Whose Fault Is It?

[Letters]

It makes my head spin trying to think about what the hell is going on at the club, who is responsible for what, why we haven't spent this summer. I don't believe Wenger is blameless but neither do I believe you can blame him solely. What percentage of blame would you assign to who?

I'll keep this simple by splitting it between 'the board' and Wenger.

Wenger 70%
The Board 30%.

[GP]

I just don't understand why Wenger would choose not to strengthen his squad. There's literally zero logical reason.

[AKBapologist]

I considered corruption, I just can't bring myself to believe he's that stupid.

[Letters]

I just don't understand why Wenger would choose not to strengthen his squad. There's literally zero logical reason.
I think he genuinely wanted to this year so who is responsible for our transfer dealings and negotiations? How involved does Wenger get? I thought after Graham the manager didn't get too involved but Wenger seems involved in everything we do. Whoever is responsible for our transfer dealings needs sacking, it's been a shambles from start to finish.

[GP]

I think he genuinely wanted to this year so who is responsible for our transfer dealings and negotiations? How involved does Wenger get? I thought after Graham the manager didn't get too involved but Wenger seems involved in everything we do. Whoever is responsible for our transfer dealings needs sacking, it's been a shambles from start to finish.

Dick Law does the negotiations.

I don't think Wenger is any more involved in the process than any other manager.

[Marc Overmars]

It has to be a mixture of both. The board don't give a fuck as long as the money rolls in and Wenger has no clue how to operate in this modern transfer market. I also think there's a shit load of misplaced faith in this squad, he probably thinks twice about signing a quality player because of how it may affect a player he's worked for a few seasons on.

There's clearly no strategy in place and the entire club has shown itself up this summer.

[Munchies]

Wenger, allowing a squad to become to its barebones like now is unacceptable.

[I_Killed_Kenny]

the thing is does he give Dick a list of signing to make in a specific order. it seems like we go after 1 person at a time. when 1 fails we have to have a rethink and then decide on another. no quick selection process or speed of thought.

[Özim]

Wenger has a lot of control over transfers he's said as much, in addition he's very frugal with money, he likes value for money and won't pay over what he deems to be the market value for a player. Problem is his market value is often way off and he won't shift from that.

If he can't get what he wants at the price he wants he'll move on, but on top of that his super super quality signings he promises are rarely ever so, so I'd say he's seems to have lost some of his ability at picking up top talents.

[JonasTC]

The thing is, we dont actually know how involved Wenger is.... He cant be as involved as everyone in here seems to believe, because then we could save millions in wages on all the different directors/leaders/whatever in the club.

If a manager could get whoever he wanted, of course he would he get those players. We've seen this year that we went for a 40m bid on Suarez, do you guys really believe its Wenger saying "lets not go over 40mil" or the people who runs the business part of our club (board/director/whatever)?

I believe our Manager just have enough class to not whine about the utter incompetence of some of his colleagues.

[Fist of Lehmann]

Dick Law does the negotiations.

I don't think Wenger is any more involved in the process than any other manager.

DICK OUT!

:angry:

[GP]

DICK OUT!

:angry:

Way ahead of you.

[Özim]

The thing is, we dont actually know how involved Wenger is.... He cant be as involved as everyone in here seems to believe, because then we could save millions in wages on all the different directors/leaders/whatever in the club.

If a manager could get whoever he wanted, of course he would he get those players. We've seen this year that we went for a 40m bid on Suarez, do you guys really believe its Wenger saying "lets not go over 40mil" or the people who runs the business part of our club (board/director/whatever)?

I believe our Manager just have enough class to not whine about the utter incompetence of some of his colleagues.

We do, he's said he has a big influence.

Not Wenger, he believes in value for money and won't pay over the odds and would rather no sign someone than sign someone and pay more than he should.

I don't think Wenger has shown himself to be that classy in recent years, lots of incidents involving him, lots of lies and on top of blaming the fans plenty of patronising comments. I can't believe the guy still has supporters out there if I'm honest, what would it take to prove he's just not up to the job anymore?

[Power n Glory]

The thing is, we dont actually know how involved Wenger is.... He cant be as involved as everyone in here seems to believe, because then we could save millions in wages on all the different directors/leaders/whatever in the club.

If a manager could get whoever he wanted, of course he would he get those players. We've seen this year that we went for a 40m bid on Suarez, do you guys really believe its Wenger saying "lets not go over 40mil" or the people who runs the business part of our club (board/director/whatever)?

I believe our Manager just have enough class to not whine about the utter incompetence of some of his colleagues.

I don’t believe that for a second. Wenger doesn’t separate the business aspect from the technical. If so, then contract negotiations shouldn’t influence the starting 11 and it did last season with Theo. Why did Wenger bench him? Why would contract negotiations influence him to bench his top goal scorer and assister? Shouldn’t he have been able to keep that separate? If he really wanted Theo, couldn’t he have told Dick to pay the kid what he wants so we could focus on football? It’s not as if Theo was sulking either so I don’t get why he’d do that. Also, if Wenger has the ear of Stan Kronke and then he can pretty much overrule whatever anyone else has to say. After over a decade with the club, I find it hard to believe he doesn’t have the final say .

[Niall_Quinn]

I don't care. They have all feathered their nests and left the club in the lurch so they should all fuck off. They are here to do a job and sure they get paid for doing it, but they have taken care of the getting paid well bit and forgot the job bit. Even banksters resign after they have robbed the place. The thing that makes football different is the lock in they have with the customer and boy do they milk it. None of these people are fit to be in charge of a football club.

[Letters]

I also think there's a shit load of misplaced faith in this squad, he probably thinks twice about signing a quality player because of how it may affect a player he's worked for a few seasons on.
I wonder how much of that is bluster, I can't believe he seriously thinks this squad is good enough.
He can't...can he?! :blink:

[AKBapologist]

Are there any rules against women playing in the EPL?

[BlindFaith_8]

Wenger all the way. No manager in this age of football would not spend on enhancing thier playing squad, it's unthinkable, fcuk me even league 1 and league 2 clubs have spent more money than the us. I cannot believe the a club like Arsenal with such liquid assets would be holding back the manage from spending the damn money unless the manager refuses to spend it. I dont blame anybody elese but this cuunt.

[LDG]

Who cares whose fault it is now. Quite clearly the whole lot of them are to blame, and each for their own part in the mess.

What matters now, is who is going to put it right, and whether there is any desire from anybody in charge to do that.

The worrying thing, I can't see anyone stepping up.

[Letters]

Wenger all the way. No manage in these times would not spend on buying players, fcuk me even league 1 and league 2 clubs have spent more money. I cannot believe the a club like Arsenal with high liquid assets would not go and spend the damn money unless the manager refuses to spend it. I dont blame anybody elese but this cuunt.
So the board, his bosses, have just sat by and watched him asset strip, not invest and achieve the bare minimum each season?
Even if that's true they've done bugger all about it. What manager at any other club at our level would have retained his job this long without winning any trophies?

[AKBapologist]

lol
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/19/arsenal-doesnt-want-to-pay-more-for-top-talent-just-like-corporate-america/

[Marc Overmars]

I wonder how much of that is bluster, I can't believe he seriously thinks this squad is good enough.
He can't...can he?! :blink:

I doubt he thinks the squad is good enough but I do believe he gets more satisfaction from developing a player. Which to be fair there's nothing wrong with, I just think he's guilty of not knowing when the right time to strengthen is. There's got to be a balance.

[BlindFaith_8]

Letters, they are all business men in that board room including Wenger, he literally runs the club from top to bottom, all the rest are bean counters and yes men to Wenger and Stan. We all know Stan has given wenger cart blanche to run the club how he see's fit. The puppets in the board room wont resign or walk way as they are making far too much money and Wenger know's nobody can challenge him as long as Stan is the main man at the club. The board I am sure have suggested to wenger but it apepars he has rejected the option to spend as he feels the squad is strong enough for 4th place and I wouldnt disagree. My beef is I want an Arsenal team to compete with Chelsea, Man U and City for the league and Bayern, Madrid and Barca in the Champions league, but the current squad is simply to weak.

[Power n Glory]

I don't care. They have all feathered their nests and left the club in the lurch so they should all fuck off. They are here to do a job and sure they get paid for doing it, but they have taken care of the getting paid well bit and forgot the job bit. Even banksters resign after they have robbed the place. The thing that makes football different is the lock in they have with the customer and boy do they milk it. None of these people are fit to be in charge of a football club.

We’ve seen massive changes at Board level and ownership. Wenger remains and we have the same problems. As said before, I don’t get how and why the Board would be open to the wage bill going up to a silly level and approving deals for kids based off potential. Who’s telling Dick Law to sign Jack, Ramsey, Ox and Gibbs to long term deals for massive contracts? Who else can tell the them the potential of a player? Before Dick was even here, Wenger signed up Bendy and Denilson to stupid contracts. That’s when he was doing Dein’s role.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

The thing is, we dont actually know how involved Wenger is.... He cant be as involved as everyone in here seems to believe, because then we could save millions in wages on all the different directors/leaders/whatever in the club.

If a manager could get whoever he wanted, of course he would he get those players. We've seen this year that we went for a 40m bid on Suarez, do you guys really believe its Wenger saying "lets not go over 40mil" or the people who runs the business part of our club (board/director/whatever)?

I believe our Manager just have enough class to not whine about the utter incompetence of some of his colleagues.

I'd go along with that. Wenger is just one man and as much as some may believe he does, he doesn't have the time nor the capability to micromanage every single small detail at the club. That's why there are other people working there.

Personally 70% of my fury is directed towards Gazidis, Dick Law and the other nameless overpaid executives conducting the transfer negotiations. Total fucking incompetence and ineptitude. No planned strategy, no negotiating talent, no gravitas in the market leading to a lack of respect received from other clubs, inability to understand modern day valuations of players .............. their list of failures is endless. As much as Dein was a mong for the whole Wembley thing the guy had the stature, respect and power within the football community to make the transfer window work for us, something we've desperately missed this summer.

And 30% to Wenger for accepting the situation and not doing more in his considerable power to demand and force through transfers instead of just being content to pick up his 7 million a year and focus on his pet project of bringing in through another team of youngsters.

We won't know how the club operates unless someone publicly spills the beans which won't happen unless someone resigns and decides to go public, but I'd imagine it's something like this:

- Wenger and Gazidis/Law discuss possible targets
- Wenger gives rough estimation of his valuation of the target player
- Gazidis/Law go to work initiating contact with players representatives/clubs enquiring about availability and table a bid
- If a club rejects bid, they go to work again tabling another bid until it's accepted or they give up and try another target

I don't believe the theory either that Wenger personally vetoes any transfer that he feels that are over his valuation. We've overpaid for players in the past pre Emirates move, so I don't see that being a massive issue to Wenger.

[Power n Glory]

Yes, we’ve overpaid in wages for shit players and that was before Gazidis and Dick Law. It would be nice to get down to the bottom of what happened when we were spanked to Man Utd and went on the first panic buy. Who hit the panic button and who came up with those targets?

[Niall_Quinn]

lol
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/19/arsenal-doesnt-want-to-pay-more-for-top-talent-just-like-corporate-america/

Jesus, we're becoming a global icon for greed and stinginess. Won't be long before, "Don't be an Arsenal", or, "What a Wenger!", enters the vocabulary as a plea to selfish little kids who won't share their sweets.

[Niall_Quinn]

We’ve seen massive changes at Board level and ownership. Wenger remains and we have the same problems. As said before, I don’t get how and why the Board would be open to the wage bill going up to a silly level and approving deals for kids based off potential. Who’s telling Dick Law to sign Jack, Ramsey, Ox and Gibbs to long term deals for massive contracts? Who else can tell the them the potential of a player? Before Dick was even here, Wenger signed up Bendy and Denilson to stupid contracts. That’s when he was doing Dein’s role.

The question is who is to blame? Reasonable observers conclude the entire company management should take a share of the recriminations. This is just common sense devoid of the simple thinking that imagines all we have to do is change the manager and all will be well. Your thinking is flawed. Just because the board has changed doesn't mean the intent of either board differs. To be brutal about it, very different characters can participate in a gang rape but they all have the same intention as they wait to abuse their victim. The change in board coupled with the disrepair of the squad being pushed beyond the pale does signify one thing though, evidently Wenger goes along with this. No manager could ever approach the season so badly prepared unless it was either by design or sheer incompetence. If the latter then the board is 100% to blame. If the former, shame on Wenger and he can stop telling us how much he loves the club.

[Boss]

50/50.

Our dealings over the last eight years have been fine but this is the last straw.

#everyoneout #mental!!!breakdown #signaliadiere

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

It makes my head spin trying to think about what the hell is going on at the club, who is responsible for what, why we haven't spent this summer. I don't believe Wenger is blameless but neither do I believe you can blame him solely. What percentage of blame would you assign to who?

I'll keep this simple by splitting it between 'the board' and Wenger.

Wenger 70%
The Board 30%.

Have done a lot of methodical research into the whole thing and it turns out....it's your fault.

[Niall_Quinn]

Have done a lot of methodical research into the whole thing and it turns out....it's your fault.

That doesn't surprise me at all.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

That doesn't surprise me at all.

I knew deep down in my heart of hearts that it was the case but i felt better to do the paperwork and draw the same conclusion rather than go on gut instinct.

LETTERS OUT!!!!

[Power n Glory]

The question is who is to blame? Reasonable observers conclude the entire company management should take a share of the recriminations. This is just common sense devoid of the simple thinking that imagines all we have to do is change the manager and all will be well. Your thinking is flawed. Just because the board has changed doesn't mean the intent of either board differs. To be brutal about it, very different characters can participate in a gang rape but they all have the same intention as they wait to abuse their victim. The change in board coupled with the disrepair of the squad being pushed beyond the pale does signify one thing though, evidently Wenger goes along with this. No manager could ever approach the season so badly prepared unless it was either by design or sheer incompetence. If the latter then the board is 100% to blame. If the former, shame on Wenger and he can stop telling us how much he loves the club.

If the Board can't see by now that he's incompetent then they deserve all the flak because they've handed him the money and he still makes excuses about other billionaire clubs. I've explained this before but I can understand why the Board have been cautious. For starters, the manager has been able to mask his failings by hiding behind the 'financial doping argument'. I'm sure when our commercial deals / revenue is discussed around board meetings, some folks around that table must sit with their head low and totally embarrassed by some the deals made. They haven't been doing a good job of supporting the manager financially in that respect. How can that level of incompetence point the finger at the manager for not delivering silverware? In that respect, the Board should be chastised for poor financial management, slow to innovate or react to the modern game. That's a fair argument and criticism to be leveled at them. But we're moving past that stage because we have money in the bank and even with the little Wenger has been given, he's been very careless.

But back to the Board. None of them are football men and don't know a damn thing about the game, so when Wenger comes with his 'project youth' blueprint and tells them Bendy is worth £52k a week and Denilson is the next big thing out of Brazil, whose going to question a man like Wenger with his record? It's a sound strategy if the man can deliver it, plus we've got to pay down the Emirates debt so why not? At Board level, investment level, you have to think long term, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years.....the trophy drought is not on their mind and they're probably right to have that mentality because we need to make sure we keep a roof over our heads. This is short term pain for them and we've only just started to see the end of the tunnel from the transition period. Wenger didn't guide them wrong when suggesting we improve facilities, buy the training ground and get a bigger stadium. He's managed to keep us in the Champions League throughout this period so it would be crazy to for them to sack him. Why get rid of him for a check book manager who needs oil money backing to win? I really can't fault them for that either. It's way too risky at a time when we can't afford to take such risks. Now that we look more secure and to actually boost revenue, we need silverware and better players, they should be putting pressure on the manager and that moment may have just come. Gazidis has thrown the spotlight on Wenger this season. Maybe they now know they don't need him as much. I hope so anyway.

I expect the Board to be cautious and think more long term but I don't expect that from the manager. I don't know how he is able to keep his pride and dignity in check with that horrendous record unless he's delusional. I think he is. All that 'not getting enough credit' talk and 4th place trophy talk is how he makes it through this period. He's on another planet. If the years of defeat had hurt him as much as hurt the fans and some of our players, he'd have been banging on doors years ago demanding key signings like players have done to him. No way would have benched Theo and then talk about Gnarby as the next wonderkid because Dick Law had fucked up contract talks. He should have been demanding answers on why they haven't secured his services, why have they let player A,B,C's contract run down. I place a huge portion of the blame on Wenger because he's not acting his role. I don't get his intentions or what motivates him. Where is his pride and self interest? He's either corrupt or an imbecile. He's a football manager and his pride should come from winning and building great championship winning teams. This is like watching a striker that doesn't want to score goals or hasn't got the balls to take a penalty. It goes against the nature of the beast.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I am very torn in all seriousness.....i do very much believe that Wenger equates spending to cheating and he'd have spent even less in the last eight years if the board and the top players he sold hadn't pressured him into selling them.
But the board i think have been inert they aren't interested in the day to day running of the club, they leave the commercial side to gazidis and leave the footballing side to wenger without any oversight and because he has been able to get the champions league revenue they don't have to wake up and realise that the only profit they are making is player sales. So in that sense Wenger has been the perfect manager because by taking on unprecedented responsibility because they don't actually have to do anything themselves and can spend board meetings smoking conchas and drinking remy martin and talking about the different exotic women they've fucked.
Typical short-termist approach because when there is no-one left to sell, they will wonder why they aren't posting record pre-tax profits anymore.....and might be forced to ask Gazidis why they are paying him for.

[Özim]

Wenger 70%
The Board 30%.

Sounds about right to me.

If we sack Wenger we'll be 70% better off that means....hang on let me work this out

................
..................
Potato/10.

No sorry let me try again..............
.............
we'd have won the treble last season if he had been sacked last summer, well would you believe it :faint:

[KSE Comedy Club]

Well surely wenger tells them who he doesn't want in the squad anymore so he's responsible for the outgoings, that's a dead cert.

I'm also pretty sure that Ivan wouldn't have come out an said we had shitloads of money to spend on players and wages if they had no intention of doing so. Wenger could easily have come out and said they were lying and stitching him up in the process.

So that leads me to believe that it's wenger who's fucking about, not spending the money he is being offered to strengthen the squad.

He's also 100% responsible for the endless shit we see on the pitch every week. He's single handedly looks like a bunch of retards trying to fuck a doorknob.

[Letters]

Sounds about right to me.

If we sack Wenger we'll be 70% better off that means....hang on let me work this out

................
..................
Potato/10.

No sorry let me try again..............
.............
we'd have won the treble last season if he had been sacked last summer, well would you believe it :faint:

Are you pissed again?

[Cripps_orig]

Wenger 80%

Board 20%

Main gripe I have with the board is they don't get rid of Wenger. They have said money is available which it clearly is for Wenger to spend.

He doesn't.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Wenger 80%

Board 20%

Main gripe I have with the board is they don't get rid of Wenger. They have said money is available which it clearly is for Wenger to spend.

He doesn't.agree 100% with this.

Similar to what I said

[Özim]

I would have done an 80/20 split too but I think Kroenke looks like a Walrus and I don't like them so I added an extra 10% for that.

[Cripps_orig]

The board are businessmen. They are in it for the money. They have shares etc and want to make money out of it as they have put money in which is fine by me. We have got sponsorships coming out of our arses, a brand new stadium etc.

Wenger is the football man or well he's supposed to be. Where's the winner in him to not settle for 2nd best or in our case 4th best? He should be doing the best he can to make us as good as we can be and not one person can say he is doing that.

[AKBapologist]

I think this article nails it.

If you want someone to blame...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2397451/Arsene-Wengers-tired-formula-just-doesnt-add-anymore.html

[Niall_Quinn]

I think this article nails it.

If you want someone to blame...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2397451/Arsene-Wengers-tired-formula-just-doesnt-add-anymore.html

That article appears to be stitched together from several others. But can this be true?


Written into the England winger’s deal is a clause stating that Arsenal must pay Saints £10,000 every time Oxlade-Chamberlain appears for more than 20 minutes.

Incredibly a trend emerged, with Wenger bringing him off the bench after 72 minutes (v Stoke), 73 minutes (Liverpool), 72 minutes (Coventry), 65 minutes (Norwich), 76 minutes (Fulham), 86 minutes (Tottenham), 67 minutes (Swansea), 73 minutes (West Ham), 71 minutes (Swansea), and 75 minutes (Reading).

Arsenal’s accounts department were stunned to receive an email from Southampton demanding payment for the appearances, with the south coast club justifying their argument based on stoppage time.

If there's even a shred of truth in that it's a stunning demonstration of how far the priorities have moved away from football.

[Niall_Quinn]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/michael-calvin-rotten-arsenal-academy-is-the-problem-for-arsne-wenger-8775289.html

[Özim]

The club is beginning to get the reaction from years of neglect in the transfer market and having no interest in the football side, fans, former players/managers/ and the media are now dissecting every part of the club and highlighting the problems within in, everyone thought the stadium move was going to be the beginning of something big, as it turned out it was the start of a bad 8 years for the club....a once respected club who did things the right way has now become a joke of a club that goes around p*ssing every one off and doesn't know what it's doing.

Sad to see, but to be expected, you can't expect to sit there and do as little as possible and still get the same credit/respect from others.

[Power n Glory]

That article appears to be stitched together from several others. But can this be true?



If there's even a shred of truth in that it's a stunning demonstration of how far the priorities have moved away from football.

It’s not unbelievable. As with the Walcott situation, he froze him out because contract talks were stalling. He hasn’t got his priorities straight.

[Niall_Quinn]

The club is beginning to get the reaction from years of neglect in the transfer market and having no interest in the football side, fans, former players/managers/ and the media are now dissecting every part of the club and highlighting the problems within in, everyone thought the stadium move was going to be the beginning of something big, as it turned out it was the start of a bad 8 years for the club....a once respected club who did things the right way has now become a joke of a club that goes around p*ssing every one off and doesn't know what it's doing.

Sad to see, but to be expected, you can't expect to sit there and do as little as possible and still get the same credit/respect from others.

Stadium move was huge for the gang of leeches and it will be a gift that keeps on giving for the current gang too. Success all depends on where you are looking from.

[Grebbo]

The biggest thing for me is, after the relief of the last day of last season, surely Wenger must have said to himself "I aint going through that again!"

I mean it was closer than close us scraping into the top four. A nervous 1 nil win at Newcastle to finish 1 point above the Spuds. I thought to myself surely Wenger won't want to be in that position again and he'll at least try and improve the team.

He's done nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I cannot fathom what the fuck is going on. Here's a manager that's seemingly intelligent, surely he knows this team isn't good enough. I don't think it's even good enough for 4th now.

If he believes there are no top top top players out there to sign (and I partly agree) then he could still have made some very logical signings that would have improved us significantly.

Just look at the mess we've got for goalkeepers as one example. WTF is going on here? Begovic is attainable for £15m, prem proven. Just go and buy him! We could have singed him 2 months ago!

I like Wenger, I'd love him to succeed but are you telling me the board wont let him buy Begovic for £15m??? Nah, no way. Wenger's lost his way big time.

[Letters]

I think he and the club have genuinely tried to sign some proper quality this summer, they've just collectively made a complete hash of it.
I don't buy that's entirely Wenger's fault but he's certainly not blameless but the whole process of negotiating transfers for Arsenal seems to be completely incompetent.

[Munchies]

There were top-top-top signings, its just that he took too long to buy them.

I mean the Higuain deal, why the fuck did he try to dither around the £22m mark ? It was obvious another club would come in for him if we spent that long, should have upped the deal to around £27m or so, and perhaps Real would have accepted it. It got drawn out, and eventually Napoli came in for him.

Same with Jovetic, he ended up going for £22m, Wenger didn't want to pay more than £18m for him. Jovetic was linked to us , in June ? We were the first club to really be linked with him.

Gustavo, just bid and match his wages to what Wolfsburg are paying him. We've cleared enough dogshit of his previous signings for us to free up some cash ?

Cesar, he wants 80k a week, but Wenger would rather pay Bendtner 52 grand :banghead:

[Grebbo]

I think he and the club have genuinely tried to sign some proper quality this summer, they've just collectively made a complete hash of it.
I don't buy that's entirely Wenger's fault but he's certainly not blameless but the whole process of negotiating transfers for Arsenal seems to be completely incompetent.

They're going after the wrong players though. No point working hard if you're doing the job wrong.

Where's the CB and GK that we desperately need? Where's the defensively minded midfielder? Going for Suarez was a good move even if it did end in tears but Suarez is the icing on the cake - you buy him when you've fixed the areas that are easy to fix.

We're miles, fucking miles away from having a decent team.

[Grebbo]

There were top-top-top signings, its just that he took too long to buy them.

I mean the Higuain deal, why the fuck did he try to dither around the £22m mark ? It was obvious another club would come in for him if we spent that long, should have upped the deal to around £27m or so, and perhaps Real would have accepted it. It got drawn out, and eventually Napoli came in for him.

Same with Jovetic, he ended up going for £22m, Wenger didn't want to pay more than £18m for him. Jovetic was linked to us , in June ? We were the first club to really be linked with him.

Gustavo, just bid and match his wages to what Wolfsburg are paying him. We've cleared enough dogshit of his previous signings for us to free up some cash ?

Cesar, he wants 80k a week, but Wenger would rather pay Bendtner 52 grand :banghead:

Tbf we didn't buy Higuain because we thought we could buy Suarez for not a lot more. Suarez is a lot better than Higuain. I reckon if we'd of spunked £30m on Higuain people would be moaning now that he doesn't run around much.

Turns out we were misinformed about Suarez's buy out clause and by then Higuain had gone to Napoli.

Jovetic is an odd one, no idea why we didn't go for him.

Gustavo supposedly wanted to stay in Germany because he didn't want to join a new league during world cup year, not a lot we can do about that.

Cesar, didn't Harry prefer Green to Cesar most of last season? I guess Wenger doesn't rate him. Wenger hasn't signed a decent keeper for about 10yrs so we shouldn't be surprised at our GK shitness.

[Xhaka Can’t]

http://www.examiner.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/pete-barrow-phone-in-wrong-its-5757077

According to Wrighty, it's some evil forces.

[topgun]

It has to be a mixture of both. The board don't give a fuck as long as the money rolls in and Wenger has no clue how to operate in this modern transfer market. I also think there's a shit load of misplaced faith in this squad, he probably thinks twice about signing a quality player because of how it may affect a player he's worked for a few seasons on.

There's clearly no strategy in place and the entire club has shown itself up this summer.

Well if he were to go on a spending spree what would that say about the team he has put together,and there lies the problem and that's why there will be very little activity in the market for us.It's gross incompetance whoever is at fault,personally I think its all Wengers fault he decides a players value regardless what the market say's.

:oldboy:

[Özil's Panoramic View]

It's 99.9999999999999999999999999999% Wenger's fault I'm sure.

Highly anticipating that joyous day when he finally leaves. Will have to be ranked as the greatest day in the history of the Club.

[Munchies]

Highly anticipating that joyous day when he finally leaves. Will have to be ranked as the greatest day in the history of the Club.

http://i.imgur.com/zbyJE2b.gif

[Özil's Panoramic View]

http://i.imgur.com/zbyJE2b.gif

NPH, proper representation of you, huh?

[Munchies]

NPH, proper representation of you, huh?

:lol:

I saw it randomly on another forum. (not a gay forum I might add,but nothing wrong with that though)

[Özil's Panoramic View]

:lol:

I saw it randomly on another forum. (not a gay forum I might add,but nothing wrong with that though)

yeah, we all know there's nothing wrong with you claiming not to be gay.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

i reckon it's gandhi's.

yes it's gandhi's fault.

[Özim]

He's gone from one of the best manager's in the clubs history to one of the worst....quite some achievement.

[Munchies]

He should have gone after the 07/08 season, would have been immortalised as a club legend, statues and everything.

Right now, people are counting the days till he leaves. Sad really.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

He's gone from one of the best manager's in the clubs history to one of the worst....quite some achievement.

graham was better

won more during his time in terms of years/trophies ratio so proves it.

he had common sense.

he knew how to train the defence.

he wasn't AWOL.

pisses all over wenger tbh.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

graham was better

won more during his time in terms of years/trophies ratio so proves it.

he had common sense.

he knew how to train the defence.

he wasn't AWOL.

pisses all over wenger tbh.

And corrupt as fuck

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

What with David Dein and George Graham we really are stuck in a time warp something we are accusing Wenger of. Next someone will be suggesting we get a shovel and dig up Rocky Rocastle and Bertie Mee

[Munchies]

dig up Rocky Rocastle and Bertie Mee

Not needed man :faint:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

If Graham was managing us now wed still have shit players and those shit players would be buying him a holiday home in Sardinia.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Not needed man :faint:

Fair enough....were probably both cremated

[Globalgunner]

If Graham was managing us now wed still have shit players and those shit players would be buying him a holiday home in Sardinia.

Taking 7.5m p.a and doing the barest minimum while using our money to buy shit bargain basement players from French clubs seems like corruption to me. Same difference.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well at least we know he's not getting a cut on transfers (apart from transfers out)

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

And corrupt as fuck

just like our current board and manager then

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

If Graham was managing us now wed still have shit players and those shit players would be buying him a holiday home in Sardinia.

nah

he'd organise the defence and buy the required players. he'd actually apply tactics.

said so himself plenty of times

plus he has something wenger doesnt. common sense.

[GP]

Yes, that's why he's currently managing at a high level.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

in case you hadn't noticed, he's retired.

[Özim]

And corrupt as fuck

Yeah but AW is screwing over the fans with the permission of the board (and for a helluvah lot more).

[Xhaka Can’t]

It's 99.9999999999999999999999999999% Wenger's fault I'm sure.

Highly anticipating that joyous day when he finally leaves. Will have to be ranked as the greatest day in the history of the Club.

Somehow I don't think I will be feeling quite as elated as when I was there watching us completing our unbeaten season.

[Özim]

in case you hadn't noticed, he's retired.

Looks like Wenger isn't the only one with a lack of common sense :run:

[GP]

in case you hadn't noticed, he's unemployed

I noticed.

[Xhaka Can’t]

We are only 2% away from it being all Wenger's fault.

[Cripps_orig]

in case you hadn't noticed, he's retired.

Pretty much

:haha:

[Özim]

nah

he'd organise the defence and buy the required players. he'd actually apply tactics.

said so himself plenty of times

plus he has something wenger doesnt. common sense.

You don't need tactics or to think about the opposition or even worry about defending, you just play your own game and hope you win. :coffee:

[Cripps_orig]

He should have gone after the 07/08 season, would have been immortalised as a club legend, statues and everything.

Right now, people are counting the days till he leaves. Sad really.
Should have gone at the end of the 03/04 season

[Özim]

Pretty much

:haha:

Last time I noticed retired people didn't have jobs.

[Xhaka Can’t]

The next guy that continues with this shit is out of the thread.

[Slacker]

Don't say a lot on here and don't intend to, but being around the block a few times I became disillusioned with the AW project a few seasons ago. Obviously there's a stadium to pay for but even the best companies in the World have to speculate to accumulate. If they were in the position AFC have been in for a few seasons now they would have taken a punt or two and put themselves in a position where they would have spent a few quid to be up with the Citehs, the Utds and the Blues. Sadly I can see that being extended to the Spuds. Allegedly we had the best Harvard can offer looking after our finances - well they aren't that good then are they???

As for George Graham, he was dabbling with relegation in a vanity project in 1995 when he thankfully went, having spent fuck all for two years running a tight defence with the likes of Steve Morrow and David Hillier in front of it having won the league at a canter in 91.

I think we need to accept managers get old and start believing their own publicity. Fergie would have gone years ago if he didn't have so many dodgy reffing decisions go his way. Utd would not have won so many titles given the even playing field we all live with, but SAF had too much sway. AW has seriously had his day. As people have said, he is living in a golden age in the past and football has moved on. Just like it did with George Graham.

[Nayan]

It makes my head spin trying to think about what the hell is going on at the club, who is responsible for what, why we haven't spent this summer. I don't believe Wenger is blameless but neither do I believe you can blame him solely. What percentage of blame would you assign to who?

I'll keep this simple by splitting it between 'the board' and Wenger.

Wenger 70%
The Board 30%.

wenger runs the club. the board are irrelevant

[Letters]

wenger runs the club. the board are irrelevant
If they are then that in itself is the board's fault. They are his bosses. If they've let Wenger have too much control then that's a weakness in them. Or, more likely, they're happy with him keeping us top 4, it keeps the money rolling in so they're happy. You cannot absolve them of any blame for that.

For all the nonsense on here, Wenger's clearly a good manager. We finished 4th last year FFS and even if you think it was luck that we finished above Spurs (it wasn't), the top 5 were well clear of the rest so even if Spurs had finished ahead of us we'd have been 5th last year. Utd won the title because they had the best manager I'd say in the history of football. City and Chelsea can clearly outspend us and while we should have been closer last year with our resources, finishing below them is no disgrace.
So, we've got a terrible manager and terrible players and we still finished top 4? Really?
Either our players are amazing and managed to finish top 4 despite a terrible manager or we have terrible players and Wenger is a genius.
Or, and I'm just reaching here, maybe we have pretty good players and a pretty good manager.

BUT, the club as a whole are clearly inept in the transfer market. If Wenger is entirely in charge of that, or too involved, then he shouldn't be. The board need to tell him to STFU and let them get on with dealing with the transfer market. And if whoever is in charge of negotiations can't close deals then they need to find someone who can.

[Nayan]

If they are then that in itself is the board's fault. They are his bosses. If they've let Wenger have too much control then that's a weakness in them. Or, more likely, they're happy with him keeping us top 4, it keeps the money rolling in so they're happy. You cannot absolve them of any blame for that.

For all the nonsense on here, Wenger's clearly a good manager. We finished 4th last year FFS and even if you think it was luck that we finished above Spurs (it wasn't), the top 5 were well clear of the rest so even if Spurs had finished ahead of us we'd have been 5th last year. Utd won the title because they had the best manager I'd say in the history of football. City and Chelsea can clearly outspend us and while we should have been closer last year with our resources, finishing below them is no disgrace.
So, we've got a terrible manager and terrible players and we still finished top 4? Really?
Either our players are amazing and managed to finish top 4 despite a terrible manager or we have terrible players and Wenger is a genius.
Or, and I'm just reaching here, maybe we have pretty good players and a pretty good manager.

BUT, the club as a whole are clearly inept in the transfer market. If Wenger is entirely in charge of that, or too involved, then he shouldn't be. The board need to tell him to STFU and let them get on with dealing with the transfer market. And if whoever is in charge of negotiations can't close deals then they need to find someone who can.

well yeah but thats like saying tony blair's gulf war is every labour voter's fault.

also you need to distinguish these days between the board and the owner. in the dein/fiszman etc days they were sort of the same thing. Nowadays the board are a just bunch of stooges - the best arsenal comment ive seen recently was that placard saying 'Ivan Gazidis - what the fuck do you do?'

we are a property fund/business case with a footbal club stuck on as an afterthought and have been for a decade at least. Under Kronke especially there is no plan other than let 'wenger do what he wants as long as the money keeps coming in.' Today's board are not there to direct him as dein did - they are there to wipe his arse

[Nayan]

Should have gone at the end of the 03/04 season

Ridiculous. he challenged for the title twice after that and also got to a CL final.