Arsenal Banter Archive February 26 2013

26 Feb 2013 23:01:01
Coq before the balls - love it.

26 Feb 2013 22:52:36
Edd's, can you guys put your comments separately?
I only ask as a lot of the time I want to agree with your comments but not the original post.
Thanks {Ed027's Note - i'll out the request forward

I'd like this too. 9/10 I want to agree with the Ed and not the original poster.

Can you not just write I agree with the ed but not the poster

derbyshire dave

Agree

Hackney Gooner

26 Feb 2013 22:23:06
Hey, I was just wondering does anybody think we'll still finish above Tottenham this season or will Bale carry them above us?

I definitely think we will!

I think Sunday is key.

We need at least a point to come 3rd given both run ins

It will be tight and depends what Arsenal turns up. We are the better side but we can give up points to poorer oppositions.

We are also due some luck.

SY4

Dont think sunday is the key at all however we need 3 points either way. think of the top teams to be played:

Arsenal - Yids, Everton & United 7 points

Yids - Us, Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea, City

This week is not decisive for us at all given the above, we just need to make sure we maximise through the other fixtures. 3rd could well be ours

The thing is, I am worried about Everton, and I am worried about Swansea too if I'm honest. We don't have this 'easy run in' people talk about, we have a solid run in.

26 Feb 2013 19:56:41
MU fan in peace. So, it appears the 2 longest serving Managers' reigns may be coming to an end. Who do you think will replace Arsene and SAF?

AJH {Ed027's Note - Can't really think, the jobs are too big, especially Utd's, though i reckon Moyes will go to Utd, and maybe Laudrup for us...

I think Moyes at UTD, I think Utd won't want to go for a big manager, no disrespect to Moyes but I mean a big big name will have pressure on them from day 1 but I can see Moyes been given time to grow into the club but I also happen to believe Moyes would be a perfect fit and the Best man for the job at Utd.
As for us well I could never really see past Pep and still don't, think Wenger will have 2 more years and Pep will winner 2-3 Trophy's with Bayern and then be ready for the EPL. if Wenger goes before then I couldn't really say who I would want. I've got a lot of respect for Carlo Ancelloti and I don't think he has ever been linked or considered by the fans but if Pep wasn't available I would happily have Carlo.

1404

Utd - Moyes
Arsenal - Klopp

Utd - Mourinho

Arsenal - Dragan Stojkovich

CECEGUaW

I think both will be left field choices. Possibly Laurent Blanc for Unted, not sure for you. Wenger came from nowhere but that was DD wasn't it?

AJH

26 Feb 2013 17:21:17
Hi Eds,

Quick question. What do you think are the chances of Lukaku leaving Chelsea in the summer and could you see Arsenal making a move for him? If Chelsea buy another striker (which they probably will) then surely that means Lukaku will see even less chances of breaking into the starting line-up. I remember reading a lot of rumours when he was at Anderlecht that Arsenal were interested but he chose Chelsea because he and they saw him as Drogba's replacement. What do you reckon mate?

Thanks! {Ed027's Note - He cost chelsea a lot and would cost us atleast 10m more, to out it simple he's a bloody TANK, chelsea would be truely thick to loan him let alone sell him

£28m for Lukaku! Wow.

26 Feb 2013 19:19:38
in regards to a post earlier about bale, i'm not sure who I would pick to man mark him because we don't have a solid cdm which it was we have been lacking.
i hope jenko plays at rb because to me sagna just don't seem interested and he's counting down the days till he gets a summer move away.
one thing I think is if we can play some good long balls to giroud we could cause them some grief but on the other hand if bale gets space to shoot well we are in trouble sorry but I don't trust shezza at all

gooner mark

Our best chance is just an open game and out score them

There is only one person that can man mark Bale and that man is. Chuck Norris.

1404

Unfair on Sagna, he played out of his skin 2 weeks ago

337

I hope Sagna is fit. I think if jenkinson plays they will target him using Bale and try to get him sent off. Can't afford that to happen like it did against Sunderland

26 Feb 2013 15:20:06
this just shows how bad things are going, we are now battling with spurs for cl football where from the late 90's to early 2000's we were battling for the title and even had some good runs in cl
oh god what have we become

To be fair, every team has its ups and downs, peaks and troughs. somehow Spurs have gone under the radar, they don't get any credit for achieving 4th last season, by rights they should have been playing champs league football and we should be grateful they aren't! Otherwise Damiao etc would be theirs already. However, what we have done at Arsenal is give us the platform to maintain a challenge at the very top so that we don't go 20 years without a league title or slip to relegation and spend 5 years clawing our way back up. We've given ourselves that platform, my concern is that we are failing to use it for that purpose.

Sheesh, get a grip. What have Spurs actually won? Support your team and stop whining. Pfft

AJH

What always amazes me when everyone keeps moaning about our finishing position is do they think about the circumstances. We are going through a bad time, on the pitch and off it. But there is a big light at the end of the tunnel and whilst we are in this bad position we have been either 3rd, 4th and maybe 5th this year.

Think off all the teams we are battling with and where they were when things weren't going right. 2nd division or even 3rd division.

So please gents and ladies let's stop the moaning and just get behind OUR team and try and achieve the best we can until we are (maybe next year maybe the year after) ready to take over for a few years to come.

We do have the potential

Sorry forgot to sign off my post.

Estepona gooner

26 Feb 2013 14:08:32
the club needs to start to justify its season ticket prices with a better quality of player.

123mill sitting in the bank and supporters scrimping and saving for tickets.

we are paying for the stadium.

having to pay players like squid and aa23 loyalty bonus to walk away on a free.

sign some quality and we would not moan half enough

whoopy they announce a pay freeze but we paid for it in 1 lump sum last year,, twice the rate of inflation.

who are they fooling

there has to be an end to the clubs strategy.

having over 15 well paid players at the club that should never wear an arsenal shirt.

progress don't make me laugh.

Progress is in the eye of the beholders, who are now old, blind and senile!
The ones being fooled are the AKBs.
You speak of quality players, well apparently this is one of AW's best teams, so he said.
"Sigh"

Justify ticket prices, you say? well, the club won't admit it but our club runs on that money from the fans. our revenues consist of 40% from matchday profits and just over 20% from commercial deals (for Dortmund, it's 20% matchday and 50% commercial). we truly are (were?) paying for the stadium. hope, Charlie. a hope that the people at the club can and do turn rubbish around in time. that's all we've got. i'd suggest you try backing the club before you lose it all.

Do you ever post anything good or positive or just the same constant dribble.

26 Feb 2013 12:51:49
Guys, this video, go to 12 seconds - Diaby just about makes a pass to Wilshere, Wilshere takes a few strides forward and is in the perfect position to shoot but doesn't - why? If that's Defoe, Nani, Rooney, Bale, Tetvez, Suarez, basically any good forward, they shoot! Mata, Hazard (ok maybe not Hazard but he's been weak for me this season compared with his antics in France). Now, Jack's left footed, we're at home, he's got bags of time and space, he has said he needs to score more, and he passes? Someone bang their heads together. Jack could score 3 per game if he took his chances.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU-iS6V1Kjc

This is one of the things I hate about Arsene's strategy. we're always trying to score the perfect goal. we try leave the opponents writhing with seizures and soiling their pants while we lay it up for a simple tap-in that anyone except maybe Gervinho would score.

Sorry to be blunt but what are you on about? If you actually watch the video there are about three villa players plus one of ours between the goal and wilshire as he gets closer. Did you not notice that by passing he sets up a goal?


Jensen Hatrick

Jensen yes of course that time it led to a goal but 9/10 it doesn't. and it would have been easier to shoot. I believe Bale does it?

26 Feb 2013 12:28:05
Here come the spurs on our page 51 years and counting, blow offs.

26 Feb 2013 10:51:52
well, living proof that the board and the fans live in totally different worlds. I have never understood why the club thinks the fans are proud of the way we make all this money and don't spend it? we aren't proud of that.

if you sift through the comments on here, on forums, under blogs, on fan pages etc etc, twitter, fans are proud that we haven't borrowed millions against the club in loans that could cripple us. however, the club seems to take this (and I am sure they know full well, but they are putting words in our mouths) as fan being proud that we don't spend money that we earn through operations rather than borrowing or cash-rich owners.

what the fans want is to see money we earn being put into the team. the fans don't want to know that we have £123m lying around. we don't want to hear ph-w saying 'our fans are proud that we compete at the top whilst making a profit' - no we aren't. we're proud of the fact we don't have someone like abramovich buying everything whilst operating the club at some mad loss, sacking managers left right and centre til he gets what he wants. we take pride in coaching a team into a winning team. however, we don't take pride in having the 4th highest wage bill and being the 5th richest club in the world when as the stock of the clubs seems to rise, the quality of what we see on the pitch does the opposite. also, what would make me proud as a fan is if we sorted our wage bill out so that we could pay the likes of van persie their going rate because we operated well as a business. that is the holy grail of marrying football on the pitch with business operations behind the scenes. we have all the ingredients, but instead we spunk money on terrible players, bench/rot high earners, and bloat the squad and keep it that way until the players decide to leave, instead of terminating contracts to free up space for better players. what would make me proud is to be able to say at the end of the summer we spent £20m on e. g. isco or £35m on goetze because we could afford to as we had the cash, and we are paying them the rates they would get elsewhere. it doesn't fill me with pride that there is a fortune in the bank.

the champs league is becoming embarrassing - we're the charity team. we're the team every club wants to face in the last 16. ph-w's comment of '. our ability to compete at the top of the game here and in europe is underpinned by our financial performance' is both meaningless and also bs. that statement directly implies that we are at the top because of the profits we make - which is nonsense. we aren't at the top and it's because the club wants to make a profit instead of investing on the pitch.

having a wage bill almost as high as united's, yet having no high earning players, should really be a sackable offence for anybody in control of that part of the club. in any other business or indeed any club, that would go down as gross negligence. we are the only club on the planet who pays unknowns and kids similar wages as senior internationals when they've done nothing to fight for that contract or earn it in any way, and no, I am 100% not proud of that. it's no wonder our players don't have the balls to go out and turn on the style or turn up for big games. 2-0 at home to schalke what an embarrassment. just one of many that we see every season. we lose a game it's 'awww, wipe their bums, hold their hands - these poor boys need you' from arsene and the terrible performers start the next game. at better clubs there is an inquest, players get dropped. am I proud of this? no, not at all.

Top post metal.

back to your best.

Metal,

good stuff mate. I would have to agree with you. the better our financial position, the more mediocrity is seen on the pitch. we don't care about profits if they're not being reinvested in the club.

hill-wood says we compete at the highest level but you're right we are the team that everyone wants to play in the knock out stage of champions league. I would like to see some more bite, aggression, and pride out on the pitch.

here's to hoping jack wilshere becomes our steven gerard and never leaves

It seems as though player and property sales are included in our 'business operations' - but neither of those are controllable. This is an area I would like to learn more about, because depending on player sales is very very risky. What if RVP had been injured and we couldn't sell him? What if city had only paid £15m for Nasri instead of £24? If we are dependent on player sales, why did we only sell Cesc for £30m-odd? I remember there was only one place Ronaldo was going to go, Madrid, and they coughed up £80m for him still. How we couldn't push for £50m for Cesc when he had 3 years left is a mystery, considering we are dependent on player sales for profit.

If this is the case, we have a worrying business model. How can you project income for the year ahead when you have no idea until the deal is done, what a player will go for? (Unless deals are done well in advance)

What are we going to do if we don't have a £20m player to sell next summer? What will we do once there's no more property to sell?

These are areas I don't really understand. The club says we have loads of money. The finances show we have an abundance of cash should we need it. Gazidis says we can survive no problem without champions league money. But then why do we need to sell players every year? And why is our academy churning out so few players? Something doesn't add up at all.

I hope are wage structure will be reviewed I don't get why we have multiple players on 60k or more only to train or out on loan

watford gooner

And when you think about ashley cole he left for us offering 50k not 55k and now we have people like arshavin not even making the squad and on 90k

watford gooner

26 Feb 2013 09:59:05
Arsenal will have money to spend this summer without doubt, but not sure about £70m. Arsenal's accounts are still healthy, but you mustn't forget that you would have made a £25m loss if you hadn't sold RvP & Song and you would have made a £31m loss last year if you never sold Cesc & Nasri. So only player sales is keeping Arsenal profitable. Gross debt is down from £253m to £246m from the previous year. That is as expected. Cash reserves are at £123m, this is a tidy sum of cash, but bare in mind £24m has to remain in the bank due to the condition of the bonds. I'd suspect £40m or so will be kept just in case a top four position isn't achieved this season. And some will be kept for the day to day running of the club. So there is cash to spend, but I think £70m is unlikely.

Saying that it is getting harder and harder to make the top four so I think Arsenal will be forced to spend this summer. The TV deal hike should bring Arsenal at even without having to sell top players and when the new sponsorship deals kick-in Arsenal will be profitable without having to sell their best players. I think the future looks bright, but it may be a little rocky for the next couple of years if a top four position isn't achieved. I would say get behind the manager and support him as it isn't him who is in charge of the transfer funds and he is doing all he can with what is available.

Sydney!

Sydney there is money at arsenal.

the problem is that we have a board and manager that are in agreement how the club is run.

there is no reason why the club could not of invested 100 mill in the summer on new players.
you are allowed to finance your club as long as you can afford the loans.
we could of done many short term loans over the last 8 years to keep our best players and added some quality to the ranks.

we have taken this self sustainable model too far.

the stadium debt can never be changed or improved. it is not even worth talking about.
you have gone about the stadium reduced debt like its a big secret?
i can tell you now what the last payment is. we have it on terms that can never be changed

we have become a selling club to build a cash flow that only has ever earned interest.

there has been no strategy by wenger than to leave arsenal in a good financial state.

you have a manager at your club we have a board member at ours.

the club had a strategy and even when things never improved each year they were happy enough with the cl money.

would not be good enough for man utd.

why was it good enough for arsenal.

we use to run toe to with you lot.

we have gone so backwards over a stadium we can't even fill for an fa cup 5th round game.

oh and buy the way you were saying about our so called 70 mill.

the emirates has not paid the 75 mill up front yet,, that is suppose to arrive in the summer.

there is loads of money coming in at arsenal to be able to spend even 200 mill and not break the ffp rules.

there is a projected 350 mill in new advertising money coming by 2014 over 5 years.

we have not used sponsorship money for players investment since the move to the emirates.

we have loads of money

stick to your own club fiances

Champagne, your finances do not lie. Like I have said you would have made a £25m loss if it wasn't for the sales of RvP & Song and last year you would have made a loss of £31m if it wasn't for the sales of Nasri & Cesc. There isn't plenty of cash at your club, if there was you wouldn't need to sell players to make a profit. That being said you are correct in saying you could spend £100m this summer and still break even over the next five years.

But do not be fooled into thinking the club has buckets of cash because they don't. Arsenal are a self sufficient club that lives within it's means. Just Like Manchester United. There is money there, but there isn't anywhere near as much as you think and the club will not borrow more cash or use cash from the reserves that is not available for use. There will be more cash in the next few years, but until it's in the bank it will not be spent on players.

Arsenal's revenues will grow over the next few years as it will for a lot of clubs. But don't forget other costs will rise too like the wage bill to name one. it's all about cash flow and Arsenal's cash flow isn't great. There are cash reserves, but like I said earlier they need to keep £24m in the bank as a condition. They will also want to keep a certain amount in there as a safety net for finishing outside the top four. Then there is the day to day payments, wages, leccy bills, maintenance costs, interest payments etc etc.

Sydney!

Sydney the difference with arsenal is we have run the club with out the use of the sponsorship money.

from 2014 we will have 60 mill a year to spend on wages and transfers.

when the club starts winning you can add an extra 40 mill a year in tv and prize money.

we have never relied on sponsorship money for the every day running of the club.

if the club is true to their word the 300mill new deals should be invested in having the best team in europe.

there was no need for us to sell rvp we have 123 mill in the bank.
if we would of started winning cups it would of made up the difference in money with prize money.

we have spent nothing and that's in black and white.

you can come here giving your opinion but there is 1 difference you will never as much about arsenal as me.

Syd, correct me if I'm wrong but if the club were to make 100 mil in purchases in the summer, that would not necessarily mean they would be dishing out all that cash at once. Most (bar Malaga) players purchased are paid back to the selling club in multiple payments. So the actual money paid out during one transfer window could be 1/3 or 2/3 of the total spend.
So spending 100 mil is not unreasonable at all considering the available cash and future commercial and tv revenue. The real problem is the wage bill and getting rid of the "leeches" which are bleeding the club of money that could be put to better use.
Like I've said before the money is there but the willingness to spend it is not.

Ez, more than likely if Arsenal spent £100m in the summer it would all leave the club in one go. BUT the finances would show it leaving in stages. or example if Arsenal spent £100m on a few players and they all signed five year deals it would be spread over the length of their contracts equally. So £20m a year for five years. If the players signed four year deals it would leave the club £25m a year for the next four years. This is for the benefit of the accounts, but realistically £100m would leave the club in the summer.

But interestingly where buying players it's spread over the length of their contracts, when selling players it comes out in a one lump sum. So it distorts the finances. That is why selling RvP, Nasri, Cesc, Clichy, Song etc makes the finances look strong, because they are offset by outgoing "one off" costs. Liverpool would have made losses of over £110m if they never sold Torres & Co.

Sydney!

Champagne, you do realise that Arsenal have several sponsors and have been getting sponsorship money from Emirates since October 2004? £100m spread over 15 years. Then you have the Nike Kit sponsor. So not sure what you mean my friend. Arsenal have been receiving plenty of sponsorship money, though it is due to increase like I have said in my original post.

Sydney!

Thanks for that Syd!

Sydney

nike and emirates airline have not made a payment since we moved to the emirates.

they helped pay for the stadium by paying up front.

we have not had a payment of the emirates airline and nike since we first moved into the stadium

shall I say it again for you.

just go back to your own page your making a fool out of your self.

Champagne, Arsenal borrowed hundreds of millions from the banks and are paying it over many many years in the form of bonds. The final payment being due in 2031. Nike or Emirates airlines never paid a penny directly towards the stadium. They pay Arsenal a certain amount every year to be their sponsors and Arsenal use the money for whatever.

The Nike renewal is up for the season after next and the Emirates increase starts next season. Emirates paid £5.5m a year previously and now will be paying £30m a year. Nike pay Arsenal £8m a year.

Sydney!

26 Feb 2013 08:35:56
i am lucky enough to be going to the "sewer" for which I think is the biggest game of arsene wengers career at the club.

if there is 1 game in a season where I can tell if an arsenal squad has any thing left to give in a season,,, ITS THIS GAME!

we have a squad which the manager believes is good enough to compete for 4th spot and nothing else.

millions of football fans will be tuned into super sunday.

there will be huge pressure on the team and I think its about time they showed us there worth their huge 145+ wage packet each year.

i think we will get a result.

we have to use 1 player as a proper dm,, he has to sit in the hole till the final minute. I would give this job to ramsey.
if ramsey is ever going to make it arsenal he has to prove it against bale,, he has to show he can stop his fellow country man.

this is how I would play.

shezza

sagna, kosh, vermaelen, nacho

ramsey

rosicky, jw10, cazorlas

walcott, podolski

ramsey has to sit in hole and not move.

this will push the spurs back and put them under pressure.

every single member of the midfield wenger put faith in is fit, there is no where for any of them to hide.

wenger needs to have a different plan.

dont know what the score will be but I think and hope we win.

eie

Not ramsey

I agree with you sentiments entirely, and the squad, except I would drop Sagna and play Jenko.

I think Couquelin should come just for this match to do a man mark job on Bale. He as got the pace to match him and is a better tackler than Ramsey. I fear for us with the usual 3 in midfield not getting to grips with Bale we need a proper Dm for this match to stop him. Stop Bale you stop Spurs then we will win.

My point with ramsey is he has to prove himself if not he should be sold.

this game should be about for him being higher in the lime light than his fellow country man.

he has had long enough now after the injury.
this season has to be his last if there is not a vast improvement in his form.

its time to move on all these fringe players like ramsey, diaby and rosicky.
they have given nothing to the club over there contracts, except rosicky for 6 months last year what have any of them given to the club.
i don't hate any of these lads there just not reliable players and this is what you need in the middle of the park.

they have not worked out sell them get what you can and run.

when we get rid of arshavin, rosicky, diaby, squid, flabi and a few others and there will be around 15 mill of the wage bill.

there is loads of money we have a wage bill of around 150 mill and half the players are rubbish.

the key is to get rid of players. this has to be the priority.

free up 20 mill in wages.
we have the transfer money.
we need to free up the wages.

there can be no excuses this summer.
if wenger is staying he has to spend.

If Ramsey plays in the holding midfield then we are doomed, surely Diaby or Coquelin should play? I would also potentially play Sagna as a right sided CB and drop Kos and play Jenks in RB.
Chess

This should NOT be the game Ramsey's given to prove himself. If he fails, our season (what little is left of it) is gone. The psychological advantage we got last year winning this fixture meant the spurs imploded. We're closer to them than last year and I believe that WHEN we win, we'll solidify 3rd let the mediocre London clubs fight it out for 4th.

26 Feb 2013 03:08:21
Hello
been away for a few days and been reading up on our"banter".
What has really pissed me off are firstly the comments and total lack of respect to the eds that make this site. Would any of the slaggers do their job for nothing? If you can't keep the banter constructive or topical, then go elsewhere.

Next so Laudrup manages a cup winning team some of you are saying next manager. FFS would you want Kenny Jacket if, and a big if but possible, if Millwall win the FA CUP?

Lastly wtf have we got as a keeper, I would be tempted to play rush goaie in future.

Anyway enough of my rant.

FOYS

Bones

26 Feb 2013 10:39:59
Get yor coat! That's a daft analogy regarding Kenny Jacket & M. Laudrup. Laudrup is a man with european credentials and definitely on the up. It's up to clubs like ours to spot and secure talent ahead of the other big clubs. All managerial appointments are something of a gamble. If we finish outside the top 4 this season we will have concrete evidence that A. W is losing his way, and in my opinion we have to find a successor. We all love Wenger for what he's done but cannot afford to be sentimental when it comes to the future of our club (Brian Clough). Most of us can see that we are on a downward arc, (selling club etc) we have to know whether it's because of Wenger's decisions or decisions behind the scenes.
Have to agree with you about the keeper though! It's another position, that for years, it seems Wenger is incapable of filling successfully. It's a mess all over the park.
- I used to look forward to big games; derbies, Bayern etc. Now I dread them. Like I dread games with potential for an upset. On our day we are flat- track bullies at best.
Off to knit myself a noose now!

JayJay

26 Feb 2013 00:08:06
i know we are not the best for defending long balls but spurs really struggled with them tonight. just saying that if giroud is on his game and we provide good long balls to him we could cause them trouble