As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Gunnersaurus wrote:The club are getting it massively wrong if they are gauging the mood of the fans from the turn out/vibe at the Cup final, the same fans who were magnificent are the same group that have been leaving seats empty for weeks, it was a Cup Final, we turned up like the losers in the team.
Redarmy wrote:Well it all looks done and dusted as far as the BBC is concerned. The Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke had a meeting with Arsene Wenger yesterday and it was all smiles and handshakes between the two men that really run the club.
Although there are some members of the top table that believe it is time for a shake-up at the club, it seems that the Board are irrelevant to Wenger’s decision, and today’s Board meeting will only be to inform them what Kroenke and Wenger have already decided. The report also says Stan has already made it clear that his support lies with the Frenchman and he has pledged to back him in the transfer window to get the stars we need to win the Premier League title next season.
Only 730 Days to go until Contract expires....
Wenger meeting Kroenke on his own without the other board members present the day before a board meeting is fucking disgraceful. How is that allowed? I can only imagine the lies and excuses Wenger would have used with Stan all to himself and no one there to call out his bullshit. Not to mention the manipulation of stats and belittling our past etc.
And if Gazidis is the one to leave after all this, please come out and tell the fans exactly what has been happening. Do not give us some watery vague nonsense about looking for a new challenge and being proud of what you've achieved. Give us something back man!
DB10GOONER wrote:I find it hilarious we still have people excusing Kroenke because "he hasn't been here 13 years". Wow. What a simplistic viewpoint. I'm a manager, and when I move into a new area, the first thing I do is identify the performers and the non-performers - and I get rid of the non-performers (I usually dump them into IT with all the lazy geeks, nerds and virgins ). The fact those non-performers were sitting there doing fuck all or failing at their jobs for 5 or 10 years before I became their manager means fuck all - they go. It's called "best practice". And the vast majority of company owners and managers that want to succeed follow best practice religiously.
The only bit of hope I can take from all this is that this two year deal will be his last - and he mightn't even last the full 2 years. Why? Because he won't change. We will progressivley get worse under him as other teams improve and we will slide down the PL table a spot or two at a time to the point where the fulcrum will finally swing with more fans turning on him, attendances dropping, the protests growing, the press attacking him more regularly with less flip flopping, and eventually he will get in a huff with all of us ungrateful bastards and he will walk out to spite us.
Or he'll be here for the next 5 or 10 years.
Even with all the Negative Press - The Protests - The Excellent Anti-Wenger Publicity etc I have still been Preparing myself for him to stay on for at least another 1 , or most likely 2 years. In the event that he did leave (which I do not believe he will) It would come as a HUGE Shock.
And in preparing for him to stay, I have also been preparing to say 'Goodbye To Arsenal FC', because I know 1,000% I cannot waste any more of my time, energy and emotions on this hopeless situation that will eventually collapse because there are non-football people (The Board) running the club, lead from the front by someone whom I once genuinely admired, but who has become blinded by their past successes and the power he has now been given to do what he likes when he likes.
I am genuinely sad, but know I will be more sad by time all this shite is over and done with, because they have stolen my club, my team and made it something less than a Football Club and Team and more a business that uses football as an excuse to make many, many, many millions of pounds year in year out, even though the methods they are employing are slowly destroying the club ethos and history, all for the sake of Profit.
DB10GOONER wrote:I find it hilarious we still have people excusing Kroenke because "he hasn't been here 13 years". Wow. What a simplistic viewpoint. I'm a manager, and when I move into a new area, the first thing I do is identify the performers and the non-performers - and I get rid of the non-performers (I usually dump them into IT with all the lazy geeks, nerds and virgins ). The fact those non-performers were sitting there doing fuck all or failing at their jobs for 5 or 10 years before I became their manager means fuck all - they go. It's called "best practice". And the vast majority of company owners and managers that want to succeed follow best practice religiously.
The only bit of hope I can take from all this is that this two year deal will be his last - and he mightn't even last the full 2 years. Why? Because he won't change. We will progressivley get worse under him as other teams improve and we will slide down the PL table a spot or two at a time to the point where the fulcrum will finally swing with more fans turning on him, attendances dropping, the protests growing, the press attacking him more regularly with less flip flopping, and eventually he will get in a huff with all of us ungrateful bastards and he will walk out to spite us.
Or he'll be here for the next 5 or 10 years.
Even with all the Negative Press - The Protests - The Excellent Anti-Wenger Publicity etc I have still been Preparing myself for him to stay on for at least another 1 , or most likely 2 years. In the event that he did leave (which I do not believe he will) It would come as a HUGE Shock.
And in preparing for him to stay, I have also been preparing to say 'Goodbye To Arsenal FC', because I know 1,000% I cannot waste any more of my time, energy and emotions on this hopeless situation that will eventually collapse because there are non-football people (The Board) running the club, lead from the front by someone whom I once genuinely admired, but who has become blinded by their past successes and the power he has now been given to do what he likes when he likes.
I am genuinely sad, but know I will be more sad by time all this shite is over and done with, because they have stolen my club, my team and made it something less than a Football Club and Team and more a business that uses football as an excuse to make many, many, many millions of pounds year in year out, even though the methods they are employing are slowly destroying the club ethos and history, all for the sake of Profit.
I feel exactly the same way mate. Well said.
The destroying the club thing is the thing that never gets mentioned in the media when talking about Arsenal. Its all how the club is run the right way, how Wenger has done a great job, worked so hard, shown loyalty and dedication etc. And how he deserves respect because of all this. How is has earned the right to decide when he leaves ffs!
It ignores the damage that Wenger and others have done to the club in recent years. It ignores that 2/3 of Wenger's reign has seen failure on the pitch yet he still seems to believe he has a divine right to manage the club, while the owner is only there to make a profit.
augie wrote:I still think that he is going, but I have to admit that I am not as sure as I was - what that basically translates into, is that I was sure he was leaving before Saturdays win, but now I am shitting myself that the euphoria of the manner of the victory will spare the c.unt
It certainly won't hurt his case, but honestly augie, I think the deal was done months ago and Saturday was only the cream on the cake for Wenger/Kroenke. Even if we had lost 3-0 he'd still be offered, and would sign, a new deal. I am convinced of that, buddy...
When the one man with the power to not offer the deal, and the power to sack him, is not a football man, then you are doomed as a club.
I understand why you say and believe that, but if the deal was done months ago, why has it not been signed and announced yet ? If the c.unt is staying it would have sent a strong message to the players that the c.unt still has the backing of the club and if they don't agree then they will be out, plus it would send a strong message to potential recruits that the guy that is trying to sign them, will be there for at least two years. Business wise (as many of you keep alluding is the priority) it makes zero sense to drag this out as long unless there is no agreement in place that is acceptable to wenker
The one proviso I would add to that, is that it is possible that the club wouldn't announce the deal because of the potential negative impact it would have on the futures of sanchez and ozil
I think the club were genuinely ready to make this announcement at a point between him saying it would be "very soon" and the next good news opportunity. The unfortunate thing for him and them, is that the opportunity never came. Usually we're treated to this good news at the time we go on our annual fly swatting exercise, culminating in the glorious Virtual Trophy......but the likes of West Brom and Palace scuppered that. The next timing point must have been after the cup semi victory against Citeh, but then along came the Scummers a week later and that shameful display at the Shitole.
In past seasons, even though we've had tight scrapes for the top 4, apart from 05/06 we've always been heading towards the last 3 or 4 games with our destiny in our own hands. This year even when we went on the belated run it was perfectly apparent that it wasn't going to be the case and the atmosphere was toxic......so as I've said all along, it will only be when the Be All and End All slips from view that we would even see any willingness to challenge his position. The other saving grace for him for the past decade has been that more often than not our VT exploits involve a last minute collapse from the vermin, and of course that too was scuppered by the end of April.
So sadly for the club they've been waiting for a good news opportunity to come along and it hasn't happened. So, we are now post cup final and I think on the back of his "record breaking achievement" together with all the spin about him knowing what's needed, and investment in "top top super quality", you can expect this week to be Good News Week !
When the dust settles and everyone has come back down to earth it will become apparent that winning the FA Cup will be the worst thing to have ever happened to this club, if he stays that is, which is looking increasingly likely. It has given him massive leverage in his contract negotiations. Wenger was on the ropes in 2014 and the Cup saved his bacon, it's happened again.
MrT wrote:When the dust settles and everyone has come back down to earth it will become apparent that winning the FA Cup will be the worst thing to have ever happened to this club, if he stays that is, which is looking increasingly likely. It has given him massive leverage in his contract negotiations. Wenger was on the ropes in 2014 and the Cup saved his bacon, it's happened again.
Also shows how small fry we are.
At Barcelona, failing to win the league, getting knocked out of the champs league and winning the domestic cup will get you the sack.
At Arsenal, failing to win the league for 13 years, getting regularly humiliated in the champs league and winning a domestic cup is cause for a new £8m+ contract.
We left Highbury for this?
Not sure about the "Stan Kroenke: the worst thing ever to happen to AFC" thread, I actually think in the long run Wenger might well be the worst thing to happen.
Last edited by NickF on Tue May 30, 2017 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
augie wrote:I still think that he is going, but I have to admit that I am not as sure as I was - what that basically translates into, is that I was sure he was leaving before Saturdays win, but now I am shitting myself that the euphoria of the manner of the victory will spare the c.unt
It certainly won't hurt his case, but honestly augie, I think the deal was done months ago and Saturday was only the cream on the cake for Wenger/Kroenke. Even if we had lost 3-0 he'd still be offered, and would sign, a new deal. I am convinced of that, buddy...
When the one man with the power to not offer the deal, and the power to sack him, is not a football man, then you are doomed as a club.
I understand why you say and believe that, but if the deal was done months ago, why has it not been signed and announced yet ? If the c.unt is staying it would have sent a strong message to the players that the c.unt still has the backing of the club and if they don't agree then they will be out, plus it would send a strong message to potential recruits that the guy that is trying to sign them, will be there for at least two years. Business wise (as many of you keep alluding is the priority) it makes zero sense to drag this out as long unless there is no agreement in place that is acceptable to wenker
The one proviso I would add to that, is that it is possible that the club wouldn't announce the deal because of the potential negative impact it would have on the futures of sanchez and ozil
I think the hand they are playing is a classic PR hand of "nothing is wrong here, this is how we do things, all is normal, it's business as usual".
IIRC they have always done his contract extension/new deal when the old deal expires, usually off-season - am I right in thinking that?
I also don't doubt that there was some form of Board level struggle at some point, and this may have impacted the announcement - who really knows? I get the gut feeling that maybe the Board were trying to gently negotiate a different structure with Wenger but without upsetting his Royal Highness God forbid...
imagine if we had someone with some football knowledge on the board...
but oh no we are about to offer a pensioner who has not competed for the title for 13 years and achieved a worst league finish for the club in over 20 years, as well as a 10-2 humiliation in the Champions League a new 2 year contract
Wow. What a simplistic viewpoint. I'm a manager, and when I move into a new area, the first thing I do is identify the performers and the non-performers - and I get rid of the non-performers (I usually dump them into IT with all the lazy geeks, nerds and virgins
). The fact those non-performers were sitting there doing fuck all or failing at their jobs for 5 or 10 years before I became their manager means fuck all - they go. It's called "best practice". And the vast majority of company owners and managers that want to succeed follow best practice religiously.
