Happier at Highbury?

[northbank123]

Considering the way the stadium has been financed: fleecing the fans, ensuring consistent profits on player transfers despite the squad clearly needing strengthening and by committing ourselves to long-term commercial contracts that create a huge deficit with clubs like United and leave us fighting with the likes of Spurs: I often feel bitter at our move.

I appreciate that it's a fantastic stadium and was needed to bring us in line with European superpowers and that we were always going to be limited by Highbury's capacity but when nostalgia gets the better of painful reality I like to imagine us still at our spiritual home and winning things.

[safcftm]

Considering the way the stadium has been financed: fleecing the fans, ensuring consistent profits on player transfers despite the squad clearly needing strengthening and by committing ourselves to long-term commercial contracts that create a huge deficit with clubs like United and leave us fighting with the likes of Spurs: I often feel bitter at our move.

I appreciate that it's a fantastic stadium and was needed to bring us in line with European superpowers and that we were always going to be limited by Highbury's capacity but when nostalgia gets the better of painful reality I like to imagine us still at our spiritual home and winning things.

Until your board start spending the extra money that the Emirates is raising I'd imagine most fans would be pissed off- at Highbury you were still good enough to go undefeated for a whole league season and you could compete in Europe (it was your last season there that you got to the final wasnt it?). Since the move things on the pitch havent improved but the money making potential for the shareholders has gone through the roof. Mind having said that in the current climate, 3rd does represent a decent finish regardless of the lack of spending, major changes wont happen unless you drop into a liverpool type position

[Dan_85]

Highbury symbolised everything that was Arsenal. It was beautiful, elegant, classy & was rich with history and tradition. The bowl is nothing more than a machine built to generate income. That would be a little easier to tolerate if said income was actually going back into the team.

How ironic that we left Highbury to "compete with Europe's elite" and we're now dicing with the Europa League almost every year.

[ThomasMitchell]

Highbury symbolised everything that was Arsenal. It was beautiful, elegant, classy & was rich with history and tradition. The bowl is nothing more than a machine built to generate income. That would be a little easier to tolerate if said income was actually going back into the team.

How ironic that we left Highbury to "compete with Europe's elite" and we're now dicing with the Europa League almost every year.

^^^This one million percent.

[QuartzGooner]

I truly believe we had to move, or else end up a nostalgic club such as Everton or Fulham.

The non spending on players was initially linked to the new stadium directly.

Now it is my opinion that the board are trying to limit spending, so that cash in the bank offsets the stadium bonds.
They are being prudent in a deep recession.

Wenger is happy to spend carefully too, allowing him to develop youth players, and he is by nurture a careful spender - stories of his childhood suggest that.
I guess he felt burnt by the relative failures of big money signings Reyes and Arshavin.

Thing is, I am convinced just a little more spending than of late could reap strong dividends on the pitch, and as a result, off it too.

As can retaining less mediocre players on supposedly high wages, and better defensive coaching.

[Herd]

Said it loud and long we should have never left we were making good money @ Highbury and increasing the capacity to let more corporates and cuntz in wasn't needed .
My argument then was thet we were making 20/30 million profit clear per annum and this would rise over the years .
Regardless of who is or was right we are at the bowl and there we will stay ,but to call it a great stadium is a bit rich.
The lifts upstairs are slow and overcrowded the view from anything above club level is shit and the exits are too small downstairs meaning you cant see the match as *word censored* invariably leave to get the shit F+B or to rush out the stadium to go home 20 mins before the end.

Quite apart from anything else Highbury was one of the "constants" in my life ,I used to pass it everyday for many years on the way to school or work ,I would find excuses to drive past it ,Ive changed house,schools,girlfriends,jobs wives and continents,but Highbury was always there .
When I saw it being pulled down piece by piece it was like losing a favorite relative !

[LDB]

Considering the way the stadium has been financed: fleecing the fans, ensuring consistent profits on player transfers despite the squad clearly needing strengthening and by committing ourselves to long-term commercial contracts that create a huge deficit with clubs like United and leave us fighting with the likes of Spurs: I often feel bitter at our move.

I appreciate that it's a fantastic stadium and was needed to bring us in line with European superpowers and that we were always going to be limited by Highbury's capacity but when nostalgia gets the better of painful reality I like to imagine us still at our spiritual home and winning things.

Until your board start spending the extra money that the Emirates is raising I'd imagine most fans would be pissed off- at Highbury you were still good enough to go undefeated for a whole league season and you could compete in Europe (it was your last season there that you got to the final wasnt it?). Since the move things on the pitch havent improved but the money making potential for the shareholders has gone through the roof. Mind having said that in the current climate, 3rd does represent a decent finish regardless of the lack of spending, major changes wont happen unless you drop into a liverpool type position

Im not sure exactly how much more revenue the bowl generates but our wage bill is £50million higher then it was in 2004

http://abehnisch.com/arsenal-wage-bill-history/

[northbank123]

Im not sure exactly how much more revenue the bowl generates but our wage bill is £50million higher then it was in 2004

http://abehnisch.com/arsenal-wage-bill-history/

We somehow have a 'wage structure' that prevents us from offering top dollar to attract world class players yet ensures that we spend not far off United (especially considering bonus payments for winning trophies) due to paying £50k (allegedly) to the likes of Djourou, Almunia and Bendtner.

[terry henry]

If we start winning again no one will moan about the stadium. Easier to have fond memories of highbury because we actually won stuff when we were there.

[Herd]

If we start winning again no one will moan about the stadium. Easier to have fond memories of Highbury because we actually won stuff when we were there.

Many years of nothing there too ,but it was home !

[Dan_85]

The lifts upstairs are slow and overcrowded

Excellent.

[northbank123]

If we start winning again no one will moan about the stadium. Easier to have fond memories of highbury because we actually won stuff when we were there.

The point is that there appears to be a link between the stadium move and the fact we're not challenging for anything.

[REB]

If we start winning again no one will moan about the stadium. Easier to have fond memories of highbury because we actually won stuff when we were there.

The point is that there appears to be a link between the stadium move and the fact we're not challenging for anything.

only because the players we have now are no where good enough compared to the last few seasons at highbury, we all loved highbury and standing on the northbank compared to sitting in an overpriced seat in the northbank upper is not the same by a long shot but if we stayed at highbury we wouldnt get near top 4 because the money we make now is much greater and yes i know top 4 isnt winning anything but i believe in time when the stadium is paid for and a new manager comes in we will be .

[northbank123]

only because the players we have now are no where good enough compared to the last few seasons at highbury, we all loved highbury and standing on the northbank compared to sitting in an overpriced seat in the northbank upper is not the same by a long shot but if we stayed at highbury we wouldnt get near top 4 because the money we make now is much greater and yes i know top 4 isnt winning anything but i believe in time when the stadium is paid for and a new manager comes in we will be .

I'm pretty sure we'd have been able to do better than a £48m transfer surplus if we'd have stayed, which is what we've garnered since our move. I personally am not particularly happy about paying the highest prices in Europe to watch the club not reinvest any of it, sell our best players and slip further and further away from winning trophies because 15 years later when we've paid off the move we'll be able to compete with the best (if we're still on their radar).

[Jock Gooner]

The Emirates.....it's like paying for a first class flight with BA and turning up only to find an aeroflot plane!!!