march 7th
As an Arsenal fan watching last night’s hammering of Portsmouth you can help but admire the kind of football the team plays, the spirit created in the squad that lets them play like that, the consistency, the skill and the ability of our players from front to back. Really something special to watch.
As much as that was to be admired, so was the behaviour of the Portsmouth fans. At 5-0 down games can go a little flat at the best of times, but the Portsmouth fans sang their heads off, supported their team, sang songs of support for manager Harry Redknapp and his erstwhile assistant Jim Smith and were an absolute credit to their club. I’ve never seen anything like that before in all the time I’ve been watching football.
Neither has Thierry Henry who said “Their fans were outstanding. I have never seen that in my life – even when they were four or five down they kept singing. I hope they don’t get relegated, they deserve to stay in the Premiership with fans like that.”
Arsene Wenger was also quick to praise the Pompey fans, who applauded the Arsenal players at the end of the match. “The result is wonderful, but it is even more enjoyable to see opposition fans cheering our team.”
When you see the way they behaved last night it makes you realise how spoiled and churlish some of our fans are. We’re top of the league, unbeaten all season, into the semi-finals of the FA Cup, in a good position in Europe, yet some people still find it necessary to berate Gilberto or Parlour, or to criticise the team when we only win 2-1. Portsmouth were outclassed on the field, absolutely taken apart, but they made it a night to remember for themselves. Harry Redknapp summed it up perfectly when he said “It was good to see our fans cheering people like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. Football must not be all about hate.”
He also claimed Arsenal were the best team in the world right now saying “I think they could win everything put in front of them. In fact I think I could pick six of them to win the Boat Race. The only trouble is you would struggle to find anybody small enough to be the cox.”
I’ve always liked Harry. He may look like an old bulldog, but he’s a funny bloke and an Arsenal fan too, you know. I hope he keeps them up.
In other news David Bentley could go on loan to Nottingham Forest – there’s the Joe Kinnear link again. I don’t think it would do him any harm, and it would certainly toughen him up a bit and give him some more experience. Arsene Wenger has spoken about the Leicester City players and their arrest in Spain for an alleged rape, and while it’s good to give players a chance to unwind, you have to say Arsenal have it right with a total ban on alcohol during the season.
That’s about the size of it for today. I’m off to get the papers and have a cold one, or two. Later.
