Yeah I agree with this and this is where Gazidis has to be held accountable. For all that bravado he came out a few years back about how Man City would love to be in our position or whatever nonsense he said, he looks like a right c*nt now given their commercial deals and ours.Originally Posted by Özim
This. We're still a big club in relative terms but we're not maximising our potential both on and off the pitch as per some of the comments in this thread.
It's almost like we have this laissez faire, almost arrogant attitude of it will all come to us, like we're above marketing ourselves globally like the other 3 do. I find it unbelievable that we have an american owner yet don't have a major presence over their like say United, Chelsea, Liverpool or even City. This attitude seems to run from the top of the club right through to the footballing side.
There will always be someone worse off or better than yourself on most occassions. I'm not going to sit here and praise any marketing department, given how worthless and inherently vapid they are. Especially ones that whore off part of their club for money. That said, we will follow suit in years to come. Arsenal seem to be doing alright in terms of positioning themselves around the world, always in the top of various shitty sales and value lists. We went to China a few years ago I believe, so give us time and we'll sell out to more rotten investors in time, just like City have.
I love it how football fans have become business analysts, medical experts, not to mention tactical experts.
In my day, you just used to get pissed and call the ref a cunt.
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
I use the Chelsea and City spending billions of dollars argument against their fans but the question really is... if the status quo was maintained and no Russian or Arab billionaires came in, what are the chances that a mid-level club like City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Villa etc would ever win a PL title?
While we may cry and crib about them spending billions of dollars to win the league, the top 3 status quo was not going to be challenged any other way. Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool were always making more money and had more prestige in the PL era due to their regular participation in the CL. Leeds tried to get into the mix, and we all know how that went tits up for them. I do despise the fact that Chelsea and City have won the way they won their titles, but what other option did they have? Not only them, what are the chances a team like Bournemouth, Everton or Newcastle have in a season to ever win the title?
Unless we go the American sports way of having a set amount for all clubs to spend in a season, we will just have to deal with it. We have the resources to be successful, we just do not have a world class manager. Our manager is stubborn, outdated and lacks a winning mentality.. we really missed a big opportunity not going for Klopp.
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
Go away old man. Do you even know how to text, or use a smartphone?
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
And accountants
A couple of years back, if anybody dared suggest Wenger spend money we'd have countless debates about how it would bankrupt the club!
Of course there was no other way for them to have achieved success. Long gone are the days where a Wimbldon can battle their way up through the leagues and win the FA Cup. You want success in the modern game you're going to need money and a lot of it. We generate ours by fleecing our fans, I hear rumours we have some of the highest ticket prices in the world, I can't remember who told me that
It's sad how football has gone and there's no sign of the bubble bursting. But you're right, we can only compete in the footballing world we find ourselves in. Whether Wenger can remains to be seen. I don't think the "last 10 years" argument stacks up because it's only in the last couple of years we've had the finances to properly compete with the billionaires. Yes yes, Fergie managed it but he's the only one and as much as I rate Wenger, he's no Fergie.
For me this is Wenger's last chance. After the car crash at the start of last season I thought he should be sacked but retaining the FA Cup placated me somewhat. We have to push on and properly challenge for the title this year. We are so far, we've had our wobbles but so have other teams. If we tail off because of the lack of a top striker or the annual injury pile up then he should be sacked.
But he won't be sacked. He never will be. Fans need to face up to that fact and realise we have at least one more season after this one, no matter what happens.
He won't be sacked while he's meeting his boss's expectations.
I don't think any other manager at a club at our level would have kept his job after 8 years with no trophies (although the stadium move and associated financial constraints is a mitigating factor, although we should have won something in that time)
But I don't think many managers would have sacked after the last 2 seasons. We won a fairly prestigious trophy in each. We should be aiming for the biggest prizes but if Wenger had been sacked 2 years ago and these were the new manager's first 2 seasons I doubt many would be calling for his head.
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