₦airaland Forum

debosky:
Just listened to Wenger's whole press conference on the BBC - I have to say that despite my reservations about how transfers have been handled thus far, you still have to respect the man.

Very focused on the issue at hand (i.e. Newcastle) and not willing to feed the trolls of the press, especially when asked to 'assure' Arsenal fans that he will bring in suitable replacements - he just answered that he won't respond to hypothetical situations.

Another classic line from Le Prof

"We are all replaceable. All the cemeteries are full of replaceable people."



I really can't wait for tomorrow's game now - finally there'll be some tangible footie to discuss beyond who goes and who comes.

Arsenal just won't be the same if that man decides to walk, even his interviews alone have enough drama. Here are some other classics.

[Quote]"We have specialised people to work everywhere but we are not in a supermarket where you go to a shelf and you ask where are the centre backs or the strikers."[/quote][Quote]I have seen much more difficult ­circumstances – people who lost their parents and are playing the next day and being the best man on the pitch.[/quote]

@edoyad
That report should make you happy naa, nor be una wan chase the man?

Meanwhile, one of my favorite players and another we could have got to make up for some of the players we might lose, Arda Turan has finally joined Athletico Madrid today.

coogar:
this is hilarious! popped champagne because cesc is leaving arsenal? his exit or staying does not affect my fortunes in any way. he was here for 7 years and arsenal won nada. i don't want him to go. . . .selling him might make wenger bring a better player who might win the league for arsenal.

Why are you now crying more than the bereaved?  
If he is that bad that you don't want him to go, go and streak on the pitch of that club  that gave yours a good drilling in the UCL final as a protest to stop them chasing him.  

coogar:
thousands of arsenal fans want to see the back of him. his tedious transfer saga has distracted arsenal enough. now the captain's armband will have to be passed to someone else. what does this do to the team spirit? cesc is leaving, cesc is staying - i don't see how that helps arsenal's preparation to win a league title.

Good luck to those thousands who want him gone, there are also thousands who would have him stay so in the grand scheme of things it changes little. I personally do not care either way as long as we get his market value (and more if possible cos I'm a bit greedy   )

coogar:
if i put up bebe's youtube clip, it will shame cesc's. it's what it is. . . .youtube clips. carefully put together to show the wow factor - conveniently ignoring the silly tricks he did that ended up in arsenal conceding an avoidable goal. you can put 20,000 youtube clips of cesc. after all said and done, his name is written in the history book as the arsenal captain that won nothing for 7 yrs.

Only Bebe didn't do his where it mattered.  
Cesc was not captain for 7 years, he was captain for only 2 of those 7 years.
True he wasn't patient enough to give himself a chance to become a legend but that is his choice, no business or anyones.
When he put on our shirt, he mostly played well, for that we say thank you and gladly take our money with a bit of nostalgia about a captain who scored a penalty with a broken leg to keep his team in a tie.

Happy Birthday bee bee DK, hope Bayern give yu something to celebrate this weekend.

biolabee:
dudu is it the same campbell we tried signing that shunned us earlier,

Yes, the same one but I don't think he ever shunned us. More like the media making trouble and Arsenal keeping their end of a bargain.
Obviously, his family were looking out for the boy's interests while he was at the WYC with Costa Rica.

By the way, where have you been? still on with the fanshare scheme? they've started buying shares again after Usmanov's clearance.

Finally, Joel Campbell confirmed after Costa Rica exited the WYC as I suspected.
Hmmm, no matter what happens this season will be interesting, we will smash some teams with all these attacking signings.
Slim must have been on to something. 

With all this noise about losing Cesc and Omo Iya Nasiru, some people's wishes are finally coming true.
For sure Arshavin finally gets the central berth he craves, lets see what he does with it.
All you Arshavin for central position peeps are gettin your wish now o, hopefully no stories after the season starts.

[size=14pt]Newsflash: Kaiser Caught Spying on Ageless Wonders[/size] (says he was owling)

In an unusual turn of events which shows the desperation of some managers to get one over their feared opposition in the coming league season which kicks off tomorrow, the eponymous manager of Wolfgang Kaiser Munich (who renamed the club after himself without the approval of the board) otherwise known as DK has been caught spying on the Ageless Wonders team in training (inset pic).

He was discovered lurking in the forest area adjoining one of the 12 training pitches in Ageless Colney, the vast training center of the Ageless Wonders and was discovered after the Chairman of the NLFL Sir El (who was on an official visit to the Ageless Wonders Academy which had the distinct honour of being the first to be given Elite status in the recently revamped league) complained of some whitish fluid dripping on his head from a tree while he was on an inspection tour of the facility. 
His lame excuse to explain the incident that he had recently taken to the new fad of Owling did not ring true to the manager of the Ageless Wonders Duduspace Babs who was quick to point out that Kaiser has always been fearful of the Ageless wonders hence his active participation in the board room manipulations and campaign of calumny against the Ageless Wonders. According to him, this latest distraction is not totally unexpected and even though an unwelcomed development will not distract the Ageless Wonders in any way from achieving their set objectives for the season.

Some anonymouse sources have suggested an even more sinister intent behind Kaiser's actions saying he had been seen in the vicinity of the training pitches in the past with only a top on and had wandered if he was an escaped convict. 

Wolfgang Kaiser Munich (the club) have declined to comment.

https://img683.imageshack.us/img683/5985/owling.jpg

eldee:
@Dudu

Check your Twitter DM.

Alright my chairman.

coogar:
except that true arsenal fans(not wenger's arselickers like yourself) think cesc stopped being an arsenal player 12 months ago. did he put his body on the line for the club when he played? nope. he contributed to arsenal's loss at camp nou last season. he was disoriented, tactless and was lost in the storm throughout. by his standard, cesc had a woeful performance last season.

as per your question, i am not happy nor sad. i am just commenting.
amazed that wenger lovers are so blind not to see this man's youth policy has not yielded any fruits. astounded that wenger-haters are not doing enough to vent their anger through the media. arsenal are heading backwards. the top 3 slots are sewn already(chelsea, man city and man utd). the 4th place is up for grabs and wenger is still bent on signing oxdale, jekinson and jadson to challenge his rivals.

oh happy days!

That champagne you popped prematuredly is affecting you, where are those true arsenal fans you mentioned? don't see them on this forum. Apart from probably Dr. Kit and an emotinal Muki I can't count many Arsenal fans who wouldn't prefer Cesc staying. Its the media circus its become that is testing to everyone.
Cesc's relatively poor performances by his own standards had more to do with his injuries than losing interest in the club. I still pasted a youtube clip of his performances in an injury plagued campaign, go watch it and stop stressing a mistake made in a match he played with a patched up hammy.

When he goes, he goes with most true Arsenal fan's blessings as you can largely see even on this forum.

coogar:
good for arsenal, largely shown respect but won nothing for arsenal.
he can never be regarded as an arsenal legend. . . .henry, vieira, kanu, etc won titles for arsenal, cesc won nothing for you guys so i don't see how you of all people should be celebrating. . . .

40m euro in total for someone you paid nothing for is not reasonable - he won nothing for you guys. wenger made £50m when he sold adebayor and kolo toure to man city. what has that money done to improve arsenal since those players left? nothing. arsenal are actually going backwards.

cesc fabregas deal would have worth something if he won something for arsenal and if the money made would be pumped back into the squad to improve it. if we go by wenger's history. none of this will happen.

Wait a bit coogar, are you rejoicing or crying sef? 
no one is lamenting here abi yu see anybody dey cry? well maybe Slim is but I'm sure he'll get over that soon enof. 
If he is leaving on a free like Flamini, mouthing off about every other club like Adebayor or going to Manure, I would have been cursing him but if he is only passing up an opportunity to become an Arsenal legend and earning us a load of wad in the process, why should anyone be sad about that?
True he has not won anything for us but that is a shared responsibility and not his alone, no one here can say the boy didn't put his body on the line for the club when he played.

coogar:
what's your business how they celebrate their new signing?
sour grapes did i not say i would remind you of today when cesc finally flips the bird at arsenal fans?

the day of reckoning hath cometh.  . . .mumuface. . . .in your face.

Wait for the announcement first before you break out the champagne so yu don't celebrate prematurely as you did last season.  
Good luck to the boy, he has been good for us and largely shown respect to the club but only missed out on an opportunity to become an Arsenal legend like Henry and co.
40m euro in total for someone we payed virtually nothing for is a reasonable deal.
I aint complaining. 

proudly9ja:
I don't buy the Arsene wanted to control when the announcement gets made excuse. This is the biggest transfer this season! Cesc to Barca. Even if Barca players hadn't revealed it, I am sure Cesc wasn't wearing a disguise flying from London to Barcelona, hundred of people would have seen him on the plane/airports.

Its either there's a problem between Arsene and the board or Arsene wants us to know (or believe) that this wasn't his decision

He also said, his own thinking doesn't matter.  
I don't think Arsene in his heart wants any of them to go, he has always said it that they've laboured so much to develop them and then they go when the club should be benefitting.
The reality on ground is a different matter entirely, it is obvious Cesc wanted this move and his friends knew it.
Never forget as well that Arsene likes a bit of Intrigue. What I took from that interview was that Cesc was leaving but Nasri isnt certain just yet.

Why are these Barca priks so stuck up?
they are getting the player that is no longer in dispute, why can't they just behave?

Stupid boy.

dayokanu:
These losers no dey shame, How would ay sane person be talking about FA cup when they won the league and got to the CL finals

Na yu nor dey shame, yu suppose still dey mop your yansh with hot water after what Monchengladbach did at the Allianz last week.

kandiikane:
Booooooooooooo!

Nice to see you here Kandiiiii, yu follow sexy soccer too?

So, decision time on Cesc at 9 am tomorrow ba?

coogar:
win what?
ashley young's career is barely 2 months old. . . .he's won a trophy and wenger's boys are still without any glory for 6 yrs.

Make we hear word jare, City didn't win anything for 30+ years but that didn't prevent them stomping on you in the FA cup last season.  

Chei, for every trophyless year Arsene has added about 2 wrinkles to that face. I hope he'll get some Botox after we finally win.

pleep:
Wow  that's crazy, I never would have thought. So there must be a bunch of ppl at Internet cafes   

Anyway it seems your skillfully dodging my question 

Not really, mobile internet connections are now readily available in places like Lagos, Abuja and PH.
So when is this going down? can't commit but would like to have details.

@Kandii

Where did you go clean? or were you one of those heckling Boris on Tuesday?

I'm fine guys thanks for asking, I feel loved. 
I ran into Coogar's crew on my way home and ultimately had to bunk at a friend's place.
I went all Jacky Chan on them and left with a few bruises but I'm sure Coogar is typing with his left as his right hand is in POP.
This chap was one of coogar's homies.

[flash=400,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1wuP5y6n_A[/flash]

That part where he says "I'm not law abiding mate" had us in stitches yesterday, I wonder what he'll think about it a few years down the road. 

Just heard the good news about Rio but bad news about things kickin off at salford on the radio. I have to get home from soccerdome tonite. I hope I dont jam these useless people on my way back now that all police have been drafted to london.

Emperoh:

Where you the one i saw helping him out?
Dudu na so the thing don reach? What trophy will u tell gayners that is and how do u explain how u got it?

That wan easy naa, we will just start a premierpoli and get the league to award it to us in retrospect.

Emperoh:
BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Londone Riots extend to Manchester. Wenger caught breaking into Old Trafford trophy chest!!!

yu be proper onijogbon

slimshay:
Bros-ye, I tire o. . . .some peoples daily post here can fill 20 Arsenal blogs . . .*ahem* *ahem* du. . .*ahem* . . .du. . . . .*ahem* abeg, where my space bar?

Abeg sir, please don't send me to London.  but erm money makes the world go round.

dayokanu:
Duduspace hasnt posted here today,

Watch out for him on cameras.

If you wear any new clothe in the next 1yr I know say na loot.

And Debo If I see you with one leg of grey size 12 Timberland, the other leg na size 10Blue Timberland I know say na loot

Why yu come dey out ya padi naa? 
nor be so we talk am before
abi na becos I nor see yur size for shop? 
Nor vex as dem nor get this size and style for Footlocker when we jam the place yesternite.
https://img803.imageshack.us/img803/1416/dkshoes.jpg
I go try Clarks tonite if these police people never wake up tonite.
ma binu shogbo.

I spoke too soon, the thing don reach Islington and everywhere else o. Already reached Birmingham and Liverpool sef. Hope say e nor go reach Salford sha. Useless people, Devil finds work for the idle.

Chrisbenogor:
Nicely put dudu I have been doing some serious number crunching on the issue if only I can I will paste some of it here and you guys will see the real picture. Its not just about wenger going out there to buy benzema for 35 mil and buying tevez for 50 the question is where do you cough out the 150 000 a week which that idiat nasri is running to Man city for.

I digress, IMO as a catalunya fan I dont want to see cesc fabregas don the jersey of barcelona. I am pretty much as old school as they come and I take loyalty and professionalism very very very personally. What the hell is wrong with fabregas? He was handed viera's role at the age of 16, it would not happen in no big club in the world, you were given all it took, wenger took criticism for you made you the player you are and now you want to return because you are home sick? Each time I think of it bile just comes to my mouth and well its one of the shortcomings of wenger he put too much faith in the lad and hoped at least he would give his all like henry did for arsenal and when he want to win something else everyone would understand and let him go back home to catalunya to retire a true legend. But this is Wenger's Achilles heel he has never ever been shrewd the way Sir would be to deal decisively with a player, in this whole saga I feel wenger has put the feeling of this ungrateful young man before the prestige of Arsenal F.C in my opinion just cut him loose, barcelona got rid of maradona got rid of rivaldo, I can understand holding out for 40 million because aside from his ability the club took a risk with him and it should pay off big time but in the interest of the the players he should let him go. As for Nasri   my only annoyance is the guys lack of ambition I mean Man City

You are right that Arsene is "nice" in that regards, but I think the insistence on that amount is also to ensure that the club gains for what they invested into Cesc once things became so murky. That has always been my main point on here that Cesc was never forced to sign the long term contract and while Arsene is being nice to him, he also has to fight Arsenal's corner.

Football has changed a lot and there is so much player power now but a contract should still be respected. I don't begrudge Cesc's homesickness or lust for trophies at Barca, we all know football has changed from when top class talents lke Rivaldo would stay at Barca despite not winning anything meaningful or Totti stay at Roma all through his career rather than running to the likes of Real Madrid.
I'm not sure of who wants the other more in Barcelona and Cesc  but Barcelona haven't acted properly in pursuing Cesc, the more honorable people connected to the Camp Nou know that and that is why they aint talking much.

Chrisbenogor:
Ok back to the issue at hand the truth is Man utd barcelona and madrid would mostly be always ahead, their ability to genuinely generate funds has proven to be their greatest asset even though the competition is telling less on the first two. Some people do not believe when I say they took a loan to play wages last year and had to accept that qatar foundation sponsorship.

The lesson dont spend more than you generate its always gonna bite you in the Bottom.

Manure has always been, is still and will likely always remain a money spinning machine but I fear for them a bit, these Glazer guys are milking that club for all its worth but people aint noticing cos the trophies keep on coming. If City become the force I expect them to become (prolly after getting a Mourinho type manager who can use money well) things might go pear shaped at OT much quicker than the average attendance at the Emirates drops below 75% of capacity. 

debosky:
Without reinvesting into football, Arsenal is doomed to fail - the market out there can only accommodate so many top clubs. The sides that capture the imagination either by signing players or by winning trophies will continue to make money.
Arsenal is not a property business - declaring profits from property is irrelevant if it fails to support the goals of the club on the pitch.
It is criminal that instead of holding an extra £40m of debt (140m of debt was paid off recently), Arsenal is scrabbling for players in the gutter and unable to compete.

But the track record of Arsenal with Arsene at the helm says different. Prior to Arsene and the whole Stadium thingie, I doubt Arsenal were in the top 50 of club valuations as I alluded to in a prior post. I think the general idea is to allow Arsene to continue working his "magic" of staying within touching distance of the big clubs without spending much and possibly win something over time, not get dragged into the whole spending trend and hope that FFP brings some sanity into football as a whole.

debosky:
Agreed that was the case - there is no longer any justification to continue on such a foolishly frugal method - paying off debt while falling further behind on the pitch will ultimately make things worse for Arsenal. Matchday revenue (which is our biggest earner) will begin to fall as fans get put off by paper profits that don't go into the playing squad.

This is irrelevant - as long as Roman continues to absorb the losses, it is irrelevant because as long as they continue to win, they will be a viable brand that is attractive to investors.

1. The theory that fans will stay away is as of now a theory, the waiting list at Arsenal is still long. The only thing that can break this IMO is if stadium attendance as a whole slumps in the UK
2. Roman is a person who can fall down and die tomorrow (not saying I wish same for him o  ) is that really a good foundation to anchor the future of a club on?  
3. Despite their wins over the period we've not won anything, their financial standing has depreciated compared to ours.

I agree we can't continue to live on a shoestring budget and I already see things changing, If Nasri's issue came up 2 - 3 years ago, we would have bitten off City's hands to sell him but we can now even go as far as saying we don't mind if he leaves on free next season. (I still believe its grandstanding though   ) but it does show the cash flow situation is improving.

debosky:
Arsenal will not be attractive to investors once we lose our earning power.

Again this is irrelevant - our paper profits have done nothing to increase the viability of this club on the pitch. If United is put on sale today, someone will pay the full price and wipe all the debts away
- Arsenal does not have that luxury.

It is a massive stretch to say Arsenal will ever lose its earning power, its astonishing but even our will they? won't they? seasonal rollercoaster seems to be marketable and keeps us in the news and on everyone's lips. Arsenal is one of the most attractive to investors out there, minimal debt and a track record of European competition (one of the smallest debt/equity/turnover ratios in the PL) what more would an investor want? or why do you think Usmanov refuses to sell out despite not having a majority stake? definitely not his love for Arsenal or what do you think?

debosky:
There will always be someone willing to pay for a winning brand - a losing brand however, will continue to decline.

Arsenal are in grave danger of losing future fans with its unimaginative approach - no signings to excite the fans, no trophies to celebrate, just failure at the last hurdle each season.

Till the people at the helm realise that this is high time to secure the long term future of the club (i.e. fans) by signing players and giving them something to hope for, we will start reducing attendance.

It may already be happening - red members of Arsenal can actually get tickets for Arsenal vs Liverpool! Imagine non-season ticket holders being able to buy such tickets? Demand must be dropping off already.

Wrong, why was there no one to bail out West Ham with their FA cup victory? while City (which had not won anything for how long again?) got bought.  
there are many things that might bring a drop in demand for tickets but even then I believe if it does happen, it will be temporary as long as we stay in the top 4 and go to Europe.
To be honest, all the bad press isn't helping but I still saw many fans and supporters out there willing to support their club come what may when I went for the emirates cup.

debosky:
Welcome Ox, hope your footie is more attractive than your face.

PS - does anyone know why he didn't wear boots during his first photoshoot? It seems Arsenal had to sell his boots in order to afford the fees Southampton wanted. The poverty is really hitting hard at the Emirates.

The thing sef tire me o, why did they make him look like a neglected child?  

debosky:
What continues to worry me is the lack of clarity on where the seeming reluctance to spend emanates from:

1. Is it from the board refusing to spend money/ providing a limited budget to Arsene?

2. Is it simply Arsene 'refusing' to spend as is commonly projected? Is the board allowing him a 'long rope' to hang himself with?

3. Is it some form of joint decision not to spend due to a lack of resources beyond the claimed paper profits?

My worry is that we may never know the truth till Arsene leaves and if it is the third option case, we will be in potentially bigger trouble than we are at the moment.

I'd be lying if I said that the uncertainty surrounding the club was not worrying, but I do want to wait a bit longer before passing judgement on the summer.

What we can say clearly is that we have, thus far, showed far less intent to strengthen the side, especially compared to the Manchester clubs and Liverpool. If we are virtually standing still or going backwards compared to the main rivals, it is not beyond reason to be concerned about our fate for the new season.

Analyze the books Debo, what is happening in all these clubs is clear if you take the time to scratch beneath the surface.
The time we made the huge profit about 2 seasons ago, it came from Property sales not from the football business and both sides of the business have been ring fenced from each other.
That profit I believe has been re-invested back into the property business. We will likely declare another jumbo profit of about 25m from the Queensland road sales but I'm not sure that will be reinvested into the football side of the business either.

IMO, what happened  after we moved to the emirates was akin to handing over the football side of the business to Arsene to run with minimal injection of funds from the board.
Commercial income was limited and the Matchday income + football rewards (UCL + PL + FA + CC) is barely covering the wage bill, with a tightly run ship like Arsenal I think we only made about 10m profit from the football business last year. Arsene has basically been selling to buy in a way ever since the emirates move if you look at player sales and purchases.

It is also happening at other clubs but they have other means of covering it in the financial accounts as most of them are not publicly traded like Arsenal because they are now privately owned, it is the reason you see those other clubs declaring massive losses year on year yet going out to spend even more. I always point people to Chelsea, as a business it shouldn't even be existing anymore. In the Forbes rich list Chelsea was valued at 600+ million and they stated in the same report that its debts were 800m + meaning a net asset value of -200m and its a club in such a financial state that still went ahead to buy 70m worth of players in January, in any other business sector apart from football, Chelsea would have long ceased to exist and this may still happen if Roman ever comes to his senses. 

The only other club who made a profit last year from football was Manure (also about 10m as well) with their recent expenditure again, I expect them to be in the red when year end comes around and there is still a lot of uncertainty as to how exactly they paid off the 200m+ PIK loans as it might have future interest expenditure implications if a loan was taken to pay it.

Arsenal is basically taking a stand and getting hammered for it from all quarters cos people don't see the need for it and its against the prevailing trend, but its something that will stand us in good stead when the chickens come home to roost. The general belief in all those clubs is that after running them into the red, there will always be someone there to sell it to (Manchester City and arab money asides that is who seem to be in it for the long haul). I'm patiently waiting for when Manure's bond becomes payable in 6 years time because IMO they are running the club as if it will never become due or maybe the reasoning is that there will always be someone interested in the brand who wouldn't mind paying both for the equity and the debt, the Glazers seem more business savvy than Gillette and Hicks but even they might be making some serious miscalculation.

Jencejyde:
Interesting observation sir! from my own point of view, i think that may be partly the case, but until we can prove that our attack will always have a 75  to 95% success rate in front of goal, then we would be making a huge mistake,  My preferred decision as with many others is still to get a quality CB and maintain a balance between the Midfield and defense. We simply need to sort out our defensive frailties before we can consider an all out attacking option.

JJCD, I nominate you for the defence coaching job naa, help us drill these boys particularly that Djorou boy who refuses to learn and can't concentrate to save his life. 

What is your opinion on who should get the LB position? Gibbs or Traore?

Chrisbenogor:
The answer to that lies in his track record, and I think the board just believes wenger sees way ahead of them in terms of where this money madness is going. I too foresee a future where just like the world markets these silly wages and fees being bandied around by clubs that have no business doing so will finally collapse under its own weight just like most economies are doing now spending more than they generate and after sometime when roman says well the fun is over I need another play toy then we shall really see. Chelsea's wage bill was like a roaring monster and they have made painful sacrifices to keep it under one of which is touting Josh MchEchran   , I mean the lad is good but its so unlike chelsea. This has got to be one of the most quiet transfer windows ever for them and it shows us that its one thing to buy a player for a stupendous amount its totally another to pay them wages that the club cannot generate. As for Man city well theirs is like a Monster on steriods and a steady stream of Alomo, I wonder where that business plan is going spend spend spend and hope what? Nike would suddenly take them seriously? or the big sponsors of the world would take them seriously? or get back the money used in buying aguero through jersey sales alone?

This is where Wenger is a master piece, I was asking a bitter arsenal fan just yesterday if he can even remember how liverpool spent their way into administration? So in that respect you need a wenger, but honestly like most other people sometimes I just wonder what the man thinks.
Food for thought though, arsenals training center one of the best in England was built from the anelka sale money, wenger bought him for 500 000 and sold him for 22.5 used 10 to buy henry and the remaining to build the training center, look how henry turned out in short wenger should be running the american economy.

A sane voice who isn't even an Arsenal fan.
Thanks Chris, but word of advice, most don't see things that logically here o, it's all about "Arsenal must win a trophy now" as if clubs like Blackburn have never won a PL trophy before.
Lack of trophies doth make my people mad. 
When I say that I see problems in Manure's future, I'm labelled a prophet of doom.
I'm sure no one foresaw the great USA's credit rating being downgraded ever and anyone who dared suggest same last year would have been labelled a prophet of doom as well.
Anything that isn't sustainable will surely crash someday, no matter how long it goes on for, it is living on borrowed time.

Crazy you mention it though, I don't think Liverpool have learnt anything at all, they've got another set of Americans only that these ones have a tighter grip on the club than Gillette and Hicks who were basically mugged by the british IMO.
They are spending again and still doing so quite stupidly.

follypimpi:
@Dudu

You never stop to amuse me. So you are telling me it's the fans fault and not AW when he fields Alumnia as a goalie ? Or Sylvester or Squallic  Are you kidding me mate ?

With the same Almunia in goal, we came within 4 points of winning the PL in the 07/08 season. And for those 2, no manager gets it right all the time. If Arsene had the money to go buy 30m talent like Ferdinand, why would he rather opt to buy 3m aging but experienced players like Squillaci or Silvestre? keep in mind that this is the same manager better known for flogging off old players.
Those players were always stop gaps while hoping the internally developed ones like JD and Senderos come good. The manager had to resort to that because that was the money available at that point in time.
When our cash position improved, we got Koscielny while letting Senderos leave an a free and we even offered 20m for Pepe Reina even when some of us were asking to give Szczesny a chance.

slimshay:
How can Arsenal fans continue to miss the obvious? With all the analysts we have on here, nobody can deduce what's actually going on.

Arsene Wenger has finally conceded Arsenal defense is beyond redemption. So we are going back to the most basic rule in football. [i]The team who scores more number of goals in a single game is declared the winner of same game'[i/] FIFA Edict 3 subsection 9, google it.

Hence the stockpiling of attacking players. Let the opponents score, we will score more!!! Shikena!!!

Alagba Slim, I totally disagree. I believe we will still make a defensive signing before the window closes. With Wenger allowing Bartley to go on a season long loan, shows he wouldn't get any chance to play at all or he would have kept him as cover for any long term injuries in the defence so we need one more CB. Metersacker might be coming to the emirates, OX can't be the super signing Arsene was on about last week neither does any of Cahill, Jagielka or Samba fit that tag.

I'm also thinking with OX's signing that Miyaichi's prospects of getting a WP might have been looking poor, I don't see how we will bed in 2 wingers so young in a single season. Ryo might be going back to Feyenoord.