Arsecast Extra Episode 695 - 20.05.2026 🏆

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0:54Andrew Mangan: ACAST.com

1:11Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from GunnerBlog James. Goodly morning, goodly morning, goodly morning, goodly morning, goodly morning. Goodly fucking morning. Goodly fucking morning to you, man. Get that on a mug. Goodly fucking morning. Oh, man. It did sell loads. You know, I was thinking that, you know, for this podcast, because of the occasion, because of everything, like I need to do an intro. I need to do some audio stuff. I'm just overwhelmed because there's so much. I don't know what to do. I didn't know what to do. I just thought the best thing is for us to sit here and start recording and see what happens.

2:02This is a first, James.

2:05Andrew Mangan: A first? A first. A first. Yeah. We've never recorded a podcast after Arsenal winning the fucking title. I know. I know. It's from a different time. A time almost before podcasting, Andrew. Just not quite, but very nearly. No, it was. It was 2004. Was it? Is that pre-podcast? well the arsecast started in 2006 so it's certainly pre arsecast and to my knowledge i think the arsecast was the the very first club specific podcast i think the guardian were doing their thing it might just have started i don't think there was another club specific podcast out there so yes it is literally from a different era absolutely mad i i also don't really know what to say or where to begin.

2:56Andrew Mangan: I still am having that feeling. I've not long been awake, to be honest with you. And I'm still having that feeling of it wasn't a dream. No. It was real. Everything that we thought unfolded last night really did unfold. I've just been past the Emirates Stadium on my way to record this pod and there's still people out there, still people piling into the club shop. I think today might be the day Arsenal run out of merch.

3:30Yeah, I gather the club shop went down last night. And yeah, I think that might be stripped entirely by the armory by the end of the day. Let's, should we talk about how, what our experience was? You watched the Bournemouth game, right? I went out for dinner with my family because my daughter is home from Canada with her new husband, who we haven't met in person yet because she hasn't been home. So the plan was go out for some food and I was going to just experience the game through my phone. Idiot man here says, why don't we go to this place? They've got some good drinks and good food. and we were sat at a table and literally right above me is a television with the game and to my left is a television with the game and all around the bar is a television with the game and they showed the Bournemouth game and I saw Eli Jr.

4:31Krupe score and I jumped up and was like yes and nobody in that bar was there to watch football nobody gave a shit about Bournemouth or Manchester City, that's for certain. So I was kind of excited by that. Then they turned over to Chelsea versus Spurs. Never turned the Bournemouth game back on. No. No. And then I was sort of sitting there going, I can't check. I can't check because if I check live score, Man City will score. If I just go to check on a forum or check on the RCA, whatever, Man City will score. So I had to sit there and my phone was conspicuously silent for a long, long time. But I could tell by how long there was in the Chelsea Spurs game that there wasn't long to go in the Bournemouth-Manchester City game.

5:21And then my brother texted me and was like, you're going to do it. You're going to win the title. And he said, are you in the pub? I said, I'm trying to avoid it all. I'm so stressed. Then Andrew Allen sent me a message going, oh, my fucking God. And I was like, oh, balls. City have scored. And I was like, I'm not watching. What happened? And he went, we're going to do it. We're going to do it. So there was some looking at phones at that point. And then turns out Manchester City scored. Have you seen the last minute of that game?

5:52Andrew Mangan: No, no, no. I've seen a lot of people seeing it. I've seen a lot of footage of players and fans watching it, but I haven't personally watched it. Okay, there's like a minute to go, less than a minute to go in this game. And Man City have scored through Erling Haaland. And it's 1-1. And they have a chance to sort of break away. No, I think there's a free kick cleared. Savino skips past one defender, then another defender, gets to the edge of the box. And the box is literally packed with Manchester City players. and if I had been watching that in real time, I think I would have died. I would have died because, you know, it just looks like a goal is inevitable.

6:37He puts in a cross, Pormuth clear. They don't really make the most of the break and then the final whistle goes and that's it. And I jumped around and then my phone was just crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, just messages and voice notes and it's still going. I've done so many hundreds of WhatsApps and voice notes and emails and all of it. And I skipped around that pub and I was the only person who really gave a shit about what was going on. It was crazy, but amazing as well, you know. And yeah, a real introduction to the family for the new son-in-law who was not quite sure what was going on. But, you know, he rode in behind.

7:19I was going to say, what an introduction. I mean, I guess maybe it's a good omen for the union, as it were.

7:26Andrew Mangan: Does he have any interest in football? Is that his sport? No, not really. Maybe that changed last night, Andrew. Maybe you started something in him. Well, you know, I don't know whether it sparked something or I'm going to inflict something upon him, but it was incredible. I'm sure, like everybody listening, just felt this enormous sense of happiness and relief when I heard the Bournemouth game was over. Actually, just my wife and my daughter were there live scoring stuff and they were going, ooh, 30 seconds, 90 seconds to go, 30 seconds. I was like, okay. I went to the Discord and I opened up the Discord in our match day or the match chat channel where everyone's sort of watching the, or maybe it's the, I don't know what channel it was, but I opened it up and all I could see was like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, fuck, get in, yes, yes, yes, yes, all these messages and I knew we'd done it then.

8:23So it was a very digital way to experience winning the title. Wow. What about you?

8:34Andrew Mangan: So I think I mentioned on here that I was going to be, certainly I told you that I was going to be at the Football Writers Football of the Year Awards. I had requested a ticket based on the idea that an Arsenal player might win. And of course, an Arsenal player did not win in either category. The women's player was Bunny Shaw, I think quite rightly. And the men's player was Bruno Fernandes, of all people. So I was there in my suit, listening to Michael Carrick talk about what a good boy Bruno Fernandes is. And I quote, he's always first in the canteen eating his scrambled eggs. And I wasn't sure what the criteria for football of the year were, but I didn't know it involved early egg eating.

9:38But there you go. And I sort of just thought, oh, fuck this. I had to. But I was with a load of colleagues, including my boss. So I was like, you know, I'm here now. I've got to play nice. But I was following the game on my phone, checking the updates. I obviously knew that Kruppi had scored. And then shortly before the main course emerged, I think the game ended.

10:09Andrew Mangan: And I was out in the foyer on my phone, you know, doing various tweeting and various professional obligations. And I started seeing people coming out of the dining room And about three or four of them were in tears, genuinely. And I don't think because they were City fans. There were Arsenal fans who work in the industry coming out like in bits. And it was extraordinary. And then my phone started buzzing. And I should take this opportunity to thank, but also apologize to the very many people who have messaged me to say congratulations or send some other message of goodwill. It's been totally overwhelming, actually.

11:02And then I went back to my table. Everyone else had eaten their main course. My chicken was cold. I saw a waiter try to take it away and I said don't you touch that chicken that is my championship chicken title winning chicken that is my title winning chicken breast take your hands away do you know who I am I am the podcaster of the champions of England god damn you step away from the chicken and then I sat there while everyone else had finished and ate my chicken in leisurely satisfaction. And then I got in a taxi, went down to the Emirates Stadium, my heart full of joy, my stomach full of chicken.

11:53Cold chicken. Cold chicken. It was horrible, actually, Andrew. But I'd made such a big thing, all the shouting and declaring, standing on my chair, going, acknowledge me. I am a champion. that I arrived at the Emich Stadium about, I think about, I don't know, 11 p.m. I was there till, I don't know, certainly gone too. My phone died at one point. I didn't know how I was going to get home.

12:24Andrew Mangan: I ran into so many people I knew, my cousins, my friends, colleagues. Yeah, it was insane. And strangers, so many strangers who just wanted a hug or a high five or to say hello, absurdly to say thank you. You know, when, you know, my part in this is very minimal. You know, we're observers like everyone else. We're just fans like everyone else. And the funny thing is I was wearing a suit as well. So people kept saying, why are you wearing a suit? I look like, you know, when people get to the FA Cup final on Football Manager and they dress up in their bedroom. I looked like the title had been won and I thought I shall wear a suit for the occasion.

13:15The suit may be ruined, I think. It's got to be dry cleaned. It's covered in a lot of beer, quite a lot of flair smoke and ash.

13:25Andrew Mangan: But it's all a small price to pay. It was incredible down at the stadium. It was insane. I honestly have never seen anything like it in my time as an Arsenal fan. Did you see the time-lapse video that Arsenal put up on their Instagram? It's unbelievable. It's outside the stadium. It's time-lapse. About 7.30, there's like one or two dudes hanging around. And then as time goes on, it just gets busier and busier and busier and fuller and fuller and fuller. And it's, yeah, it's amazing. And I think we've talked many times here about the idea of Arsenal as a global club, right? Where the fan base, and we're very lucky to be part of that, to be part of people's Arsenal experience.

14:17And I've had loads of messages like you as well to say thank you for the part that Arseblog has played in it. And, you know, I appreciate that so much. I really do. but the idea that Arsenal is a global club has this incredible support wherever you go in the world but at the same time it is just so rooted in the community in North London and the way that can transmit itself to every corner of the globe I think is is just unbelievable you know that everybody wherever they were in the world last night enjoyed their arsehole experience but at the same time would have loved to be there would love to have the opportunity to be where you were to be local to come down to the stadium to to congregate and mingle with other fans whether you know them whether you don't know them that sense of of i think i said this the other week didn't I about communion um that exists and that was never more true last night looking at those scenes down outside the stadium and all across north London and people with flags and flares and beeping their car horns and you know our friend Tony rang me about a minute after it it finished and he's in his car blasting the horn all around like he said he was gonna do and that that's just true for so many people is unbelievable unbelievable scenes it was mad so i i like i say i i got in a taxi um uh chicken skin dangling from my lips still and and shouted driver take me to the emirate stadium um uh please and he tried manfully to do so but we got to within about half an hour 20 minutes drive like it was like the top of the Holloway Road was just jammed you know and the ETA was saying you're going to be sat here for half an hour and the roads were full of cars of just people beeping their horns waving flags out the window um and I had you know he couldn't go any further so I had to get out and walk so I had this amazing I walked down uh Liverpool Road Holloway Road approaching the stadium um and it felt like half genuinely felt like well it felt

16:42Andrew Mangan: like everyone in Islington was out on the streets it was it was amazing to see that there was this sort of duality to it there was this the local experience of people literally leaning out of their windows you know pouring out of their homes uh to be on the streets like even at 1am 2am i saw people arriving arriving to party um but then this kind of secondary thing of people around the world celebrating enjoying that euphoria some of them you know it's the middle of the night there some of them it's they're at work yeah they're kind of pumping their fists under their desk and sort of seeing everybody partake in that.

17:32Andrew Mangan: My big message to the people who, if you were there, it was amazing. If you weren't there, you are so still part of it. That's what I really want to impress with people, whether you're watching in Dublin or whether you were in America or Africa or Asia, wherever it is around the world. This was for all of us. And those people who were congregating around the stadium, they were celebrating for everyone who couldn't be there too. And yeah, it felt amazing to be part of something so big. It was really one of those moments where you realise, wow, how enormous this football club is. And how, what tremendous power it has to unite people, bring them together and bring them so much joy.

18:23Andrew Mangan: It was really, really, really special. Yeah. I don't really know what to add to that, you know, in terms of the experience. I came back, obviously, came back home, got a drink. I jumped on the live stream with the Arsenal Vision boys and had a quick chat with them about it. And then I sat here just looking at everything I could, whatever was being posted, wherever it was posted, on Instagram, on social media, whatever, the players, that moment when the players, you know, realize that the title was theirs, that explosion of joy and happiness that you would expect and the reactions from them as well.

19:10And, you know, some of the, I think we said this before, you know, these are young men and they live a little bit online because they're young men. And they're aware of what's being said about them and what's being said about the team and what's being said about the club. And, you know, Piero Incapier with his little bottle and Martin Odegaard with his little bottle. And that interchange between Miles and Bakayo Saka, I think it was, you know, where it's like, oh, they said we got no bottle. Now we've got the, you know, we've got all the bottles, whatever it was, just everything. And there came a point where I was like, I have to get up in the morning.

19:50I'm going to have to write about this. I'm going to have to talk about it. I have to go to bed at some point. But it was like just one more. Just one more Instagram reel. Just one more whatever it is. I could have stayed up all night. Genuinely, I could have stayed up all night if I'd wanted. Sad. Despite being absolutely knackered, having spent four or five days in London and only getting back to Dublin yesterday, I really could have just stayed up consuming all the content and looking at all the comments and looking at all the Arsenal fans being just so happy that we've done it, that we've finally done it after all this time.

20:32Well, yeah, I mean, I could well have stayed out all night, to be honest.

20:37Andrew Mangan: I think I had in my mind that, you know, unfortunately, I've got to get up and work and carry on with life today. But were that not the case, you know, I would have been there. I was only a couple of hours away from meeting the players. Yeah, I saw that. It turned up at 5am. Eze and Saka and Rice and Timber. but I did bump into Stuart McFarlane outside the stadium. He had been up at the training ground with the players when the Bournemouth game ended, when they found out. I mean, that's an interesting one. There's a great song, by the way, called We Stayed Up All Night by an Arsenal-supporting musician called Tourist.

21:23So people want to go that, put that on. It's a bit of an anthem for today. We can't really play that stuff because it just means that the podcast will get copyrighted. But that's a great one. But I mean, that's a really interesting thing to think about as well, is that they assembled, they congregated. Mikel Arteta was asked about this, wasn't he? About whether the players were going to do, we're all going to go around to whatever the equivalent of Jamie Vardy's house is. A bit more sophisticated at our end. Skittle, Focke and Red Bull or whatever it was that they were having that night. But they obviously made a conscious decision to be together and to congregate and assemble and watch that game.

21:59And I guess if it doesn't end the way it ends, nobody's any the wiser. You know what I mean? Nothing really emerges from that. But because of the way it did, we got to see and witness and experience those celebrations.

22:15Andrew Mangan: I think that's it. They obviously had training up at the show bar yesterday. And I think it was quite sort of informally put together in the first instance. It was kind of, you know, if you want to stick around, we're going to be showing it. But I think this group, having been through so much together, they all wanted to be there. You know, they all wanted to be part of it. And I bet they're so glad they did. It's interesting as well, Mikel not present as far as we know. I was going to ask you about that. He has been very, very low key in terms of what we've seen over the last 24 hours. And I'm guessing that that is very much a conscious decision from him, right?

23:08You think?

23:09Andrew Mangan: Well, he told us post-game after Burnley. by the way don't ask me anything about the Burnley game mate I consigned that to history I mean we can talk about it if you want but like let's not speak of it again it was agonized in that second half I don't I don't need to think about that anymore but in his press conference after he was asked about his plans for the game and he said um he was going to watch it home with his family uh with his wife and his boys and I think we can believe him on that I think that's probably true um and i think that's kind of i suppose magnanimous really and and indicative of him you're wanting to make sure the players take some of the limelight in this moment but also maybe a recognition that at the end of the day he's their boss you know and he's a particular type of boss a very demanding boss a very intense boss and i think there's something to be said for giving the players their space.

24:16You know, it's been a really long, hard season

24:20Andrew Mangan: and there will be a time for them to celebrate together. But this is a group of, like you say, quite young men, you know, predominantly in their early to mid-twenties. And I think Mikel saying, I'm going to step aside. I'm going to be with my family. I think that's the right thing for me. And giving the players the room to be like, this is our night. we're going to determine how we party how we celebrate where we go on to I think that was the right call actually I think it was the right call from the manager I want to just go back to last year at Union Chapel because there was a moment obviously when Michel Arteta came out on stage and he was talking to the audience about the money that had been raised for the fundraiser I mean, you remember on the day there was a lot of, I won't say delicate negotiation, but the messaging, right, was he really wants to come and say thank you to everybody.

25:20But he doesn't really want to talk about the season being over because we had to play Newcastle the next day, was it? Is that right? I believe so. but I was like yeah I get that and I think everybody respects that but I can't have the manager we can't have the manager of Arsenal Football Club on the stage and not sort of ask him something about you know because the season was not if not done at that point we knew where we were going to finish and we knew we weren't going to win the title and I think we'd gone out of the the Champions League at that point so it was like I have to sort of ask something about You know what's next so I just want to play the clip This is kind of how that went down.

26:04I Know we I know we can't keep you long so I'll just finish with this You've given us a lot of enjoyment and excitement with the way you've built this team over the last five years Are you still as excited and enthusiastic about what's to come and what the potential of this club is? With the work you're doing yeah more than ever because I see them daily I see how hungry they are, the quality, the talent, but most importantly, the connection that we have within the club and how much we are willing to do whatever it takes to win for this football club. And obviously, all the people that support our football club.

26:38So it's coming. Be a little bit patient. And I promise we will do all our best.

26:46So we were patient and it did come. and it's the sort of thing that, you know, as a manager, if you make a proclamation like that out loud, publicly, even on a small scale, like it's not like doing it in a press conference, you kind of have to back it up, you know? Yeah. But he sounded confident, as he always does, about this team and about the ability of this team to get it done and to get it over the line. I think it's just such a huge, huge achievement for him, considering this is his first job in management and considering where we were when he took over. How many times did we talk about how far away it felt for Arsenal to actually win the title?

27:40And here we are. Yeah.

27:42Andrew Mangan: And I think as well, by the way, I think this title was a unique challenge within my memory of the Premier League. I don't think a team has ever faced the kind of pressure, media scrutiny that Arsenal have en route to winning this title. And the reason I say that is because obviously with the three second place finishes, there was this pre-form narrative of Arsenal being bottlers, being perennial runners up, not being able to get over the line. And the players have had to play with that hanging over them all season long. And I think that that does present a unique psychological test. And they have come through.

28:38Andrew Mangan: You know, Mikel and the squad have come through. And that's why I think you just see this outpouring of relief and emotion, you know, etched across their faces and echoed in the supporters as well. because I think it's been a difficult birth. I think it's been a really hard road. And I'm not sure any group would necessarily make it. I think it takes a special kind of resolve to keep getting up, to keep dusting yourself down, to be able to say it's not done when everyone's telling you that it is. And this group have defied that narrative. And I think they've changed it. And I think that's extraordinary.

29:37Yeah. I think after the Man City game and, you know, some of the reaction, you know, when Rice said that, it's not done. You had some people saying, well, that's just sort of performative. It's for the cameras. But I don't think so. I don't think so. I think it was 100 % a conviction that, you know, he knows those players as well as anybody, better than any of us, right? And what they're capable of. And we all have our opinions on the team and the players, what they can do collectively and individually. But I think that was conviction from Declan Rice, that we'd gone through a really poor period, right?

30:16We'd lost to Bournemouth. We'd lost the Carabao Cup final. We'd lost to Manchester City. The results were not great. And everyone, well, not everyone, but I can understand why a lot of people were saying, here it goes again. Arsenal's title challenge is going to come off the rails at the end. I had, you know, I'm sure like you, like many people, periods where I really had some doubts, you know. I've always recognized the quality and the ability of this team, but until you prove you can actually do it, it's hard for people not to have doubts, you know, based on the three previous second place finishes.

31:00But then after that Man City game, three 1-0 wins and a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, Fulham rather, we make a Champions League final. And that's what this team is. That's what this team is about. That's what they're capable of. Every team I think has a period in the season where it doesn't go as well as you think it might. and I think that you know looking at that now and look post-hoc hindsight analysis might be 2020 but I really think Declan Rice in that moment believed in himself and believed in the team and believed that they could turn it around or write the course a little bit if that's the right way of putting it you know we stayed top it wasn't that we were overtaken or were we overtaken did City go top for a while or am I uh I think they did briefly yeah right right yeah I I think

32:00Andrew Mangan: look they had me worried I'm not gonna I'm not gonna rewrite history and I think in April they had me worried and I think they were probably worried you know wouldn't be human if they weren't um but that's what life is about and it's certainly what being an elite athlete is about It's about when you encounter those moments of adversity, finding solutions or finding new reserves to make sure you can get over the line. And they did that. And I'm not going to sit here and tell everyone it was pretty or it was easy or it was straightforward. It wasn't. It was hard. It was really hard. But they did it anyway.

32:46Andrew Mangan: And I think that's very, very, very powerful. so and then I see the reaction I see how how big it is for this community I see the scale of the response and you just think as wonderful as this is in its own right you can't help but be excited and think what have we potentially unlocked here yeah um apart from Arsenal fans becoming the most insufferable people on the planet I I think we have every fucking right to do that because we have taken pelters. You know, and I think here, you know, on this podcast, you know, and many others as well, we try and be objective and balanced as much as possible.

33:35We're not sort of engaging in the sort of online bans, which means if things go wrong for you, then you deserve to get it back. Right. but far and wide people have been sticking the knife into arsenal arsenal fans as a collective the team you know some of it is really low rent stuff and you expect that from the outlets it comes from but i think we have every right to be smug and insufferable and to give pelters back to the people that gave it to you, whatever your experience is of that, like in your football WhatsApp groups, you know, whether it's your football team or your fantasy football or your mates and all the United fans or the Liverpool fans or the Chelsea fans or the Spurs fans or whoever, whoever's been giving you grief all season long, every time there's a slight wobble from Arsenal and they're sticking the knife in at every opportunity.

34:33now is the time now is the time to just sort of say fuck you have some of this we are the we are the chicken eating champions of 2025 26 give us our fucking chicken you cunts and well speak yeah quite right andrew quite right give us our fucking chicken it's time for our chicken. Speaking of chickens,

35:01Andrew Mangan: I must mention that something that also was talked about around the stadium last night was obviously there was another game in the Premier League. Another North London team were playing. And I said it felt like half of Islington were out on the streets. Well, the other half were crying in their bedrooms because Spurs lost at Chelsea And a good few people came up to me and said, well, the treble is on. The real treble, Premier League, Champions League, Spurs relegation. So that was a lovely little sort of extra piece of seasoning on the night. Yeah. I mean, tell me if you can. I don't know if you can.

35:48I don't know if you can put it into words. And I'm certainly struggling to find words. Like I got up this morning and I wrote the blog and I felt like I didn't say half as much as I would like to say, but I still wrote over 2000 words. My mind was sort of all over the place. But as somebody who does, you know, what you do with me and have done for a long time and doing what you do for work as well, covering this club, every aspect of the club. what does it feel like this morning? Like, what's your overriding emotion? Like, did you shed any tears? I had a little cry earlier on. I saw something and I was like, did I tell you, I'll tell you, let me tell you this.

36:39Cause I think it's all connected. They, the morning of the Burnley game, I went to this, uh, David Bowie thing. It's over in a place called the light room. Yes. amazing place actually unbelievable yeah it's cool so it's this sort of like 30 40 minute video uh david bowie video and it's like clips of his old songs and old concerts and clips of him talking about his music and books and art and but it's like a huge room and it's projected onto all the walls yeah all three yeah three walls so you're sort of sitting in the middle of it it's like this sort of audio visual experience yeah and it's really cool and everyone knows i think i'm a big david bowie fan and i came into it and i watched it and then it came back around to the point where i had come in and that was him performing heroes and i was sitting there going this is so this is fucking cool i really really love this and out of nowhere i just burst into tears and i'm not necessarily i'm not like saying men don't cry or whatever of course we should cry everyone should cry but i'm not the sort of person that typically would do something like that and i it's not like i didn't burst into tears of like missing david bowie a man i never met but i was just sort of very overcome emotionally and i think it was in part this season and how it's felt and what we've what we've kind of gone through and that makes it sound like listen first world problem i recognize it right but at the same time it's our experience of of doing this and i really think that there's been a lot of emotion and trying to to stay on top of all of that emotion to try and not keep it damp dampened down or tampened down or whatever that fucking word is tamped down i think is the right way of putting it but i think it sort of has to come out somewhere at some point and maybe that was the catalyst for that and i don't know how it didn't burst into tears at the end of the burnley game having gone through that as well but you know it's been an emotional couple of days

38:49Andrew Mangan: you know um yeah big time for me too i mean listen guys i cry at the drop of a hat um but uh i have shed tears a few times in the in the last 24 hours i think for me there have been two things that have really got me going um one is that a lot of the messages that i've received have been very very touching in terms of people saying uh forgive me if this is slightly self-indulgent but people saying that you know me doing a post-match video from the ground or or doing a podcast here with you for a lot of people, especially internationally, it's, it's sort of how they feel most connected to the club.

39:46Andrew Mangan: Yeah. And that it's kind of, yeah, it's their view on that local experience. And that is a very humbling thing to think that you are kind of people's link or one of their links to that. And I've had some very, very, very, very lovely messages about that that I've found very moving. The second thing is just like this idea of this within context, you know, people who, you know, any Arsenal fan who's sort of in their mid-twenties or younger doesn't remember when Arsenal won the league. and it's just such a powerful formative experience for so many people. I mean, I wouldn't be doing this. I wouldn't be talking to you now if Arsenal hadn't won the league in 2002 and 2004 when I was 16 and 18 in like a sort of pivotal formative period of my life.

40:52And it completely transported me and wrapped me up and made this an obsession endured for another 20 years and will probably endure till I'm not here anymore, you know.

41:06Andrew Mangan: And sort of seeing people experience that in real time for the first time is incredible. And also, like, when I was at the ground last night, there were people who sort of said, I wish my dad could see this, you know. And that is very, very moving as well. This idea of like, for a lot of people, their love of Arsenal or, yeah, Arsenal is kind of a family thing. It's something that's shared or passed down or generational. and I think yeah it's one of those moments where you think about the future the young people who've never experienced this experienced it for the first time you think about people who you know might be seeing it for the last time or who aren't here to see it it's just a huge event and it makes you reflect on your own network your own community um and also just relief but it's interesting last night like a lot of people said to me you seem very calm and uh I just sort of said to them I just feel at peace you know it's been so long so much wanting and waiting and disappointment and frustration but i just had this overwhelming feeling of like peace you know like i'm so happy that this has been delivered that it's happened all these people so yeah it's been very very very um emotional and cathartic yeah i think you what you say there about feeling at peace i walked out of the bar last night to to go grab a cab home and I felt like I was kind of walking on air a little bit, like a big burden had been lifted.

43:11It's not my burden, but it's sort of there. I think your point about the new generation is really important, you know, because whatever about people who were maybe too young to remember, there were literally people who were not born, and there's probably some of them listening to this now, they weren't born when Arsenal last won the title. You know, we've got adults of 18, 19, 20, 21 who were not born when Arsenal last won the title, right? And have grown up with those stories from their dad or their mom or their uncles or aunts or whoever it is that shares their Arsenal experience about what it's like to win the league and what it feels like to win the league.

43:52Oh, we had a party up and down Holloway Road or Upper Street or whatever it was. And for them to be able to experience that for the first time is amazing. as you say it's kind of formative but it's also i think you know it's different let's say from 2004 from the last time we won the league because the world is slightly different in terms of the media landscape and the way we're able to share things as well and i'm sure there were loads of great pictures from 2004 but i don't think we We were able to like watch live videos of people dancing around the stadium. That just wasn't a thing. So this sort of collective experience thing is new, right?

44:39And I think that's a really interesting aspect. And you mentioned the people that aren't here and the friends that we have who aren't with us anymore, who experienced those successes in the past. And I couldn't help but think of our friend Dave Faber, Gunnar Holick. Exactly. You know, who was. Yeah, he was a very special person in our lives and he's not here anymore. And you think about how much he would have loved this and how much how much joy he would have got from it. And that, I think, is an experience that many people will be able to identify with, whether it is a parent or a brother or whoever it is that they've lost along the way who's been part of their arsehole experience.

45:22I think that sort of feeds into quite a lot of the emotion of this for people, the way they'll be feeling this morning. You know, not that it's bittersweet per se, but there is that element of just stepping back and taking stock and realizing that something very, very special has happened. And the 2004, and I think, you know, you've said this previously, maybe because of your age, you know, did we recognize it as special back then in the way that we kind of do now? A 22-year gap will do that, right? But Arsenal have won the title in 98, in 2002, should have won it in 2003, unbeaten in 2004. You feel like that's never going to end.

46:10you feel like it's never going to end and then fast forward 22 years and you're winning it for the first time it's just yeah yeah i know i mean we say some people weren't born i mean i don't think miles lewis skelly was born i don't think max downman certainly wasn't um i've got to say as well another thing that i found very stirring and powerful was like

46:38Andrew Mangan: what an amazing representation of the Arsenal community I saw around the stadium last night like it was kind of North London in full sort of multicultural technicolor you know and you've got people like singing Arsenal songs from the 80s on one corner you know one nil to the Arsenal whatever it might be. And then in another corner outside the ground, you've got people, you know, dancing the candy. It was just this incredible melting pot. And that is something that I think, I think as Arsenal fans, we're like very proud of. And I think rightfully so that there is this brilliant cultural diversity to the area and to the support.

47:30Andrew Mangan: And I think it's true globally, frankly. so that was very cool I mean in terms of comparing it to 2004 it was a two year wait you know this is a 22 year wait

47:48Andrew Mangan: it's a world away there's no way we were all elated in 2004 and we knew we were watching a special team but it didn't feel as precious you know because we we hadn't spent two decades yearning for it yeah yeah um so yeah i mean just absolutely amazing i i suppose you know i i just want to place my gratitude really to to the club for delivering it. I think that hats off to them. They've done it. They've done it their way. They've taken a shed load of criticism from everyone, including at times us, when it's, you know, I think it's been warranted at moments, but they ultimately have done the job.

48:45Andrew Mangan: They've put Arsenal back at the top of the tree. That gap in the wall at the training ground is going to be filled with a big shiny trophy. And I remember, like, one thing I do remember about 2002, 2004, 1998, I remember that feeling of the day after the trophy was won. I remember that feeling of going into school. I think one year, I think it was in 2002 maybe, I think I wore my Arsenal shirt under my school uniform. Like Spider-Man or Clark Kent or something. ready to rip it off in the phone booth. I just remember that feeling of like being so proud. And I'm, as I say, I got, I got, I came here in a taxi through Islington and the amount of people I saw on the street, just going about their daily business, but they had an Arsenal baseball cap on or, you know, an Arsenal hoodie, whatever it might be.

49:50Andrew Mangan: And I recognize and remember that feeling. Even before I left house today, I was like, oh, I'm going to get my, I'm going to get, you know, make sure I'm wearing something with the crest on it because you feel that you want to shout it to the world. Sure. And. A day to represent. It's a day to represent. And more than a day, Andrew, it's going to be, there's going to be months of this. People are going to be sick of us. Absolutely sick of us. And if we win in Budapest, we might just shut football down, Andrew, I think. You know, it's like, what do we do after that? Oh, the amount of piss that would be boiled if we did that.

50:33Listen, you know, I think that's maybe something for another day, because I think today really should be about the celebration and about the fact that we as fans can enjoy something we've all waited for for a long time. And I think, you know, when you talk about fair play to the club for delivering, I know for very obvious reasons, there is huge focus on the players. They're the ones that have to go out and do the job. There's focus on the manager because he's the one that's ultimately responsible for putting that team out and for preparing them and making sure that they can do the job that he wants them to do and his coaching staff and all the rest.

51:14But there are also a lot of people behind the scenes who play a part in the manager and the players being able to do what they do. And I think they deserve a shout today. I think everybody deserves their flowers, you know, because they're, if not unsung heroes, they're still a really important part of the machine, right?

51:36Andrew Mangan: Absolutely. I mean, the thing is, you know, Mikel, he's such a compelling character and there is, I think, the cult of the manager in Britain to an extent. I think in his case, the focus is warranted. I think he has done an extraordinary job, but he has done it with the help of many. And I love watching those videos from the training ground and everyone, you know, your eyes drawn to the players. But my eyes also drawn to all the other people in that room, you know, who, who share this journey with them and who, who contribute in different ways to this massive organization, um, all pulling in the same direction.

52:19So, and, and, you know, you come to know people at the club and who work for the club.

52:26Andrew Mangan: I'm really pleased for them as well, because it's, it's not been easy. It's been rough at times. And, um, you know, As we've said multiple times, they've taken a lot of stick. And today, you know, they get to give a bit back and bask in this. So, yeah, listen, forget about Budapest. Whatever happens, there's going to be a parade. And based on what I saw ahead of the Burnley game and then last night, that's going to be quite the occasion. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's going to be on the Sunday, isn't it?

53:07No comment. Keep it free. I would say. Okay. You can confirm or deny. We wait for the club. Yeah. Wait for the club. Cause I think there's hoops they have to jump through with council and local

53:19Andrew Mangan: communities and all those things, but it would make sense. Let's say for it to be on the Sunday. Yeah. I know we did this sort of moment of the season thing when we did our live show at Union Chapel, but in the wake of actually winning it, is there something that stands out for you? Is there a moment in the season where you kind of felt something or you felt like this could be it? Or have we forgotten incidents or key contributors? I don't know. Maybe I'm just sort of stretching to try and find the sort of kernels of, you know, whatever this has become. I think we've mentioned it, actually, but I do think that that Declan Rice, it's not done moment will become iconic, really.

54:15Because for me, it encapsulates this idea of Arsenal overcoming the narrative about them.

54:24Andrew Mangan: You know, everybody, bookmakers, pundits, leapt to conclusions after that City game. They assumed that we were watching a collapse and Deck and the players proved them wrong.

54:44Andrew Mangan: yeah there's big milestones in the season funnily enough some of them we talked about at Union Chapel Paul was asked to name his moment of the season and at the time I thought it was a bit of left field choice but he picked Gabriel Martinelli's equaliser against Man City way back towards the start of the season Gabriel Martinelli's only Premier League goal this season and it might It might be the difference in the end. You know, it could be the goal that won us the league, frankly. Yeah, you could pick, you know, many from the tight one goal wins or results that we got. But at that point, and given who it took points off as well.

55:25Exactly. The swing. Yeah. I mean, Gabriel at Newcastle. I mean, the one that just sort of occurred to me when I was asking you the question as a kind of, I don't know if it may if you go oh this happened therefore it's it's a good omen for the year that that's in it and maybe Crystal Palace fans won't thank me for it but I also as they're scoring the only goal of a one goal win over Crystal Palace it's just sort of like kind of had to be you know well

56:00Andrew Mangan: let's what about his season by the way so he's about to join Spurs has a phone call with Mikel Arteta that changes the trajectory of his career, let's be honest. Joins Arsenal, scores against Crystal Palace, his former club, scores a hat-trick against Spurs in his first North London derby, two goals away from home in the other North London derby. Both 4-1 wins. And now on Sunday, He'll return to Crystal Palace where he is a legend and an icon and won the FA Cup last year. And at Selhurst Park, in front of those fans, he'll lift the Premier League trophy. Yeah, get a guard of honour. I think that's the done thing, isn't it?

56:52Yeah. And I imagine, I don't know,

56:58Andrew Mangan: but I wouldn't be surprised if some Palace fans stick around to see him lift that trophy, given what he contributed to that club. And I just think, fucking hell, that's some year, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. It really is. When you consider how his entire career could have gone south. Yeah. If he'd gone there. He could be facing relegation on Sunday. Other massive moments, obviously Trossard, obviously VAR at West Ham.

57:33Andrew Mangan: I think Max Dowman's goal against Everton... You know what? I think that was a moment that showed, that was almost like a preview. The celebrations after that were almost like a preview of like, what might be unleashed were we to do it? You know, the euphoria that was experienced by players and fans alike in that moment was like a taster of this is what it could feel like. and because it was a it was a breaking of tension it was a release of pressure and that's also what we're experiencing now so i do think there are some parallels there it was almost like this is what you stand to win this feeling you know yeah and boy we got it we got it we have it it's permeating everything I think you know and they all played a part this season you know they all deserve their their medal I know it's different now the club gets a series of medals it was the old days you remember when Martin Keown had to come on on the final day Ray Parler did that or tells that story about how he pretended to go on and Keown was about to lose his mind on the sideline Because he wouldn't have got a medal.

58:58But I think what happens now is they get a collection of medals and the club can dispense them as they desire, you know. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what today is like. I presume they all have a day off. Can't go straight to training from the club, I guess, which is where many of them were last night and where they deserve to be, I should say. And they do deserve it as well, I think, you know. one thing I think we should mention is, and we have talked about it, we often talk about how hard they've worked or how hard this team works. But, you know, there have been players who have really put their bodies on the line for this football club, you know, to the detriment of their athletic capability.

59:45And I feel like this is just reward for that kind of commitment. cause, right? Because every football fan wants their players and their team to give everything for the badge and everything for the shirt. And so many of these guys have absolutely done that in every way possible. And to have that reward of the Premier League title, of the celebrations they had last night, you know, I'm sure they had a couple of quick baby shams you know, when the Bournemouth game ended. They deserve it all, I think. They really do. It's easy to say that about your own team. But as you said earlier, what they've had to face or what they've had to deal with externally is another aspect of this, above and beyond how fucking difficult it is to win the Premier League against a team like Manchester City.

1:00:45I just can't be arsed because I just don't see the point of talking about them and you know the the baggage that surrounds them because you know we've been living with it for how how long now four years five years whatever it is you know it it's not something that they seem capable of dealing with but we have had to deal with it on on a sporting level right on a footballing level we still had to try and compete with that team and that club and the way it's been built and and i think that's another reason why i think this one feels really special

1:01:19Andrew Mangan: Yeah, and that manager as well.

1:01:24Andrew Mangan: I think for Mikel Arteta, this was his last chance to beat Pep to a title. And I think if he hadn't done it, I think he would have lived with that regret, probably for the remainder of his career. I just think it was a kind of rite of passage almost that he needed to go through. The old pupil and master cliche, whatever it might be. I think so. I think it's only human, I think, to feel that way. And he has, you know. And I mean, I'm really, listen, I think he, I think McHale deserves enormous credit in this. I think obviously it's a collective effort and obviously the players have gone above and beyond.

1:02:15I mean, you mentioned players who put their body on the line.

1:02:20Andrew Mangan: I did love the sight of Ben White in a knee brace, cracking open champagne bottles while standing on a chair. It's a very, very good picture if you happen to see it. I haven't seen that one. I haven't seen it. It's like he's literally got this sort of contraption on his knee and you're like, should you really be standing up on a chair? but I suppose, you know, his season over, he can do what he likes. And he's really in timber as well. He's another who's suffered a lot with injury. I mean, I think we should take it as a positive that he was skipping around the stadium at 5am this morning. Yeah, maybe so.

1:02:59I can see that picture now. It's a picture of Rice and Ben White is in the background, standing on a chair with a giant knee brace on and he's about to open a bottle of champagne. Amazing. It's amazing. And this is, you know, we talk about 22 years.

1:03:18Andrew Mangan: But for many of these players, this is a five-year, six-year project, commitment. In the course of a footballer's lifetime, you know, of their playing career, that is a substantial chunk. They have really had to be patient and committed and it's paid off. It's not easy, is it, to finish second three years in a row and then push again. And I know that's top level sport, right? I know that's what you've got to do. You know, not just in football. There's a sort of litany, isn't there, of players who've come close and come close and then finally got it over the line. But there's also a real deep history of players, football clubs, sportsmen, athletes, whatever, who just have never been able to take that final step, whether it's a golf tournament or running or whatever it is.

1:04:19They've always been kind of the nearly men. And I think it takes just such a huge amount of mental strength and character to be able to do it. Yeah.

1:04:32Andrew Mangan: I agree. I actually don't think it's particularly common for a team. You know, people laughed at three second place finishes and I understand why. But I thought at the end of all of those seasons, I was like, well, there's a chance we come back and just mentally it's too much. You know, there's a chance we collapse. There's a chance we finish fourth or something this year. But the consistency of the motivation, the desire to keep running City Close year after year after year, and then to eventually take that step to become winners, that kind of incrementally earned, sustained success or improvement over a period of four years.

1:05:19Andrew Mangan: I don't think that's normal. I don't think you get that all the time. I think it's so hard to keep a project intact through those kind of successive disappointments, to keep a manager engaged, ambitious, motivated, to keep players on board, believing, patient, willing to wait, not agitating to move. you know all this group committed to delivering this moment and I think in the world of football which is so much about quick fixes I think that is unusual I agree and I think again part of why it felt like a burden was lifted was because I was unsure of where you go if you finish second four years in a row.

1:06:12Yeah. I really did have some concerns about that, and I'm sure I'm not alone. And I'm glad I don't have to face up to them, and I'm glad that potentially, you know, like you said, we could unlock something with this. But I did have worries about, like, how do you go again? Can you go again? You know? Can you find that motivation? can you convincingly get a message across to a group of players if you just don't quite get there again? But we did. So give us our fucking chicken. Exactly, Andrew. Give us our chicken. Will we take a short little break? I think there's probably some questions on the Discord that we could deal with.

1:06:59I haven't had a look yet. That's the only issue.

1:07:01Andrew Mangan: No, nor me, nor me. I came into this blind. So maybe let's take five minutes and I'll have a scan through. All right. Well, let's take a little break. We'll come back with some of your questions in part two right after this.

1:07:32It's a great day! It's a great day! It's a great day! Go away! It's a great day! It's a great day! It's a great day! Yeah!

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1:09:07Welcome back to part two of the title winning Arsecast Extra. This is the part of the show where we answer the questions that you sent to us on Blue Sky, which would be the case if I'd remembered to put it on Blue Sky. But amid all the excitement, I just just forgotten just before we started recording. I did put it on the Discord, which you can get access to if you are an Arseblog member on Patreon. I wanted to just mention something I did write in the blog today. Last week on the podcast, there was a question talking to Tom Canton about what deals with the universe have you done? Okay, yeah. You know, superstitions, the nonsense stuff we do to try and exert some control over something over which we have zero control.

1:09:53after the man's i said i wouldn't tell because if i told it wouldn't work but after the man's city game um i just shaved everything off my face for the first time in a long time i had a rage shave okay and then said right i'll let it grow let it grow let it grow um and so obviously by the time i got to london this weekend i was quite beardy indeed um um so it worked it helped i did my bit i played my part you ate some chicken yeah and i grew a beard and that's how you win titles folks put that in the fucking tactics book did you did you find yourself doing anything like that at all because like i'm not superstitious i recognize it here's another one that i did by the way this is a ridiculous one every season when we start when i schedule a post on arseblog.com for the the live blog i would schedule the post typically about 30 minutes before the game but if we lost that game i would then either bring it forward or backwards another minute so let's say scheduled the live blog post at 19.30 because we've got an evening game.

1:11:13We win that, next one goes at 19.30. But if we lose a game, it's either going 19.31 or 19.29. And it moves around all through the season. How stupid is it? I'm a fucking idiot. But this season, I said, no, I won't do it. Even if we lose a game, that live blog post is going to get scheduled at 19.30 or 30 minutes before kick-off every game throughout the season. And look. It worked. It worked. What happens to the beard now, Andrew? I don't know. I don't know. I feel like, you know, I'm not going to rage shave because I don't have any rage. I've just got joy. I don't want to have a joy shave because when I looked at myself in the mirror, I was like, who's that guy?

1:11:59Because when you don't shave a lot and then you have a very bald face, it's weird and disconcerting and I don't like it. so I might just sort of uh I just give it a bit of a trim tidy up a bit keep the beard for

1:12:12Andrew Mangan: Budapest what do you think yeah seems to be working so okay I'd stick with it no I haven't really had any big superstitions I mean I even did kind of predictions for the running um so you know I which to be fair have looked all right I I did predict Everton and Bournemouth to take points off City. Predicted us to win the league. Mr. Snrub on the Discord, by the way, wanted to know, could we do the predictatron for the last game of the season? I said, okay, I think we can predict that. Yeah, that's fine. I predict Arsenal will, I don't know, draw with Crystal Palace. I think that seems like a reasonable one where we might be slightly under strength and Palace now can just be, Palace can put out like literal children and nobody will care.

1:13:10Like they can't be accused of, oh, well, no, it's your fault that Arsenal have won the league or whatever. They've got a bigger game to play on Wednesday and, you know, the Arsenal fans and Palace fans can all have a big end of season shindig party. I don't know.

1:13:27Andrew Mangan: I think they'll be, yeah, mightily relieved kind of the stakes and the focus has come off this game for them. And yeah, listen, City are welcome to beat Villa. That's fine. I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore. I don't know why Eze let it all work out, started playing there, but there you go. Listen. We can live with the interruption, I think. Yeah, if you're going to interrupt it for anything. Well, we mentioned the Crystal Palace game. What was I going to ask you? Is there a question about that? Not really, actually, but this is kind of linked. So non-flying Dutchman said, goodly morning, gents.

1:14:09Andrew Mangan: Can you name an 11 for Sunday using players that are no longer here that you feel contributed to us getting to this point? It can be either a positive contribution or maybe not so positive, but players that influenced Arsenal to where we are today. Hmm, that is a, that's a really good question, isn't it? Well, listen, I think because he was part of the title season or the first real title challenge and the one in 22-23, right? Or 23-24. Aaron Ramsdale is our goalkeeper for this one. yeah I think some names pick themselves don't they I think I think Ramsdale would be in I think Granit Xhaka would absolutely be in Kieran Tierney yeah yeah uh Emile Smith Rowe certainly um they're the names that jump out at me in terms of like who really has contributed but is no longer the club I mean yeah there are others obviously you know you could talk maybe a little bit about Jesus and Zinchenko in terms of what they brought to that first title Zinchenko should be in I think Tommy Asu yeah love me some Tommy that big summer of 2021 I think you'd have to have Pierre McAbemiang who won us an FA Cup right at the start of the Arteta project.

1:15:47Andrew Mangan: Kind of helped us along the way. Yeah. Hector Bellerin, I think. Yeah. Would be in that team for me also. Jorginho played a part. Was an important figure in the squad.

1:16:10Yeah.

1:16:11Andrew Mangan: I don't know about a one to 11, but there's certainly, there are certainly half a dozen names there who you feel are worthy of a salute. Don't you? There was a question, similar question from Ace Ventura 85. If you could give one recent player an honorary league medal, who would it be? So take your pick, whatever your flavor is from some of the names that we've mentioned there. I think the one that probably stands out most is Xhaka. I agree. You know, the way Mikel Arteta actually got the very best out of Granit Xhaka is, is probably one of the success stories of his Arsenal career in terms of how players are viewed and the way he as a manager or a coach has improved those players.

1:16:58When you consider the context of where Xhaka was when Arteta arrived, his bags were packed, he was out the door. You know? Totally.

1:17:11Andrew Mangan: he's the one that jumps out and he was a big part of the kind of cultural reset and I know he had his own kind of closure in a way because he went to the Bundesliga and was a big success there with Leverkusen and he's had a fantastic season for Sunderland so I doubt he's feeling sorry for himself this morning but I wonder when Mikel Arteta eventually kind of gets to his phone and wades through the many messages he will have received and sends a few of his own. I do wonder if there might be one for Granit in there somewhere. For sure, for sure. What about this one? And I will say I haven't had a chance yet to read it, but Celticlemyarsenal says, this is for Gunnerblog.

1:18:01How hard is it to write your amazing article while we hadn't won the league yet? big respect and i think that's you know people see these pieces come out like i'm what maybe what i do or the way i do it is kind of unique in the sense that i will just get up in the morning and write what i write that very morning so it's like steaming hot fresh yeah that yeah that that conjured up some other images but what what i mean is it is fresh off the presses uh for me first thing in the morning, but when you work for, you know, The Athletic or another organization, a lot of this stuff has to be there, ready to go when it's needed.

1:18:44And if it's not needed, it doesn't go out, but you still have to produce it, which must be kind of conflicting, you know? The sort of sensible journalist head is like, yes, this is the job, and then there's another part of you going, oh, fuck. I'd really rather not you know put those words down until such time as I know that it that everything's okay it is kind of terrifying that um and you know I've written these pieces before

1:19:16Andrew Mangan: and they've never really seen the light of day um and that's a strange thing or they've been heavily rewritten for a different ending. All these words lost like tears in rain. Yeah, exactly. So it's an odd thing that you have to do in the job. And it's not just me. I mean, think of the guys at Arsenal who have to have that fantastic video they produced with Arsene Wenger kind of congratulating the squad on their achievement, you know, they have to have that shot and edited and ready to go in the knowledge that it could also be consigned to the scrap heap. Yeah. I always think about that kind of haunting image.

1:20:08Andrew Mangan: I think it was in 23-24 of the kind of the podium, the Arsenal champions 23-24 podium that was housed underneath the emirate stadium and which never emerged and never saw the light of day but you know so much work goes in to help these moments land and be celebrated and um uh i'm just glad that this time it all came to light and uh on the piece by the way like i think if i was gonna sort of briefly advertise my wares. Please feel free. For me, the most interesting aspect of it is that the degree to which Arsenal planned for this and saw this opportunity, and we actually spoke about this a bit the weekend, but in 2020, when Arsenal were languishing in mid-table and Mikel Arteta had been in the job a matter of months.

1:21:17Andrew Mangan: The direction of the club was very, very unclear. People internally at Arsenal in the kind of, you know, what has been called the Football Intelligence Department, but I guess, you know, the strategic hub of the club, they laid out a timeline and a route back to the top. and the detail with which they did that is quite extraordinary. I mean, they factored in things like, you know, Jurgen Klopp potentially leaving Liverpool or Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City contract expiring or the potential physical decline of Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk. They basically built this picture of the competitive landscape and how it might play out over the next five, six years.

1:22:12Andrew Mangan: And using that, they kind of plotted a potential window for Arsenal to come to the fore. And they looked very specifically at the years between 2023 and 2027 and everything strategically the club did was about fine-tuning, calibrating a squad to peak in that window. You know, a group of young players who would grow together, develop together with an improving manager as well to peak at that precise time when our rivals might loosen their grip. And I just think, you know, we talk about the work that's done in the background, in the shadows. You know, we see the end result, but I think that's why this is such a unique story, because Arsenal, this is a true long-term project that Arsenal followed through on and delivered on.

1:23:13Andrew Mangan: And there were tweaks and adjustments along the way, but ultimately they've got where they were designed to go. And I do think in the kind of short-termist world of football, that is pretty remarkable. Yeah, football intelligence is right. you know football intelligence is right yeah um and many of those guys obviously have moved on but the department's still there and they'll they'll be plotting now the next challenge which is how do we sustain how do we stay there yeah um what about this uh i like this question his hickory vickory yock good name good name the goodliest of goodly mornings to you have you thought about how your life has changed since the last title it didn't seem that long until i've uh thought about what my life was like 22 years ago i was married for less than a year no kids family members were still alive having a healthy spine a different job etc etc etc

1:24:2322 years ago, Andrew? 22. I actually posted a picture in the Discord of Arseblog in 2004. Oh, yes, it's a good picture. I'd say it's almost worth becoming a Patreon member and joining the Discord just for that picture. Yeah, yeah. It's just sort of a picture of my office with a big old Apple Mac screen behind me. And yeah, look, I have hair and stuff like that. Yeah, I have. I genuinely have. I've thought about that quite a lot because in 2004, I was living in Barcelona. My man was alive. My dad was alive. Came back to Ireland in 2006. and listen, I think I've been on a journey with Arseblog for all those years and I've been very lucky in that period to have a lot of people along for the ride as well, if that's the right way of putting it, yourself and Andrew and Tim and everybody who has contributed to the website or the podcasts down the years.

1:25:30and it sort of seems absurd that it's 22 years ago. Like we talked about it every week. You know, every week. Do you know what I mean? We talked about, oh, it's 22 years since Arsene last won the title. And then you think of what 22 years actually means. I was 34. No. What year? 2004. I was 33 when we won the title last. um i can't count i don't know what year it is i don't know how old i am what what what is 2006 how old was i yeah so it may 2004 i would have been 33 years of age yeah and now i'm not anymore um i don't have any hair left unfortunately well i do have some but not in the right places um yeah i think about it all the time to be honest and i think about

1:26:33how doing this every day has been uh in some ways a coping mechanism i think like you know some of the messages that you got um and i received very similar messages i'm sure about you know how much you know what we do together and what we do individually means to people how they stay connected with the club because of you know what we do and how we do it and it can be helpful for people and cathartic for people but it's also the same for us you know to have that audience to have the the people who read or the people who listen is you know they're as much part albeit in a slightly different way they're as much part of our arsenal experience as we are of theirs, right?

1:27:18Because they're a constant and have been a constant.

1:27:25So, yeah, I think, you know, to get messages from people who say, I started reading Arseblog in 2002 or started listening to podcasts in 2006 and here we are 20 odd years later. It's a hell of a journey. It's a hell of a journey.

1:27:44Andrew Mangan: It is. That was my overriding feeling yesterday. Like what a long, what extraordinary kind of odyssey we've been on as a fan base. And yeah, my life's changed immeasurably. And I started doing Gunnerblog. So I started writing about Arsenal in the summer of 2004. So in the immediate aftermath of the last title. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it's, it's been, it's, I can't help but think about it. It's like something that kind of marks a bit of a chapter in my life and yeah, it's, it's bonkers to be honest. And I feel very, very grateful that I sort of by chance or, you know, good fortune or be in the right place at the right time.

1:28:45I occupy this space where people want to high five me just because Arsenal have won the league. it's a very like it's a very mad thing a very lovely thing so yeah it's um it's a real privilege to

1:29:07Andrew Mangan: be part of people's experience yeah and it's so funny like people often say that i love the pod man love the pond it's like therapy for me and i'm like it's like therapy for me you're just listening to my therapy sessions guys yeah yeah yeah it's like you know we're we're saving each other i don't know hundreds and hundreds of pounds every month on therapist bills you know if i wasn't recording this i'd be paying to do it there'd be a professional at the other end saying you need help yeah have you have you considered how absurd it is that you're so upset about something you can't do anything about yeah exactly it's therapy for me that's what you That's what you guys don't realise.

1:29:47That's what this is. It is. And our experience genuinely, and I mean this very genuinely, our experience and seeing sort of how happy everybody is online, offline, around the stadium, in the comments, on the Discord, whatever it is, it really enriches our experience, or certainly my experience. I'm sure it's the same for you, you know, where you are, your pleasure or your happiness is multiplied because you know that people who've been, you called it an odyssey. We've had people on this odyssey with us for 20 years plus. And we've had some success along the way. There's no, you can't ignore that.

1:30:32We've had some really good moments. We've had some trophies, but not the one that we've sort of all wanted. And now So for everybody to be here and to be that happy just makes it so special for us, I think.

1:30:50Andrew Mangan: Totally. Yeah. Totally. And something I find myself saying a lot is like how happy I feel for the fans. And, you know, I'm happy for myself. Don't get me wrong. I'm plenty happy for me. But I feel really, really happy for the community. And part of that is my gratitude to them. You know, for everything they've done to support me. You know, and so much of what I have and so much in my life, I owe to the Arsenal fandom. So for them to have something to celebrate, I couldn't be happier. What about this one? Simeon says, have two games against the same opponent, Bournemouth, ever caused such diverging emotions in you?

1:31:40Andrew Mangan: yeah what is it about Bournemouth I mean you think of Rhys Nelson as well by the way maybe he makes that 11 of players who contributed if only for that moment yes for sure I mean that's a huge moment

1:31:55I mean my main conclusion is Bournemouth are really good they're the rightful champions of this league you know they beat us and they very nearly beat City And I didn't watch the game, but everyone I spoke to who did said Bournemouth were fucking good.

1:32:12Andrew Mangan: Like, it wasn't that stressful because Bournemouth were excellent. We did have a question, by the way, from Glenny Lovejoy, who said, seriously, and not just because of yesterday, Kruppi in the summer, surely he's a guy we have to go for. I mean, he'd be one of the most popular signings in Arsenal history, you imagine. Yeah. There's probably people going in this morning to the armoury getting croupy on the back of their shirt. Yeah. I mean, he's a really good player. If we are going to do some stuff in the attack this summer, he should be certainly in the conversation, shouldn't he? And not just because he scored against Man City.

1:32:53I mean, he did score against us as well. Twice. He scored in both games, I think. He did, yeah.

1:32:59Andrew Mangan: He scored a great goal in the game for Bournemouth. Yeah, listen, I think credit to them. I think Jorale has been fantastic there. I think whoever gets him next has got some manager on their hands. They've got brilliant players, Kruppi, Ryan, others, Alex Scott. Alex Scott. great team so in terms of the two games nah i mean it's just such contrasting emotions such contrasting emotions but i think what the first game showed us is that bournemouth are really good and ultimately they showed that again last night so and i've got no enmity with bournemouth do you know i mean i've got no beef i guess bournemouth are my second team now you know you know what there's nothing particularly annoying about bournemouth yeah they're fine so i'm glad i don't have to have any gratitude to like you know chelsea for taking points off city or you know for taking points off exactly yeah bournemouth beautiful yeah love it they can come to the parade as far as i'm concerned yeah more than one of the bus behind get them their own little minibus the board with minibus behind or like when a yacht has got a dinghy behind it you know just dragging them by dragging them on a dinghy weirdly just down the holloway road whatever um yeah i mean i've just seen if i've got any other questions the laughing gunner says who can fuck off the most i think bernardo silver is my instant reaction i mean that did not take long There was no sort of pause there.

1:34:49Andrew Mangan: He did an interview with us, I think, with The Athletic the other day, in which he had a few things to say about Arsenal. And I certainly saw it get a lot of pick up on social and I thought... I haven't read, you know, it wouldn't be something I read. But what did he have to say about Arsenal? Basically, like, it's about time they, you know, I can't remember what the phrase he used, man up and win something or something to that effect let's see

1:35:20bernardo it's only natural that arsenal would man up and challenge for titles um it's a weird way of framing it isn't it yes i think so and he you know he was just on the wind up a bit great

1:35:35Andrew Mangan: player but um like many top athletes a bit of a sore loser yeah so he can fuck off I think it'd be remiss not to mention my friend Chris Sutton at this moment I mean I wonder does he does he think the Arsenal fans outside the the armory did they celebrate too much well they probably celebrated too much celebrated too early I if he believes that I urge him to get down there and tell them be very popular he may leave with a flare sticking out of a bit in every office Piero and Capier showed exactly where that flair would end up exactly who else can fuck off I mean loads of people actually loads of people I think Manchester City as a whole as an institution can sort of fuck off I think PGMOL can fuck off I think Sky can fuck off I think I think like Mourinho can fuck off.

1:36:46He hasn't done anything to us this season, but he can just fuck off. John Terry can fuck off. Yeah. It's the enemies you make along the way. You see, that's what makes it all very special. Can I say, go on. That Brighton manager, Herzler, is that his name? Yeah. He can fuck, he can fuck off. Come on. Someone posted a video of him being quite nice and gracious about Arsler winning the title, but you know, he can still fuck off fuck off too late mate fuck off no chicken for you konto um he's got new contracts so we're seeing more of him i i think uh you know the you know the fan reaction guys loads of them can fuck off i don't want to give any individual one of them a a mention because i don't want to give them the oxygen but the ones who everyone knows if you watch some of those videos there are some who are just relishing anything that goes wrong for arsenal yeah the ones who thrive on toxicity they can they fuck all the way off yeah um yeah i mean there's plenty of people i may spend the summer sort of expanding on the list of people who can fuck off yeah could write a book maybe that would be a good book actually people who can fuck off by james and a book of fuck offs brought to you in partnership with the athletic yeah yeah uh it's a long list it's a long long list definitely is um i like this on the discord there's a jesus time jesus time my team on Sunday.

1:38:35One, Raya's new baby. Two, Albert AirPods. Three, Gabrielle Einse. Four, Gunnar Soros. Five, Tom Hiddleston. Six, Gary Neville. We can't have that. Gary Neville, you're being replaced in midfield by Anne Hathaway, I think. Seven, the bloke who holds the door in block 45. Eight, Havertz's donkey. Nine, the landlord at the Tollington, Martin. Good man. He has ten, Jeremy Corbin and eleven, Yuckeres. maybe he wants to get him the golden boot or something you know get 17 goals against you know all those Palace children would be quite good yeah

1:39:11Andrew Mangan: Harland can fuck off

1:39:16there's a few mate there's a few more than a few Richarlison he can fuck off yeah exactly

1:39:26Andrew Mangan: what else I've got here here is a question Looney Tune 93 says, is everyone else also feeling like the shackles are off now? And this club could do amazing things in the coming years. Very exciting time to be an Arsenal fan.

1:39:45I think yes. I'm excited by the prospect of what the lifting of the pressure will do for the players. The belief that it will instill, you know. How often do we talk about like, well, that performance should give this team confidence to go into the next game. Therefore, should not winning the league give you confidence to go into next season? It sounded a bit Shakespearean that, didn't it? Should not winning the league this year? I hope so. I hope so. And I think there is something very, very real about the pressure and how it can inhibit you and how it can be a burden. And when it's lifted, it does change the way you think about things and change your ability to cope with different situations.

1:40:34You don't experience the same doubt, you know. And there's such a strong psychological element to sport, particularly at the very highest level, isn't there, you know. To rid yourself of that doubt is hugely important. So I'm hoping, yes, that this is something we can kick on from. Am I right in saying that in the modern era, an Arsenal team has, I think I am, has never retained a title? It's a difficult thing to do. So maybe that's the next challenge for Mikel Arteta. That's how he frames next season as, you know, what we need to do. Do something no Arsenal team has done in the modern era, which is retain the title.

1:41:14Andrew Mangan: Definitely. And listen, as you said, we'll have time to talk about it. But I have to be honest and say my feeling around the Champions League final has shifted a little since this win. I feel like Arsenal go into it now full of belief and with a different kind of pressure. I'm more excited than anything at this point in time. And I actually feel better about our chances having cleared this hurdle. so who knows who knows what what may still come in in what remains of the season yeah um not to get greedy not to get greedy not to get greedy i mean a lot of the questions are about just enjoying it and celebrating it and i think that's something we're uh we're all gonna do um this is quite an interesting one before we just sort of finish out and head off and get the podcast out yeah and we referenced it willie mack is asking about the treatment arsel got from the media in the last year and how much of it boiled down to the fact that we hadn't yet won the league these these were conversations we had right about until you win it you're not necessarily going to get the respect you deserve even if objectively you are doing a very good job so do you think is the question from Willie Mike that that might change a little bit now that with the success that Arsenal have achieved this season winning the Premier League and nobody else did that maybe they'll put a bit of goddamn respect on our name.

1:42:59Is that what you think? Or not?

1:43:02Andrew Mangan: I think they have to, you know. I think they have to. I mean, I think our success will aggravate some people and, you know, we'll have to put up with a few slings and arrows still. But ultimately, we have won and that is vindication. So all the things that Mikel has been ridiculed for over the last few years, it puts a totally different spin on it now. I think we have, as a club, a new level of credibility and I, do I really believe that will shift perceptions? I'm not sure, but I think it will bother us less because we'll just point to that big shiny trophy. Yeah. The trophy and the chicken. Exactly, mate.

1:44:02Martin, I'm going to let you go because I know you have to go and we have to go and I have to go as well. I've got to get this pod out, but I like this one just to go out with Martinelli. The elephant said goodliest fuckliest morning, gentlemen. What's the most ridiculous thing you did while celebrating. I spent the evening doing a shark fin upon my head while telling my wife, I was busy being a basking shark. I like that. I'm sure that wasn't at all annoying for your wife. At all. Yeah. I saw people doing that.

1:44:31Andrew Mangan: I saw a guy doing pull-ups on a lamppost outside the ground, um which was one way to celebrate i the most mental thing i did to be honest with you i i was with a few mates and it was kind of dissipating and the evening was sort of drawn to a close it's probably been about half one two o 'clock and my phone died and i was kind of stranded near the stadium and thinking well i'm in for the long haul now and i i ought to have gone home but i just took one more walk around the stadium like just to soak it in even more i did it on my own and just kind of plodded around watching everything unfold and drinking it all in um and i'm very glad i did because this doesn't come around very often no and i just take in every single thing that I could.

1:45:32Andrew Mangan: So yeah, that probably that little solo jaunt round the ground, just kind of surveying the carnage. That was my, my, my little celebratory moment to myself. Yeah. I don't think that's ridiculous at all. I think that's, uh, that's kind of nice and lovely and probably something I would have done myself if I'd been over there. Um, okay. Well, listen, thank you for the therapy over the course of the many years of this podcast that we've been hoping and hoping and hoping that Arsenal would win the big trophies. And they've avoided us. Avoided us? Evaded us? I don't know. At this point. It felt like they were avoiding us.

1:46:10It felt like they were. I did take it pretty personally. But I'm glad for you. I'm glad for everyone listening that we've done this and we can finally sort of relax a little bit. and enjoy, you know, this and what lies beyond as well. I think it's really important to do that, you know. Whatever you're doing today, all the videos, all the pictures, all the podcasts, all the content, all the YouTube, whatever you need to do to just overindulge will be like that guy in the Monty Python sketch, you know, the fattest man in the world in the restaurant. and he's like the waiter's trying to just give him just one wefer thin mint and all it's just going to be one wefer thin instagram post and we'll all be just fat and engorged with the content that's out there today and we deserve it and um yeah that's it i don't know shall we go shall we go i think let's go i think i think we've said all there is to say for now yeah

1:47:15Andrew Mangan: let me tell you we ain't finished basking in this no no no this will run and run mm-hmm mm-hmm I'm determined to make that happen for me you and for everybody yeah so look as ever thank you all so much for being with us and thank you for listening throughout this season thank you for enduring this season with us and for helping us through it and to get us to the finish line where we have come first we are the Premier League champions for the first time since 2004 enjoy it we love you all um we'll talk to you very soon i don't quite know when what we're doing it's all just kind of uh up in the air at this moment in time but until the next one folks take it easy and we will catch you on the next one bye bye you did it champions go on when others stop this is your time now go on and enjoy every moment Every moment.

1:48:40From the Cali to the cross and every chateau in between Past the church, the mosque, the crack den and the offy on the corner See the grasses from the brothel that pretends to be a sauna Watch the bedlam in the bookies, see the winners and the losers Seeking solace from their sorrow in the local battle cruisers Through the madness in the market, weathered faces turn to greet ya Hello governor, as your mother, you're our son, we're lucky he's up Double fire, mash and liquor, a cup of rose and the up chap Or watch retired gangsters pick up every day and half his calf The little fuckers causing trouble, for the causes make you smile You meet your muckers for a couple, you get your troubles for a while From the four-mill to the hen, all the faces are the same Cause the manner might be changing, but the people still remain Oh, London forever Whatever the weather These streets are our own And my heart will leave you never My blood will forever We're up through the snow

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