Er Arsenal PL's svar på Leeds?

[Leedsfan]

En storklubb som selger sine beste spillere og viser lite ambisjon!

Arsenal have slapped a £30 million price tag on striker Robin van Persie.

The Dutch striker has so far failed to agree an extension to his current deal which has just one season left.

The club are willing to make Van Persie the highest earner in the club’s history with an offer close to £130,000-a-week.

But Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood ­admitted that if ­another club offers Van Persie £250,000 a week, then ­Arsenal would not be able to compete.

But there is also a question mark about the ­future of Theo Walcott. The England winger also has one-year left on his contract but talks about a new deal have reached deadlock.

The two parties are still some distance from agreement and Walcott could be on the move in the summer.

[Dennis]

En kan selvsagt si at Arsenal mangler ambisjonene til å virkelig ta opp kampen med de to som råder for øyeblikket, men jeg syns sammenligningen til Leeds blir tynn - selv sett i lys av divisjon og omsetning.

Arsenal har en enorm satsning på ungdommer, med suksess. Leeds har god jobb på ungdomssiden, men denne er (selvsagt) bygget ned etter PL-nedrykket. Dessuten henter da Arsenal dyre spillere, som sist med Lukas Podolski, der Leeds nesten utelukkende satser på gratisspillere og lån.

Arsenal er likevel et morsomt diskusjonstema, om enn off topic i så fall. De viser at man kan nå CL og ha (relativ) suksess, sett ift nevnte satsning, uten å pøse enorme summer ut. Så vidt jeg vet, driftes denne klubben, i likhet med Leeds, i overkant sunt økonomisk sett.

Jeg vil påstå de langt på vei setter et godt eksempel på måten å drive på, i likhet med lag som Udinese i Italia og Bilbao i Spania.

[Corleone]

Den vesentlige forskjellen på Leeds og Arsenal er at Wenger stadig har penger å rutte med, men velger selv å ikke svi av store summer, mens vi i Leeds har en styreformann som setter ned foten før vi i det hele tatt rekker å drømme om at en spiller vi har hørt om skal komme permanent til klubben. For min egen del ville det helt klart vært lettere å leve med at vi hadde en manager som ikke ønsket å bruke store penger, da det i hvertfall ville være troverdig at det fantes en plan bak det hele.

[fjellhaugen]

I wish.


Rar tråd

[fmtj]

Tror ikke Gunners mangler ambisjoner akkurat, men driver vel relativt fornuftig, og så tror jeg vel Wenger vet hva han sysler med....

[Leedsfan]

http://rightinthegarykellys.com/2012/07/06/4957/

I read a fascinating piece of  correspondence yesterday. It went a little something like this…

“The real conflict seems to be between the supporters’ expectations and your vision for the Club and at the heart of this is the policy of so-called self financing” It went on to say “As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent  financial planning, it is down to our Manager to have to deal with the Club’s tight finances.” Finally, it states “This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the Club and the Club’s ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season sums this up.”

This was written by a Club shareholder. “Has Lorimer finally come to his senses?” I hear you ask. No such luck. It ‘s a quote from an open letter from Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov to the Club’s Board of Directors, questioning the Van Persie situation. Substitute Van Persie for Snodgrass, and it could apply, word for word, to Leeds United. No wonder Ken was so happy to get them in the FA Cup two years in a row, he’s copying their business model!

Which brings me to Adam Clayton. Admittedly he’s not Cesc Fabregas, but he’s not Michael Brown either. He’s 23, and has just had an excellent first full season in a white shirt. Half way through the season, The Square Ball were eulagising him as the best midfielder we’ve had since the Premier League years. His form may have dipped a bit, but ask a player to play almost every minute of every game in his first full season and that will happen. So he wanted more money? Can we really not match what Huddersfield are paying him? If the answer is no, then we better hope to hell that this takeover materialises, otherwise we are in big trouble. But hey, it’s ok, we’re being linked with a couple of journeymen from Portsmouth as a write this. Much rather have them than a promising, box to box midfielder who weighed in with his share of goals, wouldn’t we?

Our tranfer policy continues to baffle and frustrate me in equal amounts. We seem incapable of retaining our best players, and seem unwilling to offer them parity with other, supposedly smaller, teams in our division. I thought this would change under Warnock. If the takeover falls  through, how long will he put up with this?

So for now, we are the Arsenal of the Championship. Only without the free flowing football, and shiny new stadium. But hey, we’ve got some nice Executive Boxes to look at when the football is rubbish, and a lovely bright blue shirt to spend even more money on. I think I’ll nip out and have a beer in the garden to cheer myself up. Oh, hang on a minute…

Reporter Ian Wylie

[Leedsfan]