ARSENAL MAY BE SOLVENT AND STABLE AS A BUSINESS BUT IT’S NOT AS A FOOTBALL CLUB…..

Which specifically of these “rules” am I supposed to be in contravention may I ask? Or is the purpose of this website only to reaffirm what everyone on it already holds to be the one inalienable truth – that Arsene and Arsenal are one and the same and cannot be separated or open to criticism on any point. If that is the point why allow comments – surely you all already know what you think!

Perhaps I am misled but I thought we were fans of Arsenal Football Club, not any particular employee. Perhaps you could clarify for me who you will support when Wenger eventually leaves? You see, some of us remember a time when we had other managers – if you check in the history books some of them were quite good.

1. I think we could be better drilled at the back and have a hungrier set of players. We conceded weak goals against Chelsea and Man Utd, and it’s partly due to bad defending.

2. It doesn’t hurt to have experienced, talented players in critical spots. Almunia isn’t talented enough for Arsenal. Fabianski should be promoted to first choice if he’s ready, sent on loan if he isn’t, or transferred if he’s not good enough. Mannone the same. Goalkeeper is a position we can’t piss around with. And a good goalkeeper can last for years; 10m for Cech doesn’t look expensive in hindsight, and 15m-20m on a Lloris or an Akinfeev won’t look bad in 10 years time either. And tanking last season just to blood Alex Song seems a bit indulgent.

3. We have a lot of injuries. This has crippled each season for the past 4-5 years. Why is that? Are our players weaker than other, or is our training regime not suited to the players? I think there should be some sort of inquiry about this. for example, why was van Persie misdiagnosed and allowed to go to a placenta-loving quack, instead of getting surgery?

Point 2 requires money to be spent. You’ll probably disagree with a philosophy which entails money being spent to get the expertise we lack. You’d probably point to the healthy finances and say that that’s so healthy because we haven’t spent on transfers. But Points 1 and 3 are things that any self-respecting club would address. And they haven’t been addressed in 5 years.

Oh yes, I enjoy Arsenal Column, too. I think this and that one are the only two I regularly check out.

a good website I just came across helps fill in some of Tony’s inuendos or comments called the arsenal column. It explains the tactical approaches Arsenal are experimenting with and some interesting other things. For me quite helpful and for most who care would do justice to read. But, I suspect most of the bloggers are boys who just like to argue and are skulls full o mush!

But he’s not a politician. That’s why I admire him.

You said, “But by his standard to not buy in january is a failure.Failure not on spending big money but even to find one just one player from the whole globe with all his scouts.That is the failure.This it does not means we are financially very sound and we can spend lavishly.I do honestly believe by Wenger standard there are plenty so called mediocre or unknown gems but he was carried away by the statistics of goals scored against the mediocre or lesser teams.”

1. I do believe we signed a few South Americans, Wellington Silva and Samuel Galindo, but please correct me if I’m wrong. Are these the “mediocre or unknown gems” you are talking about? I think they are far from mediocre and, in South America, far from unknown.
(There was also a Montenegran defender, too, I think.)

2. I’m not sure if I understand the meaning of your last statement, but if you are saying that there are plenty of “mediocre or unknown gems” that Wenger should have identified and signed, then: A.) Doesn’t that contradict what all his critics have been saying about the need to splash cash on big name signings like Dzeko and Villa rather than youngsters who can’t immediately step in to the First Team and contribute?

Following your logic, Wenger is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

I trust Wenger when he says that the players who would have been legitimately better than the players he has now, were unavailable.

For him the only reason to buy would’ve been to placate certain fans, not to better the team.

I have never met an honest politician recently so I get the dig but spare us the lecture please. The following is from the inventor of this site a good read. You would do well to follow it:
“Before commenting
You’re before welcome to write a comment to this blog, but before you do, please do take a note of these points:

1. Untold Arsenal is a biased blog – its supports Arsenal without question, and particularly supports the work of Arsene Wenger. You may disagree with this view of the world, which is fair enough – but there are plenty of other blogs around which criticize Arsenal, and which support other clubs, so it is probably best to express your views there. We are not looking for this blog to be balanced within itself.

2. Comments which are simply pure abuse against Arsenal, Wenger, or the writers of articles won’t be published. If you think that the writer is a total tosser, who has personal problems, doesn’t understand football, thinks he’s a clever journalist when all he is, is a wanker, then fair enough. That’s your view. The problem is these views have been expressed so many times before it is getting tiring, and there really doesn’t seem any point publishing over and over again. Your best bet (in our view) would be either to write to another blog, or maybe start your own blog.

3. We are 100% against racism, homophobia and violence, both when exhibited by fans of other clubs, and by fans of Arsenal. We’ve now stopped publishing letters calling us racist simply because we might comment on a black player. We comment on players because of their footballing ability, and possibly their personal views, never on them because of their colour.

4. The editor is 100% against international football in all its forms. This includes the Euro Championship, the World Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations, the Copa America and any other cups you can think of. But if you want to argue against that, fair enough.

5. A lot of stuff we write is meant to be funny. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does. But it is always catergorised as humour.

6. Much of what we write is part of a continuous stream of commentary. You don’t have to go back and read it all, but reading several of our pieces from the last week or two can help if you want to comment. If you don’t there is always the risk that your comment will look a bit out of place.

This is all set out a little more formally in our manifesto.

Can we just be clear on a couple of things:

1. Buying a decent goalkeeper (>10 million) would not bankrupt the club nor would it break the sustainability model.
2. Buying a decent striker (10-15 million) wouldn’t do that either. There is a strong argument that doing so would increase turnover, through a combination of tv revenue,prize money, extra gate revenues and product marketing.
3. Giving huge long term contracts to players like Denilson, Eduardo, Fabianski, et al, who have little chance of becoming major players and will sit on the wage bill for ages as nobody else will pay them that sort of money IS being financially dumb.
4. Having an opinion other than “we must agree with everything we are told” does not make someone a doom and gloomer – it is their right as individuals to have an express an opinion even if you don’t like it.
5. No company in any business EVER made sound financial decisions by not communicating effectively with its customers (fans).
6. There is no widespread media campaign against us, we are just a big club who gets a lot of attention, not all of it positive but we get a lot of praise too. The reality is that a lot of people in football are actually laughing at us for making the same mistakes over and over again and still claiming it as some sort of moral victory.

Increasingly Arsenal look like a major corporate monolith that tells us what we should think and Arsene is the main protaganist of this. It is time for Arsenal Football Club is cut the corporate political PR machine and tell the fans what we can expect from them. Stop telling people that what they just watched with their own eyes is not what really happened. Up is not down, left is not right and football is not a game won on points not goals. Stop trying to tell us it is!

cos, they cant gat a bigger dividend if they dont get a dividend at all.

goonergerry, the worldwide financial recession may be coming to an end, but footballs recession hasnt peaked yet. you also say ‘Arsenal’s commercial performance is weak compared to rivals.’ this statement is utter hogwash. we are one of the most financially profitable / successful sports teams in the whole wide world. i haven got the ststs but they have been mentioned on this blog in the past.

who is to say that, had arsene spent in january that the two results would have been different? the transfer market was dead this jan and no one spent. we signed 2 or 3 players and sent a couple out on loan. we have the money, but that lack of available talent that conform to arsenes’ crtiteria is the reason we didnt buy an expensive player. i would really love to hear the names of signings that we should buy.

if anyone is seriously embarrassed by our last two defeats then i suggest that this says more about yourself than arsenal or arsene.

cecsrule, of all the strikers you mentioned, only torres, dafoe, dogboy, anelka, rooney and maybe tevez have class. how you can even mention owen is hilarious. our cbs will score more than him this season.

i think ye d & g lot should take a leaf out of avrsms book and get yourself a nice relaxing massage.

Every Arsenal fan knows that Hleb and Adebayore have been bought at older age. Ade somewhat 22 I think and Hleb even older. They never have been part of our youth system. NEVER!