Manure v Arsenal

[highburyJD]

seriously? from what source...

[Dan_85]

Howard Webb.. why am I not surprised
we are so, so,

Mike Dean will ref the match.

[highburyJD]

Mike Dean normally goes with the underdog - we have a terrible record with him as ref
(one win in around a dozen I think) but that's mostly v poor opposition

[Nick Bendtners Ego]

To get anything outta this we're going to need Mr.Genie from lamp to referee this one
Coupled with the three wishes of course. They would have to be;
1) clean sheet
2) a Giroud hatrick (ok the tooth fairy migh have to blow the Genie first for this one)
3) A certain Duthchman getting carted off with an injury that sees him out until the corresponding game in April.

Here's wishing......

[highburyJD]

I feel we're underrated, just like we were before last season's trip to the Bridge

[Henry Norris 1913]

I feel we're underrated, just like we were before last season's trip to the Bridge

yeah, that one game we were underated, for the period after that match and our next defeat, we were back to invincible quality according to some

[Metalheadz Gooner]

I feel we're underrated, just like we were before last season's trip to the Bridge

yeah, that one game we were underated, for the period after that match and our next defeat, we were back to invincible quality according to some

Slight difference is now they have our former best player playing upfront and we have nothing.

[highburyJD]

and it was this time of year - after Chelski win we were on good form all the way till the New Year
I left the country for extended hols and we crumbled horribly

[the playing mantis]

and what did that win at the bridge ultimately acheive, same old same old, just enough for the club to claim they dont need to do anything drastic, and claim we are almost there...

i want us to win all the time, i really do, however i have reached the stage where i believe the only possible way things will ever change from the perpetual groundhog day of just being happy with and competing for 4th place, and the club using all the realistic resources available to them to try and win, is for the situation to get worse than it is now. only something serious will cause a/kroenke to f off and or b/AW to gracefully f off and not taint his reputation further, and take up a position with france/psg.

if we carry on bumbling along, which is the best this squad can do, we will just have stan siting happy and aw handed an extension an experience the same thing for another 5 years.

as for our standing in the world jd, im sure its been reported we are one of the best supported clubs internationally definetely top 10. i think this would be more important to sponsors, go anywhere in europe and we are well known an often have supporters club, only united and l'pool are similar.

[highburyJD]

hope you're right...
IMO our position is much more tenuous that.

Irrespective 2014 is an absolutely key moment in the history of Arsenal football club
it makes sense for us to have an expensive corporate team in place if they can get just a few % extra on our sponsorship deals
even for Wenger haters, a flukey trophy (coupled with the CL qualifying 'trophy' of course) could not come at a better time

This is about building a sustainable substantial budget for the next generation
Wenger's never been a big money manager anyway - I think its actually easier for him to retire/move on after a trophy

beating ManUre could give us the belief that is possible
(as you say the Chelski bounce did not last long enough...)

[the playing mantis]

not sure about the commercial team, read swiss ramble, the figures they have helped generate thus far are damning, really really poor, and in most companies these people would have been fired for not meeting targets.

i have my doubts they are capable.

likewise on swiss ramble our wages went up 38% since 09, that is shocking truly shocking. overall our growth figures ar awful since IG and the super duper corporate team have come on board. we are only solvent thru player slaes and property development. take them out and we are seriously fooked, simply because this sustainable model is a fallacy and a myth as if it were truly sustainable it would not rely on property or player trading, it would be pure operating profit.

[highburyJD]

selling all our top earners + combined with our overpriced mid level earners contracts running out
must mean our wage bill is about to drop?
commercial team I called 'expensive' not good - let's see how they do in 2014...

[northbank123]

I'd fucking hope it's about to drop given that it's gone up about 50% in 5 years and we have a weaker squad now. Wouldn't hold your breath though.

[highburyJD]

top earners 2 years ago: Cesc, vanStaplecunt, Na$ri
tier below Song, Clichy, Denilson, Eboue, Bendtner, Almunia

all those basically gone added Podolski, Mertesacker, Arteta, Giroud, Park and Santos

still got Arshavin, Verminator, Kos, Sagna, Diaby and Rosicky earning decent money
expect Chamakh to go - sounds like a big drop...

[northbank123]

top earners 2 years ago: Cesc, vanStaplecunt, Na$ri
tier below Song, Clichy, Denilson, Eboue, Bendtner, Almunia

all those basically gone added Podolski, Mertesacker, Arteta, Giroud, Park and Santos

still got Arshavin, Verminator, Kos, Sagna, Diaby and Rosicky earning decent money
expect Chamakh to go - sounds like a big drop...

To me that shows that we aren't going to cut wages when we finally have this clear-out that's never going to come. Fact is, we have lost our top earners one by one over the last few years yet we've still managed to increase wages at an alarming rate. We'll always find somebody within to promote to a long-term contract on inflated wages.

It's almost as though we have this mentality where we're going to spend x on wages, regardless of whether it gives us a title-winning squad or a Europa League squad. As you said we got rid of our top earners, and in their place signed the likes of Arteta for a pay cut from Everton, Podolski from German relegation fodder and Giroud from a club where the chairman baulks at the mere notion of paying a player anything like £30k/w. Yet the wage bill is still spiralling.

To take one example, I wonder what Ignasi Miquel earns? The likes of Gervinho, Park, Chamakh, Bendtner, Ramsey and pretty much all our squad players are on far more than anyone else would pay them (if they'd pay them at all). The only players who we arguably underpay are key players like Arteta (not sure what Cazorla and a few others earn).

We need a complete review of awarding contracts at all levels within the club. Our current policy is suicide and all this smug bollocks about self-sustainability is meaningless when you look at the fact we made a substantial operating loss last year.