Match Reaction - Farmer Giles and the Gang 1-1 Arsenal

[IBK]

All we've had is CL football and top four or years and now added to some truly world class players, that is all a marketing machine has needed to keep the club ripping fans off all over the world. There was a study of around 50k Chinese fans almost a couple of years ago and we came out as the most popular. It's just spin and marketing that can sell any bullshit when done the right way. All the marketing and sales bullshit reflects that in that sense, the Arsenal 'brand' is far from on the wane. But again, I'm trying to remain factual in that they are doing their job 'well' and not supportive of these bullshit mercenaries pricks that run the globe.

Difficult to find empirical evidence for what you say, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes...#2014_rankings shows precisely that we are staring to fall down the list of biggest clubs, and common sense suggests that each year that we don't win a major trophy will see global interest in our club wane.

[Kano]

Yes its a billionaires' game and a business rather than a 'sport' now. But as you well know, there are different ways to milk the cash cow, and in terms of our status and results we very much have the short end of the wedge in terms of our investors. The newcomers to our game are prepared to pump money into their clubs to make them winners - and to leverage that for commercial success. These owners are driven by the need to get to the top - and the majority of our competitors - the Chavs; Citeh; Manure and even Liverpool fall into this bracket. On the other hand. our despicable owner is well known for playing the percentages. Winning is not important as long as we do the minimum required to maintain a commercial position. And I think that this is our fans' frustration - with both owner and manager.

The reason these clubs had to invest so much was to create value around the club they were taking over. They had no option but to pump billions into their veins to make the long game worthwhile. City and Chelsea had no recent history to speak of, nothing that could be spun worldwide by spineless marketing departments. So the first port of call was to bring in star names, increase shirt sales, a buzz, kick start sales campaigns and then gather up some trophies for a longer term vision of spinning more marketing bullshit. Whereas that wasn’t required at Arsenal. The reputation was already there, a manager who could turn shit into bronze and secure CL football every season and provide a base for new commercial ventures to rip off fans worldwide. If Arsenal weren’t in the PL and benefiting from the PR generated by the league they are in, exposed to new territories every season, then I’d agree that our own promotional efforts wouldn’t be sufficient. But (un)fortunately the club benefits from the efforts of two groups of marketing hacks that enables them to keep floating around. I empathise with fans like myself who are frustrated by the manger but I’ll be fucked if I feel sorry for those who want to compare us to any of those other clubs you mentioned. I’m no fan of our owners but I can’t say my tongue is out salivating to follow the methodology of the crooks that run those clubs either.

All of this commercial talk is absolute bullshit anyway, and my only real interest is watching the guys on the pitch every week, the essence of why I started watching this game when I was a kid. If we win, we win but if not, then I refuse to let all this other shit get in the way anymore. Corporatism continues to invade every other aspect of our life and few things we hold sacred, those little escapes that used to be pure, have to be upheld by the individual. Whatever they may be. Capitalism celebrates the winners only, just how football has become and I’ve stepped out of that queue now because frankly it bores me.

[IBK]

The reason these clubs had to invest so much was to create value around the club they were taking over. They had no option but to pump billions into their veins to make the long game worthwhile. City and Chelsea had no recent history to speak of, nothing that could be spun worldwide by spineless marketing departments. So the first port of call was to bring in star names, increase shirt sales, a buzz, kick start sales campaigns and then gather up some trophies for a longer term vision of spinning more marketing bullshit. Whereas that wasn’t required at Arsenal. The reputation was already there, a manager who could turn shit into bronze and secure CL football every season and provide a base for new commercial ventures to rip off fans worldwide. If Arsenal weren’t in the PL and benefiting from the PR generated by the league they are in, exposed to new territories every season, then I’d agree that our own promotional efforts wouldn’t be sufficient. But (un)fortunately the club benefits from the efforts of two groups of marketing hacks that enables them to keep floating around. I empathise with fans like myself who are frustrated by the manger but I’ll be fucked if I feel sorry for those who want to compare us to any of those other clubs you mentioned. I’m no fan of our owners but I can’t say my tongue is out salivating to follow the methodology of the crooks that run those clubs either.

All of this commercial talk is absolute bullshit anyway, and my only real interest is watching the guys on the pitch every week, the essence of why I started watching this game when I was a kid. If we win, we win but if not, then I refuse to let all this other shit get in the way anymore. Corporatism continues to invade every other aspect of our life and few things we hold sacred, those little escapes that used to be pure, have to be upheld by the individual. Whatever they may be. Capitalism celebrates the winners only, just how football has become and I’ve stepped out of that queue now because frankly it bores me.

Believe me - I realise why the nouveau riche are doing what they are doing. And its self evident from the way our club is being run that it can make cash for our cynical, cold blooded owner without this kind of investment because of our existing rep.

I'm with you when it comes to viewing the game as having gone to shit.

But I don't think most fans are asking for us to be a Citeh. I've said many times that I prefer to look inwards rather than at what others are doing - and I think its the manager's 'handbrake', aided and abetted by an owner who is not interested in football and clearly couldn't give a fuck if we win things that frustrates. And for me - its the endless Groundhog Day of Wenger's teams that is breaking the bond between me and the team I love more than anything else.

[Marc Overmars]

Alexis has gone to Chile to recover.

Expected to be back for the Christmas fixtures.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Can't we recall Gnarby......you never know he could be this year's Coqulian? and help out wide while Alexis is away

[fakeyank]

He clearly isn't the long term answer if only because of his age.
But he's a relatively safe pair of hands right now, more so than some of the alternatives proposed on here who have gone on to crash and burn. He has his flaws but don't kid yourself that any idiot could come in and do better.

Never seriously said that a complete idiot could take his job but there are way better alternatives out there and frankly, I think quite a few of them are out there. The biggest fish we missed was obviously Klopp..

[Niall_Quinn]

Never seriously said that a complete idiot could take his job but there are way better alternatives out there and frankly, I think quite a few of them are out there. The biggest fish we missed was obviously Klopp..

That's the problem we have. An owner who gave a shit about football would have ditched Wenger and grabbed Klopp. But we don't have an owner like that so Jesus Christ himself could be on the market and it wouldn't raise an eyebrow with our lot. We're stuck with Wenger until 2017, but much more likely 2020. And then they'll lobby like fuck to keep him after that.

[Letters]

Never seriously said that a complete idiot could take his job but there are way better alternatives out there and frankly, I think quite a few of them are out there. The biggest fish we missed was obviously Klopp..

I don't think 'way' better or 'quite a few' of them. I quite like what Koeman is doing at Southampton. I wouldn't mind him.

[IBK]

That's the problem we have. An owner who gave a shit about football would have ditched Wenger and grabbed Klopp. But we don't have an owner like that so Jesus Christ himself could be on the market and it wouldn't raise an eyebrow with our lot. We're stuck with Wenger until 2017, but much more likely 2020. And then they'll lobby like fuck to keep him after that.

Nail on head. And worse - because the owners are so in bed with Wenger, I suspect that there won't even be proper succession planning in 2030 when Wenger makes the decision that he finally wants to leave.

[Letters]

I believe our transfer budgets are restricted somewhat by the research into cryogenic suspension so that when Wenger dies we can freeze him and then revive him when medical science allows so he can resume his duties.