Morning all.
I’ve taken a bit of stick for my ‘support’ of Stan Kroenke and his American enterprise, although I do use the term support rather loosely. Of course we could have better owners but then we could have much worse too. People admire the free cash flowing clubs like City and Chelsea, Utd too but look deeper into their owners and what have you got? I’ll leave you to think about that but there’s absolutely no way I’d want the Kroenke family to do to Arsenal what the Americans are doing at Utd. The debt they have is insane. In my opinion, Liverpool and Arsenal are in so many ways, fortunate to have their respective owners.
What’s going on now at Arsenal is what should have been going on ten years ago but between Arsene Wenger and the ‘jam tomorrow’ Ivan Gazidis, they cocked it up. No point in bleating on about the dross they brought to the club though because it’s over now. This really looks like a new beginning. A different mentality and approach to improving the club and the squad.
Raul Sanllehi has been criticised, his long term views questioned, did he even have a plan in place I read once somewhere. Somewhere I can’t remember now as I’ve slept since then. My guess is the questions come about because pundits, fans (not all) idiots who write for the newspapers want instant change. Instance improvement. In general, the view here on HH was about time, time once both Gazidis and Wenger had gone. Time to bring the club into the present, time for them to sort out what was and to a degree still is, an unbalanced squad. The terrible twosome were allowed to drift for too long and yes, that’s my big criticism of Stan Kroenke. Possibly my only one. Still, what’s the point in going over that again? None really but their mess at Arsenal carries on and it will do until the overinflated contracts expire.
Raul Sanllehi, a quiet man it seems. He’s not promised us anything grand, instead preferring to be open about finances and the way the club will be run. We’re not rich but we’re not poor either, we’ll be smarter with contracts, smarter with our signings. We’ll support our younger players and play them. Well, something along those lines. Then Josh Kroenke spoke and told us to be excited.
Here we are just a few weeks later and we’ve snapped up four very exciting and much sought after players. None are being paid a ridiculous wage, none are old has beens and none are players other clubs were looking to sell because they weren’t deemed good enough. Pepe might have cost £72 million but in a year or two time, that figure might have doubled and he’ll still be only 26 years old. Martinelli cost under £10 million, goodness only knows what his valuation might be in three years time. Saliba, well, you get my drift. That’s being smart. Being smart started last summer though with Guendouzi and Torreira, both young, both good and both will now be worth much more than we paid for them. Same with Leno if he has another great season. It’s a win win for Arsenal. We have great players who want to stay, or if they get itchy feet, a big offer can be accepted which then gets reinvested in the squad.
Isn’t that what FFP is all about?
It seems to me that Raul isn’t a bad guy, he’s a smart guy and together with the rest of the team, they are well on their way to sorting Arsenal FC out once and for all. Yes, we need defenders, we need a strong holding midfielder too but I for one sure have a lot more faith in Arsenal signing those kind of players than I did just a couple of years ago.
Perhaps the Kroenke family aren’t so bad after all because if they were to blame for all that was going wrong under Gazidis and Wenger, they have to be applauded for the way Raul and co are going about things now.
As for the football we play this coming season and where we end up in the league and Cups, well that’s down to Unai Emery. Just like it was down to Arsene Wenger…
Have a good Sunday guys.
Disagree with your support of the Americans. I can tell u most United Chelsea and city fans don’t care about their clubs finances, they care about what results come on the pitch. Whether United are riddled in debt or whether city are owned by some rich Arabs, in the history books it’ll show they won titles and cups. We, on the other hand, have won very little since the Americans came to town. Arsenal’s biggest mistake was selling their shares to him over usmanov.
Nice one.
Morning All.
Right now, We’ve actually paid out 44 million on transfers, with the other tens of millions to be paid over the next few seasons-that will hit us for a several seasons, surely.
Ivan and Arsene failed to spend, apparently -well, accept on Ozil, Auba and Laca and we actually paid for those players with money we’d earned but now the guys running things are doing a brilliant job by buying players with money we haven’t even got yet……but Stan is our savour all of a sudden????
It was never Stans fault we didn’t spend but suddenly a petition against him sees spending.
Bloody hell.
Please
Explain lol
I’m seriously confused.
Yes, we are headed the right way, but the foundation is there for the club to go ahead in leaps and bounds and that’s down to Arsene.
Why does it have to come down to the amount of money we spend though Scott? I never understand this way of looking at things. You wouldn’t pay cash for a house would you?
I’m not suggest Kroenke is some kind of saviour, I just think a bit of credit is deserved for once. You know, like you suggest Wenger deserved some credit instead of all the criticism…
Adnaan. I know but despite the ‘Americans being in town’ who was running the club? I know who I believe was…
Thanks Jimmy.
Morning Rico and all. We haven’t even begun the season yet and the transfer window is still open so perhaps reserving criticism until we see how things look after a few games might be prudent.
Football and the structures within the club are evolving and changing yet still the same old agendas rear their heads.
Morning Adam.
On the pitch is a very different thing isn’t it, but I’m just positive about the way the club seem to be changing their approach to improving it. If we have a poor season though, I can’t see Raul hanging around hoping things will improve. I think we’ll see a change in the coaching team.
You’re right though, let’s see what happens as far as the football goes. But I’ll stay very positive about the club moving in the right direction…. 😇
Rico. Being positive must be a good thing surely. We wait and see how things develop when the pressure to win is on.
In the meantime Steve Smith sails on. And on…
Rico, credit where’s it’s due??
Yep, that’d be a lovely change for some 🙂
Stan does not deserve any though.
Josh-probably.
Saul and co.-definitely.
A couple of things that we have learned about Stan is that he hates publicity and following his gun law shooting wild animal show he reacts badly to criticism .
The letter from the fans gave him a fair dose of both and I wonder if he has given the reins to Josh and that is why there appears to be a change of tack.
SARKER is a young person’s sport in the states , the old traditional sports are feeling it’s influence and perhaps Stan is feeling that to get the maximum from it he needs a younger man at the helm.
Lets hope that it bears fruit after all Josh is the future if not just for The Arsenal but certainly in the Kroenke family.
Sure is Adam, matter better than slinging criticism around at anyone who might deserve it depending on an agenda. I’m just glad the club are moving forward. Or certainly seem to be. The signings so far are quite different to what we were used to seeing. Imo anyway.
I think Josh was already working before the letter. His trip to the Uk last Spring was the beginning of changes imo.
What’s happened with Danny Welbeck?
His contract has expired, he’s without a club, no income and yet with only a matter of days to go and loads of EPL clubs seemingly looking for strikers, he’s still without a club…
I wonder if he’s expecting an Arsenal level of salary and it just ain’t gonna happen?
I thought he’d be snapped up Kev.
I’m with you, Rico,
There is no way all of this transfer business has suddenly happened due to the letter, imo.
Danny’s injury record probably counts against him I imagine.
Adam, do you know of any players who’ve been on a pay for play contract??
Hi Scott. I don’t. I often wish that Ozil had a performance clause in his though. 😃
Hahaha true.
We’ve had plenty who should have been on that type or arrangement.
Bergkamp is the only one isn’t he?
Good morning Rico,
I really liked your post. It is well thought out and positive. I don’t post too often as I have thought there’s been a lot more of looking at the down side rather than celebrating the good things. Football should be fun, goodness knows there’s lots of bad stuff going on. Now I live in the USA you know what I mean. Anyway thanks for an uplifting post which I totally agree with.
Looks like the Tierney deal is in trouble. His manager has said he is in pain every time his runs or kicks a ball. He also said he’s still in rehab after a double hernia operation. Do we need another injury prone player for which we would have to pay around £20million?
Hi Reg. thank you. Awful stuff over in Texas and Ohio.
I see a lot to be positive about but not daf5 enough to believe all our problems are over. Far from it.
How much of that is truth though I wonder. Lennon might just be trying to put us off.
I’d rather a CB than a left back in any case..
Rico, I thought the same thing about Lennon. Defense silence is unnerving though especially with the Coutinho rumours.
The fact that Tierney has had a double hernia operation and won’t be fit for six to eight weeks should be enough to put paid to Arsenal’s interest in signing him. We have had enough of injury prone players to last a lifetime.
One has to come Reg, especially if Kos goes.
Mistakes from Xhaka could have cost us but Nelson is going forward and getting back in front of Monreal . AMN playing well too as is Willock . First half looking solid at the back but what happens when we meet Premier pace and high balls into the box ?
Morning all.
How are we handing Barca??
The crickets seems to be going well.
Pressure-what pressure?
Smith lives for it 🙂
Missing Nelson
If you are going to do it .Pre season is the time
Potter whos fault mn or Leno
Chambers and Mustafi so far apart
How long was Mustafi on for? 🙄
Take off Sokratis and we’re done for
Rico too long🥴
Rick depends if Leno called for it and if he didn’t AMN for not looking up
You can have ten Pepe’s, but as long as you’ve got ONE Mustafa your going to concede goals.
I truly believe he’s worse than Gus Ceaser, Igor Stepanovs et al.
Is he the worst CB Arsenal have ever had?
Is that the very same Sandpaper Smith the serial cheat? 😀
VCC he’s an accident waiting to happen, got to be one of the worst CB’s we’ve ever had at the Arsenal. Xhaka’s Another liability too…..lots of high scoring wins hopefully next season! 😀😀
Lee. If we don’t get rid of both Mustafi AND Xhaka, no matter how many goals we score, the opposition will always score plenty of goals against us.
How can everyone and their Grannies see that Mustafi AND Xhaka are an accident waiting to happen and are totally useless, but our Manager cannot see it?
The mind boggles.
Xhaka is even our Captain. I give up.
Mustafi’s stats are slightly better than Maguire’s!!!!
I actually believe Emery is well aware but can do little about it . If they won’t go he is stuck until the people responsible for buying and selling get deals in place.
We know that rumours have been abound that offers have come in for Mustafi but he won’t move and until he gets an offer he can’t refuse he will stay.
Don’t get me started on Smith Lee, how he’s back playing test cricket so soon beggars belief. Warner too.
Totally agree re Xhaka and Mustafi. They have the cards in their hand. Why on earth the club gave Xhaka a new contract last year I’ll never know…
Hahahaha Lee.
12 months.
That’s 11 months and 1 week longer than your English cheats copped, and the Indians, Sth Africans.
12 months longer than Alexis copped for diving.
Oh ok, he slipped bahahahaha
The pressure is getting to your lot and you’re crumbling.
24 hours ago, it was all confidence and cockiness, jokes about about the ball being out of shape and now you’re all hoping for rain bahahahahahaha
Love it.
Mustafi-pfft.
No words.
However, still not a slight but of improvement in him.
Has Emery even tried???
I dare say no.
PS-good to see you back, Lee 🙂
Oh and please, can you guys make Warner and English citizen??
If Smith is as good as he is, why the fcuk did he feel the need to CHEAT?
Baffling.
So, we lost again. It’s a results game, as we know. I think we’ve bought well but it’s the results that count. I’m still holding my breath.
Dark and damp here! Time for bed.
Wavy, there is no excuse for his actions and I’ll never defend them, but I keep saying, he (and the others) copped suspensions much, much harsher than anyone in the history of the game and it seems that’s caused a lot of the issues.
If he got the standard 3 games that everyone else copped, would it have made the actual crime any lesser, because it would have been forgotten long ago.
No, the crime would remain but the flow in effect would have been shortened.
Tendulkar-didn’t cop a single game yet was guilty and how often was he booed?
Atherton???
Slap on the wrist.
That Sth African c**t Du Plessis-the hypocritical scumbag who knew he was on camera and made sure he pointed out what our boofheads were doing-has been done twice ffs.
Pick any 10 out who’ve done it and their combined suspensions didn’t add up to what any one of our guys got and as I keep saying, I’m bloody glad they got 12 months because hopefully, yet doubtfully, next time an Englishman, Indian, Sth African player gets done, they’ll cop similar.
Even better, the actions of the Australian Cricket Board might even deter players from doing it.
Isn’t that what a penalty is supposed to do?
Your countries board and others don’t think so.
3 games?
Please, that’s bir a deterrent at all.
Aussies don’t just pretend to hate cheats, we clamp down on them-especially our own.
August 30th, group stage draw for UEFA Cup.
September 19th, matchday one.
I don’t know when or where the League Cup 3rd round takes place, but the 1st round draw was made in a branch of Morrison’s supermarket, which kind of sums up how shit that competition has become. Further draws for this dumbed down trophy will take place in the Fast East to no doubt satisfy the shitty sponsors it has, Man City are welcome to it…
Arsenal play in the 3rd round on September 24th/25th, a perfect game for all our kids to have a run out…
Hiya Kev,
It’s pretty irrelevant now to the large clubs.
We are a large club still, right 🙂 🙂
Sott,
you are starting to piss me off.
There is a young Essex fast bowler who has been
banned from playing cricket for life.
Your 3 cheats knew what they were doing and should have got far more.
For large parts last night we looked more organised at the back , so some work has been done , . You can’t account for a brainfart like AMN and Leno just as many years ago you could’nt for Seaman and Dixon .
Interesting to see that in the middle of the back 4 Sokratis was talking Chambers through the match but his departure coincided with Barca bringing on Suarez to play against Mustafi . At the time I thought well it’s only 5 minutes but the lack of communication and the gap between them was cruelly exposed. Shame it should have gone to penalties.
Regarding the Test match , we need to stop whinging about Smith and watch him to death and find a way to get him out . For starters don’t let him play off his legs unless you have a trap in place and if you need one to bowl short then do it but have a Metronome at the other end stopping him from scoring and getting at him mentally and frustrate him.
Remember Trueman and Statham ? one got the wickets the other was so accurate he bored them to death.
Boo Fukken hoo, Rick lol
Just another hypocritical, bitter English fan!!
I Love it, I really do.
Atherton-no dramas.
Panesar-all good.
Even Flintoff has condemned his past teammates for criticising Smith an Co. because he admits they’re being hypocritical but then, that’s different because they’re English, right?
Diving in football-most say nothing but an Aussie cricketer getting a much harsher penalty than anyone in history and you still fucking whinge??
Sensational bahahahahahaha
Potter, you’re right.
There is no way to get Smith out, imo.
Bore him to tears and also keep his scoring down.
Restrict his scoring and he ends up getting himself out.
The damage he does is all you can lighten.
Shane Warne was asked to recall his best ever bowling spell.
It was in a Sheffield Shield match.
Victoria v New South Wales.
He said he could land the ball anywhere he wanted all day.
Mark Waugh scored 150 odd against him.
Warne said it didn’t matter how well he bowled, nobody in history would get Waugh out that day except Waugh.
Smith is like that every game.
What I don’t understand Scott is your view on cheating. In football you want cheats to be banned for twelve months or more, yet when it comes to Smith and co, you’re happy with a year ban for deliberately entering the field of play with a piece of sandpaper in their pocket, equipped to cheat in 2018.
Your defence is to cite others who have cheated in the past, as if it makes it ok. It’s not, it’s just last year and I believe, after the cricketing authorities said things like ball tampering will be dealt with more firmly. Yet still your boys went out onto the field ‘equipped to cheat’.
No offence but I do find your views conflicting to say the least and citing others who have cheated in the past, as some kind of absolution, or that’s how it seems, is rather bizarre.
A cheat is a cheat regardless of which country they play for and all should be banned from playing sport, certainly cricket for a lot longer than one year, which in football terms is probably about a month.
Rico,
Not once have I said Smith and co. were treated unfairly so for you to suggest I defended them is simply not true.
I never defend cheats, that’s for you and others…..Alexis Sanchez??????
What I have said is that many English fans are hypocrites to condemn Smith and co. whilst ignoring or condoning others who’ve received much, much smaller penalties so for you to dare try and turn this around on me is strange to say the least.
Ah c’mon Rico, you just have to cut Scott a bit of slack. Aussie cricket has been in a downward spiral since their main weapon was banned, by that I mean sledging. Now they have a batsmen who is on the verge of redemption after his humiliating conviction for cheating, he hasn’t had much to crow about lately so a couple of good innings, by the cheat, gives him some respite. 😉
Putting a bit of sweat on the ball while polishing it isn’t against the rules but I’ve been watching Siddle between overs, despite having a pretty sweaty forehead he frequently puts his fingers above his forehead up under his cap and then transfers whatever he finds there onto the ball. A bit of hair gel perhaps? Just not 🏏 old boy!
Scott.
Where or when have any of us here on HH condoned cheats? Your view on cheating is clearly different to mine and possibly others. Alexis a cheat? Dear oh dear….
Anyway, new post up now.
I didn’t dare to do anything by the way. I did put it back to you, that’s all because it’s how I feel.
Ha ha Cicero….
Sorry I am late, but I have just read your post Rico & I agree with every word, it is a very well thought out Post, and I believe your assessment of the Kronke’s is the true. I think they knew NOTHING about soccer when they first bought into the club, and they appointed Gazidis to run the club, and he sounded good when he talked . so they let things ride . But once they could see the problems in the club & the unrest, with the Wenger out & Kronke out protests Josh came over & lived in the UK for 6 months ( I had hoped that he was going to stay & sort it our himself, but he has too many other US interests to look after. But he DID sort it out, Wenger & Gazidis have left & I think this new management team are doing a very good job.Also that Raul is the negotiator we have needed for years. We would all love a Mega rich Arsenal mad fan to buy us out BUT I can remember when we thought Usmanov was going to buy the club , we were all against that as we worried about where his money had come from As you say The kronke’s are not GOOD owners, but they are also not Bad owners. Josh loves Arsenal & is a big fan, Stan may come around once he see’s how football is a WORLDWIDE sport , not like any other American sport & get to be a big fan too