He also has no problems using the 'financially doped' clubs to inflate the transfer fees of our own players when up for sale. Moralist and idealist my ass. It's only when it suits him and he's just as bad as the sharks sitting in the boardroom. I'm not on board with this idea that he's some sort of lone ranger. It may appear that way with his constant preaching but his actions are inconsistent. We court the attention of the oil baron clubs to achieve our own financial goals. We'd have never been able to sell Ade for that fee to another club that wasn't 'doped', never been able to sell Nasri for that fee with a year left on his contract and we've also gotten very good money for the sales of Clichy and Toure. With RVP, we happily courted City's attention in order to coax Man Utd into action and up their transfer fee. He's happy to inflate the price of our own players if it means we achieve profit but then chastise the 'doped' clubs for inflating fees. It makes business sense to do this but he's no moralist. It's only when it suits him. After selling RVP, he said he'd have preferred to sell to a foreign club like PSG. Come on now, PSG! Why not Juve? Because they weren't able to offer an inflated price. We'd never pay over the odds for a player with a year left on his contract!Originally Posted by gooners
I don't like this idea that he's being used as a pawn either. He's an intelligent guy and knows what he's doing and saying. Just check his comments today about us living in an 'emotional society' and that we should all 'think before we speak'. It's an utter piss take as if we haven't thought about this for the past 7 years. Fuck him! That's a message to the fans. That's what he chooses to say to the press knowing that the fans are upset with our transfer dealings this summer.
He makes it easy for the board. In footballing terms, he's able legitamise and justify their tight fisted ways and balancing act. The 30 plus contract rule and his recent comments about players on the decline earning massive wages; the board must love that shit. It's a seal of approval and makes sense financially for them but Wenger rubber stamps it with his football logic. One of the suits would never be able to stand before the fans and justify this wage structure and relate it back to the fans so it makes sense in footballing terms. They'd never be able to justify the 30 plus contract rule without Wenger. They'd only be able to point to a balance sheet and explain how we save money. Wenger has data and experience on when players start to decline and when performance starts to suffer on the pitch. That's gold to them. They can hide behind that. They don't have that sort of knowledge. Wenger has no problem volunteering this sort of information to the press and fans. He knows his opinion is highly regarded; he's aware of his influence and what is said about him in the press. His recent comments take the absolute piss.
He's happy to dupe the fans. I heard at an AGM meeting when Gazidis and PHW were getting jeered by the crowd, he jumped in front of the bullets and protected them. He jumped in and started speaking about the club and our vision and that tamed the crowd. He had instant respect and it was if Yoda had just spoken during a heated Jedi council debate. It was reported on Arseblog and Le Grove some months back. Why would he do that if he's getting screwed over and doing simply what he's told? He agrees with this. When the club announced they were raising ticket prices, he said that it was necessary in order to compete with clubs like Chelsea and City. That's utter bollocks but he said it anyway and knew if he related such a financially motivated ploy back to the football pitch, we'd all understand. Forget painting Wenger as a moralist. He's the con man. Without him, the con doesn't work. People trust him and it's how the club gets away with it.
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