Archive for Premier League
Arsenal Just Love Doing Things The Hard Way
Posted by: | CommentsSo a few weeks ago, we’re waxing lyrical about the prospects of scraping through and snatching the title from them lot up north. Since losing to Barcelona a month ago, we’ve only clocked 1 out of 12 possible points and that’s just not good enough to win anything, and there’s no way around that.
If we’re to be honest with ourselves, the team has really struggled to recover from the mauling the Catalans unleashed on us – or should I just say the mauling that Lionel Messi unleashed on our unsuspecting makeshift defence.
The impact caused by the injuries that have decimated the squad will only be an excuse for so long before it becomes the rod that literally snaps our back. We’ve had to depend on understudies in crucial positions in the squad, but the least you can expect is that those called upon to provide cover will apply themselves professionally and effectively to do the job they’re called on to do.
I get the sense though, that Arsenal have developed a propensity, habit even, of being comfortable with doing things the hard way. I don’t know about you, but many a game this season have left me crouching in a foetal position on the carpet in front of the TV chanting all manner of obscenities and ritualistic hogg wash in a clear attempt to ’suck’ the ball into the opponents net in the final minutes of the game.
On the days that I’ve attended matches at the Emirates, I’ve found my heart racing like a nonsense and wishing I had a stiff brandy to gulp down and calm the nerves. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that at the Emirates, the stadium announcer never says what the added on time is on the public address system. It happens at all other stadiums the minute the 4th official indicates how much extra time is being played, but never at the Emirates.
I’m sure it’s by design to stop our players from panicking and just playing on until they can’t do any more legally, but it really doesn’t help if the time stamp on the score board is screaming with how long you still have to endure the torturous excitement.
This season, we’ve really pushed the envelope when it comes to doing things the hard way. It’s not just the late, last gasp goals that leave you shaking your head in bewilderment. It’s also the way we’ve dropped or given away leads, the way we’ve sometimes laboured when there’s no need to, or even the way we’ve approached games.
Believe it or not, there’s only 4 games this season – Burnley, Hull and Blackburn (all away), and West Ham at home – that we’ve scored a goal in the first 15 minutes in any game. I may be wrong on that stat, so please feel free to correct me; but those are the 3 games that I remember us taking an early lead.
That alone is an indicator of how hard we prefer to work, and if it’s any consolation, if we were ever to be the beneficiaries of the first ’helicopter Sunday’ of the Premier league, then it would have been a long arduous and painful journey. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure which is more nauseating; Chelsea winning the double or United winning a 4th successive title.
I’m clear of the fact that what is most definitely nauseating is the fact that we could finish on the same points as that lot up Seven Sisters way. Even when we had clear daylight between us and the Spuds, we just had to go put ourselves in a situation where we needed a point in the last game.
I personally think my manager of the season – Roy Hodgson, will field a reserve team as he rests his players for the biggest game in the history of Fulham.
They have given an excellent account of themselves this season and I’m fully behind them and cheering them on as they face Atlético Madrid for the right to take the inaugural Europa league home.
Regardless of which Fulham team takes the field, it will be criminally negligent for Arsenal to let 3rd place slip away. I can understand if the fight was tight and we scraped through – but I have a problem that firstly, we could have wrapped this one up a long time ago, and more painfully, the fact that it’s Tottenham bum rushing us like a panty sniffing stalker.
Either way, it looks like I’ll be stuck with Arsenal TV for this one. At least Dan Roebuck and Nigel Winterburn are enthusiastic commentators with an Arsenal bias.
Is The EPL ‘Home Grown’ 25 Squad Rule Even Legal? Protectionism Anyone?
Posted by: | CommentsMuch has been said about the new 25 man squad rule with all of its veiled attempts at protectionism. Pick any newspaper or read any football blog, and the big story over the last few days has been the squeezing of chuffers at the Premier league table to force a new squad system with the ’home grown’ bias.
So the Premier League chairmen had a gentleman’s agreement and shook hands on it. That’s what they say, but is it even legal?
British Airways executives and Virgin Atlantic bosses famously had dodgy telephone conversations to try and fix ticket prices that begun with ”This conversation didn’t take place….”, and it’s not surprising that they’re in the dock staring down the barrel of a long stretch as a guest of the state.
An extreme example, but a valid one nonetheless illustrating that all the best will of the industry at protectionism, may not be necessarily legal.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier league CEO is quick to point out that the benefit of such a system will help promote youth and increase the chances of ’home grown’ players (whatever that actually means) making it through the ranks. If ever there was a veiled attempt at protectionism…well
There’s a small matter of a European Law though, that prohibits restriction of trade and for all intents and purposes, is open to interpretation. All it takes is for a good lawyer to prove that this rule actually restricts the movement of players in some shape or form within the EU.
It’ll only take one player to get a raw deal when they’re shipped off to another club they don’t want to go to in order to accommodate over 21 year old players.
The truth is that if I tried in my company to implement employment restrictions on the number of men or women, the number of over and under 25s, the number of gay or straight people, the number of disabled people, the number of black or white people, the number of ugly or beautiful people, the number of fat or thin people, or the number of parents and non-parents; I’d actually be in remand waiting for a jail sentence for crimes against employment law.
My sense is that there’s too much money at stake in football for such a rule to go unchecked, and I suppose I have a bigger problem in the overarching message about protectionism that this rule breeds.
I don’t subscribe to the notion that such a policy acts to ’save’ indigenous football as it provides the message that the foreign influence in the EPL thus far has inherently impeded local prospects. I said this as much in our ’How English Is the English Premier League’ series.
Local prospects have a bigger problem than the global nature of the EPL. It’s a much deeper rooted problem that is a nightmare for the English FA to deal with and is the reason why I submitted that England will never win the world cup until the establishment comes out of the stone age and change their paradigm and mindset about the game from top to bottom.
However you look at this though, Arsenal is more equipped than any other EPL club to cope with this protectionism rule. The work that the club has done over the last few years has ensured that we have the best crop of talented and experienced under 21s in the top flight who can readily supplement the 25 man squad.
My sense is that it will only be a matter of time before the ruling is challenged by someone who is pissed off by it, and it won’t just necessarily be a player who’s nose is left out of joint. I wouldn’t put it past a club decimated by injury and having few options to cope turning to the courts for recourse.
Either way, the situation makes the job of hacks that much more difficult. It’s amazing how every year, the silly season starts earlier as the media shit stirring goes into full effect. I have a theory that editors systematically bust the balls of sports writers (well, at least those with balls) to come up with any sensationalist nonsense about player transfers.
I get bemused when I hear the term ’linked to’ as in a player has been linked to Arsenal, or any other club for that matter. Who the hell links these players if it isn’t the same bunch of hacks who sit in Fleet street pubs all day concocting transfer rumours to fill news columns. Their fantasy transfer stories are usually based on video game experiences and have little to no bearing on the reality.
I particularly like the articles published as fact that don’t even have an author’s name and is tagged as ’by Football Correspondent’ or ’by Staff Team’. And they also quote an inside source as the origin of their hackery attempt at a story.
This 25 man ’home grown’ player rule will really rack their brains this time as speculating on transfers won’t be as straight forward as it’s always been. It’ll take a bit more thought and creativity.
I know for sure that in my line of work, if I constantly published the amount of faecal matter that we see in the tabloids promoted as fact, I’d be out of a job every time round. I do wonder whether these guys have a modicum of respectability when they look in the mirror after a day of concocting news they’ve peddled to the world as fact.
What most people don’t realise is that other journalists around the world take these stories as fact and rehash and republish them cementing the rumour and innuendo as credible news.
Did I mention that Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers? Just in case I didn’t, we are looking.
If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Have Arsenal Supporters Lost The Plot?
Posted by: | CommentsSo the run is over. We have finally lost to them lot down the road and I must say, it did hurt quite a bit. Take a step back though, and you realise how frustrating, infuriating and anger inducing it must have been for them to endure 10 years without a league victory.
Let them have their day in the sun; we still have bigger fish to fry. We will always have bigger fish to fry.
However, I am going to say something that may bring me down in the eyes of other Arsenal supporters. Here it goes.
I am jealous of the Spuds. I am jealous of how united their support is behind the team and the manager. We are in a position that they would kill to be in, yet our supporters seem to take defeat as an excuse to turn on the team, to turn on the manager.
Now it would seem the trend is to turn on the medical staff. Suddenly, a team that is in the title hunt and consistently in the Champions League needs a major overhaul. How is this the case?
As I said in my first post on this website, I normally don’t travel into the Arsenal Blogosphere until a couple of days after a defeat. I’d rather not douse the flames of disappointment with the oils of reactionary comment from Football Manager Specialists.
The day supporting your team becomes drawing up shopping lists of players who you believe are better than what your team currently has is the day I want to stop supporting Arsenal Football Club.
Why is there no pride in the project that we are currently undertaking? Our academy is the envy of many, and most if not all Premier League Clubs are playing catch up with us.
Our decision to live within our financial means has resulted in us budgeting towards a future free of debt, whilst nurturing young footballing talents. Why is it so hard for people to believe that once the debt has been serviced, every penny we make can be reinvested back into our playing squad if needed?
I am proud that Arsene won’t be bullied into paying over the odds for players who aren’t worth it. We were after Felipe Melo until Juventus decided to gazump us with an offer of 25million Euros, and Arsene would not go into a western style saloon shoot-out for a player that he did not believe was worth that.
In the January transfer window, the calls for a striker were deafening. I ask these so called supporters who have a shopping list to hand, who could we have bought who would be able to settle in straight away and have a better goal ratio than Nicklas Bendtner has had since returning? That’s 9 goals in 11 games by the way. Not just consolations. Invaluable goals. Match changing goals. Match winning goals.
Wenger refuses to spend unless it is completely necessary and I stand by that. I stand by financial prudence. Manchester United could not afford to keep Carlos Tevez, and bought in Michael Owen on a free. United’s financial instability is starting to impact on their ability to reinvest in the squad, at a time when we are starting to be able to just the opposite.
We were close this season, and next season we will be even closer. We may not even win anything again, but we will be nowhere near closer to bankruptcy. We will not be relying on a trio of bankers to save our club from the clutches of debt with… more debt?
I don’t know too much about the Red Knights, but I don’t know too many people with £1billion to throw at a football club in this financial climate. But that is another blog post altogether.
My point is this. Don’t use the excuse of the manager being tight on the purse strings as a whip to beat him with. Praise him. Calls for Usmanov to hoover up Lady Nina’s shares so that he can be our Eastern European sugar daddy are born out of frustration at our lack of silverware, and not rational thinking as to the future well being of our club.
As fans we should rally behind the team after a defeat, not carry out a post-mortem into the deficiencies of this team and the manager. Defeat should be the cue to come together even tighter, to get behind this team and show them that they have our unwavering support.
It is not a time to jump on your favourite scapegoat. It is not a time to ridicule a manager who has brought so much to our club, and will continue to do so years after he has gone.
Title or not, I am proud of what this team has achieved through the adversity from not only outside but, more cruelly, from within.
Supporters. Let’s Support.
Speaking of supporters, you might have missed us talking about Arsenal ‘customers’ masquerading as supporters. We’ve even broken down the anatomy of your typical Arsenal doom and gloom merchant so that you’re able to pick them a mile off.
And don’t forget that you can find Nyasha at Nashis Arsenal when he’s not writing for Stone Cold Arsenal every Friday.
We thought Darius was anal when he worked on Holloway Road right next to the Emirates and had a fantastic view of the stadium from his office window and took lunch time walks to see the construction and enjoy the magnificence of the finished stadium.
Nyasha and his mates used to steal footballs and cones from the training ground at London Colney before Wenger tightened the security. They have to get their footballs from JJB nowadays (or is it the DW).
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Tottenham Historical Society Have Released The DVD Already
Posted by: | CommentsI had an early meeting this morning and didn’t switch on my phone until I was through. When I did, I found 8 messages waiting for me. I don’t have any Spud loving friends who would call me, let alone leave a message, but I guessed it would be Dean, my Liverpool supporting friend.
You see, the past few weeks have been depressing for him and I haven’t made it easier at all. It’s not just the fact that I keep asking Dean if I could help organize flights for him for next season as they visit second rate European outposts for the Europa league.
I keep reminding him how perilous Liverpool’s financial situation is and that soon, he might be thinking about changing allegiance to the red part of London.
His messages were damn funny I have to say, as some of my colleagues who watched me listening to the messages think I’ve lost the plot. Apparently, the reason he’s calling me is because he happened to be passing around the N17 post code area early this morning.
He bumped into a few touts selling some DVDs and he couldn’t resist buying me a birthday present, even though my birthday was a couple of months ago. Yup! He insists it’s the DVD of last night’s game already on sale by the Tottenham historical society.
I’ll believe it when I see him over the weekend.
As for last night’s game, I had a really bad feeling when Vermaelen was stretchered off. In some way, I’ve become more anxious about our propensity to collect injuries as opposed to the risk we have of losing games.
I’m still trying to process whether I’m disappointed that we lost yesterday’s game, or whether I’m disappointed because it was the Tiny Tots we lost to. The reality of the matter is that the loss last night made it very difficult for us to come back from the dead again.
There’s not enough games left in the calendar for another Lazarus type resurrection. I still continue to hold high hopes because there’s still a mathematical possibility that Arsenal can win the title.
Of course, Chelsea will have to lose 2 games, or draw 3 of them and on top of that, we either catch up with their goal difference or hope that they mess up even more.
But the reality is that it would take an enormous miracle for the Chavs to commit suicide in that fashion. I wouldn’t put it past them though so I’ll still continue to keep the faith.
I still fully expect the team to play well and fight for the remainder of the season for the simple reason that I don’t like the feeling of losing any game. Soon, our focus will move to consolidating the position that we’re in and building on what we’ve managed to achieve this season.
I must say though, Robin Van Persie was great last night. It’s a shame we couldn’t bring him on earlier as that would have probably been a Gallas-esque risk.
Despite being out for so long, the Dutch ace made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. You really can’t legislate for the heroics of Heurelho Gomes and if it wasn’t for the Spurs keeper, Van Persie would have had a mesmerizing comeback.
I’m just pissed off it’s the Dutch national team who will get to enjoy his form and we have to wait until the start of the new season. My sense is that if it’ll make Robin happy to play well in the world cup, then he’ll be a better player for Arsenal next season; it’s just revolting that the Dutch FA threw him to the Italian wolves only to have him back just in time.
Meanwhile, we need to tighten our seat belts, hold on to our hats and jump into the bumpy ride of the doom and gloom variety. The forked tongues are being sharpened and we have to prepare to fight the good fight for the sake of the Arsenal.
I’ll be looking forward to my DVD this weekend. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to try and figure out which hurts me more; the fact that we lost to that lot up the road or the fact that we’re about to dust ourselves off and start again.
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Avoid That Damn Lasagna & Arsenal Don’t do ‘Hatchet Men’
Posted by: | CommentsI never really figured out whether there was any truth to the accusations levelled against the chefs at Marriott who prepared the infamous lasagne dinner in May 2006.
Dean, My Liverpool supporting friend worked at the Four Seasons at the time and the whisper doing the grapevine within the hotel industry was that the chefs involved were Arsenal season ticket holders.
You will of course understand if I add a big fat ’allegedly’ to that accusation, but you have to admit that it’s damn funny if that were the case.
Encounters with the Spuds usually throw up some sort of drama and tonight’s match is no exception. It’s almost like it’s ’Calamity Spuds’ time and you wonder where the twist will come from.
I would suspect that Harry Redknapp has more on his mind today than he would have wanted to deal with. Getting one over Arsenal in the league is probably hard enough, but I’d hazard a guess that ‘Arry’ will be wondering how events will unfold when he stands in the defendant’s dock at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
I’m told employers can be quite accommodating when it comes to exploring different ways their employees could work. It’ll be interesting to see how Tottenham could accommodate ‘Arry managing the club if the Gaffa at the Southwark Court decides to give the Spuds manager an invitation to be a guest of the state enjoying Her Majesty’s pleasure.
Not that I’d want to second guess the laws of natural justice that dictate that ‘Arry is innocent unless proven guilty; it’s just funny to think of him running Tottenham from behind bars….but I digress.
There’s a small matter of 3 points to be collected at White Hart Lane and Arsenal have no option but to collect these 3 points if we’re to maintain the title challenge.
The Gunners will be buoyed by the return of our talismanic striker Van Persie, but he is likely to start on the bench. I think it will be premature to expect anything significant from the Dutch ace, and perhaps he would provide more value when we meet Manchester city in 10 days time.
My sense is that Wenger will go for a starting line-up of:
- Almunia
- Sagna, Campbell, Vermaelen, Clichy
- Diaby, Denilson, Nasri
- Walcott, Bendtner, Rosicky
I’d hazard another guess that Van Persie, Eboue, and Eduardo will feature at some point in the game.
Tottenham have their own personnel issues with their hatchet man Wilson Palacios taking a deserved customary break for his propensity to feature in the referee’s little book. Aaron Lennon is also struggling to regain fitness and won’t make the squad.
I was bemused earlier this week when former Arsenal player Perry Groves became Palacios’s agent and started rallying Wenger to purchase the Honduran to run riot in the Arsenal midfield.
To tell you the truth, if some of these guys were good enough at what they proclaim to be in punditry, they’d actually be managers rather than prostituting themselves to every media house for the Queen’s shilling in exchange for an opinion.
Wenger let Palacios go for a reason and I’m still of the view that he’s not of the quality Arsenal need. I’ll go as far as saying that of the so called defensive midfielders in the market today, only Michael Essien and Alex Song fit the bill as ball playing defensive midfielders.
The rest like Palacios, Mascherano, Obi Mikel, Loric Cana and a host of others may be good at doing their ‘hatchet man’ impressions, but that’s all they do; break up play and sometimes with a tint of a violent streak for that is what the urban myth about defensive midfielders suggests.
You know it’s that one man action hero of the Chuck Norris ’I’ll-stop-anything-that-comes-towards-me-at-all-cost’ legend. You don’t really need to play football, you just have to scare the living shit out of the opposing team with a blood thumping, rib cracking menacing demeanour that would make Tony Soprano’s henchmen look like saints.
In case these guys hadn’t noticed, Alex Song, Denilson and even Craig Eastmond have performed really well and they actually play some football while at it. Arsenal’s game isn’t just about ’breaking up play’ – we’re more into ball playing midfielders who contribute to the overall game rather than just stop play and yet have questionable attacking instincts.
Tottenham’s tactical options will probably revolve around using Peter Crouch, but Arsenal were comfortable when dealing with the lanky fella in the reverse fixture at the Emirates. Besides, when Tottenham play Crouch, they naturally gravitate towards lumping the ball forward in hope that Crouch might do something with it.
The Spuds will be reeling from the disappointment of being dumped out of what looked like a shoe-in into the FA cup final, and in truth, they only have themselves to blame. The elusive coveted 4th spot for a champions league place also seems like slipping away and they will be desperate to make amends.
We’ll know tonight whether a desperate Tottenham will suit Arsenal fine. From the Gunners point of view, there is zero margin for error and a win is paramount; if only for the reason that it’s against Tottenham.
Wouldn’t it be funny though if they had lasagna last night?
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If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Power Shift Signals Change Of Guard At Top Of Premiership
Posted by: | CommentsIf ever there was a case of ’The Usual Suspects being expected to do what is routine, then you have to say that the top 4 positions of the EPL table would correct itself every year.
The ’Big 4’ in England have hitherto executed their ruthless rendition of ’the rich get richer and the poor on the other side of the tracks watch and wish it was them’.
In fact, apart from Manchester United’s 11 Premiership haul’s, Arsenal’s 3 titles, and Chelsea’s 2 titles, Blackburn are the only club in the EPL to have won the Premiership.
Even then, you could say that Jack Walker did for Blackburn Rovers, what Roman Abramovich did for Chelsea, and ”bought” the title by throwing 50 pound notes at it.
In recent times, so much emphasis has been put on the ’top 4’. It’s become the elusive holy grail of English football and achieving a top 4 finish is even hailed more than winning domestic trophies like the FA cup and league cup.
The glamour and razzmatazz of playing amongst the elite in Europe and the financial rewards offered have heightened the perceived importance of finishing in the 4 Champions league places that English football is allocated.
Except for the 2005 season when Everton eclipsed their bitter rivals Liverpool to the 4th spot, Champions league football has been a preserve of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in recent years.
Even though, Liverpool in that 2005 season were handed a ’get out of jail free card’ by their argument that they had the right to defend the trophy.
As we approach the last few games of the season, some new patterns are emerging signalling a change of guard at the top of the English football high table. Many may argue otherwise, but such arguments in my view are the desperate kicks of a dying horse.
The two biggest casualties of the shift of the power axis are Liverpool and Manchester United. In two very different ways, they are tangible case studies of ’the beginning of the end’ of an era of domination by the two clubs.
Liverpool is in a more perilous state right now from the point of view that the lack of Champions league football next season will be a catalyst for a lengthy spell in the wilderness of mid-table mediocrity.
The performance of the team this season has been questionable at best and the exacerbation of the fans with the fortunes of their team is palpable.
In Manchester United’s case, the loss of Christiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is so painfully obvious , only a rookie disembarking off the milk train at Manchester Piccadilly will argue otherwise. Despite the world record sale of their former Portuguese ace, United weren’t able to afford Tevez who was snapped up by the blue side of Manchester.
Various parties within the club have tried to insult our intelligence by suggesting that Carlos Tevez was not worth the £25m price tag, but it was more to do with the fact that United couldn’t afford him. I mean, how do you let a striker of Tevez’s quality go so that you can get a crocked Michael Owen on the free and try and convince folks that it’s good business.
United and Liverpool are surely heading south, and their performances on the field have shown this all season. Unfortunately for both clubs, assumptions about success on the field have been made when projecting the financial fortunes of the respective clubs.
In yesterday’s article about the financial reality hitting football, Saloner highlighted the difficulty Manchester United find themselves in with falling revenues. Even if you factor in relative success on the pitch, the situation still looks bad.
Raphael Benitez is already screaming for money to rebuild his squad, and many observers also note that United need major surgery as it’s time to call curtains for the senior citizens like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Gary Neville.
Here is the thing though. The business of football has changed, and it’s my view that many observers within football haven’t caught up with this reality.
I’d like to say that it’s misguided optimism on their part, but it’s more to do with collective gross incompetence within the football establishment. It’s the sort of incompetence that blinds them from realising that the days of ’big money football’ are all gone.
There are no billionaires from Russia waiting to burn their oil dollars; or no Sheikh’s from the middle east looking for a play toy. The constant hope that clubs will be ’rescued’ by a sugar daddy of sorts is a lottery gamble that is farfetched from reality.
Liverpool have tried to invite investment and have failed miserably. In truth, Liverpool needed more of a marriage counsellor than they needed a high net worth investor; Gillett and Hicks were constantly bitching at each other it’s hard to see who would have been interested in throwing their money in there.
Liverpool have ended up appointing an independent chairman who happens to hold a season ticket in the Matthew Harding stand at Stamford Bridge. But it’s that sort of desperation for credibility that forces them to have someone at the helm who can give Liverpool the respectability to invite investors in.
Manchester City are an anomaly; a freak show if you will. Their owners, the Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation have the luxury of printing their own money from the mint attached to the back of their office complex.
The problem there is for Liverpool and United (less so for Chelsea and for Arsenal) is that once City get into the Champions league, they won’t let go. They’ll be like a bull dog that refuses to let go of your ass once it bites.
They have the money to throw at football mercenaries, and I even fear for Roberto Mancini who in the grand scheme of things, will be left high and dry as they appoint a ’Hollywood’ name as manager.
Jose Mourinho already submitted his CV live on a pre-match interview a week ago, and I think we can conclude that it was noted, if not accepted. The Sheikh’s of Middle Eastlands are going to throw an obscene amount of money to cement their position.
A lot of people think that Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation’s interest in Manchester City has to do with football. I submit to you that it has very little to do with football, and more to do with marketing Abu Dhabi as a country to the rest of the world.
Gulf states are making a concerted effort to put themselves on the world map, and the Emirates and Qatar have not been shy at implementing audacious programmes to brand themselves around the world as they seek the attention of the world.
Call it an exercise in vanity, but taking a club out of obscurity into the highest echelons of football is a pretty straight forward loss leader for them if there was ever one. It’s almost like the cost of the Manchester City project is irrelevant; they can print the money anyway.
More people around the world are talking about this Gulf state called Abu Dhabi than they are about Manchester City.
As for Chelsea, it really depends on the intentions of their one benefactor, and any way you look at this one, it’s hard to see how sustainable it is. Will Abramovich have the stomach to ’buy’ a new squad to replace his senior citizens? They say Chelsea has a good academy, but it’s a long stretch to see any of their academy products breaking into the first team.
Arsenal on the other hand have the best of both worlds. A manageable financial structure leading towards a debt free scenario as the stadium mortgage is paid off; and on the other hand, a stable management structure that works well to move the team in the right direction.
considering the meltdown that’s happening and its impact on United and Liverpool, Arsenal are well placed to ride this storm, even if more adversity comes our way.
There’s a lot of hysteria about Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith’s decision to sell her shares, and many people have jumped on the band wagon.
For one, I don’t think Usmanov has a chance and any bid by him will be blocked by Danny Fiszman and Stan Kroenke.
My sense is that Stan Kroenke loves the way Arsenal is run and believes it’s a good investment; but I think he’s ambivalent towards buying Arsenal outright if there is resistance to a takeover.
Arsene Wenger’s likely decision to leave Arsenal if there’s a pissing contest to take over Arsenal is a huge factor and I don’t see the board risking that.
Lady Nina has appointed an investment bank to seek an outside buyer and I don’t think Blackstone have any intention of selling either to Usmanov or Kroenke, so it’s likely to be an outsider.
The most likely result is that the ownership structure stays the same with the protagonists changing, and we can carry on with the business of cementing our place at the top of European football.
Whatever happens to Arsenal’s ownership though, there is clearly a change of guard at the top of English football.
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Arsenal’s Title Charge Sharpens As Financial Reality Bites
Posted by: | CommentsThanks to Barcelona, The Arsenal is now left with only one task to contend with; Chasing down the league leaders. For a squad that has been injury prone in the extreme through the season, this after a fashion, is a blessing in disguise.
Concentrating our threadbare resources exclusively on the title race betters the odds of our success. Given that Manchester United, sans Wayne Rooney, seem relatively toothless is encouragement aplenty.
Chelsea’s lead, to wit, isn’t invulnerable either. If we stick diligently to the chase, winning every game here on in, the title, with a bit of luck, could still be ours.
The way this Arsenal side have stuck to the job, I will not put it past them to pull the feat off. Yes, the odds are stiff, and the margin for error is nil; but if we keep up the grit and the graft that has characterised our game of late, anything is possible.
That’s incentive enough, I should imagine, for the side to wish to tellingly make their mark.
Elimination to Barcelona, to briefly digress, was painful. But, given the form they displayed over the two legs, odds are that virtually any team in the draw would have succumbed to Barca. Given our injury roster, and the fact that “doing a Gentile” on Messi isn’t remotely in our DNA, the outcome wasn’t really a shock.
I’m not, let me make it clear, taking comfort in excuses. I continue to hold that this Arsenal team, relative to its peers, needs to be better staffed and coached, particularly in defence, to fully realize its potential.
Investigating the rash of injuries that have become routine with this team is an urgent necessity too. Unless we sort these out, I fear, progress beyond where we now stand will prove elusive.
Next at hand, Tottenham. They’re coming off losses to Sunderland and Portsmouth, and are in a stiff contest with Manchester City to secure 4th place. The pressure, therefore, is entirely on them. Recent history to boot, suggests that pressure and Tottenham aren’t great bedfellows either.
All found, therefore, I’d favour us to collect three points if we can bring our recent endeavour levels to the game. A win will put us a point clear of United and level with Chelsea, as healthy a set of incentives as there ever were.
So here’s to three points. We’ll have team news and other relevant updates for you come Wednesday morning.
On the business side of football, recent developments merit a fresh look at the issue of debt in the game, for the consequences of the global slump are beginning to be felt in Football too.
In all, Gay calculates Spanish football’s debt to be €3.5bn. The Spanish federation still owe the players’ union €6.8m and, according to the former president of the union, Gerardo Movilla, an estimated €100m is still owed to footballers in unpaid wages.
The state loses out too; Atlético Madrid owe the tax man €15m; 50% of their transfer income is embargoed.
Manchester United’s financial advisers expect the club to miss out on at least £24m in cumulative match-day revenues over the next two years. That constitutes a decline of more than 11% ….
JP Morgan’s analysis of the club’s financial position, set out in a research document released last Friday, shows United’s 2009 match-day income of £109m to be a high-water mark. Even in its supposed “upside scenario”, in which the club progresses to the Champions League quarter-final or beyond in both years, it anticipates a drop to £98m this season and to £96m next.
The recovery from that base will be weak; to £101m the following year. Indeed, United’s own budgets predict an even bigger two-year fall of £29m, with much of the collapse attributed to the difficulties in selling executive boxes.
The document states: “Most of the impact from the economic slowdown was felt in the executive hospitality business, which we would argue is a highly discretionary expense.
Do note too, that their elimination to Bayern in the Champions League will put a further dent in their earnings and cash flow.
And, typical to Leveraged buyouts comes this summation:
Whereas they (Read: The Glazers) have taken near unfathomable millions out of their club – £344m in interest, £120m in fees and other costs, £22.9m for themselves in “management fees” and personal loans –…
Finally, in the light of the recent “rumours” regarding Martin O’Neill’s dissatisfaction, a look at Aston Villa
But you suspect, underneath it all, that Lerner has been expecting a bit more bang for his buck. And that buck has been considerable. Since paying £62 million for the club four years ago, he has invested another £179m.
Some £95m of that is in equity, with £84m in loans. He also underwrote record losses last season of £43.7m.
Consider Villa’s “progress” on the field over the same period, and draw your own conclusions.
My own view is this: Spain is but act one in suffering the consequences of this recession on a debt fuelled business model. The world, and indeed the UK especially, is still in the grip of a deflationary spiral – pretensions like Quantitative Easing being only that and little more.
JP Morgan’s analysis above, in essence, is pertinent to most Premier League clubs at least in the short term. I think things are going to get worse, much worse, before getting better both in the broader economy and in football, and clubs that are already under strain are going to be under the cosh over the next year or two.
UEFA’s debt rules come into force in 2012; but the markets, in my view, will have sorted the situation out, painfully, by then.
Randy Lerner, in a recent interview, put forward the best description of a sustainable business model:
We want to build the club on our attendances. We don’t want to pay all our TV money straight out in transfer fees and wages. We have to invest in developing Villa Park, allowing us to generate our own revenue streams.
Perfectly put, if I may, and it brought to mind a certain North London club; one, I must add, that isn’t competing for fourth place.
Here’s to three points in the Derby. My meaner friends look at it as two for the price of one: Further our own title chase while putting a dent in a rival’s lesser aspirations. But that’s just them……..
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund