Morning Gooners,
Over the last few years, I have been waiting for Arsene Wengers dream of the perfect football team to emerge.
As you all know I am a huge admirer of the great man, however, even I have been bowled over at what I have seen and read over the last few weeks/months!
Links showing a table of transfers from all of the Premier League clubs over the last few years was one thing in particular that caught my eye.
It showed that out off all the top teams in our league, we have spent the lowest amount overall taking into account player sales and purchases.
Many of you would probably point out to me that we have been in the Champions League every year since its introduction, so maybe the club have thought that we didn’t need to buy players, we were good enough and achieving what was required. Surely the idea is to push on each season, become better than the previous one, getting into the Champions League is remarkable considering but we should be trying to win, not just be in it!
Twenty clubs make up the Premier League, so the odds of us winning must be 20 to 1. What do we have to do to get the odds more in our favour?
The obvious answer is to buy players that will make us a stronger side with a deeper, stronger squad.
As the ‘spending table’ has shown, we are behind many of the clubs in our league for splashing the cash and surely the question we all want to know the answer to is Why?
On paper Arsenal FC are the third richest club in the world behind Manchester United in second and Real Madrid top.
Our club season tickets are the most expensive in the Premier League and our profits are also the same, we are one of a few self-sustaining clubs which means we don’t need rich benefactors to keep ourselves solvent.
However and as we all know, we have very rich share holders, the top two being Kroenke and Usmanov whose combined wealth is in the region of £20 billion. That in itself is a massive amount of money so the question has to be asked:
Why are we the lowest spending club?
It is a well-known fact that a power struggle has been taking place for a few years now between our 2 biggest shareholders Kroenke and Usmanov and I read that Usmanov had offered £100 million to Kroenke, to be used for transfer funds, in exchange for a position on the board.
A very generous offer for a small price I thought but this offer was soon turned down by Arsenals Board of Directors.
Are they idiots I thought? How can a club be offered that kind of money yet say no, especially when they haven’t won anything in 7 years and it’s very clear that we falling behind the rest of the clubs in the Premier League.
As an Arsenal supporter, I have to question this boards ambitions and wonder if the right people are in the right place within the club?
Usmanov’s money is probably not needed as our profits are massive but if that’s the case why haven’t we invested more in the transfer market?
Where is this extra money going, where is the money from last summers sale of Fabregas, Clichy and Nasri alone?
Many have suggested that the money is going to pay off the building of our stadium but I have read reports that suggest our payments are manageable and, if we pay our debts off before the 25 year agreement we will incur massive penalties just like any mortgage which agreed at a fixed rate.
If that is the case, surely it would not be of a financial benefit to pay the mortgage off in dribs and drabs, as each time a penalty incurs. (Probably the only time we get a penalty these days!)
So, presuming the club would be far to sensible to incur such a penalty, what is happening to all the money which is made above and beyond all the clubs ‘outgoings’ each month?
Arsene Wenger – his role is going to the board and telling them which players he wants us to buy, a list full of targets and then it’s down to Gazidis to make that happen where he can. However – it’s not happening and as far as the table shows it has not happened for several years, why?
When I look at how Arsenal FC is being run, I wonder sometimes if the club should be reported to Trading Standards – as they are not delivering what the supporter is paying for. Maybe they would look into on behalf of the fans? 😉
Ok, Trading Standards are not the answer but I am sure you get my drift, we fans pay in one way or anther and the expected return just isn’t happening. I’m not for one minute suggesting that we should go and buy all the top, high-priced players there are available, just 2/3 players that will really make us competitive again. They don’t always come at a high price but not buying them will.
We welcome Manchester United to the Emirates on Sunday, who just so happen to be a club that is number 4 on the spending table list, recently that they have found a little bit of form again and many of you will be dreading this fixture as the 8.2 thrashing comes back into our mind.
Did Arsenal take heed of the last thrashing we received?
No is my answer but will they consider a lesser defeat as a step forward, or maybe an unlikely win would bring a smile to their faces as they realise their tight ways have been redeemed?
Wenger and Kroenke will no doubt be cacking the themselves for 90 minutes and they both thoroughly deserve to too!!
Written by Steve Palmer
Good morning guys and chicks of the Gunners faith.
Sir SP…..good post as always. I just wonder if any Emirates paying supporter can take AFC to court over customer satisfaction and not getting what they are paying for????
Hope that Lady AK is ok today!!!
I also saw this article on NN…..
http://ladyarse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/la_injury_league_120111.jpg
We are top of the injury league. So at least top in something. Funnily enough Shitty are bottom. I wonder why???
Elsewhere I read this……it left me more sadder than I was.
“Aleksandr Hleb has admitted he wasted the best years of his career when he quit Arsenal for Barcelona.
The Belarus international was a key figure in Arsene Wenger’s squad for three years before he demanded a move to the La Liga side in July 2008.
After joining Barca the 30-year-old failed to claim a regular starting place at the Catalan club and was shipped out on loan three times, once to Birmingham in the 2010-11 season.
“I’m sad to have lost the best years of my career, something I only blame myself for,” he said, speaking to Stuttgarter Zeitung.
“Over time I understood that the force of Barca was the ability of players to leave their ego aside and work for the good of the group.”
That last sentence can teach the present team a thing or two.
Morning all,
Another cracker SSP, and a very good question being asked..
Where is the money, is it all being held back by the board in savings somewhere gaining huge interest before paying off a huge lump sum from the mortgage and incurring just the one penalty?
Or is it there available to AW who chooses not to spend it?
devil, i read Arteta is now on that list of injuries for the weekend..
As for Hleb, reap what you sow I say…..
Good post Steve and couldn’t agree more! There seems to be no end game apart from making the shareholders as rich as possible and if that is the target when we drop out of the top 4 that is unlikely to happen. What’s the betting of another season ticket hike?
“……is it all being held back by the board in savings somewhere gaining huge interest before paying off a huge lump sum from the mortgage and incurring just the one penalty?”
that I feel is the reason. One I did not even think of. Well done Rico. However I think that regarding team building and doing it the Barca/Ajax way I may be right and still stand by what I said in earlier posts.
Morning Rico.
Simples….Silent Stan holds on rebuking any offers, each season tallying up the profits. Once we have cleared the debt from the move the club would be worth so much more and he will make a huge return on his ‘investment’.
Give it a few years and we will be sold out to some rich Arab or Russian as a plaything. The soul of the club will be ripped out and the Arsenal will slip further and furthr towards becoming a faceless corporation.
Morning all…. cracker SSP, as per mate!
morning devil, LF, Sam…
oh, and lee 😉
Great Post, I agree with mostly, what has been writtern. I think we are getting a really bad service from the board in regard to how much we are getting back. As you stated we are paying top leauge prices for tickets, but unable to field a team that can really challenge for championship honors (That my Opion I suppose!)
I think that Stan is the wrong man for the postion, if Wenger was not there, he and his board would be in a mess. (More than one they are already in)
Got a tingling feeling that someone will be receiving a large divident come the end of the finacial year and it would have been sponsored by us faithful supports.
In truth the more I think of it, the more sick I feel about it.
So let me stop there!
Sorry for the rant!
Well said and i think that the issue is that there is no drive in the club no more… and everything is business orinated now!! The board are to old like lady smith has mention before and which is why she left. As fan were expected to pay vast amounts to see what?? us lose to weak teams or player who are adverage ? its stupid, im a member thankfully a red and i wont go this year… may sound harsh but im not willing to spend £70+ a ticket to then witness that money no being invested in the team. Usmanov and dein in…. wood hill and co out!
Morning TH14 and welclom MattJ
We were talking yesterday about St’s and Red Members, a few here didn’t renew this season, why should we pay, when the club are treating us like idiots?
Hit them in the pocket is the only thing which will hurt….
verging on fraud…
I spotted that earlier Rico, tut tut! :p
TH – looking at our squad, well the first 12/13 players, we should be able to beat most sides in the PL, but what hurts is the lacklustre way they play, the inabilty to self motivate in games – just taking the swansea game, after they scored the penalty we should have stepped up and got for them by the throat but they all just plod around the pitch as if it’s all too much effort.
Whilst AW sits on his butt watching it….
😛 lee – tut tut
certainly a bit of deception in there somewhere isn’t there….
Le Foxe, we already are a faceless corporation.
We’re owned by the invisible man…!
Top top post SP…. !
Morning Wath
And who is too wrapped up in his other toys in the USA
Too match plate spinning from AW, he should have a wish list of players, that he gives to a competant negiotiater (not IG) and he needs to concentrate more on the team!! Not how much to charge for a burger and a pint in the stadium….FFS!
Hey rico,
Thanks for the shout out! Yeh i kno i shouldnt of have but then i thought to myself in the long run if i ever want to become silver member and get 1st dibs in the ticket sales that might kick me in the teeth in the long run and for £25 isnt really bad.
Back to the transfer market, what do you guys think it really is? because as much as wenger is taken the heat in the media and public front on our performance and not getting the players we need.. You have to think is it really him that the culprit! As any other manager going this long with out any silver ware would of been be-headed by now going this long. Also i dont know if you guy watch his interview after the fulham defeat when the interviewer questioned him about transfer targets. Wenger accidently slipped up and responsed saying on the line of ‘with the situation were currently in i very much doubt it’. The interviewer questioner wenger asking what situation and wenger avoided the question and replied dont worry.. So it make you think what the hell is really going on back doors…
I still think the board are to blame after peter wood hill comment this week about the champ league there clearly isnt no ambition and ivan gazidis, please someone tell me what his job actually is? he cant attract any players the idiot.. What really hurts me is how well the flids are doing and how Harry has got daniel levy backing.. why isnt wenger getting this support its mad. The day Dein is back will be the day we top of the league and till that day arsenal are drowning.
Well there is a petition in place might be of some intrest to you guys http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/get-kronke-out/signatures
Morning all,, hope u all having a good day.
Nice post.. As it says there are a lot of ways to make money for a football club. We just opted a wrong one !!
Exactly lee….
does any other manager poke their nose into off-field issues?
Can you imagine ol red hooter determining the price of a pie at ol trofford?
I feel like I’m being mocked by the Arsenal board.
How can we get our message across to the higher powers?
Something needs to be done, we are rotting. Over the last 6 years or so we have let all of our top players go and replaced them with average/good injury prone deadwood.
We need to get this message through and start putting pressure on the board to elevate the clubs fortunes!!
Ideas…..
Wenger seems to think that the transfer kitty is somehow his own money and is afraid to spend. He knows we have a defence that leaks goals by the bucket load yet still insists we have the right players for the job, I want to see proof. He is loath to sell the consistently non performers and won’t bring in experienced players, hardly plays any of the youngsters who I am sure would give some of the first team a run for their money, but no. That’s why we won’t get into the Champions League next season and we’ll be lucky to remain in 5th place after Sunday. Wenger and the Board are a joke and the sooner all are disposed of the better. We need new blood all round.
Matt – the transfer window is a million dollar question, if the club were going to sign anyone i would have thought they would be in by now – considering how short we have been in defence….
trouble is, wenger ‘lies’ so much when it comes to transfers so it’s anyone’s guess…
i think the board and wenger are all playing a part in our spiral downwards….
morning Stv
Hi Judith – spot on!
lee – no, never, i bet he doesn’t even know how much they do cost…..
Oh fuckin yippee…….. wenger persuaded Chamakh to stay and fight for his place…… Ain’t that just brilliant news…… well done genius…!
Where’s the vodka…….?????
Welcome marcus – you can try all you like but do you believe anyone at the club will listen?
They are blinkered and stubborn and i’m sure they think all things are rosy….
Says it all Wath!
Guys i know it sound pitty by signed up to that patition i posted! apprently if the guy who created get 10,000 protested it will make it acceptable for him to send it to the board..
Rico i agree with you, but who could take over wenger? and if the isnt any kitty who would want too?
He has lost the plot.!!. yes since a long time ago..
Morning gooners,
I have to apologise for another what i would call a downer post, i would naturally like to report everything that is Good about our fine club, but at the moment it seems that not everything is rosey in the Arsenal garden. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but i read that Jack is back training, apparently he has amazed the medical staff with his healing powers and by the sound of it, is gagging at the bit to get back in the thick of it,Wenger has said that he is having to hold him back for at least another fortnight to get his sharpness back before he can think of selecting him for his place. Now that in itself is great News to hear, But be warned after a long lay off like this expect hamstrings and muscle strains, as you know as well as me that is how the healing process works, don’t expect Jack to be our saviour this season. Wenger should have brought and he insists he will not buy, A bad mistake which cannot be tolerated. A reserve keeper which is a must and will only come to light if our keeper is injured, lets hope that doesn’t happen, for a positive supporter i am struggling. And thank you for your comments . As always Rico many thanks 🙂
Matt – posted that peitition here the other day, those who want stan out have signed it i think…
there are plenty of managers who would jump at the chance to manage afc, Ancelotti has recently said he would have jumped at the chance – we wouldn’t be short of candidates, thats for sure but…
they wouldn’t do things the wenger way, they would want money to build, they would also demand more from the players or they would be out…..
if wenger grew some and told the board he wanted ‘x’ amount to spend, would they refuse him? everyone knows how much we have made on player sales, that money has to be somewhere and as Stve asks in the post, where??
SP, the problem is mate the truth hurts, it’s not a downer post as you put it its just an honest piece or writing and it’s all true !!
Shows how things have changed and how badly the board are actually running things and hiding behind figures and accounts as a smokescreen for their own incompetence at builing the main thing… A competative football squad….! One that makes its fans proud and can challenge for trophies…. this is short sighted and will come back to haunt them very soon.
Indeed Stv
Hi Steve – i echo what wath has said, it’s not a negative post, it’s real, it’s what we all want answers to, if there is money, why are we not spending it?
There has to be money from last summers sales alone, so surely Wenger has that available, he’s meant to be one of the best managers in the world so how he cannot see that his current side needs a few additions is beyond me…
Every other man and his dog can see it…..
The best thing that could happen short term is Usmanov adds more shares to take him up/over the 30%.
I think i’m right in saying that he is then entitled to look at all the books, then maybe we will get to know what is going on a little more, or, the sherr fact that he knows, may just spark a bit of action into AW
Morning Wath,
I can understand how many clubs are trying to keep expenses down, the FFP are almost on top of us and clubs are well aware that their dealings will be under the spotlights. But for a club that have kept their spending to a minimum, we are also showing no signs of aspirations than staying in the Premier league. For a club like us that is not acceptable. We are not asking for Arsenal to break the bank we are asking for Premier players with ability to face the best teams and challenge. We would of course expect to win at least most of our games as we are financially secure but they act as if we are the poor relation which is a travesty
fizman v dein is what all this is and has been about… trouble is when they were with us they were a great team who fought each other, fizman for the stadium and dein for players which culminated in us winning the league unbeaten, getting to the CL final, moving to our amazing stadiumt then just as we were about to be the best club in the world yes at that very moment, fizman fucked it all up, he booted dein out cos he found kronkyankee (nothing to do with wembley) to buy the itv 10%, oh what irony that on his death he sold out to the same kroenke, and there you have it, we have now what seems the worst owner we could ever ever ever have, read the blogs on kroenkes other ‘franchises’ the rams are considered ‘pitiful’… im telling you all we are really fucked, what can arsene do? his mate dein found kroenke cos he knew we needed more money but he worked it out that kroeke was not going to spend any so he found usmanov who is desperate to spend on our club, he as said publicly that he woud wipe out the debt, and give arsene who he loves all the funds he needs, usmanov has a magnifcent double box with special chairs i have seen it, he goes he is a fan he is worth double what abramovich is worth, he owns 3% of facebook amongst a lot more, we have got the short fucking staw, silent stan is not arsenal he is on some kind of wierd ego trip, yes he has made a lot of money from marrying into the wal mart family but he does not have the money to buy the fizman shares, he got a loan from deutche bank….
guys you are all looking in the wrong direction, arsene is doing his best but he needs a proper partner like a dein who owns the club…
i cant see any future which makes me so very very sad, i was at swansea sunday, cold and shit, they are a club we were, proud, owners are fans and the players fight for the shirt
in life if you want to look at the bottom of any thing at all then simply look at the top
Got to pop off for a while, back after lunch….
Spot on SP, no investment what so ever from anyone at the top the only ones spending any money is us the fans…….!
We dont expect them to spend a 100million they dont have just spend what we do have and show some bloody ambition…!
we should be like man c spend spend cups cups no need to get to know the team or get involved with it will be the ones in red sometimes spend spend cups cups
good post. but purchases won’t happen since we still play CL foot ball each year! solid bodies are needed in midfield and defence.
Arsene, a great comment, i can see the passion that you show. I have always been a big supporter of Arsene Wenger But i have to question your belief in all that is happening is in no way Wengers fault. Chamakh Arshavin Diaby Sqillaki Djourou just some of the players that have not just started playing bad but have perforned badly for a couple of seasons Why have we still got them, why haven’t we sold them and used that money to buy better players Wenger does not need to ask for money for the two or three players many supporters believe we need. Wenger is in charge of players he is involved with negotiating contracts . he fields the team, I am sorry Arsene but Wenger is responsible if not solely he has to at least try to improve this team and he hasn’t shown the desire to.
Arsene, if you read this blog regularly you will know most on here want the board out, thats with whom the buck stops… Wenger is 100% not blameless he takes their money and keeps quiet, i still do not believe for one second if he didnt ask for funds he would not get them as they would be to scared of loosing him but as most on here say and as you have said the owner and the board are the biggest problem…. “OUR” problem as fans is how do we get rid of them…?
G4L…. Quality buys are needed all through the team mate, who wants to come to a team outside of the champions league though? in these hard times which sponsors will want to pay to sponsor a team that isn’t challenging for trophies…? The lack of investment on the playing front will soon start to hit home off the pitch when fans get the hump even more and coorporates take their money elsewhere….!
Hi Rico & crew
Usamov is not the type to lend unless there are strings attached
To this board of property developers and landlords, player purchases are NOT an investment
ABMP, Usmanov said to Kronk i will match what you invest, let us both put in 100million and or do a rights issue to bring in extra funds so 100million can help bolster the squad… both ideas were knocked back….! You think Kronke is in this for fun, won’t be long before he starts to feather his cap just wait….! he borrowed to buy us…. he has a plan for that investment to start paying back it’s just a matter of time and how will he do it…..? then watch the shit hit the fan (no pun intended)…!
good morning HH,
Just to comment on arsene 11.22 am
think you right about the yankees, all they interested in is profits and more profits, but I don’t think Wenger is doing his best either, he is as guilty as charged, if he really cares and I know he does, he should come out and say it blatantly, instead of blaming everything from the grass size to global warming.
also I believe it is his choice of players, motivation, man management and tactics all been put into questions lately. The fans deserve better than that. he may be the greatest manager the club had(so far ) but even Napoleon lost it at the end.
Morning Roka……
Spot on mate far to many questions wenger need to answer to as well….! It’s certainly not just a board issue or responsibility it’s wengers as well on a great many things and predominantly on the pitch where he calls all the shots.
Catch you guys later
Take a look at this guys……..a long read but a good one as well.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1028517-arsenal-to-buy-lionel-messi-short-term-and-long-term-implication
oh fuck no!
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/887808-marouane-chamakh-to-stay-at-arsenal-following-arsene-wenger-crunch-talks
oh and according to ” Caught Offside ( hopeless they are } AW is after Demba Ba for 18 mill quid
Cheers SP……
Afternoon all,
Good read steve, but in all honesty I don’t think Kroenke will have a clue who we are playing this weekend.
I’m just looking forward to reaching 40 points this season, it will be just like a trophy.
show me the money!
And wenger whittling on about the january transfer window, I don’t know why he bothers, it doesn’t exist for us arsenal fans anyway.
I think it will be fair enough to say that if AW manages to get Fifa/Uefa to ban the January transfer window he will start harping about the summer transfer window saying that it is hampering with the development of the clubs.
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
…and will not stop until that is abolished.
Devil, he won’t have any time to buy any players in the summer as he will be too busy commentating on the euro’s for some french television channel, I’ve never agreed to managers doing that, they should be told where their priorities lie.
Devil, that’s a good read that you put up on buying Messi although many points still don’t hold much truth, none of us are going on about buying Messi are we and to say buying in quality players doesn’t mean trophies is true but is does bring in other revenue streams which are never mentioned, shirts sales extra sponsorship etc etc the fact cooporates will want to sponsor your club with player “X” and so on….. Very valid points I admit but also only written from certain viewpoint me thinks….! Def a pro board and silent owner lover viewpoint..!.
Spot on Micko, he spent a month in south africa last year during the world cup all paid for by Castrol…. should he not of been out looking for players for us and doing his job for Arsenal first and foremost..?
Exactly wath, by all means he should take a holiday if he needs one but he shouldn’t be working for the tv stations everytime a tournament comes round, its not like he needs the money, arsenal pay him a kings ransom.
Tiffin time.
I have a lot of sympathy with the post by Arsene and I do lay the blame on the board for our predicament. You ask why the players that are not cutting it are not sold and replaced but we have to bear in mind that Wenger gets an ever diminishing purse. The deal is that he gets 70% of the sales figure to reinvest not only on the sale/purchase price but from that fund comes any increase of wages we may want to give to retain players. So if we sold 3 players and got say 15 million in and new players were bought on the same wages he has to buy with 10 &1/2 million . Not exactly championship manager stuff is it ?
So where does the 30% go Potter if that’s correct…!
Getting rid of deadwood that is never going to play for us again surely can’t be that difficult and you dont keep players to keep teh squad number high, also shows we pay to high salaries to very average players who we then can’t sell and that’s wengers fault and choice…!
Ambition is what the club lacks. When you think of the kind of teams Wenger used to build and the type of players he used to buy you could be forgiven for wondering what the hell happened. He sold all the world-class players we had and replaced them with average quality. His biggest coup has been to convince the fans that we are paupers and not able to afford top players. When he does get one he surrounds them with mediocrity like he did with Cesc. Watching him play for Barcelona is painful for me. He is a magnificent player who Wenger made play alongside duds like Denilson and the lumbering Song. Yet Wenger has convinced everyone that Song is Arsenal quality. He isn’t, but Cesc is and was. Same with Robin. A player who cost little and has developed into something great but his back up is Chamakh, who I believe is one of the worst players ever to wear our shirt and Park, who seems to be there for marketing reasons only. If the club don’t have the money they should find it from somewhere. Clear out the dross, rationalise the pay structure and declare to everyone that you intend to actually win something. It seems to me that Wenger is watching the games pass him by while being transfixed on silly things. He is reactive and not proactive and lives in a fantasy world where no-one is ever injured. Buy a bloody proper left back and let them all slug it out for the place amd sell the worst of them. If and it’s a big if, they are ever all fit, that is. And for chrissakes buy a quality striker. Sell Chamakh and Arshavin and listen to offers for Theo. Set your midfield sights way above Song and actually use the transfer windows for the benefit of the club and not as some warped justification for antiquated and lethargic policies. The PL is not that good quality-wise and we should be doing far, far better.
..and we still manages to pay a big to deadwoods!
Truth is Wener did’nt spent even 70% of dealings IN last few years. is he WATH ?
Adam, good comment……. That for me about sums it all up…!
Your talking to the converted ST, wenger has his own agenda it seems and none of us know what it is really but it seems to entail this fixation of buying kids and not needing money to build a winning team..! God forbid someone tells him he’s wrong or that some of his buys are simply not good enough.
Arsene’s post makes some good points but Dein and Danny Fiszman had fallen out a while before the Kroenke thing, believe me. Danny was a true Arsenal man but he put his personal squabbles with Dein abov the interests of the club. Dein could see the way that football was going and the disproportionate influence that a stupidly rich man like Abramovich and his like were going to have which is why he didn’t want the debt that the stadium would bring. Football is all about money now. A shame, but true. I believe there is money available and I also believe that Wenger sees Arshavin, Chamakh, Fabianski, Djourou et al as Arsenal-quality players.
There was this deal long time ago, but it’s crazy not to give him any money by simply stick to that legally bound agreement. What’s the need/use of the board then !!
And wenger as you just expressed mocks his priciples completely there after and decided to play kid’s game. Ofcource he is one great devoloper but who ever flourished here they sold them undoing the process. So the notion “Future is bright ” no longer works for the club with the kids experiment, like runnig after mirage..
Adam, think their big falling out was over DD wanting to move into wembley and “rent” after it was built and DF wanting us to build our own place…!, both had good and bad points but DD also saw the need for investing in the team above and beyond building a new stadium, he also saw the need to bring on board other big players which the rest of the board seemed to see as provocative and a threat to their own ways of thinking…! DD wanted to be Chairman no doubts about that….! he went about it all wrong though.
sorry abt spelling doing two things same time 😉
Come on ST concentrate, Rico will now give us all shit abt men not being able to multi task…….. 😉
Top post, SSP! And a really dire state of affairs for our club. 🙁 No ambition. All excuses. It’s all the more angering because it is not as if there are no funds… Why such an unwillingness to spend??
Hello, all!
Good post.
I catch you later
Simply put Wenger has not moved with the times. The money that has come into the EPL means that you can no longer get away with substandard players if you want to win something. I hate to admit it but twitchy down the road realises that and so slowly introduces more and more proven quality. We meanwhile pay promising kids to much money and dont make them earn it. They also have no big quality players Yo learn from so dont realise their potential. Mediocrity here we come….or ate we already there?
Ooops whats worse than Rico giving us grief ST ?? AGAG……..!!.
Hello god’s gift to shopping….. how’s you GG lady..? 😉
The other thing AGAG is we’re not that far off being competative we don’t need 10 players of hundreds of millions spent…!
So frustrating and annoying..!
W.A.T.H. I hate those people who pretend to have inside knowledge about these things but, in this case, I find myself, embarrassingly, in that situation. Please believe me when I say that the original falling out happened some time before all the Wembley stuff. I don’t know what it was all about as both families have kept that a closed book. But if you remember Hill-Wood’s poorly judged and probably Port-sodden insults towards Dein after he had left you might remember he spoke as if the animosity went back some years, which it did. People in boardrooms don’t always get on I know, but Dein was a great foil for Wenger and a man who could get things done. It is no coincidence, in my view, that we have won zero since he left. If Wenger went to the board today and asked for some serious dosh for a couple of top players with enough time left in their careers for a sell-on, it is my belief that he would get it, though he might need to shift out some dross to balance the playing staff numbers. But perhaps he would see doing that as a betrayal of his crazy policies.
WATH 😛 now she’d think we cant think 2 things same time either 😉
Am off mate.. you got GG lady for company
Hi AGAG hw r u… see u later
Adam, I am with you 100% on the wenger asking the board for money…! If he asked for however much it’s my opinion he would get it, they far to scared of loosing him to deny him funds… that side of things is for me def down to him…! if he dont ask though they def not gonna insist on him spending.
I hear you re DD & DF but then my years are out, the wembley thing and Aly pally and originally the Kings X idea was long before it was decided on the concrete bowl…. Did the falling out also not derive from the fact that the shares DD had were originally sponsored by DF and either one or the other wanted them all..? They also shared a sugar biz together in South Africa if I remember rightly…. that was always kept very quiet and then DD lost money and DF bailed him out..!
Catch you later, JM. 😉 Goonersam, it’s all well and fine getting some kids… Some. But there has to be some balance, right?? I’m all for youth development but some quality with experience, please. None of those Silvestre type signings. Ick.
Hah, WATH! Where’s my GG? AFC is not good for my fiscal health. I get depressed and console myself with those… Buy Now buttons. 😳
And come on, no woman believes for a second that any man can multi-task. Except when it eating chips and drinking booze while watching football. 😀
Hello, STV. 🙂
Here’s a bit of sanity… we don’t actually have the money.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1028517-arsenal-to-buy-lionel-messi-short-term-and-long-term-implication
Problem is ST, GG lady drinks my bloody stash and then I have none left……!
I just got here, STV!!! 🙁
I agree, WATH. We are not far off. Instead of strengthening, we expect our young ones to instantly become world-beaters. If we lose our CL spot, would our one standout player want to stay??? Grrr.
Your wrong AGAG, i can use the remote, open a bottle of GG, pour in lemonade, watch tv AND eat some crisps ALL at once….!! So there your argument is flawed….!
If you had read the comments madhol you would see that link was posted on here hours ago and discussed… who says that the article is correct or factual ?????
Who in their right mind is actually asking or expecting us to spend 100million on Messi so the article is very unbalanced… we’re asking for maybe 3 players 10 to 15 million each…? Hardly gonna break the bank is it…!
W.A.T.H. Yes, I think that is closer to it from what I can gather. When you look at Kroenke’s seemingly passive presence and then look back on Wenger’s behaviour over the past few seasons, especially his unwillingness to deal with what might be termed “the bleeding’ obvious” then I keep coming back to the same question. Is there any future under the Arsene Wenger that we see today? I phrase it deliberately. Personally, I can only go with what I see on the pitch and in the points section of the PL table and that means that I think we need a change. In life I have found that when things don’t make sense,then change is needed and things haven’t made sense at Arsenal for some time.
Wow, WATH. That’s staggeringly impressive! 😛 Careful now, you might be the first of your sex to become a multi-tasker. (rico, wink wink nudge nudge)
I am beginning to embarrassed about our club. I don’t like it. 🙁
one mor thing,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/16/arsenal-robin-van-persie-son
Adam, I don’t know why AW is so enamored of his idea of making world class and winning players out of a team where so many are quite simply rubbish… He is a very intelligent man, so surely he can see that a lot of ours are not worthy of the shirt.
AGAG I know that your idea of multi tasking is looking at 20 pairs of shoes at once and buying 3 pairs at a time but we also have our talents 😉
Not the Club AGAG never ever, only the ppl that run it….!
do you think lionel messi would get in this current team…?
We may need to send him out on loan with Denilson to get him up to standard Lee…..
Goon afternoon all,
SP nothing wrong with calling our sour taste bitter. We are not bursting with flavours at the moment.
Our problem is two different markets who are married but live separate lives. Supporters grave entertainment value,the board value for money. We live for table results and competition, they entertain themselves with the bottom line. Windfall against silverware that can’t be sold as a commodity.
Investing and sealing deals earlier before the vultures come around is something that I would welcome. It would signify change not only to the way the club is run, but more predominantly in which the way Wenger manages stuff.
Sunday is a bounce back and redemption match in one. Against a side that gave us thonking.
agirlgunner. Precisely. That’s what I meant by his”behaviour”. Mind you, if Diaby plays 3 games this season, assuming he is on £60 grand a week, he will have earned £1 million per game. Now that’s what I call value. Rumour has it that he is as you say, a very intelligent man. But I have found that even very intelligent men can be blind sided by the force of their own reputations. As they used to say in ancient Rome, “All victory is fleeting”.
Afternoon DG, hand on heart do you think we will win on sunday…?
Do you think we have it in us to actually roll our sleeves up and get stuck in and beat the mancs…?
Djourou says we don’t need motivating…. I would tend to disagree with that comment…!we seem to have far to many that need motivating and even then fall very short of whats expected.
Whats the other one Adam…
“All highly intelligent people border on the insane”
I’m saying nothing at all……… now where’s that other bottle of GG gone………??????????
AGAG………..!!!!
what are the odds on a home win?
Not buying a decent strike in January would be a confirmation of that I think W.A.T.H. But it wouldn’t be the first time would it? Off for a lay down. This outbreak of common sense has me feeling light headed.
WATH
I hope for a miracle, revenge can be a powerful motivator. Nothing sweeter than spraying a cocky opponent with a bit of fairy dust. But you must be Harry Potter without glasses to suspect motivation will be the missing key. Being blinded to the fact more elements are missing.
Point well-taken WATH. Just the people helming our club, running it aground… 🙁 Oh and, You’ve hoarded all the GG. I haven’t got any.
Dutch, go get writing for rico. 😉
Hi, Lee. Howdy?
Hola AGAG….
Feels awful being a fan at the moment, Lee. And I am not one to be easily depressed… 🙁
Depressed…. who’s depressed AGAG, I think it’s great I just drink more GG 😀
Off for a bit won’t be long…! No buying shoes while I’m not around AGAG behave yourself…!
Agag can’t write and drenching my blood veins in alcohol at the same time. 😉
Do I think whether or not AFC would beat Manure next Sunday???? Actually I am shitting myself with fear what might happen…….if we win or loose. If we loose and loose convincingly there is no certainty that AFC will buy new players. And if we win everything will seem alright and we wont buy.
I am dreading sunday though.
One last thing, wengers says players must wake up….! Surely someone should be telling wenger the very same thing…????
Hi DG(that would be you Devil), catch you in a bit mate……!
Our winning days are behind us it seems, Adam. 🙁 AW should take care not to let his legacy be tainted by his almost obsessive preoccupation with this Youth Project and making Messis out of Diabys.
Messi out of Diaby………. IF only AGAG IF ONLY…..!
Afternoon guys and gals…..
I could make a messi out of diaby 😉
AGAG for AW to make a Messi out of Diaby first he would have to put him into a size reduction machine, then dip him in a white cement tank for 5 times and then send him to hollywood to make the series of the six million dollar man a reality and finally bring him back and put him with a shrink for 3 months to convince him how to play like Messi.
Hi Rico
devilgunner, you are right. Win or lose we have a problem
Press pause on the drinking, Dutch. Then go write. 😉
Devil!! How are you? I am not dreading Sunday. We will win by a goal. I just have a feeling. 🙂
Don’t forget my drink, make it pink, WATH. 😀
Got the oscars on in the office….el classico, what a fuckin joke the play acting in this game is!!
Boo, rico! AW has a Messy Messi Project, have you heard?? Where have you been? 😉
hi alan, and boo to you agag – been walking Fido and had a few things to be done 😉
What is this messi project, best i go catch up on the comments 🙂
Agag is there a pause button on a GG bottle? Never noticed. I always fast-foreward to getting pissed.
Making Messis out of D&Ds, rico. 😀 I was busy recruiting a writer for you. Dutch is playing coy though. 😀
Devil, you have a very active imagination. 😉
Dutch, no wonder we’ve run out of GG. Tut tut. You’ve also been hoarding.
Guys, do any of you have problems viewing the post/comments – potter has emailed saying all the text goes over the picture of rvP and Theo…
From my mobile phone, rico, yes, that’s how it looks. But from my laptop, it’s all tiptop.
lee, did you see the stamp on messi 😉
I’m with agag DG10, get the quill out, maybe close the top on the GG 😉
Ah, maybe that’s what is happening with potter – maybe i’ll just remove the pictures – thanks agag
Devil I think beating Chelski over the odds earlier this season has already done us that ‘favor’.
It has convinced AW/board that 4th place with the current squad is in touching distance. Knowing full well fans take that as a surrogate trophy in hindsight of our dreadful start.
Rico in the future I will. With your help indefinitely something constructive can be put on paper.
For now I am happy to read the well written posts already available.
That is absolutely fine by me DG, still waiting for agag to get her quil out 😉
4th this season, would imho be an absolute miracle to achieve, and other sides would have to crumble….
Hi, everyone.
I agree with you all (wath, rico stevepalmer,….). But the point is we must put lots of pressure on Wenger the liar and the board as well as disrupt their business model. We need to proceed on three front, first every arsenal fans must read the post about Arsenal finances and secondly we must be able to manifest our anger in front of the Emirates and stop paying to watch that shit team and its shit manager. I beg you Rico to lead the response team and make AFC an edible team again. Distill the message about the finances everywhere, to everyfans, lets put it on billboards, let AFC fans organise themselves, that is the only way to fight AFC corporate policy. I would have been glad to manifest at the Emirates, but right at this moment i am very far away, about 5000 km from London and helpless in front of all this shit and it seems we all have only words against these thieves.
So god help AFC and us the f****ed fans.
TBH the day I will start thinking that 4th or 3rd are a trophy in itself in my career, hell even 2nd, that would be the day I will stop coaching. I have always lived like that….to be the top. I even compete against myself. For me thinking about coming 2nd best is unforgivable. It means I AM THE FIRST LOOSER.
rico, I absolutely can’t. 😉 We have such wonderful writers here, and I’m always groping for words. 😉
Spot on devil, no prizes for second….
agag, that’s a cop out 😉
Haha, rico! Who, me??? But that is only too true, Devil. Such a defeatist mentality, this Board of ours.
Agag, I never had you down as a groper !
😆 agag
evening micko….
Rico, do you remember stavros and loads of money, does he remind you of anyone ? Its on the tip of my tongue.
Come on arsene, get the cheque book out.
welcome wwws – sorry for the delay, the question from your comment is How??
I do Micko, i think you may have mentioned the ‘anyone’ later in your comment 😉
That’s the thing Devil. They look for future mathematics, we for glory now. Being anything than 1st doesn’t cut it for me either. Second place isn’t the stuff dreams are made of. History recalls Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Ian Thorpe or the Invincibles for that matter.
But CL spot will be raised on a shield in town square. As it will be viewed by a majority we have beaten the odds. Overcame a injury crisis. The media will spin that story just for the sake of drama. It sells perspective and chances to improve as it has been done so many seasons now.
Speculate to accumulate has become the norm. It’s the first indication that you look to achieve instead of preserve.
This is the reason wenger does not spend
Liam Brady said on the Irish equivalent of match of the day that the board and wenger are willing to pay the huge transfer fees but the board Will NOT pay the wages required to attract these high quality players
Liam Brady himself said this the board are sanctioning the wages because of whatever reason but are willing to pay the transfer fee
Kinda like saying we”ll get you the job but you gotta be on the minimal wage ( i know its exaggerated but you get the point)
Plus i think we are one Jack wilshere away (and our full backs) from being a top 2 team
off to get dinner, back in a bit…..
Rico I want more than beans on toast please…..
Pink GG for AGAG, hmmmmmm best i add a touch of grenadine then….! Cassis is to sweet…!
Fabianski has been given permission to go out on loan. Unless the club has super faith in Martinez and Shea, an injury to Chesney could see a horror of horrors between the sticks. Heaven help us.
Been saying that for months Devil, injury to Chez is just shit street….!
Just been in touch with Sir AK. Lady AK is recovering and she is stable. She is back home already. More news will come from Sir AK himself tomorrow.
I imagine Vorm had rallied the chance become our backup keeper.
I do not understand regarding Vorm DG??? do you mean he was contacted???
Sorry I meant that Vorm would have jumped the chance to join us. I think he has not been approached by Arsenal. But I do know he was desperate to leave his former employees. Our interest would have been welcomed with serious consideration.
Fabianski on loan, then we must be thinking about signing a keeper…
I love Beans on Toast wath 😛
have a look at this mates,,,,,,,,,
http://www.footballfancast.com/2012/01/football-blogs/a-warning-for-the-contract-rebels
good news re Mrs AK devil 🙂
Sir AK appreciated all the comments left after he logged off yesterday. He is tired today and might be on HH tomorrow. He can give you better news than I can.
The Olympiakos game horribly showed in one match how shambles we are in the backup department for keepers. It has been a concern for too many seasons. Even our first choices in recent years weren’t up to standards. Cheszner should feel the breath of competition in his neck.
Jeez, you would think AK had the operation devil 😉
all he has done is sit around all day waiting for his good lady 😉
bloomin annoying as it is, i have to go for the day – catch you all tommorow….
nighty night all, enjoy the rest of your day……
Believe me Rico….the person doing the operation suffers one way but the person next to patient will be mentally knackered. Both my wife and I went through the same operation as Lady AK and it was tough. Its not just waiting alone which tires you mentally. Its having to wait on the person which knackers you.
night Rico. See you tomorrow.
Night night Rico. C ya tomorrow.
Glad to hear the news of Lady AK. Let her have a good nights rest AK then get her up early to build her strength up 🙂
Pity you came on at the same time I am going off Sir SP. You had a good day mate???
Wish lady AK a speedy recovery.
Yeh not bad Devil, sorry nto miss you mate nte nte
cheers friends. I am off. see you all tomorrow.
Any good news to lift an old Gooners heart, apart of course Lady AK
You’ll be pleased to know Chamakh is staying SP thats good news
Ok i’ll get me coat…………………..
C ya Devil. Have a nice evening.
Cheers Devil……..
Fcuking roll on Wath, that has lifted my spirits
My spud mates are having a field day at the moment, i have never seen them so pumped up that news will bring a smile of that i’m certain
Just looking back on some of the comments and noticed one from Arsene 6.05 get rid of a couple of wasters and we can afford a good wage, all it takes is a bit of balancing the books thats all.
Must have logged on just as you lot have gone visiting Lady AK Typical. catch you all tomorow.
SP Arsene would lose his favorite argument if he does that. He prefers quantity over quality at the moment.
Catch you tomorrow SP. Cheers…
I like to keep all the good news specially for you SP, you did ask 😉
Nite all take care…!
ok, the news are: Fabiansky on loan and Chamack forever.
God help us!
Morning Lee…… 😀
Morning Ak, Hows the trouble and strife mate, give her our best wishes 🙂
Morning …..
New Post up
few thoughts and replies to previous posts commenting on mine and others…
i DO know of the reason dein & fizman fell out, im not going to blab on a blog but its not about wembley or sugar its over direction for arsenal to go many many years ago, dein did things behind fizmans back and the animosity went on for years… BUT for whatever reason it was a winning team, they both disliked each other even though they were friends before, dein bought fizman in and sold him half his shares in the first place…that winning team bought in graham then arsene and built the stadium and the invicibles… that triangle dein, fizman and arsene the year before fizman booted dein out for bringing kroenke in behind his back got to the CL final in paris, built the best stadium in the world, played the best football in the world, with the best training ground in the world… then what? its been a fucking disaster, ending with fizman selling on his deathbed the irony to …. kreonke…. who is what? nothing, his usa teams are shit, he knows fuck all, my missus knows more about arsenal than him! its frankly a total disaster in our arsenal loving lives… these blogs going on about diaby and that useless lump chamack are so silly, what about all the other rubbish arsene bought before like richard wright, stepanovs and all the other rubbish, so what… our board and he were an amazing success and now we are not… i see no future, kreonke is the black death, arsene is the only thing we have, if he walks what then? its down to our OWNER kroenke to sort it out, how? what the fuck does this c**t know? gazides our ‘ceo’ seems a nice business manager but he is not an owner, he cant take a risk cos he has nothing to risk.. we only have one possible salvation like it or not everyone… yes its our 30% owner ‘USMANOV’ thank god he bought those shares otherwise yankee could do what he wants, he could take dividends but he cant so thats one ‘thank god’… usmanov is our only hope… arsene? yeah he may dither over this and that but for fucks sake he spent less than any other prem club and look how we have over delivered for that… its NOT HIM.. its the owner!!!!