Arsenal

[MiG16]

Emirates cup this weekend....

[bkkjames]

Emirates cup this weekend....

Sorry, I will be a bit pre-occupied with us and Barcelona.

[carmine]

Emirates cup this weekend....

Sorry, I will be a bit pre-occupied with us and Barcelona.

Eager for another footballing lesson are we!

[bkkjames]

Emirates cup this weekend....

Sorry, I will be a bit pre-occupied with us and Barcelona.

Eager for another footballing lesson are we!

Could be mate. I hope we go for it. Don't really care if we lose 8-6 to be honest.

[katana]

Emirates cup this weekend....

Sorry, I will be a bit pre-occupied with us and Barcelona.

Eager for another footballing lesson are we!

lol

[bkkjames]

lol

Remind me the last time you knocked barca out of the CL, we did it a few years back when we won it. Lol on that one mr smug.

[katana]

Remind me the last time you knocked barca out of the CL, we did it a few years back when we won it. Lol on that one mr smug.

touchy touchy lol

[MrRed]

Whats the Emirates cup?

Is it a pre season bargain basement sale to show off players that don't want to play for the clubs that are payiing there wages?

Could be good

Who's in it? maybe United can pick up a bargain,i love bargains

[smokie36]

Whats the Emirates cup?

Is it a pre season bargain basement sale to show off players that don't want to play for the clubs that are payiing there wages?

Could be good

Who's in it? maybe United can pick up a bargain,i love bargains

Its the week of the year when you can't visit their trophy room cos ist "Closed for refurbishment". Right.

[MiG16]

Bunch of ........(left to imagination!)

Nevermind

Sheesh

[carmine]

Emirates cup this weekend....

Sorry, I will be a bit pre-occupied with us and Barcelona.

Eager for another footballing lesson are we!

Could be mate. I hope we go for it. Don't really care if we lose 8-6 to be honest.

Agreed and its probably the only way to play them.

[alfieconn]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

[carmine]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

Maybe the prawn sandwiches were'nt up to the usual standard.

Oh wait a minute.....they're not happy are they. Fabs off the Barca to keep the bench warm, Nasri does'nt want to stay either but has decided to go on a free a la judas Campbell, Wenger's lost it and probably has till september and with the start the arse have he'll probably fall on his pen knife before he's sacked.

Fortunately they don't need a keeper or any defenders again this coming season it seems and are going for a wide midfielder instead.

No CL for you chaps after this season. Very little chance of scraping in there again. Happy days.

[tigerfish]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

Maybe the prawn sandwiches were'nt up to the usual standard.

Oh wait a minute.....they're not happy are they. Fabs off the Barca to keep the bench warm, Nasri does'nt want to stay either but has decided to go on a free a la judas Campbell, Wenger's lost it and probably has till september and with the start the arse have he'll probably fall on his pen knife before he's sacked.

Fortunately they don't need a keeper or any defenders again this coming season it seems and are going for a wide midfielder instead.

No CL for you chaps after this season. Very little chance of scraping in there again. Happy days.

i like it carmine !

using reverse psychology now are we ? still better late than never

[smokie36]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

Yes I heard Sunday's game was a cracker. Nice weather too eh tigerfish?

[tigerfish]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

Yes I heard Sunday's game was a cracker. Nice weather too eh tigerfish?

too busy at some Thai food thing on Ealing common. can you believe they sectioned off the drinking area from the rest of the paying public. cant think why

and the beer ran out at 3 in the afternoon. again cant think why didn't go down to well with the farang contingent.

[smokie36]

Apparently there was a far amount of noise coming out of the Emirates at the weekend

Yes I heard Sunday's game was a cracker. Nice weather too eh tigerfish?

too busy at some Thai food thing on Ealing common. can you believe they sectioned off the drinking area from the rest of the paying public. cant think why

and the beer ran out at 3 in the afternoon. again cant think why didn't go down to well with the farang contingent.

"Beer" is the red herring here I know. Your taxi mafia mates have paid dividends then obviously!

[SantiSuk]

Have been away from the threads for a few days, camping in Somerset and flying back to Thailand. What's all this talk about playing Barca? I thought that perhaps the first round proper had already been drwan and we are pitched against them?

Arsenal's own webiste jsuut talks about the forst round improper - that irritating qualification two legger that could be the final pistol to the head of Wenger's managership.

Doesn't look too daunting on paper - apparently the draw (today Friday) will decide whether Arsenal meet one of the following 5

Twente

Udinese

Odense

FC Zurich

Rubin Kazan

At least we don't have to play Bayern, Villa Real or Lyon, any one of which might have a good chance against our rudderless mob at the moment.

Twente and Udinese could be expected to put up a good showing on their day. Don't know about Rubin Kazan - sounds more like a Jewish magician than a football team .

Looks like we are going to start the season with a detached captain who sulks and can't work up any enthusiasm to play and should be wage-docked heavily for it (and then sued for trying to drive his value down to get where he wants) and a bunch of potential acquired starlets that might mature well by the middle of the decade - oh and probably a thug, latterly of Tyneside, who lambasts his team and management on Twitter. Woe is we!

If Wenger can stretch his Froggy purse a little and land Jagielka that might improve my mood but clearly he seems hell-bent on sticking a thumb up his nose to everyone on the subject of needing an experienced goalkeeper.

At this rate we won't even be in the top half come October.

[smokie36]

Hehe you forgot to mention Nasri. Wenger will resign when the board overrule his decision to let him run out his contract. Then Fabregas will be sold...and well then the search for the new manager..?

Who will it be?

[Abrak]

Hehe you forgot to mention Nasri. Wenger will resign when the board overrule his decision to let him run out his contract. Then Fabregas will be sold...and well then the search for the new manager..?

Who will it be?

It would be totally idiotic of Wenger to resign. His general complaint is that he has the best business model and most profitable club in the league by a wide margin and without fail he achieves CL qualification which is the base requirement that both fans and shareholders expect of a top club. If any shareholder is complaining they have absolutely no right to but clearly fans feel that profits can only be justified if you are generating trophies.

What Wenger knows with absolute certainty is that with FFP there must be a swing from a cost model to a revenue based model and theoretically the highest profit company can increase its costs the most (a minority of 1) and the largest loss company must reduce its costs the most. It seems absolutely pointless to have the best business model if you dont use it to win the league and it is absolutely pointless to have created so much value for shareholders in the face of massive value destruction by Chelsea and City without proving that value creation wins in the end.

The fundamental problem with Wenger is that he doesnt try to win the league. What is wrong with the business model is that I think that creating profits doesnt actually benefit either the fans or the shareholders. You would have to reckon that if he spent the 40m profit he created every year then Arsenal would win trophies and very probably the league and it would add far more than 40m to the overall value of the business. If a club focuses on maximizing profits there is little point in supporting it on the basis you are simply supporting shareholders rather than the club itself.

[sharecropper]

The fundamental problem with Wenger is that he doesnt try to win the league. What is wrong with the business model is that I think that creating profits doesnt actually benefit either the fans or the shareholders. You would have to reckon that if he spent the 40m profit he created every year then Arsenal would win trophies and very probably the league and it would add far more than 40m to the overall value of the business. If a club focuses on maximizing profits there is little point in supporting it on the basis you are simply supporting shareholders rather than the club itself.

I agree with that completely.

But I also think Arsenal might have to get rid of Wenger if they have a very bad season, perhaps even midway through it, as this would be proof that his dithering and stubborness in the transfer market, especially this close season, have had a detrimental effect on the team.

How can he NOT let Fabregas go?

However with his strong financial performance he will undoubtedly have the support of the board and the shareholders, ironically.

[SantiSuk]

Four days to go to EPL kick off and Arsenal.com is trumpeting the signing of a long term contract by another 17 year old. Oxlade-Chamberlain (thought we had signed him a long time ago).

I'm only a few years younger than Wenger and I guess if I was signing up women for a ladies netball team I might be following the same youth policy - aha that's where our business model comes from!

[smokie36]

Four days to go to EPL kick off and Arsenal.com is trumpeting the signing of a long term contract by another 17 year old. Oxlade-Chamberlain (thought we had signed him a long time ago).

I'm only a few years younger than Wenger and I guess if I was signing up women for a ladies netball team I might be following the same youth policy - aha that's where our business model comes from!

You only just realised? Check them cctv cameras mate....

[SantiSuk]

Van P injured. 'Ere we go 'ere we go 'ere we go! Our Liverpool season lies ahead. First month will be a total shambles and Wenger will be booed out of the job.

.

[carmine]

Van P injured. 'Ere we go 'ere we go 'ere we go! Our Liverpool season lies ahead. First month will be a total shambles and Wenger will be booed out of the job.

.

Atleast Wenger talks his team up like he should do unlike ball bag face that has already informed our squad and the national press that we arn't good enough for top four! Our ambitious players must be on a real low as that crook continues to work on his selfish self promotion for the England job.

Now the pld crooks trial has been postponed we'll have to put up with his undermining of us for even longer as he runs down one of the strongest squads in the league in order to promote himself as a miracle worker.

My point is, I really doubt any of us will be taking the piss mate.

[smokie36]

Van P injured. 'Ere we go 'ere we go 'ere we go! Our Liverpool season lies ahead. First month will be a total shambles and Wenger will be booed out of the job.

.

Atleast Wenger talks his team up like he should do unlike ball bag face that has already informed our squad and the national press that we arn't good enough for top four! Our ambitious players must be on a real low as that crook continues to work on his selfish self promotion for the England job.

Now the pld crooks trial has been postponed we'll have to put up with his undermining of us for even longer as he runs down one of the strongest squads in the league in order to promote himself as a miracle worker.

My point is, I really doubt any of us will be taking the piss mate.

He did an interview with the Mirror at the weekend. Not even a mention of us...a two page article gushing about the difficulties of the England job and why he'd still love to do it.

Its a week until the new season starts....nothing to say about Spurs Harry?

Sack the ****.

[SantiSuk]

Beeb is reporting that agreement has been reached to sell Cesc at $35m + $8m performance fee (measured by how cutely he parks his bum on a bench?) and Nasri (to Etihad) for $20-22m. Expected to happen by 'the end of the week' (really, this week?).

Well done Wenger, if these fees stick. You were held over a barrel by both players - mostly your fault for being so lacking in conviction last season in the transfer market - but we are where we are and you could have been expected to suffer much greater value reduction than that. Thank goodness your claim that you would make Nasri sit out his contract has shown to be negotiating leverage only.

Now lets get on with rebuilding the team so that we can have a chance to bounce back in the second part of the coming season. Maybe your neck is saved if a couple of substantial signings can be integrated quickly. The CL draw against relative weakling Udinese might also be your saviour. The fans will get off your back if the sales go through and good purchases are made and we scrape through the Udinese fixtures, even though we can be nowhere near the top 4 in the EPL's first 3 months (our Liverpool season). Trouble is, chances of all three happening is no more than 50/50.

I think it's a long road back from here - at least 2 to 3 seasons - and probably minus Wenger. My own opinion remains that Wenger should be replaced and now but I acknowledge he may hang around or be allowed to hang around long enough such that he pulls some kind of rabbit out of the hat (probably that useless Milk Cup!).

Edit: Today's players are hired guns so I don't get too resentful. Cesc has had long run professed desires to go home so he is absolved anyway. Nasri is just the usual foreigner trying to work his career. He might have been less voluble about his intransigence to sign a contract so that we could have achieved better value but it's Wenger's misjudgement to string it out down to a one year left basis.

I expect some club loyalty from Brits (but rarely get it) but not from foreigners (and sometimes get it a la Bergkamp). No matter my realism, Fab and Nasri have left a nasty taste in the mouth and will never be in Arsenal hearts the way George, Adam, Bergkamp, Henri etc are

[smokie36]

Fine start to the season!

I'm honestly considering sticking a pony on your (now) carthorse manager to be gone by the end of August. I reckon he's lost the plot gents...any opinion before I commit my dosh would be welcome...

[smokie36]

Are you signing Barton then?

[sharecropper]

Fine start to the season!

I'm honestly considering sticking a pony on your (now) carthorse manager to be gone by the end of August. I reckon he's lost the plot gents...any opinion before I commit my dosh would be welcome...

He saves the board too much money to be sacked I think, but certainly the terraces will be screaming for him to go if things don't dramatically improve.

Then again all he has to do is keep them ahead of Liverpool with their 105 million quid spends so far in a year. Then Prince Kenny might feel the heat more than Roi Wenger.