I touched on this the other day but it appears that it’s today Arsenal will announce record profits – and that they have paid off all the debts on their Highbury Square development six months early.
This means that we will get a £30 million windfall after selling off around 90 apartments The Emirates Stadium costs are covered with ease from match day income.
Many fans will think this is wonderful news as financial stability within the club is the top priority but others will surely be thinking that if this was all know, why did we faff around bidding £2M for an aged goalkeeper when its clear we could have aimed much higher?
I don’t know the answer but I strongly suspect that the club wanted this all done and dusted prior to any spending, I certainly wouldn’t go out and spend thousands of pounds unless I had it spare. Maybe back in the summer, the selling of the apartments was just ‘on the cards’ rather than all the sales having gone through. Again, I don’t know but the property market did take a bit of a dip!
Either way, the club is now in a very healthy situation and surely this has to be better than living off the back of some Sugar Daddy who is willing to spend, spend, spend, but then one day ups and leaves, leaving the club in a financial mess along the way?
The Daily Telegraph quote these figures
A year ago, Arsenal announced pre-tax profits had risen 24 per cent to £45.5 million. Another increase for the year ending June 2010 is expected courtesy of property sales and around a £4 million rise in Premier League income to £51.7 million and a similar increase in Champions League income to £27.3 million.
Now though the only debt we have is the £220-£230 million on the stadium which has to be paid off by 2031 – easy peasy!
Now all has settled after what was a stunning victory against the Tiny Totts, Arsene Wenger must seriously take a look at his goal keeping situation and sort it out, fast!
Almunia is number1, he is better than Fabianski, but is Fabianski better than Wojciech Szczesny and Vito Mannone??
For me the answer is No!
It’s high time Arsene Wenger got rid of our Mr Liability for good or loan him out in January and see if he really can make the grade!!
Could you see Fabianski a full stretch like this?? You can see the pain in his eyes just watching 😉
Wojciech Szczesny has supposed to have had a moan at Wenger about this situation and I don’t blame him, especially after another dodgy display in goal by Flappianski.
I agree with this particular comment made by our young Pole:-
I know Arsenal are fighting for trophies but if you want to win anything you must play your best players – not the oldest ones.
I also like this one :-
When I get the chance, I’ll prove I should’ve got my chance earlier.
Good man, that’s fighting talk, I don’t like the comment he made about leaving though, but I sure as heck understand why he would want to when he see’s who plays ahead of him!
Wenger goes on about how he believes in his youthful side, why does that belief not extend to his goal keeper?
We got lucky against the Spuds, not the result of course as we played them off the park for most of the game and totally deserved our victory but we got lucky that Spurs were crap and didn’t test Fabianski too much as I’m sure we would have seen a few more blunders that the one he made for the goal. It was offside I know, but Flappy had all the time in the world to see what was heading his way, he even dived in the right direction and got his body to the ball. What he failed to do though was the glaringly obvious, if he couldn’t hold the ball, just a little touch round the post would have done the job!
All pre-season we heard Wenger tell the media that Chesney was a star in the making, well I suggest he drops Fabianski from being Almunia’s understudy and gives him the chance he deserves and now. I’m sure if he got a chance to be our ‘Cup Keeper’, that would be enough to make him realise that the club have faith. Then a new contract signed and if he does take his chance, next summer Arsenal have saved themselves a few million pounds on signing a new one.
Chesney is free to talk to other clubs in January and unless Wenger gives him a real chance and lets him know he truly believes in him he will follow in the footsteps of so many of our players and that’s to leave of a free in the summer. Potentially he could be one of the best goal keepers our club has had since the David Seaman days. I just hope Wenger doesn’t muck this one up. Flamini did it, Merida did it, Gallas did it and so have many more.
Wenger has said this following the outburst of Chesney:-
He is right he deserves a chance but the keeper is in front of him, Mannone, deserves a chance as well, You can only play one goalkeeper. It’s part of their job as a football player to live with competition and decisions.I believe the best thing for him is just to focus, work hard and trust us.No club in the world has started more players at the top, top-level than we have. Nobody, so he is in the right club. But impatience is a characteristic of youth.What they forget when they are 20 is that they can play until they are 40, whereas a normal player can only go to 32 or 34 if it all goes well, so what they lose at the start they gain at the end of their career.
That’s fine Mr Wenger, but the lad is good, he wants to be playing week in week out for good club and I can understand that. If you don’t want him, sure as heck another club will and with Edwin van de Sar soon to retire, I wouldn’t be surprised if Old Fergie comes sniffing around him in January.
Then of course there is Mannone – clubs are already looking at him. How will Wenger know if they will make the grade if he doesn’t play them? How can he be happy to sit and watch mistake after mistake made by Fabianski, when he has two keepers like we do in reserve? The mind boggles……
Looking ahead to the match against West Brom, Diaby could be back in contention but Vermaelen, Squillaci and Cesc are all out, Rosicky and Eboue face lete tests too.
So who would you rather see as our cup keeper?
Morning all….
Remember,Wenger said that Flapianski would be world class.
Hi DG, he got that wrong didn’t he, Chesney actually looks as if he could be…
He needs to play chesney, and soon. Or you’re right. Fergie or Carlo will come get him and he’ll be their next schmeical…..the mind boggles….
Morning Rocastle – we said here the other day, you can see why chesney is upset, what does he or Mannone have to do to get a game – i’d be really cheesed off to know that Flappy was ahead of me….
I’m perplexed about Flappy; for me it’s not the perceived ball handling weaknesses but his lack of height. He just doesn’t look ready to play in a senior league; if he appeared in an under 19s I’d be concerned. Interesting also that with a decent defence in front of him, Almunia appears to be regaining confidence game by game. Kos, Sqill and Verm are collectively the best news we’ve had probably since the signings of Walcott, Wilshire and Ramsey and ANY goalie would start to look better behind them. Imagine our confidence if we could secure Given? And yes, I’d retain Almunia as first back up and put our frustrated Pole out on loan and have a good look at him playing for a soon to be stretched Blackpool or a side already struggling like Everton, Liverpool or Spurs …
Vito looked good in his few games with the 1st team last season and he does deserve a go. Anybody but the flapper at this point.
Whatever the spending on transfers might have been in the summer it wouldn’t have made any difference to the figures as they run only until the end of May. Any transfer spending would only come into next years figures. Presumably Wenger looks at Szczesny in training and doesn’t see him as ready as Mannone. Also if he’s holding out the threat of going if he doesn’t get his way then we shouldn’t pick him until he’s ready to commit to the long term. He wouldn’t be the first Billy Big Balls to think he’s better than he is and end up drifting into mediocrity. There’s no way Fergie will trust a young keeper any more than Wenger does. Like it or not Wenger is probably a better judge of his ability than Szczesny is.
Absolutely. You can’t blame the guy. Was his father not an international keeper??
Impatience may well be a product of youth. But if you’ve got it, and you know you’ve got it. Then at some stage sitting back and watching a clown get selected before you is gonna start to sting a little!!!
Give the lad a chance in the next round. FabHeAintSki has fluffed his lines too many times.
Arsnenalandrew, its difficult re chesney going on loan, he can’t i dont think until Jan, thats when he will be free to talk to other clubs and we’ll possibly lose him….
Wenger told Chesney he would have his chance this season but seems to have gone back on his word..
If all that Chesney saysd is true of course
We should give this young pole a chance to shine
Rocastle, exactly and yes i believe his father was a class keeper – what i don’t get is wenger plays the youth all over the pitch, yet won’t with a keeper..
If Flappy was playing great, no-one would mind, but he isn’t…
Hi Amos, I am not sure Wenger is such a good judge on keepers, Jens was ok, then he let Manninger go, Taylor go and bought Wright who was a disaster and Al and Flappy show all too often how poor they can be….
kc, i think mannones bad game was against West Hame, when we let a 2-0 lead slip to a draw….
if thats what stopped wenger playing him again, why does he not apply the same rule to Almunia and Flappy??
£56M pre tax profit has just been announced….
Morning Rico, and all,
Good read Rico on a delicate subject. 🙂
What could make the situation even worse with our GK’s is that in the london Evening Standard there was an article saying le Prof is determined to go back in for 99 year old Schwarzer, in January.
Schwarzer has been appalling in the games he has played for Fulham this season and I breathed a sigh of relief that we had not bought him, otherwise he could already have scuppered us.
Big Al has been O.K. this season, so far. The solution is to let Flappy and Mannone go and promote Chesney to No.2. (I’m sorry, Mannone is potentially as bad as Flappy. People have short memories when you think how poor he was when he went out on loan, blah, blah).
BUT, we will get Schwarzer in January, Flappy will be No.2, Big Al will go, Chesney will go, and Mannone will go back to Italy, and we will find it difficult to win the PL or the CL.
Hope I am wrong, but …..
“….Flamini did it, Merida did it, Gallas did it and so have many more.”
But how many have gone on to improve themselves as players or have won anything significant?
Morning RA
I don’t think Wenger will bother with Schwarzer now as you say, he has been shocking…
I’d sell Flappy and Almunia and buy one great keeper and give Chesney the number 2 role.
hi clockend – none, but my point is players going on a free – if wenger isn’t going to give players a chance or doesn’t believe in them, sell them, dont let them walk for nothing as those mnentioned did…
Morning all,
It still baffles me that AW can spot raw footballing talent miles away but can smell a telented goalie under his nose. If Chezzer leaves and becomes a star else where, I wonder what he’ll have to say for himself….”I did not zee eet?”
Anyway, I dont know if you saw this yesterday but it makes me laugh evrytime i zee eet!
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/841838-harry-redknapp-pranked-by-arsenal-fan-while-asleep
Morning T-buzz – thats just it, off he goes and gets Squilli and Kos who are looking like gem signings yet there is a big strong tall confident keeper right under his snozzer…
but no, lets persist with the error prone ones…
😆 re the picture T-buzz
He’s just a stubborn Frenchman, rico and such actions can cost us dearly, just as it almost did on tuesday cos Flappy should have saved the Keane shot.
That’s what worries me T-buzz 🙁
Back in a bit, off out in the rain 🙁
Tumbleweed time…? Its so quiet in here you’ll think it was the Spurs Locker-room after an arse whopping from the Gunners!
hey T-buzz, its been quiet for a while, i think no-one likes us anymore 😉 🙂
morning all. my views on this are already established – promote szczesny now. drop fabianski and look to move him away from this club – for both his benefit and ours. fire gerry peyton as well.
if that sounds like its something personal against the aforementioned, it is not. both have done very, very poor jobs in my opinion, their continued employment by arsenal undermines the concept of accountability.
hi oliver, i had done my post yesterday then saw you had all discussed it, but i posted it regardless 😉
Howdy all…
hi rico. i do not think the change we want is forthcoming. i think he will play continue to play fabianski in the cups. if he (fab) drops a clanger that dumps of out of the cup(s), i think it will be blithely dismissed as “only the cup”. like it or not, i think we are stuck with fab…and do not like it one bit.
it will take a catastrophic error in a significant game, with no mitigating circumstances for fabianski to finally be dropped. as long as arsene can justify fab letting goals in due to opposition fouling him, or many first-choice defenders absent, he will persist with fab. the guy’s chance has come and gone. can anyone reasonably think the defenders have much confidence he will keep out what comes his way?
szczesny has already spoken out about this. how much simmering resentment is beneath the surface about a player that gets chance after undeserved chance, while others do not get a sniff of the first team? when we are winning matches and are high up in the table, perhaps that will not be a distraction. but when the team is not doing well, this is something that can quickly become a major issue…arsene is playing with fire here…
Hi there KTR7
oliver, i’m not sure Wenger will just dismiss the CC this season, by his team selection on Wednesday and the strong bench, i actually believe he is taking the competition seriously.
yes he is telling all that flappy had a good game, but he surely knows different deep dow.
maybe our old boss is a little bit to sentimental sometimes, i wish he could adopt a more robust appraoch to his team selection and i don’t only mean between the sticks…
we’ll know by the team he selects next round. if he removes the balance and skews the team heavily towards youth and fringe players, we’ll know that his team selection for the third round was more about who the opposition was and wanting to win the derby. if he retains the model from the third round, we’ll know he is going to make a real effort to win the cup this year. i sincerely hope it is the latter, but we will have to see what he does for the fourth round.
i hope its the latter too and i think it will be because he has said he wants to win it this year, he just needs to make sure he doesn’t think any game is easy now that a few big teams have gone – he should take that as a stiff warning…
Oliver mourinho has already started complaining about barca.he is saying that barca’s opponents such as Sporting Gijon are handing over points to barca without a fight.
morning k. not surprised that mourinho is complaining – that is his method. won’t be long before he has another pop at arsene either.
rico, i know what arsene has said about the cups, but i am still slightly skeptical. the actual teams he picks will tell me more than what he actually says.
Rico last night you asked me why i didn’t like to cook but i loved creative footy.i just said am clueless in the kitchen;much like fabianski who loves goalkeeping but seems lost at times.
Oliver he is saying teams are doing ‘a wolves’ when facing barca.he has started moaning already and if we lose at the Bridge he will have a pop at Aw again.
he is laying the groundwork in case barca retain the league this season: “see what happened? i told you back in september that teams would roll over for barca while giving their best against us.” mourinho always thinks ahead…
ok oliver, like you say we’ll have to wait and see, the draw is tomorrow so will be interesting to see who we get first…
KTR7 – great comment about fabianski 🙂
we won’t lose at the bridge this time…..
Hi Guys,
On my return from abroad I caught up on some of the stuff in the sports back papers, and was tickled by the ganging up of Fat Sam, Pulis, Coyle etc against Arsene.
They must have read my post a few weeks ago and decided to prove me right about their cabal.
The funniest thing though, was that fat slob (sorry Fat Sam) saying he would win everything in football if he managed Barca, Real Madrid, England etc. Mad? Delusional? Yep!!
Anyone see that walcott is due back to full training next week?he has been using cold treatment(-110c) to heal his ankle.rvp is apparently not close to a comeback.
Hi RA, the Fat Sam being as good a s Wenger made me smile for ages, he is such a twurp…
Thats good new KT about Theo, maybe he’ll be ready to face the Chavs??
Rico i don’t think he will be ready for the chavs.Aw wouldn’t like theo to participate in England’s Euro qualifiers.
Best not to hurry him KTR7…
Got to pop off for a bit – back in an hour…
Rico i don’t want him rushed.it would be better if he trained during the break so that he will be fully fit.
i think that (returning from injury too quickly) is a contributing factor to our relatively high injury rates. our club tends to rush players back before they are fully fit. i would much prefer theo – and cesc, robin, verm, diaby, et. al – stay sidelined until they are absolutely ready to return. if they have to miss matches such as chelsea and united now, i would consider that an acceptable trade-off in order to have these players fit, and in-form in the latter portion of the season.
Afternoon all
I don’t want him back yet either, international break looms, i hope he stays as far away from that england camp as possible!
Oliver,
Meant to ask you if you have been to the New Meadowlands stadium yet? What are the chances of the G-men re-signing Derrek Ward, I think Tampa Bay released him? Maybe they already have? 🙂
Looking forward to the Titans game as it is at a good time here in the UK.
I would like to join in RA, but I know nothing 🙁
hi ra, good to talk to you. when i brought my kids to visit my mom in july, part of our drive from dc to the bronx was on the jersey turnpike – we went by the new stadium. have not been there yet, hope to within the next several months.
tb has indeed cut ward. as far as i know, nyg are not interested – i think jerry reese was even asked directly, and he was non-committal. ward was very, very productive for us during the 07 and 08 seasons, much less so in tb. i would be a bit cautious here – plenty of mileage, history of injuries.
regarding the rb situation, bradshaw is the starter. brandon was very contrite this week, and apologized effusively regarding his conduct on the sidelines at indy…nevertheless, coughlin was absolutely livid during the game, and i expect that danny ware will get more carries than brandon. he (jacobs) needs to sort his head out first.
we need a win against the titans. we lost only once to that team when they were the houston oilers, but have never beaten them since they moved to nashville. our last win over them was in houston, in 1994, i think – their first-season coach in that game was jeff fisher, who is the longest-tenured head coach in the nfl today. we need a win, period.
and i am pretty sure dan reeves was the giants coach for that last win in houston.
brandon was killed in the ny media earlier this week – not so much as the week went along. he should be thankful that braylon edwards is an even bigger knucklehead than he is – that is where most of the scorn has been most of this week.
Right guys and gals, Friday night calls so I’m offski for the day – sorry its been so quiet…
Catch up tomorrow sometime..
Stay safe all….
nice post Rico.
Al is a good keeper, Manone and the younger Pole aka Pole junior 😀 might be the older Pole aka Pole senior I think never will.
I’ve read yesterday about Theo’s cryotherapy and it is good to use something just don’t 4get him in the freezer 😛
Hi Stef, do you wait for me to go before you come on 😆 😆
Thanks re the post – when you going to write one for us all to read 😉 😉
I don’t know Rico I usually tend to write short post,
But if something comes up will send u an email 😉
I don’t care if its long or short Stef 😆
That would be good, I will look forward to your email 😉
Nite Rico.
I only saw a brief highlight of the indy game and you are right, I thought Coughlin was going to blow a fuse.
I still have hopes for the new season, but the jinty are going to chalk up one hell of a lot of airmiles in doing so. Off to Seattle in a couple of weeks, I think? I have spent quite a lot of time in Hawaii over the years and the time zones in the good old US of A can be killers. 🙁
OK Rico if I think of something substantial will do 🙂
RA, Oliver what r u yanks on about 😛
later rico. stef, we are talking nfl – big blue wrecking crew, to be specific…
ra, i hope we will be fine – i am concerned about sunday night’s performance, we were not even competitive. granted, it was away at indianapolis, but i saw some things from nyg that were worryingly similar to last season: complete and utter inabilitity to get pressure on the not-so-mobile peyton manning; inability to make offensive adjustments (poor play calling, no attempt at play-action pass); inability of the o-line to prevent freeney and mathis from teeing off on eli; decent running from bradshaw, but no committment to pound it at indy’s ultra-soft run defense. and a general sense of bewilderment and things continually went wrong on both sides of the ball.
they will be at home sunday against an opponent (tennessee) they should be able to play to their strenghts against. they need to build some momentum, and the defense and running game need to start performing.
Ok, i’m off for sure now, night peeps, i look forward to it Stef, its good to have other views about our fine club…
Be good, especially you RA 😉
Hi Stef, good to see you. 🙂
Why don’t you write up a story from the perspective of a “continental” Gooner. You know, why/when you became a Gunner, what was the driver to do so, and so on. That would be v. interesting as we have such a wide span of fans on this site from all over the world. 🙂
Oliver and I are both fans of the New York Giants NFL team (aka Big Blue). They get under your skin, much like supporting Arsenal, and when it’s quiet we sometimes chat about it.
ra, you also have a race to enjoy in baseball. nine regular season days left and the yanks and tb are neck-in-neck. problem is that the yanks have the much tougher schedule. a trip to toronto sandwiched around two series with boston.
at the start of the week’s yanks-tb four game set in the bronx, mike francesa had both cash and rays owner stu sternberg (native nyer) on. cash (and girardi) feel it would nice to win the division, but consider starting the playoffs to be more of a priority. sternberg absolutely wants to win the division. difference of perspective. i would be careful if i were cash and girardi. winning the division means they open at home, getting in via the wildcard means they are on the road, at either minnesota or texas. yanks have handled both of those teams in the past, but they should want to host the first round, not travel. twins will be particularly difficult opponents in a short series.
in my second para, the point i was trying to make is that cash and girardi prioritize having players healthy and available for the playoffs more important than winning the division.
Totally agree Oliver.
I don’t know why but at this stage of the season when we are going well I don’t like to talk about it, as it might bring bad luck. Superstition I suppose, but you are so right about the benefits of starting at home. I am already getting uptight in case they get their priorities wrong. 🙁
cc was lit up last night. it’s just one game, but not a good sign. if they can stay healthy, they will be able to handle texas on the road. minnesota will be much more difficult. the best situation for the yanks is to win the east – but the run-in is very, very difficult…we’ll see what happens.
Actually, Oliver, I now realise that the Giants don’t go to the Seahawks until November, but they still have a lot of travelling to do with a couple of games in Texas.
Anyway, got to go. A very nice Chinese restaurant is calling to me! 🙂
Tomorrow Oliver and Stef. 🙂
enjoy ra. i will try and be on the blogs tomorrow, but i have a function in the am that requires my attendance. i shall miss the game with the baggies, but nothing i can do. if not on, i fully expect to be here monday.
That’s fine Oliver, see you then! 🙂
morning, new post up
😉