Arsenal FC a very promising story

[rinswun]

Could it not be argued that they are overrated by the bookies/general public due to over performance in terms of finishing position? What is their wage budget compared to the rest of the top 6? Finishing positions pretty much directly correlate with the wage budget historically (obv Leicester huge outliers). If they've got the fourth highest wage budget the. He has over performed for 21 years by never finishing below that position.

If they are over performing overall and massively under performing relative to the odds against the bigger boys then AW must be the greatest flat track bully manager in history.  Amazing skill to have as flair teams like Arsenal should really be the total opposite with lazy players not getting up for the Mickey mouse games but that never seems to be the case with AW.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Arb. I think he is the greatest flat track bully. That's why I think Arsenal will struggle for a long time after he goes - Liverpool style. They might win the odd big game but they're much more likely to drop points regularly at places like Goodison Park, the B365 and the Liberty stadium. IMO, In years to come Arsenal fans will be glad of a 4th place  finish, not taking it for granted.

[Karabiner]

A major problem with replacing AW as touched upon by AndrewM in his Arseblog piece today is that it would take a sea-change in the infrastructure of the club.

We will need a "football man" on the board of directors - something we don't currently have.
We will also need a director of football - these two positions could possibly be combined but I don't see it that way.
And then the £64M question we will have to find a successor to our greatest-ever manager which might well be a poisoned chalice in itself.

I like the cut of Eddie Howe's jib, but there is no way he could take over all of AW's responsibilities.

Well known Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has suggested a few names in the recent past including: Owen Coyle, David Moyes, and Harry Redknapp.

It begs the question; why wasn't the groundwork done years ago?

Daft as it may sound - it could well be up to AW to organize those constitutional changes and suggest the candidates.

[BigAdz]

A major problem with replacing AW as touched upon by AndrewM in his Arseblog piece today is that it would take a sea-change in the infrastructure of the club.

We will need a "football man" on the board of directors - something we don't currently have.
We will also need a director of football - these two positions could possibly be combined but I don't see it that way.
And then the £64M question we will have to find a successor to our greatest-ever manager which might well be a poisoned chalice in itself.

I like the cut of Eddie Howe's jib, but there is no way he could take over all of AW's responsibilities.

Well known Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has suggested a few names in the recent past including: Owen Coyle, David Moyes, and Harry Redknapp.

It begs the question; why wasn't the groundwork done years ago?

Daft as it may sound - it could well be up to AW to organize those constitutional changes and suggest the candidates.

hftyherehdte sums it up perfectly. If AW is all things to all men Arse wise, then he should have done this long ago, and have plans in place. The apparent COMPLETE lack of a clear succession plan suggests he hasn't quite had Arsenals best interests at heart, probably just his own. Harsh maybe, but the overall picture gets clearer as more points are raised.

Arb and GrahamC spot on. Flat track bully with no idea how to take on those better than us.

We have suffered long enough, blaming no money etc, but that ship has sailed and still no progress.

Tikay loves pointing out it is great business, but if this was a high street business,, who would we compare Arsenal to?

[arbboy]

A major problem with replacing AW as touched upon by AndrewM in his Arseblog piece today is that it would take a sea-change in the infrastructure of the club.

We will need a "football man" on the board of directors - something we don't currently have.
We will also need a director of football - these two positions could possibly be combined but I don't see it that way.
And then the £64M question we will have to find a successor to our greatest-ever manager which might well be a poisoned chalice in itself.

I like the cut of Eddie Howe's jib, but there is no way he could take over all of AW's responsibilities.

Well known Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has suggested a few names in the recent past including: Owen Coyle, David Moyes, and Harry Redknapp.

It begs the question; why wasn't the groundwork done years ago?

Daft as it may sound - it could well be up to AW to organize those constitutional changes and suggest the candidates.

hftyherehdte sums it up perfectly. If AW is all things to all men Arse wise, then he should have done this long ago, and have plans in place. The apparent COMPLETE lack of a clear succession plan suggests he hasn't quite had Arsenals best interests at heart, probably just his own. Harsh maybe, but the overall picture gets clearer as more points are raised.

Arb and GrahamC spot on. Flat track bully with no idea how to take on those better than us.

We have suffered long enough, blaming no money etc, but that ship has sailed and still no progress.

Tikay loves pointing out it is great business, but if this was a high street business,, who would we compare Arsenal to?

lolbrokes!  lolbrokes only took a couple of years to get rid of a bad ceo though!  They are very similar joking aside.  Lolbrokes only interested in picking on defenseless small fry fobt shop mugs and can't compete with the bigger punters who kill them hand over fist.  In all seriousness being a quality flat track bully is a great skill.  Numerous teams have lost title races not being able to do what AW is awesome at doing.  Winning when you are expected to.

[exstream]

"Arsenal spent £96m in the summer and £101m two years before. Their wage bill is a smidgen lower than Bayern’s, their net value a touch behind, fifth in the world plays fourth in the world."

Seems they need a new manager

[rinswun]

"Arsenal spent £96m in the summer and £101m two years before. Their wage bill is a smidgen lower than Bayern’s, their net value a touch behind, fifth in the world plays fourth in the world."

Seems they need a new manager

4th in the premier league though. Which is exactly where they are.

[Karabiner]

What was Gent's spend?

[exstream]

tottenham net spend over last 5 years is 1 million. says google
whats arsenals

[Karabiner]

Selling clubs' net spend is always lower.

[exstream]

but then surely theyre doing well enough for a selling club with a net spend of 1 million over the last 5 seasons and shouldnt be compared to arsenal

[muckthenuts]

I think it's Wenger's absolute blind loyalty to his favourite players which is his problem. Walcott, Ramsey, Ox and Gibbs are obvious failed investments yet have been given waaaay too many chances than they deserved. It's an example of sheer stubbornness rearing it's head in yet another context with Arsene, a frank refusal to accept that his "British core" wasn't going to make the grade regardless of the effect on the club. Now it's those players who are responsible for making Wenger look like such a crap manager all of a sudden.

[77dave]

How many Arsenal players would make a TOP SIX starting XI???

[rinswun]

How many Arsenal players would make a TOP SIX starting XI???

All of them? They've been a top six club for the past 21 years.

[BigAdz]

Press conference at 9am?

[verndog158]

How many Arsenal players would make a TOP SIX starting XI???

well that could be an interesting question....

Of the current top 6, what is your ultimate 11?