KROENKE OUT / The Board / Staff etc (merged thread)

[Clash]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

[Jock Gooner]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

[Clash]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

Fuck I cant believe I said that without even checking the fixture list

Your last point could be key too Jock as unfortunately too many of our fans have shown in the past that even the most minuscule hint of a revival will temporarily pacify them.

And Jeff Stelling wont like it either. ''They're lying 5th in the table and would you believe there are fans STILL protesting ... ''

I am hopeful there will be something different about the whole thing this time though. Kroenke is not the divisive figure Wenger was. Surely everyone hates this man

[xisstential]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

That my friend is an absolute banker. You can build your house on that.

I told Retro this earlier......I don't think protests will affect Kroenke.......my future son in law lives in California, Rams fans. Kroenke doesn't care if the fans hate him, he doesn't care about protests, he cares about money, his sports empire, his investment. And if he doesn't care about the fans of his US franchises, how do you think he feels about "his" soccer fans in Engurland??

The only thing, the ONLY thing, that will make him sit up and take notice is boycotting games, not buying merchandise, not buying tickets. I reckon the club will have to slide to more or less mid table before most of our fans realise the slide is becoming irrevocable. Only then, maybe(??), will the stadium reach the stage where it is half empty and that will take a few years. Going up against the Kroenke's with planes, letters of complaint & protest marches will be like taking a taser to a gunfight.

Diminishing returns on his investment is the only thing that will make him uncomfortable.

[Jock Gooner]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

That my friend is an absolute banker. You can build your house on that.

I told Retro this earlier......I don't think protests will affect Kroenke.......my future son in law lives in California, Rams fans. Kroenke doesn't care if the fans hate him, he doesn't care about protests, he cares about money, his sports empire, his investment. And if he doesn't care about the fans of his US franchises, how do you think he feels about "his" soccer fans in Engurland??

The only thing, the ONLY thing, that will make him sit up and take notice is boycotting games, not buying merchandise, not buying tickets. I reckon the club will have to slide to more or less mid table before most of our fans realise the slide is becoming irrevocable. Only then, maybe(??), will the stadium reach the stage where it is half empty and that will take a few years. Going up against the Kroenke's with planes, letters of complaint & protest marches will be like taking a taser to a gunfight.

Diminishing returns on his investment is the only thing that will make him uncomfortable.

Diminishing returns indeed sir, I agree they are the order of the day. The thing is in this snowflakey day and age we seem duty bound to pass through the ineffective planes, letters and marches stages before we can get to the important stuff....£££.

As Clash said we'll also have the media giving it the whole "they're 5th / 6th what are they complaining about" bollox coming at us too to begin with.

[GoonerMuzz]

The thing is it has to be made really clear is it is not a personal attack even if for some it is a personal thing, it has to be about lack of investment and ambition. As soon as the media can prove it is personal you'll lose the interest of people who can hit him financially, there should be constant comparisons financially to the big clubs and even the scum down the road, they need to be front and centre continuously pointing out that we are the 6th richest club in the world but not acting like it etc etc.

[Gunner Rob]

a couple of years or so ago on here I compared Arsenal to Newcastle, and for a glimpse of the future look at how they have performed since the 1950s.

In 1955 Newcastle had just won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 5 years. In 2017 Arsenal won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 4 years.
Since 1955 Newcastle have won nothing of note and apart from the Kevin Keegan inspired season I don't think they have competed for the title since. They have also been relegated a few times as well. Still got a big fanbase though. This is the sort of future I now see for Arsenal under Kroenke. Basically years of being irrelevant, and only considered being a big club due to the size of the fanbase.

sorry if this all sounds a bit negative, but at the moment I genuinely can't see how we can return to being competitive at the top of the table again. I can accept not competing at the top, but I will be I think rightly annoyed if ticket prices are kept at prices which implies that we are still competing as one of the top teams.

[Clash]

a couple of years or so ago on here I compared Arsenal to Newcastle, and for a glimpse of the future look at how they have performed since the 1950s.

In 1955 Newcastle had just won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 5 years. In 2017 Arsenal won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 4 years.
Since 1955 Newcastle have won nothing of note and apart from the Kevin Keegan inspired season I don't think they have competed for the title since. They have also been relegated a few times as well. Still got a big fanbase though. This is the sort of future I now see for Arsenal under Kroenke. Basically years of being irrelevant, and only considered being a big club due to the size of the fanbase.

sorry if this all sounds a bit negative, but at the moment I genuinely can't see how we can return to being competitive at the top of the table again. I can accept not competing at the top, but I will be I think rightly annoyed if ticket prices are kept at prices which implies that we are still competing as one of the top teams.

Chilling comparison Rob

[herbert]

a couple of years or so ago on here I compared Arsenal to Newcastle, and for a glimpse of the future look at how they have performed since the 1950s.

In 1955 Newcastle had just won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 5 years. In 2017 Arsenal won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 4 years.
Since 1955 Newcastle have won nothing of note and apart from the Kevin Keegan inspired season I don't think they have competed for the title since. They have also been relegated a few times as well. Still got a big fanbase though. This is the sort of future I now see for Arsenal under Kroenke. Basically years of being irrelevant, and only considered being a big club due to the size of the fanbase.

sorry if this all sounds a bit negative, but at the moment I genuinely can't see how we can return to being competitive at the top of the table again. I can accept not competing at the top, but I will be I think rightly annoyed if ticket prices are kept at prices which implies that we are still competing as one of the top teams.

Chilling comparison Rob

Newcastle were not earning £200 million plus more per season than the other teams in the league,
Thanks to the European competitions and the commervcial deals that go with that now 5th or 6th is about as bad as it can get for any of the top 6
(barring a Leicester or 1 bad season)
Kronke through his son as said that they have put a management structure in place to move us forwards, the media and anybody else can say what ever the want to about Arsenal supporters moaning about being 5th or 6th but any half decent manager and management team could keep any of the top six in place with the extra financial clout that they have now so if Stan and his management team cant improve on 5th then they need to take their profit,step aside and let someone else have a go

[Gunner Rob]

a couple of years or so ago on here I compared Arsenal to Newcastle, and for a glimpse of the future look at how they have performed since the 1950s.

In 1955 Newcastle had just won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 5 years. In 2017 Arsenal won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 4 years.
Since 1955 Newcastle have won nothing of note and apart from the Kevin Keegan inspired season I don't think they have competed for the title since. They have also been relegated a few times as well. Still got a big fanbase though. This is the sort of future I now see for Arsenal under Kroenke. Basically years of being irrelevant, and only considered being a big club due to the size of the fanbase.

sorry if this all sounds a bit negative, but at the moment I genuinely can't see how we can return to being competitive at the top of the table again. I can accept not competing at the top, but I will be I think rightly annoyed if ticket prices are kept at prices which implies that we are still competing as one of the top teams.

Chilling comparison Rob

Newcastle were not earning £200 million plus more per season than the other teams in the league,
Thanks to the European competitions and the commervcial deals that go with that now 5th or 6th is about as bad as it can get for any of the top 6
(barring a Leicester or 1 bad season)
Kronke through his son as said that they have put a management structure in place to move us forwards, the media and anybody else can say what ever the want to about Arsenal supporters moaning about being 5th or 6th but any half decent manager and management team could keep any of the top six in place with the extra financial clout that they have now so if Stan and his management team cant improve on 5th then they need to take their profit,step aside and let someone else have a go

in a way that makes things worse.
on that basis there is no reason for Stan to sell at all (and he prides himself in NEVER EVER selling any of his sporting franchises)

[augie]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

That my friend is an absolute banker. You can build your house on that.

I told Retro this earlier......I don't think protests will affect Kroenke.......my future son in law lives in California, Rams fans. Kroenke doesn't care if the fans hate him, he doesn't care about protests, he cares about money, his sports empire, his investment. And if he doesn't care about the fans of his US franchises, how do you think he feels about "his" soccer fans in Engurland??

The only thing, the ONLY thing, that will make him sit up and take notice is boycotting games, not buying merchandise, not buying tickets. I reckon the club will have to slide to more or less mid table before most of our fans realise the slide is becoming irrevocable. Only then, maybe(??), will the stadium reach the stage where it is half empty and that will take a few years. Going up against the Kroenke's with planes, letters of complaint & protest marches will be like taking a taser to a gunfight.

Diminishing returns on his investment is the only thing that will make him uncomfortable.

Chris, your future son in law is from California and is a Rams fan - did he support them when they were in St Louis or is he judge a typical new age fan who started supporting them 2 years ago when they moved to LA ?

Can I also say to all of you that I don't think that we will get the same mocking response from the media to any protests unless we are in the top 2 at the time (). The French cock had built up goodwill with the media and some fans and wiggy doesn't have that, plus I will bet my bollox that stelling will make some mocking of our £45m budget when the season kicks off

[herbert]

a couple of years or so ago on here I compared Arsenal to Newcastle, and for a glimpse of the future look at how they have performed since the 1950s.

In 1955 Newcastle had just won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 5 years. In 2017 Arsenal won the FA Cup for a 3rd time in 4 years.
Since 1955 Newcastle have won nothing of note and apart from the Kevin Keegan inspired season I don't think they have competed for the title since. They have also been relegated a few times as well. Still got a big fanbase though. This is the sort of future I now see for Arsenal under Kroenke. Basically years of being irrelevant, and only considered being a big club due to the size of the fanbase.

sorry if this all sounds a bit negative, but at the moment I genuinely can't see how we can return to being competitive at the top of the table again. I can accept not competing at the top, but I will be I think rightly annoyed if ticket prices are kept at prices which implies that we are still competing as one of the top teams.

Chilling comparison Rob

Newcastle were not earning £200 million plus more per season than the other teams in the league,
Thanks to the European competitions and the commervcial deals that go with that now 5th or 6th is about as bad as it can get for any of the top 6
(barring a Leicester or 1 bad season)
Kronke through his son as said that they have put a management structure in place to move us forwards, the media and anybody else can say what ever the want to about Arsenal supporters moaning about being 5th or 6th but any half decent manager and management team could keep any of the top six in place with the extra financial clout that they have now so if Stan and his management team cant improve on 5th then they need to take their profit,step aside and let someone else have a go

in a way that makes things worse.
on that basis there is no reason for Stan to sell at all (and he prides himself in NEVER EVER selling any of his sporting franchises)

Yep he will be reluctant to give up the large profits that come with the modern PL and European competitions so talk of doing a Newcastle and not being in the top six or European competition will not fit in with his buisness plan

He has never sold a sporting franchise before but then again he has never owned an English FC before
Hopefully it wont come to that and we have a good season but if it does go wrong then at least we will have some unity in our support to try to get him out of our club

[Retro Gunner]

Petition has surpassed 100,000 signatures.....in less than 4 days !

The ball is rolling. Nothing can happen too quickly, this will be a very long game, but the Club know this is serious and that it's not going away. Stories that they were genuinely startled and concerned by what has happened this week.

[Jock Gooner]

Petition has surpassed 100,000 signatures.....in less than 4 days !

The ball is rolling. Nothing can happen too quickly, this will be a very long game, but the Club know this is serious and that it's not going away. Stories that they were genuinely startled and concerned by what has happened this week.

Startled by the fact that after years of getting away with it they've finally been called out.

The response from JK was quite frankly embarrassing. I read it a couple of times and I'm pretty good at interpreting corporate wankspeak - he was basically telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Then in interviews to the press he actually had the neck to include himself in the same sentence as Arsenal Football Club and the word passionate - who the fuck does he think he is kidding.

So the opening exchanges are out there........what is being plotted as the next step?

[xisstential]

As Freud said "Empty seats are empty seats".

It doesn't matter what the club say. It doesn't matter that 40,000 odd seats are prepaid. That actually makes it worse for the club from a PR perspective. For people not to turn up and pay to get in is one thing but for people who HAVE paid not to bother going sends a much stronger message.

I personally have no issue sitting out a few games. In fact I don't mind sitting out quite a few games if it comes to it. If people want they could still go and watch the match on the concourse screens. That would actually be quite funny - a match with nobody in the seats but there is a weird muted roar when our lot score.

Joking aside, this isn't going to be a 2 minute job. Once the initial fannying around is over and wiggy is seen to do nothing about our concerns then the protest can be ratcheted up. It could be to stop buying anything from the club on match days for a couple of games - beer, food, programmes - to see if that elicits a response. I can see that leading to fisticuffs when the usual twats are trying to buy their pizza. When wiggy ignores that then it's surely onto walkouts / late arrivals and then match boycotts. Can anyone see wiggy giving in this season....not me. Then we are potentially into a mini Blackpool scenario.

Then it's a case of how long we can keep it going....how long before sponsors can pressure the club and/or walk away - it could be an interesting season for all the wrong reasons.

Christ wasn't it so much easier in Avenell Road in the 80s "NEIL OUT"

Pretty much agree with all that Jock. And good point about prepaid tickets not being used looking worse than fans just not buying them in the first place. Of course Wenger, ever the weasel, once ignored this glaring fact when he tried to blame the recession for the empty seats

This is where genuine fans who have renewed ST's can have a positive impact though, instead of being made to feel part of the problem every season. We are in control of what happens - either in the ground protesting - or leaving our seat empty.

And with regard to boycotts - if we are going down this route then personally I would prefer we chose to do it for big games like Man United and Liverpool. Matches like this that are live on sky or BT with a worldwide audience, would I think, make a bigger impact than boycotting half a seasons worth of smaller games against teams like Bournemouth and Sheff Utd.

The one game I wouldnt want to boycott is home to Spurs but other than that I am prepared to support whatever is decided.

All the fan groups coming together will really help to ensure that a co-ordinated message is sent in response to any bullshit from wiggy & co. That will make sure wiggy gets shot down (not physically DB ) very quickly in a way that TOF's recession comment should have been.

Yeah, quite agree that if / when it comes to boycotts etc that we need to look at the big games. Unfortunately, scum aside, the fixture list doesn't put us at home against a top 6 side until Citeh in mid December. 4 months into the new season is a long time to wait so if things have gone south before then protests will have already started. The spuds at home is probably too early to be doing anything major.

The other problem is of course that if we have a half decent start then some of our fans may not support any anti wiggy protests with much enthusiasm. For anything to stand a chance of working we need the team to be doing shit.

That my friend is an absolute banker. You can build your house on that.

I told Retro this earlier......I don't think protests will affect Kroenke.......my future son in law lives in California, Rams fans. Kroenke doesn't care if the fans hate him, he doesn't care about protests, he cares about money, his sports empire, his investment. And if he doesn't care about the fans of his US franchises, how do you think he feels about "his" soccer fans in Engurland??

The only thing, the ONLY thing, that will make him sit up and take notice is boycotting games, not buying merchandise, not buying tickets. I reckon the club will have to slide to more or less mid table before most of our fans realise the slide is becoming irrevocable. Only then, maybe(??), will the stadium reach the stage where it is half empty and that will take a few years. Going up against the Kroenke's with planes, letters of complaint & protest marches will be like taking a taser to a gunfight.

Diminishing returns on his investment is the only thing that will make him uncomfortable.

Chris, your future son in law is from California and is a Rams fan - did he support them when they were in St Louis or is he judge a typical new age fan who started supporting them 2 years ago when they moved to LA ?

Can I also say to all of you that I don't think that we will get the same mocking response from the media to any protests unless we are in the top 2 at the time (). The French cock had built up goodwill with the media and some fans and wiggy doesn't have that, plus I will bet my bollox that stelling will make some mocking of our £45m budget when the season kicks off

Augie, they are not dyed in the wool Rams fans, they are, like me, sports fans. I was there last year, the message is that Kroenke does not give a fcuk about the fans of his US franchises, so imagine how low we are on his radar.

Does anyone think that the heads of the worlds biggest banks care if their customers hate them?? They would only care if those customers took their business elsewhere. I would say, because of the nature of our "fan" base, we are stuck with the Kroenke's for a minimum of 5 years.