And this is why I am thankful Stan got the majority over Usmanov. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/dec/13/russia-press-freedom
You and me too. Shucks, even Peter Hill Wood is probably glad, even if he might not readily admit it!
clutching at straws a bit there. it's not the articles themselves that got the 2 guys fired, but the inclusion of an insulting pic of graffiti on a ballot. the publication kept the articles in later editions, but not the photo. usmanov has owned the group for 6 years, and it's still a comparatively liberal publication. it's a fine line between constructive criticism, hell even open criticism, and just insults aimed at the countries top man (whether you like the guy or not).
This is an old article, but reading it makes me think of us as the Ajax of English Football. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...s-defends-gunners'-recruitment-policy?cc=5901 We have become a feeder club. The goals have gone from winning trophies, to not making the Europa League. Are we happy with the progess gazidis has made since joining the club?
Meh, we're still playing in the CL this season while the Manchester clubs are already in the Europa league. Plus if FFP is ever enforced, we'll be pretty much locked in as the second richest club in England, not that we aren't already.
FFP won't be enforced unless Barca/Real/Milan are playing second fiddle to a billionaire backed side. UEFA have already come out and said that being in violation of the rules with not necessarily result in punishment, and any action against a club will be completely at their discretion.
I think Wenger already said as well that there are loopholes in the FFP. Sorry, don't have any links.
Because of some magazine one of them owns sacks a couple of people? not because one of them would be open with his intentions at The Arsenal, would pump money in and actually look to see improvements on the field rather than a silent one who just watches his bank balance grow. I'd have Usmanov any day of the week.
rick, how closely have u been following arsenal in zimbabwe? a teacher at my school is from there and says it's good to visit i know they love football there
I think its good that Arsenal many fans have finally admitted defeat and decided that nothing is wrong with Chelsea and City operations. I hope we dont see more of Roman's blood money comments or City's Petro dollars mentioned. I hope that mentions of corrupt Spanish banks are now quieted too.
See but this is one of the reasons people are proud to support The Arsenal. What's happened at Chels and City and Real and Barca is not the result of natural, sustainable models. It just isn't. Whether it's moral or acceptable are different discussions. But you can't fault people for not liking it.
are you sure they dont like it? I think fans just want to win. That moral/righteous shit goes out the window when you see another team winning trophies doing it one way, and thats spending someone else's money. I mean, you think Arsenal fans would be so anti those clubs if Roman or the Sheikh bought Arsenal and started winning? I dont. I doubt many would care like they dont care now and want Usmanov in despite his past because he will spend his own money. Imo, when things are down is when you are supposed to be the strongest in those ideals because you believe its right. Instead I have seen the opposite. This is only a game, so its fine, I just dont want to hear any more of this moral code stuff with football finances if people want Usmanov to take over. tbh, I dont really care anyway. I used to be anti those clubs but then I started to realize that if those clubs didnt spend money like they do in England then it would be an Arsenal/United league which wouldnt really be exciting.
I think partly for me is the disappointment that these two shit clubs have spent nearly a billion each of someone else's money and yet with (barely) clever accounting they are almost in line with FFP rules. What a farce. I support the club being run responsibly but I would at least like Kroenke to bridge the gap until we are free to negotiate the commercial deals that are keeping us back.
I don't think wenger would be as mental as city with the money, but it is unethical. Sadly, football died when abramovic came and the fair play rules are never coming in so what's the point? The game is ruined and I can't wait for it all to collapse!
That last bit is certainly nonsense (well much of the rest is as well but I'm ignoring that here). The CL funding was always going to make it possible for other clubs to crack the ManU/Arsenal hold on Prem titles. The structure of the CL and the rising Prem coefficient (which meant more clubs qualified and at higher seeds for this financial windfall) was going to allow clubs to compete although ManU's revenue advantage would have remained a serious advantage. The very fact that Arsenal won titles during that period makes it obvious that a good manager backed with reasonable funding (like that available to clubs from greater access to CL cash) could equal titles. Becoming a billionaire's toy was never necessary to compete. It is a shame that those responsible for protecting the game didn't react to the Russian's behavior at Chelsea to bring in rules that made financial doping more difficult. Of course then Barca and Real Madrid's dodgy finances would be a risk and UEFA/FIFA empire building/slush funds wouldn't grow as fat as fast. If those "fine gentlemen" really cared about the game, we'd have real FFP rules and other reasonable reforms like video reviews of goals/red cards/pk, outside independent investigation of ethical charges, and a world cup bidding process where the bid with the worst technical score couldn't win. Not a chance, eh?
Cannon, you managed to work in the need for video review into a thread about club finances... bless your heart!
I have no idea what you are trying to say with this paragraph, lol. Only two teams were at the top of the league. Those two teams kept making CL. What "other clubs?" On top of that, I mentioned Arsenal mostly because of the Emirates Stadium being built. Our matchday revenues are ahead of everyone in the premiership, United were the #1 team before in that department. thats fine, just dont mention you want Usmanov to take over or want Kroenke to "pump money into the club." If you feel that the club should stay self sufficient, then my post was not talking to you.
NorthBank, yeah well the same faulty motives taint the foundation of much of the way football is run so yeah I tend to bring them up together and sometimes a bit off main topic. Anyway my point on the CL is that back when ManU and Arsenal were exchanging titles, there weren't four Prem clubs in the competition and the rewards were thus not distributed beyond the top two. As the structure changed and the number of Prem clubs getting in went up (look up UEFA coeff if you don't get how that worked) it was inevitable that other Prem clubs would have access to necessary cash to compete for titles without the need to raid billionaire's piggy banks. Yes the matchday revenue is huge but Arsenal were able to compete and win titles at Highbury during that period so the CL cash could serve much the same function in helping close the gap.
Arsenal competed with Manchester United because of great buys and stability which the other clubs never showed. If you give Arsenal those players, plus the stability, plus legitimately having the second most money in the league behind United, it probably would have been Arsenal/United for the premiership again. Champions League is some money but it's not reliable like having a 60k seat stadium filled every week is.
Even that is not so reliable... there are 3 big factors: 1) Whether we're successful, i.e. top of the table or silverware 2) Whether we play football that people like to watch 3) Whether people can afford tickets, due to pricing & the economy Wenger gets #1 & #2 for sure. So far he's done pretty well with #2, but he's having great difficulty achieving #1. And there's a component to #3 (the economy) which is entirely out of their control. I've already started to see more empty seats this year. I would think that trend will continue if we don't win the FA Cup or don't finish top 3 or 4 in EPL.
Here is the thing with this empty seat stuff. How many of those are season tickets vs how many are general sale? I've heard idiot Arsenal fans call into radio shows saying they have season tickets but won't attend matches out of protest. One fan said he has done that since CL semifinal match against United. I call them idiots because unless you are scalping and getting more than face value, paying a lot for a season ticket only to not attend the match is the height of stupidity. If the fans who are not attending matches are mostly season ticket holders, then the money is already there. The problems come if people aren't renewing season ticket plans.