Official Gooners Thread - A New Hope

[Main Street]

After 27 games, Arsenal are only 2 points behind last season's mark and 3 points closer to Spurs.
The Van Persie effect was overrated.

[ziggy90]

On this day two years ago (not the actual date) approximately 50,000 Birmingham fans went to London for a day out, they left there as happy as they could ever hope to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Q_2MaS3Wo

Then the club went tits up.

[Dinny Breen]

After 27 games, Arsenal are only 2 points behind last season's mark and 3 points closer to Spurs.
The Van Persie effect was overrated.

But where would they be if he was still playing for Arsenal, challenging?

[Main Street]

That's fantasy football Dinny.
Van Persie has moved on, looks the better player for it and Man U are a much better team for having him. He got the credit for keeping Arsenal in the top 3 last season, from those who couldn't find it in their hearts to give Wenger his due credit.
He's not with Arsenal in this troubled season, yet Wenger has Arsenal in very similar position, in what matters, the league.
The proof will be in the position at the end of the season.
I doubt if the Podolski gamble has paid the expected dividend but I haven't seen enough of his games.
I'd say you can look forward to better signings and lasting a bit longer than 6 minutes in the last 16 of next year's CL.

[ONeill]

Yes but this time last year Arsenal won 7 out of the next 8 games as well as watching Spurs crash and burn. If he does that again he truly wears a magic hat.

Also, you can see the year on year deterioration of overall quality in the football.

[Dinny Breen]

That's fantasy football Dinny.
Van Persie has moved on, looks the better player for it and Man U are a much better team for having him. He got the credit for keeping Arsenal in the top 3 last season, from those who couldn't find it in their hearts to give Wenger his due credit.
He's not with Arsenal in this troubled season, yet Wenger has Arsenal in very similar position, in what matters, the league.
The proof will be in the position at the end of the season.
I doubt if the Podolski gamble has paid the expected dividend but I haven't seen enough of his games.
I'd say you can look forward to better signings and lasting a bit longer than 6 minutes in the last 16 of next year's CL.

Podolski, Giroud Cazorla and now Monreal were good buys and having the Dutch sulk would have given Arsenal better options, of course it's all hypothetical and it really is Arsenal's defensive structure that's the main problem. I think as you hint that Wenger will learn from this season but with Spurs developing, the Manchester machine looking relentless and the 2 oil clubs not to mention a possible resurgent Liverpool will it be enough to keep him beyond the end of next season.

[ONeill]

Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and now Monreal were good buys

I'd hold fire on that. Unable to break down Bradford and Blackburn.

[T Fearon]

There will be no Spurs meltdown this year.We have an undistracted and totally focussed manager this season

[Dinny Breen]

Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and now Monreal were good buys

I'd hold fire on that. Unable to break down Bradford and Blackburn.

Better Arsenal teams lost to worse teams than those, you can't look at games in isolation. Arsenal league position is pretty relative to what they spend on wages. They refuse to spend more, should we expect them to, do Arsenal fans now have a sense of entitlement?

[trileacman]

That's fantasy football Dinny.
Van Persie has moved on, looks the better player for it and Man U are a much better team for having him. He got the credit for keeping Arsenal in the top 3 last season, from those who couldn't find it in their hearts to give Wenger his due credit.
He's not with Arsenal in this troubled season, yet Wenger has Arsenal in very similar position, in what matters, the league.
The proof will be in the position at the end of the season.
I doubt if the Podolski gamble has paid the expected dividend but I haven't seen enough of his games.
I'd say you can look forward to better signings and lasting a bit longer than 6 minutes in the last 16 of next year's CL.

A possible resurgent Liverpool.

Whatever about the others, you have nothing to fear from us. West Brom, Everton or Stoke are as likely to become regular top 4 finishers as Liverpool.

[ONeill]

Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and now Monreal were good buys

I'd hold fire on that. Unable to break down Bradford and Blackburn.

Better Arsenal teams lost to worse teams than those, you can't look at games in isolation. Arsenal league position is pretty relative to what they spend on wages. They refuse to spend more, should we expect them to, do Arsenal fans now have a sense of entitlement?

I'd argue the better Arsenal teams losing to worse opposition statement. Can only think of Wrexham in '92.

What gets me about the wage structure - Wenger is the best paid manager in the Premier League (Or was until recently - not sure of Fergie's latest deal). Yet the players are nowhere near the top earners in the league, far from it. I read that the gap between a manager's wage and his team's top player's wage was the greatest at Arsenal than at any other team in Europe.

It's healthy to ask these questions - not a form of entitlement.

[gerry]

Consortium set to bid £1.5bn for Arsenal
By ESPN staff

An Arab consortium is considering making a bid for Arsenal in the near future, according to reports in The Sun on Sunday and Sunday Telegraph.

Arsenal fans will hope the news means further reinvestment in the team

American Stan Kroenke is currently the club's majority shareholder, while Uzbek Alisher Usmanov also holds a significant stake, and the offer for Arsenal would reportedly see the potential investors bid around £20,000 per share, making Kroenke's holding worth £830 million.

The papers report that the offer for 100% ownership will come in at around £1.5 billion - twice the amount at which Arsenal were valued two years ago - and, if successful, would wipe out debts that stand at around £250 million.

A bid source told Telegraph Sport: "Arsenal is at a pivotal position at the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline like Liverpool. From our point of view it is the perfect moment to make this bid because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this extraordinary valuation on the club.

"We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed and will not get this kind of valuation ever again.

"We think that bidding now is the key because it is going to give every shareholder maximum value. We are giving them peak valuation. The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any higher."

[Walter Cronc]

Consortium set to bid £1.5bn for Arsenal
By ESPN staff

An Arab consortium is considering making a bid for Arsenal in the near future, according to reports in The Sun on Sunday and Sunday Telegraph.

Arsenal fans will hope the news means further reinvestment in the team

American Stan Kroenke is currently the club's majority shareholder, while Uzbek Alisher Usmanov also holds a significant stake, and the offer for Arsenal would reportedly see the potential investors bid around £20,000 per share, making Kroenke's holding worth £830 million.

The papers report that the offer for 100% ownership will come in at around £1.5 billion - twice the amount at which Arsenal were valued two years ago - and, if successful, would wipe out debts that stand at around £250 million.

A bid source told Telegraph Sport: "Arsenal is at a pivotal position at the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline like Liverpool. From our point of view it is the perfect moment to make this bid because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this extraordinary valuation on the club.

"We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed and will not get this kind of valuation ever again.

"We think that bidding now is the key because it is going to give every shareholder maximum value. We are giving them peak valuation. The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any higher."

Very interesting. Another pr stunt by the board to appease fans and encourage season ticket sales?

[Dinny Breen]

Now where did I put that Heroin?

[Walter Cronc]

Now where did I put that Heroin?

Still think he is the right man Dinny??