Winter Transfer Missed Opportunities and Regrets

[Niall_Quinn]

I agree with that being possibly close to their mindset but I don't agree they can't see the benefit of actually winning things, plus anyone who runs a business successfully knows you can never stand still - if you aren't striving to always improve your product, someone else will overtake you.

They didn't stand still, they invested enough to keep us competitive. If I start a business and it becomes profitable that doesn't necessarily mean I have to grow revenues that exceed Apple. Maybe I'm happy with half that, or a fraction of it. Depends on my level of ambition and also on what I understand to be realistic. I probably won't exceed Apple turnover (no pun) and it's probably not even my goal because I don't view it as achievable given my resources and what I'm prepared to invest and risk. But I'm still happy banking my profits and growing the business, maybe chucking a bit of cash in when ACME Ltd starts catching up.

I think that January window told us much. About the ambition of the Kroenkes, the competency at the executive level in the club, the complacency of all involved to let this situation develop in the first place. It makes the football appear to be a secondary concern rather than the reason the club exists.

[Mac76]

They didn't stand still, they invested enough to keep us competitive. If I start a business and it becomes profitable that doesn't necessarily mean I have to grow revenues that exceed Apple. Maybe I'm happy with half that, or a fraction of it. Depends on my level of ambition and also on what I understand to be realistic. I probably won't exceed Apple turnover (no pun) and it's probably not even my goal because I don't view it as achievable given my resources and what I'm prepared to invest and risk. But I'm still happy banking my profits and growing the business, maybe chucking a bit of cash in when ACME Ltd starts catching up.

I think that January window told us much. About the ambition of the Kroenkes, the competency at the executive level in the club, the complacency of all involved to let this situation develop in the first place. It makes the football appear to be a secondary concern rather than the reason the club exists.

I still blame Arteta much much more than the Kroenkes - he, not them, decided to prioritise defensive players in the summer, I've heard the club was uneasy about the Merino signing in particular and it could well be one of the reasons Edu left.

Also Arteta had not made signing another attacker in January a priority and wasn't even mentioning it until Jesus got injured, which was far too late - again two years ago we had Trossard et al in place, this season nothing

He didn't even recall Vieira, which given he's on our books already is insanely stubborn on his part

[IBK]

We're on the same page.

When you look at it from their viewpoint, second in the PL, 3rd in the CL - well done boys! That's good, isn't it?

Then you look at the 60K crammed in, the 100K waiting outside for a ticket, the endorsements, the merchandise, the global reach, the value in the brand itself. I'm thinking if they tuned into AFTV they'd be perplexed at what they are seeing.

To them Arsenal will be a product. Is it a good product? Yes. At an affordable price? Well the 100K waiting list says yes, or maybe even the prices should be higher (look into that for me Josh!) Are the staff happy? You bet your arsenal they are happy, have you seen what they earn? Is future growth on track? We're looking into that 300 mill expansion.

This is what they'll be interested in, not the January transfer window. They have people to deal with that. And that's how it should be in a business, and that's the problem. If football is just a business then we should all be up there along with the Kroenkes cheering the solid metrics coming out of the club.

It's doubtful we can even connect with these people in any meaningful way. Even if they agreed to do everything we demanded they'd likely still end up doing the opposite as they continue to fail to understand what makes this game important to the fans. Why would they? In the States their "franchises" will up and move city if it means more cash, goodbye old fans, hello new. Completely interchangeable.

I think that this is quite measured and sensible, and I also echo your answer to Mac's question. Like in life, there is no black and white in this issue, only shades of grey. It's not a question of whether the Kroenke's have invested in players - they have. Even if you look at our rivals from the owners' non-fan perspective (as I think HZC pointed out) Citeh took risks coming into this season that have backfired. Liverpool took risks by signing only Chiesa to come in this season, having their 3 best players on expiring contracts and relying on a 32 year old to continue producing the goods up front. For all our criticism about training methods etc, we had a back up striker, a back up RW, a back up LW coming into the season, and losing Odegard; Saka; Jesus and Martinelli for medium to long term injuries could not reasonably have been predicted.

But we were left short both in quality and numbers with our player departures, and it is perfectly fair to conclude that KSE have not taken spending decisions that reflect a real ambition to be champions. It's a 'nice to have' not an essential from a business perspective, and like you say, the Kroenkes are simply businessmen with no real affinity for the club or emotional investment in success. It is a cold appraisal of the bottom line as well as an executive not at the top of its game that IMO led to our failure to sign a forward in January.

I worry a bit about the functionality of the club's board. For an example of how much importance the Kroenkes attach to a sporting director role, their Colorado Rapid's team's chief business officer (the equivalent role) left after his contract expired in December without a replacement. I wonder whether we can see Edu's departure as the result of a perceived lack of value by the owners in what is in the EPL at least, a crucial position in terms of achieveing transfers. The importance of lawyers like the Kroenkes' adviser, Tim Lewis, and Richard Garlick on the executive hardly suggests that any ambition will take precedence over the balance sheet.

Where the manager has added to our predicament is in his proclivity for spending the funds that are available in CM and defence.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Diego Costa is a free agent.

We love a Chelsea player.

I'm just saying.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Roberto Firminho being linked with us as he’s about to be axed by the Saudi club he is playing for

I don’t see it happening as his agent would be looking for him to be signed on, on a few years contract not until the end of the season

Would love the idea of having one of liverpools ex players being instrumental in overhauling them

[Niall_Quinn]

Roberto Firminho being linked with us as he’s about to be axed by the Saudi club he is playing for

I don’t see it happening as his agent would be looking for him to be signed on, on a few years contract not until the end of the season

Would love the idea of having one of liverpools ex players being instrumental in overhauling them

There are barrels and then there are barrels that should never be opened, let alone scraped.

[Marc Overmars]

Firmino was a really good player and even at 33 years old having been playing in Saudi I’d suggest he’s better than what we’ve currently got.

[Mac76]

Firmino was a really good player and even at 33 years old having been playing in Saudi I’d suggest he’s better than what we’ve currently got.

yeah, we should take him if available

[HCZ_Reborn]

If and only if it’s till the end of the season is my view

If that’s the case, then he’d clearly be a better choice than the alternatives on the free transfer scene

[Mac76]

If and only if it’s till the end of the season is my view

If that’s the case, then he’d clearly be a better choice than the alternatives on the free transfer scene

well no-one's saying put him on a ten-year contract at 500k a week - we're not Man Utd