Paul Merson has slammed his former club Arsenal after their recent decision to sack club mascot Gunnersaurus, before splashing out on big-name signing Thomas Partey.
The Gunners made the audacious decision to remove the club’s mascot from the club, with Jerry Quy losing his job at the club after 27 years.
The club then followed that up with some extravagant signings in the summer transfer window, and uproar has ensued with the club claimed to have gone against the fans.
Former Arsenal star Paul Merson is the latest to slam the club’s decision, highlighting how current midfielder Mesut Ozil has made the club look ‘stupid’ by offering to pay his services.
“Mesut Ozil has made Arsenal look absolutely stupid by offering to pay for Gunnersaurus to keep his job,” he told his column at the Daily Star.
“But binning their mascot just shows how selfish and out of touch the people who run the club are these days.
“You cannot believe how angry I am about this. It is unbelievably shocking at the highest level.
“Arsenal used to ooze class. I don’t think the owners even know what that word means any more.
“Whoever made the decision to get rid of the mascot needs to take a long hard look at themselves.
“The guy in the suit, Jerry Quy. This bloke loves doing that. He was there when I played for Arsenal. He’s an institution.
“My kids grew up with him. They would be as interested in the dinosaur as they were in the players. Their faces would light up.
“It absolutely does my head in that they’ve got rid of him just to save money. How many other clubs, ones in the lower leagues who are really struggling, have done that?
“Even if they bring him back when fans are allowed back in the stadium, it’s a disgrace.”
Merson moved on to claim that they could simply have offered new signing Partey £1,000 less in order to cover the mascot’s wages, claiming their decision puts money over the fanbase.
He added: “The people in charge don’t care about the fans. If they did, the first thing they would have said is: ‘We keep Jerry Quy.’
“They’ve just signed Thomas Partey for £45m. If he’s on £150,000-a-week, are you telling me they couldn’t have offered £149,000 and given the rest to the dinosaur?
“The club are putting money above the fans, above the things that are important. I can’t catch my breath if I’m being honest.
“I don’t think the people who run the club understand the club really.”
Does the club’s decision prove that the fans wants come before money?
Patrick
Haha, just knew this would be Merson. Is there a more bitter ex-Arsenal player..? Perhaps if he’d acted like a man, instead of a kid, he would have been retained. But, it was obviously the correct decision. Merse still hasn’t grown up and is still a petulant child.
At this point no one pays attention to Paul Merson.
Benrahma going to West Ham?
Daka and Szoboszlai to Arsenal in January..? Make it happen!
What amezes me is how much salary is this gunnersoures on? He must be earning in million that’s why the club had to let go of him. This is beyond rediculus, a guy who has been working at a place for 30years and his yearly wage is about most of the footballers weekly wage can not be affroded by a club. How low have we fallen?? It’s not like after 30years he can change career or start working towards a job in new field. Companies need to show some loyalty and commitment to their employees. I don’t know who has been running our PR department but they need to be sacked because we are not doing very well.with regards to our club’s image and reputation. How is cutting a job at such a low level save club from financial crisis if it’s come to that we should not have such a big squad and handing contracts to grandpas like Luiz and Willian.
His yearly wage would not come close to any of the mid range and above salaries at Arsenal. It is the way of the world that supporters from any club don’t mind paying the De Geas and Aubas etc a kings ransom each week. They shout to pay as much as it takes to get them to stay and extend their contracts.
Suddenly, when the ‘least important employees’ get laid off, there is an outcry. The players are the club’s most important asset along with the manager. They earn the most money and earn fortunes from sponsorship outside the club as well. Their success brings success to the club and pays for the support workers. I keep reading that finishing 8th was our worst position for years, but the players or the manager don’t lose out, do they? Oh no, they have their contracts.
Perhaps the next time an agent is negotiating a deal for his client, he would like to put in a clause to help the mascot, or the ground staff in case of hard times. Can’t see that happening.
Ok so everyone has an opinion on everything and we are all entitled to one.
Opinions based on hearsay however is borderline retarded, do we know why he was let go or anything like that at all??
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR A FOOTBALL CLUB IS SUCCESS ON THE PITCH, WE HAVENT HAD THAT REALLY SINCE GETTING TO THE UCL FINAL IN 06 OR OUR INVICIBLE SEASON IN 04.
If the club are restructuring all levels of the club during this pandemic to help towards on field success and future stability then i am all for it.
Yes its a shame some people have lost their jobs and I’m sure more will follow, not just at Arsenal but across England, Europe and the world in the sporting environment.
From what I have read he was part of the 55 let go earlier in the year and the fact that he was also the mascot has only just come out. I don’t know long he had worked part time for Arsenal but he is apparantly in his late 60s so would be drawing his state pension. He will also be reinstated once the stadium re-opens.
I feel for the chap in many ways, being unwittingly dragged into this unedifying debate. It was about the club and Ozil and what a stir it has created.
Well if they’re stuck, I’ll always do it for nowt 😁
Very funny Sue. One way of getting into the ground! 🙂
Lets just keep every employee because we are afraid of what people will think of us.
May be all the £multi billion companies like the Airline companies should also just retain all their staff even if reality shows that passagers numbers are down by something like 80%.
Why are a lot of hospitality businesses out of business? They might as well keep paying their employees even if there are hardly any customers to pay for the wages.
I swear some people need to stop this emotional sentiment that is steeped in delusion and fantasy.
There are no fans at stadiums, why should Gunnersaurus stay on the payroll?
Many people in real life are losing jobs because of the corona pandemic. It’s not only Arsenal or Gunnersaurus that are going to feel the effect.
Stop the emotional delusions right now.
Sorry … i am totally agree with Merson. He is 200% spot on. I blame Kroenke for all this.