When someone suggests that someone else is a sociopath it is usually taken as an insult, yet it is now a recognised personality disorder defined by a series of traits or behaviours.
Of course as a disorder it is a spectrum, every human has at least some of the traits listed, you could have 30% of the traits and you are not a sociopath, have 65% of them and you most possibly are.
So what are these traits? The list below reproduces some but not all of them.
Not a good sport – does not like being the butt of a joke
Fails to learn from experience
Don’t care how other people feel
Can lose it in a tense situation
Generally anxious
Doesn’t respond to other socially
Tells lies
Superficially charming and intelligent
Prone to delusion
Poor judgement
Egocentric
Lacks the ability to react emotionally
Makes meaningless apologies
Acts before thinking of consequences
Good at manipulating people and situations
Don’t forget you can have some of these traits and not be sociopathic, and you might not have some of these traits and still be a sociopath.
Now you will have noticed that one of the traits is delusion, well most fans have that, every year thousands of fans claim their team will win the league when its blatantly obvious they won’t I mean for example Leicester … errr not a good example.
Well perhaps Arsenal fans, some of whom have steadfastly believed Arsenal would win the league every year for the last 12 years are, especially when Leicester were the only opposition left. Of course repeat something long enough and it might come true, after all some Arsenal fans between 1953 and 1970 believed Arsenal could win the league, and it did happen in 1971. Now it’s possible that some Hartlepool fans also believed that between 1953-70, but it still hasn’t happened yet.
I remember wisely saying down the pub in November last season , “well gravity will soon reassert itself and normality return and Leicester will tumble back down the league” , I repeated that in January, and then quietly dropped it in February, so perhaps not fully deluded. Although I can think of some people, possibly in management (I wasn’t keeping notes) who still thought Arsenal could win the league in March and April.
Anyway enough of my ramblings why not have some fun with the test; you can answer it as yourself, or pretend to be your favourite manager.
Oddly enough, I've been reading extensively about sociopaths over the past week or so because my sister's ex-boyfriend is one - and there's no way Wenger qualifies, if we're fair.
I was really very close to her ex, before they split a couple of weeks ago. We were so close, in fact, that I sent him a very nice text message after the break-up, letting him know that me and him were still okay and that he could still play astro on a Monday night with us.
For 18 months, I classed this bloke as a very good friend more or less. Some of you might recall me saying how I was going to get Arsenal - Liverpool tickets last season and bring him. I say 'bring' because I actually thought of him as a younger brother more than a mate, really.
But you know what? It was alll bollox. Friendships or relationships should be natural, right? They should be about two people clicking. But when you're the friend or boyfriend of a sociopath, he makes it click. He establishes rapport intentionally, be it through flattery, charm or other means. I met him the day of my mother's funeral and I was quite drunk toward the end of the night, but I remember making a joke and him exploding with laughter, before turning to my sister and saying, 'he's funnier than you'. Looking back, that was the hook.
After they split I began hearing a lot about their relationship. I got quite close to his cousin and she told me that he is indeed a bonafide sociopath. He lived with her and her siblings from the age of 11 because he had a rough childhood and it was either live with his auntie or go into care. For a few days I had a hard time wrapping my head around the level of manipulation and deceit that he inflicted on me, my sister, our family and my friends.
You know that bit in Heat where Al Pacino and the cops follow De Niro's crew to the docklands or something? The cops are standing around wondering why the baddies would be meeting here, before Pacino clocks it: 'I mean is this guy something or is he something'? That's pretty much the exact thought I have every day when I reflect on how this f*cking bloke conned us. He's thick as shite but he's also a genius in a very cold and calculated way. I mean, my sister could die tomorrow and he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of sadness because his illness won't allow him to.
I've also been creeping on his Facebook and he changed his profile picture to a photo of him and his little brother. She won't believe me, but I'm convinced it's a means to con the next girl into thinking he's such a nice guy and all. He's already over an 18-month relationship because, as I said, he feels nothing.
In the time I've known him, he has had six different jobs - nothing major, just like working at a petrol station and bowling alley and stuff. He did try to become an electrician but quit five days into a four-year commitment. Sociopaths don't do long-term commitments, which is one of the many reasons why there's just no way Wenger is one. I'm sure there's exceptions, and I've also read about high-functioning sociopaths and whatnot, but if there's one thing I've learnt about them it's this: they're f*cking experts at disguising their true identity, their illness, because they're hugely fearful of being exposed.
Wenger can't be a sociopath. If he was, we wouldn't be debating it because we wouldn't have the slightest idea. He wouldn't be at Arsenal for 20 years. He wouldn't draw as much attention to himself as he does. He wouldn't get as passionate during matches as he does. He'd be best mates with opposition managers instead of enemies with most of them. He wouldn't have kept Diaby at the club about five years longer than he should've, because he wouldn't have cared about him as a human being. He wouldn't be mates with, say, David Dein still. He wouldn't sign 16-year-old players because that in itself is an admission that you're adopting a long-term approach and these people are incapable of that.
He is many, many things, but there's genuinely no chance of him being a sociopath.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:07:20:21:02:11 by Shane.
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