Originally Posted by
Niall_Quinn
You are essentially reducing the whole rationale behind football to a financial equation, just as Wenger does. Of course the club shouldn't just throw money at every problem, that would be equally as bad. But there's an element of investment in football, you put back into the club what you earn and you also speculate to accumulate, and indeed there's an element of risk to that. Wenger is a risk free manager and as such he's pretty much unsuited to league we're in. This isn't about buying houses or cars, neither is it a typical business scenario as you try to suggest. How many top flight clubs have actually gone bust and closed down over the years, say in comparison to the local businesses? Even in the most dire circumstances, Leeds, Portsmouth, these clubs took a risk (or hired Harry Redknapp which is suicidal) and paid in terms of their status, but they still plough on. That's because sport is still (thank fuck) different to a typical business, even though it's rapidly heading in the wrong direction egged on by accountant types like Wenger. There's a connection between the club and the local area, there's a fan base, you can't substitute brand Y for brand X if you are an Arsenal supporter, there's only one Arsenal. If the business types have their way all this will change and in fact the indications are these narrow minded and emotional cripples are having it their way and killing the game in the process. What are we looking for? Arsenal FC one year, Emirates FC the next? A merger with THFC? All of the usual crap that goes on in business but brought to the football world? Football is different, whether you care to admit it or not, and people like Wenger aren't helping the game at all, he's driving it into the hands of people who only care about the money and don't give a shit about the sport - like our board.
If I'm a bum then I don't buy the expensive house because I know next year is likely to be just as unambitious as the previous. But if I'm a go-getter I speculate that the work I will do and the effort I'll put in will see me move ahead the next year to a better place, always on the up. So I might say fuck it and buy the more expensive house because I'm looking to improve rather than just exist. The big winners are also the big risk takers, those who play it safe might find a comfort zone but they don't rise to the top.
Nobody wants Wenger to throw millions around recklessly, they just want him to demonstrate he still has a pulse and is aware there's a lot more to this game than balancing the books. Do you think the guy still has the winning drive? I don't. I'd put my money with him if I wanted a solid 5% each year but I wouldn't waste my time backing him to win at football.
Who thinks the fans would have sat on their hands if the board had been honest and said this stadium move was a decade long project that would see the team emaciated in the process? Who would have sat still if they knew the board was going to bail before that process was completed? Do you see what's happened here? Our club has been sacrificed so a bunch of shits who didn't even need the money can cash in. That's the long and short of it. What does £4million mean to those guys? Lady Whatsherface banked £120mill+ didn't she? How much did she put in? How much did any of the other bastards put in and how much are they set to walk away with? Where's "Do Nothing" Stan getting all the cash from? Do we know yet?
They can stick their business model up their arses as far as I'm concerned. They can crow about its virtue all they want and meanwhile a team that used to be able to compete with the likes on Utd (they used to have to kick us of the pitch because they couldn't live with us) is swirling around the toilet bowl waiting for the one big final flush from Wenger. All is well, don't be so impatient, appreciate what you've got, he tells us - as he merrily continues to neglect the glaring problems this club has been facing for years and the fans sit and watch the team being humiliated by the likes of Newcastle, West Brom and Birmingham fucking City.
Shankley had it right, not Wenger. Football is much, much more than a sordid, nasty money-making trip for rich guys, or at least it fucking should be.
