Clichy has left. And Nasri in talks with Citeh.

[Cripps_orig]

Seriously? So you wouldn't care that every trophy would be tainted by the fact that you only achieved it by spending a sugar-daddy's money and know that if he got bored and pissed off we'd be screwed.

Sod that, frankly. I want success but not like that. It's as meaningless as buying a degree off the internet and then celebrating your 'achievement'.

Out of the 2 id go for Citys but ideally id want something in between.

Spend money on quality players whilst producing youngsters.

[Özim]

I'll gladly take the piss out of anyone who genuinely feels that way.

Yeah but they wouldn't be paying you for the privilege.

[Letters]

I think Man Utd should be commended for managing to compete and win despite the financial strength of the opposition, and I think the Arsenal board and Wenger should be condemned for being so comprehensively whipped by a Utd board in constant turmoil, a manager who would have an excuse to lose the hunger after all these years but hasn't and a team that is technically inferior to ours.

We have bad leadership and trying to blame Man City for that is a non-starter really.

I don't really disagree with that and I'm not blaming City for anything.
Just saying their success will be tainted by the way it was achieved. Their idiot fans probably won't care, our stupider fans wouldn't care if it happened to us. But the more discerning would surely see the difference.

[Letters]

Out of the 2 id go for Citys but ideally id want something in between.

Spend money on quality players whilst producing youngsters.

Agreed. And the frustrating thing is I think we could have achieved success the 'right' way had Wenger been less stubborn and mixed the (undoubtably good) squad he's built with a bit of experience which could have got us over the finish line.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Sure, the guy who holds on to cr*p like Denilson and Almunia for years tells a first teamer he's not wanted.

Depends how much more money that 1st teamer wanted tbh.

[Özim]

Depends how much more money that 1st teamer wanted tbh.

Don't think money was the issue here, lack of belief in the idealistic policy and lack of success were probably more relevant.

Wenger thinks he can keep the better players by getting 4th place every season.

[Niall_Quinn]

Of course it's an utter disgrace we have sold our starting FB to the club that finished directly above us. Clichy, for all his mistakes, is a better defender than Gibbs. Sending Clichy off to the continent and getting in a superior replacement would have been fine, but we've sold to our direct rivals and you just pray Wenger won't try to pull a stunt and go with Gibbs as first choice. If it works out that way then add yet another reason to the long list of reasons why Wenger should be sacked.

What's more, now there's a gap in the team Wenger had better move fucking fast to fill it (as in tomorrow considering he must have known Clichy was going) or else the zero-ambition message to the other players increases in volume.

Do we have any players left now that have ever won anything at Arsenal? Anyone at all?

[cricketsi]

Yeah but they wouldn't be paying you for the privilege.

True, Ach only offered me money to piss on him.

[Power n Glory]

He was in the last year of his contract which immediately drives the price down, so I'm not overly bothered about that price really, we didn't have many chips left to play with. It is disappointing though given how inflated the market is we have lost a player for half of his actual worth IMO. As Syn has rightly pointed out though, would that money all be reinvested or will it just make the annual reports look even nicer?

Meh.

If we do buy Enrique I bet we will have to pay a lot more than 7m for an inferior player.

That's my point. It's an inflated market and not even Bolton will sell us Cahill for his true market value. But it sucks to sell him to City without making it worth our while. It's not as if we have a left back ready to step in and we will need to pay more than £7m for an experienced replacement. Clichy had some shockers and we need a better left back, but I don't see us spending money on this position and we've just sent out the wrong message. Selling him is one thing, but to the team that pipped us for 3rd!

[Master Splinter]

Gael Clichy has spoken of his ambitions at new club Manchester City."There is no limit at Manchester City," he said of his new club's ability to lift silverware. "Of course, you have to be realistic but there is no limit. Where they have come from in three years is phenomenal. And I want to win things."

Footballers really are stupid.

And people advocating City's method of obtaining success have given themselves up as glory hunters. If all you're bothered about is how Arsenal's glory/non-glory refelects upon you, then why even bother following a team? Instant, manufactured success is not sport. And if that's what you want, then the next Football Manager or FIFA games would be recommended.