Are we the Arsenal of the north?

- Signing youth
- Favouring French players
- Tend to sell players at a profit
- Haven't won a trophy in 5 years (FA Cup/Intertoto)
- Attempt to play attractive football but often lose concentration
- Have large stadiums that regularly are close to capacity
- Have fans who moan about not spending enough on players
- Stick to a wage cap
- Both want Gervinho
- Both have recently been relegated from the top fli- nevermind. <blush>


Compared to how the club used to be run, much like Man City is now (spend spend spend spend spend spend), how many people actually LIKE how Mike Ashley is running the club (whilst still reserving the right to hate him as a person)?

I feel that without panic buying, focusing on team morale and looking ahead to the future that we are going to be in a really strong position a few years down the line, running with hardly any debt whilst still being competitive.

 

I count the Championship as a trophy but hey, I'd love to be Arsenal (as long as we keep moving forward)

 

You've left this out:

- Barcelona have been after our best player for a few seasons but Shola doesn't want to leave

Now we can state that we are essentially the Arsenal of the North and if Pardew denies seeing things then we're 100% there.

 

Now we just need a French manager with very similar name to the club...

 

we're not Arsenal, we beat barca.

 

We are more like Arsenal Lite.

Up front, the Gunners have Arshavin, Chamaq, Van Persie, Walcott and it looks like Gervinho. At present, we have Best, Shola, Loverhands and Ranger. Pardon me for being underwhelmed.

 

Forgetting the Arsenal analogies for the moment and focusing on your main question.

Yes I like the way the club is being run at the moment (but don't particularly like MA the man and haven't forgiven him for some of his mistakes yet).

Like you I have great optimism regarding our future finances and profitability and genuinely think that along with Arsenal we are pioneering the sensible approach to financial control in the EPL. I think that by taking a lead on this we will see benefits and gain some measure of advantage over our rivals at some time down the line.

 

What about Ba with HBA playing just off him?

If you are going to include Arshavin, Walcott and Gervinho, then you should include HBA and Marveaux as they are similar players.

 

This

Hopefully we will start playing a better style of football this season, cos in some of the games last year we we ****e.

 

and ba

 

I'm confident that the way the club is being run at the moment can lead to long term stability which is what the club has needed for years now. Still don't trust Mike Ashley but you have to think if he gets what he wants (a successful, profitable business) then the fans will have a successful club to support.

 

Yeah. Let's face it we have a long way to go on the field before we can start to honestly compare ourselves to Arsenal. But the youth and overseas scouting policy should help in that regard too.

For me it is more important that we have a plan both on and off the field and appear to be sticking to it. We have direction and are heading in the right way. I think we have alot to be optimistic about.

 

I agree, for the first time in years we seem to have a clear and coherent policy on recruitment and the general direction in which the club is going. As much as I still dislike Ashley and do not trust the man, the policies that are now in place make sense.

 

When we're 'missing out' on the big signings we have to be realistic and appreciate that getting back to the 'big time' is a massive project and there is no quick fix to it. Arsenal are moving on slowly (compared to their direct rivals) and I feel adopting their approach is the best option. Some fans seem to be craving another big Michael Owen signing so we can 'compete with the top clubs' but at the moment it looks like our policy is gradually improving the squad which even this early in the transfer window, I feel we have done.

It may not be as exciting as the days of spending every penny we had (and then some) but it's the way forward, especially with financial sustainability being monitored by the powers that be.

 

Boo.

Arsenal are a club going backwards IMO.

We do not want to be like them.

 

I don't want past it marquee signings like Owen or Kluivert like we used to sign. On the other hand, we need better quality than we presently have up front, to back up Ba in the event that his knee problems flare up again during the course of a long and arduous PL season.

All the good players tend to go at the beginning of the Summer transfer window, and I don't want us to miss the boat, by being a liitle too conscious of the need to do "good business". Look at the big picture, and recognise that a season struggling in the bottom half ot the table does not represent "good business" especially when it comes to trying to sign new players in subsequent transfer windows, as well as trying to persuade players nearing the ends of the contracts to sign new ones.

For good players these days the world is their oyster. They will either sign for clubs that offer stupid wages, or those who have good prospects of European success in the foreseeable future.

 

The Arsenal of 3years ago? when they looked likely to be going places maybe?

 

Totally agree. Unfortunately though there are going to be some amongst the Toon faithful, just as there are at Arsenal, who will never understand this approach and will always be against it. It will be interesting to see whether the FIFA regs actually impact the league enough to give proof as to the correctness of this approach.

 

I was tempted to title this article 'Are we the new Arsenal?' but I think the Mackem icantdetectsarcasm-o-meter would explode if I did.