Are the glory days over for good?

[Özim]

No other manager in our history had managed to so I'm not sure why you think that.

Wenger shouldn't be solely credited with the new stadium but he DID propel us to the level where a new stadium could be justified. Graham's side, successful as it was at times, would never have filled a 60,000 seater stadium at the prices Arsenal are currently charging.

Graham wasn't far off in much less time that Wenger to be honest.

Wenger has been with us what 15 years, that's a long time and give a good manager that long I'm sure he'd have delivered a fair few trophies.

As for the stadium and prices, that's some sort of minor miracle I must admit as we're playing some horrible stuff at times and we collapse every season, it seems there are people who will pay regardless of what they get or how they are treated.

[Fist of Lehmann]

As for the stadium and prices, that's some sort of minor miracle I must admit as we're playing some horrible stuff at times and we collapse every season, it seems there are people who will pay regardless of what they get or how they are treated.

So what are you saying here? Your argument (against the assertion that Wenger could fill a 60,000 seat stadium and Graham could not) is that paying supporters are idiots?

[Letters]

So what are you saying here? Your argument (against the assertion that Wenger could fill a 60,000 seat stadium and Graham could not) is that paying supporters are idiots?

Till the last couple of years the football has still been very good IMO.
It's certainly not as good now as it was and this season it's been awful at times but overall there's no comparison between Wenger's Arsenal and some of the Graham sides during which the chant "Boring Boring Arsenal" was born. It was also the era in which "One Nill To The Arsenal" became popular which was another acknowledgement of our overly defensive style.
We really weren't a very good side to watch towards the end of the Graham era. We won a few trophies and if you don't go to games and just care about the end result of a season then I can understand people lauding that side. If you go game by game though you'll know it was mostly horrible to watch, the results were awful and we weren't even filling Highbury, we definitely wouldn't have filled The Emirates.

Graham did make the most of a mediocre squad and it punched above its weight although it has to be said that it was an era without billionaire owners and the gap between the haves and have nots was much smaller, it was easier for a mid-table side to win cup competitions in an era when the top few didn't mostly sweep the board because of their huge squad size and depth.

[LDG]

Put simply:


Graham Era ----------------------- Wenger Glory Era ----------------------Sugardaddy Era

Standard English Football---------- Birth of sports technology & foriegn unknowns ---------------- Money & Super Wages

Low Ticket Prices / Hardcore Fans --------- Families & Hardcore Fans -------------------------Tourists & Families & Corporate Seats & A Few Hardcore Fans

Boring ----------------------- Exciting & Fresh & Successful ------------------- unable to compete / business more important than football

[Letters]

Put simply:


Graham Era ----------------------- Wenger Glory Era ----------------------Sugardaddy Era

Standard English Football---------- Birth of sports technology & foriegn unknowns ---------------- Money & Super Wages

Low Ticket Prices / Hardcore Fans --------- Families & Hardcore Fans -------------------------Tourists & Families & Corporate Seats & A Few Hardcore Fans

Boring ----------------------- Exciting & Fresh & Successful ------------------- unable to compete / business more important than football

That.

[Fist of Lehmann]

Put simply:


Graham Era ----------------------- Wenger Glory Era ----------------------Sugardaddy Era

Standard English Football---------- Birth of sports technology & foriegn unknowns ---------------- Money & Super Wages

Low Ticket Prices / Hardcore Fans --------- Families & Hardcore Fans -------------------------Tourists & Families & Corporate Seats & A Few Hardcore Fans

Boring ----------------------- Exciting & Fresh & Successful ------------------- unable to compete / business more important than football

Unpleasantly laid out but essentially correct.

Much like your face.

[Letters]

Unpleasantly laid out but essentially correct.

Much like your face.

[LDG]

My face is correct

[Özim]

So what are you saying here? Your argument (against the assertion that Wenger could fill a 60,000 seat stadium and Graham could not) is that paying supporters are idiots?

I likened them to Lemmings not idiots as such, you could say they are loyal and that's true of course (which is an admirable quality), but who spends a small fortune when they know they're being conned. Moreover in a sense it does more harm than good as it allows the board to treat fans however they wish.

Graham's teams didn't play great football to be fair, but the stuff we play now is also a total bore and on top of that there's a lack of quality and desire, add to that the sanctimonious attitude of the board and it's hard to understand why so many turn up to be honest, especially with so little complaints to be heard about the board and manager (at matches).

[Fist of Lehmann]

I likened them to Lemmings not idiots as such, you could say they are loyal and that's true of course (which is an admirable quality), but who spends a small fortune when they know they're being conned. Moreover in a sense it does more harm than good as it allows the board to treat fans however they wish.

Graham's teams didn't play great football to be fair, but the stuff we play now is also a total bore and on top of that there's a lack of quality and desire, add to that the sanctimonious attitude of the board and it's hard to understand why so many turn up to be honest, especially with so little complaints to be heard about the board and manager (at matches).

It's a difference in outlook. Some people who follow Arsenal see it as a product to be consumed. Others are thick and thin supporters. In a sense those supporters can't be conned, because value for money is not a consideration to them. They have an emotional attachment to the club, an attachment that could be exploited by an unscrupulous board.

Consumers on the other hand will flock away in droves when the product isn't great.

Calling one side lemmings and the other side plastics just shows a fundamental lack of understanding of why people follow a particular team.