Is a new manager becoming the only option?

[IBK]

Serious thread. I admit the question posed is a reaction to what we saw today, but by far the most worrying thing about this defeat is the attitude we saw from the team. We know that the Arsenal of recent times lacks resiliance - but several of our players seemed not even to care that they were being humiliated. Since this can't really have been the case - then what we saw must have been the result of a massive lack of confidence, which I suspect extends to the manager and his methods.

If Wenger couldn't rally them last season WITH an exceptional player as captain, if he has been at the helm a few times now when we have pissed away the season without a fight, is the only thing that will get these players' mojo back a new manager - because I'm struggling to think of another option?

[Edinburgh Gooner]

A whole new management team is what is needed. Pat Rice as no 2 is a joke. Even when given the task of looking after the team against Udinese, he was looking to the gods for direction. I just can't see who would come in and turn it around though..

[Cripps_orig]

New manager and board

[Özim]

It appear so, he doesn't change anything and always has an excuse where in reality there are none.

He was reeling them out today after a game we'd conceded 8 goals in (hasn't happened since the 1800's that's how bad this was), saying we had players out, we changed our tactics and got punished for being adventurous and we were tired from Wednesday.

I'm sick of his excuses and of him, he clearly doesn't have the answers and there's no option but to replace him IMO, he's not the man for the job anymore, this defeat further proves that.

He said it was only 3 games into the season but when you're a top side and you concede 8 against a rival there's is no happy enough, moreover has he forgotten the tail end of last season.

[IBK]

A whole new management team is what is needed. Pat Rice as no 2 is a joke. Even when given the task of looking after the team against Udinese, he was looking to the gods for direction. I just can't see who would come in and turn it around though..

Aye - giving up so much damn power to a person whose own ego it now seems is more important than the club's fortunes has created a potential nightmare.

[Joker]

Yes, we definitely need a new manager, but that won't be enough on it's own IMO. The board are also part of the problem, and if they aren't replaced, then I think we won't see much change tbh. Sure, the new manager may stand up to the board, and refuse to cooperate with them but without supportive owners who actually care about football and the supporters, the status quo will remain and we'll continue to stagnate as a club.

[Fats]

It will take years to put right the Wenger experiment.

A new manager will need a lot of time. Maybe this is what Wenger has put in place to keep his 6 million a year salary secured.

The board have to look at the now not the past and sack this absolute idiot now before it's too late.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

Aye - giving up so much damn power to a person whose own ego it now seems is more important than the club's fortunes has created a potential nightmare.

Tony Adams should be a must as a defensive coach. There is no point having so much attacking talenet when our defense is utter dross. Or fuck the lot of them out and let a new man bring in his own backroom staff.

[Özim]

Agreed, a complete rebuild required from top to bottom, nothing is right at the moment and it's a big job to change things and won't happen quickly.

The sooner we start the sooner things will be put right.

[IBK]

Yes, we definitely need a new manager, but that won't be enough on it's own IMO. The board are also part of the problem, and if they aren't replaced, then I think we won't see much change tbh. Sure, the new manager may stand up to the board, and refuse to cooperate with them but without supportive owners who actually care about football and the supporters, the status quo will remain and we'll continue to stagnate as a club.

I dunno - I am starting to see the situation as much more simple. The players look like they need someone whom they can believe in/play for because Wenger is not inspiring them - they aren't as bad as this display today.

[Joker]

I dunno - I am starting to see the situation as much more simple. The players look like they need someone whom they can believe in/play for because Wenger is not inspiring them - they aren't as bad as this display today.

Yeah I think you can tell that the players no longer really believe in Wenger and his methods. The fact that players like Cesc and Nasri were so keen on leaving is surely another indication of how much the players have begun to doubt Wenger's philosophy. The players deserve blame, most definitely, but unless you have a manager in whom the players believe in 100%, you're not going anywhere.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

I am hoping today was one hell of a freak result. Wenger looked lost just sitting there chewing his jacket collar. There was no one to turn to on the bench which in itself is HIS fault. If he had done some business over the last few months instead of coming out with the "super quality" nonsnese we may have had a bite of extra bite on the bench. Oh well, as far as I'm concerned we should just move on. Wenger aint going anywhere in the near future, I hope he has a couple of rabbits in the hat to pull out else I can see this being his last season in the dugout for us.

[IBK]

Yeah I think you can tell that the players no longer really believe in Wenger and his methods. The fact that players like Cesc and Nasri were so keen on leaving is surely another indication of how much the players have begun to doubt Wenger and his methods. The players deserve blame, most definitely, but unless you have a manager in whom the players believe in 100%, you're not going anywhere.

Its almost as though he is bringing the worst out of them. That's what is concerning me most.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I dunno - I am starting to see the situation as much more simple. The players look like they need someone whom they can believe in/play for because Wenger is not inspiring them - they aren't as bad as this display today.

It would be stupid to bring in a new man right now wait till the end of the season at least. The players love Wenger they always do to them he is not the problem the board is.

[KSE Comedy Club]

It would be stupid to bring in a new man right now wait till the end of the season at least. The players love Wenger they always do to them he is not the problem the board is.

Here we go again, 'its the boards fault'.

:doh:

[KSE Comedy Club]

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/news/2189/30/Caretaker-Steve-Bould-can-put-Arsenal-back-on-track/


Before today the worst First Division defeat in Arsenal history was Leicester in 1963.

That was 7-2.

Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2 is a shaming result.

Over to you, Stan Kroenke.

You have a caretaker manager at your club

Wenger, Rice and Primorac must go.

The medical staff must go too.

Steve Bould has all the badges and knows which players will not let Arsenal down.

It's time to reverse the Colney Creche culture.

What better moment can there ever be?

A historic meltdown result, an 8-2 thrashing, followed by a two-week international break.

Most managers are replaced during international breaks.

It's obvious.

Three games , three red cards.

This cannot go on.

JUST DO IT !

Arsene FC has to be finished, kaput, over, dead & buried.

[selassie]

Serious thread. I admit the question posed is a reaction to what we saw today, but by far the most worrying thing about this defeat is the attitude we saw from the team. We know that the Arsenal of recent times lacks resiliance - but several of our players seemed not even to care that they were being humiliated. Since this can't really have been the case - then what we saw must have been the result of a massive lack of confidence, which I suspect extends to the manager and his methods.

If Wenger couldn't rally them last season WITH an exceptional player as captain, if he has been at the helm a few times now when we have pissed away the season without a fight, is the only thing that will get these players' mojo back a new manager - because I'm struggling to think of another option?

The culture at the club from top to bottom is completely rotten IMHO, the culture of the team is just shameful, did anybody catch Henri Lansbury coming on yesterday grinning? At the time we were 7-2 down I think, shameful and it pretty much typies Arsene's current squad.

Look I accept that there maybe a number of factors outside of Arsene's control that are contributing to our demise, but let's be clear here, the board are in no way responsible for picking the team and deploying tactics. Can anyone believe we went to Old Trafford with that team and played with a gung ho kamikazee approach? It beggars belief. Can anybody believe how awful our defending was? In the 2nd half it was so disjointed we had on numerous occassions two defenders trying to play offside and the other two staying deep, it was comical.

Team needs coaching, organisation and major surgery, Arsene has dug himself so deep into it that whoever comes in is going to have a helluva a job putting things right.

In short, the Board needs re-organising, the Manager & his coaching staff ALL need to go and we need to rebuild the squad. Call it Knee Jerk if you like but I'm calling it as I see it.

[Power n Glory]

Here we go again, 'its the boards fault'.

:doh:

It's no excuse. Stan has only been here for 5 minutes and people are desperate to pin 6 barren years on him. We know we have money to spend buy he chooses not to spend it. Also, I don't care how bad the squad is, you don't go in at half time 3 goals down and then ship in a further 5 after the break. That is poor management.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Exactly.

I was just reading Le groves twitter posts yesterday and it seems some on there were trying to blame the board but he was having none of it. He said, the money is there, the board want it to be spent but wenger is not playing ball.

This is down to wenger, plain and simple.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Here we go again, 'its the boards fault'.

:doh:

Do you read my post, read it again i never said its was the boards thought, i said to the players it is, they seem to love AW but never praise the board when they leave the club.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

It's no excuse. Stan has only been here for 5 minutes and people are desperate to pin 6 barren years on him. We know we have money to spend buy he chooses not to spend it. Also, I don't care how bad the squad is, you don't go in at half time 3 goals down and then ship in a further 5 after the break. That is poor management.

Nah not stan PHW the fat fuck he's been such a shit chairman and while stan does not have full control and this clown has views things will never change.

[Power n Glory]

Nah not stan PHW the fat fuck he's been such a shit chairman and while stan does not have full control and this clown has views things will never change.

In your opinion, what could a guy like PHW say to Wenger or tell him that Wenger doesn't already know?

[Olivier's xmas twist]

In your opinion, what could a guy like PHW say to Wenger or tell him that Wenger doesn't already know?

He should put his foot down, and tell him he is under pressure and he he don't do well this season or by xmas to pick up his P45, but he won't he will only mug off the fans and tell us to shut up.

this is where stan needs to take charge, heck even unsminov could try and do something even if its giving AW lots of money out of his own pocket.

[Power n Glory]

He should put his foot down, and tell him he is under pressure and he he don't do well this season or by xmas to pick up his P45, but he won't he will only mug off the fans and tell us to shut up.

this is where stan needs to take charge, heck even unsminov could try and do something even if its giving AW lots of money out of his own pocket.

That doesn't change results. Wenger knows the pressure is on and it's down to Wenger to solve the problem. Can PHW march up to Wenger and demand that he buys a CB? No. Can he demand Wenger to give each player a dressing down after such a poor result? No. He can't tell Wenger how to do his job or how he goes about achieving the targets set.

We know how Wenger is and he doesn't like it when people tell him what he should and shouldn't do. IMO, the board are the biggest AKB's around. They trust him too much because they know very little about sports and football which is why Stan and Gazdis have been drafted in and why Wenger was able to appoint his own boss and they probably asked him about Stan's appointment as well.

They are to blame for being blind and naive. They know nothing about football and can't tell Wenger what to do except throw money at him or set stricter targets. Just like the fans and players, they believe Wenger can preform miracles and they invested heavily in Wenger. They have to think long and hard about what they do next.

[KSE Comedy Club]

On sky news they just said that wenger has asked for more time to sort the team out and he is sure he is taking the club in the right direction.


What, down????

anyway, excellent blog from Le Grove today:

http://le-grove.co.uk/

[selassie]

On sky news they just said that wenger has asked for more time to sort the team out and he is sure he is taking the club in the right direction.


What, down????

anyway, excellent blog from Le Grove today:

http://le-grove.co.uk/

:good:

That was a good piece.

[Daniele]

Thing is we should have sacked him in the summer. Who's available now? Ancelotti? Do you think he'll come with the squad all over the place? maybe O'Neill will but is he a top manager? Dunno.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I would just promote Steve bould tbh, he couldnt do any worse and would be an adequate stop gap.

Or Vic Akers, he's just won another trophy with Arsenal ladies.

The ladies team is more successful than the mens over the last few years.

[KSE Comedy Club]

:good:

That was a good piece.

I decided to give it its own thread, everyone should give it a read tbh.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL.....Don't know how many times I keep having to say it. Guy has brilliant pedigree, and is not attached to any club at the moment.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL, VAN GAAL.....Don't know how many times I keep having to say it. Guy has brilliant pedigree, and is not attached to any club at the moment.

Might not want to come to Arsenal. i suppose for a 2 year stop gap he'd be ok, but id prefer someone young.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

he's managed AZ Alkmaar so he'd manage us, he wouldn't be a long term solution....even a contract until the end of the season would bring some confidence and vitality back into the squad

[BOBN]

Exactly.

I was just reading Le groves twitter posts yesterday and it seems some on there were trying to blame the board but he was having none of it. He said, the money is there, the board want it to be spent but wenger is not playing ball.

This is down to wenger, plain and simple.
well then they should sack him. an employee disregarding instruction like that?

the one undeniable fact is the board are at fault, regardess of all the unknown variables.

[gunnerrrrr]

8-2.....he should be sacked no doubt

[Ralpheroo72]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/8729929/Arsenal-board-give-total-backing-to-Arsene-Wenger-and-insist-his-position-at-the-club-is-rock-solid.html?

Wenger (unsurprisingly backed by the board)

[Niall_Quinn]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/8729929/Arsenal-board-give-total-backing-to-Arsene-Wenger-and-insist-his-position-at-the-club-is-rock-solid.html?

Wenger (unsurprisingly backed by the board)

Good read though. Sounds like these fuckers have been smoked out and are finally talking about what goes on at the club, even if it's just bullshit packed for PR and damage control purposes. It paints a picture of a board and a manager very much at one in presiding over the demise of our club and the rise of their profit empire.

[fari]

Might not want to come to Arsenal. i suppose for a 2 year stop gap he'd be ok, but id prefer someone young.

i agree, plus these players we have now would give him all sorts of heart trouble. there are lots of young up and coming managers who favor good football, get results and can work with limited means. i am not positing any of them as replacements for wenger tho. let him serve his time.

[IBK]

I have to say that I am concerned about what has happened since Kroenke became majority shareholder in April 2011.

While the likes of Citeh, Chelsea and Manure have owners committed to investment, Arsenal has a majority shareholder who worryingly looks like he is only interested in taking profits from it - or at the very least is prepared to wait until there is impending disaster before allowing the club to spend the money it has made.

We all know he is stubborn, but I am struggling to believe that Wenger is this stupid.

[Power n Glory]

I have to say that I am concerned about what has happened since Kroenke became majority shareholder in April 2011.

While the likes of Citeh, Chelsea and Manure have owners committed to investment, Arsenal has a majority shareholder who worryingly looks like he is only interested in taking profits from it - or at the very least is prepared to wait until there is impending disaster before allowing the club to spend the money it has made.

We all know he is stubborn, but I am struggling to believe that Wenger is this stupid.

This isn't Stan's fault. Wenger just doesn't like to spend and I'm pretty sure Stan knows what Wenger is like and I doubt Wenger would allow himself to be lectured by some American that owns Ice Hockey and Basketball teams.

Now all of sudden, we're being linked with a number of players and if we've signed 3 or 4 more players by Wedneday, you can't say it's the boards fault. Wenger is doing this his way. All the players we're being linked with now, could have been done a dusted months ago if we really wanted to push deals through.

[Power n Glory]

We all know he is stubborn, but I am struggling to believe that Wenger is this stupid.

Also, why can't he be that stupid? Stupid is probably a harsh word. Naive maybe?

We just saw the team take a battering to Man Utd because he didn't think to change tactics against Man U and play a more defensive counter attacking style. We're 3 goals down at half time but then managed to ship in another 5 goals before the final whistle. What did say to them at half time, or did he just say anything at all? We saw the subs he made and there was no attempt to change the shape of the team and make things more compact. When I see such things on the pitch, I can't imagine things being much different when he's making backroom decisions. He believes in this squad and if we'd have beaten Man U or maybe lost by a narrow goal, he'd have come out and praised his young squad and pointed to it as vindication for his beliefs. He started doing that after the Newcastle game when Kozza and Verm kept a clean sheet. He can't just praise the players performance on the pitch, he has to take an extra step and express his philosophy. That is why I don't believe there is anything sinister going on behind the scenes.

[Niall_Quinn]

The Man Utd result may have saved us in the long run. I believe we left it so late because this manager and this board were going to try to wing it with the depleted squad we have. Securing the CL berth would have been enough for this lot. I still don't think they give a fuck about the squad, chances are they are far more concerned about a backlash from the fans and empty seats. These bastards at the top have put nothing into this club, pulled everything out of it. If we can't 100% say anything about Stan right now I believe we can be confident when we say the current board members are selfish pricks who don't care about this club beyond what it can bring them personally and the prestige it lends them. Wenger, like Kroenke, is hard to read 100% too. Stubborn, mad, incompetent, senile, at war with the board, in the pocket of the board, in total control? We really don't know. Whatever way it's set up though, it's shit and should be changed.

[IBK]

This isn't Stan's fault. Wenger just doesn't like to spend and I'm pretty sure Stan knows what Wenger is like and I doubt Wenger would allow himself to be lectured by some American that owns Ice Hockey and Basketball teams.

Now all of sudden, we're being linked with a number of players and if we've signed 3 or 4 more players by Wedneday, you can't say it's the boards fault. Wenger is doing this his way. All the players we're being linked with now, could have been done a dusted months ago if we really wanted to push deals through.

Read this from the Huffington Post - I think it is interesting, and certainly seems to fit what is going on ATM...



Will Stan Kroenke Finally Speak up at Arsenal?
Posted: 29/8/11 20:32 GMT


On Monday afternoon, rumors spread that Arsenal were set to sell second-choice left-back Armand Traore to Premier League newcomers QPR, having already sold first-choice left back Gael Clichy to the Abu Dhabi-funded Manchester City earlier in the summer.

There has been little talk of any replacements, with Jose Enrique, available for a relatively cheap sum of £6m, signing for Liverpool, while no move for Leighton Baines has been mooted. Only an injury-prone Kieran Gibbs remains. Where's the logic?

The official line from the club seems to be that the club was so busy in negotiating the sale of several players, including big names such as Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, that incoming transfers were sidelined.

This appears to be an admission of supreme incompetence. There was PR spin from manager Arsene Wenger to defend the lack of incoming transfer activity, who spoke of a 'waiting period', while rivals Manchester United spent £50m on a new goalkeeper, a defender and a winger, immediately strengthening their title-winning squad.

This tactic has backfired spectacularly, as several experienced albeit flawed squad players have been sold, but, apart from Ivorian winger Gervinho, their replacements have consisted of talented youngsters, completely devoid of experience at the top level. These sales have taken almost three months, with some rightly questioning the capabilities of Richard Law, the chief negotiator. This until Wednesday at 11pm for Wenger to try and undo the damage done to the first team squad depth, which ultimately lead to the 8-2 mauling against Manchester United.

Arsenal have offered to cover the cost of a future away trip for all supporters who travelled to Old Trafford, a seemingly classy gesture, but one that some disgruntled fans have seen as a cynical ploy to deflect attention from the real problems. After the 6% ticket price increase at the start of the season, some even feel that Arsenal are practically handing back part of what is already too high a price for the current product offered on the pitch. Instead, they are imploring Wenger to spend money on much-needed replacements.

Yet, one is right to be pragmatic about arrivals, given that no sensible club would sell their best players in the final few days of the transfer window (unless offered a wildly inflated fee, which Arsenal would never do), given that there would be no time to find a replacement.

Wenger, who has until 11pm on Wednesday to achieve the seemingly impossible, has been sadly unsuccessful in implementing his footballing and economic ideology into reality. This is has been particularly evident this summer. Though the intention to remove unreliable squad players such as Denilson, Eboue, who were on wages far above what their performance and ability should dictate, and others is correct, the desire to replace them at cost is highly misguided. For the youth project to succeed, it must be supplemented with experienced players of high quality, as many have repeatedly said, and not budget signings such as Sebastian Squillaci and Mikael Silvestre.

In prolonging negotiations for the best value deal, Arsenal have been beaten to several targets this summer, including Spain internationals Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla. In a market where some clubs (Man City, Chelsea etc) are able to offer vastly inflated transfer fees and wages, Arsenal's adherence to their self-sustainable business model has left them behind. This is where the intentions of the new majority owner, 'Silent' Stan Kroenke, could be revealed.

The lack of media profile that the American sports magnate is known for is fast becoming a source of frustration for some Arsenal fans. His intentions for the club are not yet fully known, though he has been described as a 'custodian', that favourite word of the Arsenal board.

Though Kroenke has never sold a sporting franchise (He owns NBA's Denver Nuggets, hockey's Colorado Avalanche and NFL's St. Louis Rams, along with a lacrosse team and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids) after buying it, there is likely to be cynicism regarding his motives. The American bought half of Arsenal Broadband in 2008, the club's media rights arm, which is likely to become the most profitable aspect of the club.

The initial results of this are evident in the profitability of the media rights of the recent pre-season tour to China and Malaysia. Although the commercial aspect of the club has been boosted by the new business team, fronted by Tom Fox (ex-NBA Asia), the income stream from this won't even remotely match Manchester United until at least 2014, when some of the current deals finish.

According to Forbes, "Long before he bought Arsenal Kroenke had proved he understood that stadium economics could be more important than winning when it comes to making money. In 2000 he bought the Nuggets, the Avalanche and the Pepsi Center, the arena the two teams play in, from Ascent Entertainment for $404 million."

Now, Arsenal already have a world-class stadium but it is another parallel that is more telling - "Denver's Nuggets and Avalanche have reached the finals only once between them (in 2001 when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup - some ten years now) while Kroenke has owned them." Arsenal have already gone six years without a trophy. If Kroenke sees making money via commercial income instead of winning trophies as the priority, then it is possible he is likely to indulge in Wenger's experiment.

Yet, stadium income will be impacted by lower attendances if the results on the pitch are still on the wane, as will the size of the commercial deals that the club will want to make. Champions League qualification for 2012/13 is a must, if not for sporting reasons than at least for Kroenke's fiscal ambitions. Surely failure wouldn't be tolerated here - even by Wenger. And maybe, just maybe, Silent Stan might finally speak up then.

[IBK]

The Man Utd result may have saved us in the long run. I believe we left it so late because this manager and this board were going to try to wing it with the depleted squad we have. Securing the CL berth would have been enough for this lot. I still don't think they give a fuck about the squad, chances are they are far more concerned about a backlash from the fans and empty seats. These bastards at the top have put nothing into this club, pulled everything out of it. If we can't 100% say anything about Stan right now I believe we can be confident when we say the current board members are selfish pricks who don't care about this club beyond what it can bring them personally and the prestige it lends them. Wenger, like Kroenke, is hard to read 100% too. Stubborn, mad, incompetent, senile, at war with the board, in the pocket of the board, in total control? We really don't know. Whatever way it's set up though, it's shit and should be changed.

Exactly (the highlighted part).

[Niall_Quinn]

I think that Huffington post is even more interesting because from what I can see much of it has been lifted from GW, almost word for word. I'm not kidding.

[Power n Glory]

Read this from the Huffington Post - I think it is interesting, and certainly seems to fit what is going on ATM...

That just shows he’s picked Arsenal for a reason. None of this would be possible without Wenger. The board may allow him to indulge in this misguided experiment, but that doesn’t mean they are refusing him funds. They are the money men and Wenger is the football coach with the vision. Without him, they wouldn’t be able to come up with this long term strategy. I won’t blame the suites on this one. As a manager and the football man, I expect Wenger to tell them what he needs to succeed.

[hobson's choice]

In all reality Wenger will not leave till his deal runs out, essentially what we need is an American Football style Coaching scheme, bring in someone else to handle the defense, and attack, and just have Wenger as the overseer. Won't happen, but needs to happen.

[IBK]

That just shows he’s picked Arsenal for a reason. None of this would be possible without Wenger. The board may allow him to indulge in this misguided experiment, but that doesn’t mean they are refusing him funds. They are the money men and Wenger is the football coach with the vision. Without him, they wouldn’t be able to come up with this long term strategy. I won’t blame the suites on this one. As a manager and the football man, I expect Wenger to tell them what he needs to succeed.

Couldn't agree more - and on reflection I agree that there is no evidence that they are refusing AW funds. I don't even think that our current situation is Kroenke's fault. But I do believe strongly that we are suffering from a very convenient sharing of interests between owner and manager.

[Letters]

I think that Huffington post is even more interesting because from what I can see much of it has been lifted from GW, almost word for word. I'm not kidding.

One of our esteemed mods wrote a piece for the Huffington post recently so maybe he reproduced it on here?

[Boss]

Yeah KK wrote that ^^

What a beast.

[Power n Glory]

So who pushed the panic button?

It took a 8-2 beating to finally see some transfer activity. All of a sudden the pace has kicked up and we've almost got 3 players in already. We've always known Mertsacker was available, so why has it taken us so long to bring him in? Our scouts must have known about Santos and Park, they're not high profile players and from the sounds of it, we hijacked the Park deal from Lille. All of sudden, we're able to find players and sign them while their own their way to sign for other clubs. Strange isn't it.

[bignev]

So who pushed the panic button?

It took a 8-2 beating to finally see some transfer activity. All of a sudden the pace has kicked up and we've almost got 3 players in already. We've always known Mertsacker was available, so why has it taken us so long to bring him in? Our scouts must have known about Santos and Park, they're not high profile players and from the sounds of it, we hijacked the Park deal from Lille. All of sudden, we're able to find players and sign them while their own their way to sign for other clubs. Strange isn't it.

Wenger and the board are starting to worry we won't make the CL next year. The CL money is budgeted into the Emirates repayment don't forget. We don't make CL we have to sell 25M of players to replace the money.

Even with Mertesacker, Park & Santos I don't think we will. Gonna need more signings on top of those three to finish in top four.

[IBK]

Agreed. I'm afraid that these signings do nothing at all to address my concerns about what is happening at our club. They smack of last minute desperation because that's exactly what it is. It is, frankly astonishing that a club like ours that is famous for apparently being so well run should leave it until the last day of the transfer window to do business - but more importantly should have left the squad as wafer thin as it was on the weekend. Where is the planning? Where is the foresight? Wenger is the second longest serving manager in English football. He is massively experienced, and he knew damn well that Fabregas and Nasri were off when the transfer window opened - yet even now there is no creative midfield signing!!!! Surely the manager understands that the likes of Jenkinson and Oxlade Chamberlaim will be potentially damaged by being thrown to the lions as the have been.

The only theory that makes any sense to me is that firstly, we have abandoned all pretence of being in the hunt for silverware, and secondly that we were prepared to gamble on clinging on to a CL place with what we had. KK's article in the Huffington Post above postulates that Kroenke operates on the basis that winning things is not necessary to demonstrate the requisite profits - and it is very easy to believe that CL qualification is the be all and end all for this business model. As for Wenger - I can only speculate that he has abandoned any proper winning instinct in favour of enhancing his reputation as a manager who can make money, alongside an addiction to experimenting and trying to perform alchemy with his squad.

I hate to be negative when we seem at last to have made some signings, but for me it is very hard to feel genuine hope or excitement when the past couple of days smack of rushing round the shops at 5pm on Christmas eve...

[Niall_Quinn]

Some shops shut at 10pm on XMas eve.

[IBK]

Some shops shut at 10pm on XMas eve.

Dang - what am I all concerned about then....meticulous planning from AFC! :clap:

[selassie]

Some shops shut at 10pm on XMas eve.

:lol: brilliant.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Agreed. I'm afraid that these signings do nothing at all to address my concerns about what is happening at our club. They smack of last minute desperation because that's exactly what it is. It is, frankly astonishing that a club like ours that is famous for apparently being so well run should leave it until the last day of the transfer window to do business - but more importantly should have left the squad as wafer thin as it was on the weekend. Where is the planning? Where is the foresight? Wenger is the second longest serving manager in English football. He is massively experienced, and he knew damn well that Fabregas and Nasri were off when the transfer window opened - yet even now there is no creative midfield signing!!!! Surely the manager understands that the likes of Jenkinson and Oxlade Chamberlaim will be potentially damaged by being thrown to the lions as the have been.

The only theory that makes any sense to me is that firstly, we have abandoned all pretence of being in the hunt for silverware, and secondly that we were prepared to gamble on clinging on to a CL place with what we had. KK's article in the Huffington Post above postulates that Kroenke operates on the basis that winning things is not necessary to demonstrate the requisite profits - and it is very easy to believe that CL qualification is the be all and end all for this business model. As for Wenger - I can only speculate that he has abandoned any proper winning instinct in favour of enhancing his reputation as a manager who can make money, alongside an addiction to experimenting and trying to perform alchemy with his squad.

I hate to be negative when we seem at last to have made some signings, but for me it is very hard to feel genuine hope or excitement when the past couple of days smack of rushing round the shops at 5pm on Christmas eve...

This, i think we can only see where we are come Jan window time tbh, i think we arw going to have to spend big there, only problem, is getting players can be in the CL if we are still in it at that stage.

The board have budget outside the cl imo and not spending big will tell us that tbh. we won't finish top 4 or win the league. we need some stabiity back at the club.

A big name player would have been for excitement to the fans players more then anything, would not have changed where we will finish in the league tbh.

[Niall_Quinn]

They're hoarding the Cesc/ Na$ri cash to get us through a couple of years without CL footie. RvP/ Theo/ Arshavin and Wilshere deals will add to the pot so we can survive for a couple more years after that. Then some of the youngsters become saleable assets, which would explain the Ox fee. Stan will strengthen the balance sheet as much as possible and then sell out for a relatively fast buck. Do any other theories fit the bill, besides sudden and terminal incompetence? Either way we're fucked for the foreseeable future.