Written by Mean Lean
on
Friday, 28 October 2011 12:41
Firstly let me apologise for the lack of blog writing over this last week. The last blog I wrote was all the way back last Friday. Time flies when erm, you are busy with every day life and stuff.
I sat down with my mobile phone at 11.30am yesterday, ready to read the AGM tweets from various Gooners in Twitter land. All that was missing was a packet of popcorn and fizzy pop. While I was flicking through the various quotes by the owner and board members I wondered what I was actually expecting to hear. As is the case on Twitter these days, there were many disgruntled Gooners, frustrated by the stance of the club. But I don't know what everyone was expecting to hear. Clearly a section of the fan base would rather go down a different route to our current self sustaining model. I have read many fans express that they do not care where the club end up further down the road, they want success now. When you have such a difference of opinion then how is everyone going to come away content and happy?
What some fans wanted to hear is the Gazidis say
"This situation really isn't good enough for Arsenal FC, Arsene Wenger has been warned that this is not acceptable. We have all sat down and promised to throw as much money at this as possible. The financial gap has grown with Manchester City's involvement as well as Chelsea's but we are ready to risk everything for glory.
We now intend to increase our wage structure to be on par with Manchester City and we will no longer pay 'average' players huge salaries, even if they are internationals. I believe they will accept £5k per week and that way we can pay players like van Persie the £180k per week that he deserves.
We have told Arsene that we want Mario Gotze, Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema and Gary Cahill in January, he knows that if these players do not come in then we may have to look elsewhere for a manager who is 'not scared of spending money'
We are listening to the fans and we are going to make big changes to get us out of this terrible crisis we find ourselves in"
I suspect there would be plenty of high fiving coming out of the AGM from the Gooners but I think that Leeds United probably had similar ambitions to a section of their fan base as they tried to close the gap to Manchester United. The owners of the club were never going to say anything different.
This isn't to say that I think the club are 100% in the right, there was plenty of avoidance of questions from supporters yesterday such as the ticket pricing if the club do not make it into the Champions League which is a question that deserved an answer.
Basically the board would have much preferred the supporters to congratulate the club on the great work they are doing in collecting cash and making us financially strong. It does feel that the club attempt to shove this in supporters faces a little too much without considering the fact that it is our financial strength that has frustrated many supporters as fans want to see finances converted into new big money signings. This hasn't been the case and we have fallen further behind.
Peter Hill-Wood must feel somewhat unloved this afternoon, he received somewhat of a beating from the shareholders as he read out his pre-prepared answers. David Dein, the mythical man who turns water into wine had his name brought back up again as the man to come back and bridge the gap between Arsenal's spending and Manchester City's spending just purely by his presence in the stadium.
Arsene must have been sat there worried about the reaction he would receive from a clearly disgruntled audience but his reception was fantastic. He had to wait a little while to get his words out due to the continuous clapping from all around. Wenger is still highly respected amongst Gooners regardless of how others want to paint it.
Unlike the other speakers on the day, Wenger did not need to have anything written down and he just spoke from the heart, basically trying to get all the supporters onside, not to increase the negativity because it does not help the team which is absolutely correct.
Anyway, the AGM doesn't really do anyone any favours and I certainly do not think I will be adding any popcorn the next time.
Personally I would love Arsenal to take that extra step and do more to bring in top talent as well as doing more to keep our best players but I have never run a football club, I do not know if it is possible or impossible for us to push ourselves a little further.
I do not pretend to know more than the current board. However many people do seem to think they know more and know more than the current board about how the club should be run. It has always been the case where supporters know how to run a football team but nowadays it has progressed to the actual club. Which is all a little strange to me.
Wenger had his press conference but I have not had the chance to listen to it as yet. I will do so later on this afternoon if I get the chance.
Anyway, I am far more excited about the actual football on the pitch than the action or non action in the boardroom. And on the pitch, Thomas Vermaelen is ready for action and even Carl Jenkinson is having a fitness test ahead of tomorrow's game and while he may not be the complete player, he would give us a much better balance on the right.
I am actually looking forward to the game tomorrow, I have a great feeling about it, not that it actually means anything whatsoever but at least it makes me feel less nervous. More on that tomorrow.
With that, I am off to enjoy my Friday.
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