13 years and counting.

Congratulations to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger for having stayed together to make Arsene Arsenal's longest-ever serving manager. Lots of criticism has flown Arsene's way during his time with us, some of it valid, most of it utter bull and some of it, sadly because the poor bloke wasn't born on our piece of the British Isles.
I'm proud that Wenger is at Arsenal. He is an intelligent man, knows football as well as the best and better than most, understands how people work, both physically and mentally and is a fine representative for the club.
"He hasn't won anything for 4 or 5 years, he should be replaced"? He will, again and he'll do it without breaking the bank.
Oh yes and replaced by who? Where is there, right now a manager who could take over and/or improve the team/club? As an Arsenal fan, a football fan, just look at what he's allowed us to enjoy during his time thus far :
1)The Invincibles.
2)A team with players such as Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Vieira at their respective peaks (OK, DB was already in place when Wenger joined - the rest were 'nobodys' until he brought them together).
3)The current squad, blooming and sometimes playing football as good as I've ever seen, anywhere.
I'm wishing Arsene all the very best for the future, with us I trust, with many, many thanks for what you've done for our club.

I'm with you all the way jpr.
Wenger has been a truly remarkable manager.
Here's to many more years to come Arsene :chug:

Great manager but the pressure is on now. No matter what some fans think, no trophies for 5 years is significant and this season its likely that Arsenal will get no trophy and no CL qualification something that has been a given for a long time. Would the final nail in the coffin be Tottingham gaining the 4th spot?

villainies wrote:Great manager but the pressure is on now. No matter what some fans think, no trophies for 5 years is significant and this season its likely that Arsenal will get no trophy and no CL qualification something that has been a given for a long time. Would the final nail in the coffin be Tottingham gaining the 4th spot?

:fishing:

villainies wrote:Great manager but the pressure is on now. No matter what some fans think, no trophies for 5 years is significant and this season its likely that Arsenal will get no trophy and no CL qualification something that has been a given for a long time. Would the final nail in the coffin be Tottingham gaining the 4th spot?

I see no coffins nor nails at The Grove. Perhaps we are confusing The Arsenal with another club? Oh and Tottingham gaining fourth spot? Well, they can have it, three spots below The Arsenal!

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:Great manager but the pressure is on now. No matter what some fans think, no trophies for 5 years is significant and this season its likely that Arsenal will get no trophy and no CL qualification something that has been a given for a long time. Would the final nail in the coffin be Tottingham gaining the 4th spot?

I see no coffins nor nails at The Grove. Perhaps we are confusing The Arsenal with another club? Oh and Tottingham gaining fourth spot? Well, they can have it, three spots below The Arsenal!

Come on japes, you can't be that happy its just not possible. Its not out of the realms of possibilty that you finish 5th this year with no trophy. If you do will you still be so buoyant?

villainies wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:Great manager but the pressure is on now. No matter what some fans think, no trophies for 5 years is significant and this season its likely that Arsenal will get no trophy and no CL qualification something that has been a given for a long time. Would the final nail in the coffin be Tottingham gaining the 4th spot?

I see no coffins nor nails at The Grove. Perhaps we are confusing The Arsenal with another club? Oh and Tottingham gaining fourth spot? Well, they can have it, three spots below The Arsenal!

Come on japes, you can't be that happy its just not possible. Its not out of the realms of possibilty that you finish 5th this year with no trophy. If you do will you still be so buoyant?

The Arsenal are a football club. We have no special claim nor right to win trophies every year, nor finish top four so that we may compete in a European competition that should really be for champions only. The fact that we play attractive football and have excellent players is enough to keep me happy (I've been a fan for a long time, sometimes we couldn't even kick a ball straight) and I truly believe that we have the talent to win things this season. If we aren't one of the four winning teams for the trophies we are competing for it will be disappointing but I'm willing to bet we'll have played some great games, scored some great goals and been, as they say, there or thereabouts when the trophies are handed out.

I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

You're talking about the money borrowed to build the stadium at Ashburton Grove I assume. Well, obviously we borrowed to build, not many businesses have a spare £400m sitting around but it's like the bloke who gets married and buys a house. It's an investment for the future. Meanwhile our core business - the football side - is run at a profit, which is not the case, for example for Chelsea or Real Madrid who lose millions each year, coughing up for new players and their ridiculous wages. That sort of 'business' has only one possible end.

jpr60 wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

You're talking about the money borrowed to build the stadium at Ashburton Grove I assume. Well, obviously we borrowed to build, not many businesses have a spare £400m sitting around but it's like the bloke who gets married and buys a house. It's an investment for the future. Meanwhile our core business - the football side - is run at a profit, which is not the case, for example for Chelsea or Real Madrid who lose millions each year, coughing up for new players and their ridiculous wages. That sort of 'business' has only one possible end.

But even Wenger has said that Arsenal need to sell for more then they buy for the next few seasons, that doesn't sound like a club making a profit. There is no profit to be had in football, the only decent pay out is the champions league and for most of teams spend more in a transfer window then the actual prize money.

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

You're talking about the money borrowed to build the stadium at Ashburton Grove I assume. Well, obviously we borrowed to build, not many businesses have a spare £400m sitting around but it's like the bloke who gets married and buys a house. It's an investment for the future. Meanwhile our core business - the football side - is run at a profit, which is not the case, for example for Chelsea or Real Madrid who lose millions each year, coughing up for new players and their ridiculous wages. That sort of 'business' has only one possible end.

But even Wenger has said that Arsenal need to sell for more then they buy for the next few seasons, that doesn't sound like a club making a profit. There is no profit to be had in football, the only decent pay out is the champions league and for most of teams spend more in a transfer window then the actual prize money.

Arsenal have, once again, returned a healthy profit.
The ground is a long term liability, as jpr says, just like a persons mortgage. It's a debt structured over many years.
I, like jpr (note the commas ), am an Arsenal supporter for over 50 years. I have seen the whole spectrum in that time but what Wenger has delivered in his time has been nothing short of fantastic, for both Arsenal fans and lovers of pure football alike. There is no one better.

No doubting what Arsene has done for you, I remeber you finishing below us, that thought is pretty unthinkable now.

jak wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

You're talking about the money borrowed to build the stadium at Ashburton Grove I assume. Well, obviously we borrowed to build, not many businesses have a spare £400m sitting around but it's like the bloke who gets married and buys a house. It's an investment for the future. Meanwhile our core business - the football side - is run at a profit, which is not the case, for example for Chelsea or Real Madrid who lose millions each year, coughing up for new players and their ridiculous wages. That sort of 'business' has only one possible end.

But even Wenger has said that Arsenal need to sell for more then they buy for the next few seasons, that doesn't sound like a club making a profit. There is no profit to be had in football, the only decent pay out is the champions league and for most of teams spend more in a transfer window then the actual prize money.

Arsenal have, once again, returned a healthy profit.
The ground is a long term liability, as jpr says, just like a persons mortgage. It's a debt structured over many years.
I, like jpr (note the commas ), am an Arsenal supporter for over 50 years. I have seen the whole spectrum in that time but what Wenger has delivered in his time has been nothing short of fantastic, for both Arsenal fans and lovers of pure football alike. There is no one better.

Who did you support in the first half of your life then?

Ezekiel 25:17 wrote:

jak wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

villainies wrote:I still reckon the rumblings will grow if Arsenal fall out of the top 4 (almost unthinkable a few seasons ago) but the club would move on, get a new manager but have to compete with Citeh and maybe others on the cash front to get back into the top 4.

It's not The Arsenal way - we're a club with the business side run like a business i.e. we earn more than we pay out.
The likes of Chelsea, ManC etc rely on a generous benefactor - when he's no longer around the club is in queer street. I sincerely hope that we won't take that route - it's a short-term boost for a longer term disaster IMO.

Arsenal are in debt by few hundred million aren't they?

You're talking about the money borrowed to build the stadium at Ashburton Grove I assume. Well, obviously we borrowed to build, not many businesses have a spare £400m sitting around but it's like the bloke who gets married and buys a house. It's an investment for the future. Meanwhile our core business - the football side - is run at a profit, which is not the case, for example for Chelsea or Real Madrid who lose millions each year, coughing up for new players and their ridiculous wages. That sort of 'business' has only one possible end.

But even Wenger has said that Arsenal need to sell for more then they buy for the next few seasons, that doesn't sound like a club making a profit. There is no profit to be had in football, the only decent pay out is the champions league and for most of teams spend more in a transfer window then the actual prize money.

Arsenal have, once again, returned a healthy profit.
The ground is a long term liability, as jpr says, just like a persons mortgage. It's a debt structured over many years.
I, like jpr (note the commas ), am an Arsenal supporter for over 50 years. I have seen the whole spectrum in that time but what Wenger has delivered in his time has been nothing short of fantastic, for both Arsenal fans and lovers of pure football alike. There is no one better.

Who did you support in the first half of your life then?

I supported family planning in all Essex coastal towns but they wouldn't listen to me, now look what's happened to the world.