Highbury House

Having had the good news yesterday about Sagna’s return to training, reports are going around that Jack Wilshere has suffered a stress fracture and now won’t be back until April! There is nothing to confirm this on afc.com but there wouldn’t be would there, not until the transfer window is shut, otherwise the club would need to spend some money!

Chris Samba is making all sorts of threats to Blackburn in order to get his move away from the club, he obviously has his eye on going somewhere, wonder if it’s us?

Anyway, onto todays post:

Since Sundays expected defeat at the hands of England’s greatest team ever, Manchester United, led of course by the greatest Manager England has ever seen SAF – there has been much written and said about our own Manager Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal supporters have started to split, there are those in favour of change and those that believe Arsene Wenger’s six-year drought of Trophies is about to change.

I know how I think Arsenal FC should proceed but I’m not going to try and lead you to my way of thinking. Every supporter should know how they feel and which way they believe Arsenal should go.

Many players have been making statements since Sunday, and from Captain to goalkeeper, they state that the manager is right, he is the boss and he knows best.

Maybe he does but why did we lose then?.

Why did we not have any fullbacks in the team?

Why have we no reserve goalkeeper of any standing?

Why have we got a second in command who had to be pressed ganged into not retiring?

Why do we still have players who it is quite clear, that most of the players do not rate and finally,

Why have we still no replacement for our centre forward?

Statements of allegiance are all very well for the public but when you get a sixty thousand Stadium full of mostly Arsenal fans asking questions, and not for the first time, you realise that there is no smoke without fire.

Arsenal football Club is not a two bob operation,  we are the 3rd biggest club in the world and probably the most stable. They persevere with a no spending policy, fine if you have a squad that can cope with all situations, fine if you are winning your fair share of spoils but if that is not the case then things are not being run the right way is it.

The Arsenal Board are running the show off the field and how are they doing?

Well according to the annual profit Statements not bad, we appear to be one of the best run clubs not only in England, but in the world. Many supporters are looking for someone to blame for our lack of silverware over the last six years and it’s hard to point the finger at a board that appears to be running smoothly and making huge profits isn’t it?

This is almost the same board that changed our stadium from Highbury into a profitable building development and moved us to The Emirates and almost doubled the crowd capacity which of course is a step forward.

‘We needed to move in order to compete with the top clubs’  – that’s what we were told.

Reality is though, since our move to our shiny grand stadium, our actual on-field performances have nose-dived, we have gone from being successful to winning nothing. We lose on a regular basis and our players appear nowhere near the quality from previous years.

We buy cheaply and our style never changes and tactics-wise we have not progressed.

The man in charge of all football related decisions is Arsene Wenger. He is the man who has sold some of the Arsenals greatest players like Henry, Cashley, Paddy, Clichy, Fabregas, Na$ri, to name just a few, but has he replaced them with similar quality or work ethic?

Up to now the answer has to be No he hasn’t, he has replaced them with cheaper and average players and that has to be wrong.

We have made massive profits off the field and we have made the same kind of profits selling our best players, so money should not be a problem for us. I can remember one statement Arsene Wenger made when asked by a reporter what he would do it Arsenals board gave him a Hundred million to spend on players. Arsene’s reply was “I would give it straight back”. Hardly a statement that I could imagine SAF saying.

Mind you, he wins trophies every year and that’s why he is considered the best manager around today and he’s been winning them for many years…..

There are rumours circulating that Arsenal season tickets, which are already the most expensive in the league, are going up for next season.

Inflation no doubt and many supporters will dig deep and stump up the extra, while others will question the rise and that brings us nicely back to the split in support.

Funny though, one of Wengers excuses for not signing any new players was down to the economy, shame the club don’t think about the fans and reduce the season ticket prices, because of that same economy!….

Are you happy with Arsenal FC or can we do better?

Written by Steve Palmer