A good solid dose of yak’s breath. This is what is needed if Arsenal fans are to wake up and understand that this summer is not going to be any different from any previous one.
With the exception, perhaps, of one of our major ‘qualitee’ players leaving and throwing us all into crisis – though as I write, it seems the Germans have an eye on young Jack Wilshire, so it could well turn out to be exactly the same kind of summer as all the rest.
Stevan Jovetic. Gonzalo Higuain. Wayne Rooney. A £70 million ‘war chest’ to buy ‘world class’ players of ‘top, top qualitee’. That’s right – I said it twice. ‘Qualitee’. There’s a third. Get used to it. Because that’s all you are going to hear all summer long as we sign the usual mix of youth who have ‘amazing potential’ (Yaya Sanogo, anyone?), ‘experienced’ Premier League mediocrity (Ashley Williams, perchance?) and world class goalkeepers (Simon Mignolet, did I hear you say?). Nothing is going to change. No one, of any note, is going to come.
Whilst it may or may not be true that there is a sizeable ‘war chest’ (and what a laughable description that is), the problem is always going to be the same. Arsene Wenger. I don’t buy the stories that he’s had his hands tied all these years because of the stadium deal, or that he’s finally learned that the promise of youth isn’t enough to make you contenders.
The problem is that leopards don’t ever change their spots. And Wenger is certainly not about to change his. For example, Jovetic (so we are told) has a £24.5 million release clause in his contract. Wenger (so we are also told) won’t pay more than £20 or maybe £22 million for a single player. Same old, same old. Summer after summer. The money may be there. But I guarantee you he’s not going to spend it on the kind of players you and I want so dearly to see at The Emirates next season.
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I feel your pain and frustration Rob but this summer will be different in some aspects . With all the new financial deals secured and influx of money from CL and Premier League, no sane person will doubt Wenger has funds to bring new players.Lets just hope Arsenal brand as a top club hasn’t been damaged enough for a world class player to consider us still. There are however obstacles that might prove difficult for Wenger to overcome , not the least of which is his stubbornness and reluctance to spend money. If rumors of Jovetic and Higuain interest are true, Wenger won’t be able to get either one of them on the cheap.Jovetic prefers Italy to England and so does Higuain
Sadly most of the Arsenal blogs mislead in their attempt to appear knowledgeable and informed. All headlines ending with a question mark should be stopped because they contribute nothing other that mischief.
Mostly I agree with editorials which play down the clubs effort to buy GOOD players who can hit the deck running.
The Arsenal management – and Wenger – get under twenties who, in years to come can be sold off for profit. They are too tight to get real talent and get mostly unheard of players. There are exceptions where they got lucky as with Arteta and Carzola.
Arsenal and Arsene will continue to sell the 4th place as if it is what the fans want. They are blind to silverware.
Guys u need to chill out, firstly, we cannot compete with all these clubs Monaco, city, Chelsea, madrid , PSG etal. We have approx. 70M they have hundreds of Millions. We can’t spend all our money on one or two players. Expect Wenger to make some second tier signings, like podolski, like Montreal. Good solid players but not world class. We can’t compete. Wenger will come good this transfer market and believe me, this will not be his last year. He will sign relatively unknowns, promising and 2nd tiers with world class potential and a point to prove. Those are who we can afford, and they will come good. Just wait and see…
Then expect another second tier season…
My question to you though is….when has Wenger ever bought world class players? None of Wenger’s signings have ever been world class. They r always with potential, who become world class. Name me one if I am wrong.
My question to you is why can’t you see that buying mediocre and second tier siginings leads us to be nothing but a mediocre and second tier team?
8 years and counting is less then mediocre for one of Europe’s “bigger clubs” who in turn charge the highest ticket prices. Are you ready to be satisfied with such dross and disappointment due to your faith in a single individual? Is Arsene now bigger than the club in your eyes?
PS: Wenger inherited Arsenal’s best back line when he took over.
Trotting out the same old tired cliches. How do you know Arsenal have the highest ticket prices? Because it isnt true. If you actually were a season ticket holder you’d know why.
Then tell us why I am wrong.
Pretty sure the comparative stats in the media recently confirmed the fact that Arsenal has the highest gate prices.
But hey if Neville didn’t say it, it must be false.
Remember the only evidence we have that other teams are “going at it hammer and tongs” is written by the same fairy tale writers linking Arsenal with every footballer in the world.
Hmmh, it seems like you’re clueless Arsenal had to pay their debt’s which were caused by new stadium and now we finally have fully paid them. Also we have a new partner Puma which gives us £30m per year and it’s also been announced that Arsenal owners [Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov] gave £40m more to Wenger so he could spend some money to new player’s. We never had that much money in our ‘war chest’. Its kinda ridicilous you to blame Wenger, he never had much money, now he has it after 7-years of paying debts.
Sigh…
Arsenal still have 250million quid in long-term debt related to the construction of the Emirates.
But I guess if one keeps on repeating a lie it eventually becomes the truth for some.
Arsenal’s debt is no where near that, but I wouldnt expect you to know that. Although the super fan you are, knowing exactly how much in the shit we are, financially and otherwise is what really gets your motor running clearly.
Soooo desperate to show how rubbish the club is, how shite the players are and what a cunt the manager is.
Really great support there.
Well, if the debt is that high, then Wenger has been doing an even better job than we all thought. Wow! Thanks for pointing that out.
A true sycophant in every sense of the word.
Change all your Arsenal crests so that the read Arsene going forward.
Well, its clear why this blog prefers negative posts! Its never been as busy on here!
Well done!
Awww…
You were hoping that fellow sycophants would be the only ones allowed to post?
Sucks that others don’t believe being a mediocre club is an acomplishment isn’t it?
You are actually mental, no one can even talk to you, everything is black and white, there is no long term deep understanding, you don’t seem to fully appreciate many of the ideas you put across, you use big man words yet you get drawn into childish debate.
I’m actually quite a negative gooner, ill always look for it and have a good moan about it down the pub, aside Arsenal I’m forever the optimist, over the last few years we’ve taken a bit of a beating, selling RVP to united was a massive kick in the teeth, hardly playing Arshavin in his real position, some catastrophic signings and so many missed opportunities in the transfer market, so overall I’m not always best pleased with Le Prof and the board, for me though the major turning point was loosing David Dein, he was a massive personality and was a great help to AW, there is no coincidence that we have failed to complete since his departure, I am not sure whether Wenger is still the right man to lead arsenal so I actually agree with some of the things you mention, however when you go back and question his achievement before 2005 then that’s where you loose any support and start looking like a bit of a spoilt child, AW not only transformed Arsenal but the whole of English football, not in question this is FACT. So lay off the past, he was great, time will tell if he will be again, although in my day never finishing outside the top 4 in 16 years ain’t half bad!
Never attacked the past.
Just past five years or so.
If Wenger was so good, then why did and do we need a David Dein?
All good long term successful managers have a good chairman/CEO or confident. No shame in it, it’s the way of the world, it’s rare 1 man solely runs a club, Dein was a great foil to AW as he offered many things that Arsene was lacking and vice-versa, shame we lost him actually, don’t necessarily disagree with some of what you lot are ranting about, in my view the frustration isn’t the fact we we’re not winning, it’s the fact we are SO close to winning and it has been so achievable, we haven’t needed 100M plus spending on 50M players, just one or two here and there when we had the chance over the past 5 years and we would have ended the trophy drought then and there. That’s my gripe, not the fact we don’t win the CL every season it’s the fact we are so close and we really are no matter how much the pessimists try and fool you we are very close again now, but it seems to me that although it seems incredibly obvious (and it has been for 5years or more now) that we needed a much better goalie and a propper DM that could do a job like Gilberto Silva who was awesome, thing is every year we all could see this but every year nothing was done, I will still never understand it to be honest, lets hope for a couple of decent lads in the summer, I’m praying for Fellaini but I fear only in my dreams will he be in an Arsenal shirt, whatever happens and whoever is our manager and wherever we are in the table ill still be a gooner and turn up every Saturday! Bring on 2031!
Oh dear, you keep trying dont you?
All you have done is call anyone who doesnt agree with your sad pathetic logic an akb. But thats all you’ve got, but you dont know that, you’re just guessing/hoping because heaven forbid if there’s any Gooners out there who actually support the club and manager, yet feel he is fallible and should be replaced next season.
Oh no! Thats not fair is it? A Gooner who you cant label or pigeon hole to try and win some inane pointless arguemnt.
Enjoy your hate filled tedium.
And all you do is tell anyone that doesn’t concur with your zealot approach, regarding the manager, is call them c&nts and tell them they are not a real supporter.
Because everyone knows that wanting the best for ones club is akin to being an anti-supporter. I can do this all day long son.
But don’t worry, fourth place is still a trophy.
I just showed you up again… But keep spouting the copy and pasted trash. There’s only one zealot on this blog.
You probably like flogging yourself with a copy of the invincibles DVD every night before you sleep on a bed of nails, you sad masochistic twat! Was that enough name calling? 😀
hahahaha.
Love it when AKBs get mad and start spouting such rubbish.
Just reinforces my labelling you as zealots, as such people resort to such aggressive and unintelligent ramblings when confronted with the undeniable truth.
So what exactly is your fear of expecting Arsenal to do better and actually be successful in terms of trophies? Can you explain why supporters, such as myself, who want Arsenal to actually win something are not considered to be true supporters in your zealot eyes?
Bed of nails? JAcking off to invincibles?
Seriously? How old are you age wise (as I can already calculate your age in terms of mentality)?
Don’t worry your precious little heart son. Wenger will not be sacked and nor will he leave a job that is paying him 7mn quid a year for..well…our fourth place trophy.
So chill for a bit and don’t you worry as in 12 months time you will still be defending Wenger for another abysmal transfer market and season finish in the top 4/5. At least you will have me to shout at to relieve your zealot frustrations.
Hahahaha. Pathetic, but still yet so predictable.
Night sweetie as I have an Invincibles DVD to watch and remember what a quality Arsenal side looks like.
Sid, I agree with you this guy is full of crap, problem is some arsenal fans have such a huge ego that they think we have a god given right to win tho ga they forget that our success dried up when Chelsea started splashing out billions on players and we went down a self sustainable route of improving our stadium. Yes wenger had made some poor signings but he has also made some good ones, with more money to spend on players it is easier to get right. I hate the way fans think there know everything about arsenal, how much money they have, how they are run, wenger being tight! It is so naive. I am confident wenger will spend this summer, I genuinely believe money had not been there to spend, u could agree that the signings of giroud and Podolski were not great signings last year but they have provide 30 goals in total last season and cazorla was one of the signings of the season. With 3 or 4 top players we will be strong again but u have to put in perspective, City and Chelsea will spend double what we have and buy better players, how do we compete exactly? I have gone through stages of really hating wenger and wanting him out, particulary on January I was frustrated but then I sat back and actually thought about what he has done on such small financial constraints, with disloyal players and fans who jump on the media band wagon. He is done an excellent job, the solidarity in the second half of the season was outstanding, he made some fantastic tactical decisions to get the best out of the team. Some arsenal fans are simply Chelsea fans who claim a love for red, they are brainwashed by this need for a trophy, Chelsea have won 11 trophies in 8 years but do they gain anymore respect as a club when they have been through as many managers? I personally have little respect for what Chelsea have done and more recently city and when arsenal do win a trophy I will have pleasure in doing so in the right way. Unlike most fans on here sid is not fickle!
Great article from a realistic perspective. I largely agree with everything you’ve written, though I do have a touch more hope than you’ve reserved for the club during the TW.
History tends to repeat itself, which is my biggest fear, however we’ve also not been in a situation these past 7-8 years where financial restraints have been somewhat lifted due to the stadium debt now being manageable and with the additional commercial revenue (Africa, Highbury housing development, Puma kit sponsorship etc.).
Whether or not the money is available for transfers is largely irrelevant. I’ve been stating this for quite some time that AW is largely a man of principle. With greater funds, this may only mean greater access to players that he would want to bring to the club, but it will not, however, equate to meeting inflated valuations for players from the selling club. If AW deems the player’s price to be equal or below that of market value, then he will used the increased funds to bid for the player’s services.
Thus, we may see our previous transfer fee record broken this summer, but do not expect to see a significant change in our transfer philosophy to that of the past 8 years (i.e. bidding for the likes of Cavani, Falcao, Isco, Lewandowski etc.). With that said, there is still plenty of time left in this TW, so let’s wait and see what happens. Onwards and Upwards fellow Gooners!
I need reminders please! When did Arsenal as a club ever sign a world class player? I have always know decent buys turn super stars at AFC. Need I mention Thiery Henry, Pires, Adebayo, Nasri, Fabregas, RVP etc
Need I mention of nearly a decade which not only lacks any silverware, but also any real competition put forward by the Arsenal against the lead runners?
Piss off sigh u r a shit fan
Usual negative rubbish from this website. What is even the point in writing an article like that? What, so if any of that happens you can say ‘i told you so’. Lol
Personally I don’t believe we will sign a 25-30mil player it’s just not wengers style. What I think will happen is we won’t sell any top players, save for sagna. But with the greatest respect, sagna is not fabro or van fill your persie. Jokes, love you really robin (ya bastard).
I think we will sign 1 young player (sanogo) and 2 £12-18 million players who will be relatively unknown (ie not jovetic or higuine) and will turn out to be absolute dynamite! Koscielny anyone?
Simply Arsenal.