Our dear CEO said today that we could still compete financially if we missed out on being in the Champions League in the coming season. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15208498.stm? Really Ivan? We could probably cope I suppose with something in the region of £100+m in the TPA fund and there is that development on Queensland Road but I wonder if our focus is not quite on the sporting front since he went on to say - Since when have we set our sights low as not to aim for European participation and to find being out of the CL to be acceptable. Plan for the worse perhaps but it doesn't sound like he even looks to working towards the club being competitive. Yes there is money to be made from property deals but have we as a result of these other pursuits, taken our eye off the ball? Here is a counter argument to Mr Gazidis http://football-talk.co.uk/42555/ivan-gazidis-is-a-clown…/? What do you think pals?
Even Ivan has seen how **** our defence is. He is planning for a failure which you must come to accept of the current board.
Gazidis is making a fool of himself getting involved with footballing issues involving the club.He should stick to the money making side which in all fairness he is doing quite well
I point to the difference between two seasons and two transfer markets that sum up the board. 2009 - January transfer window: In this season we where in a battle with Villa for a top 4 spot and we lost Fabregas to an injury so we went and got Arshavin. A player that was on the wrong side of 20 and a player that expects good wages. We paid £12 million plus for him and to be fair to him he went and done the business and we got into the top 4. 2011- January, transfer window: This season we are actually playing well and are well and truly in the title race. But, we are a CB down and have soon found out that the back up is ****. We need a new CB badly but the board and even Wenger refuse to act and the rest is history. We where safe in the top 4 so they did not react like they did 2 years ago. Top 4 was everything for the club post the Emirates. So if we fail this time, surely the board have no other moves other then to spend and spend well in order to get back to where they love to be? This gives me hope for next year, with or without Wenger. Money will be spent so we can back on that gravy train because that is our number one aim before a season starts.
Does anyone know who brought him into the club? He came around the time Kroenke acquired his shareholding but I don't think he came via Kroenke. Cheers pals
Ken Friar took over from Dein temporarily and the job was advertised.Gazidis applied and was given the job,it was only a couple of years ago
Getting into the top 4 year after year has made everyone lazy at Arsenal. Instead of kicking on and improving the team, they've instead been happy with getting into Champs league and reaping the rewards.
That's not what he said at all, that's you paraphrasing him with your own agenda attached. If you think Arsenal aren't aiming for European participation, then you really don't understand the ambitions of this club. Gazidis' job is CEO, therefore it would be negligent for him not to plan for contingency. What else is he supposed to do? 'We've got no plan B and it's essential that we play in the Champions League for the financial survival of this club' ? Then you could rightly be concerned that he's not doing his job properly. But to lambast him for this just smacks of trying to scapegoat someone for our poor results on the pitch.
The business model has always said we don't need CL football to survive, I think the finances may have planned for missing CL spot every 4th season. The bigger issue if we do miss a CL spot as many have said, will be retaining our best players and attempting to attract better players to the club. Difficult to say how good the likes of Oxo and Frimpong will be but in Chesney, TV (when fit) Jack and RVP we have the backbone of an outstanding team, so it's not all doom and gloom.....
How unsurprising that you should come out and accuse me of having an agenda when almost each and every time I or some of our members voice an opinion that is contrary to yours, you instantly appear to counter us and this time with not exactly a subtle personal remark. You've certainly shown you have an agenda here. On a previous thread a few weeks back you assured me when I asked if I could continue to voice an opinion if I felt it necessary about our problems and your reply then was that of course I could since I was the guardian of my own thoughts. Clearly you have demonstrated that this is hardly the case.
I was thinking earlier this morning that what Gazidis had to say should concern us all. First he hinted that we were not going to spend big in the January transfer window. Then he follows this in saying that the CL was not necessarily as important as we make it out to be and backs it up as though to offer an appeasement that we are financially strong on our own and have no need of participation in the CL. Why I am fearful of his remarks is because in announcing that the CL was not a priority, Arsenal FC are saying to the world and especially top players who wish to play in the CL that we may not be the club that ought to be their destination. This in turn is supported by his first statement that we may not buy big in January. More in today's Independent my friends- -http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/arsenal-will-not-be-panicked-into-spending-2366613.html? How far have our ambitions fallen under this man and his new regime
The business model has always centred on paying off the stadium loan. Everything else is secondary.That means Wenger is entrusted to focus on the team doing as well (!) as possible with limited budget. He clearly has won any dispute on spending on the most attractive youth signings. This form of asset has 2 things going for it - firstly playing success should follow, and second the transfer value ought to appreciate. Up to the last couple of seasons Wenger has been able to achieve success in spades. However now that the best players are choosing to move on in pursuit of either titles or money, the 'succession plan' on players has been found wanting. With the dreadful end to last season and now a bad start, Wenger has to face up to criticism that is being heaped on him. The Board will stand by him because the business model is in place.
Do you remember what happend to Leeds when they spent big because they thought they could rely on CL money.
Cym, I'm not saying that we should not have a back up or go all out irrespective of the consequences. It's good business practice. We all remember Portsmouth only too well. However, the signal this message sends out could very well mean that we remain a mid-table side that relies on the nurturing of young players who will eventually leave us for bigger clubs where in company with other top players, they are likely to win something before they retire. I truly fear we may lose RvP before too long. At 28 or 29, his chances of silverware with us must be so very limited when he looks out and sees all the possibilities beyond the gates of the Emirates. He has been very loyal to us and we to him but I could not fault him if he wanted to leave for the opportunity to win something before he has to hang up his boots. If he goes, who then and when that happens, who will come? The money men we have brought into this club have their own agenda and that to me sadly places the sporting element to one side. Sure we'll have the property developments. Yes they will bring in a lot of cash and in those terms we won't need to rely on the CL. But if we fail to concentrate on the sporting side including to continue to aim for the CL, we will not enhance this team and keep it in the elite of the game. We will become a selling club. Rich perhaps but mid-table and known for spotting talents, nurturing and then selling them. Will that not sadden you?
From what i've read all Gazidis has said is that financially the club does not have to be reliant on CL money.Personally i would rather him say that than say that the club will be in financial **** if we don't qualify
I think you may have misunderstood my comments, you do have an agenda, we all do, that's no bad thing. And it's no bad thing if we differ. Gazidis didn't say that we weren't aiming for European participation, setting our sights low or not being competitive That's where you added your own slant on things. And of course, you or anyone can voice their opinion about our problems / or perceived problems. I would expect that premise to apply to anyone. So don't act like the wounded party when someone else chooses to differ with your view - i.e. in this case - me.
Well let's hope we have a club that will continue to challenge for honours and with the team to do so Cym. It will make all your trips from Wales worthwhile
