The FA Cup
For the first time in 22 years, since 1996, Arsenal are not in the 4th round of the FA Cup. And I am gutted.
I am sitting here at 10:12 writing this blog, really not sure what to do with myself? Do I go and fix the garden up after the rough winter we have had?Or maybe put on my wellies and go for a couple of hours stroll in Epping Forest up to the Owl on High Beach, a few pints then stroll back?
Maybe a trip to the garden centre and grab a couple more house plants? I am unsure, I feel lost. This must feel like what it is to be a Spurs fan, getting knocked out the cups early.
Oh well, at least I have a League Cup Final to look forward too, Pinnacle vip code 2018 states that we are not favourites with the bookmakers
Whilst writing this, David Moyes has popped up on Sky Sports News to discuss the upcoming Wigan v West Ham tie.
“They won the FA Cup and got relegated. I am sure if you asked Wigan fans, they would rather not win the FA Cup and still be in the Premier League”.
What a load of rubbish. It is up there with Spurs fans saying they do not want to win trophies, that playing in the Champions League is more important than winning a cup. It is like top 4 is a trophy. Or staying in the Premier League is a trophy.
It should not be surprising that David Moyes has this opinion, that cups mean nothing.
A manager for 20 years, his only trophy is the Football League second division, way back in 1999/2000.
He spent 11 years at Everton, and never won a trophy.
His target was clearly to finish in the top half of the table, rather than win a trophy.
I feel for West Ham fans that they have a manager who openly says he does not want to win things. How out of touch is he with the fans?
I am sure if you ask Wigan fans, the FA Cup win is the highlight of their lives. Same with Portsmouth fans. The cup means everything.
It is only those who have not won it for decades who devalue it.
I am gutted not being in it.
Aubameyang Update
The deal seems to be at a stalement.
The crack negotiating team have flown back to England as negotiations continue. I is dying a slow death.
If the deal does not go through, it perhaps highlights that the problems at the club are bigger than just Arsene Wenger.
Previously, whenever a transfer feel through, Wenger (rightly) got the blame. But this deal is showing that the club is rotten from the manager up.
How the deal has not been done yet is incredible.
Dortmund want to sell, Arsenal want to buy, Aubameyang wants to join. It should be an easy deal to get over the line.
Reports were that Dortmund want ~£55-£60m. That Arsenal wanted to initially pay £40m. This is the start of the negotiations.
Arsenal were apparently concerned with paying over the club-record £46.5m that they spent on Alexandre Lacazette in the summer. And this is where the frustration begins.
We are talking about Dortmund wanting about £10m more than this. Arsenal need to learn to ignore the milestones, stop being concerned about the criticism, and just get the deals done.
With the sales of Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott, and the money made in the summer, Arsenal have a net spend of nearly £45m.
Are we really trying to break even for the season? That is lubricious.
We moved to compete with the best, for the best. Now I am not saying we should be spending the £200m on players that Manchester City are – we can not afford that – but we should not be looking to break even every season, in terms of transfer spend.
We have the money to get Aubameyang in. Let’s get it over the line.
Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Nobody can deny that Arsenal are declining in status but it out of the fans hands. Management do not particularly care about fans feelings, all they care about is fan’s money. Perhaps, to enjoy football again, we should all forget Arsenal and go to Hackney marshes and support amateur football .
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Sad to say this, but 30 years ago, club survival as a business was directly related to the performance on the pitch.
Win 3-0 this week, full house next week. Get into the next round of the FA Cup, full house as opposed to nothing if you didn’t get through.
A couple of bad performances, takings would plummet and the club would suffer.
We could vote with our wallets.
But matchday gate receipts have fallen from top down to the bottom of the list as the main sources of club revenue.
Most premier league clubs now have very high season ticket levels, massive TV and sponsorship revenue. It doesn’t matter how many turn up on the day, the fan can’t hurt the club by not turning up.
Why wasn’t Sanchez at least on the bench against Forest?
Simple answer, if he had been in the squad, he would have been cup tied for the rest of the competition. The two clubs in contention for his signature would have been buying a player who would have been ineligible to play in a competition both teams want to win.
So we kept him under wraps to maybe gain the few million more that he was worth as both a league and cup player.
By keeping Sanchez out of the cup, we risked being knocked out and we were.
Millions of supporters worldwide were shafted to help close a deal which will only benefit the shareholders coffers.
This year more than any marks the point (for me) that the game is no longer about winning on the pitch. It’s not about the fans. It’s all about the millions going into the wallets of whoever is rich enough to buy a majority share in the club.
Sadly, football is no longer about football.
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2011 my dissertation was on Arsenal priotising economic success over pursuit of trophies. We are clearly a business and decisions like keeping Wenger or not breaking our record transfer fee again are as low risk as possible.
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For me there are two types of football clubs:
1) “businesses” – the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool & Manchester United. They spend what they bring in. They need to ensure expenditure is not more than income
2) “Play things” – likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. A rich mans play thing. If they make a huge loss, the owner will use their own money to either loan the club the loss (Chelsea), or filter in the money through sponsorship deals (Man City). They do not have to worry about breaking even as their owners will manager the losses.
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The reality was that AS was determined to leave – therefore it wasn’t just a case of a few million…it was in effect £30m at stake (the rough value of HM if some reports in the press are true)…..
…so one player went to Man U. and we got a player in return….
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I think Mourinho called it spot on when he called it a “fantastic deal”
Sanchez wanted to join Man U, Mkhitaryan wanted to join Arsenal. Both got their wishes
Arsenal get a fantastic player in Mkhitaryan, Manchester United a fantastic player in Sanchez
Yes, Man U perhaps got the “better” deal as Sanchez is better than Mkhitaryan, but that is due to contract lengths. And also Sanchez is going to cost twice as much a week (then all the add ons) then Mkhitaryan.
Good deal all round
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I. Don’t think It’s not going to happen to be honest, he’s playing for dortmund at the moment, the club and Wenger seem to have short arms and Deep pockets. I have something to say to them, SPEND SOME F*CKING MONEY
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