The Board

[-Xs-]

It's a "nice" article, but is missing the point entirely.

We had an entire summer to sort out re-enforcement's, sort out the squad and get ready for the season ahead; we lowly fans could all see that if the squad wasn't strong enough last year, on the back of that horrid collapse, sitting there and doing nothing about it wasn't the correct path to take. We started the season as we finished the last, capitualted with an 8-2 mauling by our once rivals (which, by the way, may have cost quite a few managers out there their job in it's own right, no top team should be losing by such a scoreline). Only then did then club decide to act.

Like NQ said, we are now back to square one, in a transfer window, squad decimated, whilst the people who can sort it refuse to.

We get lied to all the time, Aw talks about super quality then signs players like Chamakh.

All the while, down the road, the spuds are quietly getting on with the job at hand and actually building a team which is
coming close to challenging, rather than just making excuses for not doing so.

[Power n Glory]

I think you may have missed the point the writer was making. He isn't excusing any of that.

[-Xs-]

Please elaborate, it was called The board, and then talked about how people seem to have only raised these points again since the last few games. They haven't.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Our difficult times are always after Christmas generally (other than November), we got a few wins before Christmas but how often have we actually played really well and looked a very good side?

Winning when not playing well is great, but rarely playing well isn't, Cesc and Nasri may not have been a perfect fit but they were quality players who had a lot of influence on our results, the players we've replaced them with are decent but don't have that special something that sets certain players apart from the rest.

Been a bit disappointed with Arteta, I thought he was better than he is, whilst he might work hard and do his bit, he really lacks the star quality I thought he had.

Even with them we still missed lots of star quality. We still had players who could not be bothered when it came to comps like the CC/Fa cups. We have a team now that wants to win things but is missing star quality.

[Özim]

Even with them we still missed lots of star quality. We still had players who could not be bothered when it came to comps like the CC/Fa cups. We have a team now that wants to win things but is missing star quality.

I agree with you, but if you get rid of those top players you have and don't replace them you're only going to go one way in the league.

We do need some really top class players who can just change things with a moment of magic, I just feel we have a lot of ordinary players these days, not many players who can make the difference.....it's showing to be honest...over the last 6 years we've seen a real drop in quality.

[Cripps_orig]

Eastern European tycoon Alisher Usmanov has revealed he would like to increase his stake at Premier League giants Arsenal, but insisted he is not interested in joining the board.

Usmanov is one of a handful of billionaires who own or hold stakes in top-flight clubs alongside Russian oligarch Roman Abramovic at Chelsea and Anton Zingarevich, who recently acquired a 51 per cent ownership of newly promoted Reading through his company Thames Sports Investment.

"As much as possible, every time, I'm open to increase my shares," Usmanov revealed at an international economic forum in St. Petersburg.

According to the club's official website, Usmanov and business partner Farhad Moshiri's Red and White Holdings currently own 29.72 per cent of Arsenal Holdings plc after initially acquiring a £75million stake from David Dein back in 2007.

American billionaire, Stan Kroenke, is currently the club's majority shareholder after buying a 66.83 per cent stake from Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, but the two have been at loggerheads for some time after the Missouri entrepreneur was obliged to make an offer for Usmanov's shares, which he rejected.

However, Usmanov has accused Kroenke, whose enterprise also owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL and the NFL's St. Louis Rams, of a lack of ambition and investment in the London club.

"No, I don't want to be on the board when I'm not invited," he added.

Need to get him in asap. Yanks been a failure