BAM! You know what that sound was? The emphatic closing of the transfer window. And pfffffffffffft–that was the sound of Arsenal fans everywhere sighing.
There was much hope surrounding this window that Wenger would attempt to strengthen the squad, and after a January that saw us pick up zero Premier League points you’d think our backroom staff would be working double shifts trying to bring in some talent.
All that did happen was the signing of 19 year-old German attacking midfielder Thomas Eisfelder, whose seemingly only Youtube video is up on the AFCB Facebook wall if you want to have a look.
My lack of enthusiasm surrounding this transfer has nothing to do with the kid, hopefully he turns out to be a quality investment and maybe he’ll feature this year, only time will tell. Yet the dampened mood is back because we didn’t make an impact signing. Whatever you think of him now do you remember how awesome it felt when we signed Arshavin?
Willkommen! Arsenal new boy, Thomas Eisfeld.
There are silver linings to every cloud and I don’t think there’s too much cause for concern. This season started awfully–our worst start for 50 years–but after Wenger’s transfer rampage on the final day of the last window, we regrouped, strengthened in areas that needed it and went on a solid run that saw us enter the top 4. That run and form only came to an end after the injury curse struck again, which in turn is responsible for our recent run of bad form and tired, overworked legs.
I’m going to refrain form using the words “like” and “new signing” but important players are coming back. Sagna and Arteta made their playing returns in the game against Villa and news came out today that Gibbs had a successful training session.
Add to that the imminent return of Andy’s favourite forehead Gervinho and Chamakh from the African Cup of Nations, and all of a sudden our squad doesn’t look so threadbare, so all is not bleak. (Yes I do realise I put Chamkh in that list of hopefuls but I’m praying some warm weather did him good and he comes back rejuvenated.)
So, our actual business for the window looks like this:
INS: Thierry Henry (loan from New York Red Bulls), Thomas Eisfeld (£600,000 from Borussia Dortmund).
OUTS: Emmanuel Frimpong (loan to Wolves), Vito Mannone (loan to Hull), Luke Freeman (undisclosed to Stevenage), Sead Hajrovic (loan to Barnet), Sanchez Watt (loan to Crawley), Rhys Murphy (loan to Preston), Daniel Boateng (loan to Swindon), Ryo Miyaichi (loan to Bolton).
All the best to Luke Freeman with his future career who came to Arsenal with much promise but now leaves for Stevenage. Other than Frimpong who’s fast becoming a fan favourite wherever he goes, my pick of the bunch from our loaned-out players is Ryo Miyaichi. The much hyped Japanese kid needs some playing time and he won’t get it this season with the amount of experienced wide players we’ve got and the buzz surrounding the Ox. Hopefully a spell at Bolton will be as beneficial to him as it was for Wilshere who did the same loan deal, and will see him come back primed for the rigors of the Premier League.
Other than that there’s a big rumour doing the rounds that Arshavin is wanted by Russian outift Anzhi Makhachkala. The Russian transfer window goes on for another couple of weeks so we’ll hear more about that later on.
On a personal note I’m glad the window’s over and we can get back to concentrating on the football again. We’re away to Bolton tomorrow and after everyone around us in the league picked up points in tonight’s fixtures we need to make sure we do the same tomorrow.
How was your transfer window experience? Let me know by leaving a comment. художник на икони
Once we did not sign a defender in the first week of the window I was sure we would not sign a first team player at all(other than titi), I did not see any player move in this window who we should have signed, you know the sort of player who you would really love to have in your team and who you could be optimistic that they would really have a great effect of team performance, there was no Arshavin or Reyes type player sold this window
I see some having an hissy fit cos the spuds got Saha and we did not, but LS has 1 goal in 18 FAPL games this season, that’s way worse than Chamakh and those same Gooners never stop moaning about him.
I’m happy enough with our dealings this window, we needed to have done better last summer, and for that matter next summer has to be much better
There are so many fans moaning about this signing but I think it doesn’t make sense. It’s very difficult to find a good and available player in January unless you have a sugar daddy that can give you pocket money. At least we make a singing. Support him as he wear the famous red and white now.
I’m glad that Miyaichi and Frimpong are currently loaned out to Premier League sites and I hope they can get something from that. Hope another Wilshere will coming back to us next season.
We will be lucky to finish fourth. If RVP gets injured and misses a number of games, we ‘ll struggle to finish in the top 6. Chamakh could not be a first choice for the worst team in the premier league, it is not about missing chances, he is clueless when ball gets to him.
To those who use the excuse “there were no great in the transfer deadline” are misguided. It is Wenger’s job to find players. We had never heard of nani or Smalling before Ferguson bought…
Your perspective is much like mine, there was nothing to gain in this particular transfer period. Picking up Henry for two months was something no Gooner really expected, I know I didn’t. So that was actually very good for Arsenal fans, especially since he won the game with his goal in his 2nd debut.
Picking up a defender would have been pointless, ALL of our fullbacks (4 of them) have been out injured. Why add to the number of fullbacks you have when they are all going to come back during this season? It would only create congestion.
Wenger was smart not to dump money in this particular transfer market. Once our fullbacks and ACN players are all back, we will once again have a formidable team.
Don’t forget Gooners, WE are still in the Champions League, FA Cup, and have a slim shot at the EPL!
Gunner for LIFE!!
I’m perhaps a bit disapointed we did not move for some defensive help but not surprised or hurt.
The European pickings were a bit slim but I believe a good search of South America or Africa might have netted something worth while especially in the realm of attacking fullbacks. That being said issue like acclimation and work permits are themselves barriers to such moves mid season.
So on we go. I think a top four finish is still a possibility though it looks as if we will finish behind Spurs and I cannot tell you how distatesful even the thought is. Eating Crow,yes I believe that’s the term.
All that aside let’s get all 3 at Bolton on the morrow.
COYG!!!
AW absolutely right not to buy some primadonnas … let Manshitty have them, once they lose thrice in a row they will all accuse each other including coach. As I read before, wise policy by us, a policy that ensures the club can do for centuries, so now – who else can do ?
Most players on the brink of coming back, the loss of Jack this season we can survive, and even if for a year not in the CL – we still have the best record for that, some monkeys here are just to greedy to demand all.
http://t.co/Wcsr5iDA – worth a read !
I would have htought that cover at left back would have been a smart move early in January. Gibbs’ injury track record is not one that inspires you to think he can last half a game let alone half a season, Santos is still a way off returning and Vermeulen should be spared from having to play there as it clearly is not his best spot. But as days passed it was obvious that nothing would happen. Getting down to the pointy end now. I can only hope that instead of our usual March/April collapse we divided it between August and January and we can romp home with a wet sail and restore some credibility to our divided fanbase.
Of course we could f#ck up against Bolton tomorrow though…
since there was no leftback reinforcement,i hope we get solid within the coming 14 days before the milan match.we cant afford to lose and with zlatan really firing,we got to be cautious.
should have signed a bloody full back on loan, at the start of january..we have now lost 4 out of 7 league games and that for me says it all about the current side.confident of a result against bolton?..which arsenal team will turn up?hopefully not the gutless clueless side that has appeared many times this season..blackburn swansea first half against villa.i hope that somebody has advised the TEAM about collective defending..now mighty fed up of watching under par mediocre mid table dross since, mmmm 2007..bye bye wenger
No new player isn’t new to Arsenal, we must beat Bolton tonight, else can kiss goodbye to CL next season. We should have brought in a real center forward to help RVP, but too bad Wenger doesn;t think so. Keep our fingers crossed, all Arsenal supporters.
Something I forgot to mention but a lot of you have picked up on is the left back situation. I agree with subatomicman, buying new defenders would only clog up the team but the deal of the window which I thought we could have hijacked was Taye Taiwo (A solid left back who is signed for AC Milan.) who went to Q.P.R. on loan. He would have plugged that gap nicely, I wonder if our upcoming game against them had anything to do with it.
Bolton have been a bit of a bogey team for us down the years so I really hope we give a professional display tonight, a boring one – nil to the Arsenal would suit me fine.
Wenger u r mad whit this your stupid policies Äπϑ idea…..lol
Sometimes I feel like the Arsenal people want it that way ……we used to be big..with good players …we do have good players but them not enough …….I wish them revise that…..
Did u knw dt all ur analisis dt u mention is gd bt wy can d so call d board sell sm player dt does nt have d fighting sprit in arsenal footbal club becs d fans is sovring of trophyless 4 d past 7yr.do smtgg to improved ur profile an ur name.
The full back position isnt and never was the issue this window.
There is more to this than Wenger once again refusing to strengthen and as long as there are Arsenal fans like some of the above, who are making his excuses for him, then we will continue our regression and continue to lose our best players.
U can understand that over time some fans have forgotten the fact that we moved to the Emirates to attract and sign big international quality players. Thats what we were told. I can also accept that alot of you have freely accepted, without much complaint it seems, that we are no longer a League winning chasing team but a fourth place chasing team.But what I cannot and will not accept is fellow fans backing of Wenger as his
stubborn policy comes full circle once more in a history repeating. manner that just leaves me completely exhasperated once again..
The big picture you are all missing here, as you lie to yourseleves that in a world of 5 million footballers no deal could have been done anywhere within 31 days, is that RvP, the man whos has scored 92% of our goals this season and an evzn higher amount of winners, is approaching the final year of his contract.
Wenger needed to show ambition. But so many of you are incapable of doing the maths here its maddening. Flamini was our best player the season he left on a free…because Wenger couldnt convince him we were
a club moving forward. Adebayour felt the same. Gallas felt the
same. Toure felt the same. Clichy felt the same. Nasri felt the same, and our other talismanic cpt Fabregas felt the same. All these clubs have won silverware since these players left…the ones we compete with in the league are ahead of us by some way.
But as ever many Arsenal fans refuse to peocess this, its like I was told here for years that the djourous and bendtners and diabys would come good. Choose blind fate over what is occuring right in front your face!
Where are the goals going to come from?
Where will they come from when van Persie gets injured or possibly suspended for incidents such as elbowing Cuellar last sunday? Where will we be if we somehow miraculously qualify for the Cl next season and vanPersie turns around and demands a move to Barcelona, or worse City.
Wenger has failed in the transfer market for the hundreth time because not only do the facts say we need another goalscorer but history also tells us quality AMBITIOUS footballers want to see their ambition matched.
Outcome; RvP will not sign a new contract before the euros saying he is focusing on the tournament, nor will Arsenal sign anyone while its on. RvP will have a brilliant tounament, return to more of same at Arsenal and tell Wenger he wishes to leave or run down his contract.
Mass anger and ‘surprise’ from fans but Wenger says hel buy in January and to judge him in May…by then though youll all be distracted by the race for the final Europa cup spot which we are chasing by 10 pts.
But who could have seen any of it coming right?
Wenger is really stubborn, maybe is good, RVP will definitely leave and we can only hope that Wenger leaves in summer, this is only chance for a BIG change with the Gunners. How stupid we were to chase for a fourth position for so many years, it is just frustrating, this season can only pray for a slim chance of getting a FA Cup, but I won;t bet on this.
@Shambogunner
Yeah Shambo, I got it but wether or not I rant against the manager and/or his transfer policies changes nothing. I pulled my one hair out over the summer as good players left and we did nothing to replace them. I’m aware the Robin will most likely leave at the end of his contract while we will still be paying Squillaci and Bentdner. But what would you like us to do. I support the Arsenal I have not necessarily the one I want. One doesn’t need to be clairvoyent to see the direction the team has gone in over the last 7 years.
But as a supporter there is only so much one can do and simply being bitter and vindictive about it is a waste of time,breath and life.
Arsenal board is acting like “why waste money on food when we are all going to die someday”
Wilshere has suffered a “fresh” setback in the form of a stress fracture of the same foot. We can ill afford this occurrence at this juncture and yet it was foreseeable but not prepared for. Such is the woeful state of our affairs.
@Shambogunner,
That’s as good and proper a quality venting as I’ve read in some time, and you do make your points, but see LeftCoast’s comments. I just find it less stressful to be the kind of supporter you criticize, and not because I am willing to accept less from my team or its management.
I support Wenger, always have and probably always will, with “probably” being the operative word. He’s great, but far from perfect, and his obstinacy in the face of both available funds and trying times can be perplexing at best.
January is always a terrible time to buy, but I did hear we offered 1000 a week to Vincent Kompany. Or was it 900?
Times like these make me treasure those early 00 seasons even more. It may get worse before it ever gets better, but the opera of the EPL season is not over just yet. The Fat Lady isn’t even warming up yet, though every fixture shrinks the available time we have to climb back up.
A top 4 finish really depends on whether the FA Cup fightback was a fluke. If not, then perhaps this season IS a fluke and we will rise again. I have no choice but to cheer us on come what may…
@leftcoast, one nil,
The crazy thing is I dont want anyone other than Wenger leading the club. Il felt the way you feel now a couple of years ago, I had faith in Wengers plan and I HOPED things would come good. I believed our footballing philosophy on and off the pitch was the model. But the off field philosophy hasnt worked…we dont spend (i mean invest in quality not just throw money around) yet I dont see the clubs who we were told were doomed falling off the face of the earth. And our ob the field philosophy has suffered. As far as Im concerned we are outside the top three PL entertainers. When these things arent working or even improving you can no longer claim that this is the successful model we have claimed it to be.
I had your hope and faith but Iv seen and heard too much to believe our club is on the up on any level…yeah you can hope that things turn around but how will they based on what you have seen?
And on the transfers, if theres no available money come out and say it..like Everton have said in recent seasons…Im sure none of us would argue if we heard this, but theres no dialogue from board or manager in this respect. Thats where the frustration comes from. No money? No problem as far as Im concerned. But that isnt the case.
I am glad to see Bacary Sagna back on the team sheet. He is a fantastic player and I am hoping he will help getting the best out of Theo Walcott. Enjoy the game you guys and GO ARSENAL! 😀
@shambogunner
I admit it’s hard to keep positive in the face of ongoing negativity but I think it was you that said last week that some things Arsenal are not in our hands so there it is.
Today I have reached deep into my jersey collection to pull out my last lucky charm. My Giovanni Van Bronckhorst #16 away jersey. We have never lost a game while I am wearing it. So if there is any good mojo left in it today we will get off the scheid and back on the winning track. Anyhow that’s the plan ,we’ll see what happens anon.
Come ON you Gunners!!!
Halftime and a goaless draw. We are missing easy chances in their box and are tenative in our own. Frankly we are lucky to still have a clean sheet.
Where is the fire and desire in this group. There must be someone willing to hitch up the wagon even the damn horse IS blind!
COME ON you Gunners!!!
Well I was wrong, Sagna has been very solid and Walcott very poor… What a disappointing result. Winning on Saturday is now mandatory.
Goals win games. We dont have a natural goalscorer.
I have to stop dedicating so much of my time and money into this team before they drive me to the asylum cos theres nothin surer thats where Im headed.
Heard Song set a record for pass consession tonight, big success.
The time has come when Wenger must GO!
After watching us draw at Bolton….. The pain of being an Arsenal Fan has become unbearable….Watching us loose six games in a row is not funny at all… Talking of the FA match Vs Aston Villa, well a fan could not have counted that as a win…The Bolton mach, is also a big loss, I fail to understand how we can be held by a team in position 17… that was ours to lose.
This is what wenger should say,my apologizes to all the gooners out the bolton game reflect just how poor we are in every department,if there is anyone to blame,its me! the game was completely rubbish so many miss chances n bolton a 17th place team made us look average,I have no words but my deepest regard to your humilating draw,4th place looks even more uncertain,I don’t blame the players anymore its me who wants to b in charge and must eat the humble pie.now back on how to screw arsenal and get away with it!
I can’t help agree with you all. Even with those with whom I have argued in the past. We miss easy chances,defend timidly and are not emotionally up for the game even though the results are absolutely vital to us.
How long can we keep doing the same thing and yet expect different results?
Newcastle to chase now also. If we lose to Blackburn at home this weekend the home crowd reaction will make the Man U game look like a church picnic.
And yet I can honestly say I’m not surprised and really expect no change.
Well In Arsene we Trusters what’s next?
What can I say? @shambogunner: you told us so!
Even my normal optimism seems to be waxing as our season is clearly circling the drain. How can we not be up for a game like this and how can we be so wasteful in front of goal?
RvP’s delicate curler than went off the corner of the net was pure class – he deserved better, as well as with the other near miss.
Walcott – absolutely appalling that someone with his pace and raw talent can still be so clueless in the area.
That was one of the most dreary, disappointing, soul-sucking 90 minutes of (not) Arsenal football I have seen since, well…last month, maybe?
I rarely get down on our guys, but after the Aston Villa game, as intense as it was, not to show up here is inexcusable, and may have finally ended our CL run of these many years.
Is the Fat Lady warming up?
We’re rubbish. Spurs will probably win the title (God help us all) and we’ll lose Van P because we won’t make the CL and Madrid will come knocking. It’s all bad. The only good thing to come out of this season is the possible swap of Wenger and Mourinho. Maybe then money will be spent and players will come with the hope of success. For now, it’s damage limitaion time.
Shambogunner finally a fan who like me does not believe anything Wenger has to say about the transfer market . I am sure that if there was a will we could find a few players who could help our team. Remeber Wenger’s youth policy a few years ago. Fans believed that nonsense, I could see that we did not have real class young players , but kept lying to the fans year after year.
QPR got 3 players during this transfer window, Cisse scored in first game for them, I would have taken him as an insurance for RVP.
The problem is waiting too long to get rid of Wenger, RVP will be gone. It will extremely hard to attract great players when everyone has left.
What we are going through as a club was predictable 5 or 6 years once Henry left … He could see that Viera was not being replaced, Pires, Campbell so many players who were major players were being replaced by mediocre players in comparison. That’s why we are struggling, it did not start last summer. If the stupidity of bringing over Sylvestre as a defender did not give a clue of our mismanagement nothing will!
Look at the positives: the Oxygen Chamber has a big future, Sagna looked like he has hardly missed a game and RVP was a coat of paint away from another goal of the season contender.
But Theo f#cking Walcott is shite. I would rather have Arshavin in the side than him. Totally clueless.
Down to seventh after that. How depressing was that?
I can’t believe spurs are 12 points ahead of us, and to compound that some here are saying they are content with our jan transfer dealing, ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING!!!!
I got this quote on another blog “I for one no longer believe anything wenger says, you’re a salesman Wenger and a bad one at that”
Very true………
By the way we drew today and i saw walcott miss a 1 on 1 he has been with us for 6 seasons and has not improved 1 foot and plays almost every week
BUT i don’t blame him i blame wenger.
As i said before it makes no sense fussing about the manager, show your discontent by “NOT GOING TO THE GAMES OR NOT SPENDING A DIME” if you go then and only then will the board realize how serious we are cause as of now their pissing in our faces and calling it rain
Lucky that I did not watch the match last night, according to what you guys said, I did not miss anything. March is coming near, a time for a usual slump of Arsenal in recent years. I believe Wenger will leave, he has no more untrue story to support his misjudgement. Attracting new BIG players this summer is gonna be tough.
Its no use crying over spill milk!,we did have chances and the awful players wasted it mainly ramsey n walcott,henry must of realize why he left arsenal all those years back
This is a lot for arsenal fans to bear
Knowing the manager is plain arrogant n not willing to change
The current batch of players are sore to the eye to watch
The chances are great that quality players will leave soon
The club board are still in charge n probably don’t c a problem
Knowing most of the crappy arsenal players are on loan n no lower club would b interest in buying permanently.eg bendtner,denilson
All those years and still it looks like arsenal don’t know how to defend excl verminator sagna
Having to watch 4 5 1 system that just not working 2 strikers up front
Leftcoastgooner-van bronkorst jersey! I thought you might be having the winterburn jersey!
Its no use crying over spill milk!,we did have chances and the awful players wasted it mainly ramsey n walcott,henry must of realize why he left arsenal all those years back
This is a lot for arsenal fans to bear
Knowing the manager is plain arrogant n not willing to change
The current batch of players are sore to the eye to watch
The chances are great that quality players will leave soon
The club board are still in charge n probably don’t c a problem
Knowing most of the crappy arsenal players are on loan n no lower club would b interest in buying permanently.eg bendtner,denilson
All those years and still it looks like arsenal don’t know how to defend excl verminator sagna
Having to watch 4 5 1 system that just not working rather 2 strikers up front
Leftcoastgooner-van bronkorst jersey! I thought you might be having the winterburn jersey!
arsenal supporters expecially in London just boycot few games and arsenal board we realize things are not the same. and for the prised ticket. why pay expensive for such awful team.pliz gooners like me just avoid emirates for even single game and the board ll wake up.
Bullshit again. We must boycott these stupid games at emirates and that’s when money will be scarce and these fools will panic to demand Wenger to show cause why he should be our coach. Its utter rubbish with the likes of Ramsey and group playing day in day out. Buying non starters from our competitors and playing them at emirates is an embarrassment enough. Benayoun,Silvester.Stop attending these matches and this stupid youth policy manager will be thrown out the window. Good i didn’t watch that rubbish.
I am Thierry Henry is looking around him and saying to himself , glad to be going back to the states in a couple months!
I always believed tha Wenger will quit when , he realizes that he no longer has any credibility with the fans and that they don’t “trust” him!
So let’s take a look at this scenario : RVP decides to leave at the end of pathetic season, fans are furious with Wenger, he too decides it is time to leave.
Our only world class player is gone
We are not in the CL next year
Why would great players come Arsenal to play with Djourou,Ramsey, Chamakh and company?
The rebuilding of Arsenal will take longer because of our complacency
Our league form this season is: W11, D4, L8. That’s mid-table form and Arsenal sit this morning in 7th position. Behind Liverpool. Behind Newcastle. In all competitions this season we have lost 11 times. Each one of those defeats came before the January window closed, and if that’s not evidence that this was a squad that needed something adding to it beyond the emotional but mostly ineffective return of a former legend, I don’t know what is.
We can listen to Ivan Gazidis talk all day about our business model and how successful it is. Which is great. Except for the fact that our footballing model is failing, nobody seems to be doing anything about it and nobody seems to be accountable for it. And I think what frustrates me most is that for most of these trophy-less years there’s been a sense that if we could just add a couple of quality players to the mix we’d have a side capable of competing for the league each season.
Now it looks as if it’d take a lot more than one or two and that’s a measure of how difficult our task is going to be for the reason of the season. We’ve taken just 8 points from our last 8 league games. We have yet to win a league game in 2012. We’ve been overtaken in the league by Newcastle and Liverpool, teams who I think we can objectively look at as average, at best. Which, if we remain objective, tell us a lot about ourselves.
I said yesterday that not strengthening in January and results being affected by that would provide people with a stick with which to beat Arsene, Ivan and our silent owner with.
I suspect for many, whacking day is upon us.
So two more points dropped at Bolton last night. One point from 12 in 2012 is not the form of a team that deserves to be in next seasons champions league competition. Seventh place in the table and 12 points behind Spurs. When did that last happen.
Much as I respect Wenger, I feel there always comes a time when a move is necessary (except in Ferguson’s case !!). Rumour has it that Mourinho is looking for a new home, and I feel he could be the one to rejuvenate an Arsenal team that has been ordinary for many years now.
Arsenal without Champions League football will be a bitter pill to swallow. But who knows, maybe some good will come out of it !
No one seems to be looking at our glass as half full, but half empty and to think we had 31 good days to right or at least add some water to the cup, very frustrating. IMO, i think wenger needs to be sat down and said some few words to or kicked out. I would go for the first option because at this time kicking him out will cause more damage, but who can sit him down? I cant wait for us to get kicked out of the champions league and even the fa cup because those who think being in several competitions is a good thing had better take a closer look at our subs bench and with rvp everymatch away from an injury, phew. Now the great Ivan has said it wont be a disaster if we dont play UCL next season, but i am sure what he doesnt know is we will probably switch back to a 4-4-2 formation with bendtner leading our attack. If i were rvp, why would i want to stay at a club only interested in ticket sales
@kel Too many true points to bother arguing with you. I throw up my hands and hope for relief. From where or when I have no idea.
@gunfest I’m afraid Wenegr will not quit and no one will force him out. In the words of the old Hole album we must”Live Through This”.
@The flying dutchman Dutch,I will no longer hassle you about being too gloomy. Everything you predicted these past 2 and a half years has come to pass, like Terry I’m afraid my optimism is waning.
@trish Why don’ we just kick him where he sits down? (kinda a two for one deal) 🙂
@sistable Some of your comments look strangely familiar perhaps even from another Arsenal blog. Please credit outside sources in your annotated bibliography or footnotes;)
Fellow Gooners, I wrote up some player ratings and analysis from yesterday at http://oursoccerblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/bolton-vs-arsenal.html
Leftcoastgooner- thanks for da comments to all of us,ur comments are interesting n inspirational,when we re down u tell us not to lose hope,pls conitue,ur current comments seems like u re just given up
Arsenal needs fresh minds to figure out the problems n prevent it from happening
@leftcoastgooner
I spent all of last night looking at the season reviews DVD of the 2001/02 and the invincible season when we won everything, BOY!!!!! we were soooooooooo good
BUT i just can’t understand WHERE HAS IT ALL GONE SO WRONG FOR US.
I love this club with all my heart BUT no-one should be bigger than the club.
I hope other clubs take notice, never give the manager ultimate power because as most men in the past have done they simply forget to listen to the people and that’s exactly what wenger has done.
When we moved to this new stadium we were promised to be elite or to at least compete with them, all lies. All the board does is full their pockets and pay wenger a whole lot of money, for what? mismanagement!!!
They even had the audacity to raise the ticket prices and this season has been worst than the last, the fans pay a pound and crown for tickets and get feed with crums.
The thing that really stands out is this: wenger told us some seasons ago that pretty soon clubs in europe will have no money and based on our model we will be well place to take advantage of that, well the last transfer window saw very little movement from big clubs because of cash and that’s fine BUT how come Arsenal can not capitalize on the market when the market appears to be open to us. Instead we hear wenger singing a new tune saying ” they should close the Jan transfer market because players are not focused and appear dishonest and the worst of all Quotes “players are not available,” Total crap!!!
All we hear is lies and more lies.
The owner of the club said somethings when he was interviewed and based on that we no all he cares about is profits they don’t care about football not for one second @ least usmanov love football and would have made this team better.
Ultimately again the fans are to blame, blame for paying ridiculous ticket prices, blame for allowing wenger all this time to screw with our heads, allowing the new owner to take over with out a fight and a host of other pathetic situations that will never occur in any ambitious football club.
I want the fans to know this if we fail to qualify for the CL next season it will be the perfect time to stop going to the games or if you go don’t spend a dime
(No booing though it won’t help the players so its better not to go to the game, look at it on tv)
with out the champions league the gates and food and drink become very important, so if the fans stay away and we have no CL then the board will have to act, for sure!!!! sorry its come to this but SH*T is SH*T.
I hope wenger and board know what their doing because if you think this season is bad don’t qualify for the CL and you’ll really see what bad is……….
@Kel
Who knows Kel, everything goes up and down. Two things stand out in my mind. One is that the team has played the same system for 4 years now. Football is a game of adjustments and as we were offensively dynamic some years back now even Wolves and Blackburn know what to expect and defend us comfortably.
Secondly, Wenger’s strength is his weakness and by that I mean his stuborness and refusal to make changes. Either the personnel or the tactics or a combination of the two combined are lacking. But you can bet we will come out this weekend with the same personnel in the same formation so even though the possiblity to win is there our predictability puts us at the disadvantage.
Toynbee said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
If Le Boss has a boss perhaps a word or two is in order.
@kel
up all night watching old arsenal dvds? I think you need to get out more mate! But it’s hard to argue with most of what you say. My only beef is your relentless attacks on Wenger and it is ALL down to him. I for one will be forever grateful for all the positive things he has achieved for my team and it saddens me beyond words to see his legacy being eroded like this. But clearly something is not right in the club and something has to change.
For those who think Mourinho is the answer – well I for one reject that idea categorically. You think Wenger arrogant? Mourinho takes arrogance to a whole new level. A sore loser, only interested in teams with owners who can out compete their rivals financially and whose tactical acumen seems to be limited to trying to hack your better opposition or parking a $500 million bus. No thanks.
I for one would prefer a scenario of a younger, hungrier manager like Brendan Rogers with Wenger moved into a technical director type position. Or perhaps we could get Guradiola when he has had enough of Project Barca and wants to take on real challenge!
It’s going to be an interesting few months!!!
I am really mad that previous majority-holders and the board refused to sell to Alisher Usmanov… Why? Because he is Russian??… They wont even allow him to join to board… he owns 27% of the club and they wont let him join… Usmanov had offered £100 million to Kroenke, to be used for transfer funds, in exchange for a position on the board… They denied… 100 million punds
Instead they sold to that pathetic-excuse for an owner Stan Kroenke… Lets face it, Kroenke is not that wealthy… he doesn’t care about Football… Arsenal is just a cash cow for him… he is going to milk us the fans.. and when the club is broke, all the good players have left, and we are fighting for relegation he is going to sell us for whatever he can get…
I suggest a petition to have Alisher Usmanov sit on the board… and bring David Dein back… that is why he left… the current board is corrupt… he knows it… Arsene knows it… I really dont like Gazidis.. something about him makes me distrust him… like a snake-oil salesman
Hmm, I’m no financial wizard but assuming that Kronke has some business sense about him, that strategy of yours @Alexcolcar seems to have one or two minor flaws…
Anyway I was going through the history records to see how things stand and no matter which way you stack it, Arsenal have had a golden era under Wenger the like of which we have never previously seen. No other manager of this great club has kept up as consistently high up in the top flight since WW2. SorryI ran out of puff going back that far. No doubt someone will come and tell me that Herbert Chapman’s record wiped Arsene’se arse. But you get my drift.
Our period of lack of success over the last six seasons is nothing in coomparison to past droughts. Some people need to keep some perspective in this debate.
under Graham we won two titles but also finished mid-table on more than one occasion (10th and 12th for the record) plus four 4ths and a 6th.Neill – highest placing a 3rd with the rest ranging from 4th to 10th.
Mee – one title and a runners up but nothing to shout about in the other seasons.
Wright – saw us finish 14th and our lowest ever attendance (4,554 for the nerds out there)
Whittaker – two titles in 9 seasons until he died but he also had some mid-table finishes.
Whatever your views and opinions as to whether it’s time for a change, he’s lost the plot or whatever, the fact that his record is superior to any other Arsenal manager deserves our respect. And no small measure of gratitude for the type of football we have played (mostly!).
And in that time, having overseen the biggest change to our club since we moved from Woolwich, and competing against the finances of Chelsea and now Man City that have completely changed the footballing landscape.
Still to many we are shit, the manager’s a joke, the team is full of crap players, life is unbearable and it’s all gloom and doom.
Well my glass is half full today still!
@Terry,
“Had” a golden era or having.
I don’t expect everything to always be rosey but when is the current management responsible for dealing with the current problems.
The team NOW is unprepared for the challenges of NOW.
Is that okay because we were great a decade ago or should it be addressed?
If so when? After a more protracted period of no trophys and steadily diminshing results? Perhaps if we miss the Champions League for the next two or three years. Maybe after a further exodus of quality player like Robin Van Persie.
This is where we are certainly going. Perhaps it’s better to get there with a half full glass but I’d prefer not to go there at all if possible.
There is lots of middle ground. This team( my team) is not shit and the players are trying.The management I believe is well meaning but at this juncture inaffectual. Is it wrong to say there is something wrong? or should we refer all our present problems to the greatness of our past?
@Terry hopefully they are not a lot fans who think like you, otherwise very soon we will finish in mid table. Wenger is the oil salesman, he convinced fans that Denilson was a world class player, ditto for Diaby.What was he drinking or smoking when he brought in Squilacci? Seriously ! He is a very coach only when he has great players.
Theo Walcott has not improved under Wenger , he is just speed
Fabregas,Henry, Pires, Viera were all great talents before coming to Arsenal. Wenger playing philosophy and all these talented players exploded on the biggest stage. Some people are not bright enough to understand that you can not reproduce the magic we use to have with mostly mediocre players.
Pls guys when your guys get a chance
Pls watch ESPNSOCCERPRESS at 7pm south african time
I think its 5 pm for england
Robbie earle,shaka hislop n yes!tommy smyth
They raise important views of arsenal
@Terry
I think it you who missed the mark… or perhaps I did not explain myself well enough… Kroenke’s plan was to follow through with a leveraged buy-out just like the Glazers and the Gillets…. you tell me how that turned out… LFC almost when bankrupt and ManU is on serious debt… There is no way that they can pay-off debt with football revenue alone… they took personal loans using the clubs assets as collateral and ran the blub to the ground… now that could’ve been us had it not been for the russian… he decided not to sell… hence Kroenke does not want to re-invest anything into the club… what happened with the $50 million transfer kitty???
What happened to the money made from the Cesc, Nasri?
Where has the money been re-invested???
Who was brought in to replace Cesc?
I do agree with you that it is not Arsene’s fault… I never said that it was his fault.. I think he is complacent with status-quo… he is still among the top 5 best paid managers in the world… yet he hasn’t won anything in 6 years… Things have been slowing turning to shit but we took it because we had a team that was fun to watch and great players… I don’t know if you have seen the games lately but a Championship game has more excitement… We just pass the ball backwards or side-ways… unless someone tried to make a run at the defense… no more beautiful passes that break a defense… no more intricate play.
We all know that Arsene has continually stuck with mediocre players that have cost us dearly.. Denilson, Squilachi, Almunia, Flappyhanski, Diaby, Silvestre.. need I say more??
The team has continually turned to shit around this time (Jan – Feb).. year after year… yet nothing is done… What are we doing about it? – NOTHING…
What will be done?? Nothing… the club is still making a profit… we continue to pay the highest ticket prices in Europe to see two or three gifted players, surround with a bunch of sacks of excrement… The board is milking us.. the is no ambition to win because there are no negative consequences to losing… and it is due to fanatics like you, who follow blindly and do as you’re told, that we are in this predicament… GOONERS REVOLT!!! hit them were it hurts… their wallets…
We are not spoiled, it has just been too painful to see the way we have shot ourselves is the foot.. year after year… we have come very close of winning, and that is why it hurts… because a little re-investment in the team would have taken us there… instead we are were we are…
It’s painful to be a gooner..
My point was that running a club into the ground, making us worse and then selling out does not seem like a business model that anyone with any financial acumen would adopt. But hey, what I know about running a multi million dollar business can be written on the back of a postage stamp.
And gunfest I would argue that those players you talked about were NOT great talents before they came to the Arse. Henry was floundering at Juve, Viera could not get a run in Milan, Fabregas was 16 for god’s sake and I had not heard of Pires – what exactly had he achieved?
But I agree too many of our players brought in have not reached their potential or are just not good enough.
But that was not my point. I have come round to the view that we need a change in management but I stand by my point that no matter what, Wenger deserves our respect and his record still is superior to any other Arsenal manager for over 60 years. That is a fact that noone can argue with.
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