By Tony Attwood
So what looked like being a fun start to the season with the possibility of a record number of games without conceding turned into the worst start of Wenger’s reign. (Actually I haven’t checked that, but it feels like it).
The papers are continuing their theme of a revolt among Arsenal supporters – it appears they are booing Ivan Gazidis as well as Wenger now. In fact the game ended with continuing endless support from the Gooners – a very positive show indeed.
I said the other day after the Reading game, the papers were full of Arsenal fans leaving at half time, and about Arsenal shareholders voting against the board – in both cases it looked to me like about 2% of those there expressed their negative feelings.
So we are all down, it was a defeat that felt far worse than the scoreline, and now always ready to pounce on Arsenal, the knives are out in the papers for Mr Wenger.
And of course there are the blogs. Having been to games, been at the AGM (I was actually sitting just by the BBC Twitter writer who made up all the stuff about the revolt at the AGM which everyone else picked up) and tried to take it all in, I know for sure that the notions of revolt and abject failure are wrong.
But the league table does not lie, and we are having a very poor run of form just now.
Further, we have our inevitable run of injuries – and I have to admit I really did feel that we might this season be able to cope. But Santos does not look good at the moment, and I guess it was considered not a viable option to put Sagna on one side and Jenkinson on the other. Hopefully the Year of the Seven Left Backs is not going to be repeated.
What is the honest supporter to do?
Support the team and the club of course. Many believe Mr Wenger should go – but supposing he did – who would come in and replace him? Do we really want to go through a scenario like Liverpool where even qualification for Europe is thought to be unlikely.
In my house, in my office, we stay with our tribe, we support Arsenal. Perhaps because we were here in the Billy Wright era we know that what we see now is infinitely better than we have seen in many other periods. Anyone remember what it was like most of the time under Bertie Mee? Or the endless defence – defence – defence of Don Howe?
The other blogs will attack and attack the management and the players. I’ll still support Arsenal as it is and as it stands, because I still think that morally, supporting FFP is the best way forwards and I can’t understand who would be better in terms of running the club. (And just giving a list of names of people who would never come to Arsenal is no solution).
Add to all this the failure of our servers, and you can see I had a bad weekend. Let’s just hope that we pull something out of the bag in the Euro tomorrow.
Here’s one final bit, from the Untold match preview of the Man U game vis a vis recent games between the two…
The Penalty Story
And this story is that in the matches between Arsenal and Manchester U there have been nine penalties.
- All of them have been at Old Trafford
- Seven of them have been for Manchester United
- Five of the nine penalties have failed to result in a goal
See – we do occasionally get a hint of what is going to happen.
—————
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- “The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal”: crowd behaviour at the early matches
The sites…
- Referee Decisions – just what are the refs up to this season?
- The weight loss programme: The only guaranteed wayto stay fit
- Looking for a terraced house in Northamptonshire?
- For all your football betting try these Bookmakers with free bets.
- Tyres, exhausts, batteries, bottled gas, jet wash… Buntingford, Herts
January isn’t that far off and we are still in 6th with a wod o cash to spend(debt free as we, the untold faithful, like)!
Arshavin(aka Rip Van Wienkel) seems to have awoken from his long slumber
Here’s mine. We will loose & come 2nd in the group and get drawned with Barca and will be out…….! [i really really hope with pull, not that finger but the whole hand out and go get that win]
£320.000 a week on players who are not even playing for us… getting rid of our best players to rplace them by mediocre ones YES RIGHT THAT IS THE RIGHT WAY FORWARD!!!
We need a new man in charge and we need the club to be run by football people not an american football fan syphoning off our money to fiance his losers over the ocean! NONE OF KROENKE’S TEAMS ARE SUCCESSFULL IN ANY SPORTS!!!! Open you eyes Arsenal fans how much longer will you ignore the facts??? WENGER OUT GAZIDIS OUT AND KROENKE OUT
I’m with you MR.
Personally I feel we have all the players we need to do well, and yes, crazy as it may sound…and still win the league even with our recent injuries. 9 points off the pace after just about 10 games isn’t that far.
My only concern is Arsene playing players because he loves them. Ramsey kills our attacking system. Ramsey’s run in the starting lineup coincides with our worrisome runs in the league even last year.
We just need adjustment in the team’s selection. Play two strikers or two pacy wide men other five central midfielders with no effect to the opposition.
We suffer at the back NOT because the defense is not good. I personally strongly object to that story. We suffer at the back because we’re ineffective upfront. Not because we don’t the players, but their selection.
It’s hard to say who’s the main culprit behind the lack of ambition at Arsenal. It doesn’t help when you have the manager stressing fourth is like winning a trophy. I don’t think the best players want to play for a club with that mentality.
Then you have that dubious Gazidis claiming everything will come good in two years time. Seems like a lot is riding on FFP which I think is a bit of a desperate hope considering who’s behind it. Inbetween now and then shall we just sell off all our best players with Walcott the most likely to go next?
I feel sorry for that 100 year old Arsenal fan I saw on tv the other week. It’s unlikely he’ll see another trophy winning team at Arsenal before he dies.
Tony,
I do hope you’re compiling a list of these peoples’ IP addresses who keep libelling Kroenke. They really ought to note that the mainstream press never ever accuses the Arsenal board of tax evasion.
Glad you are back online. From what I have heard, there were more chants aimed at Ivan than Wenger.
But all in all, a weekend to forget. A Wenger team is nothing without pace…and at the moment , we do not have that out wide. Wenger clearly thinks playing Theo is unpalatable – and he may have very good reasons for doing so, but I would put him in there despite the fact he is clearly on his way unfortunately – he may be quite motivated for that very reason. We are clearly better with theo than without him. Santos clearly has fitness issues and needs several games to get back into the swing of things, not helped by Poldi…who appears to resent sharing a pitch with him. I wonder if we will be seeing much more of him. TV is also a bit of a worry, is the captaincy…and the percption of Arteta as leader getting to him? We are not helped by the fact that we nearly always concede the first goal…often on the first attack, Phil McNultys blog suggests we are by far top of the league for goals via individual mistakes over the last couple of seasons….is Steve Bould really being given full reign with the defence…I hope so.
Then there is the fact that there are a of of players new to the league..playing different teams and styles for the first time. We do not have many with a hundred ELP appearances..so this team will take time to gel…do we need a Benny type figure to help out?
Conclusion…a bad week all round, there are some old failings, lots of scare mongering stories flying around, there are valid questions that can be asked by supporters…there is fear in the air..with fans, and maybe some players. But all they can do is play through it, and they need backing of the fans. We have some talented players, we also …as always have a lot of injuries, some of them all too predictable unfortunately.
@Bennie, I would love to see what Fergie could do with our squad. Some of Wenger’s selections get weirder and weirder.
“I was actually sitting just by the BBC Twitter writer who made up all the stuff about the revolt at the AGM which everyone else picked up”
So all those people (Arsenal Fans + other reporters) that reported the same stuff at the AGM were lying about being there or lying about the “trouble”. Are these people all in one big conspiracy spreading lies or are they individual troublemakers? Or is it just possible that you are the one telling porkies?
.. What Santos’ did at halftime, I’m gonna put it down as an EXTREMELY mis-guided attempt to bring an end to the Arsenal-ManU rivalry.. Well because they’re not from London and seeing as to we are not at the same level anymore, we don’t stand to benefit anything from having a rivalry with them.. That’s all a joke ofcourse, but I’m still in disbelief at what happened on saturday. One day, I will reference that game to my grankids, when FFP is in full effect and chelsea and united r slugging it out to avoid the last relegation spot.. and citeh is in the football version of “Where are they now?: Featuring ManchesterCity and wimbledon FC”.
@Woolwich P, I wouldn’t be too hasty to defend Kroenke. His teams in the US are hardly world beaters and he happens to be married to the Walmart owner, a company quite happy to exploit their workers. Let’s see what happens to our club in the next few years and whether we’ll all be Kroenke’s cheerleaders then.
Lew1234,
It all depends on what you want to focus. A reporter sitting there at a AGM is very happy when a few people protest some things. He can make a story of that.
Arsenal fans going to the AGM to complain can also focus on the ones that protest to say: we are not alone.
And with all the social media today you can get anything trending with all the retweets and such
If you read the article again that Tony wrote after the AGM you will see that he counted the seats so he knew how many people were there and how many really objected some things.
A reporter will not focus on 98% people who say nothing but will focus on the 2% who protest.
a manager who plays suicidle santos and ramsey out wide has just lost it. end of. Untold you are very good in stats!? how many points did we manage per game with ramsey in lineup?????
Well, at least we got 100 million in the bank.
Stan…an interesting subject. Apparently has never taken money out of a club, nor soul a share…but keen to say the Glaziers are doing nothing wrong. St Louis Rams fans were worried he would move the franchise west…but he has not so far. You could rightly say he is the least generous owner in the EPL…a billionaire who has not put a penny of investment into the club (aart from in buying it), but there again, maybe that was the deal on the table for him to keep out Usmanov..in which case, any failings inherant in his ownership are down to the board who let him in. He clearly is not a Fiszman or Dein…but will he actually harm the club? Does he place too much emphasis on FFP and lack ambition? May well be the case, but too early to really judge him….the problems the team are experiencing for the moment cannot be laid at his door…unless of course Wenger and Ivan are telling us a complete pack of lies, I personally think that is unlikely. If Stan just wanted the money, he could sell tomorrow and make…what £300m? Like it or not, think as he says, he really is in it for the long term, lets hope he does turn out to be a good owner in maybe a new and better era for the game…extreme optimism I know..
The main problem is Arsene. He has become delusional… Letting players down to one year contract season after season… Selling our best players season after season… replacing them with mostly mediocre players… Keeping useless players and not the top ones who realise they are never going to win anything with his phylosophy… playing players totally out of position seasons after seasons… wasting £320.000 a week YES 320.000!! on 5 no sorry 6 players who won’t kick a ball for us… Beeing on a 7.2 million a year contract not related to any success on the pitch… So where should the blame be placed??? I wonder??? I really do LOL
About Kroenke’s teams in the US.. It’s too simplistic to compare their ‘victory record’ with Arsenal’s. Fact is, none of the teams he owns has the same level of history in their game, as Arsenal do. None of those teams are based in big markets unlike Arsenal, who are based in London, and have a fan following all around the world. In other words, we are not the Rapids, the Nuggets, the Rams, or the Avalanche. We are Arsenal.
By the by, since I follow the NBA, the Nuggets have only improved since Kroenke took over.
And Mandy, the St Louis Rams have history in the city of LA. Which despite being a huge market, does not have a ‘football’ team. Kroenke’s original intention, I believe was to purchase the LA Dodgers baseball team, and shift the Rams there into a new multi purpose shared arena. He however failed in his bid to purchase the Dodgers, and the Rams, for the moment, remain where they are.
Unfortunately, it’s clear for all to see that RVP made the right decision to leave… As did Cesc or Nasri… And the same decision will be made by Theo.
All is not well, and something’s gotte change… And it won’t as long as finishing top 4 is the highest aspirations for a club!
Tony/Walter, after a defeat we always have the same “we are all doomed”, from the rabble of fake supporters!
The newspapers were only interested in the anti-American disapproval of a minority of the AST members there. The minority who voted for Tim Payton as a chairman of that organisation?
In my VHO, Theo Walcott would be very foolish indeed, to sign a contract at this moment in time. To have an idea of his true market value, Theo needs a minimum of 2 offers on the table. This may not happen until January 2013.
Mr Wenger has no choice to play hard-ball, with Theo. Some of the Arsenal players, were awe-struck by RvP and his take-home weekly pay packet of about £130,000 per week. I would suspect it would take some of the players, at this stage of their career, 10 years to achieve that pay scale!
In brief, core supporters will shout – COYG!
Gouresh, I actually doubt we will lose at Schalke, in fact we shouldn’t have lost to them the other time. What’s wrong at the moment is that we lack pace and wing play. That’s why Gibbs will be missed a lot, but had he been in Saturday’s game, we would have caused United lots of problems. I also think (hold your breath), that we miss Diaby’s presence! The weekend game would have suited him nicely, because we needed some one who had that in midfield.
Finally, I wish Arsene has a few sessions where he teaches speed. We used to beat teams by shere speed of passing and movement. Now we are slow and sluggish. You can never win in modern football if you’re slow. Against United we had a slow midfield, Arteta, Wilshire (coming back from injury) and Carzola are all slow. That’s why I think Arsene made a mistake. He should have started Walcott and targeted to play him for say 60 minutes. Secondly, there was nor reason why Ramsey was replaced, because had he moved to midfield, he would have added pace where Arteta and Carzola have none.
Wilshire was not as fast as he can be because he’s just coming back from injury and therefore bound to make mistakes.
I think all we needed was the manager to be a little bit technical on Saturday, we could easily have won.
Sammy,
I think if RVP would have stayed we would be first in the league now.
Mind you we still would have lost at Old Trafford. All the times he played there for us we also lost. Even with Cesc and Nasri…
Finally, Is desire taught? That unshakeable will to win, or not to lose a game? Why is it that Arsenal had it in abundancy in the not so distant past, and now we dont have it? I live 3000 miles away from The Emirates stadium, but on tv, it appears as if our players don’t have the desire to win. When we shown it at Reading ( In the 2nd half), we won. Some one needs to tell our players, that you have to show desire in every game, whether its against a big team or small team.
No real Arsenal fan would EVER suppose what it would be like to have Ferguson in charge. True colours are always exposed when the speaker is being ignored. Fuck off now rupert. Your cover has been blown.
I believe Arsene has become delusional. We were clearly outclassed by a very ordinary United team.
In the last 4 matches barring Reading we have hardly had a shot on target. Our most direct forward ( Walcott) is left to warm the bench and treated with general disdain. One feels that they are pushing him away from the club and who can blame him or RVP if they wish to leave this rocking ship.
The extra million pound approx a year they would need to pay to keep him is considerably less than replacing him with some unknown quantity. We have suffered the difficult early years as with RVP and just as we may reap the rewards of the clubs hard work with these players we sell them.
One further point why does Wenger usually wait until 65 minutes before using subs, perhaps he should have copied Fergie and saved Wilshere from himself. Wenger already admitted he knew Wilsshere was on a final warning, he should have pulled him off immediately.
Finally as a fan of long standing and I looked at the devastating speed of our counter attack we had with Overmars , Henry, Pires et al and now the only speed machine we have is stuck on the bench. From high speed rail to the milk float.
Balance sheets are important but we are now a second rate team with first class prices.
I still wonder how many fans didn’t notice that Walcott was injured in the England- San Marino game and only was back fit for the Reading game. So what do some want? Put a player on the field who cant breath properly???
And Old man Wenger made his first sub after 50 min in this game.
If Wenger would have taken Wilshere off the fans would say: why does he take Wilshere off? We need him to support the attack…. His second yellow card was one from being too eager to win the ball back. something that other players were lacking.
Were we expected to win at Utd? I don’t think the defeat was hard it was the manner in which our boys gave in. A week a go Utd (refs) robbed Chelsea, but Chelsea outplayed the cheats. I’m at odds, our boys started so promising but at present look nothing like that team, yes I know we’ve had injuries but so do the others, is our squad really this shallow?
Also the more I read into FFP, the more it looks like a prevention to stop the small clubs going into administration. I’m praying this false sense of security in which our club trusts so much doesn’t turns out to be a load of crap, wouldn’t the media love that!
The fans are fuming even the one’s which called of for patience in the past, and they have every right to be. Nasri/Cesc/RvP hardly gave us a victory against the cheats, but we must be real here and state they never gave us such below par performance either!
Walter,
if it was not for Ramsey getting injured, there would be no 50th minute sub, and you know that full well…
if Wenger can’t find the right players, motivate them, work out the right tactics and use subs, what is the point of him continuing?
What is the honest supporter to do?
Support the team and the club of course. Many believe Mr Wenger should go – but supposing he did – who would come in and replace him?
Really supporters support the club but you Mr Tony support Wenger not Arsenal.
If i may remind you, newspapers went ‘Arsene who?’ when he was first appointed so why are you worried about who takes over when he leaves?
****Real Supporters
We’ve missed a trick or two, the club has been all too happy to offload players and not just for the right price. Look at Fergie he kept Giggs/Scholes and I don’t believe for any other reason but to keep the young players in line. A wise head who’s been at the club and knows all about the club, someone they can look up to and realise the consequences of playing badly. Looking back we should of kept a Gilberto type player, someone our young boys could fall back on.
Notoverthehill – get Real
it’s not a reaction to one defeat, it’s eight misreable seasons, so much is wrong at the moment with no light at the end of the tunnel. I have been going for 42 years home and away and will continue but it does not mean I have to be happy with it. Loyalty comes from the fans, no one else.
We want our Arsenal back, some fight, some spirit, Jack was the only player to show any and he paid the price.
I don’t know the ultimate answer but I can see the obvious and things really need to change.
Wenger’s a good man, and though not as effective as before, he’s a good coach/manager.. But sometimes it’s just time for fresh ideas, new direction, and ironically, it may be time for youth! We always promote youth in playing staff, maybe that should extend to managment, maybe it’s time for some young blood with fresh ideas, and a fire that an aged manager simply may no longer have (and no it’s not my job or the fans job to identify the candidate).
One thing that should never happen in my opinion though, is that when Wenger eventually moves on, be it by choice or from being forced out, he should not be given a role “upstairs”. I think it will be very counter-productive and even toxic for a new manager to have the influence of Wenger over his shoulders. At the very best imo, maybe he can be granted some kind of ambassadoiral role, but not a role with real decision making power/influence over club management or player affairs…
When that time comes, we need to cut ties, thank him for his great service, recognize he’ll always be a part of the club no matter what, and………..move on.
Walter , Walcott looked pretty damn fit to me in the Reading game. Walcott with one lung is faster than the slow witted , trundling, Ramsay.
This was the first time in many games that Wenger made the obvious change after 52 minutes and it still begs the question why he did not pull off Wilshere earlier.
Wenger acknowledged he knew the ref had given a final warning. He acknowledged that he knew United would use tactics to send him to an early bath. He knows Wilshere is coming back from injury and the timing may not be there plus the impetuousity of youth, therefore it wouldn’t need a highly intelligent man to work out that the odds of him being sent off were high. I disagree with you Walter.
If Wenger does go, who would the club bring in? As we’ve seen they’ll be all too happy for a cheap Allerdyce type man!!!
A. Stewart
Regarding what happens after Wenger’s retirement (or at least leaving the Arsenal manager’s job). I agree with you there. Following in Wenger’s shadow to carry forward his legacy will be a huge burden on the shoulders of the next manager anyway. Wenger’s influence is apparent on every aspect of the club.
When Wenger’s time is over, it is important that the new coach be allowed to make his own mark on things and carry the club forward. To be fair, Wenger himself has said the same. I think this moving upstairs bit comes more from the fans who recognise that Wenger’s got an eye for unearthing real talent, and has the club’s best interests at heart.
@ Shard… re: “I think this moving upstairs bit comes more from the fans who recognise that Wenger’s got an eye for unearthing real talent, and has the club’s best interests at heart…”
I think you are correct with that, It’s a perfectly understandible why some fans have that position, of want a man who has given the club so much to have a continued role, and even an apparent “evelated” role at that as the lest he deserves. But practically I a gree, a new management team has to make their own mark, without feeling Wenger’s inlfuence breathing down their necks.
But thinking through it deeper, you know I too feel that Wenger would be gracious in letting a new manager have his space, and cutting his formal ties with the club and moving on.
A good thing to say? The servers are back up. Now the Arsenal…
@ Thanks Stevie E. your delightful post has been noted. Fortunately your tyrannical little world doesn’t extend to the real one.
Notoverthehill, personally I don’t think we’re all doomed but maybe finishing fourth isn’t so likely this year. Were the players awe-struck by RVP’s wages? Did they say so? At the moment some of our players seem as if they’ve been struck by something.
has any1 read the article a few days ago that we are Pep’s first choice but the board want AW. Is this just a rumour if is there any substance to this story.
I don’t see sacking Arsene will solved the problem. Pool did it, and after Benitez went, they became worst. Now playing in Champion League will be a big dream for them.
4th place for CL is not bad, offcourse win the league is better.
I still believed this team and Arsene, this team is better than last year’s team.
This is the time for us to support Arsenal, not booing Arsenal.
In Arsene we trust, AAA out!
@Gouresh
Supposedly now Chelsea is preferred destination.
One Bing
Chelsea sacked their manager last year and won the champions league.
@asd
Chelsea sacked their manager every year. But they don’t win CL every year.
Last year, Blackburn also sacked their manager, you know what happen to them….
Always thought Wenger’s not the problem, still think owner/board/CEO carry the most blame. But can’t say it so strongly any more after he didn’t take Wilshere out of the game. Even I could see a red coming.
I would actually support AW as a technical director, even CEO. He still has more to give, but…
Okay this not substituting Wilshere has gotten out of hand. At worst it can be classified as a mistake, but it was just a gamble. Wilshere is to blame for his red card, not Wenger. Does a manager take every player off the field after he’s been yellow carded? Just because Ferguson took off Cleverley it shows Wenger’s an idiot? Ferguson had a decent option in Anderson, and Ferguson was not chasing the game. Arsenal were chasing the game, and if Wilshere had been subbed, people would be moaning about it too.
Shard why is it out of hand to question why with a last warning Ferguson subbed Cleverely and Wenger didn’t. Sure Wenger was chasing the game, but Wilshere hadn’t done a single thing to suggest that he would make a break through, was obviously tired (having not played much), and being on a yellow means that he had to tip toe a fine line (which he failed at)…We weren’t in the game at all, if for nothing other than fitness reasons after getting that yellow he could have been subbed, Arshavin for example could do no worse centrally, I’m not saying the options were great, but it was a error (imo at least) to leave him on, and his dismissal was entirely predictable…Saying Wenger made a mistake there, doesn’t mean that Wilshere isn’t utlimately responsible for his actions, but again, those actions were reasonable predictable and in a game which we showed zero capability of getting back in, and Wilshere wasn’t influencing, there was no great loss by taking him off and using someone else in his position.
A. Stewart
“At worst it can be classified as a mistake”
Which you classify it as. I don’t. At least not as a particularly egregious one. Players play on yellows AND warnings all the time. Arshavin was brought on to replace Podolski (and who else would replace the winger?) The only other option was to bring on Coquelin, and move Arteta slightly upfield. For whatever reason he didn’t think that was the way to go. We can argue whether that would have helped (it might have), but it might have helped to keep Wilshere on too.
It’s gotten out of hand, because it is being blown out of all proportion, and used as a symbol of Wenger’s ineptitude.
Hi,
The AAA are slowly emerging from the garbage cans.
@BG: Learn the difference between finance and fiance before commenting on Arsenal’s economic policies.
The Rest of you moaners and whiners, gtfo . Le Groan exists for your sake.
Stan hasn’t impressed so far , yes! but no big blunders either . So what’s the b*tching for? I don’t understand.
To the real gooners concerned with our form, yet backing our players and manager, I’m with you guys all the way:)
COYG
Why does everyone have a problem with us having a target of qualifying for champions league? Doesn’t mean we don’t have a target of winning the league also.
In any management strategy you set 3 objectives, a best, a desired and an essential outcome. If talking solely of the league then I’d say champions league qualification is a desired with winning being best. Or what about best – winning league unbeaten, desired – winning league, essential – qualifying for champions league?
People need to understand we are not the only team trying to win the league and face very tough competition.
Arsene is doing what he believes to be right and the best for the club. Even when we win his ‘playing people out of position infuriates me’ but it is his choice. Cazorla and Arteta are not center mids. Walcott and Ramsey are not wide players and Gerv isn’t anything that I can fathom. Pod is too slow to play wide in the Prem etc etc. But I am not the manager and he is. And on that point- I would trust him to get us out of this mess in preference to anyone else.
Regarding Saturday’s result. It is virtually impossible for Arsenal to win at Old Trafford. You have only to look at the ‘officials’ they line up year after year. ManU have got to win the title this year. Yes -their team may be a relatively poor counter attacking team but they will get the decisions required. You can talk about managers, team selection and tactics until you are blue in the face– that is what they want you to do to keep attention away from the officials and their decisions. The fascinating thing is this. ManU winning the Prem is one thing– but can they win the Champion’s League and, if so, how will it be achieved? Watch out!
Let’s hope Arsene gets the team into winning ways again, as for sacking Wenger the board, the cleaning ladies ‘ not forgetting of course the grounds man and the man who washes the windows!! where does our next great Manager come from. We all should pray that he can see into future that way we’ll never lost a match again.
@BG: Yeah, and maybe they should choose YOU to become the new man in charge, err? Just try to manage something – you can start with your little miserable life you f*cking twat. I don’t have time to teach you anything right now but I can kindly tell you how much or a moron you are. THIS MUCH!
@asd: What are you, a clone? Too lazy even to create some meaningful nickname? Fuck off!
Now I feel much better 😀
Sorry about the server trouble Tony. I was blaming my own ISP when I couldn’t get onto your website – I guess not everything is their fault lol.
Funny how quickly after a bad spell Arsenal and Mr Wenger get attacked in the English media – as opposed to say Man Utd or Man City or Chelsea or Liverpool or Tottenham or Newcastle or etc. Funny that.
Stuart,
I am sorry mate, but if you think for one second that the board is setting AW the target of winning the league, then you need your head examined, the last time we came close was 07/08 season and we have been just trodding along ever since, yes, the competition is great and hard, but can you seriously say that we have been using our resources to the best effect?
I mean, do you think for one second that someone like Squillaci would command 50-60K per week anywhere else?
Bendtner on 50K? do me a favour, Welbeck was on 15K until recently and he is twice the player!
@Doanythingformoney
The way Ferguson took defeat to Barcelona in the CL final at Wembley so well a couple of years ago is rather worring to me. Was he promised something in return ?
They certainly have a rather easy group stage to get through this season and the final is at Wembley AGAIN for some strange reason.
On not subbing Wilshere it turns out that Ramsey was subbed instead because he was injured.
@Suga3, I don’t think anyone seriously believes we’ll win the league unless we go on a January splurge and that’s unlikely unless we’re about 12th in the league. The team have been systematically weakened every season so now even the fabled fourth place looks in jeopardy.
The ridiculous wage bill is the reason we can’t shift these mediocre players. Many Arsenal fans are sick of the placating words that spew from certain people running the club. We actually want to see some improvement on the pitch and money being used for that purpose rather than being directed to a CEO who has yet to prove his worth.
rupert,
no idea who would we have to buy in January to come anywhere near winning the league in May mate…
can I please be allowed to comment without going into moderation for 12 hours every time?
it kills the debate, you know?
SUGA3
Chill out mate, I was explaining about there being several targets of varying superiority. I do believe that winning the league would be in there somewhere unless of course you are saying they all sit down before season starts and discuss the next season and agree we dont want to win the league this year?
Stuart,
how about we discuss how I want to be worth enough next year to make Kroenke an offer he can’t refuse then?
it would make about as much sense 😉
if they think for one moment that they can actually have a sniff with the squad we have, then they have no business running a football club, as they simply have no clue…