Through a strange twisting of events Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey will be on the opposite benches as interim managers for the Norwich vs Cardiff match on Saturday. Norwich have just got rid of their head coach, in the way teams do when things ain’t going so well, and Cardiff have done the same, each club promoting a handy ex-Arsenal player into the hot seat.
League Championship table as it stands now (2024-25 season, still in progress)…
| P | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 44 | 27 | 13 | 4 | 89 | 29 | 60 | 94 |
| 2 | Burnley | 44 | 26 | 16 | 2 | 61 | 15 | 46 | 94 |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 44 | 27 | 7 | 10 | 60 | 35 | 25 | 86 |
| 14 | Norwich City | 44 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 67 | 66 | 1 | 53 |
| 20 | Hull City | 44 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 43 | 52 | -9 | 48 |
| 21 | Derby County | 44 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 47 | 56 | -9 | 46 |
| 23 | Cardiff City | 44 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 46 | 69 | -23 | 43 |
| 24 | Plymouth Argyle | 44 | 10 | 13 | 21 | 48 | 85 | -37 | 43 |
Looking at the table it doesn’t immediately suggest why Norwich have moved into knee-jerk territory but the fact is they have won only two of the last 14. As is the way of so many clubs their manager has had under a year to prove himself.
And on that point I think it is worth reflecting that Arsenal finished 8th in Arteta’s first two seasons, followed by 5th and then second in the last two seasons. That is still not enough for some who have been calling for his sacking this season, but clearly is enough for the chairman to keep backing the manager.
The simple fact of football is that in most seasons across the four divisions, only about 20 of the 92 managers can be said to have had anything like a successful season, as defined by club owners. And blaming the manager is useful since it exonerates the board of directors from any blame in the disaster, even though they are the ones that appointed the boss in the first place. Directors and journalists thus have one thing in common. Nothing is ever their fault.
Meanwhile, Manchester United want to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton W but apparently can’t because they don’t have the money. At the same time, they want to sell Marcus Rashford who has a £62.5m release clause, who earns £19m a year at ManU and who has three years left on his contract. So by failing to move when asked, he could make himself £57m. Apparently there has been a (very expensive) breakdown in the relationship between the management and the player. Oooops.
The Manu situation ought to be a warning to all clubs, but of course, it isn’t and football carries on regardless. Manu have such a high level of debt that they are thought to be paying out almost £40m a year in interest alone on that debt, with no chance of reducing it. And they are not helped by their income spiralling downward, accompanying their decline in the league. Ooops again.
And this is the problem all clubs face. When results decline, managers want new players. But the decline in results also brings a decline in income, for although these days gate receipts don’t decline with poor performances, broadcast revenue does, and once a club drops out of the Champions League, so does that revenue come to an end. (You might recall that Arsenal had a run of six seasons without the Champions League income, including one in which there was no European football at all.)
So the clubs try to save money by cutting costs, but when we hear of these they tend to be at the shallow end of the problem, such as closing the staff canteen. Redundancies do happen, but these actually cost money at first with the requirement for redundancy payments to be made.
Also at a time like this, clubs try to buy cheaper players – which itself can then cause even greater problems when they don’t work out and no one else wants to buy them.
Arsenal have of course spent vast sums but generally successfully. Rice cost around £98m, Havertz £82m, White £50m, Gabriel Jesus £30m, Partey £42m, Calafiori £38m, Timber £34m, Odegaard, Zinchenko and Viria £21m each, Merino and Raya £27m each, and so on and so on.
This kind of expenditure works when the club is on the up, and so TV rights and other commercial activities bring in more and more money – and of course where the club is able to borrow the money. In Arsenal’s case the money comes from the owning company, KSE, and I have often wondered how they think they are going to get their investments back. I imagine it is not from player sales but rather from ever-increasing TV income, (for Arsenal’s attractiveness in this regard see Which club has the best record over the last 100 Premier League games?) particularly from the USA which is seen as a rapidly expanding market.
But if you have some other idea how KSE think they are going to make a profit on Arsenal, please do say.
OT
I note that the BBC have reported last night’s Man C v Villa game.
It was stated that Guardiola, “launched a tirade towards the nearby fourth official.” And how was this described? Was it a tirade of abuse or a petulant rant as it no doubt would have been described if Arteta had behaved half as badly? No, it was merely an, “emotive reaction”. Unbelievable!
All in all, it seems that whatever Pep does is him showing his passion. Like prowling up and down the touchline and running onto the pitch at the end of the game. And the reason for this? According to the BBC, “When you are as expressive on the touchline as Pep Guardiola, visual evidence can be enough to gauge the importance of an occasion.” And, “Make no mistake, this win was big.”
Now I do understand the importance of qualifying for the Champions League (especially when you spend the eye watering amounts City have done), but why, when Arteta behaves even moderately like this in bigger games that this, does the whole of the footballing world start slagging him off?
This is, of course, a rhetorical question as on this site we are all very well aware that this is part of the media agenda which favours some and is designed to destabilise others. I get that…..it just makes me so f*****g angry!
Mikey
I couldn’t agree more. Drives me nuts as well, as do the lies about us. Even what you may call the ‘little lies’. But in the end they are all part of one and the same thing. An agenda. An agenda, to cast Arsenal in a bad light, at every opportunity, even on a night of glory.
I drew attention to one of those ‘little lies’ the other night from Gary Mowbry on MOTD, following our brilliant win in Madrid.
Following Saka’s missed penalty he stated the following, categorically, without hesitation, as a FACT. He was not questioned or challenged on it by anyone:
“Arsenal, as a team, have not been great from the spot this season”
I thought WHAT? Haven’t they? WTF are you talking about?
For a start, prior to that penalty we had only been awarded THREE penalties in total all season. A pathetic TWO in the premier League and a miserly ONE in the Champions League. Now those ridiculously low numbers would of been worthy of mention, but of course not a word about that.
So, what happened with those THREE penalties that wasn’t so great then?
Oh dear Mowbry, all taken by Saka . ALL SCORED BY SAKA. A 100% success rate. What’s ‘Not great’ about that?
How the f***can Mowbry make such a mistake?
But that’s the point. Was it a mistake? If it was it shows just how diabolically Mowbry is at his job. Surely knowing Arsenals penalty stats prior to a match is as basic as it gets for a commentator?
But here’s the thing, I don’t think it was a mistake. They sit there endlessly spouting inane statistics at us throughout matches. He MUST of known our penalty stats.
So it was a deliberate lie. Deliberate mis-information.
Again:
A LIE: “Arsenal, as a team, have not been great from the spot this season” THE TRUTH: Arsenal as a team had a 100% record at penalties up until that miss?
An agenda? Without a doubt.
Nitram
You knew you’d get no argument from me!! It’s infuriating.
@ Nitram
Odegaard missed a penalty against Man Utd in the FA Cup
Steve Vallins
Appreciate the correction.
To be honest I didn’t check the FA Cup, or the League cup either.
As neither competition counts as a trophy when it comes to Arsenal I didn’t think I needed to.
As I’m sure you’ll agree, doesn’t change a thing. Still a malicious, ill informed lie from Mowbry
Nitram I agree with all your views , it always seems difficult talking to mates regarding how we are perceived in the media and how we are treated by “ the letter of the law referees” as it always seems your whinging .
Steve Vallins
“…… as it always seems your whinging”
In deed it does, even to myself, but that is their fault, not mine, or yours.
We have produced stats on Untold for years that demonstrate, irrefutably, that in certain parameters we are extremely hard done by. It was demonstrates wonderfully in the massive ‘Match reviews’ project carried out years ago, by ex and current referees, of Arsenal and non Arsenal persuasion.
I alone have produced lots of data that clearly shows we get a terrible shack when it comes to penalties. cards, though historically not as bad as penalties, are still in the negative when it comes to how we fair.
It is utterly ignored by the mainstream media. They have neither the will or ability to address the numbers we unveil. The Football terrace, which is in my opinion and good blog, that is very supportive of our club, despite being run by a Man Utd fan, still refuse to even consider for one second there is an agenda against Arsenal. Even though he himself highlights the enormous media bias against us, as well as the disproportionate amount of terrible decisions that go against us.
I have posted some of the basic numbers in the comments. IGNORED.
Of course I expected nothing else. But that is why I, yourself, Mikey, Seismic, Gooner72, John L, Ben, Porter, Tony and the rest keep banging on. And on. And on.
If nobody listens I will just keep shouting. And if they still don’t listen, I will just shout louder.
Recently, I have also been posting the odd comment on The Football Terrace. An Everton supporter posted a comment saying that Everton had only been awarded two penalties in the PL all season, and that Arsenal have a lack of imagination going forward. I gave him the facts, and got 153 likes for it. a lot of neutral supporters (including some Liverpool fans) agreed that Arsenal were the victims of institutionalised corruption.