Hitzlsperger is a midfielder.

I don't think he's any better than Denilson tbh... Having him as a reserve also would serve no purpose other than to waste our already limited funds. We have Song, Diaby, Lansbury, Randall and lets not forget Ramsey.

Better save the money...

That's a good one.

He used to play in EPL rite, i dun think he's goodenuf

Capitalism killing football

Submitted by Freedom on Mar 10 2006

This was written 3 seasons ago...note that wht he predicted on Newcastle came through

To bring football to our mouth...the working class fans there suffered the consequences...


Richard Griffin analyses the decline of top-flight English football, its causes, and potential solutions.

Empty seats are appearing at Premiership games. So far this season attendances are down by 6%. There are a variety of reasons for this – high ticket prices, boring, predictable games, a lack of competition and a feeling that clubs don’t care about their fans. The decline follows over a decade of growth.

The top flight of English football is now dominated by just five clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Man Utd and Liverpool. They dominate financially: last season for example Arsenal received £32.8 million from television contracts. In contrast, Wolves got £13 million. There is, no doubt, a link between the money these clubs received and the fact that Arsenal won the Premiership and Wolves were relegated and are now struggling in the Championship.

These top five therefore also dominate in terms of success on the pitch. Each year the same handful of English clubs get into the lucrative European Champions League with its tens of millions of pounds of TV and prize money. The Premiership is in danger of becoming like the Scottish Premier League where Celtic and Rangers take turns each season to win the league and Scottish Cup. There are also signs, as Newcastle struggle, that the big five could soon become just four or even three (Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal).

One of the few observations Karl Marx made about industry which turned out to be correct was that under capitalism the drive for money and profit leads to monopoly. This certainly seems to be being borne out in football! (See Marx’s essay ‘Over-accumulation, abstract surplus value and the rising tendency of Henri to score goals’).

Particular clubs dominating a division is nothing new of course but in the past there were far more opportunities for other teams to make a mark on the league. Between 1982 and 1984 for example Liverpool won the then Division 1 title three years in a row, but Ipswich, Watford and Southampton came second in each of those years. The idea of, say Bolton or Portsmouth challenging the big five for a top spot and a place in the Champions League hardly seems realistic these days. Check the odds you’ll get from bookies for any team outside the big five winning the Premiership.
Lack of competitiveness is only one reason why fans have begun to turn their back on live football though. Another is the price of tickets. Recently a Man City fan who had watched his team play home and away consecutively for over 340 games decided the £45 Birmingham City were charging away fans was just too much even for him. High ticket prices have already driven the poor away from many grounds. While about a half of the crowd at games are skilled or unskilled manual workers, 39% come from social classes A and B. Only one in ten are from the lowest social classes. Football, once the preserve of the working classes, is rapidly becoming a middle class sport at least in the top division.

High ticket prices are partly needed to fuel the massive salaries of top footballers. This year the top five clubs alone will spend £40 million on wages. Since 1994 wages have risen by 550% - 150% more than revenue. No wonder then that so many clubs are in debt - Man City for example owe £62 million. The average wage of a Premiership player last year was £600,000. In League 3 it was £42,000.

Research shows that many families no longer follow Premiership clubs because of the cost and availability of tickets. One of the things that binds a club to its community and creates a collective feeling at grounds is family support. Four generations of my family have and continue to follow our local team. If we supported Chelsea (god forbid), the nearest Premiership team to us, a season ticket would cost us £780 each, considerably more than the £360 we currently pay – not that that isn’t a lot.

Many supporters while loving their club often to the point of stupidity are increasingly feeling that their support does not really matter; that they are not valued by their club, worse that they are being exploited through high ticket prices, rip-off food and drink and merchandise. There is only so much even the most loyal fan will take. A few years ago fans felt that they had to wear the latest club shirt. This is no longer the case. Rather than paying £50 a season for a new shirt fans are happy to turn up with older tops. In a small way this is an example of fans fighting back.

There are signs that the problems the Premiership is experiencing are spreading to other divisions. My own team, Reading FC, play in what is now ridiculously called the Coca Cola Championship. Last season we were in plain old Nationwide Division 1. While I am happy with Reading being elevated to the Championship from boring old Division 1, which by the way before the Premiership was created was actually Division 2, as an anarchist I was much happier with sponsorship from a mutual building society than a multi national capitalist organisation whose adverts now flood the ground! If I want to buy a soft drinks at the ground now I can only buy Coke owned ones.

At least in the Championship the financial benefits of sponsorship are spread evenly between clubs with Rotherham getting as much as West Ham. However economic reality means that the teams that are doing well, like Wigan and Ipswich, are the ones who have been able to invest most in players. As in the Premiership a gap is developing between the rich and poor of the Championship. Ticket prices have crept up in recent seasons, well ahead of inflation.

On Boxing Day, because Sky wanted to televise three matches during the bank holiday, Reading’s game against Watford kicked off at the unearthly time of11am! Fans of both clubs were understandably pissed off by this: no one wants to get up early the day after Christmas. In fact when Reading scored their first of three goals their fans chanted “You should have stayed in bed!“, at the Watford supporters. The kick off time wasn’t for the convenience of the fans though but the television – and of course club who got £60,000 from Sky. The previous week our home tie against QPR kicked off at 12.45am because of Sky and on January 3 at 5.30 again for Sky. Commercial interests take precedent over the interests of fans.

Over Christmas Plymouth signed Scott Taylor from Blackpool. The deal is only worthy of mention because it broke the club’s previous record for a transfer. Taylor signed for £100,000. At the same time Newcastle bought Jean-Alain Boumsong from Rangers. The fee? £8,000,000. If the gap between the rich and poor within leagues is prominent then the gap between leagues is even greater.

It is too early to tell whether the decline in match attendances (which is also mirrored by a decline in people watching Match of the Day) in the Premiership is a temporary blip or the start of a longer trend. It is undeniable however that more people overall are watching live football now than at any time in the 1970s and 1980s.
Outside the Premiership gates are actually on the up. One female Orient fan last season said “I think the Premiership is impersonal. When we go to Orient it’s not us and them. We’ve got to know the people around us”. The non league Conference has seen a massive increase in attendance – perhaps fans feel more connected with their club at this level.

One of the great success stories of recent seasons has been the rise of AFC Wimbledon. Sickened by the decision in 2002 of a group of businessmen to move Wimbledon out of London to Milton Keynes, Dons fans clubbed together and created in just six weeks their own team, reclaiming Wimbledon for its supporters. The club’s motto is ‘By the fans, for the fans’. The Dons New Year’s Day home match this season saw over 3,000 people paying to watch the game. The non league team have been getting attendances to rival MK Dons (called Franchise FC by all other fans), the team created in Milton Keynes.

‘The Game That Eat Itself’ was the title of a recent piece in The Observer about the decline in Premier League gates. Football has become big business and like any capitalist venture it aims to make as much money out of its customers as it can. Football fans have been ripped off for years. There are signs that they have had enough and are beginning to vote with their feet.


This post has been edited by slcroy: Jun 16 2009, 11:09 PM

aih.. so long and winded.

no news about vermaelen? hitspelger?

is this an arsenal thread or business football thread?

slcroy - pls open a new thread about business football and keep arsenal thread more towards the club and not business.. Your post is always the longest one. swt.

Ajax & Belgium Star Close To Arsenal Transfer - Gallas To Join AC Milan or Juventus?
Submitted by Alan James on Wed, 2009-06-10 22:33. Arsenal Premiership Transfer News

Arsenal are closing in on the signature of Ajax centre-half Thomas Vermaelen, with a fee of £10 million thought to have already been agreed between the two clubs, and Vermaelen's personal terms thought to be the final details to be resolved on a four-year contract.

Vermaelen spoke recently of his determination to make the move to the Emirates Stadium, saying: "Moving to Arsenal is the right path for me. It is a great sporting challenge and I will also be financially better off. I think everything is going to be OK. In the coming days there will be more talks."

Robin van Persie, Arsenal’s Dutch striker, has expressed his satisfaction with the Gooners’ attempt to bring the 23 year-old Ajax stopper - who has been a regular in the Belgium national side since his debut in 2006 - to north London, saying he is precisely the type of versatile player that Arsenal requires.

"It's a good thing," van Persie said. "There's nothing wrong with the qualities of Vermaelen. He can play as a left-back or a central defender and we need this type of player. The guys that we now have on those positions are already somewhat older.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s pursuit of Vermaelen, alongside consistent speculation that he is preparing a bid for Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland has generated rumours about the futures of Kolo Toure and William Gallas.

AC Milan and Juventus are both thought to be interested in Gallas, who could be allowed to leave the Emirates for a fee of around £4 million.


Arsenal's Toure To Man City – Ajax's Vermaelen To The Emirates?
Submitted by Alan James on Fri, 2009-06-12 16:57. Manchester City, Arsenal Premiership Transfer News

Arsenal centre-back Kolo Toure is thought to be contemplating a move to Manchester City after reports linking the Côte d'Ivoire international with a switch to the northwest club.

There have been consistent rumours recently concerning Toure’s future at Arsenal, but with the north London club concentrating on strengthening their defensive cover during the transfer window, any move for Toure would come at considerable cost for City.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would be unwilling to lose possibly his most consistent central defender, unless he is certain to have a proven replacement lined up.

Ajax centre-back Thomas Vermaelen could be just such a replacement. The 23 year-old Belgian defender has been linked with a £10m move to Arsenal, and could provide the cover should Toure leave.

The Daily Star is reporting that the Côte d'Ivoire international is '50-50' about whether he will remain at the Emirates or accept a move to City, who are in the process of building a top-four challenging squad with the lavish funding of Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group.

It is thought that Toure may welcome the challenge of a new club; he reportedly handed in a transfer request in January, which was turned down by Arsenal. Although the request was later withdrawn, Toure is thought to have only committed himself until the end of the season, and now with the chance of a lucrative new contract at the City of Manchester Stadium his Arsenal days could be numbered.

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Added on June 17, 2009, 12:38 amsure...no probs tht's all i wanna share at the moment.

This post has been edited by slcroy: Jun 17 2009, 12:38 AM

Francesc Fabregas Reveals Arsenal Frustrations
The Arsenal skipper is disillusioned with trophy-less runs...



Emmanuel Eboue Could Leave Arsenal For First-Team Football
The Ivorian international is unlikely to tolerate another season watching on from the bench...



Arsenal Want Stuttgart Midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger - Report
The German international could be set to return to the Premier League...



Thomas Vermaelen Will Leave Ajax For Arsenal - Agent
The Belgium international defender's representative is confident he will secure a move to the Gunners this summer...



Bacary Sagna Asserts That He Won't Leave Arsenal
The defender has refuted the reports in the French media linking him with a move to Spain...



Cesc Fabregas And Santi Cazorla Injured During Spanish Training
The pair could miss the game with Iraq tomorrow...



Hiddink Joins Arsenal Star Arshavin In Russian Women Support
Andrey Arshavin has joined Guus Hiddink in a pledge to support Russia's female national team...



Source: http://goal.com/en/teams/england/94/arsenal-news

Why y y evryone keep telling we beeter off without eboue?
Are u all really watching Arsenal or just following the masses?
Eboue better than Walcott. Its a FACT. Its in statistic and cannot be denied.
In fact when Eboue play right wing, he connect better with Sagna.
Plus, he can cross, have some real footballing skill not like some immature looking 20-years-old-who-have-only-pace-and-nothing-else.
You all know Walcott cant cross, cant dribble, always run too fast till lose control of the ball.
And you all always defend him with "he still young', he needs more time" etc etc crap.
Poeple keep comparing to Henry, on how he was like that too in his first season with us but Henry already have the skill, balance and vision.
Just because he's an English, doesnt mean he's a world beater. Just like how evryone keep saying Rooney is world class striker, best ever young player, best striker ever, just because he's and English. (And he never score beyond 20 goals a season, world class my ass. Even Bedntner score 15 goals this season by playing sub)
Dont believe the hype of english media. DOnt Do not. No no no.
Its a well known fact at England that, along with Berbatov, Walcott is the biggest myth ever.

Personally I like Adebayor to leave and give the role to Bedtner. Trust me that lad is massive.
He only need more screen time. Right now we only need some defence cover and 1 defensive midfield cover for Alex Song.

If we can keep our injury list to minimum, I wont say we won the league, but we surely can mantain our challenge to the title.

No need for Yaya Toure, he too slow anyway.
No need for Huntelaar, we have Eduardo back next season.
No need for Benzema, Aguero, Eto'o, Ribery crap.
If you suggest even 1 of them, you sure dont know Mr Wenger or Arsenal FC in general.
You dont know what kind of player he like or buy.

We have no need for expensive or star player.
We are Arsenal.
We have Arsene Wenger,

Arsene knows.

Yaya Toure and Huntelaar can be argued, and I give you the benefit of the doubt.

But Benzema, Aguero, Eto'o and Ribery crap? Assuming price is not a factor these are some of the traits that Wenger looks for when signing players: -

1) Youth - All the right age except maybe Eto'o
2) Pace - Check, Check, Check and Check
3) Skill - Again all check
4) For striker, not the typical poacher - Yep
5) For midfielder, versatile and can play anywhere across the park - Yep
6) Midfielder with an eye for goal - Check

It also doesn't help your case that Eto'o and Ribery has long been on Arsene's radar if not for their price tag.

So what kind of player does Mr. Wenger or Arsenal FC likes to sign?... In general...? Do enlighten.

Arsenal need a world class defender, their defend is too shaky. Mayb some defendsive midfield.
Please get rid off slyvester......he too old n his performance is not good.

Arsenal attack and midfield is doing fine.

We will have rosicky back next season. (hope he stay fits)

Price IS teh factor.
Arshavin is just one of minor case. Like Wiltord and Reyes (where is this guy play now?).
We have too many midfielder anyway (assuming Rosicky fit... hopefully) and almost all of them is a creative type (Denilson included, he was groomed to be Fabregas stand-in)
Wenger will not pay over 20m.
He will buy some African or South American or French unknown or little known based on previous summer transfer.
And Always remember foolish ones, Money IS ALWAYS the factor for every transfer we deal.

we not buying stars, we MAKE them.

i like this shite man...

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Added on June 17, 2009, 1:23 pmspot on...the ajax lad dunno will turn out to be another vidic or not i dunno but i damn hope so

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Added on June 17, 2009, 1:26 pmi would say ribery and eto'o...if not arshavin...

imagine if they dun come expensive, and they declare they wanna join arsenal...i think wenger wont come here already...hahaha

frankly skill wise...when ribery come in for france 2nd half...u can feel the difference...

This post has been edited by slcroy: Jun 17 2009, 01:26 PM

I'm staying back for lunch, so there are some spare time replying now

Back to the commercialized football that Roy had pointed out before. I share the opinion that this topic should be discussed outside the thread to gain more inputs from other fans as well; but it's okay for me to have general discussion among Arsenal fans first before engaging to the larger crowd - Roy, maybe you should create a new thread under Football Lounge subforum after this

Actually, not only football but other stuffs as well, are experiencing "globalization". Whatever with audience = $$$ There's simply no place for passion "alone".

This happens in free world. Governing bodies like FIFA and UEFA can't do much about it because the top clubs are the pillars to them; while the sponsors are the pillars to these clubs Indirectly, FIFA and UEFA are relying on the sponsors.

The influencing powers are not fairly distributed among the clubs. IF not, FIFA and UEFA would have higher authority to implement and carry out rules and regulations. Yes, Roy is right, it's just like in F1 where even FIA has to be "concerned" about Ferrari quitting. Already being held up to the neck, FIFA/UEFA representatives like Platini and Blatter as if have nothing better to do; always come out with ridiculous remarks!

Players' values are determined by how much they are "sold" and how much they are earning per week. Well, these values do partly justify their values but these are just too fragile if you ask me. For me, being consistently above average and being a good role model are two very important criteria to be a great players - on and off the field.

I agree that CR is a good player with consistent good performance but his on-and-off the field antics irritate me. I even have friends who are MU fans feel the same. Anyway, it's a good news to most in EPL.

I also like to share the opinion pointed out by Roy's article. The price to be a ordinary fans is getting higher ! It's not whether we can afford it or not but it's more on whether it justifies the price. Being a England fans feel worse cos they are closer to the stadium and the influence to watch the game live is much higher - no matter how much the ticket is.

~ Damn, I'm off the track already for being multi-tasking (with two screen in front) ~

Then you should have said it in your original post. Your sentence was a bit misleading when you say "If you suggest even 1 of them, you sure dont know Mr Wenger or Arsenal FC in general. You dont know what kind of player he like or buy".

I'm sure that Arsene likes these players because his signings are always young, skillful and pacey and these guys fit the description... Its just that we don't have the money! Its like what Arshavin's agent said... "I like the look of Angelina Jolie, but that doesn't mean I can get her" (or something along the lines)

my response are....

Darren Bent - 17m (90 000/week)
Gareth Barry - 100 000/week
Nani - 17m
Glen Johnson - 17m/19m


LOL

Well...glad u share the view on the other side of football tht's slowly dominating football as a sport...i might as well have a thread outside of Arsenal...but I am nobody and it seems that the fans of every clubs in Football Lounge look up to moderators...Kim Hoong, if you support to have these kinda "not-so-pretty-truth" football stuff to be posted as another form of knowledge, u open one of behalf for others to debate the issues...

I need u reason being i want more people to acknowledge it. it's part of football as well. if i do it, i know no one may want to be bother to even look at it. let's admit there are also power sharing hierarchy in every forum...where followers "mostly agree on moderator's view".

With this new thread i also encourage fans to write their news and views on football...like football columnist ie. steve mcmahon n gang. we are lacking this and it seemed to me personal attacking is not the way (although i did it also to other fans and fellow gooners, sorry man)...post ur article to the new thread...

there r so many potential writers here... dont let ur views all go to waste. support the cause for changing the views and opinion on football...voice out...

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Added on June 17, 2009, 4:07 pmscary eh?

1. bcoz he look like will smith?
2. ok ok la...got cover every blade of grass.
3. somersault and other football antics fees.
4. i think it's the hairstyle.

This post has been edited by slcroy: Jun 17 2009, 04:07 PM

Arsenal Readying Bid For Fiorentina's Felipe Melo – Report
The Gunners are prepared to pay €17.7 million for the Brazil international midfielder...

Premier League giants Arsenal are putting together a new package in the hope of luring Fiorentina's Felipe Melo during the close-season, according to a report in the British tabloid The Daily Mail.

Apparently, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has been keeping tabs on the 25-year-old for the past three years.

Having represented Brazilian clubs Flamengo, Cruzeiro and Gremio, the combative midfielder moved to Spain, first with Real Mallorca, then Racing Santander and Almeria.

His impressive displays seemed to have caught they eye of the French tactician, but it was the Viola who moved to snap him up for €8 million (£6.7m) last summer.

Since then, the 6ft star has won five caps for Brazil, scoring once, and has been linked with the likes of Milan, Inter and Real Madrid.

However, Arsenal are said to be willing to pay around €17.7m (£15m) to take Melo to the Emirates Stadium.

Source: http://goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2...ipe-melo-report

ribery very attacking minded right? that's why alot of clubs wants him...