Arsenal Banter Archive August 21 2013

21 aug 2013 21:56:26
oh ye of little faith!

21 Aug 2013 21:53:03
great result tonight and a great performance. definitely ramseys best game in an arsenal shirt. I just hope wenger doesn't adopt an "i told you so" attitude and decides not to buy. come on wenger, buy 2 or 3 very good players and we might be ok.

21 Aug 2013 21:48:57
What the hell is going on w Prem refereeing?

The Chelsea match was a joke. If we were robbed, Aston Villa was pillaged today

How does it get worse every year?

Couldn't agree more, refs performance against Villa was an absolute disgrace.

Absolutely no consistency--only thing you can be sure of is that it's going to be bad

21 Aug 2013 21:47:43
So our game just ended. Not the result I expected, a good result for us that will see us through, no waiting on the panel to ban Fener. That said, Fener beat themselves today but maybe that is what we needed to kick start our season.
Hopefully this will be followed up by some quality signings, if we can take six points from Fulham and Tottenham then our season looks OK.
Thats wishful thinking though, I didn't see Arsene's interview, maybe I'll find it later but I'm sure it was something along the lines of, "I told you this team could compete"
Hopefully though, he will make the signings we need, Shez had a good game, he's very hot and cold and I think we still need a keeper.
Get us Begovic!
P.S. Did anybody see the Chelsea match? I was watching parts of it and to say the referee should be fired is an understatement, put in front of the firing squad may do him justice.
Most blatant elbow you will see all season from Ivanovic on to Benteke and somehow he escaped with a yellow. Only to score the winner a minute later. Deeply gutted for Villa as if the ref had made the correct decision, it would be 1-1 with Chelsea down to 10 men.
I guess it shows the decisions balance each other out after Villa got lucky against us, but when we will get our luck? Against Tottenham I'm hoping!
Come on Arsene! Give us a reason to be happy!

21 Aug 2013 21:42:16
What a difference a game makes.

Positives:
-Obviously, 3-0 win away at fener is a great result, considering how tough many predicted it would be
-Ramsey was outstanding
-Walcott looked v good
-Wilshere slowly looking more like himself
-clean sheet and good saves at the end from Shezza

Negatives:
-Koscienly's injury showed how thin our squad is
-Podolski didn't look the slightest bit interested when he came on
-Cazorla was pretty quiet

I honestly believe that we will make signings before the window closes, getting through Fulham will be important before then, I can't see too much activity before saturday.

21 Aug 2013 21:41:29
Business resumed

Amidst the whining I'd have thought some of you guys forgot we had a CL match tonight

See you on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Now let's get em signed

21 Aug 2013 21:35:52
I like sanga as a CB

21 Aug 2013 21:26:20
Honestly I would've settled for a draw tonight lol

BELIEVE my fellow gooners. All is not lost.

Gooner83

All will be lost if we don't strengthen, 16 outfield players ain't enough, nowhere near enough

21 Aug 2013 21:09:32
Boys doing real well now 2 up

21 Aug 2013 20:42:16
I just received this from the club. After I carefully spent time writing a email they sent back something that didn't explain anything repeating the crap we hear all the time.

Dear Sir

Many thanks for your email. We understand and share your disappointment about the weekend's result.

In terms of our dealings in the transfer market, we can assure you we have been working hard throughout the summer to bring in additional players and this will continue until the end of the transfer window.

We are clear that our ambition at Arsenal is to compete for and win trophies. This ambition is shared by our majority owner Stan Kroenke, the board, Arsène Wenger and everyone who works for the Club.

Thank you for your support.

Kind regards

On Behalf of Arsenal Football Club

Regards and thank you

21 Aug 2013 20:37:29
0-0, controlling the game they have not threaten us really so far. That final ball is just not quite there so far (Walcott main culprit), But keep it up and f I am sure we will score in 2nd half. Need a runner off Giroud.

Hopefully Kos. injury not to bad just a nasty cut.

21 Aug 2013 19:44:16
Quick thought, all the players that Liverpool and spurs are buying, ask yourselves this, are any big sides in for them, no, there is a reason for this.and we will find that out in May, 5/6th again

21 Aug 2013 19:23:23
merson is riping wenger and our squad apart .really think everyone needs to give the team and wenger the next 10 days at least then, if what business he's done isn't what we think is right, i'm sure he will be relieved of his duties before the end of the season.sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, the grass isn't always greener

ty.1

Merson is a prize plum.

There's no grass it's just mud right now. We just need a change

Thank goodness for Alan Smith and Charlie Nic, the only ex-players who give our team and manager a bit of credit.
As for Merson, Wright, Adams and especially Robson- who needs them?

Agree, May not be manager change but overall change may be happening soon than anyone thinks

21 Aug 2013 23:07:42
He's bitter Wenger jogged him on, the Chelsea mug

21 Aug 2013 18:45:59
So the bale deal to madrid has gone very quite, things being said like he's overpriced ect ect and although everyone thinks its basically a done deal because of the spending spurs have done
I have to say there is some very strange things happening in the transfer market derisary bids going off left right and centre.
So bear with me and I shall try to shed some light on why this is happening
First Manchester United are in for bale this will need to be funded by a sale, Rooney
Rooney is wanted by arsenal and chelsea Fact
Rooney will only go to a team in the champions league.
Man u will sell to us because part of the rvp deal ment we had first option
So untill we qualify the fans and shareholders need appeasing from all parties hence the dodgy bids

Sorry but that is fantasy

Part of the rvp deal did not give us first option on rooney.

Where do people make this up?

21 Aug 2013 18:32:37
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup has dismissed reports linking Michu and Ashley Williams with a move to Arsenal.

21 Aug 2013 19:25:03
hes not gonner say that he's happy about us showing interest, if we want a Swansea player we will get him

21 Aug 2013 18:26:35
SKY reporting Tottenham have agreed to and subject to a medical tomorrow signing for £30 million.

AND we are linked with a Williams who in my opinion is overrated. This post will get mixed responses but who honestly would choose Williams; if he wasn't English, he would be looked upon!

Tottenham to eclipse Man City in terms of transfer money. As much as I hate to say, and let's be honest, we have NOW given Tottenham the expectancy to finish in the top four and they have gratefully received it.

Say what you want but please be realistic. And you have Wenger spouting his usual yesterday; we have to concentrate on the players we have.

Every single night I look at our rumours and transfer news. The expectancy builds for the start of EPL and it's rubbish. Thank you Wenger and board for spoiling the anticipation for me.

What a joke.

First of all, Williams isn't English. but I guess your point still stands, maybe he gets more publicity (For want of a better word) due to the fact he is British.
Maybe its because he captained Swansea to their first trophy.
He is good, would he be in City team? No. Tottenham team? No. United team? No. Chelsea team? No. Liverpool team? No.
He isn't fantastic, the fans want him because he seems realistic, also because he is in fact an improvement.
That said, I, and I expect most, would much prefer Sakho, with Williams as second choice.
Tottenham look set to finish top four, if we out do them again, maybe they should just disband.

And what happens if Madrid pull out the bale deal? That's the only reason spurs are spending

21 Aug 2013 18:18:44
Hi all

I am getting a feeling Arsenal could be on the start of a very long and slippery slope which could well take many many years to recover. Football as we know is changing, players and agent wanting the big money, players just looking to be on TV 24/7 hence the urge for CL football. Once Arsenal slip out of CL football it will take along time before we attract the quality of player to get us back into it and with spurs now spending big they could well take our place, we could well suffer 16 years of suffering at the hands of our London neighbours . I don't know how we will ever get out of this current plight, we have the money but the current board are not willing to spend any kind of realistic money. If Wenger does have a part in these ridiculous low bids we are currently making, then expect mid table mediocrity until he and the American leave.

21 Aug 2013 17:44:05
"In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part" I think this more or less summarizes my relationship with our beloved club. I might groan and moan, scream and shout and let it all out, but I will always be a Gooner.

I am hoping we get a good win over Fenerbache. Think about it, if we win against Fenerbache today, then the odds of us signing someone special will be much greater. We will be in a better position to tempt players to come and join our club. With one foot already in the final, then we can dangle the champions league carrot to Suarez and Bender. If we lose tonight, then there is no way in hell any great player would want to board a sinking ship. let's get behind the team today. No boos from the travelling fans please and get a 2-0 win (hopefully). If we win, then we go after very good players who currently don't have champions league hopes.

All this is of course on the assumption that Arsene Wenger hasn't one completely bonkers and will spring into action if we get that critical win.

If we lose tonight and the return leg, then we bring out the hangman's noose for Wenger on Tuesday next week. Or rather, we tar and feather him before we set the wolves on him. Or even better, throw him into a vat of acid. Or we crucify him, Golgotha style.

Come on you gunners! Strong character, like steel, is forged in fire!

I'm all up for wenger out but after everything he has done for our club don't you think that's a bit extreme!

21 Aug 2013 17:29:39
all the moaning going on at the moment in this forum is getting boring! it is clear and has been clear for some time now we have no intention of signing players until c/l is out of the way, so give it a rest! if we spank fenerbache tonight expect to see a couple of signing over the weekend! if not well it will be next weekend! chill out folks!

{Ed022's Note - I do my best to add light hearted banter to the otherwise depressing situation! Still, we have a big game tonight! Hopefully a big result (in our favour) that pretty much guarantees CL football might actually mean we sign big players!}

21 Aug 2013 17:03:50
Is this supposed 70M actually available? I know it was talked up massively at the beginning of the summer but that was during season ticket renewal for the more sceptic among us. We have the indisputable cash reserve as shown by the accounts but we have had that for a couple of seasons now to a lesser degree. We have also shifted some wages from the bill. It staggers me why we haven't invested, these bids we're putting in are ludicrous and were never going to be accepted. Someone from the club needs to answer some questions otherwise the next AGM could turn into a riot/massacre.

{Ed022's Note - Mate we have £100m plus easily to call upon should it be required. Money is literally no issue. Also, we have a separate budget for wages and that does NOT come out of the £70m plus war chest which has now been re-named "battle side-boob" instead...}

I didn't mean do we have the cash I meant is at actually being made available for transfers.

21 Aug 2013 16:49:14
Off to me local in Tersefanou [Larnaca] tonite to watch the game [I see every game live here], feeling a little worried to say the least. But it will be in the 90f [30c] beer will be ice cold & I no doubt will be shouting at the screen with all the locals, as always laughing at me.
So come on guys just for tonite get behind the 'Team That Changed Football' as Tony Attwood put it. Hope you all get a link. Anyone on holiday near Elysian Fields pop in I'll buy you a beer.
Come on you Gooners!

21 Aug 2013 16:38:25
Ed all joking aside . What are the chances of dd getting his feet back under the boardroom table?

{Ed022's Note - Under the current ownership, unlikely. I think everyone looks to DD as a saviour. Yes, he was good at his job but it was at a time where there were no real restraints such as paying off a stadium. We are better off financially now than we were back then. The problem seems to be the negotiating and valuation of players. Also, there has to be a real reason why £70m hasn't been spent...}

21 Aug 2013 17:15:53
And the reasons are?

{Ed022's Note - Im good but I am not in the board room which is where I suspect the trouble is...}

21 Aug 2013 16:03:17
For people saying that Wenger is still right to not pay over the odds for players, sorry you're dead wrong. He still lives in a 2007 world of player value. He hasn't adjusted for the change in the market value of players and the rate of inflation. A player who cost you £20 million in 2007 will cost £35 million odd in todays world. Wenger still values based on an outdated economic mode. He needs to modernise his thinking if he's ever to be able to compete again as at the moment, he's offering money for players at practically half value and that will never be accepted.

21 Aug 2013 17:02:41
I think Mr Wenger is smack on with his valuations.

Sterry if that's the case why haven't we signed any talent.

21 Aug 2013 15:10:04
Hi guys,

Spurs fan, back again.

You're all looking for a great signing, someone to take you to that next level. It has been noted you're after a forward. How would you feel about Eto'o? He's available (reasonable price), great finisher, fast, good on the ball and would suit Arsenal's style of play.

Then with another couple of good signings, CB, CM and GK you'd be as strong as the season before last in my opinion.

If Arsene did pull this signing off, would you still be calling for him to stand down? Or do you want him to stand down anyway now?

I know, it's weird a spurs fan talking about great signings for our rivals, but we need to battling competitive derbys!

Salary will be too high. Nice idea though.

Answer me this oh friendly spurs fan!

Are you and your other 2 supporters happy that with the Bale money you have signed 2 or 3 decent players or would you have preffered to keep him?

Also if you do spend all of his fee on these players are you happy that these combined players wages will inflate your wage bill massively and hamper your progression in the future?

Lets just say that these players don't cut it in the EPL, and they have all signed deals at 70-100k per week over 4 years, will levy spend big in the next few seasons? Or will you end up like us with average players clogging up the wage bill?

Fair play, the players you have signed do look decent but not really world class as yet are they.

Just a thought.

I would've liked to have kept Bale. But I feel that we are signing quality players and are a more balanced team IF he leaves.

They aren't world class?

Paulinho - Brazillian International
Soldado - Highest scoring spanish player in La Liga. Averages over a goal every 2 games
Chadli - Keeping Fellaini out of the beligium squad.
Willian - Single handidly destroyed Chelsea in the CL
Capoue - Capped 7 times for France

So I think you could say that they are world class player.

As far as the salaries, we have got rid of Huddlestone, Parker, Bentley, Livermore, Gallas and Caulker off the wage bill currently. We are still working to get rid of Adebayor which will be another huge saving. As for spending ridiculous amounts, even without Bale, our net spend is only £23m, which, considering the players that we've brought in, I think is great business. Which makes a change as we normally don't do any until late and get in substandard players (apart from Van Der Vaart).

I think you miss the point of my post 337, it was to see how you all would feel about the possiblity of a marquee signing like Eto'o considering he was available and what your thoughts to Wenger are and if they've changed over the course of the closed season. It was an invitation to complain and moan about the rivalry between clubs, try to have a go at rival clubs, or try and start a reply with a condascending opening sentence.

I for one enjoy FRIENDLY banter between both clubs and sets of supporters. I just feel that it is people like you, and spurs have some too, that cause unnecessary tention between the clubs real supporters.

{Ed022's Note - Good, we love a bit of banter on the Arsenal page, especially when I am around. As for your players, you have spent the Bale money well in my opinion and you will have a stronger TEAM even though you'll lose your star player, therefore I see you being stronger and able to challenge for top 4 and a trophy...}

21 Aug 2013 14:51:09
Really don't see why we are going for this guita guy when we can get begovic for 15m or so and he would be amazing for us.

{Ed022's Note - Agreed...}

21 Aug 2013 14:32:42
I think we should put a 10million offer in the Remy Cabella,
Montpellier are in bits and Cabella is rumoured to be wanting a move away,
Absolutely class player really would love him at Arsenal as he would add another firery spark to the squad and wouldn't be extremely expensive.
Great replacement for Gervinho!

Also liked the look of Gourcuff against Real Sociadad making very nice, slick 1-2s and looks like he is getting by the game!

ED any chances in these?

{Ed022's Note - Well Cabella is a name you have plucked out of left field. As for Arsenal interest, not that I know, as for Gourcuff, Lyon are looking to shift him and he's interested in a move to Arsenal...}

I think we should go for Gourcuff he's expirenced but still developing and is better than Gervinho

Didn't someone at montpellier come out a few months ago about how they'd only sell him some ridiculous price

21 Aug 2013 14:22:56
Are we waiting for CL fate, to sign players?

Even if that's the case, we could have signed Flamini on a free and put him on field for the Villa game. We sure would have done a better job in that game with a proper defensive midfielder.

21 Aug 2013 13:36:03
Casillas, Suarez & Bender If we qualify for CL
Begovic, Michu & Barry If we don't
Williams or Richards either way

{Ed022's Note - Happy with your CL qualifying signings. Happy with Begovic. Like Michu but don't think he's worth £25m personally. Think Barry is a duffer...}

21 Aug 2013 13:15:13
Arsene's pre match press conference infuriates me. His reaction to any question about transfers having let every arsenal fan down in this window is laughable. At the end of last season he and Gazidis were forthcoming in letting everyone know that we had the money to spend and it was well publicised that we had £70 million to spend, and this was to be the transfer window where we would spend it and spend it early. Why Gazidis came out with this puzzles me as despite covering his own tracks by deflecting the blame of the lack of transfers to Arsene Wenger he is also making any club that we want to buy a player off of aware that we have money and they to being business men rather than football men drive the price up. As we have seen with Higuain, Suarez and every other player we have tried to sign. When you look at Daniel levy at tottenham, he has spent the money early before selling Bale for £100 million because if he had not other clubs would no he had that money and drive the price up.
Arsene Wenger also said in his pre match press conference that over the last number of years we have been very successful with transfers. This clearly shows that he defines success by making substantial profit on players that he has bought on the cheap. Not success in buying players that drastically improve the team and strengthen the team in the areas needed and players that lead us to trophies not to fourth place.
When asked about the teams around us and the top 4 he replied I have heard this for the last 16 years and I have got arsenal into the champions league for the last 16 years. This pure arrogance will come back to haunt Arsene Wenger because the current squad just is not good enough.
Also when asked about transfers he said I don't need to explain myself about transfers to anyone. How about us Arsene? The people who have been paying well over the odds for a number of years on false promises.
If I was in the press conference I would take issue with him about it. Arsenal fans like John Cross who have BS'd all summer just sit there and take it from him just because he doesn't have to pay to get the emirates and we do.
I've had enough

21 Aug 2013 12:53:41
Call me a dreamer but surely aw has something big in the pipeline there has to be we are dramatically behind spurs and liverpool ATM never mind the other 3

{Ed022's Note - We're signing Lewandowski, Bender, Sakho and Begovic before Sept 2nd... aaaaaaand you're back in the room!}

For a second there.

{Ed022's Note - Sorry to momentarily raise your hopes CC Gooner. Just call me Ivan Gazidis...}

Even with our threadbare squad and poor start to the season we will NEVER finish behind Liverpool.

21 Aug 2013 12:43:08
I believe the problem with this transfer window is simply down to one person who cannot keep his trap shut.

On the 7th June 2013 Ivan Gazidis announced that Arsenal had a war chest of 70 million, since then every time Arsenal enquire / make an offer for a player. Then the other club just increase their valuation. We had Mr Wenger and his team over the years purchased players at a cut prices, now they are going in at reasonable valuations and just being knocked back. List all the players Arsenal have missed throughout this transfer window and how much either the club wanted or what they sold for. In my eyes all of them had the price inflated, and this is simply down to Ivan Gazidis and his big mouth. If other clubs are happy to purchase over priced players then let them go-ahead.
I personally would go out and purchase DCM maybe a striker and keep the rest until the next transfer window, also release a statement that we have released 90% of the war chest to improvements on the stadium or training ground. Then next transfer window go out and purchase at a realistic price.

21 Aug 2013 12:23:32
Can everyone please just stop saying 'war chest'!

Only mildly less annoying than our inactivity this window!

{Ed022's Note - It's think it's more of a "battle side-boob..."}

21 Aug 2013 12:04:26
I am so sick of scouring the net for the tiniest glimmer of a transfer.

This is actually ridiculous now.

I might go to sleep until the 2nd Sep

{Ed022's Note - Where's the fun in that? Why not have some banter and a chat on here instead...?}

I'm not called MoodyGoon for nothing. In the words of Stewie Griffin. 'WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH WAAAAAAAAAAAAH'

{Ed022's Note - In the words of Stewie Griffin, "Don't be such a deuce!"}

21 Aug 2013 11:46:19
Another point I would like to make is that Wenger is a very stoic manager. It would not be the first time the board have said we have money when we don't and Wenger has taken the stick. I am not excusing the man from all blame, however it is possible he is allowing himself to be the fall guy yet again because he loves the club.

You might find his bold statements irritating, but until we make signings he can't come out and say the current players are crap can he? He needs to keep confidence up amongst our current crop. Hopefully we manage to get some deals across the line before the end of the window, but IF Wenger's hands are being tied then we are doing a diservice to a man who gave us so much. A man who has turned down offers from Real Madrid amongst others.

Even if Wenger is to blame for the lack of spending then we at least owe him the courtesy of thanking him for his work and giving him a respectful send off. That is the least we can do for him. We are a million miles further ahead than we were when he took over and it may just be he has run out of steam. Either way he does not deserve the abuse he has been getting.

I thought we were classier than that.

{Ed022's Note - Mhc, there is no doubt about us having the money. We have over £100m in reserves. Forbes, Deloitte and other sources confirm this. The factor here is there must be a reason WHY Wenger hasn't spent yet..}

Yes that is the point I am making Ed. We know Arsenal have money. What we don't know is if Wenger is being allowed to spend it. Gazidiz admitted we have cash because he had no choice - everyone could see it. Doesn't mean Kronke and co. have told Wenger he can spend it. Wenger is a great manager, he obviously sees the gaps. The reason that he hasn't spent it might lie at someone else's door is the point I am making.

We have the money & Gazidis said so. It is Wenger who won't spend, combined with offering poor deals when we after players.

{Ed022's Note - I just get the feeling there is an underlying problem which isn't being highlighted...}

Arsenal Holdings PLC's financials at 30/11/12 state cash in bank at £123m. Add in sponsorship deals signed (Emirates/Puma), the gervinho fee (if fully paid) and the champions league money recently paid and we are probably closer to £150/£160m. I really think money is not the issue here.

{Ed022's Note - No-one is saying money is an issue. As I have said, it's quite clearly stacked up in bank accounts. The reason behind why it isn't being spent is more the issue...}

It is getting more & more obvious that there is an underlying problem! It has to a fairly serious one as well. Eds have said for a while now that there is are big changes happening so maybe this is part or cause of them.

{Ed022's Note - The takeover theory has been mentioned as a reason for no money coming out as that would be part of the value of the club if Stan Kronke was looking to sell. Therefore, we could see a takeover, however, there is no evidence this will happen at the moment and it would mean the whole window has been a bust!}

Ed. I don't think there is any mystery as to why the money hasn't been spent. Wenger was once asked what would he do if he was given 100 million to spend on players. His reply was he would give it back. The guy is a stubborn old fool who wants glory by winning without spending lots of money to prove he is the greatest coach ever. Well he isn't and never will be. A good coach sure but not great. Never won the CL and didn't even manage to win the premiership back to back. And its highly unlikely he will win them in the future.

'Deluded', wenger was also asked, what he would do with £50mil and he said sign neymar.
Before that he was asked if you could sign one played who would you sign, and he said gotze.
So surely something is restricting him.
Add to that the low offers they have been making for players this season.

21 Aug 2013 11:19:08
Here is the my view about the cause of arsenal's incompetence in the market. Arsene claims players are over valued and prices are inflated bt there are certain things we shouldn't forget;
-Kolo Toure was bought app 500,000 BPd and sold app 15m.
-Adebayo bought 8m sold 24m
-Song 1m sold 15m.
So the point is some fans will say arsene added value to these players and that's right. but why is it that Wenger is unwilling to pay more than 15m for good established players from other clubs by claiming that players are over-valued yet practically he does the same thing when he is selling his players.
Providing unrealistic offers will keep us out of the competition after all I think other clubs are fed up of Wenger's dirty tricks.

{Ed022's Note - He did the same with Anelka who was signed for about £500k and sold for £22m to Real Madrid. Vieira signed for £3.5m and sold to Juventus for £13.75m. You can't deny he can sell on players for a profit which is why it's so frustrating that he doesn't use these vast profits to replace and improve our team...}

21 Aug 2013 11:15:11
Lads, don't understand wengers relaxed mood. Does he know something we dont( obviously he does) and what has he got in the pipeline. Sick of him telling us about his sixteen years. Arsene, for half of them you haven't won anything.
Not overly worried about the spuds. They have signed three players but look like they are losing a 26 goal a year machine.

{Ed022's Note - Willian and Lamela are key. If Spurs sign one or both of these players, especially instead of us in the case of Lamela then we might struggle and as I have said, they're selling their 26 goal machine sure, but they will get 6-7 players for that. Thats like us selling RVP and replacing him with 6-7 good players (which we didn't do). The next two weeks is massive in determining our season...}

21 Aug 2013 10:03:36
Speaking about the bid, Juve's CEO Beppe Marotta said

"Forget Pogba! We have no intention of listening to proposals for the midfielder."

Like I said yesterday:
Pogba - not sore sale
Kondogbia - Moncao
Cabaeye - PSG

Which leaves:
One Gareth Barry. There's only one gareth barry.

Sigh.

If Gaz Baz joins the club, we have truly become a joke. Someone needs to come out and say what's going on. Another joke to throw in the hat: The matchday programme came with a sticker book. You only got to get all the home fixture programmes to complete the set. WOW

{Ed022's Note - They will need to add in the sticker of Gareth Barry...}

21 Aug 2013 08:57:24
It really is telling how many of us have turned against the current powers at the club in the last couple of weeks, myself included.

Gazidis does a good job commercially, but is clueless from a football point of view, so doesn't have the cojones to convince Wenger to spend more to get a particular player.

Ive always supported Wenger, th guys an undoubted hero of the club for his work in the past. But so is Tony Adams and I don't see him being wheeled onto the pitch just because he used to bring us glory. In the same way, when a manager has fallen behind the times then its time to part ways an thank them for the happy times they've brought us.

We desperately need a fresh mind leading the club - i'm not against Kroenke and Gazidis (though the latter should have his job description changed to commercial manager). They've made clear that money is available to spend. What we need is a manager that lives in todays world and understands that the market dictates player values, and not themselves and the club accountants.

We've missed out on a horrible number of players that, contrary to Wengers assertions, would have improved our squad (. Higuain, aubameyang (what did dortmund get him for? 16m? What does Dick Law do all day to have not advised that bargain signing?!), capoue, willian, paulinho, soldado, negredo, wanyama, schurlle etc.

Wenger insists thr pool of players of the requisite quality is small, but we can all readily identify sakho, alderweild, richards, williams as being defeders that would improve us that are stll available. Gonalons, vender, kondogbia are all attainable signing for dm. Gaitan, coentrao, griezmann could absolutely tear up the left flank. And how has free-scoring doumbia been forgotten as a cf option?!

We can all see what's needed. Wenger can't; so goodbye and thanks for all the fish

21 Aug 2013 08:52:30
I'd like to make a point re. Dick Law who seems open to criticism. I particularly love how people claim he "isn't a football person". I'd like to point out a few things.

1. He was a key ally of David Dein
2. He was crucial in the signings of Gilberto Silva, Vela, Ramsey and Walcott amongst others
3. He is a FIFA licenced agent

The guy knows the game and he knows his job. The lack of spending has to be coming from Wenger or Kroenke/Kroenke's mouthpiece Gazidiz.

Either way we have people in place who know how to get a deal done. What we don't seem to have is the ability to open the wallet.

Well said. Truth will out as they say.

21 Aug 2013 07:33:57
I'm wondering if there is a reason for no transfer activity. I have a possible theory and maybe it has legs. The current board of silent Stan have been approached for a takeover and he's at early negotiations with say usmanov or other. Whilst Stan keeps thinking it over and hoping the buy out price rises as his greed grows, meanwhile he has told wenger all transfer activity notably buying will be frozen whilst he is in talks to sell. If this is the case please mr usmanov gain control and give arsenal FC back to the fans because at the moment the current board lacks empathy with its fans who pay the highest ticket prices in the EPL. Thoughts please from eds & gooners! Great site keep the faith gooners!

That would be great, but if Kronke sold to Usmanov today, there would still be months of legal stuff(that I know nothing about)to go through before things could change.
There was a very interesting article in one of the papers yesterday, that quoted Lady Bracewell-Smith as saying that"She had now regretted selling her shares to Kronke"
I think we are all regretting that now.

How many American owners have their been in the premier league that have had a positive influence on their club?

Arsenal, liverpool, Manchester United - as far as I can tell, the fans don't want them.
many others? sunderland maybe?

{Ed022's Note - Villa have Randy Lerner and they beat us...? Im kidding of course. He's very much the silent Stan type owner. Not much money put in. A team stripped of key players eg Bent, Young, Barry etc... Now playing a young team...}

21 Aug 2013 08:39:14
I love Wenger but his excesses has hit roof top this transfer window. How can you claim you want top quality players, and you then wait till the last 10days of each transfer windows to get such qualities. Lies! Truth is Wenger never intended to buy, we were all in one big merry go round.
Which player with ambitions to be the best will wait till the last day of transfer market to decide his future, that just stupidity. Even a 4year boy knows if he wants the best toys he has to be in the supermarket early.
Now his lies are been exposed more with OAC contradicting his length of injury, and here we were blaming our medical team all this while. How did we get here,
Lies lies lies. Why?

21 Aug 2013 08:02:48
I'm begging you Arsene:

Micah Richards - £16m
Sakho - £10m
Williams - £11m
Tom Ince - £8m

Play Theo or Poldi up front, or just behind Giroud.

Not exactly what we would all have been wishing for at the start of the summer but surely these four suggested signings are neither "panic" buys nor unrealistic?
Defence oriented but Vermaelen is not the player he was - or fit - Koscielny needs support and much as I'm not in the anti- Per league, he is not enough. Kos, Per, Williams and Sakho feels good and I believe Sakho can and has played DM? Someone will correct me if I'm wrong here, no doubt.

I'd also suggest Doumbia from Moscow as another striking option. No doubt many will say that their league isn't comparable but we are not going to get anyone now. No idea of his market valuation but in todays market maybe €20m+?

FOR HEAVENS SAKE WENGER, PULL YOUR FINGER OUT! Spurs have, Fulham have, even bl**dy Cardiff and Southampton have!

Five players there probably for an outlay of £60m.

Max Farnham ha ha classic

I'm changing my name to Ron Dixon

{Ed022's Note - In that case I am Ron Burgundy...}

PSG don't want to sell sakho, and he prefers a loan move to AC milan.

Tom Ince? wtf. rather give ryo or gnabry a chance.

Micah Richards is not going to be sold to us.

and we won't buy williams if he is going to cost 10-12 million.

You want to buy 3 new defenders? Wed' then have 5 CB and 3 RBs. Really?

And you want Tom Ince. We really don't need more average players.

21 Aug 2013 02:12:45
"Arsène Wenger believes the transfer window should close before the new season gets underway each year." - Arsenal Fc official website


so he wishes that the window was closed before he has to buy a handful of chud 'cause we couldn't pull in any big guns.

That is not why at all.

It is because Wenger is an idealist (for good or ill) and believes that a team changing from one game to the next during the season devalues the competition. He does not like the January window or the summer window extending to the start of the season. That said until the windows change ( which IMHO they should) he will still make purchases right up to deadline day.

Well we would really be ****ed then!

21 Aug 2013 00:10:52
Why the hell has Wenger lied to all about AOC's recovery time?

20 Aug 2013 23:49:28
I know as am going to get slated but still, would be very happy if we lose tommorow, and also get knocked out of UCL in the qualifier itself, because wenger needs a good reality check, a smack in his face then only will he realise that he has made our club a pile of Sh**


Very fustrated Gooner