Arsenal have arguably had the most scrutinised and criticised summers of recent times. The fall from challenging on all fronts to finish with nothing, plenty of outward transfer dealing but barely anything coming in, ticket price rises and a below-par pre-season. But who is there to blame? The players? The manager? The board? The PR?...Or even the fans?
Signings? Wenger or the board?
A couple of seasons ago 2 signings could have been our ticket to a solid league challenge and perhaps even European glory but somehow, years later, we were a few deadline day signings away from possibly not even making the top 4. The very top 4 which Wenger and the board claim to be ‘success’ in the midst of paying off the debt carried with building a new stadium. I strongly believe that if it weren’t for the humiliating drubbing at Old Trafford, the gaffer might not have even made those signings but unfortunately that can only be a mere assumption at best, which brings me to the next point: Stan, Gazidis and PR
PR
I think a lot of arsenal fans have been impressed with the South African since his arrival at the club: a well spoken, experienced and passionate business man who initiated the ‘Arsenalisation’ of the Emirates which in my opinion has definitely made it feel more homely. However, with the infamous Silent Stan living up to his name and Wenger often saying the exact opposite of what fans want to hear, Gazidis has the extra burden of pressure of keeping the fans happy. In July, however, Gazidis made a statement that I think backfired on him stating that we’re actively busy and that our summer transfer business was far from done. Now, this pleased the fans until the only evidence they saw of transfer activity was Cesc and Nasri leaving and only a 19 year old unknown Joel Campbell coming in (who eventually failed to get a work permit anyway). It’s times like these where just mentioning positions we’re looking at or confirming a link to a player might lift the spirits of fans, who are sadly so impatient these days that it only takes something minor to cause an uproar, but again this is because we are always so close and end up empty handed. Like someone offering you a laptop for a few pounds more than a calculator, but we choose the calculator.
Financial fair play
In the light of UEFA’s new financial fair play rule, our self sustaining model may not be such a bad thing but again has its flaws. It did not take into consideration things like inflation, a lack of silverware (and the prize money associated with it) and billionaire private owners. Now it’s hard to blame the board for this but it becomes a kick in the teeth when the only way the club can compensate for that is raising ticket prices to an already on-edge support group in light of a lack of trophies (which will also probably make sponsors more reluctant to forge bonds). In this case I’m with the fans; I support my team through thick and thin but sometimes, just sometimes, it feels like we’re being taken advantage of due to a lack of premonition on the board’s part. I’d be happy to pay 6% extra a year, if I saw more signings and some trophies, but that simply hasn’t been the case. But the age old problem remains: a healthy bank balance isn’t going to score goals or keep a clean sheet.
Chairman and patience
Hill-Wood hasn’t been an angel either, coming out and saying that the fans have to be ‘bloody patient’ in the climate the club is in was a mistake in my opinion. The fans have most certainly been patient, for 6 years, which again makes me think that the chairman himself doesn’t appreciate the support which has been increasingly difficult to give. For example, a world class player like Sergio Aguero becomes available, we weren’t even linked with him, he has a blinder of a debut for man city and then Wenger comes out and says that he’d be willing to spend 30-40 million a player. Now as a fan, that almost sounds like he’s deliberately trying to infuriate us. Even saying things like ‘we’re trying to find the right player’ in the last week of the window makes me question whether there was a plan in place. The club shouldn’t be trying to find players in the last minute; we should’ve identified a list of targets straight off of the back end of last season and done business, not trying to ‘find’ players so late on. Now again I don’t know what happens behind the scene but the simple fact is, we left our deals to the last minute when we had all summer; my educated guess would be that Wenger had faith in his current crop.
Fans
I think in today’s society fans are impatient and want to see change quickly, but let’s take a step back and really see if we should really be so annoyed. In 50 years time we will have a debt free club, a new stadium and (if we keep finishing in the top 4) we’ll still be under the list of Europe’s elite clubs. We’ve had longer trophy droughts in the club’s history and if we look at the team like Juventus, who have also built a new stadium (that isn’t as big as ours) but have also been relegated, had their reputation tarnished and also missed out on European football last season. Yes, they’ve been on a spending spree this summer but only time will guarantee whether they’re successful or not, and if it turns out that they are not, well, that will just emphasise how well our club is run.
I think we can all take some of the blame: Silent Stan, Hill-Wood, other Stan, Wenger, the players and the fans. But we should all remember our club motto: Victoria Concordia Crescit which means victory through harmony. And if we’re going to win anything then that’s what we have to do.
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