I read that we are still paying some of Auba's wages till the summer.
Feels a bit like our fiancée has called it off, we've let them keep the ring and agreed to keep paying the instalments for it. Have some dignity, man!
Perhaps...but I would prefer to wait and see. Aside from the striker situation, we look in decent shape for the 17 EPL games left. We need to be lucky with injuries/suspensions, but the aim at the beginning of the season was Europa league and I think 8th or lower is pessimistic. Like I said, we all know that a culture shift was needed at our club, and whether or not we think that Arteta is too hard line over 'problem' players, I have some sympathy with wanting to avaoid a situation where our main man was de-stabilising squad unity. It's not difficult to imagine that the relationship with Auba soured as much because he was unsuited to our system and unhappy as much as a pure disciplinary thing. Its also easy to imagine Kroenke saying that he was not going to be bounced into a situation where we paid over the odds for a stop gap.
We will see. The manager has taken a gamble here, and will be judged on its outcome. If it works, then we will be in good shape to kick on in the Summer...
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
Well all the "pundits" are already talking about Saka running down his contract (which is bullshit) but yes we must sort out an extension ASAP.
What's the incentive for him to stay? Seriously. I'd love to imagine it's loyalty and gratitude for the club giving him his big break, but is that the way players think (or are permitted to think by their agents) these days? I think we can rule that fanciful possibility out. Which leaves ambition, of which this club has none. Money, we can't compete with any serious rival due to decades of working towards being second rate. Trophies and medals? Nope. The London scene? That seems more realistic than any other. Maybe he'll stay because he doesn't fancy Manchester or Liverpool.
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Not really worried about Saka - he’s an Arsenal lad, he has a starring role in the team and he’s getting to do it alongside his friends - all this Liverpool noise just looks like classic agent leverage to me.
I doubt anyone will ever come out and say it, but I do wonder if this [Saka’s contract renewal] might have contributed in some small part to the urgency to get Auba out of the club? When your highest earner is on £350k/wk, the numbers being discussed suddenly start to look a lot different…
Don't fall into the trap that the agents and sharks want you to fall into. I dislike this idea of having to manage/massage players' expectations. When it comes to top performers this is true in a general sense - a club is subject to market forces, and players need to see a good trajectory, but this is no different to what should be the overall approach of the club. Transfer disappointment aside, we have seen nothing to suggest that this isn't the club's and the manager's aim. As soon as we start focussing on the need to match individual players' ambitions we lose team focus and start being affected by outside noise. The formula is simple. Progress on the pitch. Following early mistalkes by Arteta, we have seen what can be achieved by a young team that buys into the manager's philosophy. I for one am not unhappy with getting rid of players who consider themselves more important with the club, and the direction we have chosen is not one that lends itself to focussing on keeping individual superstars happy.
Saka is a star, but has been made by a club and manager willing to give him a key role and I can't see him being unhappy with where he is at. The club's resonsibility is to tie him into a contract that reflects his further potential, not to reward him for what he has done so far. Progress will mean us achieving the aim that we had at the beginning of the season - European football - and we do this, I have no concerns about him agreeing a new contract.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter