The collapse of the Super League on day two marks one of the most spectacular fails in business history.
Owners and their exec leaders spent the pandemic scheming ways to make the most of a bad situation. As I wrote yesterday, they thought they had every base covered. They believed ‘big club energy’ would make the rest of the football world bend to their will. They hoped they could ride this out with the fans.
It did not happen.
Some thought on the tipping points.
Early morning, The AST said that Boris Johnson was not only horrified, he was actively seeking to stop the Super League from happening. Politically, as the top boy, he has a lot of power. He could have interfered with taxes, messed with player temp visas, and most importantly… toy with the residences of billionaires taking up camp in England. If Boris can sniff out political opportunity with his base, you are in trouble. He is the world’s number 1 when it comes to breaking up European alliances. It’ll take a few days to find out what tipped the scales, but I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that the political system turned some screws. I also wonder how the JP Morgan piece played into this. Did someone in the government tell the bank that this was a no-go? That Boris would drag it out and make it deeply unpopular? Watch this space.
Bayern Munich said no, with Germany politely saying fuck off to the proposal. That was followed by the news that PSG wouldn’t play ball. There are rumours they were the inside man on this deal, back-channelling to UEFA where their owner is a big deal. Regardless, how can you have a Super League without those two teams?
The third and most important impact was the wall to wall vitriol spewed in the papers, social media and the sports channels. No one had a good thing to say about the Super League. Everyone hated it. It spoke to greed, it was the antithesis of what makes European sport popular, and it shone a bright light on the characters of those engaging in this act of treachery.
Chelsea bailed first. Then City. Then Spurs, United, and Arsenal. Now there is no Super League.
Ed Woodward was the first big name to resign. He’s out at United. That is huge. He burnt all his capital with the fans and his position was untenable. There are rumours doing the rounds that the Glazers are looking to sell because football doesn’t have a high enough profit ceiling and they want out.
I wrote yesterday what people inside the game were thinking about the possible threats to their ghastly vision. A few gave me pelters suggesting the post was wrong. Not sure how people came to that conclusion. The plan was built to deliver the Super League, the 12 clubs thought they had safety from all the counter-punches. Some of those execs spent yesterday trying to sell those counter-points I wrote about.
Ivan Gazidis on why it works for the little guys.
“The Super League will provide value and support to the whole football pyramid with greater financial resources.”
Florentino Perez on the lack of power to control the big 12.
‘They won’t throw Madrid out of the Champions League, for sure,” Perez said. “Not Madrid or [Manchester] City or anyone. I’m completely sure. Or La Liga either.’
Perez on ‘content’ and the new style of fan.
‘Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to the wishes of the fans.’
Barca on how they could convince the governments the influx of money would improve infrastructure (grassroots support).
‘Those clubs in power will share €3.5billion “solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the covid pandemic’
What ended up unravelling this buttoned-up plan?
EVERYTHING.
Government intervention.
The fans.
The pundits.
The sponsors.
The players.
The explayers.
The staff.
The papers.
You can’t even call this misreading the room, because I don’t believe these execs thought this was ever going to be a popular plan. They just shit their pants. Chelsea fans literally rocked their bus and it all came crumbling down.
It was a dastardly plan, enacted by folks disconnected from fan culture, who messed their pants after TWO DAYS.
I think football fans are shocked at how easy it was to win. Fan FC, gegenpressing masters, tried to win the game inside the first 10 minutes and scored 7 goals. It was over before there was an official hashtag or a banner to fly over the stadium. We were at the mean tweets phase. I thought this would go on for weeks. I thought the billionaires would plough through like they do with every other change they bring to the game.
They bottled it.
Now what for Arsenal?
Vinai is the face of this move though not the decision-maker. Regardless, he’s lost the trust of the fans, players, sponsors and the staff in one hit. How does that affect his ability to lead us this summer? How can he ever talk about our class again after trying to slip this out the door at 11pm on a Sunday night? If he stays, he’s damaged goods, if he goes, we’re starting AGAIN. It never stops for Arsenal. There is always something terrible to deal with that is of our own making. It’s not just him. Tim Lewis, Gooner on the ground, would have been part of this as well. Plenty of people who love football at Arsenal, went along with this regardless. At least the players and staff didn’t know. Auba deleted his twitter account.
The club apologised, the only one to do so, which is at least a start, but the tone was purposefully naive and misleading.
The system needs to be fixed. We must work together to find solutions which protect the future of the game and harness the extraordinary power football has to get us on the edge of our seats.
We know it will take time to restore your faith in what we are trying to achieve here at Arsenal but let us be clear that the decision to be part of the Super League was driven by our desire to protect Arsenal, the club you love, and to support the game you love through greater solidarity and financial stability.
The miscalculation was the big clubs thought their global fans were different to the noisy rabble in London. They believed the new ‘casual’ fan was engaging with football like they would an algorithm suggestion in Netflix. They believed football was just another type of content like video games, TV, or music. They were not prepared for the commoners to see stability as a collective issue. They believed their own greed and desire to be part of the elite insider group would be the same for the fans. They were all wrong, the values local fans have is part of what makes the game appealing, and they want to be part of that… and are. For Arsenal to be talking about stability after they tried to spoil the game for the many, to preserve privilege for the few, makes this statement so off-key. Values our leadership talk about are marketing gimmicks, this debacle is a proof point to that.
The open letter said a few times they were trying to protect the club and its future. A great soundbite if we were Dagenham & Redbridge. We’re Arsenal. We have a billionaire owner married to into of the most successful families that has ever existed on this planet. He is supposed to be our protection. That was the point of a billionaire owner. If we weren’t getting his investment, we were better of being run privately like we were when we were successful.
Vinai said this when he started.
‘Together we will work tirelessly with the extraordinary staff we have at Arsenal to respect and enhance our unique history, heritage and values; with the overall objective to bring success to our millions of fans all around the world and make them proud of their club’
Protecting the future of our club by eliminating competition was the plan to make us proud? Sacking Gunnersaurus? Firing 52 members of staff before signing a 32-year-old on a 3 year deal for £250k a week? This ‘proud’ strategy needs a rethink because it has never been less believable.
As for ‘mistake’.. come on. This was no mistake. This has been on the agenda for longer than Vinai. No one can be shocked Ivan spoke up about it on Tuesday, this was part of the reason he moved to Milan. Imagine what this would have done for his stock options? This was a premeditated attack on European football culture. It required deep thought and planning. It’s something they knew would distress fans and they just did it anyway. The only regret Arsenal has on this is that everyone else lost their nerve and the stress and embarrassment wasn’t worth a penny.
So what becomes of Arsenal? How does this mess affect our standing in the game? How does it affect the dressing room? How does it impact our appeal this summer?
There was a rumour that Chelsea and City pulled out of this because it levelled the playing field. They exit this debacle winners regardless because they didn’t ever need the money. Arsenal? We’re back to £20m summers in a sell to buy cycle. That felt bad before, now, it feels even worse.
If the Super League is dead, why would Stan continue to keep a club that is bottom of that power league? Isn’t it time to hand it over and admit that this little stunt was the last roll of the dice for a guy that has absolutely no vision or ideas for a game that has passed him by? Isn’t it time for him to be the bigger man and end this. Give the club to someone that likes sport. Do something fair for the fans. Last time I checked, there are 150,000 people tweeting #KroenkeOut. Cash-out. A group repping a very rich family told me they wanted to buy out Arsenal for £2 billion 3 years ago. There are buyers out there. Maybe this mess might offer them a way out as they struggle with costs and focus with The Rams complex. I’m dreaming, this is about as likely as JP Morgan leaking ‘Stan is selling’ to Talksport.
Outside the consequences for Arsenal. What are the consequences for the idea? What stops this from happening again? Who intervenes? Government? FIFA? UEFA? How can the fans be secure in the knowledge this near miss will be avoided… forever. Who will protect the sanctity of the game?
This was a coup. It failed. The lessons of history tell you that if harsh consequences are not meted out, the bad guys come back for the prize again and again. Football cannot allow this culture crime to slide. UEFA let this happen by not enforcing rules, by bungling TV deals, by being average. Time for them to get tough. Time for some accountability. Time to secure the game.
Before I go, Johnny mentioned an important point on the podcast and so have plenty of people that tweet me and contribute to the website. If the big 12 can plan a breakaway during work hours in a pandemic, don’t tell me they can’t do something big on racism in the game. We just played Slavia Prague and everyone in Europe was hoping we’d beat them because of their abhorrent behaviour that goes unchecked. If we can use the might of Arsenal to cut a mega deal at the expense of our soul, then we can use it to fix something that is still stinking out our game.
The fans won. What a moment. The biggest farce in business history and a win for the little guys. Unbelievable. Have a great day, I hope you’re smiling.
P.S. Special shoutout to the immense work Tim Payton and the AST Team has done on this. If you want to put your money towards a force for good in football, sign up to this link and add your voice to their growing membership.
PS: sorry it was longer than I expected!!
We shouldn’t have been invited on if we are talking on purely sporting merit allied with being big.
We haven’t been in the CL now for too many years. We are currently midtable now in the EPL.
We are talking about sporting merit here.
I bet some of you were secretly really happy that we were invited onto this disgraceful sham.
It gave a sense of worth.
Come on you have to think better than that.
Ishola
That is his Twitter handle.
TR7
Thought the same recently, usually he’d jump in with a post or two when shit is popping off.
Always interested to hear from him, hope he is all good.
Ishola
“That the clubs failed in their ESL scheme will be enough for UEFA. These clubs are far too big and strong in their own leagues and in europe to face serious consequences after the event”
Yep, exactly.
AFC
Don’t you think this Kroenke-out protest in the days leading up a very important EL game is a mistake
We have a rookie manger, inexperienced DoF and young CEO.
It may be too much for them to process when you add the ESL fiasco in the space of one week.
AFC
Ha, you could have done a TLDR there and mic-dropped with a we are the 3rd biggest club in England (which we are in titles/history) and are a more prestigious club than Chelsea and City (which we are). Our domestic achievements absolutely dwarf both Chelsea and City.
People love to chat shit and claim that Chelsea are bigger because of their fluky Champions League win, not having that.
A football club’s reputation doesn’t boil down to moments in one isolated game in their entire history (Paris, 2006 for us).
Dissenter
That is a fair question but I don’t think the protest will affect the team. In fact, it might inspire them! I am sure the players are as pissed off as the rest of us about the way Kroenke and the ESL was delivered.
Doing it when a game is being broadcast live and SKY is still in full virtue signalling mode, is good timing and gives it more publicity. The media will love the protest, not sure Stanley will.
WE
Yeo was a bit TLDR but that’s passion for you, get a bit carried away.
There are so many ways to see and know a sense of worth in your club. The knowledge that we are a big club can be one but everybody knew this anyway before the ESL fiasco.
We didn’t need a complete disgraceful fiasco of a scheme to let us know we are a big club.
And one of the big reasons we were involved was because of one man Stan Kroenke. A man that virtually everybody wants out.
Re the ESL, definitely smells of we have won the battle but not the war.
They will regroup, reassess and strategise another strong push for this. Not sure if it will be in a few months or a couple of years but it is inevitable.
Group of greedy billionaires aren’t in the business of giving up so easily.
If they alter the format i.e enable promotion and relegation and abandon the closed shop for founding member’s nonsense, a second push will be much harder to fend off.
AFC
Was only messing, made for a very good read.
Good post Pedro bar the bit about Boris. This is a brilliant move for Arsenal fans. One massive clusterfuck on Kroenke’s part has made him a dead man walking. He sold us down the river and I dont think he can come back from it. The Kroenke out campaign will only grow Bard That’s a really perceptive point. There is a genuine opportunity here to build up momentum and get the old gimmer out of the club. In the late wenger era, AKBs always said be careful what you wish for. I can think of a few billionaires as awful… Read more »
WE
To be fair I tried to inject a bit of humour perhaps not to everyone’s taste.
Damn fine read. The future should be be interesting, but we shall see. I may be in the minority but I can actually see why these clubs might want to take on certain aspects of the game, but can not reconcile how they went about it. Those clubs all had different reasons, Spanish clubs envious of our league and in a financial mess. English owners wanting respectability, or wanting to sit with, or stay with the big boys on minimum or zero investment . The Italians with a failing league . But let’s not pretend the little people won in… Read more »
Arsenal definitely among the big 3 along with United and Liverpool for me notwithstanding our current league position. I was fuming at Gary Neville when he poked fun at Arsenal for joining ESL coz we were ‘mid table’
WE “If they alter the format i.e enable promotion and relegation and abandon the closed shop for founding member’s nonsense, a second push will be much harder to fend off.” It needs more than that. Like I mentioned earlier in my TLDR, you get a few more Champions League semi-finals like this one, where three financially doped and an essentially bust Spanish club partake and people will soon accept change is needed. The ESL was a shit bad idea but I am hoping it might make people more aware of the fact that financially football is about to implode. That… Read more »
WE
Yeah, I really look forward to Paulinho’s posts, short but original and often to the point.
TR7 “Arsenal definitely among the big 3 along with United and Liverpool for me notwithstanding our current league position. I was fuming at Gary Neville when he poked fun at Arsenal for joining ESL coz we were ‘mid table’” Me too. This is the bloke who played for a club that enjoyed a huge financial advantage at his own club, a club that had huge influence within the FA and a bloke who is now financially doping Salford. The rank hypocrisy of Neville and Guardiola talking about ‘competitiveness’ and Neville sneering at Arsenal, was quite something. Neville and his Manchester… Read more »
TR7
That United media mafia (Neville, Keane, Ferdinand, Scholes for the most part) are unbearable to listen to for the most part about any topic related to United.
Keane ties himself up in his contradictory knots all the time on Sky when he’s ridiculing other clubs/managers but is then super lenient with Ole. Same with Neville who is an insufferable blowhard for the most part.
You would think that his little Valencia meltdown would have humbled him a little, it didn’t.
Each of those teams involved should be docked 10 points. Including the Spanish and Italian teams. Be nice to someone other than a Manchester team win the league.
Gary Neville spoke well and passionately.
“You mean the same Arteta that offered Mustafi a new deal but got declined? What a joke. Arteta is clueless.”
And Mustafi is exactly where today Wingdings? Relegated and left pondering life’s little mysteries.
David Smith
“As the Arsenal, I suspect this club will prove a handy key scapegoat in all of this, there is only so much grief the media will give the others”
Bang on. My perhaps too long piece above was unequivocal in its support for Arsenal and how we are treated differently. Love my club but do’;t like the way it gets unfairly treated.
Some of you are blinded by your love for Arsenal.
Arsenal had better buck up their ideas, as next time this Super league business comes round we might not be anywhere near it anymore.
Barely deserved it this time, 2 or 3 more years out the top six in the actual league might just put the nail in the coffin.
AFC/WE
Yeah, many people rave about Neville’s punditry but I find him to be a self obsessed loudmouth. I find real managers to be much more insightful in their commentary even though they often are not the most eloquent and verbose.
WE
The Man Utd mob have reason to dislike us. Anyone remember the bent 50th game when Neville a co with the help of Riley, broke every rule in the book? Poor Reyes, RIP, that was brutal.
Don’t forget Roy Keane is a lifelong Spud, he grew up supporting Spurs. Not that he needs anything to make him angry but that’s some chip to carry around. Sky do love their Manchester and Liverpool based pundits.
Roy Keane remember, is also a lifelong Spud he grew up supporting Spurs.
“NO, to pepe down the middle, he cannot play lone striker, he cannot bring others into play, he is better at playing off others and being created for.”
A mild wind can knock Pepe over, he’s a physically weak player. To succeed down the middle means you can hold your own and control play – thats never Pepe. Agreed, he’s better when playing off others.
AFC FFP was a good idea in theory but for whatever reason nobody adhered to it and got away with it (?). Backhanders and brown envelopes presumably much like the World Cup bidding process. A levelling of the playing field financially is needed all right. I don’t think it’s as bleak as you are making out though. City and PSG are both yet to win the Champions League despite a decade of financially doping from both. Teams like Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Ajax, etc have shown that you can still compete at the top end of Europe if you… Read more »
Southampton turning the screws on Spurs, another please.
Spurs are in meltdown.
They could get really embarrassed Sunday. Hopefully.
Ryan Mason as interim.
Levy losing the plot.
Arsenal’s front 3 cost more than Man City’s and Liverpool’s. The difference is the players and coach are substandard.
Ernest
And Mustafi is exactly where today Wingdings? Relegated and left pondering life’s little mysteries.
___
Your point was that Arteta managed to identify which players weren’t good enough. My point was that he offered that same player a new contract. So much for identifying bad players.
The gist of all of this is that UEFA and FIFA are not fit for purpose and haven’t been for a considerable amount of time. Football needs to be run by those who truly understand the game. Russia, Qatar……Don’t make me laugh! We all know why they were awarded the WC’s in 2018 and 2022. This ‘football family’ crap gets on my frigging nerves. When I see Slavia Prague showing racist intent and getting away with it, my blood boils. Teams, nations should be banned from all competitions. It’s all very simple. Problem is, the financial benefits for those at… Read more »
The fact that Mustafi is now playing in Schalke is not Artetas making. If it were up to The spanish Tony Pulis we would still be stuck with Mustafi for the foreseeable future.
Spurs never been the same team since Dembele left, devoid of creativity and nous.
WE “A levelling of the playing field financially is needed all right. I don’t think it’s as bleak as you are making out though” It is essential because there is nowhere to go now. Sure, the pandemic played a part but all it did was bring forward the inevitable. Remember, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real have incurred between them 3 billion quid of debt in order to win 7 of the last 10 Champions Leagues. Okay, Chelsea’s debt is owed to Abramovich (Fordstam) and isn’t going to be called in but nonetheless, it demonstrates what you need to do. This season… Read more »
Graham62
“The gist of all of this is that UEFA and FIFA are not fit for purpose and haven’t been for a considerable amount of time. Football needs to be run by those who truly understand the game”
Yes, exactly my point.
Hassenhutl.is very underrated, real quality manager.
A year ago the no.10(cam) position was regarded as obsolete on Le grove. Watching Tottenham tonight it is obvious to me that they miss Eriksen as they have no guile in their play. It’s similar to watching Arsenal from march until December last year until Smith Rowe arrived on the scene. The arrival of a playmaker at United transformed their season. Fernandes has an eye for a pass, takes up intelligent positions and is not afraid to take risks Leicester without Maddison have struggled whilst he has been out injured. There is a re emergence of the No.10, managers are… Read more »
The bizarre element to all of this is there was a really easy way for the 12 breakaway teams to have pushed this through.
-Super League: 20 teams.
-Every year three bottom teams relegated with balloon payments just like Premier League.
-Founding members still get the bulk of the initial JP Morgan money (it was a loan anyway) thus giving them an advantage over the rest of the teams.
Ever Arsenal and Spurs would probably find a way to avoid relegation with their built-in advantages. Quite simply the owners overplayed their hand. But it was actually a very good hand.
AFC Forever
Best rant I ever read.
@pierre, trolling with ze handbrake
Wingdings-good point. It’s funny how people forget that Arteta tried hard to give Mustafi a new deal in the summer then moved him on when he refused to sign. Otherwise, we would be looking at Mustafi on a 3 or 4 year deal and Holding would have been at Newcastle. Not saying Holding is anything more than a decent enough Premier League CB but I would much rather have him than a player who always looked to point the blame at one of his teammates even when he’s clearly the one at fault. In fairness, Mustafi played well at the… Read more »
AFC Loved your long rant earlier was spot on . The whole super league thing has proven to me more than anything else the amount of hypocrisy’s going around . How the media and pundits especially prize jerks Neville and carragher , shearer et all taking untold piss of our “top 4 trophy “ but act like a 3 year old flailing their arms writhing on the floor because they can’t have a toy at the mere thought of top 4 being no more . Want to keep it the most competitive league they say barring 1 season the last… Read more »
bacaryisgod, he didn’t try and give him a new deal. He benched him all season and gave him 43 EPL minutes.
Pedro-all the reporting at the time was that Mustafi rejected a new contract. He didn’t want to commit to Arsenal in the long-term because he wanted to be closer to his wife’s family. Granted, you can’t always trust the reporting and neither Mustafi or the club came out publicly that he was offered or rejected a new deal. However, the fact that he started 15 of 17 matches under Arteta before getting injured and Arteta’s strong praise of him is a decent sign that he would have been offered a new contract. Clearly if he rejected said contract, it would… Read more »
Ishola
The Twitter quote slagging Arsenal fans was from Banford.
Another peach was his reply to some guy who asked if Arsenal fans were the worst fan base in the world.
Banfords reply? “Worst I know of, yes.”
Arteta was asked about Mustafi’s contract situation following his injury diagnosis and remained coy on whether or not the centre back would stay at the north London outfit after joining four years ago from Valencia for £35million.
“That’s something the club has to address but he knows my opinion,” said Arteta.
“I’m really happy with him as you can see. The way he’s playing, how committed he is with everything we’re trying to do, the level in his performance ever three or four days, he’s been really consistent.”
If fans want real change then make a real push for a true FFP.
Stop this Mickey Mouse Kroenke out drama. It solves nothing.
CC
“The Twitter quote slagging Arsenal fans was from Banford.”
A very bitter man it seems.
How many Arsenal supporters has Bam met in Florida though?
What a dickhead.
Here’s the Evening Standard article that suggest Mustafi was open to staying. Maybe they couldn’t reach an agreement. However, the five-year deal which he signed upon his arrival will expire at the end of the season, and Mustafi, despite reports suggesting he’d already rejected an extension, has said it’d “mean a lot” should he stay at the Emirates beyond 2021. “When I made a decision to sign for Arsenal it is because I respect this club. It is a huge club, that’s why for me if I could stay at Arsenal, of course, it would mean a lot to me,”… Read more »
Regardless, the good news is that Mustafi’s gone for good, unlike Kolasinac.
Mustafi , emi , ozil who the fuck cares about players that don’t have anything to do with the club anymore . They gone who cares
Kroenke really is a worry. Not even so much over this latest escapade, can at least see some reasoning there, but just the sheer volume of mistakes being made under his regime. He is getting virtually everything wrong, getting rid of Wenger with no succession plan, dithering over the departure of Gazidis, Emery, Raul, Sven, contracts, losing players for nothing, atrocious PR, the club in decline, if he continues at this rate, especially with no investment, or maybe worse in his anger, he could easily take this club to a point it may not recover He needs to get someone… Read more »
David
I had hope Tim Lewis would’ve been the guy to get real football people who know what they doing in the 3 key positions of the club for kronke as he haven’t a clue . I should’ve known better that lawyers are as morally corrupt and as slimy as you get and he was obviously there purely for the ground work legally for the super league
bacaryisgod, there’s what he wanted which you found in a newspaper, and what actually happened.
No minutes. Benched. Packed off on a free transfer.
He was problematic… so I’m told by a hospitality manager I met in a bar in Queens who gets their info off twitter.
Football wins today everybody sings . PSG ceo just appointed chairman of the ECA. The ceo of arguably the most financially doped club in the history of football whose owners blackmailed fifa for a Qatari World Cup built on the blood and deaths of workers . Raise your glass to that Neville you fuckwit
Jamie
He spent 20 years taking in the whole football world before landing on Arsenal where he’s now a proud “Arsenal & PL observer. Fan not of one club, but of beautiful football/soccer” (ripped straight off his Twitter profile).
So I very much doubt that extends to just Florida, get over yourself Jamie, god.
Pedro
Did I hit a nerve?
Hope the same of Lewis Peckobill.
Perhaps this Richard Garlick will bring some sanity to the proceedings when he arrives in the summer?
“A group repping a very rich family told me they wanted to buy out Arsenal for £2 billion 3 years ago”. Any ideas on who this might have been?
‘Arsenal observer’
So progressive.
CC –
Arsenal & PL “observer” is code for “I’m a cunt.”
He took Emery’s sacking so hard it makes me smile.
https://mobile.twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1384806615359135744
Simon Jordan is a melt, but dear oh dear when he can spell it out like this you know there’s an issue at Arsenal.
Have a gander at the 1 min clip. Cant disagree.
Alom, I think it was a family from Qatar.
Actually Pedro-no-one knows what happened. Arteta started Mustafi 15 of 17 before an injury, was effusive in his praise of him and how he worked hard to come back from injury. He hinted in a press conference that he wanted him to stay.
I would argue benching Mustafi is entirely consistent with talks breaking down and Arteta (thankfully) benching him as a result.
Jamie
Took? He still goes to bat for him and is adamant he’s a top coach that Arsenal fans were stupid to run out of town.
Quite funny seeing his tune completely change on Kroenke though. Would put his life on the line for him the last decade and was furious folk would label him a “yank cunt”. Now he’s saying Arsenal fans can’t be trusted to do what’s necessary to force Kroenke out.
He’s such a cartoon.
Pedro, with the events that have transpired over the last few days and Arsenal projected to make a loss of £170-180M for the next financial year if we dont make the Europa League, do you think the Qatari’s would consider making another bid, or maybe even Usmanov rekindling his interest?
@Champagne Charlie
You’re right Simon Jordan is a melt. He once also said if you were looking to make money, don’t buy a football club. Maybe he’s right and kroenke is making a loss at Arsenal?
Simon Jordan in fairness had some really good counter points to the other over excited buffoons on talk sport today . Had Trevor Sinclair by the bollocks over the greed of players with Sinclair not having a scooby about club current finances ( Sinclair came across a bit dense ) and his great response to I think it was the ever over excitable Jim white . White whipping callers up into a frenzy to call about fans owning 51% of clubs like German clubs . Jordan matter of fact knocking the idea stone cold dead with his riposte of “… Read more »
Suspect anyone considering a bid for Arsenal will sit on it while KSE do more damage and lower the clubs value , seems to be the direction they are travelling
Anyway, Stan seems too stubborn to sell , just think he will reduce the outgoings and prob make things worse for a while , but I guess you never know
Pedro: ‘He was problematic’
Arteta .“I’m really happy with him as you can see. The way he’s playing, how committed he is with everything we’re trying to do, the level in his performance ever three or four days, he’s been really consistent.” Pressed a second time, Arteta seemed to hint that he’s told the player he’d like him to stay and that it’s now up to the club to negotiate suitable terms.
“I’m really happy with him,” said the boss “but that’s something the club has to address but he knows my opinion on that.”
Sorry Peckobill-I’m done with the Mustafi talk.
David
Can’t seeing anyone buying a club until the pandemic is well and truly over and fans fully back in stadium . Clubs are losing money by the bucket load . A new owner would be coming in and paying those losses . Can’t see one entertaining the idea until things get back to normal
Bacary
Hey knock yourself out it’s a free world ( sort of ) you talk about whatever you want , just don’t know why you care about players gone . Even the supposedly greatest keeper ever 🙄 wears a villa badge now . Fuck him
Thanks Peckobill-it was really more about Arteta.
The discussion about Banford is pretty irrelevant really.
B#mford/D#riano is a cunt: every body knows it.
But ultimately he is just a harmless irritant.
The only c#unt who matters is Kro#enke.
#Kroen#nke out
Peckobill “AFC loved your long rant earlier was spot on . The whole super league thing has proven to me more than anything else the amount of hypocrisy’s going around . How the media and pundits especially prize jerks Neville and carragher , shearer et all taking untold piss of our “top 4 trophy” Cheers. I know, the entire hypocrisy and specific targeting of our club drives me mad. Worse is watching poisonous fans yet again choosing to side with the enemy or anyone other than the club. Arsenal is a decent club that tried to do the right thing… Read more »
“ What stops this from happening again? ” The 12 clubs behind the idea resigned en-masse from their positions with UEFA and the European Clubs Association (ECA). Are they likely to be readmitted? They were operating in direct opposition to UEFA and thought that as “Big Clubs” they had the whip hand. They got that wrong and totally misjudged just how much power a militant fan base can wield. The media piled in on what was the closest thing to a dead cert you could ever imagine. Gary Neville was right in saying the people behind this were bottle merchants.… Read more »
BacaryisGod, you use google for your narrative and still get it wrong.
You think Arteta rated Mustafi, benched him all season, then gave him a free transfer in January.
Same Mustafi that went to Schalke and launched a coup right away… then got binned from the squad for sporting reasons.
But yet, Arteta was giving him a new deal.
You need to get a guy in hospitality to talk to you.
Words
“B#mford/D#riano is a cunt: every body knows it”
Yep. Hates Arsenal, abuses Arsenal fans yet some of the usuals adore him. Go figure.
AFC It makes my blood boil when we got such uneducated fans coming out with lapping up Neville and co’s anti arsenal narrative about its embarrassing us being in the big 12 when we sitting mid table when you only need a brain the size of an almond to know it’s all to do with brand standing and not league position . Who in their right fucking reject mind would think Leicester and Everton would be a bigger sell to sponsors and Tv companies . The sad part is those imbeciles who lap up nevilles nonsense are unaware he knows… Read more »
Someone sent me a text which read
‘ The ESL is like a lads night out before everyone asks their missus if it’s alright ‘ 🤣
I thought that Arsenal agreed to loan Mustafi to Schalke until the end of the season when he will be free to sign on a Bosman for whatever team he wishes.
Mustafi declined the contract extension and was benched for his refusal. No need to change the narrative to big up Arteta.
No Pedro-I was referencing actual quotes from Arteta. I did get the quotes from searching Google because I heard a few people do that these days.
On the other hand you said Mustafi was ‘problematic’ with no detail behind it. I understand you’re still cut up about yesterday, but this is a pretty weak attempt at payback.
Peckibill
Yep. Some of the comments earlier were like Adrian Durham on speed. I always find that a bit weird.
These guys knew more about the future than Doc Brown:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/european_super_league_the_future_of_football/zw74g7h
Who will play up top now Lacazette is out? He has been important linking up player & working hard fur the team. Some reports he may give Eddie a start.
Jamie
Also makes a mockery of the concept because at that point Newcastle would’ve been one of the 12/15. It’s why trying to cement anything in football based on a time period is fucking out of order and against the nature of the game.
“Well at the moment I was just happy to come back from injury, it was three long months – I was happy just to come back and be able to play again,” Mustafi replied when asked about a new contract.
“We haven’t been talking about anything so there isn’t anything I can tell you guys.”
Yep , let’s hope Eddie gets a few starts.as the last time he had a run of 5 starts in 6 games a year ago we won all 5 games .. He received little credit on le grove for his goal at the weekend it was a goal that required superb anticipation , pure striker’s instinct. When ceballos shot, Eddie was 12 yards out and took a chance like all good strikers should. I’m sure ,in typical le grove fashion , Eddie will be criticised non stop due to Balogun or Martinelli not getting the striker’s role. What you will… Read more »
Perez who is said to have a particular antipathy toward Nasser Al-Khelaïfi due to the role he played in PSG emergence must be upset to suddenly discover that he had been played by him. The sudden announcement on ESL was made because somebody had been leaking info about it to the UEFA and the media. It is rumoured that he may be the man responsible for those leaks. So not only the PSG president is now viewed as a loyal friend inside the UEFA, but On top of that he has just become the head of the ECA (European Club… Read more »
Reports coming out uefa are relaxing ffp rules making them more flexible . Let’s all celebrate like everyone that football won today while Man City goes on a mother financially doping spree to keep the premier league competitive by dominating it for the next decade . But the fans beat the greedy clubs today dint they ?
Not
Pierre
Yep, there isn’t that much left league wise so it’s a great chance to give the youngsters games. Good experience and will help for next season. You never know, the youngsters could do what Saka and ESR have done.
Valentin
It both repulses me but doesn’t really shock me the ceo of the most financially doped club gets rewarded like that . Disgusting appointment and rewarded for PSG’s loyalty to uefa and FIFA. A loyalty they stuck in after the Qatari World Cup bribe and everyone thought the removal of blatter ended all that the naive fools . When that World Cup is over uefa and fifa will soon see how loyal PSG is
Need a salary cap and spending cap. this is out of controls
Valentin
How disgusting that the head of the European Club Association is a Qatari at PSG involvrd in the scourge of financial doping. Two fingers up to the fans and further proof I was right about the need for urgent reform.
How sad that they appoint him to that position when the winners of this season’s champions League is guaranteed to be one of four doped clubs, PSG, Man City, Chelsea or Real Madrid.