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.
Quite possibly Liverpool could win two domestic trophys this season - the Carling Cup and the F.A. Cup and finsih outside the top four in the Prem.
My question is ...............
Would you prefer to win the two domestic cups and have two real trophys in the cabinet while finishing outside the top four, or go another season trophyless except for the virtual trophy that is Champions League qualification?
After today we're back in the mix again and top four is no given so wondered what your thoughts were? I know we'd all prefer to do both but its just a bit of fun and I like doing polls!
If we were to take it as a question for specifically this season, then I'd take the top four finish. Liverpool will be in a huge mess, even if they do win the FA Cup. Top four helps to secure the financial stability of the club and ensures we have pulling power in the transfer market, it takes a quality team to finish in the top four, whereas any team can win a trophy (Birmingham last season). Anyone who would sacrifice long term stability for short term glory is a little misguided in my opinion.
It is the hallmark of a small club who regard winning a Carling Cup as a successful season. An elite club needs to be playing in the Champions League and challenging for the title, not swanning around in 7th with the occasional Wembley semi final.
Last edited by Rosicky's Right Boot on Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Even though the money generated by being in the CL is a must for any club can anybody actually envisage us ever winning the CL.We hear the whole time from wenger that we have been in the CL FOR 15/16 seasons in a row and thts an achievement,but for all those years we have only got to 1 final and lost it.I can never see us winning the CL so basically we only finish top 4 for the money and maybe to attract a better type of player.
Now if we could have won both cups and qualified in top 4, to me that would have been a good season.
I voted for the trophys.
Its most definitely not short-termism as has been suggested. 7 trophyless years is long-term ffs.
We should be in this to be winners, not also-rans picking up a fat cheque and a pat on the back for Wenger for finishing top four every season.
Give the fans a day out at Wembley, something to brag about, a bit of pride. Give the players the winning feeling that they've never had with Arsenal (cept RVP). We'd be winners again - as it should be. A club like Arsenal back to winning ways will still attract quality players
Thered be a different feeling about the club. The Wenger Out brigade would be silenced. The FA Cup back at Arsenal eh? I'll take it.
Had Wenger not persued his doomed "project" so vigorously these past 5 or so years I genuinely believe we'd have won something. And there would be no Wenger Out Brigade. We'd all be AKB's still. But sadly whats done is done.
If your question boils down to do you want a Kenny or an Arsene, i'll take the Arsene!
However, I guess you're asking about the long term. The FA cup winning manager would eventually lose his job or the club would go bankrupt. What we need is a manager who can build a team capable of winning all the competitions, sometimes missing out on a cup or 2, but getting to semis , and always finishing in the top four top 4.
I'd like everyone who voted for the top four option to come back and post what their greatest days were as an Arsenal fan. Was it that heroic season when we scraped fourth but won fuck all ?
My eldest son is 11 and I first took him when he'd just turned five and he is waiting for that trophy feeling that most of us had when we were kids.
When I was growing up as a kid I remember that excited schoolkid feeling when Alan Sunderland scored the winner to beat Man United in 1979, and for at least one day, I could walk the walk with the odious Mickeys supporting kids in South London, because my team had won something. That feeling of excitement has never left me - my first "I was there" trophy moment when Charlie scrambled it past Grobbelaar at Wembley in '87, and everything we ever won since
Those days are all still my fondest memories of being a Gooner. I can't even remember where we finished in those seasons but we certainly weren't playing European Cup football. All this top four stuff has taken away from the sheer fan pleasure of winning things, and even now as a miserable middle-aged fart, I'd still be as excited about an FA Cup win at Wembley as I was when I was six.
This is a real dilemma for me......when I look at the scousers I find it hilarious how their season has panned out and would def class it as a failure but on the other hand they could finish with 2 trophies.
Steve O has per usual summed up how us "oldies" would view things coming from the days pre sky and pre cl football. Finishing top 4 and going into a competition that we have never won and are getting further away from winning it with each passing year serves no other purpose except financial gain. Being 15 years in the cl hasnt helped keep henry, cesc, clichy or the citeeh lesbo as all these players left to win medals and as a fan I can understand that. That money pouring into the club hasnt enticed one proven top quality player into the club in those 15 years and if anything, all that money has managed to do is make our average players very rich men so is that income such a good thing ?
For me I would take the two cups over the 4th place finish and if by doing so it means that we will lose rvp and a couple of other players then so be it - the clubs is our's and isnt there merely to pad the resume's of players looking for the prestige of playing in the champs league
If we are not in the Champions League, we will find it harder to attract and retain top players, and our spending power will decrease.
Quartz, we've been in it for 14 years buddy and we never sign top players and certainly don't retain our best ones in recent years
Whats the point of constantly qualifying for a tournament we have no ambition to win.
Think about how much worse it would be if we finished fifth
I do not consider that we have had no ambition to win the CL for 14 years, 2006 showed ambition.
But why more of our cash reserves are not spent on players is a USMartin style argument and we have been there ad infinitum.
AUGIE
Yes I celebrated like crazy in 79 when we beat Man Utd, but to be honest now I do not think i would get too excited by a domestic cup unless we beat one of our main rivals in the final.
Have said this on here before, but I remember in 93 after the FA Cup Final replay feeling happy, but also as if we had only won the consolation prize, because we were so far off challenging for the league title.
QuartzGooner wrote:
Have said this on here before, but I remember in 93 after the FA Cup Final replay feeling happy, but also as if we had only won the consolation prize, because we were so far off challenging for the league title.
Some consolation.It led to us winning a European trophy the following year.in recent years both Fergie and Mourinho both won the Carling cup.if it was good enough for great managers like them to win domestic cups why not us?
I understand why the club want top 4 but as a fan i want to win things and get no excitment from a top 4 finish. The only recent exciment has been caused by our chase and overtaking of the scum, which might no go tits up
