Arsenal Football Club - The Gunner's Thread

[FooFighter]

cole wasnt a star before mah...he only turn into an ass after he heard chelsea wanted him :bsmilie:

Actually both AW and Pires made Ashley Cole a star, AW sold Silvinho so that AC can play in the first team with Pires. At that time both Silvinho and Ashley were around the same age.

From what I read, Ashley become Cashley due to the bad advice of his agent (scum).

Anyway... new article for you Gooners!

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Arsene FC must win the summer after losing the spring By Myles Palmer

Manchester United showed Arsenal a lot of respect on Sunday.

The extent of their respect was this : They were scared of losing to visitors who had only won twice in 12 games. Also, they needed to play carefully because Vidic, a huge player for them, was missing.

Arsenal outplayed United in a first half in which Rooney and Adebayor missed chances.

I've got a lot of time for Manchester United. They always come to play, home and away, they're the most complete team around, they were worthy champions last year, they invest in the best young talent because they can afford it, but still keep a British base in their squad. Rio Ferdinand has been awesome recently, Carrick sat very deep but played well, Tevez and Anderson made a big impact as subs.

Overall, then, Arsenal lost 2-1 to the best team in the world. But if Sagna and Flamini had played they might have won. If Rosicky, Sagna and Flamini had played they might have won. But if Vidic had played too, Man United might have won even against Sagna, Flamini and Rosicky.

Arsene earned big respect from Sir Alex for the way his team played and that will mean a lot to him.

I didn't see Match of the Day 2 but I gather Lee Dixon, a guy I love and respect, said that he had never seen Arsene hurting as much as he was on Sunday. Lee should know and what he said was clearly true. At that level, it's very, very intense. Only a top manager knows what another top manager goes through. We might think we know, but we don't.

It was Sir Alex, if you remember, who said Arsenal would be better this season without Thierry. And he also said they would be top four, no danger. Sir Alex knows more about it than journalists or fans. And he knows that Arsene forced Man United to become good enough to win the treble and earn him his K. Your rivals make you stronger. When they beat you on your own ground they give you plenty to think about.

Who will Arsene buy ? I don't know.

But his job now is to win the summer. He has lost the spring of 2008 but he can still win the summer by buying another four players as good as Bacary Sagna.

Everton might edge a win over Chelsea on Thursday night because Lampard and Drogba are out. So Everton could help Arsenal. With Chelsea concentrating on their two games against Liverpool in the Champions League semi, the first being at Anfield on Tuesday April 22, Arsenal might just sneak into second place.

I feel a bit sorry for Avram Grant. Fans and players don't like him and the tabloid English media can never forgive him for not being Mourinho. And even Ben-Haim says he would not have signed if he knew Grant would become manager. In Israel, many "experts" say he was never much cop there.

Three weeks ago I thought that if Avram Grant got to Moscow and lost by one goal, he might still be Chelsea's coach next season. Two weeks ago I heard that the Chelsea players believe that they will be coached by Frank Rijkaard next season. But today we read that Abramovich will keep Grant, unload 10 players, and fund replacements costing £100 million.

Last summer Chelsea bought badly : Sidwell, Ben Haim, Malouda, Pizarro. What impact have they made? Anelka is a wonderful player but has not scored a goal at Stamford Bridge yet.

Last night I wrote an ANR piece that was original and penetrating. Reading it this morning, it was one of those where I think, "The audience isn't ready for this." I do four or five of those every season.

Arsenal fans are thankful that they do not suffer like this, I suspect.

Apr 16, 2008

 

[Brand]

i am still distraughted by how this season has ended trophy-less again.... knocked out of 2 competitions in a week... and if i rem correctly, we were knocked out of 3 competitions in a week last season..

it hurts so good being a gunner....

 

[FooFighter]

Football is a cruel mistress... :cry:

All these injustice and kelong decisions that had happened to the team makes victories all the more sweeter. Keep the faith.

 

[wildstallion]

Come on you Royals!!!

 

[madmacs]

ah...a clean sheet at last overall a good performance. walcott's doing quite well. h deserved a goal i thought. rvp is getting better and better. good freekick. too bad the woodwork got in the way. the only downside is bendtner still not in sync with the rest.

 

[madmacs]

hehe...this looks fun

 

[sbs99]

One down....4 more games to go. :sweat:

come on Rovers!!! xD

 

[FooFighter]

Woohoo! Just came back to Singapore and saw the Arsenal Reading result... satisfying

 

[Brand]

we fought hard and won convincingly when the season was beginning.. in the first few games after henry left, we stormed to the top and maintained a vice like grip on 1st position.. we surprised many

we fought hard again and won convincingly last nite (and i believe we will win all our remaining games in the same fashion).. the only difference is this time, we fought to recapture the belief and confidence..

why is it that we don't fight when it REALLY matters? we don't fight hard enough to protect our leads at games, we don't fight hard enough to overturn deficits (from us actually having gone a goal up first), we don't fight hard enough for each other but instead fight one another?

are we really too mentally weak to handle pressure? we need more leaders & fighters on the pitch, simply said...

 

[FooFighter]

Hey Brand, actually sometimes I think Arsenal get poor calls from referees and linesmen because we play too fast and are non-British. We get so many poor decisions that its not even funny.

On a sidenote I find it funny (cynical?) that rafa is complaining about the referee in the lpool chelsea game. What goes around comes around.

I am not an accountant so could any gooner here tell me if the finances of the club is ok?

===========================

What do Arsenal's accounts show? By admin

By Nigel Phillips of the Arsenal Supporters Trust

Eighteen months into the new stadium and one can see the financial impact of the move emerging. The Chairman sets out clearly in his commentary the key business objective of the Club:

• "Development of long term stability and success for the Club through maintaining a business that pays its own way"

Whilst total revenue fell slightly to £96.9m from £100.8m as income from property development fell substantially (£7.6m vs £23.7m) football turnover increased by 16% to £89.3m (£77.1m).

Most of this increase comes from the new TV deals. Profit before tax was £20m (£12.9m excluding the £21.4m exceptional finance charge).

Operating profit (before debt service costs) from the football business, excluding player sales and the cost of writing down the squad (basically depreciation of intangible assets – a non-cash cost) was £21.9m (£10.9m)

Arsenal’s football income increased to £89m from £77m and comprised four separately identified revenue streams, namely:

Match day £41.1m* (£38.0m) 46% (49%) of football revenue

Broadcasting £24.3m (£17.8m) 27% (23%) of football revenue

Commercial £15.7m (£14.1m) 18% (18%) of football revenue

Retail £7.8m (£7.0m) 9% (9%) of football revenue

* 12 home games and Emirates Cup v 11 home games and Argentina vs Brazil

Football costs were broadly unchanged at £67.4m (£66.2m) and reflected the likely wages balance of the departure of Henry and Ljungberg v new squad members and improved contracts for others.

The wages to football turnover ratio is likely to be close to a very reasonable 50% (£45m/£90m). There is no mention of whether the Club has yet reached agreement with David Dein over his employment termination payment (outstanding at September 2007).

The non wages costs of running the Club (stadium costs, retail expenses?) are huge at about £50m per season and a more detailed breakdown of this significant amount would be very informative.

Cash balances. There is much talk about the current need for squad strengthening and the cash available. However of the £69.1m (£53.1m) period end cash, £25.5m (£26.3m) is pledged and acts as security for the stadium debt.

It is unclear if the cash totals include the estimated £30m of deposits received from the Highbury Square apartment sales, or if these monies have been used to partially fund the development together with the loan facilities.

Debt levels rose as predicted as an additional £41m was borrowed to fund the property developments. The total gross debt now stands at £376m (£327m) of which £246.8m (£260m) relates to the new stadium, £103.8m (£44.6m) against Highbury Square and debenture subscriptions (the A, B, C and D bonds held by supporters) of £25.6m (£25.3m). The net interest charge was £7.7m (£6.8m).

The interest rates charged on the new stadium debt are either fixed contractually (on the £200m of the long term bonds) or by interest rate swaps (on the £50m of floating rate loans).

Arsenal are also paying about £1.6m per year for “repayment insurance” to Ambac on the stadium debt. This insurance is in favour of the lenders / investors although it’s now of reduced value as the creditworthiness of the insurer has declined.

Accruals and deferred income (revenue received in advance of the accounting period to which it relates – essentially Club, box and commercial monies) remain high at £162m (£164m).

Property development remains vitally important to Arsenal’s future financial position. It is reported that over the next two financial years the completion and sales of Highbury Square (95% pre-sold) and Queensland Road will generate funds of £350m.

With the current Highbury Square debt of £105m and rising and £30m of deposits received it is likely that the Club could net between £100m-£125m from these projects. The uncertainty in the financial markets and economy in general could impact upon legal completion on some of the Highbury Square apartments. It is difficult to predict at this stage how this could affect the Club. It is believed Arsenal are already re-marketing several apartments that have already been pre-sold.

Player trading figures are as always difficult to reconcile, as so many transfer deals are for “undisclosed” figures. The accounts show a profit on player sales of £19.6m (£12.2m). [Profit is the difference between the price paid / received and the book value of the player after amortisation charges].

Wenger’s ability to continually generate profits from his transfer dealings and keep the Club at the very top level (10 consecutive seasons in the Champions League) is amazing. From the figures disclosed related to the book value of players sold it appears that the signing-on fee paid to Henry at the time of his contract extension was substantial and probably in the region of £5m.

The accounts also show that Arsenal have a maximum of £30.6m (£19.7m) still to pay in transfer fees based on players achieving a specified number of appearances and other unspecified events. Of this amount £20m (£10.5m) is described as “probable” and £10.6m (£9.2m) has not yet been provided for.

Summary

Match day revenues are strong and are dependent on the football played and the stadium being full. The collectively negotiated broadcast income is also strong as the new three year TV deal becomes effective.

However the commercial and retail revenue streams appear weak in comparison with other top-tier clubs. This is a legacy of long-term deals signed with Emirates (shirt expiry 2014/15 and naming rights expiry 2020/21) and Nike (expiry 2010/11) when cash was desperately needed “up front” to complete the Stadium.

These deals are costing Arsenal at least £10m each year in revenue opportunity cost when compared to deals now being concluded by other clubs. The stadium debt deal looks an increasingly good piece of business as rates are fixed (and low) at a time when financial markets and lenders are under increasing amounts of stress.

Reaching completion of Highbury Square and Queensland Road during the next 18 months will be a major achievement. If all goes to plan and the level of completion defaults is low Arsenal should net at least £100m which will repay the £50m debt facility and one assumes be allocated to squad investment (to cover both transfers and wages).

Of the near £70m of cash balances, £25m is unavailable as it is used to partially secure future repayments of the debt facilities and one also assumes some is set aside to meet the probable £20m of additional transfer fees payable on existing squad members.

This does however leave maybe £25m for the squad building (transfer plus wages) that appears all too necessary to sustain a season long challenge for honours on several fronts.

 

[Tango Wasp]

Just read that Arsene is saying - never say never...on Henry's return. Is Arsene going to break his No-return rule? I wonder...First it was Anelka and now Henry. Maybe, next will be Flamini -if he decide to leave by end April.

 

[Brand]

just read that Hleb is off to Inter........

then again.. maybe not.....




now, where in the lower leagues is my other team.. Nottingham Forest..

 

[FooFighter]

ANR Breaking News : Hleb's gone, let's get Kranjcar !

By Myles Palmer

At 4pm I saw Arsene on Sky Sports News saying Hleb isn't going.

"I find all the talk about the players completely disrespectful," he said, rather grimly. "When it comes directly from the club, enough is enough, we shall report them directly to FIFA from now on.

"If Inter are interested in Alexander Hleb, they should call us. We have heard nothing. I don't know why we always have to respond to these situations.

"Apart from Mathieu Flamini, all our players are under contract. You never hear me talking about players who are under contract somewhere else. If I want to buy someone, I call the chairman and I ask him if he is for sale."

That interview would have been recorded around 2.pm, probably.

But at 4.45pm I had a phone call saying (1) Hleb has gone to Inter Milan and (2) a fee has been agreed and (3) he will rent out his house in Hampstead, as the property market has taken a dive.

So I don't know what to believe now. I'm putting this is up because I trust my source.

Looks as if Alex Hleb has done 4 years in the Bundlesliga, 3 years in the Premier League & now he's off to Serie A.

I wish him well. I was a fan of Hleb's from day one. But he is not what Arsenal need right now.

And we have to live in the real world of mercenary footballers.

You are screaming : How much did we get for him?

Dunno. I'm telling you everything I know, which may be 100% kosher - or not. We shall see.

Hleb's price will come out in the Italian media very soon if this newsflash is right.

Slaven Bilic says Nico Kranjcar is the right man for Arsenal.

Good player : vision, skill, a powerful 23-year old who can whack a ball from 25 yards. Arsenal have needed that for years and years.

I'm reminded of the words Stan Kroenke used when his executives had a meeting, kicking around ideas for next season's NBA basketball team. It was a meeting in which Stan did not say a lot.

He listened to the ideas being kicked around, the arguments back and forward, and his executive posse gradually came out in favour of Allan Iverson.

The meeting ended when Stan said three little words.

He said, "Go get him !"

Yes, Iversen is a red-hot basketball player.

And he is tiny. He is only six feet tall !

Apr 25, 2008

 

[Adam Goi]

Hi.

Now given that Man U and Chelsea are levelled on points and should they lose the next 2 matches and Arsenal winning the final 3, i.e. Derby, Everton and Sunderland ... sweetness!

I know it sounds ridiculous but I can dream, can't I! :bsmilie:

 

[sbs99]

aren't we all? :lovegrin:

 

[madmacs]

haha....i started dreaming before the manu-chelsea game :bsmilie: what a dream it would be huh :bsmilie:

 

[FooFighter]

If we win the title this year, it will be the greatest come-back since Anfield '89!

 

[Brand]

a little birdie told me Flamini has signed for AC Milan........




I killed that birdie...

 

[FooFighter]

a little birdie told me Flamini has signed for AC Milan........

I killed that birdie...

NPNT :bsmilie:

 

[madmacs]

OMG...what team did we send out today? i can't believe what i'm watching. 1st 20 mins and we look more like the relegated team who can hardly string a decent pass together. shots on goal - derby 6 us 1! HMMMPH! :angry:

oh...look at this. we just scored on our 2nd shot. hah! lets see how this goes. :sweat: