A-40:

On the Stoke tip ma take is this: There are certain games on certain grounds at certain times of a season that if you win you know deep down in your heart that this could be your season and the Stoke game is one of them another such game is at St Andrews but that aside we have to play hard and most importantly play smart!! If Arsene Wenger knows anything about coaching i'd want to believe he has been drilling the boys all week on how to defend Rory Delap's ballistic missiles. No amount of youth policy or elapsed time would win us trophies if we dont learn to correct basic mistakes

A-40's Winning Keys
1. Defend the throw (Neutralize Rory Delap)
2. Avoid conceding an early goal
3. Score first
4. Set the tone and get physical
5. Concentrate, Concentrate, Concentrate

See tactics ahn ahn . . . u fit use earphone check heartbeat or u fit use perfume kill mosquito.
Oga Wenger

Anyone watching Everton vs Sporting Lisbon
The Centebacks are Yobo and Big Phil Senderos
It's 20 minutes on the clock and they have not conceded yet

HNIC:

Anyone watching Everton vs Sporting Lisbon
The Centebacks are Yobo and Big Phil Senderos
It's 20 minutes on the clock and they have not conceded yet

They are not worse than Gallas/Vermaelen.

chamotex:

See tactics ahn ahn . . . u fit use earphone check heartbeat or u fit use perfume kill mosquito.
Oga Wenger

Lolz!! O ni fe te now. Barber l'oba clipper

Stoke cometh but before then, good news from the grove.

1. It seems the prognosis of RVP's recovery is good, Dutch coach says early April, Arsene says late April or early may so I'll go for mid april

2. Gibbs might also be back before the end of the season.

3. Half year results shows massive profits, growing year on year and significant debt reduction (while others are wallowing in interest payments) debt reduction and football/squad related interesting portions in bold (if yu've been wondering where our money is being spent)

from: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/half-year-financial-results-announced

[Quote]
Half year financial results announced

Significant reduction in group's debt following progress at Highbury Square

    * Profit before tax of £35.2m (2008 - £24.5m) with increased contributions from both the Group’s football and property businesses.
    * Sale of 261 apartments at Highbury Square generated revenue of £96.6m (2008 - £58.4m) with all proceeds used in repayment of the project’s bank debt. The Group’s property business recorded a pre-tax profit of £9.3m (2008 - £4.9m).
    * Pre-tax profit from the Group’s core business of football increased to £25.8m (2008 - £19.7m).
    * Completed first stages of a programme of capital investment in the appearance and “Arsenalisation” of Emirates Stadium.
    * Further significant investment in determined policy of re-signing first team players to new long-term contracts.
    * By 30 November 2009, the Group’s total net debt had been reduced to £203.6m (31 May 2009 - £332.8m).
    * Since 30 November, there have been a number of further positive developments in relation to the Group’s property projects:
    * Of the 655 private apartments in the Highbury Square development, sales have now completed on 524 units with a cumulative sales revenue value of £217.0m.
    * The balance on the Highbury Square bank loan has been further reduced, from £35.7m at 30 November, to £12.9m (31 May 2009 – £123.6m).
    * Sale of part of the Queensland Road development site means that the Group’s other property activities are now debt free.

Commenting on the interim results, Peter Hill-Wood, non-executive chairman, said:

“I am pleased to report that the Group has delivered another profitable set of results for the first six months of the financial year.

There has been remarkable progress at Highbury Square over the last twelve months and it is clear that the next couple of years will see our property activities delivering surplus cash. [/b]This is very good news, although I would not want to speculate on the exact quantum or timing of this.  [b]How we will use this surplus remains undecided but, in addition to investing in the team, I think we will examine investment in Club projects and infrastructure, both in and around Emirates Stadium, which will provide a long lasting benefit to the Club and our tremendous, loyal supporters.

Looking ahead, our strong financial base allows us time to take a measured and diligent approach to determining the Club’s direction beyond our move to Emirates Stadium and into the next phase of growth.”
[/quote]

Now lets start delivering the trophies and then become a "Big football club" in every sense of the word.

A-40:

Lolz!! O ni fe te now. Barber l'oba clipper 

Ma fimi we Dauda, that boy aint got no swagger

40 baba, do you by any chance possess a UEFA 'A' badge?
You are a tactical genius


I like this one best:

A-40:

3. Score first

Followed by this one:

A-40:

1. Defend the throw (Neutralize Rory Delap)

Are you going to send the Akala brothers to go and chop off his hands?

Impressive financial results - yet again more evidence that Wenger has cash to spend should he choose to.

£34m from player sales, of which at least 70% MUST be invested back into the squad.

Most surprising is that our football costs have gone up by £8.6m due to the new contracts signed by 17 members of the first team - that is a heck of a lot of money to be paying out. . . if these boys don't deliver then Wenger would have put money down a waste pipe.

Secondly, it is good news that the debt is being paid down further and there is actually some scope for future profitability. . . .though with a manager who is reluctant to spend. . . . I reserve my comments.

Good thing to know that once the Highbury development loan is paid off that the rest of the property business will be debt free.

Great financial results - Arsenal is showing it is a great club off the pitch, like Dudu said it's time to start delivering again on the field.

@Debosky
That is not true when you place in perspective the Chairman's letter, and please verify the authenticity of that 70% thingy before you accept it as gospel truth as far as I'm concerned its a figment of someone's imagination.

Here are some interesting snippets from the Chairman's letter which I think is worth reading at http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/documents/feb_10/gun__1267173536_Arsenalhalfyr_30-11-09_WEBSITE.doc

[Quote]A feature of our football management strategy over the last year has been an intensive and determined policy of re-signing first team players to new long-term contracts. 17 first team players have been re-signed and this represents a significant level of investment in a very talented group of players. From a business perspective, having the players tied to long-term contracts is the best means of protecting the value of one of our most important assets. We have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League and their experience is growing with every game. We continue to believe that this group of players can and will be one to win trophies for the Club and they will certainly play some fantastic football along the way. [/quote]

which is one of the things I've been explaining to most of my friends in recent times that the youth strategy is a management/board decision. I guess the recent jibes at Arsene's unwillingness to spend have led to this recent transparency.
That portion in bold clearly shows the youth strategy as a decision taken for the future direction of the club.

[Quote]
Match-day revenue fell from £44.4 to £41.4 million but this was simply a reflection of the fact we played one less home fixture against the comparative period for last year. The fixture schedule has also had some impact on the level of our other football revenues but there were also recessionary factors at play as both retail and commercial revenues dipped slightly.[/quote]

Perhaps, some disgruntled supporters are beginning to show their hand, the explanation sounds plausible though.

[Quote]
Player trading produced an overall surplus of £20.8 million (2008 - £8.0 million) including gains from the sale of player registrations of £33.9 million (2008 – £18.5 million). The most significant player sales were those of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.[/quote]

The portion I find most interesting, so it is wrong to assume that Arsene is sitting on a warchest of 40m somewhere. If you factor in the contract renewals and possibly bringing in Chamack, youth player purchases, that (20.8m) no longer looks like a considerable amount. At least not in any way near enough to buy Dzeko or any player that will significantly improve the squad.

good good . . . now lets go to Stoke

There comes a time in your life when you know you must get off your arse and do something right. Such definitely must have been the case with the Nigerian Senate ammending sections of the constitution to empower Vice Presidents and Deputy Governors and should have been the case with John Terry simply apologising to Wayne Bridge after getting jiggy with his ex. I think he's an idiot for that but like Arsene, I'm staying out of it. It's 2am in the morning and my body rhtymn is still pretty much messed up, I'm wide awake and starving on the other side of the pond. What do you know, let's write a blog eh?

From where should I begin? The boring stuff or the interesting stuff? If I start to bore you with news about the finances you'll probably just moan and say "can't we talk about the Stoke game" and if I decide to talk about the Stoke game and injuries you might say "I heard we made a profit of 35m quid, how true is it?" In life you can never please anyone so I guess I'll take if from the top and work my way down to the bottom and who knows, there might be a surprise in there for one or two.

This morning, the club announced the half-year financial results which show significant reduction in group's debt following progress at Highbury Square. You see I know what that does to your more having only repaid a significant portion of my own debts in the last month or so. That means more disposable income to the layman. Also, it also shows that the strong policy of prudence that has been adopted by the club in the last few years is finally paying off. I won't bore you with too many details as you can do that yourself but here are the major highlights as reported on the official website.

[b]Profit before tax of £35.2m (2008 - £24.5m) with increased contributions from both the Group's football and property businesses.

Sale of 261 apartments at Highbury Square generated revenue of £96.6m (2008 - £58.4m) with all proceeds used in repayment of the project's bank debt. The

Group's property business recorded a pre-tax profit of £9.3m (2008 - £4.9m).

Pre-tax profit from the Group's core business of football increased to £25.8m (2008 - £19.7m).

Completed first stages of a programme of capital investment in the appearance and "Arsenalisation" of Emirates Stadium.

Further significant investment in determined policy of re-signing first team players to new long-term contracts.

By 30 November 2009, the Group's total net debt had been reduced to £203.6m (31 May 2009 - £332.8m).

Since 30 November, there have been a number of further positive developments in relation to the Group's property projects:
Of the 655 private apartments in the Highbury Square development, sales have now completed on 524 units with a cumulative sales revenue value of £217.0m.

The balance on the Highbury Square bank loan has been further reduced, from £35.7m at 30 November, to £12.9m (31 May 2009 - £123.6m).

Sale of part of the Queensland Road development site means that the Group's other property activities are now debt free.[/b]

While Messrs Ajani, Atoki & Akanni might probably in a better position to analyse these results, allow me to point out my joys and personal observations.

Let's not kid ourselves, Arsenal Holdings Plc is a business. End of story! The sooner the vast majority of fans understand that, the better for us all. Nevertheless, the group is involved in several business of note are the Football and Property sides. What many do not understand and find hard to appreciate is the fact that they both go hand in hand. Whilst an outlook on the results look thrilling, it is important to keep it all in perspective with our overall objectives.

This is a view also held by CEO Ivan Gazidis. He said;

"The reason we run a responsible, profitable and self-sustaining business is so that we can deliver success to the Club and invest in the Club and ultimately deliver success on the pitch, something that our fans can be proud of. That's what we're after. So while we're satisfied with the results, that's not the end objective."

That my friends is the reason for it all! Sucess on the pitch ultimately results in better financials and a better financial state can more often than not end up in sucess on the pitch. I am cautious as I use those words as the standards for measuring sucess over the last few years have been skewed for many a football fan.

I'm also happy that the club is sticking to its policy of reinvesting all revenue generated back into the club both in the existing squad and on the transfer market. I know it is the transfer market dealings that get most fans excited but we must give credit to the club for being able to offer our present squad improved deals and guarantee their long term future with us. At least even if we don't end up buying, we shouldn't lose the players that we already have. We've got tremendous talent available in our young squad but then I won't go into discussing that just yet.

My biggest joy is the fact that we have been able to significantly reduce our debt on the Higbury Square project by about 80% in the last 9 months. Note that the balance has shrunk from £123.6m as at 31 May 2009 to £35.7m on 30 November and now it stands at £12.9m. That to me is the biggest achievement of the club and the fact that this was done without jeopardising our success on the pitch shows that we indeed have a tremendous squad which when the time comes to add to it will definitely be world beaters at any level in the not too distant future.

In the light of our financials, and the high level of prudence observed at the club, I stand at a cautious distance to mourn over Portsmouth who have just become the first Premier League club to enter Administration. It is a sad day for football and I cannot imagine what hurt and pain Pompey fans will be experiencing at the moment. They've gone from the highs of winning the FA Cup and European Football to the lows of battling against relegation, four different owners in a season and now administration. They will be docked 9 points and will certainly be relegated at the end of the season. I wish them all the best for the future and truly hope that the will be able to pick up the scraps of whatever is left of their football club.

I leave you with the words of Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood in response to the recently released financial results.

"There has been remarkable progress at Highbury Square over the last twelve months and it is clear that the next couple of years will see our property activities delivering surplus cash. This is very good news, although I would not want to speculate on the exact quantum or timing of this. How we will use this surplus remains undecided but, in addition to investing in the team, I think we will examine investment in Club projects and infrastructure, both in and around Emirates Stadium, which will provide a long lasting benefit to the Club and our tremendous, loyal supporters."

I leave you to speculate for PWD on that.

Till later when I do the regular blog , Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Hi Gooner, well as per pompey thank God they didnt have to withdraw from the league altogether. From FA cup to admnistration and sure relegation. Sad tale.

Dudu something you said is what i've been trying to say as my defense of our state of being now. The youth thing was not an experiment, not a project . . .not somebody waking one morning and decided it will be more fun to win with kids. It is the path that was chosen after careful projection of what our financial situation was going to look like if we had to build a new stadium and yet remian competitive. . .and more importantly be worth something in money terms. Simply put it had to be done.

True talk something had to suffer, sadly for fans it had to be on pitch success. Here's to hoping it's all coming to fruition now. Maybe its not yet uhuru, but i believe the aspect of inability to buy personnnel or improve on player contracts based on finnacila constraints should be a thing of the past now. Anywyas thats talk for the summer.

Right now we have the some of Anak form Stoke to take on. Like A-40 said, we need to stand our ground not bee shifetd off the ball. We have by far more technically gifted players so outplaying them is not an issue. The matter will be to refuse to budge physically.


COYG!!

biz -good. . .Footie - good!

Go Gooners!!!

slimshay:

Dudu something you said is what i've been trying to say as my defense of our state of being now. The youth thing was not an experiment, not a project . . .not somebody waking one morning and decided it will be more fun to win with kids. It is the path that was chosen after careful projection of what our financial situation was going to look like if we had to build a new stadium and yet remian competitive. . .and more importantly be worth something in money terms. Simply put it had to be done.

True talk something had to suffer, sadly for fans it had to be on pitch success. Here's to hoping it's all coming to fruition now. Maybe its not yet uhuru, but i believe the aspect of inability to buy personnnel or improve on player contracts based on finnacila constraints should be a thing of the past now. Anywyas thats talk for the summer.

I realised this a while back, the remarkable thing about it was that most people didn't notice cos (with all due credit to Arsene) we kept performance levels relatively high bar some slight dips in the 05/06, 06/07 (when the youth policy went into full swing with the gradual disintegration of the invincibles) and 08/09 seasons (when we took a step back after we lost Hleb, Gilberto and Flamini in the MF). I dare to say its uphill from now on cos we are financially stable enough to prevent any of these happening again (hopefully we'll show that by holding on to Cesc come summer).

slimshay:

Right now we have the some of Anak form Stoke to take on. Like A-40 said, we need to stand our ground not bee shifetd off the ball. We have by far more technically gifted players so outplaying them is not an issue. The matter will be to refuse to budge physically.

A bit of a shame Diaby has to miss this, but Big Sol should improve our physical outlook, a MF of Song, Cesc and Ramsey should be able to hold their own (note: this might not be a game to play Denilson) and Bendtner in front also helps us aerially. The extra time Stoke played against City plays into our hand nicely as they might not be able to keep up the physical pace for long. I think they've also lost 1 of their ball players in Etherington. We should be able to nick this.

Oh boy eh, where is everybody? Since yesterday?!!!

How market?

DK o de lo revive thread e, abi? Go and revive your thread it is slipping away to page 2 oh!!

4 - 1

FAB4
DUDU
B52
Walcy! stoke will be stoked

One thing I do hope is that once the stadium is paid off the Emirates name can come off (not sure how long the naming rights last). Nothing personal against the airline but I just can't stand all the sports places named for some sponsor. It's so sterile/corporate.

Highbury (even with the library connotation) was a great name. It's only a stone's throw away. Perhaps they could consider reinstating it for historical value. Ashburton Grove sounds simply too posh.

GOAAAALLL! TEVEZZZ! *oh, wait a minute!wrong thread, *lmyo

abi o V3, the lads should take maximum advantage of these points leaking all over the place.

duduspace:

abi o V3, the lads should take maximum advantage of these points leaking all over the place.

They're dropping points this evening, don't fool yourself.

Chelsea where totally bambattaad by City lets protect the pride of London by equally bambattaing another City team. Its time to show some heart fellas! We need to show these haters we mean bidness

chic2pimp:

Arsenal Are Officially Back In The Title Race!!!!

You will change your autotune when Stoke BATTER them later tonight.

~Sauron~:

You will change your autotune when Stoke BATTER them later tonight.

I might be wrong but I somehow don't that happening tonight.
Wengay would have his Boys fired up for the match.
He won't let this opportunity slip away.

chic2pimp:

I might be wrong but I somehow don't that happening tonight.
Wengay would have his Boys fired up for the match.
He won't let this opportunity slip away.

The only problem is Arsenal have never won a single game in Britannia Stadium in the Premiership era.
Stoke will batter those Arsenal babies from Britannia to Budapest!
They don't lose many on their home soil and they have beaten Arsenal TWICE already. . . .Stoke have not lost a football game in 2010.

~Sauron~:

The only problem is Arsenal have never won a single game in Britannia Stadium in the Premiership era.
Stoke will batter those Arsenal babies from Britannia to Budapest!
They don't lose many on their home soil and they have beaten Arsenal TWICE already. . . .Stoke have not lost a football game in 2010.

Arsenal might not have won a game in the Britannia but there is always a first time for everything.
Wengay of all people would know playing/matching Stoke @ the Britannia would not be any task so i'm sure he'll have his boyz well prepared.
If @ the end of the match they don't gain at least a point, he would have no one but himself to blame.
If Arsenal can match stoke in physicality and also deal with Delap's 'Rocket like' throw ins, I see them getting a point from this match at the very least.

How stupid some people will look tonight at 17:30gmt

Clichy said we are up and ready for Delap's throw,i wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the "victim" after the match.

With Chelsea dropping points,it will be utterly delicious and splendid for the lads to capitalize on it,but Brittania is not one of the places we can be sure of the 3 points.I am hoping for a draw,but i PRAY i am proved wrong and we win the match.

chic2pimp:

Arsenal might not have won a game in the Britannia but there is always a first time for everything.
Wengay of all people would know playing/matching Stoke @ the Britannia would not be any task so i'm sure he'll have his boyz well prepared.
If @ the end of the match they don't gain at least a point, he would have no one but himself to blame.
If Arsenal can match stoke in physicality and also deal with Delap's 'Rocket like' throw ins, I see them getting a point from this match at the very least.

How so?
Blame himself for not sending his players to the gym or for failing to give em protein shakes.
The fact is. . . .STOKE have the tallest squad in the EPL and they are over-physical. . . .There's nothing Wenger can do to counter that unless he overhauls his team and buy 23 Maicons.

Chaiii. . . .See as Ricardo Fuller sodomised Verminator(it's not even 80 secs yet).

~Sauron~:

How so?
Blame himself for not sending his players to the gym or for failing to give em protein shakes.
The fact is. . . .STOKE have the tallest squad in the EPL and they are over-physical. . . .There's nothing Wenger can do to counter that unless he overhauls his team and buy 23 Maicons.

Chaiii. . . .See as Ricardo Fuller sodomised Verminator(it's not even 80 secs yet).

Hehehe

Gaynners abeg make una prove this waste pipe wrong.
Take all three points @ the Britannia

Oh Poor Ramsey. . . .i hope it isn't has bad as it looks. . . .

FAB4 told Pulis to shout up!!!


good game. . . .Ramsey oh No!!!!