Silent Stan Speaks

[Niall_Quinn]

You can have your little ducks lined up in a row, swimming along nicely, nothing spectacular, going round and around their little pool which is closed off from the real world. You can do that all day long. Let a shark in the pool and everything can still be calm, until the shark gets hungry. Somebody posted up the transfer records pre and post the stadium move, they may be on this thread somewhere. Is this not enough to suggest Wenger is more than happy to spend whatever budget is placed in front of him? Post stadium move and the whole game changes. "His sort", who nobody wanted near the club (to the point of publicly insulting him) is suddenly flavour of the month and the shareholders are £500mill quid richer (once the naysayers were culled).

Come on! Let's not keep making excuses for these cunts. Wenger has his prize assets sold from under his arse (despite coming the closest he's ever come to defying the board - remember his insistence the star players were staying and his suggestion we couldn't call ourselves competitive if we let them go?) Why do we ignore this? It happened. Then there's the last day rush to bring in reinforcements to a squad that couldn't field a serious eleven against the champions (and our once great rivals). Wenger wasn't even in the country when all that went down. Amazing for such a control freak.

There's stuff going on behind the scenes that would probably see the shareholders lynched if it was ever made public. All we have to work with is the fallout. A cunt has a strong smell though and we have lots of them sitting up in the boardroom. Fucking reeks.

Why are they still here, btw? Why don't they fuck off? They have their money, what more do they want? Hell, they're being told at the AGM to fuck off. They don't even have the good grace to pay attention to the people who fund this club even after they've robbed them blind. What utter, utter, cunts they are.

[Power n Glory]

You can have your little ducks lined up in a row, swimming along nicely, nothing spectacular, going round and around their little pool which is closed off from the real world. You can do that all day long. Let a shark in the pool and everything can still be calm, until the shark gets hungry. Somebody posted up the transfer records pre and post the stadium move, they may be on this thread somewhere. Is this not enough to suggest Wenger is more than happy to spend whatever budget is placed in front of him? Post stadium move and the whole game changes. "His sort", who nobody wanted near the club (to the point of publicly insulting him) is suddenly flavour of the month and the shareholders are £500mill quid richer (once the naysayers were culled).

Come on! Let's not keep making excuses for these cunts. Wenger has his prize assets sold from under his arse (despite coming the closest he's ever come to defying the board - remember his insistence the star players were staying and his suggestion we couldn't call ourselves competitive if we let them go?) Why do we ignore this? It happened. Then there's the last day rush to bring in reinforcements to a squad that couldn't field a serious eleven against the champions (and our once great rivals). Wenger wasn't even in the country when all that went down. Amazing for such a control freak.

There's stuff going on behind the scenes that would probably see the shareholders lynched if it was ever made public. All we have to work with is the fallout. A cunt has a strong smell though and we have lots of them sitting up in the boardroom. Fucking reeks.

Why are they still here, btw? Why don't they fuck off? They have their money, what more do they want? Hell, they're being told at the AGM to fuck off. They don't even have the good grace to pay attention to the people who fund this club even after they've robbed them blind. What utter, utter, cunts they are.

The problem with you is, you have a very anti-capitalist, Noam Chomsky / Michael Moore type of outlook. To me it sounds like you have a problem with football ownership in general. You’re not happy with the current regime and you’d probably be suspicious of an Usamov type character as well.

It’s worth reading Stan’s transcript and what he has to say about management and how to build a club. His views and Wenger’s are in synch. To flip Super Ghel’s point about fans calling for Wenger’s head when the Board are happy and insulting such fans, it also works in reverse. Read Stan’s transcript and what he was to say about managing with intelligence and that the game shouldn’t be about clubs with the biggest wallets.

I agree with the philosophy of Wenger and the Board. It should be about nurturing talent, tactics and strategy. Not about whose got the most money. This is why I’m thinking from pitch level. Wenger is messing up with his tactics and needs some fresh ideas. We have to battle with clubs with bigger resources but if we were getting pipped for trophies each year by those clubs or losing Championships because we’ve dropped too many point against the big boys, then fair enough. The gap between us and them is wide because we keep losing to lower teams and in a similar fashion.

If you want the Board out, then what’s the alternative? A sugar Daddy? And don’t say middle ground. This is middle ground. We’re the only club that others can realistically replicate without being bought out by some sugar daddy. That’s a fact. Plus, if I pay money to watch Arsenal, that’s my choice. It goes into some fat cats wallet, but who gives a shit. I paid for entertainment. It’s the same as me buying a CD or an album over iTunes. It’s not like we’re being forced to pay this. This isn’t some evil oil company where we’ve got no choice. You’re fighting the wrong battle.

[Xhaka Can’t]

There is no way that we are middle ground. No way at all.

Middle ground and true self sufficiency would mean we make full use of the financial resources we generate.

We don't - not by a longshot.

[Power n Glory]

There is no way that we are middle ground. No way at all.

Middle ground and true self sufficiency would mean we make full use of the financial resources we generate.

We don't - not by a longshot.

And that's the manager's choice. Wenger says we have the funds and so do the Board. What more do you want? But people would rather believe he works under conditions he abhors. No one sold our players from under Wenger's nose.

If we're not middle ground then we are close to it because we're in a very unique situation. Most clubs are in debt or owned by a sugar daddy. We're in the middle.

[Xhaka Can’t]

No we arent.

TBH I cba repeating the same shit over and over that should be as clear as day to anybody.

[Power n Glory]

No we arent.

TBH I cba repeating the same shit over and over that should be as clear as day to anybody.

So we're not spending all of our funds. Are we only losing out on titles because we can't beat Chelsea and Man U? Or are we losing to teams with less resources than us?

[Xhaka Can’t]

We are losing out for various reasons, some within our control, others not.

I have no problem losing out, knowing we have given it our all, making best use of the resources available to us, but we don't and haven't for some time.

I have a problem with that and the cocksuckers that bleed us dry.

But it could get a hell of a lot worse now that Stan is setting the scene by praising that wonderful business model the Glazers have up in Manchester.

[Fist of Lehmann]

So we're not spending all of our funds. Are we only losing out on titles because we can't beat Chelsea and Man U? Or are we losing to teams with less resources than us?

The 4 teams that have finished above us in the last 6 years are Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. None of whom have less resources than us.

Or are you arguing that because we have lost individual games against lesser opposition that we are under-achieving? As though none of the other teams I just mentioned ever lost a game against lesser opposition ever.

Greater resources merely mitigate your risk in any given game, they don't guarantee a result. But over the course of a season those probabilities mean you tend to end up where you belong, according to your resources.

[Niall_Quinn]

The problem with you is, you have a very anti-capitalist, Noam Chomsky / Michael Moore type of outlook.

I'm the EXACT opposite. I believe capitalism, if ever allowed to prevail, would be highly beneficial for the whole society. Unfortunately we live under communism, whereby the centre is all powerful, privileged and (of course) incompetent and unworthy. Capitalism only ever existed for a short time before it was thoroughly subverted. I disagree wholeheartedly with Chomsky on economics, though I am with him on human rights, the law and open government.

The real problem in these discussions is absolutism. You do it again... This cannot be a conversation about the board investing the money contributed by the fans, instead it must be about doing it the board's way or throwing them out. Doing it Wenger's way or throwing him out. There is zero room for manoeuvre or even analysis in your argument. I'm not saying this to wind you up, it's merely the reason why we will never agree.

You also fail to appreciate the different agendas in play here. You say, "It should be about nurturing talent, tactics and strategy." Wrong, those are components of a method that should focus on the real business of a football club - winning! This end goal is sport, not business. Business is an element of the make-up of the club, not the purpose of the club. Or it shouldn't be. Football fans are not typical customers. They are bound by factors beyond pounds, shillings and pence and these are the very things used against the fans when the businessmen devise their means of exploitation. Yes of course I would have all businessmen out of the game, without a doubt. The game cannot be healthy with businessmen involved. It is impossible because their goals run directly counter to the original aims of sport. They are here to exploit the game, not nurture it. To thin otherwise is spectacularly naive. A simple committee could just as easily manage the affairs of a football club. There are people outside the business community who are intelligent and educated, you know?

But this is besides the point. Business now sits at the heart of football like a cancer and it's not going to be eradicated until such a time as there is nothing left to exploit - which will be the ultimate fate of the game, by the way. I'm talking about this to dispel the myth woven by the exploitative types who prey on the game. Hell, you saw the ex-England captain sitting in a bar planning all the ways to fuck fans up the arse so a few greedy bastards could make a few quid. This is what your tolerance of these types brings. Whether you have a pragmatic or idealistic viewpoint it doesn't matter, these fuckers aren't listening either way. You want to reason with a locust not to eat your crops? You want to try and persuade it to leave something behind? Just because greedy people tell you there is no alternative to greed doesn't make it so. I was talking to Syn yesterday about people who won't WAKE THE FUCK UP! I'm talking generally, I'm not having a pop, so don't go off on one.

I wouldn't mind, but look at where these greedy bastards always take us. To fucking disaster. Bankers, ratings agencies, insurance houses, all corrupt as fuck, all feathering their nests and all leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. And so many people saying this is how it has to be and if you don't believe it you are Noam Chomsky or a commie! The communists are the cunts who run the closed shops! The ones who privatise profits and nationalise the costs. The ones who are a little more equal than everyone else, the ones who feel entitled, the ones who manipulate every endeavour to divert the proceeds into their pockets - including football. Once again I say, let's get real.

Why can't we just call it like it appears before our eyes?

Team < weaker
Trophies < gone
Shareholders > Rich as fuck, took ALL the money and left NONE.

True of false? So why do we have to apologise on the shareholders' behalf and try to find reasons as to why what's under our nose is something entirely different? By the way - if we win again, Stan will indeed get all the credit. OH I'm not talking about plaudits in the newspapers or a medal around his neck. I'm talking about the fucking MONEY! Do you think he cares about the other stuff? Why? Because he said so?

The guy had a chance to put money into this club. The shareholders had a chance to give a little back. They even had a chance to leave us what was in the pot.

They took the fucking lot. Which part of that last phrase is incorrect or misrepresented? It's the truth isn't it? That's why I hate their fucking guts. They have HARMED our team. I could disagree with their ideas for development, disagree with their ideas about stadiums and sponsorship and whatever else. These would be matters of opinion, matters or experience, and so on.

But the robbed our fucking club PnG. You think there's some pay-off over the horizon? Kidding me, right? They are already talking about how they'll plough on robbing the fuck out of us and the financial fairplay rules will ride to the rescue in terms of competition. Do you buy that? These cunts are telling you quite openly how they are going to fuck you. Somebody tries to fuck me without buying me a drink and dinner and they get a punch in the face. And that's exactly what I;d do to Kroenke and his commie cunts if I ever saw them.

[Power n Glory]

How comes you fail to see Wenger in all this? Wenger backs the Board 100%. Read Stans transcript and they see eye to eye. I’m not dealing in absolutes here. I’m analysing the situation. If we’re accusing these guys of being thieves, then you have to look at the guy that set this little meeting up. If that’s what you’re saying, Wenger hands are dirty. He sits in these meetings, knows what’s happening, is financially educated and has more knowledge then you or me on this matter, but keeps quiet. Don’t make out as if Wenger is the victim in this.