So much angst has been expended and so many blogging hours have been spent fretting about the capability of AW to do some business on the Transfer Market, and yet what are we talking about?
After 8 fruitless years or so, Gazidis has told us the club are now in the happy position of being able to afford new, quality players. Yippee!
We have all become impatient watching the big spenders go out and buy all the goodies in the shop with a plethora of top quality players ending up with Real, Barca, Citeh, Chelsea etc, and all of them winning trophies while we end up holding the wooden spoon after buying Denilson, Santos, Arshavi, gervinho et al.
But, so far in this window what has changed? We have only one token freebie player in Sanogo to show for it. Although to be fair we have made promising noises about Suarez, Rooney and various others rumoured to be ‘eyed’ or ‘trialled’ by our illustrious manager.
This state of affairs has made even some of the longtime Wenger supporters, including me, get itchy under the collar, and others to become genuinely depressed.
There has been much understandable grumbling from fans about the cost of season tickets in an economically difficult climate, as well as the increased travel costs etc, whereas Arsenal we are told are coining it with TV deals, gimormous sponsorship deals and money flowing in from our Asian fanbase, blah, blah. We have dosh coming out of every orifice it would seem.
But where is the pay back? Why have we come to within one day of the start of the season and sod all has happened with regard to transfers?
As someone who might be called a Wenger loyalist, I have to agree that many of my fellow Gooners are on edge, and if the window closes without significant additions, there is likely to be an Arsenal fans summer revolution with boos sounding out around the ground at the first sign of a poor performance and goodness knows what will happen when we lose, heralding protest groups who will arrange marches at every turn.
The tom tom beats of disgruntled fans on the blogs should send out a wake-up call to AW and the Board that they must buy and buy now, but not just any old player, there must be at least one marquee signing!
Arsene has enjoyed considerable support from the fans over the years, but many of us will feel the urge to call for his head if this season peters out to being yet another massive disappointment as regards trophies or even at least fighting for the top 3 in the EPL.
Frankly it cannot be denied that the Board have given Arsene a huge amount of leeway in which to run the football part of the club, and if he does not deliver this season, sadly it might be time to call for an end to his era.”
written rapidly by Red Arse
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Thanks for the post Redders, even though you called me a cock earlier. 🙂
To answer the gist of your post I don’t believe Wenger is the man to take us forward anymore. *dons tin hat*
i used to be like you. he’s got to go along with gazidis. bring people in who will identify and sign realistic targets. unfortunately, it’s too late for that this summer.
Thanks RA. Hope the title reflects your piece, if not it’s too late now 😦
Gustavo: Nowhere has it been proven that he was an AW target , yet now we lament that he has gone to a mid-table German team.
Yes, he said he admired AFC and would like to play for us, but who knows the context? My guess is that in a press conference a journo asked “Arsenal are after you, would you like to play for them?”, to which he gave a positive response.
IF we were interested, does anyone believe he would choose a club with no CL prospects; the Bundesliga equivalent of a Stoke in an industrial VW owned town over the bright lights of London, a team full of Internationals and in the CL?
Do you really believe that ……?
Good morning to you all.
RA,
I suspect that if the coming season is once again trophy-less, there will be no need to call for Wenger’s head, he will leave of his own volition.
The problem then arises, who would his replacement be and who at Arsenal is qualified to make that decision.
depressed?? you really must lead a sad life. good luck mate.
RA
I see you quite cleverly avoid saying that you yourself would be calling for Wenger’s head if he ‘fails to deliver’ 🙂
I have faith in Wenger and in the club. They get things wrong, but they get more things right. Those 8 years have not been one of constant decline, or absolute failure as is made out. So much nonsense surrounds the Arsenal narrative that it’s hard to even talk sense anymore.
Whether Wenger stays or goes at the end of the season, I don’t think he’s failed to deliver on anything. He’s done his job, which was the sort of job that most manager’s couldn’t even contemplate pulling off. And he’s done it in the face of ever increasing abuse, and unfair criticism, not to mention having his work sabotaged.
If he leaves now it’ll be because either he feels he needs to go for the good of the club (which he’s said many times he’ll consider) or because the board, like chary, feel he’s not the man to take us forward. If on the other hand, it is the fans that force him out, I will be livid. I am 100% certain that the media assault on Arsenal has created this feeling of annoyance with the club rather than anything else, and I hate being manipulated or having manipulators have their way. There is a lot more to the Arsenal story than just Wenger, the board and signings, and it’s too bad it’s tough to say it and have a reasonable discussion on it.
Part of me actually wishes Wenger would go to Real or PSG and win everything that is there to be won with them and build a dynasty. But that would damage his legacy and what he’s built here, and I don’t think he’d have the heart to do that.
I rambled on there, and this is a subject that I feel very strongly about. But at the end of the day, I am happy that I get to watch Arsenal again. Win, lose or draw, I love doing that, and that’s why I do it.
RA
I have said my bit earlier and we aren’t miles apart.
Norfolk Sir,
If he leaves and a new man comes in will he be interested in a) his salary b) really have funds that will be spent at the appropriate time c)have complete control d) have full backing from kroenke or will the same policy apply regardless where we finish this season.
The best bit of transfer news this window for all long suffering and laughed at and conned gooners is to close the curtain on this
non action double act alias Gaz and Weng. and transfer them away from our once great club and let it get back to how it used to be.
No wonder players shun us and will keep doing just that very thing with these two at the helm………
I compare Wenger to Winston Churchill in a way..In football terms the game has changed dramatically since AW was appointed and I would rather he bowed out with his head held high.
For me Wenger was good but isn’t any longer. People change and can lose that spark with time and age.
Frankly, with the current players, I don’t see us winning anything significant. The summer has passed and now we begin the season tomorrow with a wafer thin squad. I have serious doubts even with the CL qualification with the injuries to the players. Some thing is seriously amiss with the club management. I sense this is the last year we’ll see monsieur Wenger at Arsenal. End of a tumultuous era!!!!
RED ARSE sorry I should have mentioned and highly praised your article. We need more writers like you who tell the truth about what’s not happening at our club..
Shubham, let’s not forget Kozzer and Santi are suspended for the first leg so we have even less options for next week’s Fenerbahce game.
chary
Absolutely. They can. People can also have other people get accustomed to the spark and assume it isn’t there anymore. I’m loathe to use age, motivation etc as arguments because there is simply no way of knowing and judging that from the outside.
However since you brought it up, without a drive to succeed, I doubt Wenger could have dragged us into 4th the past 2 years. Without a determination to do more, I doubt he’d have signed on for years where he knew he’s likely to be under pressure. He wouldn’t have backed himself to win trophies under the conditions he’s faced. Wenger has never been in a position where he’s had more money than his rivals. He isn’t now, but our financial position is approaching what it was when he took the fight to ManU in his early years. I have zero doubt Wenger has the spark. Does he have the ability to adapt once again? We’ll see, but it is too early to judge him in that regard.
HOw sad that so many feel AW is not the man to take us forward. IMO he is one of the best managers in world football and a man who has done wonders for The Arsenal.
Is his time coming to an end? My fears are that as with any man over 60 he is set in his ways and perhaps cannot adapt. We shall see, but for now he remains the best man to manage Arsenal
We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one Shard, I believe Wenger has stagnated as his inabiltiy to work the transfer market shows.
He also has far too much power in the club and his micro-management style (yes, that’s only an opinion) just can’t work in this day and age.
Wenger is only a mere mortal and it’s not his fault his powers have waned.
Shard. Well said
Rachid,
I am now depressed that you seem depressed because you thought I was depressed, when if you take the time to read the article you will find I did not include myself in that sentence.
So that’s how Wenger must feel when what he says gets twisted. 🙂
Good luck, mate.
Would we be having this discussion if Wenger had won a trophy last year?
What about if he’d won the CL in 2006. Would that achievement be enough to last him 7 years (still keeping in mind financial limitations)
What about if we’d won the league in 2008. Does a league title buy you 5 years?
Or the CC in 2011? How long does that buy him?
What defines a good achievement and belief that the club is moving forward? A trophy? Any trophy? How long does that last? Does it depend on the trophy? If so, why? I thought a trophy is a trophy, and everything else shouldn’t matter.
Conversely, if we’d had the same results, but spent some money every year, would we see the same diatribes against Arsenal and Wenger? Some will argue even more so because it would show up Wenger even more. But somehow, I doubt it. The media makes it an issue of spending money. We didn’t spend money on RVP so us having him was just one of those things. ManU apparently did something brilliant because they spent money on him. The entire debate is, to beg everyone’s pardon, fucked up. It is distorted through years of media and agenda driven narrative, and it is depressing that it comes to this. Depressing not just in terms of what it might mean for Arsenal, but also what it suggests about mob mentality in society.
If I had a shoe, I would toss it in Arsene’s face right now… He will have no where to hide when Fenerb dumps us out of CL .. We will hear the laughter all the way from Sisters Lane!!
Kelsey,
I don’t think we’ll ever see the like of Wenger again at Arsenal. Nobody nowadays can have the kind of total control that Wenger and Ferguson enjoyed.
I suspect that the board will appoint a Director of Football and a head coach.
The coach’s job will be to pick the team from the players provided, he may have some limited input about transfer targets but his main task will be almost solely coaching.
Comparison of Wenger and Churchill doesn’t stack up for me, Churchill was always ready to move with the times, from army officer to foreign correspondent to First Lord of the Admiralty to the Conservative party to Liberal party, back to the Admiralty, to the Conservatives and to a wartime coalition as Prime Minister and back once again to the Conservatives.
Wenger is the original leopard, he never has and never will change his spots.
Kelsey, best wishes to you and your wife, I hope things improve soon.
Hi Shard, 🙂
Excellent, balanced comment @10:35.
Once I have a glimmering of a subject I write very quickly.
In this case there was insufficient time to proof read as I had a 5 minute telephone call just after typing the first paragraph, so I am glad the Post made some sense. 🙂
Thinking about the Fenerbache game who would be our starting XI based on who is available ?
Chesney, Jenkinson, Sagna(at CB), BFG, Gibbs, Rambo, Oxo, Jack, the Pod, Theo and Giroud.
Benchwise we need 7, so: Flappy, Rosicky, Sanogo, Frimpong, Ryo, Park, Bendtner.
See, we need to include the last 2 to make up numbers otherwise we don’t even have enough players for the bench.
Shard
I respect your views but cannot agree .
There has been a pattern emerging these past few seasons and we only got forth by the skin of our teeth two seasons running.
The club isn’t moving forward on the pitch where it really matters . Oh yes kroenke will use his skills to bring more revenue to the club but the fans want to have some belief that we can at least be consistant and try and compete, not start the season scratching around to find 11 fit players.
Shard,
There is one thing, in particular to remember when discussing Arsenal with other fans.
And that is, for many fans their love of the club and their desire to see it do well is visceral, in that, like love of family, that love of club can, on occasions, be overwhelming and not always open to rational debate.
If it is perceived by some fans that someone, in this case Wenger, is responsible for harming the club through his actions or inactions, (in the TW, for example) then a judicious assessment of the often little known or understood ‘facts’ becomes impossible.
Such fans, like the rest of us, are deeply committed to the club they love, and are reacting in a very human way to protect it. unfortunately, that anger is all too frequently misguided because passions can stoked by misinformation from the media and others who should know better.
Scenario season 2014/2015.
Key points:
1) Start of new kit manufacturer deal with PUMA SE, £30 million-a-year. (for 5 years). The asserted influence from one of our club’s major sponsor for making their investments on the club (along with Emirates). There must surely be add-on clauses for the club to fulfill and abide by during our negotiations with them.
* PUMA SE also sponsors Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuggart in Germany; Cardiff City, Newcastle Utd in England/Wales; Bordeuax, Rennes in France; Feyenoord in Holland; Sporting Lisbon in Portugal; Espanyol in Spain.
Managers and Players like Juergen Klopp (a viable candidate to succeed AW, should he leave), Cesc Fabregas (some have wished for his return to Arsenal), Marco Reus (a rising star in German football), Sergio Aguero, Giorgio Chiellini, Marco Verrati and our own Mikel Arteta, Olivier Giroud, Bacary Sagna, Tomas Rosicky.
2) WC2014 in Brazil in summer 2014 (June – July 2014). There will be a change in market valued for players featured prominently in the WC. and also available managers who are out of contract managing for their country (Germany’s Joachim Loew, France’s Didier Deschamps, Holland’s Louis van Gaal, Spain’s Vicente del Bosque, Argentina’s Alejandro Sabella, Italy’s Cesare Prandelli etc etc)
3) AW’s current contract with club expires around end of June to end of July 2014, where he will be allow to leave for free. (along with players who are also running down their contracts < 1 year to go, re: Sagna, Fabianski, Rosicky etc)
A Departure of Arsene Wenger at the end of his contract could bring about the Arrival of new manager:
(a) e.g. Juergen Klopp (he is pissed off with Bayern Munich poaching his players for one year – Goetze and the next year – Lewandolski, and who knows which other player after that), having the blessings of PUMA SE's management (which also sponsors him, as mentioned). The coming of Marco Reus and the return of Cesc Fabregas (both having sponsorship ties with PUMA SE as well) on the recommendation of JK with the financial muscle at the club etc.
(b) Any of the national team managers who consider a return to club football after their WC2014 assignments finishes. (Joachim Loew, Louis van Gaal, Vicente del Bosque etc etc)
(c) e.g. Juergen Klopp as new manager and Joachim Loew as new Director of Football – Double act.
Norfolk
Wenger never has and never will change his spots
Arsene Wenger in 2003:
“We have good young players in the academy and we have good players in the first team. It is a risk to put them in and it is a risk to let them go. They can make great impact but are they better at the moment to select in preference to players that are in the first team? That’s the question you have to answer.”
In 2009″
“But I am a prisoner of my own policy. Buying Barry or Alonso is killing Alexandre Song, Abou Diaby and Denilson.”
Lets look at other complaints with Arsenal. Dirty team. 50 red cards. Too soft a team, no backbone, don’t like it up em. A bunch of jessies.
Arsenal broke the British salary record to sign Sol Campbell. We don’t pay our top players enough.
Doesn’t give English players a chance. Arsenal build a whole advertising campaign around their British players.
Arsenal used to play quick counter attack, now they pass the bll around with no purpose. A change in style and formation.
Either all these criticisms were entirely baseless, or Wenger has changed plenty of things during his time in charge. You don’t stay at a top club for 17 years without having an ability to adapt.
RA
And that is what is depressing. Especially because I feel the origin of a lot of that perception was (and is) malicious.
kelsey
Talking about the situation at the start of the season, I agre with you. As I said to Rasp the other day. But you and I both know that the discussion about Arsenal’s transfer policy isn’t restricted to the past 3 months. It’s inevitable link is with the last 8 years.And why 8? Why not 4 or 10 or 20? Because it has become established through constant repetition that trophies must be the only judge of a team’s success. All we argue about, all the discussions, even of people who don’t necessarily believe that, are affected by that world view being relentlessly driven by the media and the echoists.
By the way, with Arteta out, and a new signing for the Villa game looking impossible, have people now changed their opinion on signing Flamini? He’s training with us, is free, and as long as signing him doesn’t mean we don’t buy anyone else, would he be worth a punt?
Shard, from what I’ve read Flamini didn’t play much last season and is playing absolute shite nowadays anyway.
He can f**k off back to his “boyhood dream club” AC for all I care.
He’s no better than Van Judas, Cashley or Nasri.
Hi JM, 🙂
As usual an excellent marshalling of your thoughts on potential key future events in the event of Arsene Wenger leaving.
Actually, it did make me think that eventually AW will want to retire, regardless of what may or may not happen this coming season, and your hypothesis shows what an interesting chain of events that might spark.
At the moment, AW might still bring the bacon home by signing a couple of tremendous players before the door of the TW clangs shut, however unlikely that is beginning to look, and out of respect to a truly great manager I hope he does pull off a magic signing, or two..
So chary, what I think you’re saying is that since you can’t get in the player(s) you’d like before tomorrow, you’d rather make do with what you have, than sign an inferior player.
It’s too late to register anyone for tomorrow’s game Shard.
It surprises me how soft a touch we are to players who’ve screwed us over, can you imagine the Spuds allowing Sol Campbell to train with them 5 years after he left them ?
Apparently noon is the limit. Still 20mins to go..19… 🙂
Fine post Redders. Not bad since you sandwiched it in between your Marmite toast and slipping out of your Arsenal pyjamas. hahaha
I can understand peoples disgruntlement and disillusionment. However, I do not share it.
I am genuinely excited to see how Jack, Ox etc develop this year. The current squad has bags of potential.
The other day i asked why patience had become a dirty word. Now i am thinking what the hell happened to “trust”
Some of you people just don’t trust Wenger or the Club any more, that’s what it boils down to. You question the Clubs motives and believe Arsene is a busted flush.
I believe you are wrong, and the future will prove it.
Arsenal Football Clubs greatest asset is Arsene Wenger. That has not changed just because he dont indulge in Football manager Fifa 2013 transfer nonsense.
The guy is trying to build a team based on core values of developing from within and then adding the players he wants, not who you and i want, the players he wants and he will not be hurried into making rash decisions or procuring players through fan pressure
Thats what i want from Arsenals manager. Some one with the character and intelligence to deflect pressure and criticism and build a side he believes will take us to the top.
Arsene Wengers Arsenal will reach the top again, make no mistake about that.
Ah Shard, I thought it was yesterday.
Mr Syrup, I admire your positivity and salute it, but we fundamentally disagree on this but never mind, you’re still a top gooner in my eyes.
Yaay.. I have Terry Mancini and his syrup on my side now.. Well..no, not literally, that would be just wrong, and is the reason I didn’t risk going to hampstead heath after dark.
But you sure are a welcome lifter of spirits TMHT. By which I guess I mean you must be a fun drunk 🙂
The feelings mutual chary. look forward to having a beer with you this season.
And then i shall challenge you to a duel. But no hair pulling, i have just started using an undetectable glue but its a bit flimsy. hahaha
Shard,
I have the highest regard for AW and all that he has achieved, but in answer to a point you made earlier, I worry that if events don’t move more positively in his favour, his reputation will be besmirched by association with the last 8 years.
The building of the new stadium and the revolutionizing of the club’s administration over the last 8 years and more have set a firm foundation for the financial stability and future of Arsenal.
What cannot be overlooked is that even the most open minded fan wants the club to win trophies with excellent players.
Forget why you or I or any of the other faithful fans out there came to support Arsenal, the question is, ‘why will future fans come to support the club?’. The answer is they will become fans for many reasons, but the vast majority will be attracted by a trophy winning team, with fabulous players that the young fans (and older ones too) will want to be associated with.
Trophies and not healthy Balance Sheets are what will make the club successful in the future, not just on the field but in a sustainable way for future generations to enjoy.
I think the BoD and Wenger realize that and have changed tack and now say they want to invest in the team to achieve that end, unfortunately, unless they buy someone in this transfer window, the wide spread cynicism evident on the blogs will sweep AW away if he fails to land a trophy.
Am I calling for his head? No.
As a proud and decent man I think he will go of his own volition if fans dissatisfaction swings any further against him.
[I feel that this may sound slightly as if you were arguing with me — and that is not the way I mean it!] 🙂
I am always by your side Shardy Baby
Never been called a “fun drunk” before, i quite like it. hahaha
chary
I think it is today, but could be wrong about that.
But, although that isn’t the reason I asked the question about Flamini (and I haven’t seen him play), I did end up making a point about how it’s sometimes better to wait for the player you’d want rather than just buy whoever’s available. Of course it has to be balanced with a realistic assessment of what is possible, but this is essentially what Wenger does that seems to drive everyone crazy. Sometimes even waiting a year to sign the player he wanted.
In my view Flamini, provided he’s at least decent, can be a stop gap. We need someone to spell Arteta. He has some PL experience. Provided Wenger wants say Bender to be Arteta’s long term successor, then he can get him next year, along with Coquelin returning, and then have choose to keep 3 from Arteta,Bender, Coquelin, Flamini, with probably either Arteta or Flamini going on account of their age. But fr all I know Flamini is useless.
I dislike that he left us, but he did honour his contract. Which is all we can ask for really.
Absolutely Mr Syrup, hair off limits. It looks like Stoke will be my first gmae, but I hope Evonne won’t have finished her quota of games for the season by then as I didn’t see her at any games post Septembe last season.
Shard, it was the telling the club he would extend his contract and then leaving without giving us time to get a replacement that wrankled about Flamini’s departure. Wasn’t that the seson we lost Gilberto and Diarra too and we fgot the joys of the start of the Denilson era ?
Good times.
Shard,
Are you calling our Terry a shirt lifter?
Thanks for the post Redders. We don’t have to consider any ‘what if’ scenarios because we can see what has happened in the here and now. We are about to start a season with a ridiculously thin squad and after a summer of expectation stoked by the club. Whoever is responsible (one or many) should be shown the door.
hahaha, yes Redders, i offered Shard a chance to meet me at Hampstead Heath to indulge in a cultural exchange of swapping shirts, but he didnt turn up. hahaha
Apparently all the players we were happy to get excited over as a potential addition to the squad, are now filed in the ‘there’s no proof we ever interested in them?’ drawer.
Well if we weren’t interested in any of those players – who the hell are we looking at? Obviously I don’t expect the club to publicise any targets, but inevitably information gets out (amid the 99% of misinformation).
RA,
You naughty chap. Might I suggest you go look for your woodpecker in the heath.
@Red Arse says:
August 16, 2013 at 11:36 am
Thanks, I do not know if the persistence in pursuit of a proven goalscorer in Luis Suarez by us (our management and manager) is somewhat mirroring that of SAF’s and Man. Utd.’s persistence in pursuing and subsequent capture of RvP last season, only for SAF to announce his retirement near the end of their campaign (also them winning the title, SAF’s last).
PUMA SE, as a sporting franchise, making further inroads in sponsoring us, would certainly want us to better our onfield overall performance domestically and in the continent. (maybe a minimum Top 3 in the league, at least reaching the QF/SF of CL, at least winning a cup every 2 years, and acquiring personnel etc). They do not give away £30 million-a-year for anything less. It would certainly put more indirect pressure on our team and management.
At the business end, they rival Nike’s sponsorships with Man. Utd and Man. City & adidas’ sponsorship with Chelsea. The competition between 3 global sports branding supporting the top teams in EPL.
And of course, lastly, our senior management could be considering the many options of managers available after WC2014.
Hi Rasp, 🙂
If we got into the usual corporate managers’ training and you were the first up to role play as AW, how would you go about it?
1. You have been presented with a £70m or £80m transfer chest.
2. Would you play safe and go for 6 or so ‘safe’ players [ Mert, Arteta, Park, Santos etc] and blow your money that way, or;
3. Would you take a major gamble that could blow up in your face, but might be the making of the club, by trying for a very expensive rascal and try to wrest him from one of your potential rivals, who would be naturally reluctant to sell?
Safe and a bit … mehhhh, or be an entrepreneur and go for the spectacular if successful, but much riskier option?
No shillyshallying now!! 😀
Good news that Mertesacker is to be captain, he’s the most natural leader we have and was the one who called the meeting of the players that led to our upturn in form.
Hi Redders, I have to go out and so will be brief.
If it were up to me, I wouldn’t necessarily gamble on Suarez, but if we had inside info that we stand a good chance of signing him, he may be worth £45m as long as we are prepared to spend circa £10m on a CB, £15-20m on a DM and up to £5m on a GK.
I take your point, JM.
Sponsorship can be a two edged sword.
Better performance – bigger sponsorship; poor performance – curtailed sponsorship.
In the US, many sponsors fund the acquisition of valuable players to help their sponsored clubs. Do you know if it happens anywhere in Europe?
When you get back, Rasper, I might have to pursue you further on that! 🙂
Still here for the mo redders – awaiting a call. Nothing I’ve said differs from the general view of where the squad needs reinforcing. I have come to learn that with the current administration, the ‘obvious’ is the last thing Arsenal will do.
Terry,
I told you about my girlfriend Patience when you last mentioned her. Now you mention her again. Obsessive?
If you are carrying on with her behind my back —– it will be war!
We’ve taken a ridiculous gamble with our CL qualification, not to mention our chances of finishing top four. At least 3 of the totts signings would strengthen our squad, I’d much rather be in their position than ours. Even if Bale goes, he cannot play in 3 positions at once. I expect all their new players to be starters.
RA
Did you lose your other girlfriend Faith, before you lost Patience? But at least you have Hope now. A small Mercy that and she does have Grace.
Lack of Patience can lead to war. So can her back, rack, and sack. Watch our Terry.
Terry, you might want to offer RA Peace in exchange for his Patience.
Rasp,
What I am getting at, is that AW went to the ‘safe’ route and ended up with a certain amount of success with Mert and Art, but the rest were a bit ….. umm.
Whatever can be said about those purchases, one thing is certain, they did not lead to any trophies being won, and won’t next season either as it stands.
The purchase of Suarez or Rooney is much more problematical because you would be investing a major chunk of your transfer funds whichever you bought.
The rewards would be great if one or the other was bought, even on transfer deadline day. However, the risk of spending so much time and money trying to get one of them and then failing could be injurious to both the club and the individual (AW?) concerned.
One option clearly requires more bravery than the other.
Someone had to assess the risks and benefits, so what I was asking is how you would go about doing it, and why did you arrive at a particular choice.
The answer to that question might explain AW’s and the BoD’s actions in the past two weeks. It is not an easy choice to make with the fans waiting to eviscerate the man who made the decision if it was not possible to succeed with it.
If everyone who moaned about Wenger tried to think out the answer to that, they might empathize more with him when they realize just how difficult it is to evaluate and decide.
[Yes, it used to be part of my job to evaluate projects! 😀 ]
Thanks Redders. I don’t want to join the ‘we must win a trophy’ campaign. I want to see us making maximum use of our resources and focusing that on the team. and then hopefully success will follow.
I just don’t understand. Obviously attracting support worldwide is essential to our income and we go on tours etc with that purpose – but why do we undervalue the strength of the squad.
The problem I have is that although many have reached the obvious conclusion, we don’t know who is behind this unfathomable strategy – I mean its just not good business.
Rasp
I think the difference in opinion is that the club probably feel that having a strong infrastructure and commercial basis, is what drives the playing side of the business, despite it being the core business. While you would like to see investments on the playing side take precedence, the strategy the club seems to have taken is to ensure everything else is in place first. (Stadium, Commercial revenue-still to kick in really, medical centre and data gathering, marketing and sales executives etc) They have also essentially tied down the basis of our squad over the next few years to long term deals. The next step is investing in the team directly, so as to build on the base we’ve created.
It’s a sound business strategy, even though there might be some tactical issues and mistakes within that strategy.
Rasp,
I really do not wish to visit more accounting speak on you (or everyone else) but there is a very big difference between a profit calculated using the accrued accounting concept which includes non cash items like depreciation, amortization etc, and cash accounting.
We (the club) have emerged from a period of financial austerity into a world where we have a considerable chunk of dough to spend.
Our guys are not used to spending big bucks or how to calculate the lag and lead times involved with negotiating a disputed transfer.
My suspicion is that is where the TW deals have gone ass up, so far. If we do mange to buy (say) Suarez and one or two smaller fry, I am convinced we will be in the market again next year with another sizeable tranche of money.
This year is just the start, but we need to get the job done, then with more success under our belts from those signings we will go again when the next window opens and so on.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for Arsene …………… and us! 🙂
Hi WATA, 🙂
Come out and speak to me. This a subject you will be interested in, and you can see there are many shades of opinion, and yours would fit in nicely here — but don’t be too unkind to AW. 😀
Thanks Shard, I’m sorry but the success of the team – securing CL football etc is core to attracting sponsorship. I quite understand why it makes complete sense that we may have to wait to the last minute to get Suarez, but failing to put together a strong enough squad to start the season and for the CL qualifier is very poor – I can think of no excuses
That is fascinating, JM, thank you.
It is also illuminating and makes you realise that there could be yet another very good reason to get the stars into Arsenal by investing big buckarooneys (no distended pun intended) 🙂 as the links between those clubs/players/sponsors would play a huge part in keeping the financial ball rolling in a virtuous circle – so to speak – and yet most of those links are already associated with the most successful on field clubs.
The subject has obviously excited my curiosity as I have had to delete a lot of unintentional puns! 🙂
Thanks once again.
Rasp,
The apportionment of time to transfer business this summer (and previously?) by the management speaks to inexperience or laxness, especially after Gazidis said we would be in the market – and early, or words to that effect.
AW is French and not Spanish so the ‘manana’ syndrome is a bit strange.
I bet it doesn’t happen next year!
Wow, RA your rapidly written post has sure stirred up a hornet’s nest of opinions.
Suffice to say I’m squarely in AW’s corner and I am in awe of his achievements at AFC.
When he had the right players available to him he won 2 doubles, 2 more FA Cups, a 3rd League title, plus he made the CL final – which we were very unfortunate to lose.
Even with lesser players available he has never finished below 4th in the League. So the pure evidence is that given the right players he can and does achieve.
All of which begs the question why has he not had the right players?
The only answer we can possibly come up with is – we simply do not have enough inside knowledge to know the answer.
Fast forward to the present day and I’m dismayed at the situation we find ourselves in with only 17 (1st team) players available for our first league game and with the suspension to Cazorla and Koscielny we will only have 15 available against Fernerbahce.
That is simply a dreadful situation to find ourselves in and if this were a business that I was managing I would be ready to make changes to the whole transfer process as it is obviously broken.
Rasp
Speaking purely about this window, that is correct. As RA has pointed out, there is a chance of inexperience. That isn’t the same as incompetence. They can always do better, but it isn’t just in their hands. I have said repeatedly that there needs to be signings. I also blame the club for not getting them done early, but I also recognise that the transfer window ends after season starts, like it or not, and that this, as well as our uncertain CL status, affects our ability to do business, and simply throwing more money around is likely not the solution.
Speaking in terms of larger business strategy, I think the club takes the view that the business strength is what drives the football strength in the main. You can get a trophy or two, or CL football a year or two without having the finances to back that up. Overachieve essentially. But to do it consistently, you need strong finances. Which is what we have been working towards building these past 10 years. The output on the field follows from this.
Hi GN5, 🙂
An astute observation, as usual, and hard to disagree with.
AW himself said he was aware that the squad was ‘thin’ which makes the current inaction puzzling, which is what Rasp was trying to get at, I think.
Is there a pong on the blog suddenly? Do you think he knows what mouth agape means? 🙂
Shard,
I am inclined to say that both you and Rasp are right in your own ways.
You cannot breathe in without then breathing out and then breathing in. again.
So too with success on the field, it cannot be achieved without sustainable investment, and that success breeds more funds for investment.
Can’t do one without the other – so you are both right. 🙂
Off topic – but Djourou is due a testimonial, he joined us over 10 years ago.
Wow.
Wenger is the best manager we have ever had, and he still is!!!!!!!!!!! What he has done on a shoe string budget is amazing. We may get some players in but WELL DONE Mr Wenger for not bowing to the pressure of paying ridiculous amounts of money for ‘marque’ players who really to be honest are not any good. If I think of world football at the minute I can count on one hand those whom I consider all time greats. So do you really want to be paying a player £200, 000 for one of the players of today who would not even of made are bench during the invincible season? Maybe you will claim that I too live in the past, however shame on all you calling for wengers head you ungrateful……………..
In Arsene I Trust
RA
When did I say Rasp was wrong? I was simply saying that the club’s apparent business strategy is sound because it aims to invest in the infrastructure to provide us funding for the team. It is more sound than having a strategy that relies on winning things with the team to boost revenue to the necessary level since that is much more risky (and harder to predict) unless you have a safety net, which Chelsea and City have, and we don’t. Our commercial growth will provide us the same safety net, which in turn will enable us to take more risks.
Well said, goonerjake, 🙂
I don’t think anyone (AA regulars) is actually calling for his head, but that sad troll is still around with his usual imbecilic one liners.
Your voice based on experience is well worth listening to, but there are many fans on other sites who are baying for signings of ‘big money’ players and there is no reasoning with them.
I also agree with Rasp that this summer’s perception was created by the club through Gazidis’ statements. (Even though what he said is often misrepresented) and that us fans have a right to have expected better.
I do not agree (if that is what he’s saying) that this summer is being judged in isolation. Even the perception created by the club was in response to what perception had been created before. All the noise now is not only about the start of this season. It’s all the negative emotions from the past seasons combined.
I blame the club, but I temper that with understanding of where they find themselves. I think that understanding will not go beyond the transfer window (although it might because in my opinion, we’re one year ahead of schedule in terms of financial capability)
Shard,
You asked me, “When did I say Rasp was wrong?”
I ask you, when did I say you did?
Rasp said, “Thanks Shard, I’m sorry but the success of the team – securing CL football etc is core to attracting sponsorship.”
Clearly he was showing some dissent with your position.
He is right — and so are you. Neither point is mutually exclusive.
Is there a problem?
None RA, except my brain isn’t working as well as it should and I walked right into your rebuttal to me 🙂
Cheers RA, was getting worried after a couple of years being on this positive site that it was getting a bit negative. And was thinking of leaving…. but am glad the positives prevail.
To quote Oddball of of the film Kelly’s Heros “don’t hit me with those negative waves”
RA;
Way to much Red Top ink is used to demean most of AW’s and AFC’s achievements, that plus the instantaneous drivel served up by the blogging community has fueled the fires of discontent.
Bloggers talk in factual terms about AFC’s finances and transfer dealings (both past and present) when no facts are available.
I share the discontent we all, quite rightly, feel about our lack of depth and I also feel that we are going into this season with a far weaker squad than we have in the recent past.
Given that I have no inside knowledge I cannot even begin to attribute blame and frankly that serves no useful purpose.
i would offer that an analysis of our transfer process should be undertaken by the BOD and their finding should be used to “cleanse” the system. If we want to see an improved process then fundamental changes will have to be made, which could involve, personnel or levels of authority – net net to improve changes must be made as the status quo is unacceptable.
Anyone get the feeling that Wenger will now say, “I want to now concentrate on the players that I have” ?
Shard,
As you refer to the conversation you had with Rasp @1:54, I presume you were addressing me as he is not here.
Other than expressing an opinion on the veracity of the earlier comments made by you and Rasp, I think when you now say @ 1:54 that you agree with Rasp, on the one hand, and disagree with him on the other (altho you qualified that), and of course I am not saying you in any way used the words ‘he is wrong’, your agreement or otherwise is probably better addressed to him directly as I do not wish to speak on his behalf.
goonerjake, 🙂
Anyway, never think of leaving, your opinions sway others, and occasionally some fans can get the collywobbles and then opinions like yours matter even more! 😀
Don’t be like that RA. I was addressing both of you I suppose, but not intending to get you to represent any one else’s opinion. I notice though (and forgot to comment on this earlier) that your inclination to throw an incendiary post into the mix has left you, and you have reverted to being a peacemaker of a variety not produced by Colt.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Nearly everyone agrees that there are distinct problems with the way the product on the field is managed. Deadwood players through out the squad, poor transfer dealing, poor tactics……
And everyone agrees that wenger is a mirco-manager, a strong leader in the mould of saf.
And yet every response is ‘we don’t really know what’s going on behind closed doors so we can’t judge’.
The cognitive dissonance is absolutely astounding.
Simply because my criticism is strong doesn’t mean i don’t care. In fact just the opposite. I care too much.
Cheers RA, I aint going nowhere, except of course right now to mow some grass (not a euphemism, I genuinely am going to cut some lawns)
Completely agree with you, GN5, except about the club’s finances.
Well, I should explain that statement because the end result is exactly as you say.
The club do publish their Annual Accounts every year and also the 6 monthly interim accounts. In addition, there is a blogsite called ‘The Rambler’ written by a qualified accountant who analyses the Arsenal Accounts information for the layman.
So, the retrospective financial information is made available by the club, as is required by law, and an obliging, independent accountant does explain what it means (as I try to do myself on this blog from time to time) 🙂 but the net result is that many fans still do not understand what they read or have had explained to them, or worse they believe they are experts and need no help, and get things totally wrong.
The net result is just as you say — it is as if the information is not available. 🙂
Hi wally, 🙂
I have always found your comments sensible and well thought out even if I do not always agree with them all.
Constructive criticism of things you are unhappy about is part of human nature, we all do it, and why not? It helps to let off steam. 🙂
We are all hoping for the same outcome — Arsenal doing well — even if every fan sees things from a different standpoint, and as you say, that is because you and I and every other Gooner cares deeply for the team and the club.
Long may that continue. 🙂
RA;
Agreed, we do get the standard bottom line type information about the clubs finances. But assumptions are continuously made about players wages and our position in transfer dealings, i.e. AW is called a cheapskate – when no true knowledge is available.
Unlike yourself I am not a financial professional but in my business roles I was responsible for multi-million dollar budgets and had to understand financial statements, at least in a cursory manner.
Shard,
You have a good mind and I enjoy our discourses, as I have said on more than one occasion, and if I, rarely, sound a little didactic or corrective in response to your comments, it is a compliment to you that I bother.
It is not in my nature to get cross easily, and again, as I have said previously, [tautology is OK, sometimes] 🙂 I do not remember ever being so with you.
Back later, guys. 🙂
Shard, I’m afraid we’re getting back into semantics again. “Inexperience is different to incompetence” are you really suggesting that the 6th largest club in the world has a team of negotiators who are incompetent by virtue of their inexperience? If they are, then sack the person who appointed them 😕
Ultimately you are judged by results and in comparison to your competitors. The result of our summer of ‘working very hard on transfers’ is thus far zilch and many of our competitors have done a much better job than Arsenal.
Arteta is now feared to be out for 6 weeks and Sagna and Theo are carrying knocks. It is entirely our fault, that we have not brought in players to add sufficient cover.
GN5,
In your comment you said, – “assumptions are continuously made about players wages and our position in transfer dealings, i.e. AW is called a cheapskate – when no true knowledge is available.” – and that, in my opinion, is the absolutely the truth.
Certain information such as salaries/wages is not broken down in the accounts and the accounting transfer surplus/deficit is only known in round sums months after the event, and in addition the amount in the transfer ‘war chest’ can only be a guestimate, at best.
Spot on. 🙂
@Red Arse says:
August 16, 2013 at 12:55 pm
“We (the club) have emerged from a period of financial austerity into a world where we have a considerable chunk of dough to spend.
Our guys are not used to spending big bucks or how to calculate the lag and lead times involved with negotiating a disputed transfer.
My suspicion is that is where the TW deals have gone ass up, so far. If we do mange to buy (say) Suarez and one or two smaller fry, I am convinced we will be in the market again next year with another sizeable tranche of money.”
There are a few main players in our club:
Ivan Gazidis (aka Ring-master) – CEO (decides club’s transfer kitty and wages++ for players and stuff). The club secretary, David Miles, assists him on these matters.
Richard “Dick” Law (aka Leader of Clowns) – Head of our negotiating team/ The facilitator for AW and IG, who is supposed to be our Technical Director/Director of Football in job scope but he is not (and going up against seasoned and wily businessmen/director of football e.g. Fiorentino Perez @Real Madrid, Andoni Zubizarreta @Barcelona, Txiki Begiristain @Man.City etc etc)
Arsene Wenger (aka Puppet-master) – Manager (Decides from a list of players, scouted by our scouting team, the ones we are to sign, then after Richard Law’s input from the negotiations, final decision rests on him – “Yes, sign him up”; “No, do not sign him”)
An article from The Guardian in 2009,
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/sep/23/arsenal-premierleague
Quote:
{{
Arsenal have made their final appointment to the executive team in Richard Law, bringing to an end the recruitment process that began with the departure of the former chief executive David Dein in April 2007.
Law, a trilingual American who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, will take responsibility for player contracts in support of the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, and the club secretary, David Miles. The appointment formalises a long-standing consultancy role Law has held with Arsenal’s scouting operation in South and Central America.
Arsenal have been keen to stress that Law will not become a traditional director of football, a role that might suggest the diminution of the manager’s influence. Arsène Wenger will remain the supreme decision-maker at the club, with Law instead acting as a facilitator for the manager and Gazidis.
Law, who has been central to the club’s partnership with Salamanca, the Spanish second division side who have taken several Arsenal players on loan, will also act as a buffer from the management team for agents attempting to place players with the north London club.
Upon Dein’s departure Wenger made clear his intention to bring in an executive to assist him in his transfer dealings but with Miles and Gazidis jointly assuming those responsibilities, the position has been recalibrated. The new appointment ensures Arsenal have a single point of contact on transfer matters.
}}
===================================================
@ Red Arse says:
August 16, 2013 at 1:05 pm
“That is fascinating, JM, thank you.
It is also illuminating and makes you realise that there could be yet another very good reason to get the stars into Arsenal by investing big buckarooneys (no distended pun intended) 🙂 as the links between those clubs/players/sponsors would play a huge part in keeping the financial ball rolling in a virtuous circle – so to speak – and yet most of those links are already associated with the most successful on field clubs.
The subject has obviously excited my curiosity as I have had to delete a lot of unintentional puns! 🙂
Thanks once again.”
I believe my post on this was …. lost ?!
I would like to know how we expect to sign top quality players now when the selling club will have very little time to replace them ?
Any takers ?
Simple. Offer them Bendtner as part of an exchange…….. maybe Park too and nd maybe Diaby as a permanent part of their hospital staff (surely if there are player-coaches then there must be patient-doctors)
Ha ha Jamie, Diaby will be like a new actual signing for the new club’s medicla wing inpatients.
To be honest, the day Diaby leaves will feel like winning a trophy, I will celebrate it hard.
CharyB,
I earlier asked if Randy saw you as a peacock! 🙂
If you asked your receptionist ‘would you like to see my peacock?’ you would avoid the fuzz, if you asked ……………….. well you know, you would be in deep doo doo. 🙂
In answer to your trouble maker question, if the club concerned had already bought replacements there would not be any problem …………….. hence we are obviously buying Bale! 😀
In the light of your earlier claim to be a cock, CharyB, your allusion to Diaby, “I will celebrate it hard.” is a little unfortunate. Or not! 🙂
JM,
I had not seen the report on the composition of the BoD contained in the Guardian. Thnx, again.
But won’t clubs have already done their business so new additions can integrate into the existing squad Redders ?
That would be the sensible thing to do and an approach successful clubs adopt. The desperation of buying clubs will force the prices of their targets up, that’s blatantly obvious n’est-ce pas ?
Surely a manager with an economics degree should realise that ?
Should have said “celebrate it with gusto” 🙂
RA – it is a dismal state of affairs if even fans like you start getting depressed. If something doesn’t happen soon I will be next!!
Thank you for the post, an excellent read. You are so right about some fans getting anxious and others unhappy. We live in the 21st century and we expect things to happen yesterday. Long gone are the days when it took 7 days to deliver a letter or 5mins for a computer to boot up. We are no longer built to be patient.
Jokes aside, it would be nice to spend the summer in knowledge that no only we are not losing any top players, but we have also strengthened the squad. After the squeaky bum end of the season we deserve a bit of peace and quiet, don’t we?
To make matters even worse Spurs hold all the cards at the moment.
If they don’t sell Bale, then Real will buy Suarez. I am sure that Pool are in a process of handing Suarez on a plate to Madrid. That is the only way they can save face and punish Arsenal.
The worst case scenario is that Spurs have Bale, Paulinho and Soldado-or what’s his name. Pool get lots of money for Suarez and buy our next target (Michu?) and we end up with Torrez, if lucky.
I hope it will not come to that; Spurs are already spending the ‘Bale Out’ money….but what if??
RA,
Are you implying that we will bale Spurs out?
Hi Evonne, 🙂
I am totally not depressed. I was making fun of a one line bandit who came on, did not bother to read the Post and tried to be a Smart Alec.
But after reading your excellent take on a potential outcome, I am now ofiicially ……………………… 😀
CharyB,
You ruined my punchline joke about Bale! Accountants!! Hah! 😀
I was just helping the monkey bale out from a sinking ship, GN5. 🙂
Interesting discussion. I am not learned enough to have much input, but I did see this link on another site.
http://abehnisch.com/on-arsenal-squad-size/
It was compelling stuff for me. What do you guys think?
We’d be no good as a double act Redders ! It’s all in the………..
………………timing ? We’re back to our talk about Mutt and Jeff. 🙂
Sav – don’t show that article to Wenger, it basically says we don’t really need additions.
Cue the “powder dry” soundbites. Arrrgghhh !!
Rasper,
Fools walk in where angels fear to tread — but what do I care? 🙂
Your question to Shard about inexperience and incompetence piqued my interest.
Incompetence is defined as lacking ability or qualifications to carry out a task.
Whereas all of us at some time or other have lacked experience.
So, it is perfectly feasible to be incompetent due to inexperience, isn’t it? Competence can come as experience is gained.
Some years ago in Australia, I had a go at shearing a sheep on a ‘tourist’ outback farm. To say that I was utterly useless would be putting it mildly, but the shearer apart from taking the piddle out of me, confessed that when he started 20 years previously he was useless, exactly the same as me — tho only half my size and twice as strong — and that now he could shear 100 sheep in some fantastically quick time that I cannot now remember..
My inexperience made me an incompetent sheep shearer and so I will remain for the rest of my life, whereas the shearer was likewise inexperienced and incompetent when he started, but experience brought with it the competence of an expert.
Just as well his boss did not sack him for inexperience when he was young! You are a hard taskmaster Rasper! 😀
Really interesting points of views. Of course Wenger performed a minor miracle to keep us in the top 4 especially the last few seasons but maybe as time has moved on his valuation of players is stuck in the transfer valuation of say 3 or 4 years ago as wages and transfer fees have literally gone mad.
Something quite dramatic has changed with Wenger by offloading a few players that have only been with us for 2 or 3 seasons and IMO he has made the right decision but he has had ample time to recruit better players.
Initially the Suarez bid shocked me as it was totally out of zinc with players he has bought before in fee offered and the baggage that comes with the man .
I know we seem to have a fair few injuries,as do other clubs,but ours always seem to come at the wrong time and now as I stated before we kick off with the barest of squads.
I fully understand that one doesn’t go out and try and buy a player just because one of our key men is injured but surely that’s all about having numbers in depth within the squad.
Other teams including our noisy neighbours have spent though I still suspect that is due to the pending transfer of Bale.
I think if Wenger is going to stay he has to relinquish some of his jobs, he needs a dein type figure and I would also add that other clubs have improved their scouting systems.
it’s as i said at the beginning we appear to be in a time warp and haven’t moved with the times.
I want to see players clamouring to join our great club not rejecting us, or using us a stepping stone to better their careers.
Afternoon.
I’m not being nasty or horrible but I hope this is wengers last season in charge as we need a change he keeps on banging on the same drum every season and he was at fault when he sold RVP to Man Poo.
Sheep Hagger™
sheep – why are you being nasty and horrible?
As it looks like a certain 16 year old Ethiopian-german will be on the bench against Birmingham Villa tomorrow can I proffer this song for him should he come onto the field ?
To the tune of the Muppet song:
“Ze-le-la-lem do-do, duh-doo-doo
Ze-le-la-lem do doo doo doo
Ze-le-la-lem do-do, duh-doo-doo
Ze-le-la-lem do doo doo duh doo doo, du doo doo dudu do doo” (…repeat to fade)
Evonne.
It’s how I feel chick
Sheep🐑
Rasp
I agree with you. It is entirely our fault for the situation we find ourselves in. No question there.
Hi Sheep, 🙂
You weren’t the sheep I sheared a few years back, were you. If so, I can confirm you are nasty and horrible, just like Evonne says, Wouldn’t stand still for a bloody minute!! 🙂
Too many words, CharyB! 🙂
It’s no good making nice now Shard!
Rasper has packed his bag and has gone off with Nellie the Elephant – tromp, tromp, tromp! He says he doesn’t know when he will be back! 😀
RA;
Does that mean he’s left the AA circus?
RA
Is Nellie white as the driven snow, or tickled pink?
It depends on where Rasper tickles her, Shard!
Of course, you being the only representative of the art of Kama Sutra on here, you already know that! 🙂
GN%,
Rasper is the AA ringmaster and he will be back to crack the whip – it’s addictive apparently! 🙂
He has already terrified Big Randy into writing a pre-match for tomorrow despite only having got back from holiday yesterday!
Hard man!! 😀
Ooops, capitalized the ‘5’, altho I quite like the look of GN%. 🙂
Hi Red Arse, thanks for the invite, but I’m going to respectfully decline 🙂
What I will do is give you my take on Arsenal, not to gain favour or to score points, and not aimed at causing offence to differing views from the fine bloggers who frequent ‘AA’.
From the outset, let me just say, I don’t demand that Arsenal win trophies, there have been many barren years during my time supporting the club, and it wasn’t the principle reason for me supporting Arsenal.
Firstly, let’s dispel with any myth that Arsenal are, or ever have been paupers. Arsenal are a massive football club, and are known as such world-wide. The austerity self-sustaining model was a choice, not a necessity.
As I said a few days ago, when the club decided to move stadium they were upping the ante, making a statement that their product was so good it deserved a bigger audience. Sadly, the quality seen at Highbury has not been transfered to The Emirates, and the only success from the move is purely financial.
Arsenal’s majority shareholder has no love for football, spends barely any time at the club, and has no long-term plan to offer the club’s supporters. He doesn’t even engage with the club’s supporters. Does he challenge the club to perform better?
And that’s where my issue begins.
Arsenal should have at least a couple of European Cups and a few more titles on their CV, just for the size and historical context of the club. Ivan Gazidis was positively glowing when comparing Arsenal with Bayern Munich. The only similarity for me is that they both wear red shirts, football-wise they are poles apart.
Arsenal have lacked, and to a degree still do, the intelligence, desire or urgency from the hierarchy to elevate the club up with the elite, dating back to well before Arsene Wenger arrived. Arsene Wenger’s appointment embodies and reinforces that flawed logic.
The over-cautious approach in buying players must surely come from having wasted so much money, although there is no evidence that this is about to change.
£180m spent in the last six years – (not inc. 2013). So let’s say £30m every year.
1st summer, 2007 – Having lost Henry, how about two quality squad players at £12m. Cost £24m, £6m roll-over.
2nd summer,2008 – One marquee signing £30m.
3rd summer 2009 – two more quality squad players at £12m. Another £6m to roll-over making £42m for next summer.
4th summer, 2010 – Marquee signing £30m.
5th summer, 2011 – Two quality squad players at £12m, making next summers funds £48m.
6th summer, 2012 – Marquee signing, £30m. Still £18m left.
Unless I’m missing something that seems quite straight-forward from my vantage point.
Nine quality signings who could all still be a big part of the new successful dawn at Arsenal, and if conducted properly with the right level of intent, could have persuaded Fabregas and van Persie not to seek glory elsewhere.
Arsenal and Arsene Wenger are losing the ability or spark to excite and motivate the clubs core supporters, which IMO needs addressing as a matter of impending urgency.
But thanks for an enjoyable read 🙂
Herb,
I have no problem with that, at all. 🙂
There are many points you raise that will resonate with some other bloggers though I suspect many will not.
You will know, without me saying so, that I simply do not agree with one major comment you make concerning our manager and his appointment, but then a difference of opinion is OK, but other than that you have thought about and phrased your comment very well, and it could have been a Post in its own right.
Thank you, too for respecting other points of view. 🙂
Hi WATA.
What you’re missing is the fact that Arsenal have actually made money in the transfer market (almost 40m since 2006), as well as missing the fact that cash flow doesn’t work through averaging spend over the number of years. The only reason Arsenal’s spend is as high as it is, is because they got the money in specific years through selling players, and thus they could then spend it. If they earned 60m through selling Clichy, Nasri and Fabregas in 2011, that doesn’t mean that from 5 years before that they could have spent 12m annually on acquiring players.
Another Asian sponsor. Thank God they did not speak to my friend Herb first!! 😀
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Like many of the other successful English football clubs, Arsenal have a huge following around the world and nowhere is it growing quicker than in Asia. The fact that the club held this year’s pre-season tour in Vietnam, Japan and Indonesia says it all.
Confirming this, Bodog’s Marketing Director Izhar Biran commented that “Arsenal has been particularly pro-active in the region for a number of years and the recent tour only serves to highlight that point. The trust and loyalty both Arsenal and the Premier League stand for makes this the perfect partnership to continue the phenomenal growth of the Bodog brand in Asia.”
The deal means that Asian fans using Bodog will receive a range of offers centred around specific events involving Arsenal. On top of this the faces of the squad will be used to promote the site.
Speaking about the recent deal, Vinai Venkatesham who is the Head of Global Partnerships at Arsenal added “as our fanbase in Asia continues to grow rapidly, working in partnership with companies like Bodog who have long-term roots in the region, provides a strong platform to further engage with Arsenal fans in Asia.”
As well as being good for raising the profile of Arsenal within the continent, it will also be hugely beneficial for Bodog who are looking to concentrate in the future on the fast-growing Asian market. Bodog also owns and operates Philippines-licensed Bodog88, which is fast becoming the most important avenue for the company with business and involvement in Europe gradually diminishing.
PS. and that’s even assuming that the transfers are paid for at one go, which apparently, usually they are not.
Of course you are right, Shard, but it is fair enough for WATA to make his point, because if he has misunderstood how the accounting and cash flow works, there will be many others making the same mistake, and we can talk about it.
In addition, Arsenal have never made a pretense that any surplus from player sales helped the club break even in certain difficult years.
What is good is that Herb has made a point in a way that no one can complain about, even, as I said previously, if he is wrong and some of us cannot agree with either the accuracy or the logic of it.
He is not alone there!
Incidentally, where is Rocky?
He must be back from his interminable holidays by now!
Typical! I try my best to answer his car analogy Post, but where is he when he is wanted? 😀
Oh absolutely not RA. I get very confused with accounts and numbers. I wasn’t speaking as an authority on the subject. At the same time, WATA’s ‘calculations’ of what was possible in the transfer market over the years needs to be challenged, because it is, with respect, incorrect, and unfortunately such things have a life of their own and pretty soon become established fact.
Yes. Speaking of Rocky and his car post. I was very disappointed to not have any takers for the Arsenal DeLorean. I have now sold off my used car lot and bought an accountancy firm instead. Of course I promised to pay for it in stages after I’d bought it, and now that all the accountants work for me, there is no need for me to pay anything.
Shard, 🙂
This is worth a look and is further evidence of the great kids we have at AFC.
The future is bright ……
http://www.footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/2013/8/16/chuba-akpom-the-next-english-star.html?
Cracking worm catcher post RA….you should really write more.
So I’ve been off grid today and taken time to consider our plight and things that have been said in the TW, and I kept coming back to the line Wenger has used multiple times….”you need 3 parties to be in agreement”.
And then I was thinking about the other line….”we want players, players of super quality”
And then I thought about our situation…..
Well I don’t like the fact that our squad is so thin at this stage of the season, even had me hankering after some of the “deadwood” that has been shipped, because surely they would be more capable of helping tomorrow than an 18 year old.
So I have to ask why we are in this situation….and this is my conclusion:
Arsene – I want A B and C, they’re super quality and what we need.
Ivan – ok we’re on it
Tick tick tick
Ivan – bad news, they won’t join until CL football is secured, but you can have X Y and Z
Arsene – if I’d wanted them I could have kept Coquelin, Gervinho and Fat Arshavin
Ivan – but XY and Z can be here now, and I can give you W and V too
Arsene – ok but what if we qualify for CL can we still have A B and C?
Ivan – No, it’s the players we can have now, or the ones that’ll come when we are qualified for CL
Arsene – ok I’ll wait, I’ll take X Y and Z if we don’t qualify.
So that’s the super quality and the 3 parties lines understood. And also explains why Gazidis hasn’t gone over the top. Because as others have said, if Arsene wants a player, why should he really care how much he costs……it is simply not in his interest. Signing more average players isn’t either, so he must be giving himself more time to acquire the super quality.
Lets be honest without Artetas injury we wouldn’t be as worried today, it’s Villa, and we’ve got more than enough to beat them.
Overpaid players and useless arrogant manager.Champions League? What for? To watch more thrashings at Milan? Heh.Wenger is holding this club back. I’ve wanted him gone since 2006 and now want him gone more than ever.What’s funny is to all these idiots moaning about money etc..We’ve become so small time that our fans are “celebrating” finishing ahead of Spuds. Even though our wage bill is 35% higher than theirs!!!We’ve become as small minded as them. Looking to finish ahead of them instead of doing what big clubs do: WINNING.And that’s down to one man. Want him gone ASAPD
It is an interesting theory, GIE, and the need to pre-qualify for the CL might have a dramatic effect on any recruits we are pursuing.
RedLiar, the only idiot is you!
I forgot to say thank you GIE for the compliment on the article.
Despite the appearance of being a pukka essay, it was really just a long comment typed straight onto AA, that including an unexpected 5 minute telephone call after I started to type, took about 10 minutes to type, so not deserving of your praise really. 🙂
Sounds to me like you are working really hard at the moment, whereas that Micky is soaking up the rays in Italy!! 🙂
I think many UK clubs are finding it hard to get great talent. The money now seems to be in France.
Well written as always RA. I’ll always be envious of your 5 minute scribbles.
I’ve always been a fan of Arsene but the inability to thicken up the squad early has left me a tad irritated. If Gaz came out and said ‘we are focusing on youth etc etc’ so be it, but he set the tone early and thus far we’ve been very misguided.
I do also agree with GiE’s standpoint in regards to the CL qualification. We’ve heard it all before when we’ve been in this position (can buy X until we qualify). But before we’ve needed that ~30 million to buy players, this time we don’t so we should have seen purchases.
Not every player is like Nacho and can hit the ground running. I’m just worried that late purchases and a lack of integration with impact on the start of our season and leave us on the back foot title wise.
We all know our dreadful injury record (started already), so relying on gibbs, wilshere, verm, diaby, ryo, and co is mismanagement at its finest
Far too superficial an analysis Red Arse. There are still almost 3 weeks before the TW closes and none of us are privy to our Club’s dealings in this window, nor should we necessarily be. There may have been talk about gazillions of dollars available but the only realistic figure was 70 million sterling, which in today’s market might get you a Suarez and a Feliani but that is it.
My reading of the supporters’ attitude is more wait and see than Wenger out. If things go well,The usual suspects from the anti-Wenger camp will disappear into their respective ratholes and if they go badly or even moderately average, they will scream for his head….so what’s new? Please don’t jump on the 8 years without a trophy bandwagon as that is disingenuous at best and rather pedestrian at worst.
Why not admit that the chances of us having a great season, with or without major transfers is very real but that injuries can derail our season very swiftly so maybe some quality backup in key positions (CD,DM, striker) would be eagerly applauded.
We can all breathe a little easier now as life starts all over again in 14:hours and 24 minutes from now……………………….The start of my 66th year of supporting the Arsenal.
Top comment at 8.55 GIE
Way ahead of me GN5, I am at a miserly 54 or 55 years.
I can remember Joe baker, you can probably remember Cliff Holton!!
I’m dribbling. Why?
We’ll, with Arteta out and maybe Santi rested from midweek trip, could it be that we have a midfield of Rambo, Jack and Ox? Oh please Arsene, you know how much that would tickle me bits and I deserve it 😀
Off for a mountain walk in a minute then hopefully a liveonline stream later.
Thanks all for some brilliant posts. Away for another ten days. Very hard not to see us winning by three. At least.
Four or more, and surely top of the league 😀
Wow, that’s impressive GN5. Long may it remain, let’s hope you have MANY more, and fingers crossed this one will be a successful one.
COYG
oh, DidIt put on an appearance
Can anybody send me the link to the OnlineFooty please? I need to pay the subscription
Mo is a Gunner 🙂
Ray Parlour has let himself go a bit over the summer.
http://bit.ly/16RJKmp
Up the Arse.
that’s Freddy Star
Morning Guys, 🙂
Well blow me down with a hairy wand, Micky and Chas have returned to grace AA. Welcome back, guys, and not before time. 😀
OMG,
You have completely missed the tone and content of the article.
Would you think an author of the history of WW2 was responsible for the war itself, or condoned all that he wrote about? Please!!
I am looking forward to BR’s guess at today’s team. Here’s mine, I don’t remember Wenger saying anything about Rosicky being still injured so he is an automatic starter for me.
————Szczesny
Sagna, Mert, Koscielny, Gibbs
—–Wilshere, Ramsey,
————Rosicky
Walcott, Giroud, Podolski
LB – hard to disagree with that lineup, I mean there aren’t that many choices for each position, are there?
Morning Evonne
lol, no there aren’t I hope you are taking your boots you could get a game.
wooooow!! you think I would refuse?? I am mad enough to give it a go 🙂
Sadly I am not going, are you? I know you are
I am going Evonne.
And I am looking forward to it.
Are you 🙂 Bloody right you are, it has been so long since the last game.
I hope it is going to be a cracker, enjoy!!
Thank you.
No need to thank me LB, if it is a good game and you are enjoying it, chances are that me is happy too 🙂
Exile Seniors have decided the team need a good start so have added their good omens to proceedings by attending…….me as Jonah decided to stay away. 😀
Although sadly I looked this week and there were a few seats, but I felt I would not be able to take the negativity if we were to go a goal down.
I’m sure we will hear “spend some f’ing money” etc, just like two seasons ago when we faced Liverpool with a similarly depleted squad waiting of Udinese.
GIE,
I am really looking forward to the start of the season this afternoon, and hopeful, as always, that we will play well and win.
But like you I also dread the moans, the groans and the ‘I told you so’ that will greet a draw.
I won’t even countenance a loss!
I know Arsene means well, but he really should keep his plans to buy 2 or 3 players in this TW to himself.
I have already received ‘phone calls saying all the best players have been snapped up, or that no one wants to join us for x or y reason, or that he will fail to sign anyone – blah – dee – bloody – blah.
He is making himself a hostage to fortune, because whatever he says will be used against him and the club.
Morning All,
I have touched on the negativity problem in the post.
Having been away for so long it was not easy to write with any depth.
Hope it passes muster
Thanks Raddy, its up to your usual high standard 😛
…. New post ……
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