Have Arsenal fans blamed the wrong man? Worrying rumours….

The worst Arsenal rumour by Dan Smith

Naturally the last week has been dominated by debate about who should and shouldn’t be our next manager. Yet the rumour we should most concern ourselves about is the one saying that only 50 million is available in this summer’s transfer kitty.

If that is true then fans should apologise for hounding Arsene Wenger out of the Emirates . It would be the ultimate truth that he has been forced to work with owners with no ambition to see us compete for major honours, that in fact winning FA Cups and getting in the top 4 was overacheivement in terms of the environment he was in.

How any business man can reflect on this season and come to the conclusion that only 50 million is required to fix this squad is laughable.

Throw in the fact that the Manchester clubs are almost guaranteed to throw around another couple of hundred million and we are further away than ever from winning the Premiership.

Given the TV money we rake in, it is insulting to every gooner to come up with that figure. 50 million in today’s market at best will get you one decent player but that would be it.

I’m not surprised. Last August we were willing to give Monaco 90 million for Lemar but only on the condition we sold Sanchez first.

Yet some supporters have got caught up in this ‘cycle of change’, naively thinking that a new boss will suddenly be given unlimited funds, that Stan Kroenke’s mindset has changed after all these years.

If these reports are true then it’s also an indication of our managerial shortlist. No top name will agree to replacing the greatest manager in our history with nothing to spend, they would laugh in Ivan Gazidis’ face.

Is that the real reason why some on the board are pushing for a younger face, someone who will put up with this nonsense for the honour of being at a top club.

Something tells me Arsene Wenger is not the man we needed out of our club!

Dan

58 Comments

  1. We have had seasons when we have only spent 11mil in the past so I honestly do not think the reported figure is the main problem here.

    The real problem is finding the right replacement who will utilise the squad in the best way by shipping out the underperforming players (thereby raising more funds from player sales and wages) and recruiting wisely. I am hoping the new Dortmund guy can work the same wonders he did with his former team. A couple of good freebies are also available on the market.

    Its not all about the amount, but how wisely it is spent. So whether 50 or 200mil we still need the right people to handle the funds and the right team to manage the players.

    1. Utterly ignorant.wenge r departure and brexit are two sides of the same coin.A country full of pig heads. A bit !ike characters of the film GrImsby.Just like in brexi t ,all the illiterates(non university) voted for brexi t without weighing up the pros and cons, same here the South London slum dweller supporters displayed an ugly image like the EDL march with the banners.Yet the educated lot of arsenal would never display such low class behaviour.After all sticking with your club is “you will never walk alone”.Wenger is not just a manager ,he knows every aspect of the game and only one to analyse it with a totally science based method.A little patience and he would have turned it around.How come every arsenal player is so sought after in the world

      1. You’re essentially.

        Except for the part of Wenger turning it around.

        Yes, he could’ve again started getting us into the top 4, but the man STILL (!!) underestimates defensive midfielders and goalkeepers, and keeps extending deals to only moderately talented players. Just a week ago he extended Elneny’s contract. Now he extended Holding’s contract, even though he’s our 6th choice CB now, and 3rd most talented youngster (after Mavrop. and Chambers) at best. Mislintat can get 3 better young defenders than Holding in 12 – 18 months time, so this has been another unnecessary mistake.

        1. Holding is like Walcott or Ramsey ,give couple of years he MAY make the cut ,if not then he will meet the fate of Djorou(whom must say liked very much) or Gibbs.Also keep in months isgetting30 K per week not like many ManU players ,minimum 90K

  2. Calm down,

    It’s obvious that a club under new management will have to spend on the squad. So, to stop “over-inflated” prices from being touted, Arsenal will no doubt claim to have a relatively small cash reserve to spend.

    Of course there is more but, Arsenal, being Arsenal will never divulge too much information about such things. Especially as there is no manager to replace Wenger with yet!

    £50 million is a “Rumour” and i’m sure we will get a few more rumours over the coming weeks. Rumours we all know will be fabricated by the media etc.!

    1. Exactly Ray, probably started by Sky Sports or MUTV ( to me there’s no difference), wouldn’t be the first dirty rumour those people have related to Arsenal.

        1. Well said Tat, my real worry is that there will be lack of investment if arsenal go with the likes of Luis E they will have to give him 150m or so, but if they go with a lesser name the funds will be alot less. Just take a look at Moyes apose to Jose, Moyes got sweet FA (Fellani) cause he was happy to be selected.

  3. I have to say that I dont agree with your article at all. First, it is true that we have never been the top spender in the league, but that fact has to do with AW policy to create stars not buy them. Everybody else at the club has had to get used to this way of thinking. We would have another owner, a big spender if it werent for AW. He sees Arsenal as an academy of players. Competing in the market is just not in his genes. Second, regardless AW academy policy, somehow theyve managed to secure class A players(sanchez, ozil, Pea, cech, laca). So, if we hire a massive spender coach, we could sign at least two more world class players. And in two yeras we will have 4. Meaning in 3 years we can compete massively in Europe. Third, most footballers would love to play for Arsenal. These athletes were children when Henry, bergkamp and vieira impressed the world with the style of play. There was no madrid fever back then, Utd just showed how aggressive you could be with the styles of keane, maybe beckhams curling shot. There was no messi and Cristiano was a skinny pacey 17 year old. Dinho was leading the game, but he alone was pulling the wagon of barza. World class quality was inevitable associated with Arsenal. The children who saw the game back then are men now. And they still have a little bit of Arsenal in their hearts. Given the appropriate conditions, Im sure even the top of top would come to play for us

  4. Going through this “blame game” period was unfortunately inevitable. Won’t change the fact AW is gone. And won’t change the fact he was tactically inept and was getting worse and worse results the more he spent. (Mustafi/Xhaka/Lacazette/Alexis/Ozil all big money). Why any journalist, especially from The Telegraph, would know Arsenal’s transfer budget before they have even gotten a manager, in mid-April, about a week after AW leaves, is just ridiculous and a story meant to generate clicks. zzzzzz

  5. I’ve said all along that it was Ivan Gazidis that held the cheque book.

    I believe that Gazidis will allow Raul to spend some funds on Sven picked players, this I hope/believe will be around £150-200 million, it would allow Sven and Raul to buy the players we need.

    The next manager… They will not have £200 million if AFC are already planning on spending £150-200 million themselves.

    It comes to reason then that the next manager will be given a restricted amount, £50 million being a fee to get 1 decent player… maybe a TOP class player.

    1. They are not factoring in all the fees gained by moving on the rubbish, much of it, incredibly, still worth multi millions. Mustafi is still young, even though he is tripe and still worth a lot. Even the scrap man pays good money for rubbish these inflated days.

      1. Jon Fox,
        If you remember, the board stated quite clearly that money was not a problem and the manager could sign whoever he wanted.
        They also stated quite clearly that they had made contingency plans if we missed out on the CL.
        So by saying that we can sell players as part of the transfer kitty is a smokescreen that supporters will see through.
        Let’s not give the owner or board ANY leeway.
        They must support the new manager with the money he needs, not tell him to sell before he can buy. We can get rid of those you describe as rubbish once we have the first team squad on board.

        1. I never proposed selling BEFORE we buy replacements. THAT WOULD BE MADNESS AND REDUCE OUR THIN SQUAD TO A SKELETON.

          1. Jon Fox,
            So following your reasoning through, it’s impossible to include the sales of those players you call rubbish as part of the transfer kitty isn’t it as you previously stated?
            IF, and I emphasise the IF, we only have £50 million to buy players, how are you going to buy the G.K. C.D. and CDM and a winger for that kind of money to then allow the sales of the “rubbish” players?
            Those are the positions that YOU have said need strengthening(i’M NOT DISAGREEING BY THE WAY) and the only way it can be done is by the board backing the new manager.
            Si I say, once again, let’s be as dilligent with the board now as we were under the previous regime.

  6. So media had no idea about Wenger resigning, still no idea of our new manager, but somehow they know our transfer kitty 3-4 months before Summer transfer period?

    Bah humbug, typical media; click-starved, boorish, and more guesswork than actual journalism.

    They know man utd budget? City? Liverpool?

    Somehow they feel confident enough about Arsenal to print that WAG (wild ass guess).
    Sure ok then, useless media tools

    1. Durand old friend,
      At last you are seeing that everything written in the media is not the truth.
      We should only rely on the facts.
      Two of those facts are:
      1. The board stated that transfer money was not a problem during Wenger’s management.
      2. The board also stated that they had contingency plans if we did not qualify for the CL.
      3. Wenger is leaving, that shouldn’t affect either of the two facts above.
      Why then are people starting to worry, which is your point I think?
      Phil made two very good points in an earlier post. The transfer period will be shortened due to world cup…we need to be active as early as possible to get the players identified AND not pay excessive prices due to world cup performances.
      All this means that the spotlight is now on the owner, the board and the new coach/manager, not the previous encumbent.

      1. Exactly right, Ken. The spotlight is now on Kroenke and the board, now that Wenger is leaving and unavailable to run interference for them.
        If Sven Mislattat is not working rigorously behind the scenes identifying players to rectify the obvious deficiencies in the current squad, based on the budget Gazidis has previously claimed was available, they will be shown to be dishonourable.
        As stated by Durand and others, the media make up a story when they don’t have the facts. Arsenal have normally kept information regarding transfer matters pretty close to the chest, in order to not identify targets and inflate prices.
        Time will tell, but given the World Cup and effectively shortened transfer window, lets hope wheels are in motion.

  7. Wenger must go as he doesn’t have good new ideas and let’s see the transfer funds next season

    If there is only 50 millions and it affects the team performance, we all can pressurize them again

    The fans’ pressure worked well in this season, so it should work again

    1. GotanIdea,
      Just to bring you up to date mate, the man in question is going!!
      Please keep up.
      How long are you going to give the new man in the hot seat before you start a new fans pressure group?
      As i keep repeating money is not a problem because the board told us so during a question and answer session at the AGM.
      So it shouldn’t matter who we sell, who we buy or what we owe does it?

      1. Your comment assumes that you actually believe what the board said about a transfer fund. Being a realist, I am not so trusting. Time will tell but over the years GAZIDIS has told us many lies, half truths and distortions. Now that Wenger is going, many seem to think Gazidis is suddenly a saint. I WILL RESERVE JUDGEMENT, BASED ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS NOW. But I do not so blithely forget the past. So hope? Well maybe! But implicit trust? Not without good and new reasons!

        1. Jon Fox,
          Agree with you completely, especially on Gazidis.
          Whether it’s 50 or 200 million, the board and new manager will be accountable now because they cannot hide behind anyone else, as Ozziegunner so eloquently put it.

  8. Seen as we have never spent over 100 million on players without sales I really cant see why people would doubt the budget is 50 million plus sales. No wonder Wenger lasted as long as he did this site must be some sort of phenomenon with over 75% of you suffering short term memory loss.

  9. Arsene is the only person to blame for the last 5 years. He has bought many expensive players, mostly reactively as he usually waited until the last possible moment. And when he acted quickly he got Xhaka for 35M. Arsene has been a disaster on the transfer market since Dein left. He is always behind the curve of where the prices are going, and what he needs to do to close deals. He refused to pay 8M to Mbappe’s parents and the next season he went for 150M. His principles are more important than the success of the club. Whereas when it comes to him, he is willing to hold the whole dressing room in chaos about signing a new contract like he did last year.
    He had a great 10 years, then he had a decent few years keeping us in the top 4 with limited finances and then he was total crap for the last 5.

    1. Your last sentence is a very kind reading of the Wenger years, IMO. I would call it 9 great years folowed by 12 failures in increasing intensity.

      1. Jon – Arsenal was backs to the wall broke while financing the debt of the stadium. They didnt have to be, they could have spread the payments more and eased the transfer purse stings a bit but I dont think paying off the debt quickly was Arsene’s decision to make. He did a good job keeping us up in the top 4 without money. Now could someone else have done a better job? Maybe, but I think he kept us competitive in a difficult period.
        But the last 5-6 years have been a total and utter disaster.

        1. ArseneisOut,
          The last five or six years a disaster?!?!
          Three FA cup wins, four CL qualifications?!?!
          Whoever takes over will have to beat that record just to keep you happy?
          I only hope the man can do it, I really do.

      2. 20 decades … So a vampire not a fox … This is not a careers site so the only thing that matters is that wenger is out … A decade too late in my books …. but it’s time now for a fresh start

        1. Lexynal, why does everything come back to being personal with you? On this site we have probably learnt more about jon fox from his posts, than we have about many others who hide in the shadows.
          What does your CV look like? Put up and stick to comments about Arsenal matters, not personal attacks.

    2. How can winning three FA Cups be called ‘crap’. How many trophies have Spurs won in the last five years? Their fans would be happy to have won just one of those cups.

      1. Steven,
        Not just Spurs and their fans, add Liverpool to that list.
        But we have been told on this site that the FA cup was not really a trophy, so I guess we have to go along with those who “know better”.
        Just waiting to see United and Chelsea fans turning up to this years cup final and how their fans will react to their team winning this so called trophy?
        Perhaps this will show just how the fans of the clubs mentioned above and some of ours support their team?

        1. Ken, there is no doubt that Arsene Wenger has shown his ability to manage teams in a knock out competition like the FA Cup. His record in this competition as a manager will probably never be eclipsed.
          However league position is a much better indicater of a club’s strength, ie to compete over 38 games. Unfortunately over recent seasons for a big heavy weight club, Arsenal’s ability to compete for the league title has deteriorated.

          1. Ozziegunner,
            Absolutely and the league results are where Wenger has lost the faith of some of the supporters.
            I agree with your sentiments completely and league positions do not lie.
            The facts are though, that only one manager can win the league each season. Klopp has not managed it yet, Pep has just done it, Poch still hasnt achieved it and Maureen still hasn’t with Utd.
            That will carry over to next season as well of course.
            Looking at the cup winners, which is without doubt the second trophy in importance, take another look at those managers and guess what?
            Klopp hasn’t won it, Poch hasn’t won it, Pep hasn’t won it, Maureen hasn’t won it (with Utd).
            Whoever the new manager is, I will support him to the hilt.
            The niggling feeling now is, however, that the owner and board may be moving the goalposts again.
            I think Jon Fox’s point about Gazidis is 100% correct, especially as he was the man who initially talked about money being no object.
            Time will tell of course and I passionately hope that the board will deliver the monetary backing it has promised.

      1. Really? Maybe ignorance is bliss but here are the facts. Last four years spending……
        Nett Spend since 2014

  10. The new manager has to have full power in transfers etc…We must admit that Wenger was dogmatic in his transfers policies:you must invest if you want results and therefore you get rewarded off the pitch(input….)

    1. Pires, this has been the problem in the past; Arsene Wenger took too much on himself. I want the new manager to concentrate on coaching and managing the team, assisted by and utilizing specialist coaches, leaving recruitment, contracts etc to Arsenal’s new managers.
      No more Steve Bould’s just warming a seat.

  11. Nonsense Dan. Kroenke and the board do not pick the wrong players , play them in wrong positions, fail to coach them and give no heed to defence for a full decade. Or perhaps you think THEY do! Once we finally have a new and proper manager , things will inevitably improve, even if only because WENGER WILL BE GONE.

    1. Let JF rolled out what he has personally achieved in the last 20 decades….perhaps zero accomplishments. The one that knows and has achieved much in life and knows what it takes will not make this kind of statements on a fellow human being – who INDEED is a great achiever and is already being so CELEBRATED (and it’s only just the beginning).

      1. Lexynal, still on about 200 years (“20 decades”) as previously pointed out by Rkw. We await your CV with bated breath.

      2. Clearly it has escaped your notice that I am not Arsenal manager nor responsible for the mess left behind. If you really want a detailed list of my academic and business achievements and qualifications I am happy to oblige you, in private. Just leave your contact number details on here , IF YOU DARE, and I will happily provide what you appear to, rather weirdly, seek. What part of my original post is untrue ,Mr. Genius? I challenge you to say precisely what and further embarrass yourself!

  12. Arsene is out you are truly clueless. Imagine we agreed to pay 8 million pounds to a players parents when we struggle to spend 8 million on players in general. I have wanted him out for a long time now but that comment is ridiculous. At the time we bought Xhaka 99.9% of the comments on here including my own where off the nature that we had finally signed a quality cm that would propel us to the next level. Lets not pretend we weren’t all ecstatic to sign Xhaka and just like Wenger we where wrong.

  13. It’s just unbelievale to see that some of you thin AW is the issue (or the ONLY issue)….let’s just say the board and AW had a common objective and goal as to how things were to be run. And of course, AW achieved massively under that condition. With other clubs as MC spending heavily, my opinion is that both parties (AW & Board) should have gone back to the drawing board and review policies to align with realities. As long as that isnt done, you are bound to go through a spell as we have faced in recent years…but it doesnt make AW a bad person neither does it rubbish is past achievement – and of course, neither does it make AW subject of foul and hugely dis-respective comments. Even if they part ways, AW will remain a LEGEND and you can already see for yourself and MORE on the way. Now, let’s see what the new manager can do under the same scenario…..he should be reminded he has to surpass AW’s achievement first before anyone will care. We have seen beautiful football, wonderful players, great goals, winning runs, trophies, superb attacking play with great goals…all under AW. Hence, we will not be impressed to see all that being repeated under the new manager..with need NEW….whatever…UCL trophy with 50M budget per season and 7 FA cups in the next 7 years…beat his record and you are going to command respect. That’s just for the Jon Fox’s of this world….

  14. Personally I think before we consider the rumours
    You have to understand the fans and empty seats enforced Wenger sacking/leaving
    So if they board only give the manager 50m or appoint someone who’s not capable eg arteta as soon as results go bad the seats would again be empty and the blame will rest on the boards shoulders. Imo they won’t take that risk

    1. That is clearly the plain truth. The regime are NOW fully aware that we fans have real power and will not be afraid to use it once again if necessary. If Arteta is appointed I predict the opening game of next season will be 75% empty.

  15. I beleive that stan has alot to answer for. And as I have said on many occasions. The window for arsenal to be a big club is closing. If we loose to athletico on Thursday we will again slip svwn further down the pecking order and look more and more like a everton or oldschool tottenham side. In out out of europa with occasional CL.

    HOWEVER. when a player like xaka is making mustake after mistake and you have other options and dont use them ahos fault is that. When mustafi a kos keep messing up and you dont bench them whos fault is that. When teams have figured out that to beat arsenal you just have to play the long ball game and wait for a mistake from the back 4. Eeeerm. Finger wenger.

  16. £50m war chest is quite a sizable amount of money for the new Arsenal manager’s transfer kitty to enable him start with to do his transfer in the summer. The current 25 man Arsenal first team squad is good, but BFG who is retiring from active footballing for Arsenal, Cazorla who has a chronic heel problem, Laurent Koscielny who has a chronic Achilles injury and Welbeck who has a long standing record of lack of regular goals scoring for Arsenal mostly lacluster for Arsenal in performance should be shown the exit door at Arsenal with Koscielny, Santi Cazorlaand Welbeck in the summer. But BFG could remain at Arsenal as the Arsenal PL 2 team coach? I don’t know.

    What I think the new Arsenal manager will need most to do immediately he comes in is to bring advanced modern coaching method to the senior team Gunners he’ll inherit from Le Boss so as to upgrade their performance in games home and away far far above the sorry state of performance in away games in the League we’ve witnessed this season. And be playing the three U21 Gunners of; Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah regularly in Cup and PL games to accelerate their developments fot the Arsenal senior team squad promotions. And he should still sign top grade CB, DM & ST next Summer for Arsenal to replace BFG, Cazorla and Welbeck IMO.

  17. £50m war chest is quite a sizable amount of money for the new Arsenal manager’s transfer kitty to enable him start with to do his transfer in the summer. The current 25 man Arsenal first team squad is good, but BFG who is retiring from active footballing for Arsenal, Cazorla who has a chronic heel problem, Laurent Koscielny who has a chronic Achilles injury and Welbeck who has a long standing record of lack of regular goals scoring for Arsenal mostly lacluster for Arsenal in performance should be shown the exit door at Arsenal with Koscielny, Santi Cazorla in the summer. But BFG could remain at Arsenal as the Arsenal PL 2 team coach? I don’t know.

    What I think the new Arsenal manager will need most to do immediately he comes in is to bring advanced modern coaching method to the senior team Gunners he’ll inherit from Le Boss so as to upgrade their performance in games home and away far far above the sorry state of performance in away games in the League we’ve witnessed this season. And be playing the three U21 Gunners of; Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah regularly in Cup and PL games to accelerate their developments fot the Arsenal senior team squad promotions. And he should still sign top grade CB, DM & ST next Summer for Arsenal to replace BFG, Koscielny, Cazorla and Welbeck IMO.

  18. We are not getting a replacement for Wenger but, a path going forward it has been said by the man who can hire and fire. I honestly do not believe there is a miracle man out there who can win us a major trophy with the kind of budget the arsenal typical budget. In terms of performance we will continue going downhill.New brush sweeps clean but, old brush knows the corners next season expect more disappointment. Kreonke has to splash the cash otherwise it’s business as usual.Without quality players all round even with the delusions of tactical coaches we will be adding decades without a major trophy. What did pep achieve first without spending billions!Learn to think those who are celebrating Wenger out

    1. Look at financial report of AFC last term, 50-60m transfer budget is realistic amount new manager will have. However, I think 150m will be required to have higher chance to back into top 4. Arsenal is now not only difficult to attract top player but also to keep its best players. Without Mr. Wenger, Ramsey, Bellerin, Whilshere, and some promising young players are likely to leave this summer.
      Actually, I think Liverpool and Tottenham fans are best in EPL. They have never asked for their manger out or leaving empty seats in club’s difficult moments or bad results. Arsenal fans might have been on the high for too long without suffering any thing to rightly appreciate works done in/by Wenger’s era.

  19. First of all that 50m amount is bs invented by the media and secondly its not the price of the player or the club total transfer that determine if the recruitment is good. Just look at tottenham dele, eriksen, alderweireld, vertonghen were recruited for small fees while flops like sissoko were high price. Also the manager if good will improves the current squad like klopp, even mourinho best players are ones that were already at the club and the big transfers have not delivered.

    We have a good squad that have been bought randomly without any long-term planning. mustafi, ramsey, kolasinac and welbeck would play better in an aggressive team with high pressing like liverpool. mkhi, ozil, auba and bellerin will work better in a more direct/through ball high speed passing system. xhaka, chambers, monreal and mertesaker play better in a team that sits deep like leicester league winning system.

  20. That’s a poorly assembled squad which is the fault of the manager and the management who let him do it.

  21. Stan Kroenke is a staunch admirer and adorer of Arsene Wenger. He will ensure a mediocre manager is employed just to vindicate Arsene

    1. sameoldexcuses,
      Do you really believe what you have just posted? Really?
      JON FOX, could you please give this man a reality check on the financial thinking of our wonderful Mr. Kroenke?
      I truly despair when I read this kind of dribble i really do.

  22. After 10 years (2005-2014) of selling best players to pay the stadium debt, Arsenal squad was so thin. For the last 4 years, Arsenal could start to spend £35-£50m a year on transfer, but it does not help much as it is too small when compared to MC, MU, BM, PSG, Barca, RM, etc. Chelsea spending has been lowered for the last few years, however they are still relatively strong thanks to being long time bigest spender. When you have to rely on young players, results will not be stable. Yes, Klopp had very bad results at the end of his last term in Dortmund. The same with Pochetino and Simeone (out of top 4 last year). When the big spenders come to ask for your best players, team will struggle.
    If you see at the AFC financial report last term, £50m is realistic amount as the balance has to be in black. The big Coach will not accept that kind of budget. So, do not expect too much. To get a better result with limited budget, we should go for defensive playing style and coach. Gunner, top 4 is the best you can expect.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors