My post says that their current wage bill doesn't look too bad, if they get rid of Bendtner. I don't think I commented on their transfer policy? Do you mean Superman's post?
Bendtner, Chamakh and Djourou are still on the Arsenal pay-roll are they not? And if you're updating the list for this season then surely some of those wages will have increased over the summer as well
Yes, although Djourou is on loan at Hamburg and the other two are heavily linked with loan moves. As I said,these loans probbly don't ompletely cover wages,but it will still look healthier. Only if players have signed new contracts will their wages have gone up over the summer. Chances ar this will be the good players so won't look too bad. My list was a speculative assessment of what it might look like at the end of this window. I maintain that Arsenal are not poorly run!
In the context of their respective turnovers, yes, but I think it's probably worse - as pointed out above, Arsenal have a policy of a low distribution of wages, and you can see that most first teamers are on a similar figure (though I imagine this will steadily become less and less the case). The horrific thing about QPR's wage bill was that it would have had "big name" players on £80 odd thousand a week and decent players like Jamie Mackie on, at best, £20kpw. It's no wonder the latter handed in a transfer request...
As I understand it, the so-called "Socialist" wage structure at Arsenal is similar to a grade-based salary scheme, with age also factored in. I imagine this is a policy favoured by Wenger (with his French Socialist roots) and explains why big-ego players like Ashley Cole and Nasri leave for clubs like Chelsea and Man City. The relatively high wages paid to players of relatively lesser quality reflects the fact that the upper end of the pay scale has to be set high enough to allow some degree of competition in the transfer market. To my mind, the existence of this wage structure, and the quite severe cap on the high end of the scale, makes Wenger's reign at Arsenal even more remarkable. I realise that people who think trophies are all that count will disagree, but as Norwich supporters we are familiar with living on hope rather than expectation and if we had football of the quality that Arsenal usually provide to watch every week I'd say most of us would settle for it.
I find it impossible to disagree with you Robbie - Arsenal have been an incredibly well run Club. They have managed to find the money to build and pay for a massive new stadium whilst Wenger has managed to maintain a supply of talented youngsters playing the game the way it should be played. I accept that they have not won a trophy for some time but always qualify for the Champions League which is far more beneficial financially to the Club. He is now in a position to spend big money without pushing the Club into debt and all of this without having to take the money of some dodgy Russian or Arab billionaire. I hate Suarez as a person but it is a long time since I have seen a more talented, versatile and clinical striker and I firmly believe that if Wenger could get Suarez and Fabregas, who would love to return to Arsenal, they would strongly challenge for all trophies next year. The thought of a midfield hub of Carzola, Wiltshire and Fabregas supplying a constant stream of through balls to Suarez makes my mouth water. Somebody said that we could get 10 Gary Hoopers for £50m - true but the difference is that 10 Gary Hoopers wouldn't move us far up the table - Luis Suarez could mean that Arsenal win the league.
1950canary. And you don't HAVE to try and disagree with me EVERY time! I do find though that I am pretty much a lone voice with my plaudits for Arsenal, and Wenger. The sniping and ridicule they endure, and the dismissive "haven't won anything for x years" mantra are unjustified. Also, Wenger is immensely loyal to his players, (even to those like Toure who abandoned ship for Man City and then got into trouble; Wenger was the first to get on the phone to him and help him over it). If some of the more high profile leavers had shown him half the loyalty he shows to them, Arsenal would have been challenging for the title year on year.
Count yourself as a lone voice no longer Robbie - I agree with everything you say on Arsenal. Your point about player loyalty is well made and that is why I think Fabregas will return. Several players, including Henry and Fabregas, have said that they would only move back to the Premier League to play for Arsenal and, like Henry, I think Fabregas means it. I also wonder whether some of the players who did leave, such as Nasri and Toure, look back and, despite the increase in their bank balance, think ' I wish I had stayed where I was '
Well, they claimed that they were moving to win something, which they have now done. But they might well have done that with Arsenal had they stayed. When you look at Adebayor, for example, it is hard to imagine that he has no regrets. He left the family and is now friendless, a wasted talent wanted by no-one, loaned out to anyone who will take him. Incidentally, I can imagine Wenger relishing the idea of managing the miscreant Suarez, a challenge similar to the one he took on with the young Van Persie.
