Arsenal record profits

[Weststander]

In fairness Arshavin was world class for his first two seasons. Sure he's been shit for the last 18 months but you wouldn't hear one Arsenal fan complaining after watching smash four by Liverpool.

Sent by the power of Gus' tactical genius

Arsenal fans at the time absolutely did not rate him as world class for the 2 years i.e. Jan 2009 to Jan 2011. What a load of tosh, rewriting history.

Talent maybe. Performances not.

ARSENAL FANS i.e. Emirates s/t holders have slagged him as lazy for most of his time here, berated Wenger for favouring him, and can remember just a handful of appearances when he starred including the 4 - 4 which was back in April 09.

 

[larus]

Wenger's ability to give Arsenal Champions League football every year for the last 15 years has enabled them to pay for a sizeable chunk of that stadium. And they've done it without massive spending on players. I reckon no manager has contributed to such a financial transformation of a club in English football history.

Totally agree. This is the one factor which so many are so quick to overlook in their comments regarding Wenger. IMO, he has performed an amazing job. There are very few mangers who have achieved what he has AND contributed to the profit of the club by transfer dealings.

I used to dislike 'boring, boring' Arsenal, but I now have a 'soft spot' for them due to this, and also Wenger wanting the game played as an entertaining spectacle.

I don't see a lot of premiership football, but when I have watched Arsenal play, they often play fast, slick stuff.

 

[matthew]

Don't knock Wenger .. every transfer deal he's ever done has been a bargain, for players that subsequently became world class for them:

Wiltord £13m
Walcott £12m
Eduardo £10.2m
Hleb £10.2m
Jeffers £8m
Richard Wright £6m

And no one should sneer at 7 years & growing without silverware. They are the champs of the Profit & Loss Account.

Hleb was sold for 15m to Barcelona, Eduardo had his leg broken, Wacott is still good. Others i've barely heard of but his main shit transfer was Arshavin who everyone wanted at the time. Fabregas 1m RVP 2.5m Ade 7.5m Nasri 12m Vermalean 9m then there's the invincibeles...

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I wonder what the Premier League table would look like if teams were only allowed to spend within their means.

The Premier League was brought into existence in order to make money for Arsenal. They aren't bothered about league tables. After all, they have NEVER been promoted - not even into the old first division.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

The Premier League was brought into existence in order to make money for Arsenal. They aren't bothered about league tables. After all, they have NEVER been promoted - not even into the old first division.

Arsenal have been promoted twice, once even though they finished sixth in the old Division Two.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Arsenal have been promoted twice, once even though they finished sixth in the old Division Two.

Being promoted when teams above them weren't (in the days before playoffs)? That was bribery, not promotion.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Being promoted when teams above them weren't (in the days before playoffs)? That was bribery, not promotion.

Arsenal had a spell in Division One from 1904 to 1913 after finishing 2nd in Division Two in 1903/04
English Division Two (old) 1903-1904 Table - statto.com

 

[Aadam]

Before everyone gets carried away here, let's not forget that the group profit before tax was £49.5 million, but the resulting profit from player trading was £46.1 million - which included arguably two of their best players leaving in Nasri and Fabregas. To sustain this, are they going to need to sell RvP in the summer to toast another financially successful year, or do they need to purchase more players? What would you be happy with as an Arsenal supporter?

A worrying thing for Arsenal is that since the move to the Emirates their net spend has been -£48,900,000 compared to £70,516,000 at Highbury. A football club shouldn't be reliant on player sales to drive profits, and a selling club is rarely synonymous with success.

you've hit the nail on the head. how fifa, uefa, the FA or whoever have let this happen is beyond me! they need to get a serious grip on football.

every club should be run financially like arsenal, no club should be allowed to get in debt. its not f***ing hard!

It has nothing to do with FIFA, UEFA or the FA. It is the clubs that have allowed players and agents to demand more than the players are worth. If all clubs had taken the stance Arsenal have, then players would not be able to hold their clubs to ransom, e.g., Rooney to demand obscene wages. If more of the wage was performance related, and less basic, it would be easier to control.

I'm not sure on the legalities of imposing a salary cap for a privately run business, which is why I think the Premier League hasn't done this yet. But if the clubs had a blanket wage structure, with all players being paid the same, but with performance clauses this would work much better, for both the clubs and ultimately the fans, who wouldn't be able to bemoan the likes of Arshavin.

Wenger's ability to give Arsenal Champions League football every year for the last 15 years has enabled them to pay for a sizeable chunk of that stadium. And they've done it without massive spending on players. I reckon no manager has contributed to such a financial transformation of a club in English football history.

I wouldn't like to assume this is Wengers doing. When Man United floated in 1991 and raised all that cash to effectively purchase a team that would dominate English football this was a business decision, not one of the Manager. It is the same with Arsenal. Wenger should be concerned with one thing only and that is to manage the players at Arsenal, not get involved with running the business and driving profits.

At centre-back, there have Koscielny, Djourou, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and (the albeit poor) Squillaci. In midfield, nobody would be querying anything if Wilshere hadn't missed the entire season.

Wenger's policy is why spend omney on replacements that are only going to be temporary at best. Verlmaelen and Koscielny are top class and considerably more mobile than Dawson and King, Terry and Luiz, and Ferdinand and Vidic. Spurs have Ryan Nelson as a back-up, Chelsea have the out-of-form Cahill and United have the laughably poor Evans. Defensively, this has been the worst Premier League in years because out of the above: King, Terry, Ferdinand, Vidic and Vermaelen are relentlessly injured.


Only City really have strength in depth because they blow everybody, including Arsenal, out of the water financially.

Chelsea, City and United all are following the Leeds success model of spending beyond their means. United are safe because of their massive pulling power internationally (if not actually in Manchester) which balances out their P&L bottom line, Chelsea are looking strangely shakey and City aren't playing by the new rules.

I don't entirely agree here. Given the choice I wouldn't have Verlmaelen and Koscielny at centre back over say Vidic and Jones of United (I don't know why you've states Evans as back-up when Jones is the better option). And Vidic is not relentlessly injured as you've suggested. Vermaelen and Koscielny spend most of their time in the physio room, so being mobile isn't too useful when you're not actually on the pitch.

Thomas Vermaelen Injury History
Ankle/Foot Injury 2012 February 26th
Calf/Shin Injury 2011 December 31st
Calf Muscle Strain 2011 October 26th
Achilles Tendinopathy 2011 August 24th

Laurent Koscielny Injury History
Knee Injury 2012 February 15th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2011 September 24th
Back Injury 2011 August 28th
Thigh Muscle Strain 2011 May 13th
Back Injury 2011 February 22nd

And I don't believe United are living beyond their means. They've recorded record results year on year, they're servicing the debt and if this Asia floatation goes ahead, it will wipe out the debt, and they will become much stronger than Arsenal financially, with a much better team.

 

[JBizzle]

Arsenal fans at the time absolutely did not rate him as world class for the 2 years i.e. Jan 2009 to Jan 2011. What a load of tosh, rewriting history.

Talent maybe. Performances not.

ARSENAL FANS i.e. Emirates s/t holders have slagged him as lazy for most of his time here, berated Wenger for favouring him, and can remember just a handful of appearances when he starred including the 4 - 4 which was back in April 09.

Absolute nonsense. Arshavin was signed and Arsenal fans were pleased because they fought off Barca to get him. His performances to start with were excellent and I am not re-writing history. Just talking from the point of view of a Brighton fans whose friends are disappointingly ALL Arsenal fans.

 

[Storer 68]

Arsenal have been promoted twice, once even though they finished sixth in the old Division Two.

it was bought. and humourously did Tottenham out of a league place. Given that they had allowed relegated Chelsea to stay in the division, why not Tottenham?
Chelsea had influence (the very rich Mears family), Arseanl had influence (the very rich Norris) and Tottenham, er, didn't.

So it wasn't a promotion, as we know it, but an expansion

The club controversially rejoined the First Division in 1919,[17][18] despite only finishing sixth in 1914–15, the last season of competitive football before the First World War had intervened — although an error in the calculation of goal average meant Arsenal had actually finished fifth,[19] an error which was corrected by the Football League in 1975.[20] The First Division was being expanded from 20 teams to 22, and the two new entrants were elected at an AGM of the Football League. One of the extra places was given to Chelsea, who had finished 19th in the First Division and thus had been already relegated. The other spot could have gone to 20th-placed Tottenham Hotspur (also relegated), or to Barnsley or Wolves, who had finished third and fourth in the Second Division respectively.[19]

Instead, the League decided instead to promote sixth-placed Arsenal, for reasons of history over merit; Norris argued that Arsenal be promoted for their "long service to league football", having been the first League club from the South.[18] The League board agreed; they voted eighteen votes to eight to promote Arsenal ahead of their local rivals Tottenham Hotspur,[17] which has fuelled the long-standing enmity between the two clubs. It has been alleged that this was due to backroom deals or even outright bribery by Sir Henry Norris,[17] colluding with his friend John McKenna, chairman of Liverpool and the Football League, who recommended Arsenal's promotion to the AGM.[17]

No conclusive proof of wrongdoing has ever come to light, though other aspects of Norris's financial dealings unrelated to the promotion controversy have fuelled speculation on the matter; Norris resigned as chairman and left the club in 1929, having been found guilty by the Football Association of financial irregularities; he was found to have misused his expenses account, and to have pocketed the proceeds of the sale of the Arsenal team bus.[21] Regardless of the circumstances of their promotion in 1919, Arsenal have remained in the top division since then, and as a result hold the English record for the longest unbroken stretch of top-flight football.[22]