Section of Arsenal fans mock Steve Bould after sacking

By Tom Canton


Published: May 23, 2021 9:56 am

Last Updated: May 23, 2021 9:58 am

Steve Bould sacked

After 30 + years of service as both a player and coach Steve Bould has been sacked from Arsenal.

The former centre half was the head coach of the under-23 side after spending time as the assistant manager to both Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger.

During his time as a player he won the first division twice and the Premier League title, two FA Cups, League Cup and European Cup Winner’s Cup.

Moving on from playing, Bould became the coach of the under-18s squad where he won the title twice and an FA Youth Cup.

Moving onto working with Arsene Wenger, taking over from Pat Rice, he earned 3 further FA Cup medals with the Frenchman.

After Unai Emery took over, eventually he was replaced by Freddie Ljungberg, who was the then coach of the under-23s which Bould took charge of.

With Arsenal’s reliance on many outstanding young players such as Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka, the under-23s have struggled.

They only just survived relegation from the Premier League 2, thanks to a last minute equaliser from Kido Taylor-Hart against West Ham United on the final day. Ultimately leading to the decision by the club to move on from Bould.

🏆 #PL2 safety: secured ✅#AFCU23 🔴 pic.twitter.com/I0lNSad3x3

— Arsenal Academy (@ArsenalAcademy) May 7, 2021

Context of coaching the youth side

It is well founded that the results from the under-23s squad were not to the standard that the club were clearly hoping for.

However, it is worth mentioning the difficulties faced by a coach of a continually changing and pillaged group.

The primary objective of the youth sides is not to achieve results in the youth league.

The main rhetoric of the program is to develop young players to a standard where they can impact the first team. Players such as Saka, Smith-Rowe, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin etc have all come through and earned minutes for the senior side.

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 29: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates with teammate Bukayo Saka after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal at American Express Community Stadium on December 29, 2020 in Brighton, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Frank Augstein – Pool/Getty Images)

The first 5 on the list theoretically could still be playing for the under-23s. Nketiah and Nelson have both featured in the second half due to a lack of opportunities in the first team.

Furthermore, some of the best talent is sent out on loan to gain experience outside of the club.

Jordi Osei-Tutu, Zech Medley, Joseph Olowu, Daniel Ballard, Harry Clarke, Mark McGuinness, Ben Sheaf, James Olayinka, Matt Smith and Tyreece John-Jules all left the club on loan with many rated very highly.

Ballard is already a full Northern Ireland international having earned 5 caps. McGuinness is on the edges of the Republic of Ireland team having played with the under 21s at his highest point so far. Matt Smith has an FA Cup winners medal having been on the bench in the cup final in 2020 and performed well this season in his spells away.

This should highlight the difficulty of losing such quality and having to find consistency in results. However, all that being said, the club felt that it was the time to move on from Bould. After 30+ years, he has been a great servant on and off the field and that should be respected.

Embarrassing reaction

Social media can be a bad place to be. Recently the Premier League amongst other sports and individuals took part in a social media blackout in protest to the companies’ failure to address online abuse.

English football clubs will stage a three-day social media boycott next weekend as part of a protest against racism, various national governing bodies announced Saturday
For #AFPSports pic.twitter.com/lXmGtSvNDi

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 24, 2021

Despite the protest, there has been little change in the behaviour shown by some. This was evident in David Ornstein’s announcement of Steve Bould’s dismissal.

Some of the replies are not appropriate to be posted, but below are a selection of some supporters reacting to a servant of over 30+ years to the club who won a collective 13+ trophies as a player and coach:

Fraud bould

— Veer (@VeerKantelia1) May 22, 2021

Thanks for the mediocrity, but it’s time to say goodbye ✌🏽

— Omzzinho (@YoungOmz2) May 22, 2021

Thank you. Finally maaan… get rid of these people demolishing the club….

— Parahat Akmuradov 💎 (@AkmuradovP) May 22, 2021

finally

— Renato (@rehnato) May 22, 2021

Yeah that man is mediocre. Bye

— Saugat Acharya 🇳🇵 (@TheStangun) May 23, 2021

Stealing a living for years…it’s about time

— Joseph (@JoeSimm88389869) May 22, 2021

Awful coach. Glad he’s been booted 😷

— TP Pillay (@TP_Pillay) May 22, 2021

Thankfully, there were also a good selection of respectful messages to Bould, whilst appreciating that this was probably the right time to move.

Never nice to see a loyal servant of the club go – all the best in whatever the future holds!

— Scott Borg (@sm_borg) May 22, 2021

Steve will always be a legend but I feel that there could’ve been a better way to send him off after 30 years of service. What happened to the classy Arsenal I once knew? What happened to the Arsenal I grew up watching? How they’ve treated staff have been shocking.

— The Brixton Gooner (@khalid4qn) May 22, 2021

My club actually being ruthless! He’s a legend but as evidence with the U-23s this season he’s out of his depth. Wish him nothing but the best!

— Jaderz (@FloridaGooner12) May 22, 2021

Sorry to see you go mr bould you have been a good servant to the club always tried your best am sure, but thats football you get the results or you dont and we are now needing to update our coaching ideas at youth level anyway so this is a progressive step in the right direction

— Mathew (@Mathew32913010) May 23, 2021

Hopefully one day social media abuse can come to an end but it appears that may be some way off.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City FC	37	46	83
2	Manchester United FC	37	28	71
3	Chelsea FC	37	23	67
4	Liverpool FC	37	24	66
5	Leicester City FC	37	20	66
6	West Ham United FC	37	12	62
7	Tottenham Hotspur FC	37	21	59
8	Everton FC	37	4	59
9	Arsenal FC	37	14	58
10	Leeds United	37	6	56
11	Aston Villa FC	37	8	52
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	37	-15	45
13	Crystal Palace FC	37	-23	44
14	Southampton FC	37	-18	43
15	Newcastle United FC	37	-18	42
16	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	37	-4	41
17	Burnley FC	37	-21	39
18	Fulham FC	37	-24	28
19	West Bromwich Albion	37	-39	26
20	Sheffield United FC	37	-44	20

Player	Team	Goals
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	22
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	22
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	17
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	17
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	16
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	16
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	14
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	13
Gundogan, Ilkay	Manchester City FC	13
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	13
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	12
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	12
Wood, Chris	Burnley FC	12
Iheanacho, Kelechi	Leicester City FC	12
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	11
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	11
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	11
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	10
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United FC	10
Cavani, Edinson	Manchester United FC	10

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Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	0	11
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United FC	0	11
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion	0	10
Hojbjerg, Pierre	Tottenham Hotspur FC	0	9
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	8
Lundstram, John	Sheffield United FC	1	8
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	9
Luiz, Douglas	Aston Villa FC	0	8
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	8
Soucek, Tomas	West Ham United FC	1	7
Shaw, Luke	Manchester United FC	0	8
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	7
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	8
Andersen, Joachim	Fulham FC	1	7
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	7
Holgate, Mason	Everton FC	0	8
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC	0	8
Dallas, Stuart	Leeds United	0	7
McGoldrick, David	Sheffield United FC	0	7
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	7

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	13
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	12
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	10
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	10
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	9
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	8
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Gross, Pascal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	8
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	8
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	7
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	7
Eze, Eberechi	Crystal Palace FC	7
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	7
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	7
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	7
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	6