Profit before transfers. Confirmed.

[fakeyank]

How do you know he never told him that before he gave into the player.

Why did he give into the player? If he was firm in what he said, he shouldve stood his ground... the board wouldve backed Arsene. Problem with AW is that he is a father figure who caves into his childs wishes.. be a man FFS and tell the player to STFU or be on the bench. Arsenal is bigger than your whinging childhood club and your sad little spanish face!

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Why did he give into the player? If he was firm in what he said, he shouldve stood his ground... the board wouldve backed Arsene. Problem with AW is that he is a father figure who caves into his childs wishes.. be a man FFS and tell the player to STFU or be on the bench. Arsenal is bigger than your whinging childhood club and your sad little spanish face!

The player was unhappy and wanted to go, no point keeping an uhappy player no matter what, all that lets put him the the reserves or bench him, never happens. I doubt AW wanted him to leave and maybe was too soft but had we kept him this would have gone on and on and on nad its not healthy for the squad.

If the board had backbone and thought their way was right, they have said he can't go regardless of what wenger said. And given him an ultimatim.

[Kano]

I should have though that the questions on which his quotes are based are rather far apart tbh.

And who's to say, without the benefit of the full interview, whether he was asked about all kinds of players, not just Hazard.

I hate these fucking articles, because you know half of it's shit, twisted and sensationalist.

Having read the original article, there is no expansion at all on the quotes we have seen.

[fakeyank]

The player was unhappy and wanted to go, no point keeping an uhappy player no matter what, all that lets put him the the reserves or bench him, never happens. I doubt AW wanted him to leave and maybe was too soft but had we kept him this would have gone on and on and on nad its not healthy for the squad.

If the board had backbone and thought their way was right, they have said he can't go regardless of what wenger said. And given him an ultimatim.

Well the board was ready to hold on, they gave in because AW wanted them to. What does this tell you? AW is a very powerful man at the club. All this posts which make him seem like a stupid cow caving into the board holding his balls regarding money is BS!

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Wenger's statements are generally very intelligently placed as messages for the board,authorities etc. It is generally not meant for fan consumption. This could very well be a message for the board asking more money to be spent. The board on its part is not running away with profits, at least not a large chunk. If you look at the financial statements released last fiscal, the net debts have come down to 90 odd mil, and cash reserves have gone up to 130 odd mil, which at the worst is conservative, with the board insisting on having reserves to counter long term debts. However the issue seems to be that we are not able to keep hold of players who are being developed into world class (reluctance to pay), nor are we able to replace them (reluctance/inability to pay high transfer fee), a fact is growing uncomfortable with. Looks like the board requires the money form sales and saved wages by selling former first teamers who are on loan or not being used much, before they go for the more ambitious buys which Wenger wants. Unfortunately we have a long list of such players.

[Power n Glory]

Embarrassing stuff. No point in dismissing the Cesc quote. Do you really think Wenger would allow Cesc to be sold without his say so?

Good article posted up by Ice Berg Slim. The clue is in our wage bill. It shows that we mismanage funds and gamble on kids way too much. If the Board are happy to release funds for Wenger's pet project then I'm sure they wouldn't object to a change in strategy. What we're doing is costly and soon it will catch up to us. Wenger needs to return to his old philosophy and find undervalued players. His vision of a youth team isn't working and is costing us on the pitch and financially.

[Coney]

Not even in the bit that goes:

???

No - because it does not specify transfers.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Embarrassing stuff. No point in dismissing the Cesc quote. Do you really think Wenger would allow Cesc to be sold without his say so?

Good article posted up by Ice Berg Slim. The clue is in our wage bill. It shows that we mismanage funds and gamble on kids way too much. If the Board are happy to release funds for Wenger's pet project then I'm sure they wouldn't object to a change in strategy. What we're doing is costly and soon it will catch up to us. Wenger needs to return to his old philosophy and find undervalued players. His vision of a youth team isn't working and is costing us on the pitch and financially.

I agree with the point about wanting Wenger to go back to his unearthing of undervalued/dissatisfied talent ala Henry and Viera (almost off the radar when AW picked them up) but these days even those come at a cost, just came off the transfer thread and adding how Sturridge would be a good buy, and I know he is a little bit more spotlight than Henry or Viera were but if rumours are to be believed he kind of fits the description!!!

However he would cost a fair whack and wages on top would scare us off.....Wenger/the board do not have that sense of risk - hell the original post says were the priorities still ride!!!

[Flavs]

Dunno. That's why I said "pure specualtion".

I was reading through an old set of accounts, post 2006 season, I think....and just looking at how they were presented. It is a hell of a lot more complicated that people think....and as I've always said, profit doesn't equal cash in the bank.

I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in this years accounts, and where it'll leave us going forward...but, again, we'll never know exactly what's going on, or indeed, financial plans going forward.

*sigh*

Comments like Arsene's one above are there for a reason. He's a clever bloke...but sometimes, leaving something dangling like that for fans to rip to pieces does more harm than good....

Not if he is deliberately removing heat from himself and pushing it more onto the board. I think the fans could do with a Q&A with PHW where we get to ask him questions he has to answer and lets face it he tends to speak his mind.

Its a crap interview written up on a crap way and then spun any and each way possible.

[Kano]

i don't understand the quibbling over cesc's comments regarding the transfer fee, particularly on this forum.

we made a huge profit on the player and whether we made an extra 5/10/15 million don't most people on here believe it would only be swallowed up by the club?