augie wrote:Red Carpet I have just a couple of points in response to your last post -
1. I did not mean to imply that us attracting a sponsor is dependent on success but what I did say is that our asking price will surely being dropping after 4 barren seasons ? When we were winning the leagues we were high profile and everybody wanted to be linked with the club so the club could set their own asking prices for any sponsorship deal - now in our current prediciment the demand to sponsor us from companies will not be as high and to attract these sponsors we will have to reduce our demands cos telling them about the great young players, the spirit we have etc etc will not wash
2. Fans have no right to success and you are 100% right when you say this. However I believe what is really galling for the fans is that a lot of us feel we are not doing enough in a bid to be successful and that is unacceptable. That there has been a transfer profit in each of the last 4 seasons (pre arshavin) is testament to the fact that we are simply not investing anywhere near an adequate amount in quality playing staff. That we allowed 3 midfielders to leave a small squad last summer and only bring in one replacement is seen by the fans as the manager and club doing enough to make us competitive. The really big crux of the matter for a lot of fans is that most believe that wenger will not change his transfer policies even if he has an unlimited transfer budget at his disposal
I think that fans also have a right to be irked when they look at the clubs wage bill being one of the highest in the league (2nd or 3rd I think?) and you look at the quality of the squad and wonder where is it being spent
Then you add the fact that there are way too many players earning way above their ability status and you watch them in matches and it simply has to piss fans off
We all have a pop at greedybayor's refusal to earn his wages and rightly so but there are a lot more players in that squad being over-paid for what they are doing for this club
I think in terms of attracting sponsorship, players and all the things associated with success fall into two very basic camps.
Those that qualify for the Champions League
Those that don't.
In my opinion (I don't know this for fact) when a player is weighing up your club as a potential destination he has two criteria.
1. Are they playing CL football.
2. Will they meet my pay demands.
Only a few clubs can actually win silverware in a season and no one can guarentee that so its not a realistic criteria to judge a team by.
You are clearly concerned (as are many others) that our future is being threatened by a lack of on field success.
Only this week we played in the CL semi final ??? ... further than Liverpool, AC Milan, Juve, Inter, Bayern and Real Madrid ??.
Arguably flirting with 5th place is a worry, but I am confident that we will have a top four finish next season, we are unbeaten in over 20 league games remember. Lets face it, the rest of the league is sh*te !!.
Of course we all want the team to do better, but I personally feel the current pressure on the manager is unrealistic at this time, when we are clearly trying to balance on field success with paying for a new stadium.
I do share your concern with some of the worrying signs on the pitch. The manager has clearly made some mistakes with formations and selections and I see a worrying lack of commitment and work ethic on occasions. We do lack a few leaders.
A few astute signings in the summer would make a huge difference don't you think ??, especially when you see the impact Arshavin has had. That can't have escaped the managers notice.
In short, we just need to manage our expectations a little.
not anymore
great fucking post Flash 
