Arsenal set for lowest attendance in Premier League history

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Tonight’s game has not sold out. Even before the Beast from the East came in, it was not going to sell out. Despite what the “official” attendance is – which we all know is actually “tickets sold”, the actual attendance could be the clubs lowest in history.

Already this season, we have (unofficially) seen less than 30,000 turn up for a Europa League game against BATE Borisov, and the back-end of last season around 45,000 turn up for the Premier League game against Sunderland.

I would not be too surprised to see tonight’s “through the gates” figure dip under the 20,000 mark.

Back at the beginning of the 1992/93 season, 20,796 turned up to watch Arsenal v Oldham Athletic. At the time, the North Bank was being rebuilt so capacity was restricted.

The weather is bad, and will have a huge effect, but the reality is the game was not selling out anyway. There are a variety of issues that all go into the melting pot:

Apathy – Arsenal fans are fed up. Some would have already been planning not to go today before the weather and the last weekends game. They would have been looking to put their ticket on the ticket exchange prior to even the fixture change. Some fans have already thrown the towel in on this season, and probably will not be back until next season.

Then add in Sunday’s defeat. I wonder how many hundreds – or even thousands – woke up on Monday morning, logged on to arsenal.com to post their ticket up on the ticket exchange, only to find the game had not even sold out.

Arsenal fans are frustrated, and we have seen that throughout the season, with their being plenty of empty seats at the Emirates Stadium, even for an afternoon kick off on a Saturday.

Ticket Prices – When it came to general sale, the lowest prices were £64 due to it being Cat A. The most expensive price was £95.50. The ticket prices often leads fans to playing poker with the club.

The ticket exchange only opens when the game is sold out. This leaves fans with a choice, buy at £95.50, or wait for the ticket exchange to open in the hope of getting one at £64. Often the most expensive tickets take a while to sell out as many wait for the ticket exchange to open.

With the game changed to a Thursday night, it means even fewer people were interested in the high-priced tickets, and therefore fewer tickets being made available at the lower end due to ticket exchange note opening.

Late Scheduling – The match was originally scheduled for last weekend. This would have sold out.It was then moved to today, but that even had a caveat.

 

Had Manchester City draw against Wigan, they would have had an FA Cup replay. They would have been held yesterday, meaning that the Premier League game would need to be rescheduled once more.

The fixture was only set in stone on Monday 19th February. That was 10 days ago. The late scheduling meant that the Arsenal fans that come from far and away – both within the UK and abroad – were unable to make arrangements in terms of trains, hotels and annual leave, unless they paid through the noise for it.

Thursday – And the game was rescheduled for a Thursday.

We as fans might be used to mid-week games, but prior to this season, we had barely played on a Thursday. It is not a great day for football games.

Ticket Exchange – The Ticket Exchange is brilliant. It allows fans who have season tickets that are unable to go to sell their tickets on. But it only opens once the game has sold out.

Due to fans apathy, due to ticket prices, and due to a late change on the Thursday, this has meant the game has not sold out. Which means that those fans who can not make mid-week games, and usually sell them regardless of opponents or apathy, have been unable to sell their tickets on.

Thousands sell their tickets on the Ticket Exchange for every mid-week game. The 4 chaps in front of me travel from Devon and Birmingham. They can not do mid-week. The 4 next to me travel from Reading and Basingstoke. They are often missing for mid-week games as well.

Nothing to do with being fed up with the club, and all to do with logistics. They can not get home from many mid-week games (or are unwilling to get home at midnight with work the next day).

With the Ticket Exchange not opening, these few thousand fans have not been able to sell on their tickets, meaning their seats add to the emptiness.

The Weather – There would have been many who, despite the apathy and the late scheduling, would have still been going to the game. But with the weather over the last 24 hours in London, many of those will be staying away.

It is cold, it is snowing, the wind cuts straight through you. It is not the type of weather you want to be standing (or sitting) in an open air arena watching football. I wonder how many are now staying at home because they would rather be in front of a fire, under a warm blanket, with a cup of tea and a bowl of stew?

Yesterday, thousands could not get to work due to the weather. Today thousands can not get to The Arsenal due to the weather.

Trains – And due to the weather, some train companies are considering running a reduced service from 10pm onwards. Even for fans who live fairly local, on the outskirts of London – the likes of Loughton, Gillingham, Chelmsford and Romford – will now potentially struggle to get home.

Way take the risk on going to the game if at 5pm this evening the train companies decide to run a reduced service?

You put all of these reasons in a pot, and we could see less than 20,000 people turn up. The only ones are local fans who can walk to the game, or live on Underground lines such as the Victoria Line which is unaffected by the weather.

Last night for Tottenham v Rochdale, a little over 20,000 turned up – and a quarter of them were Rochdale fans.

The best bet is for Arsenal to call the game off. Reschedule it for two weeks; the weekend of the 16/17th March as we are now both out of the FA Cup. A sunny spring afternoon.

I am looking forward to my tea and stew tonight.

Keenos

Who is in line to replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?

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Yesterday we discussed who would replace Arsene Wenger in the short term, were he to leave his role before the end of the season.

The reason this was discussed was mainly down to top targets not being available in the summer. Someone like Joachim Low is busy with preparing to led Germany to the defence of the World Cup they won 4 years ago. He will not chuck that in to become Arsenal manager 4 months early.

The likes of Andres Jonkier, Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti were mentioned as possible short term replacements, if Wenger were to leave this week. So who are the long term replacements?

Carlo Ancelotti – The experienced Italian is immediately available and could come in as a short term option who could be kept on for the long term if the club performs.

He is a Premier League winner with Chelsea and is one of the most highly rated managers in the game.

However, he has only won 4 league titles since 2000, despite having managed AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Critics will say he is too similar to Arsene Wenger. That he does not concentrate on tactics to stop the opposition and leaves a lot to the players to make decisions on the field.

He left Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in similar circumstance, and there is talk that his methods are now outdated. Would he just be Wenger Mark II?

Leonardo Jardim – when you have unlimited funds, and manage the likes of Manchester City, PSG or Manchester United, you do not need to be a coach. You do not need to improve players. If someone is not good enough, you merely sign a replacement.

In 2017, Leonardo Jardim led Monaco to the French league title, as well as a Champions League semi-final, with a vibrant young team. Up against PSG in France, he had to bring through and develop talents like Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar and Fabinho.

His team knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League three years ago and he has a contract until 2020. At just 43, he is young and fresh, whilst also have 10 years experience as a manager.

Joachim Low – With a set up that is set to include Germans Sven Mislintat & Per Mertesacker, German national team manager Joachim Low looks a fairly natural fit. Add in Shad Forsyth, who spent 10 years working with the Germany national team, and Low could fit right in.

With Mesut Ozil,  Shkdoran Mustafi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka and Sead Kolašinac all having come from the Bundesliga, German could be the new French at Arsenal.

The only question mark over Low is his club management credentials. He has not managed at club level for 14 years and he had 7 jobs in 5 years.

Brendan Rodgers – A lot of fans will mock any opinion that Brendan Rodger should be anywhere near the list of potential Arsene Wenger replacements. But it has to be remember he was one Steven Gerrard slip away from winning the title with Liverpool.

He has since gone to Celtic to rebuild his career.

Whilst any success in Scotland with Celtic is nothing to shout abut, his methods and experience would be suited to Arsenal. The biggest problem is the supporters. His appointment would fail to unify the fan-base following the intense and often angry debate that has surrounded Wenger.

Mikel Arteta – Currently working as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and, while he has no managerial experience and would represent a gamble, he is well regarded at Arsenal following five years there as a player, including two as club captain, between 2011 and 2016. He is well known to Raul Sanllehi, Arsenal’s new head of football relations, as well as to Gazidis.

Roberto Martinez – I thought Martinez’s name would no longer appear on lists involving “next Arsenal manager” after he was sacked by Everton, but he needs to be added back on. Not because of himself, but because of who he might bring in as an assistant.

Currently managing the Belgium national team, Martinez was joined in the set up by Arsenal Club record-scorer Thierry Henry, who saw working with Martinez as an opportunity to gain experience.

Henry returning would unite the fans. The only issue is having said that being managing Arsenal  would be a potential “dream” job , would he really give up that comfortable, warm, 2 days a week job with SkySports, for a similar paid job as Martinez’s assistant at Arsenal?

No Henry, no Martinez.

Keenos

Possible candidates to take over Arsenal NOW

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It is bloody cold.

Yesterday on the SheWore Facebook Page I posed a simple question which got an incredible response, more than expected, with everyone giving the same answer. YES.

Would you be happy if Arsene Wenger left now, even if it meant a caretaker coming in ala Stewart Houston 1995? Even if it means we are then less likely to be successful in Europe as in 1995?

The ECWC defeat to Real Zaragoza in 1995 was the first time I cried due to football. I was 10 years old. My football conscious had materialised 2 years earlier in 1993 as an 8 year old with the domestic cup double. My love for Arsenal reinforced with the 1994 final – the first time I had ever been allowed to stay up late to watch football.

Coming from a poor family, we had no SkySports, so the cups were the only thing I took any notice for in the early 90s. I had only ever known success, up until that moment in 1995 when Nayim scored from the half way line.

Whilst Arsenal did not have much of a choice to dismiss George Graham, I still look back at that season 23 years with questions of what if?

Ultimately, If George Graham was still at the club, would we have won that final? You can never say for 100%, but George Graham was superior to Houston, and we certainly would have had a better chance of winning the game.

Fast forward 23 years, and Arsenal have a similar choice to make management.

Should the club move Arsene Wenger aside now, even if it means damaging our chances of winning the Europa League?

First, the elephant in the room. Many to my post declared that letting Wenger leave will not damage our Europa League chances. And that every day Wenger stays at Arsenal, the club dies a little more. And we are not going to beat AC Milan with Wenger in charge.

Valid opinions.

Back in 1995, Stewart Houston came in for George Graham. If something similar happened now, would you trust Steve Bould to step up? Is he not just a “Wenger yes man”?

Back in 1993, we had strong characters, like Tony Adams, Steve Bould himself, Martin Keown, Ian Wright, Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. Do we have such characters now who could lead the club to success even without a proper leader?

Back when Chelsea won the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo, they had the likesw of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. We simply do not have that type of characters.

I think Steve Bould would be a failure.

There has also been talk about Thierry Henry coming in. This comes off the back of his comments on Sky Sports that anyone would love to coach Arsenal. This was however not him declaring he wants the job.

Firstly he has his job with Belgium. He is assistant manager to Roberto Martinez. Belgium are amongst the favourites to win the World Cup.

Then he also has his Sky contract. It is easy, sitting in the studio a couple of times a week, picking up a few million quid.

He has no coaching credentials to speak of and would be a big risk, like when Ryan Giggs came in at Manchester United or Alan Shearer at Newcastle. A poor spell could put him out the running for the job when he decides to be a manager full time.

According to Grande Vegas Online Slots, if Arsenal go for the caretaker option, they will probably have to look outside the club.

Carlo Ancelotti is the name which jumps straight out. He has the experience and know-how that he would probably lead us to success. He would possibly see taking the role as an on the job interview for full time Arsenal manager.

Ancelotti seems to have fallen out of favour since his dismissal by Bayern Munich. A strong end of the season as Arsenal caretaker boss and he might become favourite for the role.

Another who might see the caretaker role as a way back into the game is Laurent Blanc.

The Frenchman has been away from football since leaving PSG 18 months ago with 22 million euros in his pocket.

One who can be ruled out is Thomas Tuchel. New Arsenal head of recruitment Sven Mislintat cited a training ground ban under Thomas Tuchel as the main reason he left Borussia Dortmund.

There are 3 men with Premier League experience who would more than happily sign a 4 month contract to manager Arsenal. Marco Silva, Frank de Boer and Slaven Bilic. They would not be long term options for the role (even though the later two were on many peoples short list at some point). But are surely better than Steve Bould?

A final option could be former academy manager Andries Jonker.

The Dutchman left Arsenal to take up the managerial reigns at VfL Wolfsburg. Were he still at the club, you would probably put him ahead of Steve Bould to come in a take the reigns. He did a similar role for Bayern Munich back in 2011.

He is a man who knows the club, knows the players, and would also likely bring Freddie Ljungberg into the fold.

What is for certain is that if Arsenal and Arsene were to part ways today, there are more options out there than just Steve Bould.

Stay warm.

Keenos