Now I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of the financial stuff because to be honest, I don’t want to bore you.
Real Madrid have announced some stunning financial figures to the world of football. After borrowing £151mill last summer to sign a whole bunch of marquee players, they have proved the doubters wrong and come back with strong profits despite the economic down turn and despite them failing to win a trophy.
Their gross revenue has increased by 8.6% to £363million (versus our £223mill), they reduced their net debt by £70million to £201million (versus our £203million) and they delivered pre tax profits of £25million (versus our £40mill).
Now, you might not think those figures are too far off ours. Well, Madrid have done this off the back of spending nearly £200million on players, plus spending another £90million this summer.
You can get all preachy about the vulgarity of what they’ve done, or you can think about it and say, isn’t that a fantastic achievement? Isn’t that the way a football club should be run?
I know it’s highly unfashionable to say such things. Many Arsenal fans on my twitter account were cooing over the potential collapse of Liverpool, saying things like,
‘Give me 4th place in the league and financial security any day of the week!’
Well, I like the idea of financial security as well, but at the same time, I’d like to think we’d never be run by a couple of chancers like Gillett and Hicks. Liverpool aren’t in debt because of player spending, nor are Manchester United. They are in debt becuase their owners couldn’t afford to buy them in the first place.
Madrid are being run by a man who has made serious amounts of money and a man who love his football. He puts the football first. After all, if he was looking for big returns, he’d probably be better off playing the stock markets. His vision is always to create the best teams for the Madrid fans. He knows with great teams come great revenues. So he went out, he bought the best on the market, he brought in a coach he thought could deliver in a season and he maximised commercial revenue streams all over the world.
Ok, they didn’t win everything like he’d hoped, but they came within a whisker of over turning Barcelona and they will no doubt be in contention again this year.
So my point about this whole Madrid circus is that whilst I’m not encouraging Arsenal to go out and do the same, I am asking them to look at what the Spaniards have done and take some notes. Spending money does not always equate to a Portsmouth / Leeds collapse.
Big players bring in a new generation of fans, they shift shirts, TV deals and improve the money sponsors are willing to pay you. They also encourage businesses to sign up for corporate boxes, they ensure the ground is always filled and in general, if managed correctly, they ensure you’ll be competing.
Arsenal sacrificed a season because we didn’t want to pay £4million for Mark Schwarzer in June. I’ve had countless Arsenal fans tell me he wasn’t worth the money. What sort of attitude is that to take? Since when did our fans start counting the pennies like that? They’d rather go a season with a keeper we know isn’t good enough than spend an extra £2million on solving the problem for 3 years?
We’ve been programmed to be prudent with our dreams. When we moved into the stadium it was so we could compete with Manchester United and the biggest clubs in Europe. People say Chelsea changed that… well, again, I disagree, have we come anywhere near matching United’s spending power pre-Abramovich? Not at all… we’ve moved over to the Emirates and we’re risking a season on £2million.
Does that smack of a club who want to be the biggest in the world?
Arsenal need to stop thinking about breaking pretax profit records and remember what a football club is all about at this level. If you sign the right players, all the commercial stuff will follow. Football is about signing the best players, taking a few risks and competing for as many trophies as possible. Under Arsene Wenger, I feel we’ve lost our way over the last few years and the coach, for some reason, has become addicted to the transfer surplus.
People talk about Arsenal class all the time. I don’t see what’s classy about our policy. We charge fans outrageous sums of money, we brag about the amazing profits we make off the back of that, then we don’t reinvest that money back into the squad. We talk about financial prudence and how we do things the right way, then we go around Europe exploiting loop holes and steal clubs young players before they get the chance to make any decent money out of their investment.
Where is the class in that?
Arsene, Gazidis and the board should start thinking about how they can improve the squad this season instead of looking at the next money making caper that comes at the expense of the fans. We’ve taken a huge risk again this season by buying up expensive tickets few of them could afford… I think the club should have matched that investment by signing a Pepe Reina type goalkeeper. It’s time for the board to give the fans something back, time to show us the point of moving stadium, time to act like a big club and announce our intentions on the world stage.
Madrid have proved that spending money can work commercially… though I wouldn’t expect us to match their spending or the risks they took, I do think there could be a middle ground where we at least spend the money we generate on something other than giving young players pay rises based on performances they haven’t given yet.
Come on Arsenal, loosen those purse strings!
exactly DAvid. I dont care for Arsenalization. We should make history with trophies not a stupid fukking clock from highbury days. MAn I miss these days
!!!
Pedro, re: Bayern, And I assume they aren’t in Liverpool like debt…are they? That is what Wenger seems to use as his measurement..whereas Stan could buy up the remaining shares and set us back with debt..all the saving money and buying dirt cheap players and ever progressing youth would have been for nothing.
Pedro great minds eh
GK, DM and FB of top top quality
im also not too sure about Kos though
Nigeria’s economy grew by 10% this year… very impressive.
no Franchise. A striker would also coming in, imo. Of course only if he would be in charge!! RVP never ever staying a complete whole season. Sad but true!!
Franchise, I don’t think he looks anywhere near ready to take on Drogba or anyone that big really!
Strange buy really…. hopefully Squiggy will be better.
Dale, German clubs aren’t allowed to be in Liverpool like debt.
I’d have Al as no. 2 and a proper partner/competitor for Song. Diaby to not be an automatic first teamer.
But this brings me to the problem of Ramsey and JW.
Thank god we’ve got a game tomorrow
true Pedro. he has to be an intellectual player for him to have come on Wenger’s radar. Cos in terms of body size he doesnt look the part
In many ways Wenger is the best and worst thing Arsenal.
No one, AND I MEAN NO ONE, can find and spot talent like Wenger can. If he spot Pato and Messi as youngsters you can bet they wopuld have been Arsenal players, unfortunately their talent was obvious to their owners from early on.
Additionally, he is very good with money, though he is too much of an economist now.
If he just relented and just conceded that his pet project of youth w/out significant experienced additions is doomed to failure we would be better off.
Mayank… couldn’t disagree with you about Diaby.
Pedro you are wrong about Bayern, I have lived on British Army base in Germany for past 5 years and follow Bundesliga more than you do.Good points in your blog but in my 42 years and 32 years of support Arsenal. It is fustrating now but this is the best times believe me.Goonertalk and A have some valid points I must say.
2006/2007
1 VfB Stuttgart 34 21 7 6 61 37 12 3 2 30 13 9 4 4 31 24 +24 70
2 Schalke 04 34 21 5 8 53 32 13 2 2 30 11 8 3 6 23 21 +21 68
3 Werder Bremen 34 20 6 8 76 40 11 1 5 33 18 9 5 3 43 22 +36 66
4 Bayern Munich 34 18 6 10 55 40 11 4 2 29 14 7 2 8 26 26 +15 60
5 Bayer Leverkusen 34 15 6 13 54 49 8 3 6 28 23 7 3 7 26 26 +5 51
6 Nuremberg 34 11 15 8 43 32 8 7 2 26 16 3 8 6 17 16 +11 48
7 SV Hamburg 34 10 15 9 43 37 4 9 4 22 19 6 6 5 21 18 +6 45
8 VfL Bochum 34 13 6 15 49 50 7 1 9 23 30 6 5 6 26 20 -1 45
9 Borussia Dortmund 34 12 8 14 41 43 6 6 5 19 17 6 2 9 22 26 -2 44
10 Hertha BSC Berlin 34 12 8 14 50 55 8 3 6 29 25 4 5 8 21 30 -5 44
11 Hannover 96 34 12 8 14 41 50 5 6 6 23 24 7 2 8 18 26 -9 44
12 Arminia Bielefeld 34 11 9 14 47 49 8 4 5 29 24 3 5 9 18 25 -2 42
13 Energie Cottbus 34 11 8 15 38 49 6 5 6 21 22 5 3 9 17 27 -11 41
14 Eintracht Frankfurt 34 9 13 12 46 58 5 5 7 21 30 4 8 5 25 28 -12 40
15 VfL Wolfsburg 34 8 13 13 37 45 6 6 5 22 22 2 7 8 15 23 -8 37
16 Mainz 34 8 10 16 34 57 6 4 7 20 28 2 6 9 14 29 -23 34
17 Alemania Aachen 34 9 7 18 46 70 5 4 8 28 37 4 3 10 18 33 -24 34
18 Borussia Monch’bach 34 6 8 20 23 44
2008/2009
1 VfL Wolfsburg 34 21 6 7 80 41 16 1 0 51 13 5 5 7 29 28 +39 69
2 Bayern Munich 34 20 7 7 71 42 12 2 3 45 23 8 5 4 26 19 +29 67
3 VfB Stuttgart 34 19 7 8 63 43 12 3 2 34 14 7 4 6 29 29 +20 64
4 Hertha BSC Berlin 34 19 6 9 48 41 12 3 2 29 14 7 3 7 19 27 +7 63
5 SV Hamburg 34 19 4 11 49 47 13 2
Fran, I think he can become the ideal partner to Verm.
I know he’s not tall, but Verm always attacks the ball while Kos looks like he can be deadly efficient.
Nice Combo. Yin Yang and all that.
Kos apparently didn’t lose a tackle in the league last year and has a perfect record in the 2 matches he’s played thus far.
“….the coach, for some reason, has become addicted to the transfer surplus.”
Read the post just now, Good afternoon everybody, and that line is one of the best summaries of AW’s last 4 or so years.
EBOUE = Superman Squared
I’m betting on the Arse game this weekend but I have to bet on 2 other games from ANY sport. I need sure bets from this week cuz I’m not in the habit of throwing away money.
1.So its an Arsenal win.
2.Federer or Nadal
3.?
Geez.. Didn’t realise that Verm also picked up an injury.
International Footie needs to be banned!
Pedro, cynically, They have Nigeria, Brazil, China, India and Russia increasing their economy while the US, UK and current big economies are expected to dwindle…I just can’t see how Nigeria is expected to make massive increaments
Zeus like I said, he’s come too far with the project to abandon it.
It’s seems a bit weak, but it has a massive payoff if we pull it off.
Mayank,
I think you missed the BB game!
Also Zeus if you don’t like to throw away money don’t bet
Id say Kos was very much at fault for the blackburn goal.
But he has impressed me.
He is very lightweight though…160 pounds for a grown man over 6ft is a disgrace.
I meant the league Franchise.The spuds and leicester have won the CC who remembers that.
yeah GT and who won bundesliga in 09/10?
The problem here is the UEFA needs to standardize the leagues and put them all on salary caps and transfer caps, it’ll make it all the more interesting. TV revenue sharing, like the NFL, teams aren’t allowed to go bust and all teams have a marquee player
Zeus how about
3, Chamakh to pick up a knock on Saturday
Choy he didn’t tackle, that was his mistake.
Verm Loves a tackle but he’s not very clean going into them.
I think Kos was brought in to balance that.
Verm and Gallas were both last ditch tackle specialists, Kos on the other hand seems positionally more disciplined.
How many times were we outnumbered at the back last year?
Hope it’s not repeated this year.
Mayank,
Out of the first team;
Almunia
Clichy
Koscielny
Diaby
Out of the squad altogether;
Almunia
Fabianski
Traore
Denilson
ok now it is fact. WEnger has no clue about GK!!!!!
“I believe that when you play for Arsenal – and you just said to me you would be ready to walk on your knees to play for Arsenal – I can’t feel too sorry for the players who play for Arsenal.
“I believe you have to deal with competition. That’s part of our job. And he (Almunia) has done extremely well.
“I give a lot of credit to Almunia and (Lukasz) Fabianski, during all this period they have coped very well with the pressure and the uncertainty and now they should deal even better with the situation because they know they will play.”
Fukk you Wenger!!! How can he praise these 2 clowns? Just say nothing which would be better for everyone.
goonertalk, I remember the Spuds as CC winners, i have to, I’m reminded everyday that we won shit the last 5 years, even Mourinho is taking digs at us, years removed as Chavs coach..so I’d take a CC win from Lord Wenger, thank you..if only he can stop being an Ass!
Traore’s gone Gambon
Funny how America, ruthlessly capitalistic, has a socialistic approach to sports and Europe has a free market approach.
Denilson out of the squad, c’mon man…
Also Al would be a good no.2 …
A4E, It’s official you know nothing about coaching.
Wenger fucked up by not buying a replacement. Praising them will increase their confidence and increase our chances.
Don’t know about him not losing a tackle, if he never made one.
I prefer clean sheets!
Having said that, there is potential and I am grateful that we have him instead of Silvest!
Defoe out for 3 months!
of course Mayank. Therefore I said he should publicy shut up. He can tell them in private. I dont want to hear it at all!! He just cant admit he failed with his targets again!!!
Cos youre a full trained uefa coach mayank?
Bayern of course.My point is every team goes through a bad patch.My experience as a 50 year old has told me as much.Things are not as clear cut my friend.the same way Japan was in recession for years but still remain the 2nd largest economy and our politicians tell us we should all take a pay cut whilst the select few like them and the bankers keep a good wad.the same way I would rather drive a second hand german car than a brand new vauxhall.
well the reason for our bad patch is clear for all that are willing to see
goonertalk
What Arsene is doing is driving a shitty old vauxhall with £130m in the boot and refusing to buy a better car, or even get a new gearbox.
Right, the mean streets of London are calling for me drink Grey Goose.
Laters guys, look forward to the game tomorrow.
mAYANK
Thats why I only bet on ‘sure’ things hehe. The cunts locked betting on the US Open, when we all knew Federer and Nadal are likley to go to the final and one is sure to win even if one dont make it to the final.
Arseholes.
Matt
You are correct I don’t know who else could have taken us through the transition. Wenger has done but there is always more than one man for any job. What we should praise him for is once again setting a precedent and providing a role model for others to aspire to. He instigated this transition and had the foresight and vision to see where the premier league was heading. If he had not we arguably would be in the same slightly dubious financial situation as Man U and Liverpool. Yes we have debt but that was as a result of bettering ourselves not because new owners had to heavily finance the clubs acquisition. So in response no I definitely do not think Wenger was the only person capable but to date he is the only person to have created anything like what we now have.
As for your second point every Arsenal fan can appreciate Wenger’s past achievements but not everyone yet sees our potential for the long term future. As I said before, every transition, be it sport, business or even personal requires some sacrifices. If ours is that we have had 5 years of nearly but not quite that really isn’t that bad is it. Admittedly that is provided that their is an end product, which most will say we are nearing. If heaven forbid this model isn’t successful then we have to at least be grateful we support a club willing to brave something new other than spend spend spend and then start with something and someone fresh. Though I think to say it is blind ignorance to follow for 5 years to build all we have is a bit premature.
A4E, He’s making the best of a bad situation, albeit a self created one. It’s better for the fans if they keep their confidence up.
Gambon, glad to see you stand up in defence of someone.
No I’m not, but I know praising them will be better than staying shut which is better than castigating them.
Gambon,
Cheers!
I’ll be there tomorrow.
PriceyGunner
Some good points in that, but if the last 5 years has proven anything its that the model needs ‘fine tuning.’
A few top quality signings in key positions would make the whole thing run smoother rather than having a perennial teething period with new youngsters every 2 years after a senior player leaves after getting dissillusioned.
Since no-ones around I’ll post lyrics of a song that fit our trip to Stamford
though enjoy reading le grove, i have yet to praise geoff/ pedro on a specific article… today, i must say the article is spot on, well articulated…
arsenal execs incl wenger must take note, and stop acting like purists pursuing quasi-philosophical ideals only understood by them alone… the real world – even a footballing one – does not operate like this!
‘give and take’…ivan! arsenal have been enriched through its fan base…be that its brand value, prestige, or share price; however, there seems little going the other way…back to fans and supporters… and most would not count the arsenalisation stuff tangible…we don’t want a stupid, fancy american style restaurant/ sport bar setup.. should have added the budget to the ‘schwarzer fund’ so one day we could afford him, perhaps when he’s 42 years old!
i always feel that the BoD have been BS all the way last few years… ivan too btw… when they repeatedly said there have been no dividends blah, blah, blah so they haven’t taken money/ profits… but should they need to be reminded of the mega gain they have from their shares? If not the enrichment of arsenal by its fans base, as well as the emirates/ tv/ etc incomes, would it be 10K a share? so they already gained a lot, and when’s our turn??
I don’t think tommoz match will be straight forward. We’d win but it’ll be close. 2-1/3-2 to the home side. Now go forth and impoverish the bookies!
Anyone going to the Rocket tomorrow; I’d heard there was gonna be a fight.
Can Everton sneak a point from Manyoo?
Chozzer.. you never know.. Everton are pretty wank at the moment.
But they might!
Zeus
I would agree with that, fine tuning is needed and that may unfortunately be Wenger’s downfall.
One of my main gripes has been letting go of seasoned players too soon. Yes it speeds up the youngsters development but as you said leaves us with a teething period. My hope is that now we have these youngsters munching on solids we keep them as a unit not allowing players that have come through this process to move on to ‘pastures greener’ (though they should learn their lesson as very few leave Arsenal for the better). We dug our heels in with Fabregas and this needs to be repeated with as much resolve each year then this idea that some players have of learning the trade (well actually in Arsenal’s case mastering the trade) then moving on will soon be lost. That needs to be the Arsenal way, the Arsenal mentality and then transfers really won’t be as greater a concern for everyone.
2 years ago, almost all had faith that after some key players left, Wenger would replace them, goonertalk, when you loose your tire, it’s better you replace it with a new one, when you loose your gear bearings, it’s better you get a newer gear box, what Wenger is doing is , patching up parts that need to be in newer shape. An this talk was accepted 3 years ago, this year the man confessed that we could rival Chelsea in signings, and yet he did not rival them at all. Chelsea had one major signing, Ramires, and he cost 18m, our net spending is not even half that, good business, but we are still unsure Almunia will not fall apart, and we are not sure if our defense is better, why? cause we did it on the cheap, we patched it up as usual, it’s becoming insanity what Wenger is doing, he is obsessed with Financial quality, versus Sporting quality. Does it not frustrate Wenger that his better players are getting fed up and will always leave? Fabregas, Arshavin and soon enough the players that become too big for Wenger’s never ending project.
any new injuries today?
fuck i was joking but there is a new injury, vermalaen.
i will wait with baited breath to find out he is out for 4 – 6 weeks somethime before the braga game
Lets just hope that Squillacci and Kozzer don’t endure a baptism of fire v Bolton. Thats all I can say.
why’s my post still in moderation?
we should batter bolton, at home we are formidable.
im not worried at all.
i hope cesc is up for it.
Mayank
Leonard Cohen is very fitting
————Ronaldino—————
Pato————————-Robinho
————Ibrahimovic————-
Now that is a strike force Milan has got there!
**************ALMUNIA*********************
SAGNA***********SQUILL****VERMINATOR*******CLICHY****
***************DIABY*******SONG*****************
********************CESC*************************
EBOUE**************CHAMAKH*************ARSHAVIN****
For me Milan are now favourites for the Scudetto.
Rafa could fuck up HEAVEN if given half the chance.
He will be the ruin of INTER.
Vermy is out Zeus
I used to like the guy called Rafael Van Der Vaart, now he’s just a Fan that fart since moving to the cocks, and he says they can beat Arsenal over the season..lol
WOW, TAILOR MADE FOR Squillaci, he can get his debut alongside Kos, …lets see if the new boys are up to it. Chamakh, Koscielny and Squillaci, the stage is yours…
It looks like Vela might get the knod ahead of Eboue to start. hopefully…
we will defeat bolton 2moro
Chris Baxter, people have been disagreeing with me all day… perhaps it was your tone I didn’t like.
I take the time out to write these post, you can show some respect in your response.
Barmy Army, not sure which part about Bayern I got wrong?
Koscielny out of the starters ?!
I think he did as well as Vermaelen !
And it’s Diaby’s year… have you watched his match with France ?!
gm
Yeah. KOZZER for Vermy.
Every year is ‘Diaby’s year.’
Just throw it in the bag!
I don’t see any one in that lineup willing to do the defending DaleDaGooner.
The Milan attack I mean
choy
Boateng and Flamini/that legendary Italian guy that I can’t remember at present will be the water carrier.
choy, that is there attack, I’m sure they will ad Thiago and co as the back 4, then a defensive midfielder, Boateng, Flamini, Gatuso, Ambrosini not to forget Pirlo…I am not saying they will use all 4 at once, but they hinted there will be games all 4 will line up. Still very interesting forward line.
Thought it was joke Friday..? So, here’s one for U****d..
There was an Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman, Pakistani and Indian. They all lived happily together in their respective communities, Working for a better Britain. Fuck, I hope I got my grammar right.
Imagine if we had that to line up, with Inzaghi & Seedorf waiting….
It’s still doom day, AK…still not loving the spuds…It’s the AFC..
That is some forwrd line it must be said. They should lack goals and Ibracadabra will be big in Italy as always, he will be shit in the CL though.
Pep was a muppet for getting rid of him. I thought they got him because they wanted something different when the tiki taka doesn’t work.
When they inevitably face Inter or Chelsea in Europe Messi, Villa and co won’t find it easy and what then?
“I believe we have all been 20 years old,” said Wenger. “None of us were angels at 20.
Can anyone imagine Arsene at 20, chasing all the birds in skirt…LOL..He’d be too stingy to buy them a dinner.
Wayne and Coleen Rooney have issued a joint statement for the media to respect their privacy following the ‘painful’ accusations of infidelity.
Allegations emerged in the British press last weekend about the Manchester United striker’s private life. Both the front and back pages have been dominated by the story since, with photographers and journalists massed outside their homes.
In attempt to alleviate the pressure, the Rooney’s have joined together to request a halt to the hounding.
“[The] last six days have been extremely painful for us and for our families,” the couple were quoted as stating by Sky News.
They added: “It is impossible for us, as it would be for any family, to attempt to resolve any issues in the current media glare and against the backdrop of so many inaccurate and intrusive stories.
“We would therefore ask that the media now respects our privacy and the right of our family to discuss these matters in private.”
@ Pedro, R.Mad don’t share their revenue equally with every member of their league plus accounts issued by R.Mad isnt audited accounts as we have seen the difference between the 2 with Barcelona’s accounts audited when new president started in office BUT i agree some parts of you comments especially paying £4m for MS bcuz any injury to Alm then Flapiansky is 2nd choice.
Nah Dale, Wenger probably didnt have his economic degree at 20 so didnt know how much money he could save being a cheap bastard.
Who needs money anyway, with these golden locks the girls would have been throwing themselves at him
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/wenger-hercules.png
There’s a rumour that the Everton supporters are going to sing ‘No Woman No Kai’ at poor Wayne tomorrow.
How you throw 64+ million away is beyond belief, They got him to change the game from their normal tap around if need be, then after 1 season they chuck it all. I guess they realized they shouldn’t have moved Eto’o on.
Dale, how you’d sanction £64mill in the first place is beyond me.
I’d have paid £30mill max… he’s a top player, but not in that bracket.
chozzer says:
September 10, 2010 at 19:26
There’s a rumour that the Everton supporters are going to sing ‘No Woman No Kai’ at poor Wayne tomorrow.
—
Lol thats a good line, witty footy are always creative
You do get some real tards on the internet don’t you?
chozzer says:
September 10, 2010 at 19:26
There’s a rumour that the Everton supporters are going to sing ‘No Woman No Kai’ at poor Wayne tomorrow.
—
Lol thats a good line, witty footy fans are always creative
Great post, Pedro
Supergunner, the post wasn’t meant in the literal sense (as some alluded to)… I know there are differences in set up… but we could still learn a few lessons off them in the commercial sense and the way they go about their business with players.
There is a this mindset amongst gooners that spending money is wrong.
It isn’t and we should invest in the team where it needs investing. Sometimes you have to pay a higher price, but if it’s not going to bankrupt you and it could help you secure a trophy… that’s what you should do.
Cheers Luke! I’m off out… have a good one people!
Pedro, ofcourse if Arsene sanctioned £64mill on one player, we’d slap him around….
To think Ibrahimovic was a signed Gunner, before Arsene demanded he dance for him…
OK, my comment is awaitng moderation, I’ll rephrase, Of course if Arsene sanctioned £64mill on one player, we’d put hand to his face…LOL
Yeah Dale, he’d have been superb for us… a real class act.
I reckon he’d have only stayed with us for a few years though… he’s very arrogant!
forget 64mil for one player, we’d all have a heart attack if he sanctioned 21mil for 3 players in one window…
heck, at this point we’d all have a heart attack and he’d get called crazy by the “Finance First Brigade” for breaking the bank and putting us into insolvency for sanctioning 1 player for 20mil.
Unless, of course, it was a 16 year old wonderkid who we could sell on for a profit later.
@ Pedro, with cheap long term contract that we entered for sponsor to guarantee against repaying our debts about to run out, we will see what Gaz and the new CCO Tom Ford are made off commercially. We aren’t far off winning trophies so areas that make a real difference should be strengthen, we tried catch and mouse with Fulham and it backfired.
Yep, Pedro, no missing there, he’d been gone a long time ago for LE MASSIVE PROFITE! A la Le Sulk…now tell me how good my French is!
BilliKen, re: we’d all have a heart attack if he sanctioned 21mil for 3 players in one window…
that’s if the usual “mass sell to balance the books”, i reckon.
Can you imagine?? Our record signing, Arshavin at 15/16 million?
chozzer
hahahahahahaha. Excellent use of a Bob Marley song.
Is the game at 3pm London time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xyOpETYYs&feature=player_embedded
Yep it is at 3
Sabeel
Clip funny as hell.
No woman no Kai
No woman no Kai………
http://twitter.com/cesc4official
Just found out Cesc has an official twitter account.
How yay!
How can you be sure its definitely genuine Zeus?
Interesting post again -
But surely the differences with Madrid are too much to compare, really?
For me Real are a last remaining outpost of financial craziness that can’t be a model for anyone?
When Peres came in and said he’d haed a cerdit line of 900m euros sactioned I just fell off my chair and thought how has he done that/ are Spanish banks so stupid?
Just cos a lot of people in Spain think Real are untouchable doesn’t mean other clubs should try and copy them. At least Man City have the cash and Chelsea did when they were spending it (which they haven’t really been for 2-3 years now).
I agree that the GK thing was a cock up of the highest order and everybody involved should have realised that Given and Schwarzer could easily both go wrong and if you really believe we offered £25m or something for Reina (I still don’t, partly because I don’t think Lpool are in any position to turn that type of money down) then it’s hard to understand how somewhere below that we couldn’t find someone a lot better than Manuel but all the same I can’t see too many parallels with RM.
PS injury list needs updating
Stu Its him. He tweeted a pic of himself on the Boca Juniors pitch.
Milan better than Barcelona, claims Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic swapped the Nou Camp for the San Siro in a €24 million deal after falling out with manager Pep Guardiola and slipping down the pecking order.
Milan president Silvio Berlusconi swooped to rescue the Swedish international from life on the Barcelona bench and Ibrahimovic claims he just couldn’t resist a call from the Rossoneri.
“No player can say no to Milan. There’s nothing much to think about, you just say yes and thank the club,” Ibrahimovic said. “I think Milan are greater than Barcelona if you look at the history. I don’t know what the problem was at Barcelona, but Berlusconi convinced me to come here.
“I spoke to him twice and he said many important things. It convinced me. I was already ready, before the clubs agreed. Galliani then came to Barcelona and he said to me ‘I won’t go back to Milan without you’.”
The former Inter player will be sure to be given a hot reception in the Derby della Madonnina but Ibrahimovic is particularly looking forward to that game and writing a new chapter in his career.
“I can’t wait to play against Inter. I had a great time at Barcelona and Inter, but Inter are the opposition and I cannot wait for the derby. This year’s Serie A is between two clubs… Milan and Inter, but we will finish first and they will finish second.
“Now I am a Milan player. I don’t care what Inter have been saying. Milan is my future. We are complete now and have a great mentality. We are favourites to win the Scudetto now. I won at Inter, but now I am here to win. I hope I can do better here compared to what I did at Juventus and Inter. We will make sure the fans enjoy the season.”
*************************
Pffffft. 12 months ago Barca ‘made him dream’ though.
Big brother favourite of all time? who’s yours
Big brother is shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No its not!
Well actually, it is!
Madrid are run by crooks and the entire La Liga is lop-sided.
The fact that both Barca and Madrid earn well over ten times more than their next nearest competitor in terms of just TV revenue says it all. Without a collective TV agreement they are swimming in money while the other clubs are scraping by. If we didn;’t have to share our TV money with Wolves, Stoke etc we’d be rolling in cash too but we do and it levels the playing field a bit – it’s good practice financially and competitively.
Spain as a cuontry are in massive debt and both Barca and Madrid play a role. They’re not the only reason but their board of directors are “conveniently” also high power execs and spanish powerhouse politicos. Yuo think all of that money they borowed to pay for CRonaldo, Ibrahimovic, Kaka et al are going to be re-paid? Think again. Their “friends” simply either write it off or postpone payment over and over again. Until the IMF comes in and audits them into the dust Barca and Madrid can borrow at their will with little to nothing at risk.
We cando that too but I can guarantee you the Barclays bank would be kicking our door down. This post is grossly misinformed and doesn’t highlight the seedy underbelly of Spanish football.
I fuckin luv it but not as much as i luv arsenal
BB sucks donkey’s balls
evening, y’all…
good one, Pedders, this is what I’ve been saying all along – money makes money and the Arse board are just penny wise pound foolish…
high profile signing(s) unveiled during the Emirates Cup would bring a lot of revenue in shirt sales, not to mention that it also costs to have the player’s name printed – as they say, every million consists of pennies, you just have to allow them to move…
WTF happened Vermy? Wen will he be back
I LOVE LE GROVE
Maddo, interesting you can’t pin point what you disagree with?
Weak…
If we didn’t have to share our TV revenue with the rest of the league we could buy the barn too. The fact that Barca and Madrid make damn near five times more from TV revenue than their next competitor leaves La Liga as a lop-sided league. The EPL has at least tried to level the financial playing field by evenly splitting the TV revenue money, otherwise Wolves and West Brom etc couldn’t even afford a pack of chewing gum. La Liga has a terrible financial model that perpetuates it as a 2 club league.
Additionally, Spain as a nation are in massive debt and that’s all thanks to the poor money management of the higher ups. Yes the same ones who are on the board of directors for both Medrid and Barca. Using their corporate and political ties they can loan money to both clubs at their will and just write off the debt or continuously postpone payments over and over again. They’re a bunch of crooks but most people seem to either forget that or simply do not know of the seedy underbelly of Spanish football.
If you want, Wenger can go borrow hundreds of millions from Bank of Scotland or Barclays and plummet the club into debt to buy players. However I don’t think the creditors are as nice as they are in Spain.
maddo, please define ‘progressive’?
Well said Maddo, totally agree.
WC, not sure where I said we should do that in the article… think you should read it properly.
WC,
we are all Gooners here, but without success there will be much less of our kind in the next generations – there always will be a bully with a wad of cash and the new regulations will be just a law for the poor, just as in the real life…
and oh, our debt is totally manageable and on low interest, hence we are more than in the position to sign the elusive pieces of the world class puzzle, no?
………..
so what bollocks have i missed today?????????
scroll up…
Dan, mainly people mis-reading the article.
some injuries dan
lots and lots of injuries
good smashing of bolton tomorrow should help!
also i read in the standard defoe will miss all of spuds group games due to injury
so he wont ever play in the champions.
haha
ok cheers for the feedback,nothing new then
we really should have more than enough in the locker to beat this lot at home – Coyle cured them from fatsamitis and they tend to play football and this should play into our hands…
————–Al—————–
Bac—-Koz—–Squillaci—-Clichy
————–Song—————-
——-Cesc———-Rosicky——
–Eboue——Chamakh——AA——
LJW for Cesc, Vela for AA and Nasri for Rosicky with score where we want it…
Defoe will be seriouly mist! believe me
did wenger talk about why he failed to sign a keeper today??????
SUGA3
sometimes one should not be so sure1
KWIKFIT,
well, I know, but if we can’t beat Bolton at home, injuries or not, then we are in trouble…
it’s not complacency, not by a long shot, I just want it
theres not even a chance we wont win tomorrow
4-1 is probably a good bet
Incesc, I’m with you mate… I can’t see anything other than a trouncing!
On that note, I’m off to bed… have an exceptional evening people!
Guys do not get chunky!
People are so quick to “mis-read the article” but slow to understand…IT WON’T COST US AN ARM AND LEG TO SIGN QUALITY PLAYERS TO WIN FFS! It would actually be beneficial to bottom line! Gosh, people are so far up Arsene’s stubborn arse.
On that note, I’m off, lets enjoy tomorrow, we should take that game…THROW 3 POINTS INTHE BAG!
Incesc you beliive that i am an arsenal fan” he mate talk to yo later1
lets talk to real people for fuck sake!
An Irish man wins big brother I did not see that coming!