Not looking good at San Siro

You'll be surprised, a lot of Arsenal supporters that I know are turning on Wenger.

I'm not. I have a lot of respect for Wenger and to put things into perspective Arsenal are still successful in my eyes at least. :confused:

Yes I know we are not winning trophies but its not the be all and end all. Else why do 15 clubs in the premiership have any support at all? They know they cant win anything but they still support their team.
 
Interesting viewpoints here.

For me, having been an Arsenal fan for 19-20 years, Wenger is still a club legend.

That said, if he had anything about him, he'd be having a chat with his management this week and putting his cards on the table, starting his little chat along the lines of "I'm sorry, my experiment has not worked, I have taken this club as far as I can"

He will leave us in a very healthy financial position, which is a starting base 99% of other clubs don't have. A fantastic stadium, a superb fanbase.

We need to be competetive next season, it is imperative. Sponsorship deals are up for renewal then, and we need on the pitch success to squeeze out good deals.

Wenger, thanks for the memories, but it's time to move on.
 
Interesting viewpoints here.

For me, having been an Arsenal fan for 19-20 years, Wenger is still a club legend.

That said, if he had anything about him, he'd be having a chat with his management this week and putting his cards on the table, starting his little chat along the lines of "I'm sorry, my experiment has not worked, I have taken this club as far as I can"

He will leave us in a very healthy financial position, which is a starting base 99% of other clubs don't have. A fantastic stadium, a superb fanbase.

We need to be competetive next season, it is imperative. Sponsorship deals are up for renewal then, and we need on the pitch success to squeeze out good deals.

Wenger, thanks for the memories, but it's time to move on.

Good post :thup:
 
where as i think AW is covering for the board as if he had the money to buy players why is he scraping round the market and waiting 18 months for players to become free agents . plus the board would have sacked him for the failure of the last 6 years to do anything if there was money available and he just refusing to spend it .
the board are more more interested in getting a share of the asian/china market than a winning football team
 
It seems that it's only Arsenal fans who can't see past the Demi-God that is Wenger.

Good! A bit of loyalty for your club's manager - superb!
AW's been a great club servant who has brought the club superb success - why shouldn't the Arsenal faithful back him to the hilt?

Arsenal are having a rough time - it's called football. No team will be successful all the time - they'll have highs and lows.

From a neutral's perspective I think it keeps the PL fresh and interesting to have other teams in the mix.

Should AW be sacked? In my opinion, no.
 
where as i think AW is covering for the board as if he had the money to buy players why is he scraping round the market and waiting 18 months for players to become free agents . plus the board would have sacked him for the failure of the last 6 years to do anything if there was money available and he just refusing to spend it .
the board are more more interested in getting a share of the asian/china market than a winning football team

Appreciate the sentiment, but I don't buy into the whole "Wenger doesn't spend" media spin.

He does, and he spends quite a bit. He usually gets it wrong when he does so.

Koscielny - £10M - good purchase
Arteta - £10M - good purchase
Arshavin - £13-15M Very poor business.
Nasri - £15 - 6 good months in 3 seasons - poor purchase. Good business making a £7M profit on him though.
Walcott - £10-12M - Very over hyped, very over priced. I can only hope they somehow manage to turn a profit on him.
Gervinho - £10M - Looks a good buy to me, just not quite the finished article yet.

That's just a slack handful of the bigger buys over the last few seasons. He does spend money, his transfer dealings are just hit and miss.

I also don't think he should be sacked, that would be very disrespectful. The man has been a legend for us. Probably the victim of his own downfall, after raising expectancy with his teams exceptional performances. However, if I didn't address issues in my job that were easily picked out by outsiders, I would have been thanked for my services, and given directions to the job centre.

There is an awful stale rot at the club, from top to bottom. A wage bill that is ludicrously high. Players going through motions. It needs sorting.

I want my Arsenal back.
 
There is an awful stale rot at the club, from top to bottom. A wage bill that is ludicrously high. Players going through motions. It needs sorting.

I want my Arsenal back.

A state of rot? You're having a laugh mate. The club has never been in a better position financially. Everybody knows that AW runs a very tight ship with a flat-ish pay structure, also 16 players out on loan that are being paid for by other clubs.

The problem here is that a group of Arsenal supporters are throwing dummies out because they havent won a trophy for a while - boo hoo. Very short memories I say.

All I can say is to thank God AW joined us 15 years ago and not anyone else.
 
A state of rot? You're having a laugh mate. The club has never been in a better position financially. Everybody knows that AW runs a very tight ship with a flat-ish pay structure, also 16 players out on loan that are being paid for by other clubs.

The problem here is that a group of Arsenal supporters are throwing dummies out because they havent won a trophy for a while - boo hoo. Very short memories I say.

All I can say is to thank God AW joined us 15 years ago and not anyone else.

I would like to hedge my bets that at least 8 of those players are still receiving at least 80% of their pay from Arsenal, that's what loan deals are about, but that's irrelevant.

For me, it has nothing to do with the lack of trophies.

It's the manner of defeat, it's the lies from the board and the man in charge. It's the same failed tactics time and time again. It's the arrogance of a manager who is too stubborn to accept defeat gracefully. It is the petulance of players who aren't fit to lace the boots of many of those who've worn the number before.

It's having a majority shareholder who despite promising to be "open and honest about dealings with the club" who has said the square root of chuff all, since being welcomed aboard. It's having a group of fat cats at the top who are happy as long as their pockets are being lined.

Don't get me wrong fella, i'm more than grateful for what Wenger has done for the club. A fantastic new stadium, the foundations in place to be competetive for years to come. That's all fantastic mate, seriously.

But he is not the man to keep us progressing.
 
I would like to hedge my bets that at least 8 of those players are still receiving at least 80% of their pay from Arsenal, that's what loan deals are about, but that's irrelevant.

For me, it has nothing to do with the lack of trophies.

It's the manner of defeat, it's the lies from the board and the man in charge. It's the same failed tactics time and time again. It's the arrogance of a manager who is too stubborn to accept defeat gracefully. It is the petulance of players who aren't fit to lace the boots of many of those who've worn the number before.

It's having a majority shareholder who despite promising to be "open and honest about dealings with the club" who has said the square root of chuff all, since being welcomed aboard. It's having a group of fat cats at the top who are happy as long as their pockets are being lined.

Don't get me wrong fella, i'm more than grateful for what Wenger has done for the club. A fantastic new stadium, the foundations in place to be competetive for years to come. That's all fantastic mate, seriously.

But he is not the man to keep us progressing.


OK fair enough but I still think Wenger is the right man. I'm quite sure that he is working within a tight budget due to the constraint of moving to a new ground. Yes he spent a bit but that is nothing compared to the other top clubs. A drop in the ocean.

Besides its not Wengers way to buy big and as someone pointed out already he generally makes a hash of it when he goes after a more experienced player.

If they oust AW now a big shot may come in and blow £60M and possibly not do any better or at least the any success they may have will probably not be sustainable.

Call me deluded but when Wenger gets it right ( and I think eventually he will) the team will be good for a while. I still prefer to see young talented upcoming players with a sprinkling of experience. At the moment he hasnt struck the right balance. He needs a goalkeeper. A decent centre half, a couple of Viera-type players and less players like Rosicky Also a striker to support RVP.

Its not a crisis, I think with a few new faces we will start to look a different team very quickly.
 
I think chesney is there to stay, as are the centre halves. I think coaching is more the issue for the defence. That, and keeping injury free. No back four could cope with the rotation arsenal have had this year through injury. We o need another striker though, a proper one, who costs money, and scores goals.
 
I think chesney is there to stay, as are the centre halves. I think coaching is more the issue for the defence. That, and keeping injury free. No back four could cope with the rotation arsenal have had this year through injury. We o need another striker though, a proper one, who costs money, and scores goals.

Yes keep "chesney" but we still need another goalie IMO. Kosielny and Vermaelan are fine but still need another class CB. Never really replaced Viera (how could you) so we should add another DM in the mix to work with Song. Frimpong is a fantastic prospect but he's bad injury means that he may not be back for a while. Agreed need a decent world class striker. Probably cant wait for a youngster to grow into that role so need to buy someone established. Maybe Podolski? Basically need a spine of the team.

It could never happen but I'd love George Graham as a number 2. We'd soon stop shipping silly goals!
 
Appreciate the sentiment, but I don't buy into the whole "Wenger doesn't spend" media spin.

He does, and he spends quite a bit. He usually gets it wrong when he does so.

Koscielny - £10M - good purchase Average IMO
Arteta - £10M - good purchase Waste of Money hadnt played well at EFC for ages
Arshavin - £13-15M Very poor business. Agreed very talented but never really hit it off
Nasri - £15 - 6 good months in 3 seasons - poor purchase. Good business making a £7M profit on him though.
Cant be a poor purchase if sold on for that profit with only 1 year of his contract left
Walcott - £10-12M - Very over hyped, very over priced. I can only hope they somehow manage to turn a profit on him. Agreed when good he's very good but inconsistent
Gervinho - £10M - Looks a good buy to me, just not quite the finished article yet. Jury is out on him

That's just a slack handful of the bigger buys over the last few seasons. He does spend money, his transfer dealings are just hit and miss.

I also don't think he should be sacked, that would be very disrespectful. The man has been a legend for us. Probably the victim of his own downfall, after raising expectancy with his teams exceptional performances. However, if I didn't address issues in my job that were easily picked out by outsiders, I would have been thanked for my services, and given directions to the job centre.

There is an awful stale rot at the club, from top to bottom. A wage bill that is ludicrously high. Players going through motions. It needs sorting.

I want my Arsenal back.

I think it is time for a change now as a lot of the team are just not good enough for AFC
 
Hands have been tied by the payment of debt for the new stadium?

One of two things we were assured would not happen as a result of moving grounds? Yeah, our hands have been tied (relatively speaking) in the market since moving grounds.

We were also assured we would not have to sell, to keep ourselves competetive financially. We've sold a big name every season since.

Unfortunately for Wenger, his academy is proving not to be the conveyor belt of talent we all had hoped for. You need to blend inexperience and youth, with experience and quality.

It's no good throwing Yennaris or Jenksinson into the mix at Right back, because they won't get the required protection from Theo in front of them. Chances are with the injuries, they'll also end up alongside Djourou at some point too. How is that meant to help a kids development?

George Graham as number 2? No chance, not after the way he was removed from the club. He's been out of the game for over 10 years, he was left behind by money, just as Wenger has been.

I'd like to see Wenger approach Bould, and say "look at this defence, it's embarrassing - help me please?" but it just won't happen.

I hate Wenger's tactical naivety, and always have done. I hate his refusal to adapt to the oppositions game. I think it's disrespectful to the fans, I think it's a shocking way to treat young players. We play one way and one way only, and when it doesn't work, as has been the case for a good few seasons with increasing regularity, we become petulant and lost for ideas. We are so vulnerable to a counter attack it is untrue.

Time for changes.
 
I genuinely love Wenger, and I dread to think what will happen after he's gone.

But he has lied to us too many times, and he needs to be held accountable for his shortcomings. Don't get me wrong, the board aren't infallible. The average age of 73 of board members goes some way to explaining the lack of ambition that's been displayed by all at the club.

Season ticket price increases, highest ticket prices in the land. Inexcusable.

Our best defender, Thomas Vermaelen is on £70k a week. Seb Squillaci is on £50k a week. How is that sustainable? We are still paying big chunks on Denilson's wage, and also Bendtner's, as I stated earlier.

Wengers philosophy is purely to blame for this poor judgement. He paid a high wage for potential, to keep youngsters away from other clubs. This is what has hindered us in the market, not a lack of funds. Inexcusable.
 
I dont see the problem with the finances. We built a £390M stadium and that needs to be paid for. Breaking even or making a loss of 10M is a result. That debt will gradually reduce and Arsenal get gradually richer. We are already 5th or 6th richest club. Of course revenues will dip if we dont qualify for the CL - who didnt know that?

If anything the Wenger bashers should now show some empathy with his situation. Trying to pay the mortgage and take us places is not easy. Competition is stronger as well.
We owe AW a great deal you need to get off his case big time.

I was only tongue in cheek about Graham by the way :<)

Bould is much more realistic being a youth coach already at the club. It could happen.
 
I'm not on his case, I don't want him sacked.

He's the most successful manager we've ever had. Although I did read a rumour that if he gets to September without winning anything, it would be the longest spell ANY Arsenal manager has gone without a trophy.

Wenger's decade of glory was robbed by the Russian at Chelsea, and the emergence now of City hasn't helped either. The property crash also didn't help, with only 60% being made on what was originally budgeted for the Highbury development.

So there, I do have a bit of sympathy for how things have panned out for him.

But he put us in this boat where we can't get shot of over paid potential that's clogging up the club and restricting the dosh available for real contracts.

What about his lack of tactical nous? Producing a squad massively lacking in bottle? What about the arrogance of it all? It's tosh.

We all put him on a pedestal, and now we are paying the price.
 
Top