Wenger Out?

[Letters]

We’d have stayed top four at Highbury. Man Utd and Chelsea were the only teams with crazy spending power back then and we weakened our team as a result of the move to the Emirates. We’d probably have serious problems now sustaining top four now that the teams below us have gotten better with more money and better managers.

We wouldn't have stayed top 4 for as long. The only sides to do that consistently have had loads to spend either because they're bankrolled or have massive stadiums and fan-bases. I personally wouldn't want us reliant on a sugar-daddy. It's not much of a long-term strategy.

[Letters]

Would we have stayed in the top 4 over the last few years if we'd stayed at Highbury? I think absolutely yes we would have, and, what's more, I think we'd have won a lot more along the way too

I'm not following the logic of that opinion? You think in a 'sport' where money and success are increasingly correlated we'd have done better with a lot less money?

[Dein-machine]

He's basically saying you're talking rubbish and that we needed the move.

If you read things properly I've never said we didn't need the move. I said it was part of the lies told by the board & Wenger. Long term the move is great with a fantastic asset on our books & double the capacity but basically we are a football club & as a football team we are worse than we were 8 years ago, we don't compete at the top table & we are not viewed by anyone as one of the worlds top teams.

[GP]

It's pretty naive to think the team wouldn't suffer in the short term while the front-loaded commercials deals had time to run.

There were no lies told there.

[Dein-machine]

I'm not following the logic of that opinion? You think in a 'sport' where money and success are increasingly correlated we'd have done better with a lot less money?

United have spent far less than Chelsea & City & still won the league last year. If we hadn't been paying of Stadium debt how much money would we have had less?, can you follow that Logic?

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

If you read things properly I've never said we didn't need the move. I said it was part of the lies told by the board & Wenger. Long term the move is great with a fantastic asset on our books & double the capacity but basically we are a football club & as a football team we are worse than we were 8 years ago, we don't compete at the top table & we are not viewed by anyone as one of the worlds top teams.

But if we look back at those 8 years and see it was just a blip in history then quite frankly it's nothing.

For all the stick we've given Wenger it does seem more and more like he was right all along.

There was fuck all money to spend. Hence the recent quotes from board + himself.
He stuck by players like Ramsey and he's now reaping the rewards.
He turned youth players like adebayor, flamini etc into established household names. Maybe patience was the key.

I dunno but it's easy as fans to sit and think he done a shit job but we don't really know the truth. He should have spent in key areas over the years because he took underinvestment to the extreme, we all agree on that. And we all agree that tactically he was shocking, especially the defence, which was allowed to get away with murder week in week out. But now we're looking like we might improve. So as he was given such a rough ride during the past 8 years, maybe he's allowed to enjoy the new funds and be given the opportunity to take us back to the top

If we go into february having done fuck all in the transfer window again then fine. But up until now, we're doing fucking amazing.

[Letters]

United have spent far less than Chelsea & City & still won the league last year. If we hadn't been paying of Stadium debt how much money would we have had less?, can you follow that Logic?

As discussed, Utd had Fergie. Will they win it this year without him? I don't think so.
Fair point about the stadium debt I guess but the sooner we moved the sooner we could start paying that off. Longer term it was the only option. Spurs have done well over the last few years but they're looking to move now so they'll be paying off a stadium debt which will affect their spending just at the time we're starting to have serious money to spend.

The last 8 years have been painful at times, more painful than they should have been and I do blame Wenger for that, but the Özil signing showed he's not averse to spending big when he's got the money to so maybe he really couldn't have done much more previously.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

United have spent far less than Chelsea & City & still won the league last year. If we hadn't been paying of Stadium debt how much money would we have had less?, can you follow that Logic?

The stadium move had to be done.

We are a massive club with a massive waiting list. Staying at Highbury would have been an archaic move, hindering us in the future, especially in the age of enhanced commercialisation. Being stuck in a 38k capacity stadium in the modern game? It's ludicrous. Look at Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs doing everything in their power to try and move to a bigger stadium, it's just crucial in the modern era.

I don't agree the extent to which the board + manager went to exhaust a youth model which was practically flawed, nor will I ever forgive them for the utter embarrassment I've had to face as an Arsenal fan over the past 8 years living in British society. But it's done now. The poor, shoddy players that represented this club are largely gone and we are looking like we might move forward.

Some of us on here have been his biggest critic, to the extent we've fuelled a civil war on this forum. But when you sit and think about how tough his job has been then you can't help but feel he's had to do it the hard way. Liverpool lost Alonso and have finished 7th/8th ever since, well Wenger had to deal with top players leaving every summer yet kept us in the top 4. Yes most of the wounds were self-inflicted but as I said earlier, if it was just an 8 year blip, then fuck it. Let's move on and enjoy the good times

[I am invisible]

I'm not following the logic of that opinion? You think in a 'sport' where money and success are increasingly correlated we'd have done better with a lot less money?

No, I'm arguing exactly the same point that you are. The key part of that sentence you've highlighted is "over the last few years" - basically, I'm saying that, if we'd stayed at Highbury instead of moving stadium, then we would have had more available money to spend on the team in the immediate / short-term, and therefore probably would have won more over the last 8 years because of it. However, I'm also saying that it wouldn't have lasted, and that, ultimately, we needed the move to the bigger stadium, with it's increased revenues, if we want to see sustained success in the future...

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

No, I'm arguing exactly the same point that you are. The key part of that sentence you've highlighted is "over the last few years" - basically, I'm saying that, if we'd stayed at Highbury instead of moving stadium, then we would have had more available money to spend on the team in the immediate / short-term, and therefore probably would have won more over the last 8 years because of it. However, I'm also saying that it wouldn't have lasted, and that, ultimately, we needed the move to the bigger stadium, with it's increased revenues, if we want to see sustained success in the future...

Well what a pointless point to make then. I think we all know that.