Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
I think you are barking up a tree, maybe with validity, but missing the biggest tree in the forest. Arsenal has been fucking up transfer windows for a long time now. That's the last 2 star players burned and flogged for nothing. We got minimum return on a host of other players too, while genuine shitkickers from other clubs were going for millions.

The levels of incompetency (or complacency) at Arsenal stand out. Yet the fans continue to get fleeced. That's not me. I'm not a fan any more and I wouldn't comment on anyone else deciding how they want to spend their cash other than to say Stan loves you. The more you give him the more he'll demand. Every Arsenal fan must be able to recognise the pattern by now. Wait until the knife-edge, blow some cash to keep things above water, then settle in for the next cycle. Doesn't mean money isn't being spent, it's just not being spent at a frequency that seriously competitive clubs pursue. Then the assets are so seriously mismanaged or wasted you can only laugh, once in despair but now because it's so comical.

Windows like this continue to remind that Arsenal FC is all about the business and nothing about the football. And on the rare occasion I watch them on the pitch it serves as the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
I agree that our burning of assets has been lamentable, and my post was directed more to those writing the team off because we didn't panic buy in January rather than this wider issue.

Regarding incompetency - I would say that from Arteta's perspective, his player management has been partly due to him being a rookie manager, and I hope he will learn and improve this now he is moulding a team of players who will buy in to his methods and philosophy. We can't on the one hand observe that the player culture at the club has to change and then be too harsh on a manager who - albeit messily - is trying to change this.

In a wider sense, the fiscal management is indicative of those at the top being clueless and a lack of a coherent strategy - and this firefighting that you refer to is the result. For balance to your post however, we have spent plenty of money, and the Summer's recruitment was a success. Also, our relative lack of footballing success this past few years has played a part. As I say I can understand the lack of incoming players this January and we can only hope that player management improves from here on in.