Kieran Clarke – 18 years old…
What influenced you to support Arsenal?
My dad, and above that his dad, although Arsenal were a club my granddad picked up when he moved from Putney and supporting Carshalton to Haringey, although my dad was born in Finsbury Park so it would’ve been foolish for him to support anyone else really. So yeah, my dad.
Having been the architect of the modern Arsenal and bringing huge success to the club, Arsène Wenger has recently come under serious scrutiny as a result of 8 trophy-less years. As someone who has experienced Arsenal under Wenger for most of their life, how do you view the manager and is he still the right man for the job?
Personally I see Mr Wenger as someone who is just trying to find the balance, between his philosophy of youth and what he knows will win him games, I think this is reflected in his team selections especially with the often increasing number of inclusions for Serge Gnabry. If you look to the invincible team there was a greater amount of experience than younger players, and the younger players we had were 100% commited (at least at the time you dutch skunk) to performing and trying their best for the team, you wouldn’t see any Jay Emmanuel Thomas’ or Sanchez Watt’s in that team.
As a young fan, what is your view on the Arsenal board (if any) and do you think it would be beneficial for there to be an injection of fresh, young blood?
I think the board are a bit of a joke in a few regards but definitely think they do a good job, the phrase “ivan gazidis what the fuck do you do?” has been chucked about a lot in dire times, but I’m of the minority that think he does do a decent job, you only have to look at the recent Puma deal and Emirates deals to see this. However I do think YOUNG blood is definitely needed, with respect to Sir Chips, he’s a Sir and 70 odd years, neither of which really fit the criteria for a 25 year old who has his finger on the pulse. I can’t see Ivan Gazidis or Sir Chips having the faintest idea about the fans perception on themselves. Wenger is a fan of the phrase “young players play with no fear” I think someone needs to come into the board and offer something unorthodox and something different to what the board could offer currently.
Are you happy with the way Arsenal do things or would you be in favour of a Manchester City-esque takeover if it all but guaranteed success?
Obviously I would’ve liked us to be challenging for accolades more often, I am happy with the way we are doing things, I’m just not happy with the outcomes. I was over the moon when we finished above Tottenh*m last season at the time, but looking back, over the past few seasons, I feel like we could’ve done a lot better.
Are you or would you consider becoming a member of a supporters’ group (e.g. AST) and why/why not?
I was considering it, but there wasn’t really a supporters group out there for me. The BSM tend to be thought of as a bit barmy (no disrespect to the friends I have in the BSM) and everyone in the AST seems to quarrel amongst themselves and everyone in these groups seem to disagree with at least one thing in a letter they write or something they say. Obviously power is in numbers but I honestly can’t see either having the effect they desire on our club.
Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic when it comes to Arsenal and why?
Öptimistic. I don’t think we’ll be pulling off signings like Ozil every summer and January but I don’t think we’ll be signing any Gervinho’s either.
Do you feel the Emirates Stadium lacks atmosphere? If so, what would you do to change/improve it?
The Emirates Atmosphere is a bit of a strange one as I think it does need improving a lot, in terms of singing, the emirates can be rocking on its day (Arshavin vs Barca) but then it was hardly a gentle sway for most league games against small teams, which are arguably the ones we need to win the most. I think cheaper tickets for the bottom 4 rows as well as the “clock end” and “north bank” will help the most, as these are easily the most vocal areas in the crowd. Away games tend to be cheaper and away games have the most vocal support, more people of my age (18) go to these games than the bowl so I think cheaper tickets would help a lot.
What are your views on the season so far and do you think this will be the year Arsenal end the ‘trophy drought’?
We’re doing alright, would’ve been nice to beat Chelsea in the COC but I wasn’t expecting us to, and no to be honest, I can’t see us getting the cup run luck and if we don’t sign a striker in January we’ll be left with sanogo who’s taken an indefinite trip to mars and then Afobe and Akpom…
If you could change one thing about Arsenal FC, what would it be and why?
The atmosphere in the Emirates and the general behaviour of the people in there. The geezer who sits next to me comes late basically every game and leaves early, if I had my way I’d ban these people from coming. Totalitarian support of you can do one as far as I’m concerned.
Finally, if you had to spend the rest of your life on a remote island with one Arsenal player who graced the red and white shirt in your lifetime, who would it be and why?
Ian Wright, I don’t ever really remember him playing but I reckon he’d make a turtle mate with a rat and then make a kingdom of its offspring. It’s hard to say no to that kind of entertainment.
