Thetownend.com

I'd guess many of us would sympathise with these sentiments from the Telegraph:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/9089965/Arsenal-fans-spare-us-the-tears-and-remember-how-fortunate-you-really-are-to-be-supporting-one-of-the-elite.html

Every time I listen to 606 (which is hardly ever) you'll always get some armchair Liverpool fan from Basingstoke or some Man U 'fan' who has never been north of Watford crying because they've actually lost two on the bounce or some other 'catastrophe'.

My heart bleeds you cunts  ::)

Has fatters given up supporting them now.

Arsenal fans have every reason to feel pissed off with how things are going.
They moved into a new stadium,sell it out every week with a 22,000 increase in attendances and nothing to show for it.
Their expectations are bound to be higher than ours or clubs in administration,but that doesn't make their own situation less valid to them.
They are seeing their team in decline so are bound to be pissed off about it like any other fan would be.

I think its hilarious \ :D/

I remember the day a glory supporting Arsenal fan made a stupid comment when he saw my Swindon shirt.
He then went on to say we'd never ever be on a level field  with Arsenal & we'd never ever beat them in a big game

My reply was simply "1969"
His reply "what happened then?"

Fuck Arsenal & their shitty support

Fills me with joy. Wenger's days must be numbered. Sure they did play good football, but for a while they've been getting weaker and weaker and his buys are not even worthy of a place in a far shitter team.

All the drivel  & hype about their football remind me of the BS that surrounds 'total football' Holland

Both win fuck all

So do you lot think it's good that Wengers policy doesn't work anymore? Surely for the good of football his philosphy is the way it should be?
I think it's a shame that its going wrong for somebody who wants to do it the right way. Only throwing huge sums of money out for transfers will win major trophies now.

The trouble is that clubs that are successful attract armchair fans which dilute the main fan base, those x amount of fans that would still go if the club fell through the leagues. This doesn't mean these fans concerns are not worth hearing or not to have sympathy for as their demise would hurt...

...but for all the armchair fans who nailed their allegiance to the glory pole during the good years and take the piss out of fans of lower league teams  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

That's true arriba. There's no doubt whatsoever that Arsenal are massively under achieving and I do wonder how much longer Wenger can go on for. Some times you just go past your sell by date and I think that happened with him some time ago.

They should be doing a hell of a lot better than what they are. I have no problem with what I call 'proper' fans. Every team has them (yes every team, EVEN Oxford).

I suppose my gripe is with the 'fans' who, rather than put their coats on, step outside their front door and go and support their local team, would rather sit in their La-Z-Boy chair in front of Soccer Saturday or Monday Night Football and claim to be Arsenal 'fans' and phone up pissing and moaning to Alan Green when things don't go their way. As far as I'm concerned, they can fuck off and die.

I think Wenger's policy does work, just no longer for Wenger - who recently has only bought rubbish.

What he's done is great, but on the flip side I don't have any empathy for him because, well, as dismissive as it sounds any failure for the big guns is brilliant.

It's not the policy that doesn't work, it's Wenger. What it is that he's doing wrong, I'm not even vaguely qualified to comment on. You would have to ask an Arsenal fan about that. A 'proper' one of course. Not one of the Soccer Saturday/MNF/606 variety.

He doesn't have enough top drawer players at his disposal. It's that simple imo.
Because he doesn't like spending huge fees and won't pay top wages he can't compete with other massive clubs.

One bad season out of many and all of a sudden he's a crap manager?

of course the policy doesnt work - the results show that.

taking lots of unknown mostly foreign 15 year olds and teaching them to pass the ball 5 yards sideways and fuck all else isnt doing much apart from producing alot of kids who cant hack the physicality of the English game with only short passing in their locker and no ability to go direct, or to run with the ball, or to shoot, or to cross, or to tackle.

All of Arsenals top players in the Wenger years have been buys - and not 15 year old buys either.

How many top quality players have Arsenal bought in young and bought through their youth set up in the last god knows how many years - at most one.

I think I should also add at this point, any 'big' club (I don't give a fuck which one) not getting everything their own way is utterly, utterly hilarious. No one, but no one has a God given right to success. Welcome to our world Arsenal fans (the proper ones that is. As previously mentioned, the others are most definitely not welcome to our world. They can fuck off and die).

It can happen. Managers do have a finite shelf life. Having said that though, Arsenal have had at least 5 crap seasons.*

*Crap season in Arsenal's case = season without silver ware.

In which case, they need to get realistic.

They're a big club. But nowhere near as big as Manure, Chelsea, Milan, Barca etc.

They're a bit bigger than West Ham, Villa, Spurs......... But not by much, somewhere in between.

The policy no longer works that is correct.

More to his football than 5 yard sideway passes though. They hit it long to Adebayor when he was there,have mixed it up over the years,and had players who would run with the ball and shoot.

His best players have been buys but they have been relatively cheap ones.

Cole,Fabregas and Wilshere are 3 top players who have come through as kids.

Im with Yeo

Quite right. Ultimately it's hilarious.

Agree, it makes me feel great. I've always despised plastics of the Man U type. Seeing them lose or have problems amuses me greatly.

I remember when I used to use Facebook and the number of people who used to have stupid statuses pertaining to Man U's last game used irritate me something chronic. One friend even had that fucking anti-glazers badge as his profile picture (good, I hope 'your club' have fucking problems). 8)

Chelsea's slide is far more satisifying surely?
They have spent huge money on fees and wages and look at them now.
They are the most plastic club in the prem with their fans jumping on the bandwagon of their success

All of them are equally amusing. I'd prefer to see Man U having issues than Chelsea - or any club for that matter. And I suppose I would rather Chelsea than Arsenal, but truth be told I don't know any Chelsea fans, so personally I am more indifferent to their plight.

That's just wrong

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16951878

1. Real Madrid: 479.5m euros
2. Barcelona: 450.7m euros
3. Man Utd: 367m euros
4. Bayern Munich: 321.4m euros
5. Arsenal: 251.1m euros
6. Chelsea: 249.8m euros
7. AC Milan: 235.1.m euros
8. Internazionale: 211.4m euros
9. Liverpool: 203.3m euros
10. Schalke: 202.4m euros

Think i am one of the only people who thinks they are over achieving when you look at what they spend etc

No, I have no favourites. It's all good 8)

This is what's wrong with Arsenal:
http://www.surrealfootball.com/2011/06/20/arsenals-transfer-strategy/

[url width=900 height=675]http://www.surrealfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Untitleddocument-3-e1308090213640.png[/url]

Wenger has balanced the books brilliantly. His success using those methods are why he refuses to budge i'm sure. I think that he thinks he can still do it that way.

I can't argue with that, I was wrong.

But it would be interesting to see a second column showing debt

I think where I am coming from arriba, is that no one has a God given right to be successful. Any 'big' club going through a bit of a bad patch, I think "Welcome to my (our) world". There's no reason why they shouldn't have to go through a bit of shit, God knows we've had more than our fare share. They just have to take it on the chin, the same as any other fan of any other club at any other lever.

A year or so out of date, but here's the Premier League.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/may/19/football-club-accounts-debt

This is a good (but really nerdy) blog about football business: http://swissramble.blogspot.com/

Arsenal fans always said they couldn't compete with Man U because of finances & once they moved to a bigger stadium they would show everyone else.

Well, they are now in their swanky new 60,000+ new stadium & guess what, they have still won fuck all.

I would have some sympathy for them, except they have Arsene Whinger & his selective eyesight, so fuck em.

From that table, they have debt.... Yet their wages/turnover is the lowest and by some margin. Something that their fans could well be appreciative of i a few years or so.

But the highest turnover. Really?

As always R - on the nail.
Have to share the shite at work all week but soon switch the conversation to Swindon.
Easy to gain the moral high ground, "so did you go to .....? I thought not........:)
They ain't got a clue.

That debt has decreased further since then i think.
They borrowed big time to build the emirates and have been paying that off due to the massive increase in matchday revenue since the move.

They are a very well run club financially but that isn't getting results on the pitch.

I always think it's very sad and somewhat depressing when the merits or otherwise of various Clubs comes down to £££'s and 'debt' and 'borrowings' and so on.

I know it's a fact of life and people will discuss it and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just got nothing to with why I fell in love with the game (and still do and always will) and as I say, it's just depressing.

I personally think that Wneger is a great manager. He's produced sides that have played some of the best football the UK has seen over the years.

Everyone knows that he likes his young players but, I believe he will sign one or two serious players in the next close season to make his side competetive again.

And I understand the financial constraints which have resulted in the club owning fuck all for the new statium as I understand it.

I'm a Town fan.

They were shite today.  In the past I've watched arsenal unluckily lose or draw after battering a team but never getting enough shots on.  The football has been a delight but lightweight.  Todays performance was the cliche of what they are supposed to be.  Talented individuals but not a 'team'. Dont like pressure on them.  Or dont like it up em.

Unfortunately for them the individuals they have aren't that talented anymore.  A host of lightweight attacking midfielders, no one who can tackle or make the ball safe.

ITV's coverage was as usual terrible.  Roy Keane's punditry was a laugh.  Spitting with fury that players are wearing gloves!  They lost the game because they were wearing gloves!  Bless you and your manic intensity Roy.  Lighten up love.  Go and walk your dog or something.

Keanes view of the modern game is pretty much exactly in tune with mine...how he ever got a managers job is beyond me...he's ace

If Chelsea slide, you watch our attendances go up. People who live in Swindon itself seem to feel the need to latch on to something wealthy and glamorous like Chelsea. We are talking working class people spending £200 on going to watch 1 game. Unsustainable if they become a mid table team again. Hopefully one day Abramovich will pull the plug and they will go back to being a laughing stock.

Wenger = overrated tappy tappy fanny football Miester

Good manager yes, in the same class as redknapp and o'neil.

Not in the class of the greats like Ferguson or even Morinhio

Never rated Wenger as a manager, hate Arsenal as a club and their arrogant supporters ever since they came to Swindon in 79 in the League Cup.

My step daughter is a huge fan of them too which makes hating them even easier shes always saying that they are the best team in the world, at which I laugh.

I find their fall from the top humourous to say the least and Arsenal not spending money? thats utterly ridicuolous they have spent many many millions of pounds on useless underacheiving players.

Still think you're being harsh on Wenger.

When you compare what he has won with what O'Neil (excluding scottish crap) and Redknapp have won!

Also, even Ferguson and Mourinho havent gone a whole season without losing a game.

OK, I shall rephrase. Since their last trophy I believe what I said is true.

The team he built that last won the league was indeed incredible. That's my beef with him being ladled great, he's only built one great team.

I would rather what is happening to Arsenal happen to Man U but it is already happening to Chelsea and has happened to Liverpool.

Fergie can't go on forever. You get your wish then.

Wenger has done a damn site more than build 1 team even if its going tits up now.
He's won the league 3 times, been runner up on 5 occasions and made countless cup finals. All this with virtually no net spend whatsoever over the last decade.

Well that's my opinion. But I am no Gooner, so it doesn't really matter enough to argue it further.

If you care enough to post an opinion on something then expect a counter point if someone disagrees.

I do expect counter argument. Since people started deleting their accounts I'm more mindful of not upsetting.

But since you mentioned it, Wenger took George Graham's side added to it a bit, changed the style, won the league as few times built the invincibles, then may as well have retired.

If champions league qualification and pretty football is a good enough return for the most expensive season tickets in football then the world really is a mad place.

I don't think you've ever upset anyone? If someone deletes their account due to comments on here then that's their business. Think those instances are few and far between and certainly don't apply to me.

So do you like the Gunners then (I don't have a problem with that)?

If so, are you happy with 7 years of 'nice' football and champions league qualification?

Love watching Arsenal when they are at their best, the Arsenal fans I know just seem to accept that they have under preformed in recent years and that Wenger is still the man to take the club into the future. Still class them as one of the big five though.

I think the argument is if Wenger is a good manager or not.I don't like Arsenal but would argue that with the team he has at the moment(not that good)to have them 4th in the league is actually not a bad job at all.

My son supports Arsenal and I have been to see them many times over recent years so pay an interest in them.

I am not really bothered what happens to them to be honest, but obviously have opinions on the club. For their outlay on players they have done well but need to buy to compete now.