The Arsenal Game: A Rant

Last night saw Forest get soundly beaten by Arsenal. A team featuring a mix of youth and promising youngster mixed with £75 mill or so worth of talent. That’s a hellishly large amount of money.

Where I sit mainly contains regular for every game, we rarely get people coming for a single match, so yesterday with so many “day trippers” in town really was an eye opener.

Make no mistakes here I value what such a game like this can bring. For one revenue. Secondly it brings some fans who may not have been for a long time, and it could rekindle the passion. It could inspire first timers to want to come more. For any of those I have no complaints or qualms. I’d rather a busier crowd be there, a louder vocal crowd. For every person asking who “number 22” is, or the woman I heard asking what are the white seats in the Trent End all about, do they spell something? Maybe they will come again, this could be the catalyst. No it’s more the element who have used this game to moan.

I’m trying to avoid that whole, they won’t be here next week, and they can bugger off approach. Because I think a good number of those extra bums on seats last night are welcome, but it just seems that sizeable minority were there for questionable motives. Purely there not to support Forest, not to get behind the team, but to revel in a projected hope of a momentous win.

I have a view that may be controversial, but if you left at 70 mins as some did, you can frankly just not bother again. You aren’t a “fan” or “supporter.” Where’s the support in fucking off 20 mins before the end?  And I know some will cite work, long trips, kids, but let’s face it, had it been Forest winning or the score a draw you wouldn’t have left, so just because you don’t like how your one off day trip is going, stick around and support the bloody team. Don’t just be here to revel in a big win to say “I was there” or to bask in glory. Football is all about the rough with the smooth. If you don’t like the team losing, don’t go in the first place. Because defeats, especially to Premier League clubs, happen. It’s a fact of football.

To see anyone bemoaning losing to Arsenal is ridiculous and just shows that these fans that only come to big games have no real sense of what is happening. People were bemoaning Montanier, and I’ve seen numerous comments suggesting he isn’t up to the task. In fact others who clearly haven’t done any research saying the jobs too big for him, despite him managing in top tier clubs in Spain and France. Basically swathes of fans that only go to big games are ignorant fuckwits.

I had a bloke who sat in front of me and my friend. I’d never seen him before but he was negative and ridiculous from the get go. It’s this kind of person who for me makes match days unbearable. Negative soul destroyers who suck the fun out of football. Most regulars this season will have enjoyed games so far, so to suddenly encounter people possibly seeing us for the first time bemoaning the team and the set up was disheartening.

Then there are half and half scarves. I can understand them in say European games if you have gone away as a memento of a rare game. But for a run of the mill league Cup game? No, a game in your own country shouldn’t ever see half and half scarves. As I said above about day trippers, these are completely indicative of that, people wanting to savour their one day out with a big souvenir.


I wanted Tuesday to be a big Forest celebration. Not only a nice win, but also a celebration of how the club feels fun again. Instead all we got was a load of people angry we weren’t able to beat one the biggest clubs in the world. Sigh

Comments