The Highbury Spy writes online
By Steve Ashford
And he’s going to start boycotting home matches unless Arsenal raid the piggy bank
I missed the first Gooner of the season but in case you were wondering, this is where the Spy is at...
Don't know about you but I've never felt so disillusioned about Arsenal as I do today. We're in profit yet again on transfers with only three days of the transfer window to go.
Once again NO real investment in the team and £50 million plus in the Transfer Proceeds Account that looks like it won't be spent for one reason or another. Except this season weren't we told the purse strings were going to be loosened after the £25 million from the Queensland Road housing development was being released for improving the team? You could've fooled me...
We've lost the usual three players, Benayoun (who everyone forgets about), RVP and Song, and replaced them with Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud, which is fine except Giroud looks like he couldn't hit a barn door from three yards out and Cazorla disappears as soon as he's hit with a 'reducer' from the opposition, which happened in each of the last two games.
I've just seen Nuri Sahin talking on the TV (Sky Sports News) in perfect English about playing for Liverpool in the Champions League, so he's obviously planning on staying at Anfield for more than one year, we were favourites to sign him AND he wanted to come. Why did that deal fall through? Three guesses. We wouldn't pay the money. Same old story. To say I'm furious about this is an understatement. Losing Sahin to Liverpool sums up Arsenal's lack of ambition perfectly.
Why did they lose RVP? He knew there would be a net profit on transfers yet again, no investment in the team and no ambition from the club, so he's jumped ship and who can blame him?
I also see tonight Spurs have had a bid for Mousa Dembele accepted by Fulham. That guy is f***ing brilliant. If we couldn't afford Sahin (though God knows why, we have more money than Liverpool, but not the same ambition it seems), he would've been a good second choice, but no, we've got Diaby and Rosicky so let's stick with what he have (until they get injured again) and to make matters worse, I see we're now interested in Angel Rangel and some unknown African from Montpelier. ENOUGH!!!!
And you wonder why we haven't won a trophy for seven years (soon to be eight)!!!!
Why we weren't in for Victor Moses, Junior Hoilett, Clint Dempsey, Dembele, Adam Johnson or Scott Sinclair (to name but a few off the top of my head), as well as Sahin, I have no idea. All affordable and all proven Premier League players, with the exception of Sahin of course. He's just the Bundesliga Player of the Season 2010/11 instead.
I also see we're looking to offload Arshavin, Bentdner and Chamakh before Friday's deadline. If that's the case, who does OGL think is going to replace Podolski and Giroud if they get injured or suspended or need a rest during the season? Because I don't see any other strikers worthy of the name at the club and isn't Wenger always saying you need four quality strikers during a season? Oh I forgot, there's always Park.
Because of all this nonsense and rank bad management, I have made the decision to watch home games in the pub with Tel and Ian this season UNLESS most of that fifty million in the TPA is spent by 31st August on one or more experienced players I think will significantly improve the team. By the way, selling Walcott for fifteen million and signing someone else for ten million at ten to twelve on Friday is not significantly improving the team. The team will improve by not having Walcott in it but that is essentially improving the TPA by another five million NOT the playing squad.
My good friends Ian and Tel took the decision not to attend Arsenal home matches regularly two years ago (see Telboy's article in the current Gooner for more info) and I've only missed one home game at the Emirates to date, but Kroenke's asset stripping and Arsene Wenger's compliance with it has led me to this. My season ticket will be loaned out until Alisher Usmanov takes over.
Stan Kroenke is a deadly cancer eating into the heart and soul of our beloved club, and the sooner he's gone the better it will be for all of us. RIP Arsenal. There used to be a football club over there...
29th August 2012
User Comment and Reaction
User comments on this article are now closed. If you want to continue the debate, why not do so on the Gooner Forum.
Herbert 10:16am 29th Aug 2012
Ranting, moaning, pintless tat. If you want to launch a bradside at the club, I have no issue with that, the sentiment is understandable but like so many writers on here you talk out of your a**. Your words about Giroud and Cazorla make you sound like a DM journo.......please dont go to the Grove, we could do without your negativity!! - Post No. 28367
Red Member 10:24am 29th Aug 2012
best article I have seen written on here. the last paragraph is spot on and I am reluctantly coming round to the fact that Wenger is also to blame in the decline of this once great club - Post No. 28368
Rob 10:25am 29th Aug 2012
I have much time for the Spy as we are of a similar vintage. And he's not afraid to say it like it is. And I certainly agree with him on Kronke. Who can really trust the bloke or believe he gives two cents for Arsenal ? How many games has he watched ? Five or is it six ? And as was said in an Editorial on here, who believes he watches anything in Denver even on the record button ? But having said that - and admitted that I stopped going in 2010 for the same reasons the Spy has outlined - I think we could do well this season. Let Walcott go, along with four or five others and bring in at least two quality signings - Yes I know ! But I'm trying to be optimistic - and I think we'll be far better than last year when we were overly reliant on one player. I honestly think this will be a good year, if we can get these last two signings and perhaps a backup keeper as well. If not, then Steve's probably right. We'll know come Friday. - Post No. 28369
MRMROD 10:29am 29th Aug 2012
Well written heart felt article Steve, although slow down on berating Giroud and particularly Cazorla, who looks immense! The point's were made about the time it took Bergkamp and Henry to score their first goals. Yes, its obvious, overall the club have been economical with the truth. We knew when we moved to the Emirates that we would need to qualify for the Champions League for the 15 years that followed; and we've done that. I also agree that we've missed out on Dembele, who is blinding, and Adam Johnson, who I think is great but Sahin...seven mill for a player to sod of back to Madrid doesnt make great business sense at all (whoops im sounding like AW and IG!). I also agree that all of the players you highlighted, including Walcott are nowhere near good enough and there is also the glaring risk/ problem of having an injured Szczney; Lloris, Stekelburg and Cesar are all up for grabs but we're not buying...why?! Moreover I concur again that SK, IG, AW and the Board are happy to sacrifice trophies for a positive balance sheet...its just not on. I take your point(s) entirely Steve but I for one will be there on Sunday to cheer on the Arsenal but also the new boys because I am still confident of picking up 'some' silverware this season...lets just see where we stand at midnight on Friday when the window closes. - Post No. 28370
NileshBhagat 10:36am 29th Aug 2012
What a load of self important claptrap. Moaning old gits pumping out negative energy like yourself will not be missed from the stadium. Ending on the old Keith Burkinshaw quote impresses nobody and it would be better to paraphrase it so it applies to you. There used to be an Arsenal fan over there ... - Post No. 28371
Dicky 10:38am 29th Aug 2012
Steve - I have always liked your articluate articles. This sums it up perfectly. I will not be renwewing my season ticket next seaons and currently share it with another long suffering fan. We now are a business pure and simple and no longer a football club - Post No. 28372
Gods name is Bergkamp 10:49am 29th Aug 2012
Snap, same for ALL my gooner mates too. pubs/ streams from now on (plus in my own house I can sing songs and swear without getting dirty looks or told off by plastics So sad - Post No. 28375
Peter 10:51am 29th Aug 2012
You're disappointed we're not signing Junior Hoillet? - Post No. 28376
Inconsistent 10:51am 29th Aug 2012
If you loan you pass out, its not the same thing as a boycott. But there's plenty of us in the queue if you decide not to renew. - Post No. 28377
Big Lebowski 10:55am 29th Aug 2012
It isn't Kronke thats the problem it's David Dein & that son of his Darren that is undermining the club. At least now that Song has gone that is the last of the Arsenal players represented by Dein. - Post No. 28378
Graham Simons 10:56am 29th Aug 2012
Why don't you go and support Spurs then? Seriously mate - I feel your pain. My relationship with the club feels like that of an ex-girlfriend where you still love them but unless they change you're just doomed to the same cycle of hope and then disappointment. I wish I coulod turn my feelings off but I can't so I've just taken to ignoring them as much as I can and pretending I don't care and they go and offer you hope by signing up Bouldy who reminds me of why I fell in love with Arsenal in the first place. It wasn't because they were my dad's club, not because my best mate supported them, not because they were my local club but because I actually like the fact that we were universally loathed. These days we're an also-ran who even Man Utd fans don't mind anymore. If we can get mean and keep tight at the back while recruiting players that want to play for us and despatch those that don't then there is hope. But I'm with you - you manage a football club by spending more than you bring in with transfers and let the gate reciepts take care of the rest - making a profit on transfers season after season is asset stripping and takes the michael out of loyal fans such as yourself - until that stops - the pub is the best place to watch Arsenal. - Post No. 28379
Ramgun 11:00am 29th Aug 2012
After the compliant AKB stuff you were trotting out in The Gooner last season it is good to see that reality has bitten The Spy. With so many still blindly supporting Wenger and co I fear that you (and me) are in for a long wait. If our nation had been as servile as some Arsenal supporters in 1939 we would all be goose-stepping and speaking german now! - Post No. 28381
Graham 11:03am 29th Aug 2012
The lack of ambition at the club is heart breaking to see, so near but so far every season it seems. This year 3 excellent players signed and if they'd been added to a squad that included RVP and one more top class midfielder, would have seen us challenge on all fronts no question .... BUT NO, lets take take 3 steps forward and then when the season tickets have been sold, sell players to balance the books, it's disgraceful ...... for gods sake, sell the dross for whatever you can get, give them away if you have to and at least the weekly wage bill is saved ..... and can anyone tell me why Lansbury wasn't given a chance and why is Afobe at Bolton ? .... the club needs to stop ripping off the fans and deliver on the promises made when we left our Highbury home. Mr Kroenke - it is time for you to address the fans and explain the clubs strategy, because we will not win anything again and 4th spot is getting harder every year ..... and I'm fed up with my Chelsea mates laughing at our decline !!! - Post No. 28382
Angry & Frustrated 11:05am 29th Aug 2012
Your article echoes my sentiments 100%, and the only crumb of comfort I have these days when i think about Arsenal is knowing many other fans are as disillusioned with things as they stand as you clearly are. Until Kroenke, Gazidis and Wenger have gone we are just in limbo and it's pure torture what's happening at our once great club right now. It's now profits first, second and even third in the clubs priority stakes, with actual football ambition itself a mere afterthought! - Post No. 28383
cannonfodder 11:13am 29th Aug 2012
a touch reactionary! - Post No. 28384
Fatos Berisha 11:16am 29th Aug 2012
"If we couldn't afford Sahin (though God knows why, we have more money than Liverpool, but not the same ambition it seems)..." Maybe we didn't get him because of this: "The BBC reported that Sahin earns a staggering £115,000 a week at Real Madrid, the majority of which Liverpool have agreed to take on. That would immediately place him as one of the Reds’ highest earners. Additionally, Liverpool paid a loan fee of close to £5 million, a staggering amount considering that Sahin cost Real Madrid only £3.7 million more for a permanent transfer last summer." - Post No. 28386
GoonerGoal! 11:21am 29th Aug 2012
I absolutely understand where you are coming from, because at the end of last season I too decided that enough was enough. I am no longer prepared for my money to be used by an extremely rich man simply to maintain the value of his shares, and so I refused to renew this summer. That means for the first time in over 90 years, no member of my family will be in attendance at any of Arsenal’s home matches. In addition, I will not purchase a single item of Arsenal merchandise. I have simply decided to economically boycott Arsenal as long as a single member of the Kroenke/Gazidis/Wenger mafia remains connected with the club. Every revolution was first a thought in one man's mind; and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era. … VIVE LA REVOLUTION! - Post No. 28387
Joe Fitzpatrick 11:21am 29th Aug 2012
Great to see you writing online and telling it like it is. People may not want to hear it but I think a lot of people are on the brink of loaning out their tickets because of the lack of transfer spending. - Post No. 28388
Ben 11:21am 29th Aug 2012
Ill have your ticket then. Getting fed up with reading articles like this. More "fans" need to get behind the players on the pitch rather than thinking they can run the club better - Post No. 28389
Bum 11:24am 29th Aug 2012
Stopped reading after 3 paragraphs. Giroud, Cazorla, Sahin - whatever you said about them couldn't be farther from the truth. - Post No. 28390
Terryja210 11:25am 29th Aug 2012
Couldn't agree more. But i am just waiting for you to be abused and told your spouting rubbish. It's time for the fans to wake up!! - Post No. 28392
nobby 11:27am 29th Aug 2012
The Emirates will be a better place without you. - Post No. 28393
Kartik Shekar 11:27am 29th Aug 2012
This is an utter load of ****. What makes you think Usmanov wants those shares so he can eat into these player profits as well? Just because of one propaganda leaked letter to the board? And sell Walcott for 15m and buy a player worth 12m is not improving the squad? I fail to see your logic all through this, how much did Santi cost again? you obviously don't know bollocks if you don't think Santi is our best Midfielder since Fabregas. LOL unknown African from Montpellier?? That has to be the last straw. Thank god you decided to avoid Arsenal games, AFC could use less of fans like you constantly whining - Post No. 28394
Arsene Apologist 11:27am 29th Aug 2012
Superb article, agreed with every word. Club is not getting a penny of my dosh until both Wenger and Kroenke are gone and history. If that takes 20 years, so be it. Shocking management by Wenger, appalling lack of ambition, rubbish tactics, disgusting planning, scamming te fans by charging top dollar for a garbage product. No longer. Ooooh the AKBs will be seething ha ha ha... 7-8 years no trophies. Arsene Knows. - Post No. 28395
MysticGooner 11:28am 29th Aug 2012
I'll keep this very simple! American investors are only interested in making money and not winning trophies! This how their national games operate! The irony is.If the club were to allow Usmanov on the board he could unlock the untapped wealth of Eastern Europe! Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face and in the process hurt Arsenal. - Post No. 28396
Ron 11:36am 29th Aug 2012
Can see your point but if you reckon those players in your 9th para are Title winning types, youre well off beam i'd say. Agree on Walcott. Agree with most of your sentiments, but Arsenal need a few top performers, not more 2nd rate journeymen. Wengers done 'journeymen' to death surely hasnt he? Thats what everybody is griping about. His record in the transfer market for some years has been poor, hence the sheer amount of non producers the Club needs to ship out exists to the extent that it does. Signing such players wouldnt have persuaded Van Persie that the Club was reaching for the stars, he d still have gone! - Post No. 28398
Jon 11:43am 29th Aug 2012
I've read some pretty bad things in my time, all the twilight books, 50 shades of grey, hell even harry potter. But these few paragraphs from the "highbury cry" *spy could well be some of the most stupid and inane things ever produced. I don't even know where to begin in discrediting the whole article, i'm really spoilt for choice. Instead though, I think i'll just speak for quite a few people when I say cheerio highbury spy, someone else is better off taking your seat, you don't deserve it. Supporting a football club isn't conditional, unless of course your a plastic fan, sadly this article confirms you are. Perhaps you didn't use to be, but you are now. You should be embarrassed. - Post No. 28399
aws 11:48am 29th Aug 2012
Stop blaming Kroenke.The club was going downhill long before he took over. Have the courage to put the blame where it belongs- with Wenger. He lost his way when George Graham's defence went and wasn't replaced. Very lucky with the squad he took over, and at a time when very few British managers knew much about foreign players so he could get Viera etc, in the last six years he has just proven what a second rate manager he really is. - Post No. 28400
Gooner 12:05pm 29th Aug 2012
Good for you! Now why don't you go **** off and go support a club like Man City instead? They're doing everything you'd like your club to do. Have some integrity for goodness sake. - Post No. 28401
Bill 12:12pm 29th Aug 2012
I don't know what you are, but I can tell you what you aren't; an Arsenal supporter. - Post No. 28402
ric 12:14pm 29th Aug 2012
Awesome post Steve I agree fullheartedly. Keep up the struggle! - Post No. 28403
Jayelljay 12:22pm 29th Aug 2012
I could not agree more with you Steve. Absolutely correct. I have done the same with my ticket and unless things DO change will not be renewing any more. Never felt so frustrated and this is my 49th season. - Post No. 28404
Tony Evans 12:24pm 29th Aug 2012
Don't blame you one bit for not wanting to go to The Emirates and thereby supporting Kronke, Gazedis and Wenger. I feel as disillusioned as you are and the gaping holes in our squad do nothing to inspire me. Another season of trying to scrape home fourth on the cheap beckons and I have had enough of it. Totally agree that Walcott out (good riddance) and a cheaper replacement is the only likely further transfer dealings we will see before the transfer window shuts and that will be that. Happy Days! - Post No. 28405
pwaypete 12:27pm 29th Aug 2012
after reading this....what more can you say. nothing will change untill we finish outside the top 4 or all the directors are picked off 1 by 1. - Post No. 28406
b0sH 12:27pm 29th Aug 2012
We didnt lose out on Sahin for money. We insisted on an option to buy as part of the deal. Liverpool offered them a deal with no option to buy. They prefered that deal in case he comes good this year. Big Surprise..... dont blame Arsenal for not going for a deal worth £12m for potentially one season of playing. - Post No. 28407
Tony T 12:34pm 29th Aug 2012
Welcome Steve.I have boycotted home games since 2009.The club will not get any of my money until Kroenke and Wenger go.We hae ceased to be a football club we are no different from Tesco's.Its unbeliveable what has happened to our club since 2004.To go from the Invincibles to a club that is only interested in finishing 4th and making profits.Selling our best players every summer.And we moved from Highbury to the Soul-less bowl to compete with Liverpool Newcastle and Spurs.But as long as 60,000 turn up every other week Kroenke and Wenger are laughing.Dont forget Wenger is on £7m a year to produce hese results.We need Usmanov to take over We want our Arsenal back - Post No. 28408
Dan h 12:37pm 29th Aug 2012
Groundhog day again at Arsenal can't disagree with any of that Spy as it's what most of us have been saying for a long time.I don't expect any major spend between now & friday night but come sept 1st you may well see frustrations really start to boil over with club policy,ambition etc.I can't prove anything but who disagrees that the PTA money is being held back as a buffer for when we do eventually fail in CL qualification it is more & more obvious at every passing transfer window.Good to see you back online Spy pretty sure i saw you in the Highbury Barn before the Wigan game in April.I was going to say hello but had to rush off to meet someone shame as i have enjoyed your articles over the years.People can hide their heads in the sand as much as they want still back the management AW etc.I will tell you this club is reaching a real defining time in it's history which way do we want to go? - Post No. 28409
Gooner_lad 12:52pm 29th Aug 2012
Quite a disappointing read. My take on it is anyone who is struggling to support AFC during the hard times are not true fans. I also think the so called AST chief, Tim Payton is sending out the wrong signals, too negative person to be in that position - Post No. 28410
Gee 12:54pm 29th Aug 2012
Just wonder how an earth the Club can explain this one away. They tell us every single year that all revenue is available for investment in the squad. so why don't we do it? And I before anyone says it I agree with AW saying we shouldn't spend money for the sake of it. But what club does that anyway?? Unfortunately we have absolutely lost all ambition to win the League or European Cup. We are now happy to "look" like we are competing whilst ensuring the business runs smoothly. How can we have a rainy day fund in case we fall out of the European Cup for 2013-14? What the hell is that about? We have set aside money in case we fail to reach the top 4. If you think in this way eventually you reap what you sow. If Theo goes we need 3 quality players by Friday 11pm. At present if we were to get a solid Central midfielder (M'Vila) and a solid Striker then the squad looks good. However it looks all the more likely we will flog theo and not replace him and likely bring in 2 players we've not heard of. I repeat the club continues to tell us all revenue is available for reinvestment in the squad. From that I deduce Wenger does not wish to spend it on improving the squad or that he thinks he doesn't need too. Yet year after year no investment is made and we are out of the title race by September. Every man and his dog can see we need improving. Just like every man and his dog knew Denilson was not good enough yet some how racked up 150+ games for us. And I really haven't worked half a day in football... - Post No. 28411
ddd 12:57pm 29th Aug 2012
wtf just read halfway but since when did ambition and money be the same thing - Post No. 28412
Arsene is a Fraudster 13:01pm 29th Aug 2012
I personally can't disagree with any of that but i'm sure there will be plenty of acolytes to the church of Arsene who will. Sahin is such a monumental cock up it's untrue (and as someone who worked in Germany for 2 years and seen what I have of him, I can vouch that Liverpool have got themselves an utter gem). Yet again, we have found ourselves in a position where we are weak and there is nothing that the club nor Arsene "we only want special special players" Wenger will do about it. Hopefully we can finally not win the coveted Champions league place trophy and maybe just maybe the board will do something about this pathetic situation we have got ourselves in. - Post No. 28413
Jackson 13:08pm 29th Aug 2012
@Big Lebowski how come we won 13 trophies under Dein?Who brought George and Wenger to the club?.No Arsenal FC has been ruined by Fisman first and now Kroenke.Who would not allow a richer man than Abramovich on the board. - Post No. 28414
John Gooner 13:14pm 29th Aug 2012
I reluctantly agree with a lot of your points. Our reticent and pusillanimous approach to transfers is worthy of ridicule. But your claim that you will loan out your season ticket doesn't really do justice to the passion with which you have written this article. I appreciate that money is tight at the moment, but you cannot claim to be boycotting the club, you are abandoning it. - Post No. 28415
Angry Dave 13:16pm 29th Aug 2012
Good article. You say 'Don't know about you but I've never felt so disillusioned about Arsenal as I do today' well for me that day was this time last year and now I just go through the motions watching this rubbish in front of me. Arsenal died in August 2011 the moment Nasri left. - Post No. 28416
roy jewell 13:17pm 29th Aug 2012
U r getting bad review on twitter, so I read it and I actually agree fully (1 or 2 exceptions), I'm so sad, really, worse is having to explain to an eight y/o, who lives for her beloved Gunners. I'm a loyal supp'for 42 yrs and I share your despondency, doesn't seem the decision makers want to restore pride, it's simply business (which I DO understand), there's no heart left in it, I'm so heavily invested in this team,in my blood, heart and soul. The "Powers that be" need reminding, a rude awakening, WE need to find a way to show our discontent, PUBLICALLY, to hit them where it will hurt them, on a par with what we've been put thru, in the pocket. I've had enough, I'm so angry, but also so sad, there's NO such thing as loyalty anymore, ours, has been trampled on. - Post No. 28417
Grown up 13:40pm 29th Aug 2012
Clearly not a true supporter who gets behind his club through thick and thin, one bad spell and throw the toys out of the pram. The club doesn't need you, nor do genuine fans want you and we won't want you back when we finally start winning things again (whenever that may be) - no genuine supporter likes a glory-hunter. I'd hope that The Gooner (if it's genuinely the voice of supporters) will now stop publishing your clearly ill-educated rants. - Post No. 28419
Bard 13:58pm 29th Aug 2012
After reading that I feel like topping myself. We haven't even got to the end of the transfer window yet and we're already dead and buried. I don't disagree with the arguments about the board but its a bit too gloomy for me. Yes we lost RVP but Song wasn't that good and if we lose Wally its no great shakes because he flatters to deceive. All the players you mention buying are journeymen; they are not going to take us anywhere. Let's wait and see where we are this time next week before slitting our wrists. - Post No. 28420
AFCasap 14:21pm 29th Aug 2012
aws...spot on(the money)mate....we all know stan could'nt give a monkey's about soccerrr...so its a coup for him that he has wenger, a wheeler dealer acountant first, a football manager last...that why stan okayed wengers massive 7.5 mil salary, so wenger carries on running the club as pure business for kronky corp...stan/wenger they "get" each other - Post No. 28422
pat rices nan 14:26pm 29th Aug 2012
'Giroud looks like he couldn't hit a barn door from three yards out' I guess you didn't like Bergkamp when he signed then? or Henry? Those legends didn't hit the ground running either. You wont be missed at The Emirates. You dick. - Post No. 28423
maguiresbridge gooner 14:44pm 29th Aug 2012
Purse strings loosened ? don't forget we have the best spin doctor in europe.I agree the Sahin deal falling through was all about money but we have no problen paying dross like bendtner chamakh etc, inflated wages not to mention what walcott will be on if he signs a new contract.For a player like sahin to choose a club that will be playing in the EL over arsenal thats playing CL football sums us up perfectly.The purse strings have yet to be loosened on the keeper situation like i've said in an earlier reply the back ups we have are accidents waiting to happen. - Post No. 28424
Fishpie 14:54pm 29th Aug 2012
Spy, I have a lot of sympathy with your position and I don't think for a second that your decision to boycott something you love so much is anything other than a painful one. I've come close to withdrawing my financial support too in the last two years. But I haven't had the courage. I say courage because I think to take action, to demonstrate, go against the accepted norm (i.e. to support your team through think and thin regardless) is a brave act. You get abused and you get stick from others. And inside, a big part of you will feel you are indeed letting the players who play each week down. And yet if the club isn't made to understand the depth of dissatisfaction many fans feel about the direction the club is going, it will think it can carry on settling for second best. If there is no pressure from inside the club to acheive trophy success, it has to come from outside. And that's where the individual personal sacrifices and the accumulative impact of people like you Spy comes in. In my mind there is a match going on at the Emirates and all the Arsenal fans are standing outside the stadium, emotionally supporting the team, chanting their encouragement but not one of them has paid for a ticket to go in the stadium. Essentially that is what Spy is doing. I think his action is the act of a deeper love and even if you disagree with him, he doesn't deserve the unthinking abuse he's receiving. He's not abandoning the club, he's seeking to do his bit to make it great again. In the past you could count on the club to realise when things weren't going well and they'd change the Manager. And by and large this has worked for Arsenal down the years. Billy Wright after 4 years was replaced by Mee. When his initial success wasn't sustained , he was replaced by Neil. When Neil's/Howe's success in the Cups wasn't sustained, they were replaced by Graham. When Graham put his hand in the till, he was replaced by Rioch. And Rioch was immediately replaced by Wenger. But when Wenger's success dried up, nothing was changed. The owner, unlike those of City and Chelsea, doesn't care enough about Arsenal to be bothered to change things. And it's the lack of hope that change will ever come that drives Spy and others like him to try and stimulate change themselves. If things do change down the line, I for one will be thanking Spy for doing his bit. Don't abuse him, respect his decision to fight for his club. While the rest of us support the players in their battles against the external enemy: other teams, he and others need our support in fighting the internal enemy inside the club itself: complacency, lack of ambition and taking fans for granted. We are all supporting our club and it's future. Buy each other a drink. - Post No. 28426
John Abrehart 15:30pm 29th Aug 2012
Spy, I wondered where you have been! There is a lot in what you say but I cannot agree with all of it. It seems to me that we have a very arrogant approach to this cut and thrust transfer and loan business. It is the Arsenal way to try and keep our transfer dealings as secretive as possible. Nothing wrong in that but when it appears that another club becomes interested in one of our targets, we loose interest and withdraw. I refer to Cahill, Mata, Hazard, Sahin and now M'villa among others. Le Prof said only last week that we can't compete with the likes of Chelsea and Man City. OK, I generally agree with our aim of being self-sustainable but we have to bite the bullet sometime. We should be able to compete with the likes of Spurz and Liverpool; if not, why the new stadium? I believe whoever is doing the face to face negotiations for Arsenal likes to think that they are in the driving seat and want to dictate terms. In reality, things are not like that. This perceived arrogance may have cost us the services of Cahill(a fourth centre back of the required class that we needed, especially as the back up of Song is not now available). If at 31st August, the club break even or make a profit from the latest transfer dealings, either we are being led up the garden path or there is gross incompetence at top management level. If we have a successful season in spite of all this I will eat my words. - Post No. 28428
Martyn 15:50pm 29th Aug 2012
The thing that depresses me most at the moment is the thought that whoever performs to their maximum this season will be a transfer target at the end of it regardless of the contract they are on. The premiership is, and will continue to be, dominated by those with the bottomless pit of money to sustain them, however short-term that will be. I cannot see how we can be successful on the pitch when faced with such a situation. I will always support Arsenal but my excitement at the start of each season has eroded over the years in the knowledge that nothing will change in the light of such predictability. - Post No. 28429
CT Gooner 15:51pm 29th Aug 2012
I agree with Bard, let's wait til next week. I like our 3 new signings, but want more. I don't believe enough dead weight has been shifted either. As for Walcott refusing 75K a week for 5 years, screw him! Finally it appears the team are being trained to defend, so let's hope Wenger can improve the quality of his squad in the last few days. And please, play the ox and stop replacing Carzola with Ramsey (who I think we should loan out this season). - Post No. 28430
One day hamos 15:58pm 29th Aug 2012
@Grown Up One bad spell unfortunately it has lasted 8 years!!!.And it will continue that way.We cannot afford to sell the likes of Cesc and RVP and hope to compete.That will continue as long as Diaby and Gervinho are starters. - Post No. 28432
Georgaki-Pyrovolitis 16:17pm 29th Aug 2012
Well there is no shortage of dipsticks commenting on here. I hope you have enough intelligence to understand, that if Arsenal the business fails, then Arsenal the football club disappears....what a bunch of morons... - Post No. 28433
Red Rag 16:20pm 29th Aug 2012
Finally, Someone gets it............I was banging on about this last season. If RVP had not produced his best performance ever we'd of finished mid table. The fact of the matter is that silent Stan, is ripping our club apart, and will almost completely exhaust it before finally handing it over to Usmanov. The only way to get the message across is by peaceful protest. It's time to not attend games and leave your seat empty. Selling your ticket on is not going to help matters. It needs to be brought to the attention of everybody at AFC we will bend over and take it up the ARSE. One thing is certain, no champions league next season. - Post No. 28434
jjetplane 16:27pm 29th Aug 2012
Nice one Spy! and saying it like it is. Arsenal are an ordinary team fighting to stay in CL til it means winning a one off game. Sahin has been telling the scousers that Scholes is a god! so does it matter anymore who signs with who. The mercenary culture is all over the PL and sad to say I look forward to Arsenal unravelling and not singing the prof praises should he win a lesser cup - which he wont. Walnut will hopefully go to Liverpool but just a big boy lining up a fat fee for messrs Jack and the Ox - next summer - Post No. 28435
The Fonz 16:35pm 29th Aug 2012
The muppets on here citing this as a "great article" and claiming they will be giving up their season tickets, my response to them is GO, GO AWAY! If (like you claim) there are sooo many of you then giving up your season ticket will send a strong message! Sick of all the talk on here, so many of you give it the verbal but dont back it up, or we would have an empty stadium! The last paragraph is disgusting and Im surprised it was printed, but negativity is the daily diet on here! - Post No. 28436
JOHN SMITH 17:05pm 29th Aug 2012
You are spot on, 100% agree with everything you said and it is not negative moaning you are clearly a lifelong arsenal fan like me and your expressing your honest view. I have been calling for wengers sacking for 4 years now, people said i was wrong it was not his fault it's the boards fault, so i did some research and found out that wenger has clearly been given a target of only top 4 as being arsenal main goal every season by the one and only Koronke and the board so i felt like maybe i was being to harsh on him but than i said wait a minute he is consenting to this manic concept so he still has to go same with the board. we have become a selling club no way you can dispute that with a straight face look at the last 2 seasons as prove of my point. Cazorla will leave soon as he will be looking around saying to himself why im i playing with mediocre players i.e diaby etc when i can be playing with world class players week in week out. its all about profit as this club it is so evident no ambition to win stuff really it its disgusting we buy 3 new players than guess what we sell two off are best players of last season looool now Theo walcott who in all honesty is not worth 100k a week he is clearly delusional loool makes me laugh thats all i can do as a arsenal supporter now is LAUGH LOOL WE HAVE BECOME A SELLING CLUB I.E PORTO, BENEFICA - Post No. 28437
maguiresbridge gooner 17:11pm 29th Aug 2012
Wonder what the RVP haters think of darling little theo holding the club to ransom and will he be getting the same treatment if he jumps ship to win silverware and for more dough ? - Post No. 28438
Stevesam 17:28pm 29th Aug 2012
Silent Stan and AW could send out a statement to our competitors, if it is not all about the money and making a profit on assets, then how about taking a player in exchange or part exchange. DeJong from Citeh or Mascherano from Barca, Enrique from Liverpool ? It is clear to me, top players either no longer want to come to The Arsenal or we cannot meet their wage demands. Let's see what happens when Wally gets sold. We are no longer a big club !( maybe Silent Stan and AW shall surprise us all) - Post No. 28439
DW Thomas 17:29pm 29th Aug 2012
Good article, can't see one thing wrong. This once great club is a farce. We only make players to sell them. Profit before all else. No more excuses can be tolerated from Wenger. He has had 8 years to get it right, but no trophies. If two or three more are not brought in before the deadline, it is complete mismanagement. Been happening for years now. - Post No. 28440
David 17:52pm 29th Aug 2012
Jon 11:43am 29th Aug 2012 - that's the best critique I've read. This article is fifty shades of s***e. - Post No. 28441
BringBackDene 18:15pm 29th Aug 2012
Sadly I quite agree with your article Steve. I have thought for a year now that Wenger should have stepped down but he is still here and we can only hope the new buys come good. This time next year will we be talking about the exit of Wilshire and anyone else who comes good during the year? perhaps 'ARRY might be the answer...!!! - Post No. 28442
Peter Wain 18:37pm 29th Aug 2012
Could not agree more . The rank bad management of the club is a scandal. Looks as if we will be with the also rans this season. - Post No. 28443
Neil 18:41pm 29th Aug 2012
Spot on mate. It's about time someone told it like it is. Can't understand why some fans are still so blinkered to what is going on. Supported Arsenal for over 40 years and now it just seems it's all about the money. - Post No. 28444
Stoph 19:35pm 29th Aug 2012
God you are all such ****s! "Wenger is to blame for the downfall blah blah blah"... for **** sake none of you know what is going on behind the scenes. Wenger is the best thing we have at this club and if you don't realise that then stay indoors and keep your couch fan opinions to yourselves. - Post No. 28445
Harold 19:38pm 29th Aug 2012
Do you really think Wenger was FORCED to make a £50m profit in last summers transfer window? Or forced to break even this summer despite our riches, including as you mentioned the huge Queensland Road windfall? No-one forces Mr Principle to do anything, if they did he'd be off before you could say fourth place trophy. Kroenke is the owner but Wenger runs the show from top to bottom, and he will never stop playing the underdog, never stop trying to prove that you can win the major trophies despite spending much, much less than the other contenders. Fine when we were building the stadium and skint, but our finances have changed and Wenger hasn't, resulting in our club drifting needlessly towards mediocrity. I'd love to blame the big, bad foreign owner for our problems but he won't put pressure on Wenger while so many of our stupid terrified fans lap up the manager telling them we're 'a little bit short' here, and 'a little bit short' there year after year, or that Denilson and Diaby are going to be world class one day, and nothing will change. You get the club you deserve, and that's just what Arsenal fans are getting right now. - Post No. 28446
mr_rossi_gooner 20:04pm 29th Aug 2012
I think you should just give up your season ticket NOW! We don't need people like you attending games moaning an whining through 90 minutes of every match like alot of people do at the emirates instead of getting behind the team, I support arsenal, not the players and not the trophies and I'll still go if we were in the championship or lower, you seem to want to only sing when we are winning and that's not a true fan - Post No. 28447
Clocked Tony 22:31pm 29th Aug 2012
What a pile of absolute sh**. Half the people on this site think they can run a club better than Arsene because they've had a few successful seasons playing Football Manager on their computer. RVP = greedy w****r, same with Song, disloyal ungrateful low life's, Theo too if he goes. Why should we pay £70k a week more to someone who has already been offered £130k?? How is their absolute greed Arsenes fault? The players are so detracted from the real world it is untrue. You are my age so we have seen it all, the 80's was for the most part was not much fun on the pitch but you know what? We enjoyed it, we stuck together and we got behind the team. Anfield was our reward. I can forgive the new fans for coming on here and talking total b*******s because they don't know any better but for an old campaigner like you to come on and cry and throw his toys out of the pram and do the equivalent of taking his ball home, well you are just a disgrace. P**s off to City or Utd or Spurs or anyone stupid enough to accept you but do us all a favour and give your season ticket to someone who deserves it. - Post No. 28450
GoonerGoal! 22:40pm 29th Aug 2012
"The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men..." (Abraham Lincoln) - Post No. 28452
Gooner89 23:13pm 29th Aug 2012
Well done spy. The comments against you on here are best summed up by "Wenger is the best thing we have at this club and if you don't realise that then stay indoors and keep your couch fan opinions to yourselves". This would be the same manager paid more than SAF, who hasn't won a trophy for SEVEN years, kept Almunia for 8, still keeps Fumblefingers, kept playing Denilson, gave a new contract to Djorou, said he wouldn't sell our best players then did just that, thought Squillaci was a good player, got rid of Lansbury without giving him a chance and presided over a team who lost a cup final to a team that got relegated. I could go on. None of the above is the fault of Chelsea or the two Manchester clubs and all their money. They are all down to AW. I will never give up my ST but I understand those that do. I make my point by not buyin any merchandise or food etc. If you are ok with just scraping in the top 4 every year good for you. We do not have the right to expect to win trophies. WE DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPECT TO CHALLENGE FOR THEM. That will not happen all the time OGL is in charge. And that is my opinion and I am entitled to it. That is what the Gooner is all about. Opinions. If you just want the club line go and read Pravda (The Official Arsenal website) - Post No. 28453
Adrian 23:21pm 29th Aug 2012
Victor Moses, Adam Johnson or Scott Sinclair? The last thing we need is more English non-technical, thick trash!!!! Did you not watch the Euros??? Or any other major competition??? - Post No. 28454
maguiresbridge gooner 0:07am 30th Aug 2012
Grown up one bad spell ? obviously you haven't been an arsenal supporter for very long so let me fill you in this bad spell you talk about has lasted for eight years i'd hate to hear what you think would be a really bad spell another eight years ? - Post No. 28456
RVP 0:17am 30th Aug 2012
Ambition for Arsenal now is Money!!!! - Post No. 28457
Stroud Green Road Boy 0:25am 30th Aug 2012
A proper fan who sees Kroenke for what he is. Those attacking this article do not suppport the history of AFC but the current incarnation of AFC, which I would like to think will soon pass into history but sadly am afraid is indicative of how things will be from now on. Purple jockey shirts for the away shirt indeed... and that's barely to start. Supporting a profit making model is NOT supporting your club. - Post No. 28458
Highbury Boy 1:00am 30th Aug 2012
Although it was devastating to see RVP follow the path of previous captains/best players in truth it doesn't much bother me to see Song go and perhaps Theo. I have never been big fans of those 2 but what do I know I haven't spent even an afternoon in pro football. However last season the outfield players whose names he put on the team sheet first were those 3. He must have rated them yet didn't put up much of a fight over the past 2 years to extend their contracts or keep them. He seems to have bowed to Stan's philosophy of the P&L Account comes first or at least second after Wenger's £8m pa. Btw last season after failing to score in the first 2 PL games we got hammered at Utd. This week-end could see a defeat at Liverpool but the difference is that by then the transfer window will be shut. - Post No. 28459
Joe S. 1:03am 30th Aug 2012
Jon, having confessed to reading all those books you mentioned puts you in the realm of pretty shady characters. As an aside I watched a Cameroonian named Song play a decent 20 minutes for Barcelona against Real madrid this morning, he looked calm and in control in what was a pressure cooker of a game. He is definitly one for Arsene Wegner to keep an eye out for. Provided with skilled coaching and surrounded by quality players he may have a future at the Emirates. - Post No. 28460
Van de Ed 1:04am 30th Aug 2012
I think we all saw how stressed and anxious Wenger was on the bench during our final game last season as we nicked a champs league spot off of the spuddies by the skin of our teeth. This summer clearly shows the arrogant french man hasn't learnt a thing and is willing to needlessly put our emotions through the wringer once more this season. - Post No. 28461
GaryFootscrayAustralia 2:27am 30th Aug 2012
Apparently, the main problem with the team is that "we lack a little bit the oil in the engine", whatever that means. - Post No. 28462
Cesi and Nasri will not leave 7:32am 30th Aug 2012
@mr_rossi_gooner At least in the championship we wouldnt have to watch prima donna's like Walcott Diaby Rosicky and Gervinho pick up £60k a week.We wouldnt be paying the highest ticket prices in the world.And we would end up winning the same as our club under the management of Wenger and Kroenke - Post No. 28463
Grown Up 8:51am 30th Aug 2012
maguiresbridge gooner - presumably you weren't around in the 60's, 70's or 80's when Arsenal experienced similar barren times? Football wasn't invented in 1998 like most tw*ts on here think. Support is a lifelong thing, success comes and goes, Arsenal have had good times and shocking times. The true fans are the ones that stick with it through everything and show that the supporters are those that will always survive whoever owns/runs/manages the club. It's hardly a surprise that true Gooners get the p!ss ripped out of them wherever they go, they're always surrounded by fickle fairweather numpties looking to jump off a bridge as soon as things get a bit tough. If you think Arsenal really have it tough, try looking at the likes of Liverpool, Villa, Everton and even the Scum up the road - historic English clubs which can't get a look in - no Arsenal aren't winning the bloody Carling Cup, for all that that's worth, but they are competing at the top of the game surrounded by petro-dollar clubs who can do as they please. I for one am proud of my club, what they stand for and will forever be a Gooner. Happy for the glory hunters we picked up in the 90's to go back under their stones. - Post No. 28464
Lord Froth 9:29am 30th Aug 2012
I agree with the first two paragraphs of your article and the part about needing four strikers but then you say that you're not going to go to the games but you'll still have paid for your ticket and added some further expensive lining to Kroenke's pockets. Way to fight the power, man. (Rolls eyes) - Post No. 28465
RJI 9:53am 30th Aug 2012
Reactionary much?? I'm just as p*ssed off at yet another miserable transfer window (especially after losing RVP and Song - and walcott??) but no need write-off the 3 great signings we have actually made after just 2 matches!! - Post No. 28466
SilverGooner 10:15am 30th Aug 2012
Apart from the comments on the 3 new players, I have to agree with The Spy on the general state of affairs. The collapse of the Sahin deal sums it all up. He ends up at Liverpool because we are too tight to pay the going rate for a class player. Shame on us! And to make matters worse, we are still having trouble shifting the overpaid dross - another problem of our own making. And to top it all, it now seems as if Walcott is going to stay without signing a new deal! How come we didn't force this issue a month ago? Sign or be sold. Simple as that. And I doubt many Gooners would be sorry to see him go either. All in all, rank bad management by those running the club. Sadly, nothing will change until Kronke sells up. - Post No. 28467
jjetplane 10:20am 30th Aug 2012
I have gone from season ticket to pubwatch to radio and now that is even difficult as a possible win just makes the real muppets think everything is rosy. After 8 years of evaporating identity even a half decent season will not make things any better. Ha ha - even the spudz are selling off - must be a north london thang! - Post No. 28468
Don 10:50am 30th Aug 2012
Great aricle Steve.If you thought the club couldnt be any more of a laughing stock along comes the Theo fiasco.A player who over 6 years has proved he is no good enough is offered an overly generous £75k contract.And this average player turns it down,yes he turned down nearly £4m a year.So what does the club do get rid of him because he can go for free next summer or keep him?We are talking Arsenal here.A club that sold the best striker in Europe remember to our rivals.Well we are keeping him even though he wants £100k a week and at least two clubs want to sign him.What a way to run a football club.So we let Cesc and RVP truly great players go and keep Theo.Welcome to Arsenal 2012 - Post No. 28469
ApolloGooner 11:37am 30th Aug 2012
Great piece Mr Spy. Agree with every word. Nice to see you back on form after your puzzling Wenger worship last season. I cant believe some of the depressing comments on here though. Support the club they say! Get behind them in the hard times. You are not a real supporter if you dare to be critical or pessimistic. Can these people not see the club are taking the pi$$? Are people really this gullible? I have a message for them. THE PEOPLE AT THE CLUB YOU ARE SO NOBLY STANDING UP FOR OUT OF SOME TWISTED SENSE OF LOYALTY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! The manager doesn’t give a damn either. He shows his contempt for all of us more every year that passes. And I don’t agree that support should unconditional either, that’s more clichéd rubbish people spout when they thinking they are making a good point whilst showing deluding themselves that others will then see them as the real supporters. A mothers love for a baby should be unconditional, supporting your club and team is on the condition that they at least make an effort to achieve what is realistically possible depending on the their status in the game. Its not about winning trophies, its about the club TRYING. Lets see some action! Some ambition. Arsenal are way off this! Anyone who thinks Arsenal are ambitious is an idiot. Also the prices they charge are nowhere near aligned to their ambition to succeed on the pitch. It’s all a blatant rip-off! Do the REAL FANS accept being ripped off by the club? Get behind them? They are giving us nothing to get behind. Anyone who supports this current regime is a mug of the highest degree. I’m a season ticket holder and I feel like the biggest mug going. I hate the people running this club and I cannot stand Wenger. He has made me feel a level of anger and contempt towards Arsenal that I never thought would be possible back in the days when we were a football club. He has divided the support. His style of management has changed a section of our support into something as equally loathsome as he has become. And yet all this and the weak and feeble response from the REAL FANS is to go and support someone else. Pathetic! - Post No. 28470
goonerglos 11:53am 30th Aug 2012
Well said spy superb article, as usual all the jcl idiots spouting about not wanting your sort ie passionate and with a history of support. As for stoph and rossi gooner I will be at anfield sunday I very much doubt yoy will be - Post No. 28471
ApolloGooner 11:59am 30th Aug 2012
One other thing. I wonder how many of the people who say support the team and stop moaning actually give up their own money and time themselves. The time thing is also worth emphasising. With TV schedulers dictating and making late changes, this can be a real burden on the modern day fan who attends matches. I also wonder how many of those who accuse long time fans of being gloryhunters were (and this is the ironic bit) only attracted to Arsenal in the first place because of the glory in those fantastic early Wenger seasons. Im sure those of us who have been going for 20 years and longer have seen worse teams. But we werent paying over a grand to watch multi-millionaires, mangaged by millionaires back then. Big difference! - Post No. 28472
fozzy's mate 12:15pm 30th Aug 2012
Spy you are one of my mate fozzy's heroes. Where's you usual picture? As those who follow these pages know, I agree with most of your points. I won't personally give in to this drifting regime, run by a board lacking ambition and a has been manager that has lost his way, and be driven out. You are obviously not a plastic fan as stated in some of the comments. I am against the sale of any half decent player as all it means is more cash in the pile unspent. It doesn't concern me at all whether the cash at bank figure is 120 or 140 million, whatever the figure it is plenty. We are now an accountancy firm not a football club. Let's face it we are in the 2nd tier and the current ownership place profits over glory. But don't despair nothing lasts forever. - Post No. 28473
Tony Evans 13:34pm 30th Aug 2012
Grown Up - You are wrong when you say it is just the JCLs that are fed up with Wenger. In fact I think it is quite the reverse, with the post 1998 supporters more in favour of him than older Gooners like me. I have supported Arsenal for well over 40 years and I can't stand Wenger's powder puff, crap at defending collection of poseurs that are now so in evidence at our club. It is not the lack of recent success that annoys me so much (as I have said I have supported through much worse times)it is Wenger's over-reliance on and misplaced faith in so many useless players that should never have been bought in the first place, never mind indulged for 7 or 8 years. I don't need to name them as I am sure you know them all as well as I do. Couple this with Wenger's virtual disregard for defending and you hopefully can see why long standing supporters are so fed up with Wenger. - Post No. 28474
Seven Kings Gooner 13:46pm 30th Aug 2012
I stopped going some years ago, after a visit to the Britannia (2-1 defeat) the players were frightned of Stoke that day and I felt ashamed. I prefer to remember the Arsenal of McClintock and Adams. Real men trying to win for the shirt - we are a badly run club whose manager has been in the job too long but has fallen in with the "buy cheap and sell high" philosophy. The fans can make the board change direction but lack any organization to force those changes! - Post No. 28475
maguiresbridge gooner 14:36pm 30th Aug 2012
Grown up i assume you were around in the 60's because i certainly was, through it all good and bad and i'm still here and i always will be i agree football wasn't invented in 98 and arsenal certainly wasn't invented by arsene wenger despite what some twats on here think, and the true fans will still be here when he's gone unlike JCL and fairweather fans and indeed the armchair fans who have probably never been to a match who seem happy that we have won nothing for eight years and counting selling our best players in the process and love the fact we compete for third and fourth place every season and when we do manage to scrape third or fourth celebrate like its some sort of trophy.We are all proud of our club and will always be a gooner unlike the glory hunters that were picked up in the 90's who are most likely chavs now or blue mancs but will probably come crawling back when this bad spell is over. - Post No. 28476
maguiresbridge gooner 14:53pm 30th Aug 2012
@ ApolloGooner post 28472 bloody well said mate. - Post No. 28477
Nick 15:01pm 30th Aug 2012
Im not happy with our transfer policy either havnt been for a few seasons now ,im not happy with Wengers tactics on the pitch either or his maddening habbit of only substituting on the 75 min mark or thereabouts , as if he made up his mind befeore the game who hed bring on and when and wont deviate from it barring injury , i always have hope for silverware but more than ever ive a sinking feeling about this season , if we dont bring in another striker and midfielder it will be criminal, ideally another cenrte back , a full back , and a goalkeeper as well is what we need imo, but i doubt well get it , if we dont get any of these and end up with nothing and dont even get the 4th place "Trophy" then will be the time for the recriminations to start, untill then weve made our bed and will have to lie in it , so COME ON YOU GUNNERS , lets hear some NOISE at the the funeral parlour for a change and get BEHIND the team , whether you still have faith in le boss or not (i havnt by the way) its the TEAM that matters, its THE ARSENAL thats important !!! - Post No. 28478
Simon T 15:40pm 30th Aug 2012
I agree with some of the points made but how can you judge Giroud and Cazorla on 2 games? With regards to Walcott, a wise man who sits next to me said during the Stoke game "is he worth five decent games a season?" and I think that represents the opinion of many gooners. As for "loaning" out your season ticket - that is a brave stand! - Post No. 28479
GoonerGoal! 15:55pm 30th Aug 2012
WOW! If there was ever going to be a single article which was going to elicit responses that would accurately reflect the current chasm of opinion between Arsenal fans it seems this was going to be it. From the 89 responses, 60% were totally positive (AMGs?). 22% were totally negative (AKBs?). 18% were somewhat undecided or disagreed with issues about new players etc. Yep, I think that just about reflects where Arsenal fans are at the moment, and despite our differences, all are real and proper Arsenal supporters! - Post No. 28481
Laddy N 17:23pm 30th Aug 2012
All sounds too true, we were told we were leaving Highbury and building the new ground to enable us to compete with the like of Manure, the reverse is happening, and it would be a lot worse if their club was being run by people other than their own version of our Yank. Some thing is rotten at the club, if it is the board i wish Wenger would man up and try to do something about it - his reputation that he built up so well is in tatters, maybe he is a victim of his own succes, the board saw how well he did for a couple of seasons of next to no investment, ie still qualify for champions league and then adapted this as their get richer plan.I think the three new players will do ok,. but buying three and selling two of our best players is not much of a step forward - do not forget how far we were behind the new club and Moanchester, a club who until a few years ago we beat to the championship, we have fallen back into the clutches of the apuds, who as i write are strenghening their team, and Newcastle, who until a couple of years ago were not even in the premiership, even Everton and Liverpool will be eyeing up 4th place, as they have improved their squads by some way - we need saving, and quickly, we will not challenge for the premiership, we will not challenge for the champions league, and if Wenger believes what he said in the press he needs a straight jacket, BUT I STILL LOVE MY CLUB ! - Post No. 28482
Peter Wain 18:29pm 30th Aug 2012
I cannot believe that we are keeping Walcott without him signing a new contract. I hope this decision doesnt come back to haunt them. - Post No. 28483
loyaltoarsenal 22:52pm 30th Aug 2012
Boring moaning rubbish. Our support is unconditional. Ill have your ticket - Post No. 28484
QuartzGooner 23:58pm 30th Aug 2012
I believe the directors are stashing the equivalent of the amount owed on the stadium. Once this is done, they will either spend on players, or Kroenke will sell up. In the meantime we are playing for fourth place. - Post No. 28485
theham 0:01am 31st Aug 2012
Cant everyone stop moaning and start supporting again - lets give some positives to the players and let them feel some love at the grove! Hell, i know its hard when we havent won anything for 7 soon to be 8 years but were not man ure supporters who live in cornwall and think a season ticket is the subscription to sky sports and only wear our shirts when were winning - Were gooners and loving our club is all we should do ....whatever the result! ..........we're going to kick ass this year, Up the Arsenal. - Post No. 28486
Frank 6:38am 31st Aug 2012
At the end of the transfer window we are in profit and for Kroenke thats all that matters.Its a sad state of affairs when the balance sheet is more important than trophies.But as long as fans turn up at the Soul-less Bowl and dont protest nothing will ever change.Wengers furture will be decide by the fans not Kroenke.As long as fans renew their season tickets like sheep it will be no change - Post No. 28487
Harlow 12:14pm 31st Aug 2012
It doesn't matter who owns Arsenal Football Club, Arsene Wenger will always do exactly what he wants. If there ever comes a time when that's not possible, he will leave, simple as that. The fans who believe that he has somehow been forced to be frugal are part of the problem. Ask Stewart Robson who dictates club policy. - Post No. 28488
DB1979 13:08pm 31st Aug 2012
Good riddance !! The Emirates need to get shot of such negativity !! Whoever is in the team that walks out at the Emirates against Southampton needs everybody behind them !! - Post No. 28489
Ray 14:44pm 31st Aug 2012
And at the next home game the muppets will sing "One Arsene Wenger".They get the team and manager they deserve - Post No. 28490
Charles 15:56pm 31st Aug 2012
dont agree with the players you suggest we should have bought but overall well said. summer profit yeat again... how can we accept this? .... hope all gooners boycott the team if nothing happens by the end of the day. - Post No. 28491
Joe Fitzpatrick 17:10pm 31st Aug 2012
DB1979- the fact that you refer to Arsenal stadium, Ashburton grove or "The Grove" by a sponsors name says it all. The way our club is being run is a joke and if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. - Post No. 28492
maguiresbridge gooner 17:58pm 31st Aug 2012
The reason walcott has been persuaded to stay (temporarily) may be that nobody wanted him but more to do with the fact it wouldn't have looked good for ivan and wenger if another one of our high profile players was flogged or wanted out. - Post No. 28493
Ab 19:18pm 31st Aug 2012
I'm deeply disappointed as I have been for the last seven years of without trophy. I say we relocate back to highbury because in that stadium atleast we were wining trophies. Emirates= bad luck and bad board of directors. For those who keep ranting about arsene wenger and want him get fired, you are delusional. The problem is the f*****g boar, oh lord do they piss me off badly. from this day onwards, I will cancel my GOLD membership and my 2012/2013 season ticket for both home and away to watch arsenal. I have stuck by them for the last 40 years but I can't take it nomore. I don want to just make money for kroenke and his selfish board. arsenal is its dying moment the sooner u face it the better it's for yourself, if like me your really love the club. it suddens me the least to see AFC turned into arsenal money hungry board club. There is no football at arsenal. Rip my beloved club I will always love you with all my heart but we shall depart for the time being untill a better board comes along. Goober forever. - Post No. 28501
Elliot 19:20pm 31st Aug 2012
Thoroughly agree with you. Kroenke's stake was worth £480m in April 2011, it's now worth £690m. It doesn't take a genius to work out what this moron is after. When the accounts are revealed in September showing a nice big profit, his stake will be worth even more. Do the board really think he cares about them or Arsenal? If they do, then they're even bigger clowns than I thought. Get rid of the board, get rid of Kroenke. - Post No. 28502
Dom 19:22pm 31st Aug 2012
26 years I've been a season ticket holder! I sent bk to club and have had enough of the lies and totally sick of in arsene we rust! Pls will fans start to boycott games and start holding up banners for wenger to leave the club! Americans out out out !! Wenger has destroyed our club, we are now no bigger than westham the way we run the club... ****off wenger you stubborn boring prick !! - Post No. 28503
Russ99 1:12am 1st Sep 2012
Spot on. I'm a fan of Walcott, but until Wenger moves him away from the same old tactic, with the same movement and the same lack of options in the box because we have to build up to death, and let the opponent bunker in deep, he won't improve as a player. This is also hampering our ther skilled players as well. I can't get angry with Arsene about transfers or lack thereof, since this is all the board. If it takes Arsene to go to stop the profit pinching, then I can live with it, - Post No. 28533
Rob 9:31am 1st Sep 2012
Looks like the Spy will be joining me - and a lot of us - in the pub' from now on. There's a certain anger there. But it's mainly sadness now. That and the feeling that I was really stupid to believe/hope that we might have made some real improvements in the team this time out. Anyone who thinks they can be Champions is insane. I don't think there's enough for top four. In fact I could see us falling out the top six. Wenger will panic buy in January. But it will be too late by then. The current Owner/Board set-up really stinks frankly. And until something gives there, I really see no hope for us as far as winning anything goes. - Post No. 28542
paul. 21:34pm 1st Sep 2012
if you dont want to go , why did you not hnd your season ticket back to the club? its immoral what you are doing, and wrong ,,, give it to someone who wants to go rather than one of your cronies.... i used to really enjoy your writes in the fanzine... now sir after reading that i will just skip your page, - Post No. 28605
JM - LONDON 1:13am 2nd Sep 2012
'Don't know about you but I've never felt so disillusioned about Arsenal as I do today' - your words SA are shared with absolutely everyone I know who follows the Arsenal, that slag RVP and me included. Lets just hope there's no 8-0 defeats etc in the next few months??, you would think a lesson had finally been learnt after last year?, obviously not. Work commitments mean I'm not actually freely available to get to the Arsenal until the 2 Xmas fixtures, when I will be able to take my 76 year old Dad (first game 1958) to meet with all his old mates in the 'Coronet' and enjoy the Xmas week spirit before the matches. Normally I can mix and match some 10 -12 fixtures around my shifts through out the season when I'm at work in London, but not now, just been let down far too many times in the last 7 years. AVB at spuds was jeered off again today after only a fortnight, believe me the goodwill at Arsenal has (surely) by now gone. - Post No. 28615
11th June 2013
Arsenal can become Bayern Munich
Online Ed: Just give us a couple of years, says Ivan Gazidis at annual q&a
No. 17
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