I mention that there's no way to
check that the people who filled the form in are actually Arsenal
fans?)
- Anelka leaves
- Graham in new bung scandal at Tottenham
Q11: Nightmare scenario...
Wenger leaves to coach Tottenham- ArseWeb readers said many different things including...
- Spurs to win the league or double (or even just finish higher than us)
- Long-term injuries (various players mentioned)
- Lose in the Champs League final to Chelsea/ManUtd
- Relegation
- Sheringham joins Arsenal
- Dennis/Adams leaving to join Spurs/Man Utd
- Big Fat Ron comes out of retirement to take over at
Arsenal, recruits the entire Forest team.
- "Millenium bug causes season ticket mix-up, I'm assigned to row 4J at Selhurst Park"
- Not qualifying for Europe
Q12: Song the team should run out to?
Whatever the crowd is singing.
The loud PA has killed the pre-match atmosphere, turn it
off please!-
ArseWeb readers said...
- 9% - One-nil to the Arsenal/Go West
- 6% - None
- 5% - We are the Champions (???)
- 4% - Simply the best
- 3% - French national anthem
- 2% - Let me entertain you
- 2% - Who the f**k are Man United?
- and...
- Ode to joy
- We all live in a Perry Groves World
- We were the Champions
- Nobody does it better
- Stand up if you hate (whoever the opposition is that day)
"It would reflect the gentle and easy going sporting nature of
our supporters"
- Immigrant Song (Led Zep)
- What Becomes of the Broken Hearted (In honour of King Kanu )
- The Addams Family theme tune
- Handel's water music (?)
- Hi ho hi ho, it's off to work we go
- Hot Stuff
- Glory glory Man Utd (to get the blood boiling)
- the Can-can
(Bit of a hobby-horse of mine I'm afraid so I ignored
the most popular (but dull) response. I'm sure the crowd
used to sing right up to kick-off)
Q13: Describe your club in 15 words or less
The Arsenal- Ok this was a cop-out. It was so hard to choose that I
went for a phrase that, to me, summed up all the
positive things coming back from the survey.
ArseWeb readers said many appropriately pompous things. Phrases and
sentiments that popped up again and again were:
- Won't sell fans down the river
- Never say die attitude
- fair play
- the greatest club in the world
- To hell with what everyone else thinks
- innovation
- tradition
- pride
And some of the best descriptions...
- A team whose reserves compete in the Worthless Cup (holders: a delighted Spurs' first team)
- Like a premier cru Bordeaux - full-bodied, invariably good, sometimes exceptional, always enjoyable.
- My longest love affair.
- The second greatest football team on the earth - behind Swansea City.
(hmmm, another infiltrator perhaps)
- Too big for its own stadium
- London FC
(Sorry if I left yours out, this was the hardest to collate cos they were
all so different)
Q14: Best part of your ground for atmosphere?
The Clock End- Sorry, I meant to ask ArseWeb readers but accidentally left this one
out of the survey. Still, it would have been hard to verify that
people had experience of different parts of the ground, and my experience
is that people who have all reckon the Clock End is best for atmosphere
(if not for comfort or food, see below!)
Q15: Rarest delicacy available to eat at your ground?
Smoked Salmon & Cream cheese bagels in the North Stand.
Finding anything edible is quite a rarity in the Clock End.- ArseWeb readers responses almost all mentioned the cosmopolitan
selection available in the North Bank or the shite available elsewhere
in the ground. Nice answers included...
- "The nape of my girlfriend's neck on the North Bank Lower, after Parlour scored against Coventry".
- the heart of a fair referee
- Humble Pie
- Gunnersaurus Sandwhiches
- A black coffee would be nice!
- Your own front teeth! (??)
- mashed white cockerel of the Tottenham variety
Q16: Friendliest local pub (which welcomes away fans)?
Worlds End, nr Finsbury Park- ArseWeb readers recommended all sorts of places,
but some of them I think either missed the "away fans" bit or
were trying to entice
them to places they shouldn't be!
I plumped for the Worlds End
because it's not too near the ground (keep 'em out of the way, I figured), and
does to the best of my knowledge seem to attract enough
away fans already to be worth encouraging them to congregate there. Sorry
to any pissed-off gooners who are Worlds End regulars.
Anyway, ArseWeb readers' responses included
- All of them
- You're having a laugh
- Who cares?
- my local is 'Murphy's" on 2nd Ave, New York and there, all fans are "away!"
- I suppose there must be something under their bit of the Clock End?
- Yeah, right!
Q17: Best chip shop or 'eaterie' (plus address)?
Arsenal Fish Bar, Blackstock Rd- That was the clear favourite, but other responses included...
- take a packed lunch (etc)
- Various unspecified burger vans, kebab shops,and chippies
- "The burger van opposite the North Bank turnstiles in Avenell Road. The man is an entertaining legend."
- "It is unfair for an Australian to comment on British food"
- Ollie's Cafe, Seven Sister Rd (Holloway)
- Iznik, Turkish restaurant, opposite Highbury Barn
- Workman's Inn Cafe, Blackstock Rd
Q18: Perennial excuse for failure at your club (if applicable)?
Lack of strength in depth (although "failure" is a bit strong).- Sorry, missed this one out of the survey too.
Q19: Wildest recent rumour about your club?
That Arsenal were considering a move to the Millenium Dome.
This story first appeared
as
an April Fool on ArseWeb in 1998, and was later
given credence
by several papers!- I went for this one mainly because of the ArseWeb connection.
ArseWeb readers responses included (be warned, I think some of these are people trying to start rumours :-> )...
- many many alleged targets, most popular of which were:
Sutton (as if!), Fowler (shame!),
- various alleged sites of new stadium including: Millenium Dome,
Wembley
- That Arsenal were not going to play in the Charity Shield
- Petit to shave off his hair
- Nic Anelka is the next Ronaldo/Pele/etc, worth £22million, etc.
- That fans, players and staff actually give a shit about the Worthless Cup that Spurs supporters are so chuffed with
- Lee Dixon/Tony Adams going to Spurs
- Barbara Windsor, Tony Adams and David Mellor in sordid sex threesome
(damn! The NewsReel missed this one!)
- Mother Theresa was a gooner!
- Bergkamp to start an ice cream business with one of our previous stars - Den and Perry's
- new stadium to be built at Buck House, Queen's garden parties include tickets to home games
- That we consider Spurs to be rivals.
Q20: Worst refereeing decision to affect your club last season?
The sending off of Martin Keown at Hillsborough.
The decision was reversed, but the damage
was done.- ArseWeb readers mentioned...
- Several dodgy sendings off including:
- And by way of contrast, the failures to send opposition players off for violent conduct. Special mention to Tim Sherwood and Roy Keane.
- A couple of dodgy free-kicks given against us:
- Leeds away - led to the late goal that led to us losing the title
- Kiev at home - led to the late equaliser (ok, one of many) that screwed us
in Europe
- Referee Jeff Winter not giving any of 3 penalty claims
at home to Soton all of which looked good on telly
- Earle's "basketball" goal for Wimbledon at their place
- Ridiculous amount of injury time added to end of Champions League final,
referee playing " keep going till Man Utd are winning" rule.
- Allowing the controversial goal against Sheff Utd to stand.
- Anything that went against us
- Anything that went in Man Utd's favour
- "Putting Vivas (I like him he is a keen player) in the position of Nigel Winterburn in the match against Leeds. Steve Bould should be more suit to it."
(point taken, but did the referee really have a say in this?)
- General lack of protection for Bergkamp
- Awarding us the penalty in the FA Cup semi-final (ironic or what?)
Q21: Favourite away ground, and why?
Old Trafford for the atmosphere,
Anfield for the memories,
and White Hart Lane because it
makes it easy to feel superior.- ArseWeb readers mentioned every ground in the land and then some.
The 3 listed were clear in front closely followed by Selhurst
Park, the Riverside (Boro), Stamford Bridge, Wembley,
and Borehamwood (for the terraces!)
Q22: Worst away ground to visit, and why?
Villa Park, because we lose trophies there.
Last season it was the scene of 2 key losses:
the FA Cup semi-final and Villa's league win after we were 2-0 up. - The list of responses from ArseWeb readers was remarkably similar
to the those for the previous question. Even Borehamwood (and
for the same reason!)
White Hart Lane just pipped Villa Park but I figured
it was probably just the default response from people who couldn't
think of anything so I went for Villa because people had
reasons. And we don't want Tottenham thinking anything about them
matters too much do we?
Q23: What makes your ground special to visit?
Highbury feels small and intimate yet grand,
But most of all, the perfect playing surface.- ArseWeb readers said the above, in various ways.
Other things mentioned included...
- A couple mentioned the
moment in the film Fever Pitch where Paul first enters the stadium, saying
that they still get that buzz every time.
- The Art Deco design/Marble Halls
- it's "The Home of Football"
- The team
- Finsbury Park Station (??)
- Decent Guinness in the nearby pubs
- Nigel Winterburn and Dennis Bergkamp were the only 2
players mentioned by name in response to this question.
Q23: Words to best chant among your fans?
Vieira, woah oh oh oh.
Vieira, woah oh oh oh.
He comes from Senegal,
he's plays for Arsenal.
(to tune of "Volare")- ArseWeb readers said...
- 24% - the Vieira song
- 8% - he's big he's black he's had a heart attack
- 7% - we've got Dennis Bergkamp
- 6% - he's blonde, he's quick, his name's a porno flick
- 5% - One-nil to the Arsenal
See songs page
Q24: Sum up your mascot in a sentence? (Name as well please)
An irrelevant green dinosaur called Gunnersaurus
(but Sonic The Hedgehog may be signing
for next season)
(MotD magazine left this one out)- 32% of people knew the name. Just less than 1% had a good word to say about it.
Q25: This season, be excited about... (which new development at your club)
Kanu. Be very excited. This man was simply awesome last season, and he wasn't fully fit.
- ArseWeb readers said...
- 30% said Kanu!! Far and away the most common answer
- Other said (optimistically) our European Campaign, doing the
double again, etc
- Rebuilding the defence
- Youngsters mentioned included Upson, Vernazza, Manninger,
Boa Morte
- New stadium news
- Xmas
- One person was worried that the older members of our defence might be a bit
stuck in their ways, and might find it hard to get used to the news shirt sponsors!
See also:
Views of the Pundits
- Alan Hansen on the defence
- Points out that the departure of Bould and
the arrival of Luzhny and Silvinho signals the beginning of the end for the
famous back 4. Speaks highly of Upson.
- Trevor Brooking on the midfield
- "It's hard to imagine how you could improve a midfield consisting of
Overmars, Vieira, Petit, and Parlour". Points out that although everyone talks
about cover for Vieira and Petit, we really miss Overmars when
he's not playing because his pace prevents the opposition squeezing our
midfield.
- Mark Lawrenson on the strikeforce
- Kind of redundant following the replacement on Anelka with Suker (and
imminent arrival of Henry..?). Points out rightly that Anelka wasn't
a team player and that Kanu was "a breath of fresh air" last season.
Other stuff from the MotD guide
- They put together a Saints XI and a Sinners XI,
featuring the cleanest and ritiest players in the Premiership
last season. Arsenal had one in the Saints XI (Marc Overmars)
and.... NONE in the Sinners XI! Must be getting soft.
- Last season, Arsenal came FOURTH in "passes completed",
second in "successful tackles" (behind Everton, of all people),
3rd to last in fouls conceded (again belying our dirty reputation),
and had the most shots in the Premiership (need to get the success rate up
though!).
- We were the worst crossers in the division with only a 23.6% completion rate.
copyright belongs to original author where credited. otherwise © Rupert Ward, ArseWeb MMV
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