Summer Transfer Misery and Recriminations.

Why do we all bother when we know nothing will change ?

I do not live in London and have never been to any Arsenal game and I never will but if I was a season ticket holder I would be very pissed off and would not bother buying another season ticket until Wenger leaves.

We want to win cheaply which is impossible, I know Leicester did it last season but we can't because Wenger cannot motivate players, basically we don't want to win the PL enough so we won't win it and as for the CL, if we get through the group stages it will be a miracle and a certain exit in the last 16.

I am very near to the stage of not caring at all and becoming completely neutral.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

Honestly i think you all suffer from cognitive dissonance, you all believe that we are being cheated by the board and the majority shareholder especially. And yet me trying to reinforce that by saying even when Wenger goes we've still got this big problem seems to be a big issue for people here.

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I personally don't think we will splurge like the dopers once Wenger has gone but I do believe a more pragmatic manager would correctly identify the areas of issue and spend in those areas to improve them.

I don't think we need to spend 100million to compete but I do think we need a strong spine to the team and feel we need to be a lot more logical with our squad management in terms of recruitment.

Wenger has had an element of money to spend over the past three or four seasons and he's mismanaged it.

Mustafi is apparently available for less than £20m. Surely a no brainer of a signing given our situation at CB? Possible long term successor to Merts.

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Originally Posted by selassie

I personally don't think we will splurge like the dopers once Wenger has gone but I do believe a more pragmatic manager would correctly identify the areas of issue and spend in those areas to improve them.

I don't think we need to spend 100million to compete but I do think we need a strong spine to the team and feel we need to be a lot more logical with our squad management in terms of recruitment.

Wenger has had an element of money to spend over the past three or four seasons and he's mismanaged it.

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Again i think prevaricating over transfer prices is as much about the club not being prepared to spend what it can to make us competitive as it is about Wenger's parsimonious nature, at the end of the day from their point of view when there is no guarantee of winning major trophies with greater investment and the money is coming in with top 4 finishes why would they?.

The bottom line is even with a new manager, is that have a board that wants to take a hands off approach with the football aspect of the club. And a manager can only be successful in an atmosphere where he is more accountable (no we don't want the hire and fire policy of Chelsea either) as well as given the full resources to acquire major trophies.

A new manager might be better in terms of tactics and man management, but unless the club takes a bigger hand in the day to day running operations of the club i suspect we will be in the same place with transfers even when the only vestige of Wenger at the club will be the bronze trophy outside the Emirates

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Mustafi is apparently available for less than £20m. Surely a no brainier of a signing given our situation at CB? Possible long term successor to Merts.

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Coquelin at Centre Back, internal option

Centre back is not a technically gifted midfielder, so there is no question of spending substantial money on fixing an issue caused by injury

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

The fee for Xhaka is irrelevant, the overall transfer budget he is allocated to spend is not decided upon by Wenger. Are you suggesting we should have haggled with Moechengladbach for Xhaka?.....

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Of course it's relevant. The overall budget isn’t decided by Wenger but if Wenger is told we have £60m - £70m to spend (hypothetical) do you think Dick Law just agrees to spending a good chunk out of the budget without consulting Wenger? Dick can’t estimate what a player is worth to Wenger and this team. There had to be a discussion to say Xhaka is an essential signing for the season ahead. There had to be a discussion of how many players we need and that had to go through Wenger. I’m not suggesting we should have haggled. What I think is that Wenger is they guy with the football knowledge and only he can determine what a player is worth to this team. That’s what I think is going on in football right now with these massive transfer fees. I think managers telling their club that they can’t win without players A, B and C.

So I’m confused by the Xhaka signing. Maybe we but all our eggs into one basket with Vardy and getting him for £20m. Maybe. But then why and how did we let Vardy slip away when it came to offering a contract? Why not offer more money and a longer contract so it was too good to turn down if that’s what he thought the team needed? The final say has to come from the manager and especially during this critical moment where it’s his final contract. Yes, it looks as though the Board are happy with Wenger but I don’t think they dictate to him. They back him up and support him.

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Originally Posted by selassie

I personally don't think we will splurge like the dopers once Wenger has gone but I do believe a more pragmatic manager would correctly identify the areas of issue and spend in those areas to improve them.

I don't think we need to spend 100million to compete but I do think we need a strong spine to the team and feel we need to be a lot more logical with our squad management in terms of recruitment.

Wenger has had an element of money to spend over the past three or four seasons and he's mismanaged it.

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Yep. Wenger has had money to spend for donkey's and he's mislead the fans for years. Last season should have been enough for all to see.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

Again i think prevaricating over transfer prices is as much about the club not being prepared to spend what it can to make us competitive as it is about Wenger's parsimonious nature, at the end of the day from their point of view when there is no guarantee of winning major trophies with greater investment and the money is coming in with top 4 finishes why would they?.

The bottom line is even with a new manager, is that have a board that wants to take a hands off approach with the football aspect of the club. And a manager can only be successful in an atmosphere where he is more accountable (no we don't want the hire and fire policy of Chelsea either) as well as given the full resources to acquire major trophies.

A new manager might be better in terms of tactics and man management, but unless the club takes a bigger hand in the day to day running operations of the club i suspect we will be in the same place with transfers even when the only vestige of Wenger at the club will be the bronze trophy outside the Emirates

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I doubt it because if we have manager that puts forward the case that a new striker is the difference between 4th and 1st, I'm sure they'd listen. But we have a manager that believes Giroud is one of the best strikers in the world and also thought Sanogo was the new Anelka. Vieira did say what his greatest strength and greatest weakness was. Buying Xhaka and Elneny may just be indication that he's given up on Wilshere, Ramsey and maybe Coquelin. But he may hold hope for Theo as striker or playing a big part for us next season, Sanchez staying fit and Giroud bouncing back stronger....this it what it boils down to if he doesn't buy anyone for up front this season. It indicates that he still believes these guys have something to offer.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Mustafi is apparently available for less than £20m. Surely a no brainer of a signing given our situation at CB? Possible long term successor to Merts.

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Yep we should wrap this one up quickly. In the current market he's more or less being given away, 20m is a steal for him, he's a very good player and still young.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Mustafi is apparently available for less than £20m. Surely a no brainer of a signing given our situation at CB? Possible long term successor to Merts.

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It is a no-brainer but our manager has no brains. So, Coquelin it is..