Talk of Arsenal’s demise is unfounded

By Baba Grumpy 

Arsenal is in trouble. 

The club is finished.

The club is a shambles. Even Aaron Ramsey confirmed it!

The club is poorly run.

Arsene Wenger is finished.

Arsenal is a banter club (what exactly does this mean?)

All the players are deserting the club.

Training routines no longer exist.

Wenger Out. Kroenke Out. Gazidis Out. Bould Out. Everybody Out.

It is all Wenger’s fault. He runs everything in the Club.

Gazidis should fire Wenger (struggling with this one as Wenger runs everything in the club).

I am struggling to find something original to say this morning except the fact that all commentators including myself are talking, writing, postulating based on hot air. Nobody has details of what is going on.

Even those who are somewhat knowledgeable are only privy to a small snippet. Ramsey almost thumped Koscielny & laid into Alexis they said. Has that been happening for ages? Was ‘laying into’ the culture of a dressing room who have been encouraged to be transparently open and forthright with one another or is it evidence of a meltdown and breakdown in relationships?

Anybody apart from the manager and a majority of the players who tell you this confrontation is evidence of one thing or the other is not only a liar, they are fraudulent as well and are seeking to deceive people.

Commentators are constantly looking for the nearest molehill to turn into a mountain and those who hang on to their every word are willing to roll off the cliff in hysteria with the slightest of motivational push. When the super fans, uber bloggers, media pundits & low IQ former players say: JUMP, the sheeply fans go: HOW HIGH.

What exactly do they say is wrong with Arsenal? What are the symptoms?

Is there a problem with the legal department not vetting agreements properly? Not seen any.

Are there issues with logistics? Hotel accommodation, transport between venues etc.? Nothing wrong there that we have heard of.

Is HMRC investigating Arsenal for not paying its taxes, national insurance etc. Has Arsenal been sighted for breaking any government regulations, corporate governance practices? None that I am aware of.

Are any young / academy players’ parents complaining about safeguarding issues? Not at all.

Are there financial problems? The club scrambling around to pay salaries? None that I know of.

Are there disagreements at Board level? The media have speculated on this. Ivan Gazidis said in April that poor results and fan revolts last season will be a catalyst for change or ensure that Arsene Wenger is a catalyst for change.

What he exactly meant nobody knows because none of speculators are mind readers. They read everything they wanted into his remarks and are sadly disappointed that Ivan Gazidis hasn’t made their wish come through.

This link gives a summary of Ivan Gazidis’ recent meeting with Arsenal fans – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/30/arsenal-ivan-gazidis-change-arsene-wenger

In this link, Gazidis seems to be saying that the changes are evident in the backroom – new contract negotiator, new fitness guru and Jens Lehmann.

The evidence of the change stares you in the face. Arsenal were ready to sanction the departure of 2 players who have barely stayed a year at the Club. They were ready to keep 3 players whose contracts were going to run down within 12 months at a possible opportunity cost of £150m between them. They critically reviewed the position of the manager before renewing his contract. 2 players were brought in early in key areas where we needed reinforcements and both had active parts in pre season.

Wenger loves Giroud and it appears the love is mutual and still he opened the door for him to go. A large number of young players were let go and many promoted into the periphery of the senior squad.

I see change where you see nothing.

If the Board didn’t want Wenger, how come the same board gave him a contract? People talk about the influence of Kroenke. While I understand Gazidis not walking away as he is an employee, why have the other board members not walked away when this ‘bad’ Kroenke arm-twisted them in renewing Wenger’s contract?

Difference of opinion at Board level is a healthy thing as long as some are not trying to undermine the position of others which is what I believe is happening behind the scene at the moment.

I noticed a sly post by David Ornstein who appears well briefed by the Arsenal hierarchy.  He was using the Calum Chambers situation to negatively highlight a change of mind by Arsene. Clearly Executive management is most likely briefing David Ornstein.

With all respect, I don’t think Mr. Gazidis is happy with the situation at Arsenal. I believe he is the only football CEO in this peculiar situation where the manager retains significant soft power in the club. And now with Josh Kroenke (Stan’s son) increasingly becoming more influential in the affairs of the club, Stan is in for a harder / more challenging time and appears to be trying to cement his own position. While I understand human nature, I don’t think he has gone about things in the right way.

The decision to appoint a director of football was an attempt to whittle down Arsene’s power. And It failed miserably. The role of the DOF is currently distributed amongst a number of people with Arsene having the final say on football matters and Gazidis having executive overview of  the decision making process while the board ultimately backs the decision with funds & support. Nothing was wrong with that format, seeking to change it was needless and divisive and has contributed to all the nonsense talk about Arsenal.

Based on our knowledge of Arsene, it is conceivable that he has stood firmly as a praetorian guard making sure there are no untoward ethical or transfer issues as we see elsewhere. Perhaps Arsene is preventing many from earning free money. These ethical stance has its repercussions and that’s potentially why many are pillorying Arsene in the public place.

Ex players who are not allowed to turn the club into a circus are vociferous on air and on social media in their baseless and negative comments about Arsene. Tony Pulis & Sam Allardyce are managers of the year material but Arsene is finished. Mauricio Pocchetino is the world’s greatest manager but Arsene is rubbish. Pep Guardiola will get it right in Season 3 after inhering a £1 billion toy project and spending £500m more. Mourinho has won the league after 3 matches. Jose has only gone and spend £2 billion to achieve this feat.

The FA Cup is not the biggest trophy any team in England can win but it is still a fantastic trophy to win. My 3-cup winning experience over the last 4 years will remain with me. My abiding memory of the joy Arsenal gives to me. Irrefutable evidence that Arsene is not finished and the club is not in disarray. After all when Pogba FC won it recently, it was a big trophy but when Arsenal and Arsene win it, it is nothing.

Beware Arsenal fans. Top 4 was nothing until Liverpool won it. It is now a trophy. Even Liverpool fans are proud of it. Whereas Arsenal fans disdain it.

Just wait till Klopp or Pochettino win the FA Cup. All the glory of that competition will return. Either of them might go on to be joint winners of the manager of the season award for getting to the final of the FA Cup let alone winning it.

The Arsene that is rubbish and has finished has defeated Tottenringham, Manchester United, Manchester City & Chelsea in winning its 3 FA Cups in last 3 years. Funny enough, it defeated Aston Villa too. That relegated team that comprehensively wiped the floor with Liverpool. The Scousers should thank Aston Villa from protecting them from an embarrassing thumping at Wembley on Slippy Gerrard’s birthday. But they are never grateful I know.

Arsene’s team are 3rd on the composite premier league table over the last 2 seasons but he is rubbish. Yes he hasn’t won the premier league for 14 seasons but Liverpool haven’t won it for 28 years. But Liverpool have fired many managers in that time, yes and the latest one is worse than Brendan Rodgers. How can any manager who engenders the best hope of an historic club like Liverpool be worse than Brendan? How?

But contracts have been allowed to run down says many who think that handing out £15m 3-year contracts are like handing out sweets.

There was no way any sane person will hand out a contract renewal to Oxlade Chamberlain until he started showing what he was about week in week out towards the end of last season.

The club publicly wanted to renew Ozil & Alexis contract at the start of last season until the idiots who only think of their ego and pockets intervened and ensured the club went into a negativity spiral. Ozil & Alexis stalled on renewal and here we are but the club is to blame. No blame to the doom mongers, the bed – sheet protesters and the sheeply fan who failed miserably in their quest to get Arsene out and will continue to fail.

Pep Guardiola was embarrassed many times last season and same thing as started this season. He is no changing how he sets out his team. But Arsene should change his because Billy Blue Balls says so.

Despite their collective abject failure, Pep, Klopp & Pochettino are not finished. I actually think Pep will never win the Premier League but that doesn’t mean he is finished. But the manager who dumped him out of the FA Cup and ended the season 2 points behind him is rubbished.

How does that work? Where is the logic?

My advice to many who support the Arsenal is to please elevate your mind. Free your soul. Use some of your god given power of reason and stop letting agenda driven individuals think for you.

Baba Grumpy works in financial services in the United Kingdom. He blogs mostly about football at http://babagrumpy.blogspot.co.uk. His Twitter handle is @BabaGrumpy