Arsenal Rumours Archive February 03 2012

03 Feb 2012 22:23:00
I know a guy who's sister works within arsenal and he told me that Wenger approached the board to discuss a wage increase to basically pay the better players a higher salary like nasri and fabregas! The board refused Wengers request but because he is loyal and does not want to go against the board he keeps it to himself! The wage increase was for the top tier players not the average players we currently find ourselves with. Basically the board is offering all these gestures but knows full well we are now unable to attract the good players and will find ourselves a mid table team unless the board release some proper funds for us to spend!

It's gonna get harder unless the board goes.....not a good time to be an arsenal fan?

Rubbish

I mean as much as much as the "know a guy whose sister" part inevitably makes people disbelieve you, I can totally see something like this happening. We used to take pride in how self sufficient Arsenal was, now it's an embarrassment. We've become too much of a business and the owners and management are taking advantage of the club. I love being able to say we aren't like Man City and Madrid but the difference is we finance our profits through real business practices, not taking 196 pound losses.. I'll love arsenal til the day I die, but I don't want to see us become Liverpool. Bring Dein back. If Wenger comes back next season bring someone like Ljundberg in for Rice next season and restore some pride. We have the resources, we're a few players away from the squad we need. C'mon you gooners.

Matt

Well good thing we r replacing the board in the summer. Also we need to get rid of mediocre players on high wages and overhaul the structure. Basically we have a lot of work to do in the summer
Ibster

So this guys sister is privvy to information between board and manager. I dont think so. Even if she is which I very much doubt do you really think a business like Arsenal ( and sadly I do mean a Business) would allow sensitive financial information to leak.

Gooners do not worry. The cream always floats to the top and we will have our day again.

This Was The Same thing That Was Going Around In The Summer.

7-1 Supporters chanting Wenger's name. Lol

CS

You're full of s**t mate gravidis has publicly stated the club will be run in wengers vision and this is the problem he has to much power and controls everything including the wage structure he surrounds himself with yes men and want tollerate anyone disagreeing with him, until a director of football is bought in to handle transfers and is not in wengers circle nothing will change

I think he does a good job, and that's considering the last 2 years when he has made the most mistakes since his tenure began. Still think he is the only man to take Arsenal forward though and still 100% behind him.

If Mourinho is the best people can come up with as a replacement then we have nothing to really discuss! Wenger is far better a manager than Mourinho.

cS

CS

I am sorry but to state Wenger is a better manager than Mourinho is... well worth a reply. there are many aspects of management and if you was to list them as.1) creating team morale 2) influencing games with subs 3) youth developement 4) winning trophy's. how many of these would you say Wenger scores higher than Mourinho? 1 for me youth development. very different management styles but history will only score managers on trophies and Mourinho wins hands down on that one. and i dont want Mourinho at Arsenal cos he aint Arsenal management material!

I am sorry but stating that Wenger only beats out Mourinho in youth development is an overstatement. The fact is that the "Special One" cannot be objectively judged. I mean common? How do you think Wenger would do managing a team of superstars at Chelsea and then moving onto an even bigger team of superstars at Real? Must be nice Mourinho to build your rep on joining clubs where you know the owners pocket is deep. I'd love to see how Mourinho performs under a regime like Arsenal's board....

Well it's no different with players, everybody has their favourites for whatever reasons. I rate Wenger higher than Mourinho, and not because I think there is anything wrong with Mourinho - he is also an excellent manager.

Not for me though, Wenger every time!

CS

Did mourinho splash cash at porto? he made Ranieris Chelsea winners. what he did at Inter was breathtaking. Real madrid we have to wait for. I love Wenger he manages with class and is class. But i dont think he stacks up to what Mouriho has done in a 8 year period. you have to think that if Mourinho had this Arsenal squad he would spot what was needed change it and win trophies. Mourinho is a fans manager and Wenger is a boardrooms manager! AJT {Ed001's Note - Jose spent relatively large amounts of money at Porto, certainly compared to the Portugese league opposition.}

It is a good time to be a fun now. It is always easy to support a team that takes everything, but you should like this team NOW. I like the Ox, Coq, RVP. Jack and Frimpong will be back, etc. Wenger will complete the puzzle. If we all only would like teams that win trophies, who would support the smaller teams. Arsenal is still a big team, and will win trophies.

Mourinho v Wenger:
Remeber what Wenger accomplished when he arrived at Arsenal?? He has already shown that having adequate financial resources, he can build winning teams.

Arsenal's focus changed to primarily, youth development when they started building the stadium. Wenger has still managed to keep the team competitive despite this and not having as much money as before. He deffinately is on par, if not better than Mourinho

03 Feb 2012 12:30:59
We all say how much we miss Cesc and Nasri but no-one is mentioning how much we are missing Clichy.
Andy

Maybe cause we aint missing him!! Vermaelen is playing better there than he ever did, atleast Vermaelen can defend...

We do not! Fabianski can play there better than him

Clichey got rid 2 years 2 late....

I second that opinion. Clichy was a liability. He started off looking like a worthy replacement for Cashley but then he went backwards. I'm much happier with Gibbs/Santos or Vermaelen.

Slick Mick.

Clichy the player that cost us the premier league in 2008 oh how i miss him

watford gooner

Prat. we are not missing Clichy, we are missing a left back, as we have since Cole left. Do you not watch the matches?

Yep. there is a reason for that. he was a complete and utter liability. and if you have seen any man city game sthis season you will see why.

Actually clichy`s career went backwards when arshavin started playin in front of him.

Selling clichy shouldve served as an oportunity to get in a suitible left back - it took 8-2 for AW to realise traore wasnt up for it, and he panick-bought an overweight brazilian who cant defend to back up a lightweight whos amassed about 20 games in 4 seasons for us.

just one of the many shortcomings of mr wenger last summer....
=-)

^ oh look, another pessimistic 'fan' that doesn't have a clue about football. Santos may have been a 'panic buy' but maybe the best of the lot of 'panic buys.'

Er, cos we don't. We mioght miss a left back, but we don't miss Clichy.

Only reason clichy is missed is because out lb have been out pretty much all season and if i remember clichy in the last 2 years was terrible the weak link in the defence.

You mean the guy who cant cross, cant jump, cant defend?

I'm laughing!

Not only could he not defend or attack, he would often have a neat way of keeping any opposition attacker onside - a freakishly good knack of this. Watching the few Man City games he has been in has felt like justice and another reason why Wenger is great I can't believe we got like 6-7 mil for him.

In Arsene I Trust

03 Feb 2012 00:40:33
According to Sweden's largest newspaper, Nigel Winterburn said during an interview to the Norwegian press that Arsenal had a big signing ready and the player wanted to come the same summer as Fabregas was leaving, but it all fell apart when the transfer took to long. And according to Winterburn he also said that the board is lying regarding the money they are saying Wenger is Supposed to Have for transfers!! Especially as Arsenals big summer signing fell apart because they board was waiting for the money from the sale of Fabregas tells us that Wenger doesn't have the money to spend.

He finished of by saying that Wenger would indeed buy players in many areas if he had the money to spend, he like all of us can see that we need better players to compete for trophies in the PL and CL.

I for one thinks this sounds very logical!?!

As for facts, we have news stories over recent transfer windows where various board members have come out and said Wenger has money to spend. Wenger has never come out and denied it.

So right now, claiming that the board is lying and Wenger is keeping his mouth shut the whole time is just a wild conspiracy theory. Everything points to Wenger having a fairly significant amount of money at disposal but he continues to refuse to spend it.

I think what we have is a case of a manager with an ego so massive that it is has started to hurt the club.


~~~Goonerade~~~

I dont, 10m for Gervinho, 10m for Per, 7 for Santos, 15 for Chamerlaine..... Theres cash there

Wether ts true or not, my problem has always been the board. Never wanted kroenke and never wanted dein to leave.

Think it speaks for itself that wenger was going to leave when dein was removed of his position and kroenke was to take ovwer the club.

I agree with other posts, there is money- as much as we love him, I think we need to try and stop finding excuses for wenger-

1st 7 or so years great, last 7 not so great and we are seeing the fruits of lack of investment and his philosophy coming to the fore...

IG said recently, look at the books, its public and for all to see- there is most definately money there.
LG

I think you are lying. The accounts published at companies house show money available

It is easier to believe that Wenger has suddenly turned into an egomaniac hell bent on destroying the club than believing that a board that are not close to the 'action' (football-wise) could be obfuscating the truth...Please people ! stop being idiotic about it...
Yes Wenger can be stubborn (which top manager is not - name me one) ... but do you think no manager wouldnt want to get new players for their team especially if the performance of the team is waning?!
Come on...people think...
I couldnt care whether Wenger is Manager of the team next season (I have huge respect for what he stands for and what he is doing with the team) ....thats for the Board to decide ...SO in that respect I dont believe in being in AKB or AMG side (as some here clearly are)...but I find distateful that people who were potentially enthralled with the team when we were doing well DONTknow how to support when things turn sour...
You show yourselves to be poor supporters and poor examples to young kids out there..or even worse lower tiered clubs who support their clubs no matter what...

No person is bigger than a club but wait until the end to cast criticism...in the meantime SUPPORT

Rant over ...:)
EV

To the guy who quoted the players,

we sold cesc, nasri and clichy so thats how we bought the replacements

The money is there question is can Arsene get at it & does he want to? There are many ways a board can prevent monies being spent when it is available but don't want to use it.
Sagalout

No we didn't use the Cesc/Nasri money whatsoever...

I've already made an entire post on this once before but for basic terms...

We made a £56m transfer profit in the Summer of 2010. We made £14m profit in Summer of 2011. Did not buy in January last year... That's £70m right there. We also had the Kolo/Ade money STILL - Which Gazidis claimed was to pay back debt but that's been proven as false/incorrect information.

Lets also not forget the £110m that was sitting in the clubs bank account in November 2010 - Which then turned into £160m in May 2011... That's well over £200m in transfer budget/wages/other payments.

And that's not even the final fiscal calculation of Gate-Receipts, Merchandising etc etc.

The money's there.

=Miss Arsenal.

=miss arsenal is 100% correct

I think some money is there, but Wenger has become used to selling to buy.

Also - I think Wenger simply hasn't come to terms with the rapid increases in the prices of players.

He simply will not allow himself spend spend a maximum of 15mln on a player.

But of course...

Exactly, Wenger hasn't adapted to the marker and the fact that players are more expensive. He still wants to pick up players of Kaka's quality for £15m because thats what he thinks they are worth.

I'd like to by the house opposite for its asking price 20 years ago but it aint going to happen.

TVOR

This is all speculation as far as I can tell.

No-one here has direct dailogue with either any of the Board members or Wenger.

I think points have been raised that may, or may not be correct.

A company may produce and show a profit, but as to how that profit gets allocated as budget is anyones' guess. The club may have £200 million sat in the bank, but potentially £60 million is allocated as transfer (including wage budget) for instance, and the remainder broken down into repayment, buffer etc.

This is not Football Manager, you have got to be able to prove that you can service your debt by having a healthy balance sheet/income etc, and some money put aside for a rainy day (i.e. not making CL places etc) in a VERY volatile world climate. If a bank/lender starts getting nervous about your ability to repay, a restructuring of the repayment may have to take place which will be less attractive for the club, and saddle you with a debt over a longer period.

As far as I can tell the club want to be self-sufficient and are not prepared to live in a world of exorbitant prices and wages demanded by clubs and players. These (prices and wages) can not continue in the long term, after all no player is bigger than the club.

Arsenal have decided to tread a path that some may see as idealistic, but it is sensible. I do agree that without long term success there is the worry that players will not see us as a place to secure medals.

Looking at the other side of the coin, who is to say that Man City's owners don't leave the club, saddling them with the responsibilities that they can not deal with because their model requires a bottomless pit of money that is over and above their (the club's) earning potential? This has happened all over football.

People have got to get real and believe that January transfer windows are something that no-one wants, least of all the managers. The media use it as a way of selling papers and whip up supporters into a frenzy of what 'their' clubs deperately need, and rumours abound that are mainly either created in-house (at the papers) or pushed by greed ridden agents wanting a pay day.

I love football, I love Arsenal and would support Arsenal whatever league they were in, and will continue to support the club through this tricky patch. I have faith in the way things are being done as I can see sense in it, and understand, just like VAT increases etc provisioned by the government that borrowing above your means has to stop at some point, and a realistic plan has to be put in place if you are to secure long term survival.

My point in the end is simply that the budget may be there, but might not be as big as first thought, and Wenger may not be able to buy the individuals he really rates until the Summer anyway. So please those calling for Wenger's head might want to be a little more patient, afterall Barcelona are bearing the fruits of their labours after having brought through talent in the club and trained them in the 'Barcerlona philosophy', much like Arsene is trying to do. Man Utd did something similar with Scholes, Beckham etc, admittedly bolstered by some outside talent, but if the outside talent that you really want isn't there to buy, then you wait.

Kermit79

The money's there so that the board can still get paid next season when we're not in the champs they wont spend money on improving the quality of players until it starts to effect there personal bank balances so if we don't make the champs places this season don't expect money to be spent in the summer the board are money men not success men they have no interest in how many trophies we get or don't get as the case has been they just care about how much profit we make from selling are best players and replacing them with cheap imitations the boards killing are club and wengers helping them with crap tactics and nonsense substitutions I no the fans who are still blind to these facts will have something to say about this post but it's the truth and I'm afraid the truth hurts and I'm sure you'll realise this soon enough

Kermit79 - well said. Hopefully for those fans so blinkered in their view of not only our club, football, but also the macro economic world in general - this will provide a little insight in what i feel is the real underlying tone of Arsenal. Self sufficiency in this world is very important, and this is the model the club works to. I also agree that this spike in player prices and wages cannot continue unabated. The financial world as it stands does not really provide for it.
Whilst we would all like success this season and next, let alone last season and the one before that; I would take security, profitability, and a model for LONG TERM and CONSISTENT success over immediate gain. Cesc wasn't the player he is without time and care. Look at the club in the same way - we are being nurtured , I hope , for future greatness, whilst clubs like Chelsea and Man city with rich backers tread a knife-edge between success and bankruptcy.

Aaron

All of this 'long term plan' is dependent upon Abramovich or Mansour leaving the club they have put years and billions worth of investment into or dying. So at least another 20-30 maybe 40 years of in Man City's case a bottomless pit of money and it is a system which only requires a massive in flux of money to build the team, once that is built and success comes with it players will want to join such clubs, Chelsea having won trophies attract some great players for reasonable sums. I have always been waiting on the financial fair play rulings to be implemented but it seems that powerful clubs are so opposed to them that fifa does not have the strength to carry it out properly and clubs will always find loop holes.

I think Wenger has been building towards this and if done properly we will without a doubt be the biggest spenders in the PL. I just think maybe the club as a whole has put all its eggs in one basket and left its future success in the hands of an outside force.

Anyone think there may be some validity in this, it is only a theory.