Untold Arsenal: Supporting the club, the manager and the team
"I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art." A Wenger
I meant to write about this yesterday – I am hoping everyone saw, and approved of, the magnificent Red Action flag celebrating the multinational approach of Arsenal, and its constant stand against the “where were you born?” approach to football. I knew it was going to be big – but not that big. It is …
One is obvious – we won and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Pires was given the regard and respect that he should have – he was a significant part of the success that Henry got, through an overwhelming and perfect understanding between the two (apart from that time they mucked about doing a penalty …
Tonight is the Land of Make Believe against the Team of the Future. Or put it another way, the Even Tinier Totts against Arsenal Reserves. Except that being the Totts they don’t believe in usijng the Reserves for up and coming youth players, largely because they don’t have up and coming youth players. This itself …
This story comes from two source (who shall remain nameless). You can believe it or no, although unlike tales of Atlantis, alien invasions covered up by government and the Chinese discovery of America in the 15th century, at least this time you will be able to see if this is right or not. Time will …
Read More “Tiny Totts Tightfisted Transformation Tender Toppled”
If you have read my wild ramblings off and on over the last couple of years you might recall that in my view the financial approach of clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester U is unsustainable. This, I argue, is because their entire approach is based on three contingencies, all of which have to be …
April Fools’ Day was mostly fairly dull and predictable. The biggest joke of all – that our players could be taken off, made to play in other places for other teams, and then handed back injured – was sadly real. I am still waiting for news of disasters from Wednesday. The regular rather sad attempts …
While Arsenal continue to sell replica shirts, companies and banks that have stupidly financed Manchester Bankrupt’s dive into bankruptcy are now selling off the club’s debts. At a discount. So if you thought that this season’s away shirt is a good deal at 50% off, how about some Manchester debts at 70% off the list …
Frustrating ain’t it? This Brazillian guy from Croatia (or is it vice versa) comes in, does great (as in “the boy Eduardo done great” – if you remember that type of football talk) and then gets some niggle injury. There’s talk that Theo’s in the same barge. (Actually I once wrote a piece about that …
Read More “Injuries after comeback: what will they think of next?”
I’ve always known the address of the Tiny Totts as 748 High Road. The only team to have played football in White Hart Lane (as I boringly remind everyone) is Wood Green Town, who played about a quarter of a mile from where I grew up as a child. Town were born around 1885 …
Read More “We win at 748 High Road, and the iceman visits east London”
Now here’s a jolly thing. Just when I started to get excited about Leeds United and how there might finally be an enquiry into who owns the company that owns the company that owns the company that owns Leeds Untidy when up pops the story on the Guardian web site saying that the sale of …
One of my big interests in football is the way clubs are run as businesses – a natural interest since I run a business myself. I’ve written many times about the problems afflicting clubs as varied as Manchester Bankrupt and West Iceland Utd, but in the past not mentioned Leeds United. (You can tell …
Read More “Problems at Leeds; has the Lord Wenger “lost it?””
The following article appeared on the RedAction news service, written by Robert Gaffney. It is reproduced with permission, but Robert asks me to add that it is speculation on his part. Even so, it is the best bit of speculation I have seen on this. I’ve been looking at the property piece of the finance …
Its a bit like the proverbial bus – you wait for ages for one, and then two come along. Dennis was unique, original, a genius, something beyond everything else we had ever seen. We would not see his likes again, we were told. And then in an unguarded moment the word slipped out – Jack …
The salary cap is the centrepiece of the current round of UEFA proposals. It is based on the notion that each club will have to declare its “football income” – that is money raised directly from footballing activities. The clubs will then be limited as to how much of that income they can spend each …
During the time before the Icelandic banks and Northern Rock went bang, it was obvious to a number of people who were watching from the wings that things could not go on as they were. I remember a colleague saying to me one day, “either we’ve totally misunderstood how finance works, or they have.” I …
Read More “A difference in financial approach: Arsenal & Chelsea”
Everywhere today is the same: “The Rich List”. And a lot of the publications that cover the story can’t ever be bothered to point out that the list has not much to do with being rich. Not a sausage, in fact. It is to do with turnover – the amount of money the central account …
It would be amusing to hear all the shouting and complaining about ITV’s cock up while showing a bit of a local game from the north west the other day, if it weren’t for the greed and the crass stupidity of the footballing authorities that led up to the situation. On 1 May 2002 ITV …
I read an article on a blog yesterday in which the writer (who claimed to be writing one of the most highly read of all the Arsenal blogs) said that this was the time when Arsene Wenger had to prove himself. It struck me as one of the most crazy things I had ever read, …
I write this in reply to a detailed letter that has been published on this site, which says why we should no longer support Arsenal. I believe the opposite. Partly, because I am a naturally cheery guy (except when I am not) and partly because I am currently writing the history of Arsenal in 1910, …
The image of the band playing on the Titanic while the iceberg joined in with the percussion is so hackneyed that I always try and avoid it, but after half an hour of sitting here I can’t find anything better to describe the news swirling around football. While most of the media focusses on the …
The time wasting at the end of the game at Cardiff, with the home side holding on for a draw, rather than going for a place in the next round, sums it all up really. If Cardiff do get into the EPL they will fit there perfectly alongside clubs like Bolton, Blackburn, Fulham, WBA, and …
If we take a look at what a few clubs in the EPL are doing just now, it gives a good insight into the options on offer. Manchester Bankrupt: not just bankrupt, but even with their mega sqaud they have injury worries and a crisis meeting going on. Yes they are 6 points ahead but …
The headline suggests (in the way that journalists do) that there is a connection – although of course there is not, unless I really start believing that the Curse of Arsenal can be put on banks as well as on players and teams. I wrote a slightly amusing piece (well I thought it rather droll) …
Read More “Bank shares fall after Arsenal blog issues warning”
It has been a while coming, but now Mr Usmanov is making his move. And the moral question is, is it possible to be against Mr Usmanov the shareholder, but in favour of the arrival of Arshavin? Russian clubs are owned by big companies for the most part. Zenit Leningrad (now known by the politically …
Read More “Mr Usmanov starts to wield his power and influence”
When Chelsea wanted to join the Football League sometime around 1905 it didn’t do so on the basis of the football it had played so far – because there was none. No club, no team, no stats – just a ground on which the terraces were unsafe and crumbling even before the club opened. Chelsea …
