Parky Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. It's beyond delusion it's psychosis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 1998 Beat Newcastle United 2-0 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. While every year falling behind our competitors? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. The sad reality is without significant investment we will only fall further behind the likes of Arsenal, let alone Chelsea and Man City. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. While every year falling behind our competitors? I would say the squad is better than it was last season, even though we have not spent enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. While every year falling behind our competitors? I would say the squad is better than it was last season, even though we have not spent enough. I agree, but only very slightly and still remains unbalanced and very vulernable to injuries and suspensions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Basically this Arsenal analogy they are parading is completely vacuous or a con. That's what I've said, they're trying to make us into another Spurs, not Arsenal. Get in a new manager, promise some ambition, get in a couple of exciting foreigners on the cheap, sell season tickets, and sell whichever players you can get most money from. It wouldn't surprise me if this is a result of Ashley betting against his mate Kemsley that he could make any football club profitable. I've had nagging doubts for a while about the Spurs connections, and this past week hasn't helped dispell such notions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wspence_uk Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Have we not been living beyond our means in recent years? Its not how much you spend, its how well you spend it. had we got 1 or 2 more squad players in i think we had a really good window, as is we had a good one. If we belive what we read we are still paying £20+ million in payments from players we have bought over the last few years. I love Keegan, but if it was found out to be true he wanted to buy Beckham, Henry, Lampard etc i would think we are better off without him. We need to look forward not be buying players over 30 on 100K a week Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Theres been no real statement of intent from the board/Ashley apart from Ashley's"I want to enjoy it". It's been left to keegan to say that the initial aim was to win a trophy and challenge for 5th - those ambitions being his as a manager who is realistic. Even with this "new Arsenal" stuff there has been no "which will see us rise to position x" in the league and find a level challenging teams a,b and c - whether that's 5th as I said or top 4. It is obvious with the referral in the smear release to "resale value" of players that they have no footballl ambitions only financial and that for me is the biggest crime of all. I think they will find out frm the next few home crowds that there is a flaw in their model (Hull may be different). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. While every year falling behind our competitors? I would say the squad is better than it was last season, even though we have not spent enough. Even though I think that is arguable I won´t, but rather ask you the question if you think most Premiership teams have strengthened their squads, so it´s unlikely to make much of a difference? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novocastrian Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 The heartbreaking thing is that if we could of added a "modest" £30m* or so to our new arrivals and Keegan had been allowed to bring in another 3 or 4 top quality (£8-£10m) players we would actually be sitting in an excellent position now. Keegan would still be at the helm and the new signings would have galvanised the team. Finishing fifth would of been a real possibility in my opinion. Instead, fat Mike seems reluctant to invest in the playing side of the club which makes me think that a) he is waiting for a buyer to come along so he can make a tidy profit, or b) he is an asset stripper who wants rid of the high cost/high wages players like Owen etc so he can replace them with younger, foreign, players who can be sold for a profit. All the while using the club as a promotion vehicle for his charva tracky bottoms empire. *Modest in comparison to what some clubs have spent, you know the ones with real ambition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mag3.14 Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 b) he is an asset stripper who wants rid of the high cost/high wages players like Owen etc A comment allegedly made by one of Ashley's competitors - "Ashley is like a Locust - He finds a brand, utterly rapes it then moves on to the next" - I seriously fear for our club while he remains in charge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 b) he is an asset stripper who wants rid of the high cost/high wages players like Owen etc A comment allegedly made by one of Ashley's competitors - "Ashley is like a Locust - He finds a brand, utterly rapes it then moves on to the next" - I seriously fear for our club while he remains in charge Where's that from? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 b) he is an asset stripper who wants rid of the high cost/high wages players like Owen etc A comment allegedly made by one of Ashley's competitors - "Ashley is like a Locust - He finds a brand, utterly rapes it then moves on to the next" - I seriously fear for our club while he remains in charge There's no guarantees that the next owner will be much different tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Toon Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/29/ccsports129.xml Ashley's strategy has always been simple: entice shoppers into his stores with heavily discounted third-party brands such as Adidas and Puma, and then sell them his own brands at far higher profit margins. The acquisitive streak continues today. Sports Direct is currently bidding for Everlast, the US boxing brand, and has been linked with bids for Foot Locker, the US chain, and Evans Cycles, the UK retailer. This strategy has a number of notable features. The first is that it lacks transparency. As the chart demonstrates, constantly buying companies (or stakes in them) leads to a complicated web of ownership. It also means that working out comparative performance metrics from one year to another - the basis of all financial analysis - is nigh-on impossible. The second feature of this strategy is that it requires constant feeding. Once a new brand has been sold to shoppers for a season or two, they will tire of it and seek a new one. "Ashley is like a locust. He selects a brand, absolutely rapes it and moves on," says a rival sportswear executive........ ...........A question and answer session with analysts following the results was described as "farcical". The management not only refused to divulge just how bad recent sales have been but appeared to be blindsided by some of the questions thrown their way. The poor meeting aggravated an already tense relationship between the City and Ashley, who has been accused of an almost total lack of communication with shareholders and analysts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gggg Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 If it's true and they are on about being more like Arsenal than Chelski I'd like to know if they really think Arsenal actually have a net spend of 12m yen or thereabouts every window. The tragedy is we didn't even get close to that pitiful sum - by Premiership standards - and were outspent by the other teams. All this being like Arsenal stuff makes me laugh anyway. So they want us to spend nothing, go backwards, show no ambition? That might work when you have a Champions League place guarenteed but we're starting from the bottom half of the league. Arsenal fans are crying out for some investment in the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE5 Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As I've argued elsewhere the club saying it will be run like Arsenal and expecting us to challenge the top 4 that way is a completely delusional and simplistic view on things. Arsenal is completely unique. It is nigh impossible to replicate, and hinges almost completely on the ability of the people involved, something we seem to badly miss. I doubt they were expecting us to be a top 4 club after one summer's spending tbf. The emphasis was on long term improvement I believe. The sad reality is without significant investment we will only fall further behind the likes of Arsenal, let alone Chelsea and Man City. .......... and still the penny doesn't drop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heneage Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Wasn't our actual out lay only like £1m? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 The comparison straight off the bat with Arsenal is ridiculous. When Wenger came in, he had a quality squad with a very solid spine running through it - a top class keeper in Seaman, the classic Arsenal back four still live and kicking, Dennis Bergkamp, David Platt, Ian Wright, Paul Merson. He was able to build on this and add his own touch to it, that's why he won the league in his first full season. What's our spine? We've got the top class keeper but what's after that? Steven Taylor? Give me strength. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spark Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 The bad thing is i really believe that the manager should be the one who chooses the players and gets the final say. But Jonas and Colo are both looking quality signings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 The bad thing is i really believe that the manager should be the one who chooses the players and gets the final say. But Jonas and Colo are both looking quality signings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Seems a long time ago since we whacked a club record bid in for Modric. What the f*** has happened? The club obviously changed direction when Chris Mort left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Ironically enough, had we actually spent 10m on one more top class midfielder then we would have had a great transfer window and spent roughly 12m net. Yeah that's the thing. We where a good central midfielder away from me being happy with the window. Ashleys very tight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 The bad thing is i really believe that the manager should be the one who chooses the players and gets the final say. But Jonas and Colo are both looking quality signings. maybe he did have final say on those two and maybe there were others the scouting team turned up that he didnt fancy because they were shit anyway two finished articles in this summer, great business, not like we needed 3 or 4 more! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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