Talk is cheap, so they say. It certainly seems to be when it comes to Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal Board, transfers and transfer deadline day in particular.
And yet again, it comes as no surprise for many of us to wake up this morning feeling deflated, let down and even betrayed.
It was a good start to the summer with lessons apparently learned from last year.
We splashed the cash and bought top notch international players in Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla for a combined total of £35 million.
We were excited, hopes raised in anticipation that the season ahead would see us be genuine contenders for the title again. The Boss was talking about bringing in at least two more players, about transfer surprises and about continuing to strengthening the team.
But then we sold Robin van Persie to Manchester United and shipped off Alex Song to Barcelona for £39 million. On top of that, the management team tied the club down to protracted but ‘amicable’ negotiations over Theo Walcott for another 3 months, and who can now leave pretty much for free if he so chooses. In addition, Nicklas Bendtner and Park Chu-Young were packed off to Juve and Celta Vigo – not sold, but loaned out for the season, with the club allegedly retaining a large measure of responsibility for the wages.
But it was ok. The transfer window was still open, the Boss assured us everyone was still ‘working hard’ and that movement in the market would happen. With hindsight, we should have known better, particularly when, with 48 hours still to go, Arsene started trotting out his usual phrases about only adding ‘top, top players’. At least he avoided that wretched word ‘qualitee’, which he says in a particularly annoying voice when making a point to the cameras.
What happened? Nothing.
There were vague rumours we were in for a loan deal for Chelsea’s Michael Essien. But in the end, absolutely nothing ensued.
So yet again we finish the summer transfer window having sold, bought and made a profit. And in future, that is all we can and all we should expect from Arsene and the board.
It’s not about quality. It’s not about adding top players to the squad. They are out there, playing in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The vital word missing here is ‘cheap’.
Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/theodicist
Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.
Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.
Here come the doom mongers , welcome and hope we dont have to put up with you lot for too long!!!!
Count yourself among the doomers, as it’s stupidity such as yours that has brought it along and supported it. Good thinking mate, brilliant really.
For all those arsenal fans whose only argument defending the club’s current descent to mediocrity is “Go support Man CIty” or “Go support Chelsea” or “Go support Liverpool” if you don’t like it…
I hate to do this, but let me burden you with reality:
1) Arsenal are one of the richest clubs in Europe and have massive financial resources available to build a world class team.
2) Asking for world class signings to build a championship calibre team is perfectly reasonable, and doesn’t mean that we are asking to buy Andy Carrol for 35 mil or Torres for 50 mil….What it means is that when there is a hole in the team which expect it to be filled with a world class player so we can compete for titles.
3) There is a difference between a self-sustaining model and a self-defeating model. I am all for the self-sustaining model. But guess what, without success on the pitch, there will be less opportunity for revenue growth in things as important as commercial contracts. Without success on the pitch world class players will no longer want to come and play for the club…Success on the pitch is actually kind of important, really, trust me…
4) In the end, for a club as rich and big as Arsenal, if you are selling your captain to a hated rival something, somewhere went very, very, very wrong. If you manage your club poorly and don’t field a squad capable of winning anything, if you don’t strategically invest in the club…I ask you, will the truly world-class players to want to leave the club…sound familiar?
5) Wenger is one of the highest paid managers in the world…why is it ok for the club to pay Wenger such a massive salary, but not someone like…oh i don’t know….maybe Robin van Persie? No instead lets throw crazy money at Denilson, Bendtner, Squillaci, Almunia, Chamakh…lets resign Djourou to a big salary, but then lets not try to keep any real class players because we have a strict salary policy…that is genius…
6) Developing young players is critical to a clubs success, I am all for it. The difference between a true “self-sustaining” model and the “self-defeating” model that Arsenal follow is simple–you need to balance your team building with both internal youth development AND world class purchases for those positions that you need to improve on. What you don’t do is sell your best players every year to direct rivals and then bring in cheaper players who are clearly less talented. You might make a short term profit, but you are damaging the club long term.
7) 7 years without a trophy, selling 4 club captains in those 7 years…not a blueprint for success
8) In 2004 we were competing with Man U for titles…In 2012 we are competing with Spuds for a champion’s league payout
9) True Arsenal fans will support Arsenal Football Club not Arsenal LLC–that is why we feel betrayed by Wenger and no we will not support any other club just because the Wenger apologists don’t like to hear the truth about how the club is being run into the ground only for the short term profit of a yank who doesn’t even know who Tony Adams is.
I am a true supporter of the Arsenal, that is why I won’t remain silent while my football club fails because of stupidity and greed…I have every right to voice my opinion just as much as fans who think playing every year for a champion’s league payout is good enough for the Arsenal.
I thougth about doing this a while back and some. Thanks for doing so. I’ll add my two cents. They are “milking the Cow” and they are doing a good job at it. They are only buying enough players to retain a top four status, more money. Usamov wants in and I am sure he is smarter than 99% of the fans, after all “he is a billionair” and he will discover all the money going into the board/owner pockets. They are taking us all for a ride, the real fans. And their is a big difference between the oil billionairs we see now and the investment billionairs we are used too. Just something to think about…!!
@ GOONER FOREVER INDEED BRUV I AM WITHYOU!!!!!! I WILL POST THIS ON AW FACE BOOK PAGE!!!CHEERS BRUV!
So Usmanov is 99% cleverer than the fans?
O.K. then, following that logic, the board and Kroenke must be 99% cleverer than him as they have made The Arsenal the fourth richest club in the world…but of course that doesnt suit your argument does it?
I am well aware of the financial resources available at the club…that is my point…with the resources we have we should be competing against Man U for titles, not against Spuds and Newcastle for 4th place. Wenger and the board have poorly used the club’s resources and results on the pitch don’t lie…Hill-Wood even said something like “look last season wasn’t so bad…at least we didn’t get relegated”…Seriously think about it….a club of Arsenal’s history and pedigree deserves leadership that cares about winning and adding to the history of the club. Also, mark my words, without success on the pitch the finances of the club will take a downturn. We are living off the greatness Wenger’s championship teams from almost 10 years ago. I really admire Arsene Wenger, which is why I sincerely cannot believe he is running the club down into mediocrity like this.
I am all for sound finances and buying wisely, but here is the point that is really being lost–sound finances are a means at a successful club, not an end. So, do you remember how much profit the Invincibles generated during that amazing season, do you really care?
Gunnerforever, when will you realise that it was RVP who insisted he left?
Juve offered peanuts, Manure have decided that a four year deal costing them (with his salary) £64,600,000 was good business sense.
We got £23,000,000 after having bought three full internationals.
What part of this business model do you not understand?
The trouble is everyone wants everthing now,at any cost.
Thank god we have a properly run football club that will be here long after FFP has dictated the clubs living beyond their means are bought to heel.
Thank you Arsene, the board, Stan and all loyal gooners who can understand that one and one makes two, not eleven!!!
Well said. Thank god that there are still a few sane people on these boards.
You have an excellent grasp of the obvious…it’s pretty clear to all of us that van Persie wanted to leave…the selling of our captain and best player to Manchester United didn’t just happen this summer—that was a debacle 7 years in the making. At this exact time last summer I said that van Persie would the next to leave…and you didn’t have to be Nostradamus to realize that was coming (I was just hoping he had enough class to go to Italy or Spain).
Yeah, I understand the business model perfectly well…Arsenal exists to generate a profit for our absentee owner who knows nothing about the club. This short term profit taking is costing the club long term. For me it’s pretty obvious that sound finances for the club are critical…but here is the point that you don’t understand…sound finances are a means, not an end. The end is winning, in case i need to spell it out for you.
The lack of strategic investment in the club has been going on for 7 years. 7 years and counting…
No, your muddling up winning trophies with strategic investments.
1. Major strategic investment was … The Emirates
2. Major strategic investment was … Paying the loans back on time so that no penalty payments were involved.
3. The end is winning??? tell that to Pompey supporters who witnessed their team winning the cup under ‘arry and are now in danger of liquidation as are Rangers etc etc.
4. You must be able to read RVP’s mind better than he can…didnt he say “Arsenal are my love, I want to win trophies with them”? How can you blame Arsene for the way RVP became a turncoat?
It is so easy to say this is the point you dont understand, so can you please tell me whereyou stand on the above points?
@ken – Nevermind why Rvp wanted to leave? Explain to us why Rvp did want to go then?
Money money money money money and oh yes sirree money!!!!
Why have guys like Verm, Kos, Sagna, Arteta, Coq, Ox just to name a few signed for us?
Think about it Steve, was RVP loyal?
Of course not after one good season he acted in the same way as Adebayour…money.
I think RVP is a bigger judas than Na$$ri or Adebayour becuase we looked after him for seven years of mediocraty and then he stabbed all of us in the back…then people like you blame Arsene and the board and the owner…WHY???
@Sucre… Jus wot i wish 2do, but i cant bcos i love Arsenal fc (its in me), even though am not really happy dis season with my lovely song departure & my last season hero
Fellow gooners those of you who think the board needs to go pls sign the below petition as it may serve to get our club back and protests at the club are being organised if your interested check out the le grove comments for guy who has also had enough. Please sign and face tweet
http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savearsenalfc
please sign…let’s join Rangers, Portsmouth, Leeds….sign Arsenal to death!!!! wahahaha, in case, you don’t know what you are signing for…
this scarvaldio is an antiarsenal t****
hey scarvaldio, why don’t you organise a campaign to buy up AFC??? I am sure you are confident of the support of global supporters who want AW out..
if ech can fork out GBP10k…100k supporters…a trillion GBP should be more than enuf to give the stick to AW once and for all…
hey scarvaldio, are you a season ticket holder???
if you are…and i am running the club…i will tell you to take your cash & get lost…because there are many waiting to get hold of the tickets..
hey hey scarvaldio, i sense your deep frustrations…on match day at Emirates…wear and sell “AW out!!!” t-shirts & if you are confident of the support, print 10k pieces for a start…
and go early…and use a loud-hailer and mobilize more support…
Same crap, different toilet.. For years Arsene has been saying he is “convinced this team can do something big”. That team has changed more times than my underwear, and i’m regular!. The best has gone in the last four years and been replaced with “average” players who settle for “average” wages. Whether we like it or not we have become an “average” club and the only way to change it is to stop being “average” fans. We are more than that because we have been faithful to Arsenal for many years. This year’s spending and selling has been a slap in face for us. Where is the money???!!!
AMEN TO THAT!!
Easy answer to a stupid question about the money…three new players, planning for Walcotts salary increase, Kosh’s new contract, Verms new contract, Ox’s new contract….easy if you really THINK about it isnt it?
We’re all waiting for you to apply some thought, doesn’t appear to be happening for you tho.
I wish they would create another trophy call the most profitable club or the best financially-managed club. Arsenal would then win it 7 years in a row and we could parade the trophy in an open-top bus through North London.
But this is football and Arsene Wenger has no clue on how to manage a football club anymore.
WELL SAID BRUV!
Absolute bullshit.
WillyG and Andre what premier football club do you manage?
You are clueless as to how to run a brew up in a brewery let alone The Arsenal!!!
and your credential are?? The policy ain’t working mate, it aint and it has no future, best acknowledge it and accpet that change has to happen.
There is no need for this policy, we’ve a shareholder who can help the club instead of harming the club. Makes no sense to deny it.
Arsene wenger is a professional miser. Selling Song & failing to replace him is the greatest mistake of wenger and those concerned. I am begining to see Arsene wenger as an unserious minded coach (7yrs of trophilessness and you call it a success by merely remaining in top 4). No serious minded coach will ever fail to get a cover for the injured Sagna and also fail most significantly to replace the void left by Song. He only plan use Carl and Arteta for the fulfilment of this futile journey you have sheepishly embarked upon. You dont lift the trophy by playing childish pranks over an epoch making task of course. Now am begning to concord with RVP’s views about Arsenal. Which way forward Arsenal?
I 100% WITHYOU MATE!!
did you use google translate, mate? Please don’t use ‘de’ for ‘the’; it makes you read like an illiterate. That said, I’m sure you’d have difficulty understanding me if I tried to post in whatever your first language is, so hats off to you for attempting in English. Even if your post is a load of tired old recycled vomit with opinions taken from Sky Sport or Talk Sh1t.
Please enlighten us all….what are RVPs views and how did you find them out?
Wake up man…it was money, money, money,and its all you Arsene bashers who are being “had” by a player who was supported and nutured by our club only to stab us in the back foor the golden dollar.
nothing about what’s been going on the last seven seasons then?? Figured you for a blatant propagandist.
By your logic money is something you believe others should have no interest in, is that it? Why then support the managers who rakes in 7 mil pa(and doesn’t justify it), and kronke who bought the club and has put none of his own money into the club beyond buying up shares(as an investment where he gains as the fans lose).
Am with you bro but the problem lies with the arsenal fans in uk, if they can stop themselves from buying match tickets and stop going to watch matches in the stadium, the board and Wenger will sit up and see reason why they have to make reasonable signings, moreover our match ticket price is the most expensive in uk, so why can’t the fans for once think about it and collectively protest, because I can’t imagine myself going to watch a match against united and be trashed 8-2, I will fall ill for that season, this is a wake up call for our fans.
arsene wenger is a professional miser???
in the entire BPL league, there is no manager ever willing to stake his reputation & energy to build a new stadium and to remain competitive…
people moan abt the last 7 years…it was unfortunate that arsenal new stadium/re-building project coincided with the arrival of the sugar-daddies…first Chel$ki, then ManCity…ManUtd have always being a BIG spender before CHel$ki..
Fergie hated AW vey much bec he gives him a run for his big spending by refusing to spend big…
..the spenders bought experienced players but arsenal have to use youth players…
…TH14 leaving didn’t help but give credit to AW for seeing Cesc as the potential to fill the gap and change arsenal’s way of playing…
7 years later…AW bought experienced players like Podolski & Carzola early…he may be hoping RVP & others will stay…is this within his control?? he tried his best to get them to stay but it was not to be…
euro club crisis in the horizon???? not many clubs spend big this time round unless that are funded by oil money…psg, mancity…
Who are these complete fools content with the way things have been run for the best part of a decade. Doomers they say. Go And support city they say. No wonder the Emirates has not atmosphere – it’s full of glass half full Wenger disciples. Wenger is the biggest con man football has ever witnessed.
WELL SAID!! BRUV!!
They are not just content, they can’t see through the BS we are feed everyday. Too many variables, age, IQ, etc. I think we have bigger issues with the current board than Arsene.
I would bet my life on it that the atmosphere is poor because of people who like to moan all the time. I guarantee it.
What do you think should have been done and what is it about the players now that you don’t like? (apart from Chamakh, Djourou and Squillaci?)
So if we would have gotten Sahin or M’Villa, does that mean we would be a shoe in to win the PL and CL.
I have watched Arsenal for these lean years and there is more to it than just not winning anything. You have some terrible injuries, namely to the turncoat, that have done us in and some of the worse calls ever.
Each season should bring a hope and it is sad when the season starts like this, but not for me. I am one of the fools.
Well said mate, another TRUE GOONER
bet your life?? first it has to be worth something, wouldn’t give a fig for that brain of yours. Soaking up wenger’s nonsense obviously isn’t much of mental excercise, you should try something else.
I doubt if anything could be achieved now; it is too late.We all have to live with a prof. of ARSENAL ACADEMY. There is no greater “brain” than AW, the modern day Solomon. My bet is that 2012/13 would see his last of the job. Arsenal Academy would not make the first four!
Atin
Betrayed?
That is too funny.