Arsene Wenger trying to defend the indefensible?

Morning all.

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Arsene Wenger thinks the price charged by Arsenal for season tickets and tickets in general are fair. Well, by looking at the table above which has been pinched from The Daily Mail, perhaps his view is blinkered, and that’s being kind.

We pay absolutely everything ourselves so we have to generate more revenue. It is true we get more television income, that is down to the audience and success, but you know as well that it is down to the pressure of the market to pay for the players with a higher price and our expenses will come up straight away to increase their wages.

After that you want the ticket prices to be as comfortable as possible for our fans.

I’d understand his argument more had he/the club not signed just Petr Cech and Mohammed Elney over the last two transfer windows but considering they cost around £15 million between them, using that example is poppycock. Yes they paid for the stadium, but hiding behind that excuse is boring after ten years.

Meanwhile, over in West London, a classless club I must add, have a glut of superstars, a few league trophies, a big shiny Champions League trophy and a few other domestic cups in their possession, yet their tickets, certainly season tickets are cheaper.

Arsenal fans, and I don’t mean just those who go to The Emirates, have just two FA Cup trophies to brag about. There’s a pot of gold stashed away in the Arsenal bank yet still the club has the audacity to charge the most expensive price for a season ticket in the league.

Match day tickets aren’t quite as bad, well the cheapest as Arsenal sit well below many clubs for that costing and the most commonly paid prices are reasonable in comparison too but the most expensive is up there head and shoulders above other clubs!

I expect the manager is trying to defend – ‘the most commonly paid price’ – as Arsenal charge similar to Chelsea and just a few pounds more than Man City and Utd. Less than Liverpool and Tottenham though and those two clubs haven’t had much to brag about over the last few years and long may that remain!

As we know, other clubs fans have started to protest about the amount they are being charged. There was the 77 minute walk out at Liverpool, tennis balls being thrown onto the pitch at Dortmund, a club which charges far less than any club in the Premier League and no doubt this is just the start.

I’d have thought its only a matter of time before Arsenal fans let their feelings be known and when/if they do, Martin Keown will be right there with them.

My Sportsmail colleague Jamie Carragher made a stand by joining in the Anfield protests last week and if there was a similar one at Arsenal, I would follow suit. The clubs have to support what the majority of fans want and it’s time to stand up for them.

Bring back a safe standing area, reduce the ticket prices and improve the atmosphere – that’s what our old centre-back believes is the way forward and funny enough, so do I.

Anyway, Leicester fans are expected to vent their fury at the FA tomorrow by turning up late for the match after this fixture was moved very late in the day which has no doubt caused them all sorts of problems. Arsenal fans are urged to join them but I doubt they will.

After all, if you are paying the highest prices, you don’t want to miss an early goal.

Have a good Saturday…

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andrewh1313
andrewh1313
10 years ago

Good post rico, morning!

Tricky one, such an important match for fans to be distracted, look what happened to ‘Pool. At least protesting at beginning is more sensible than last 10 minutes!

andrewh1313
andrewh1313
10 years ago

Co-incidence or a contributing factor in two late goals from a team near bottom?

(Players could not admit to it because it would be seen as unprofessional)

ScottfromOz
ScottfromOz
10 years ago

Protest after the game.
Never during.
Morning all.

Iceman
Iceman
10 years ago

High prices are much harder to justify if the club continue with their Primark buying policy!

allezkev
allezkev
10 years ago

Morning All

If you protest before and after the game, it will have a zero influence…

The only way you’ll have any long term effect on the way that the club is squeezing the life out of the fans is by embarrassing them on th TV…

Football on TV, in England is sanitised for the benefit of the overseas viewer…

allezkev
allezkev
10 years ago

You can bet your life the Sky will do their best to ignore any protest…

Morning Rico

dublingunner
dublingunner
10 years ago

Morning, great graph and post Rico, Finally a week off from the madness of work.
Absolute extortionate prices compared to other teams, I absolutely agree with Kev, what good are protests before or after a game, they clearly don,t work.
Yesterday AW comes out saying the time for protests are before or after, ye to suit you sir, Well we don,t always get what we want, Arsene.
I think the Pool supporters were spot on last week, and heh, It worked.
Nothing will change unless something drastic is done, just IMO,

scottfromoz
scottfromoz
10 years ago

Well protesting during the game is crazy, IMO, especially in a game of such importance.
Dont go to the Barca game….spread the word for fans to boycott it.
There’s your protest.

dublingunner
dublingunner
10 years ago

You Still have to dig the graphs,Stats and Statements out, your too humble Rico.
ye thats were we Differ slightly, because I just cannot see any effect of before and after game protests, unfortunately no one wants to disrupt the team at this stage of the season, but the only way to hurt the club is bums on seats, so either a walk out or a boycott is the only way, true timing is essential,but i can think of no other alternative.
It,s just for a club who have not won a title for 12 years, or been past the last 16 in the champions league for 6, for them to justify their prices is criminal, and it is only a matter of time before their hiked up again.

scottfromoz
scottfromoz
10 years ago

Rico, they either want to send a real message, or they don’t, IMO.
It’s not something that can be done half hearted.

Bob John
Bob John
10 years ago

I am not one to defend the ST prices as I gave mine up two years ago but our prices do include 7 cup ties including champions league which other clubs don’t do. The press always conveniently ignore this.

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Is it not 26 games Rico?

dublingunner
dublingunner
10 years ago

I dunno, I just can,t see the justification in it at all, anyways.
Happy 60th Birthday to my favourite player as a kid Liam Brady, chippy.
for years I thought he got that name because of fantastic abilty to score free kicks and fine goals with deft little chips into the top corners, only for my bubble to be bust by finding out that as an apprentice and youth he lived out of the chippy,
Funny.

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Dublin, i thought the same about Chippy, lmao when the truth came out…

Bob John
Bob John
10 years ago

Aah Dublin. The genius that was Liam Brady. Jack Charlton wouldn’t pick him because he played too much football!!!

potter
potter
10 years ago

Football is running scared ,I always thought that either football in England would grow until it ate itself or until a bigger fish would come along . Seems the big Chinese take away fish is arriving . We can expect a number of big name players to be linked with moves and tempted by high salaries and a feeding frenzy from their agents and the press pointing as many poisoned arrows at us as they can. Already both Alexis’ and Ozil’s agents are jockeying for position . This will happen to us and it will happen to every big club in Europe , the ones that pay up will keep their players and those that don’t will slip down their respective pecking orders , it’s no different to that which happened when Abramovic changed the situation here . Money has already ruined the game and now is getting ready to burn it’s heritage. This is what is behind Wenger’s comments , he is well aware that when push comes to shove The Arsenal are likely to be one of the clubs that don’t pay up and he is getting the excuses in first.

potter
potter
10 years ago

Interesting( to me anyway) is the question of just how much of football in general is built on solid ground . The more I read in the other forums that I frequent the more I hear traditional fans of both this and other clubs feeling disenfranchised. Certainly at The Arsenal there is a kick against pricing and at Liverpool too it seems and I doubt that we are alone..My thoughts are if we witness a backlash and the traditional fans stop paying and traveling just how strong is the base on which the premiership stands. The artificial money from TV and sponsors could soon dry up especially if the suggested exodus of players takes place and if the people that can afford the prices stop going or, don’t pay up front for season tickets , how will the club’s cash flows be affected. Will the younger set make up the shortfull and when the league loses it’s gloss will the tourists turn out for the games against the straglers ?.

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Just read the rumour that Gabby may have an injury…

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Me to Rico, the thought of BFG { Big F……Giraffe} scares me…

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Morning Rico, what a lovely morning it is…

Adam
Adam
10 years ago

Morning Rico, BT and all. Bright here, but nippy.

Wavy
Wavy
10 years ago

Morning all.

Bright, brisk and blue skies here. Lovely, a great day to win a football game!

Game predictor. 2-1 to the Arsenal. A nail biter but a season changer……….I hope!

BT62 Gooner
BT62 Gooner
10 years ago

Morning Adam, Wavy and all.

Adam I take it your fully recovered?