Arsenal On the Spotlight As Ex-Gunners Share Their Opinions

Don't worry Le Prof, You've got the "job for life"

Silent Stan Kroenke has decided to visit the troubled shores of North London to reaffirm his support for Arsene Wenger and to also host a meeting with the rest of his chums in the Board. The meeting has been scheduled for Thursday and the recent shenanigans in the club are bound to be discussed as well as the club’s long-term plans and the imminent release of their half-yearly accounts.

Word on the street is that Arsene Wenger will be given a massive transfer kitty of £50m but the fans know that this is a familiar cliché they’ve been accustomed to. Enough about the off-the-pitch news, every headline has been published on the performances of the Gunners on it.

It’s unfortunate to know that the Gunners couldn’t mark the club’s 125th anniversary with any silverware of any sort but as the note on the insignia reads, the club has to move forward. In the wake of the club’s debacle, the media Vultures, bloggers and the fans alike have had their say and shared their own opinions. Some Ex-Gunners didn’t want to get left out of the party so I’ve decided to share some quotes from these Arsenal figureheads in response to the team’s shortcomings.

George Graham was a great player in his days and delved into management after he decided to hang his boots. He donned the Red and White for six years (1966-1972), amassing a total of 227 league appearances scoring 60 goals in the process. He was part of the Class of 70′ that won the League and Cup double as well as the Fairs Cup in the same year.

He managed Arsenal for nine years (1986-1995) and had an amazing haul of trophies which included two League titles (89′, 91′), one FA Cup (93′), two League Cups (87′, 93′), one FA Charity Shield (91′) and one UEFA Cup Winners Cup (94′).

Graham and Mr. Arsenal in 91'

Despite the fact that he has been watching this team play from the stands or on his TV set, Graham still holds Arsenal dear to his heart but he has reiterated that Arsenal failed to replace the players that left. He labelled Arsenal as a “crisis” outfit, a team that lacks leaders and the quality of the team hasn’t reached the standard of a team capable of winning the Premier League.

He spoke about the club’s trophy drought and was bewildered why Arsene Wenger hasn’t delved his hands into the transfer market to sign quality players. More interestingly, he was in the opinion that Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott should leave the club:

“For Van Persie, this will be his last big contract. He’ll be 29 when his contract finishes and he’s going to be looking for a four-year contract, maybe even five. You can’t expect Arsenal to pay that knowing that in his last two years he probably won’t be a regular in the team.”

“I would let Walcott go. He was a promising boy but his potential has never really been fulfilled. He has still got fabulous pace but he’s been there five years and I can’t see a great improvement.”

Emmanuel Petit recently chastised some deadwood in the club in the wake of the shambolic performance against AC Milan. In an audio interview with BBC Sport, Petit questioned the team’s weak mentality and he said that the Gunners play like a confused bunch. However, Petit gave the manager his backing.

Nigel Winterburn was part of the all-English fantastic back four that rocked the 90’s with scintillating performances alongside Lee Dixon, Steve Bould/Martin Keown and Mr. Arsenal, Tony Adams.

Winterburn has sadly stated that the season has gone completely wrong. He still believes that Arsene Wenger is the right man for the football club because he loves the way he plays his football and the way he sets out his teams. Like every other Arsenal fan, he’d like to see fresh blood injected into the squad and he believes that there are still some quality players in the team.

These ex-Gunners have spoken for many fans and only want the best for the club. There’s a long summer to look forward too but all attention has to be firmly fixed on the remaining Premier League fixtures of this disappointing season.

Funnily enough, even Samir Nasri had something to say in the wake of Arsenal’s recent demise in the FA Cup:

It’s time to focus on the Premier League and I hope the Gunners heed to Bacary Sagna’s call for ‘soul searching‘.

Sayonara.

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About enigma106

An Arsenal fan with a good sense of humor

Posted on February 21, 2012, in Arsenal, Football, Premier League and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.

  1. I propose a protest before the meeting. Let fans chant d name of usmanov so dat stan will knw dat we don’t like him. Maybe dat might prompt him to invest more on the field. I was disappointed when I heard how much he invested in his basketball team dis season, yet he doesn’t give a damn about AFC.

    • Many people would like Usmanov to get a high stake at the club but others are still skeptical about the billionaire.

      Many fear that he’ll be like Abramovich and co.
      Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

    • He owns Arsenal not to bring his own money since Arsenal is self sustaining. They don’t want mega money and this is a good thing for the future. We spend so much time looking at today but Arsenal is a club that positions itself for the future. We are winners. Others won trophy but we have won a financial position that will see us through in the next twenty years. Look at what happened to Rangers. It is bound to happen to Man U, Man City, Liverpool and Spurs but for Arsenal that is our first trophy. The second is to qualify for champion’s league.

      • I can’t deny that our financial situation has been great but quality is needed at Arsenal. The squad’s 2nd tier is a bit appaling

        Wenger has to buy.
        Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

  2. I propose a protest before the meeting. Let fans chant d name of usmanov so dat stan will knw dat we don’t like him. Maybe dat might prompt him to invest more on the field. I was disappointed when I heard how much he invested in his basketball team dis season, yet he doesn’t give a damn about AFC

  3. This is not d 1st time wenger is being given a massive war chest and still nothing happens. For me, I tnk ds is just a media stunt to calm d fans and ensure d remaining arsenal games are not boycotted by fans. If wenger is being given 50m, in my opinion we can only get 3qty players with dat amt. We need to offload abt 6players and replace them with abt 4qty squad players. Ds means we need a total of abt 7signings in d summer. Who says it is wrong to dream?

    • Well its not wrong to dream but it’s Wenger we are talking about here.

      The Economist might not spend but he’s definitely under some pressure this time.

  4. Arsenal fans who stay in London should just mobilize each other even if possible today or very very soon and just start PROTESTING and DEMONSTRATING seriously,bitterly, effortlessly,sleeplessly and persistently in the streets of London an also at Arsenal’s headquarters in London and in the city of LONDON AT LARGE while singing and carrying banners written on strong words like ‘WENGER AND ARSENAL’S CURRENT BOARD MUST GO/RESIGN/BE SACKED NOW,WENGER AND ARSENAL’S CURRENT BOARD MUST RESIGN/GO/BE FIRED JUST NOW’ and they should do that despite the period it will take till Wenger and Arsenal’s board members either resign by themselves or are fired and replaced

    • Foreigners own the club and not the fans. Sorry mate, you should be real and stop being emotional. We all can blame the board and Arsène Wenger but what about the FA and all the wrong calls against Arsenal. Shouldn’t the fan protest against this? We have more wrong calls in the premier league. Harold Web gave Man U two cheap penalties against Chelsea and rob us a fantastic penalty against Sunderland. This happens every time and we keep blaming Arsène Wenger. The media is against him, the FA is scared of him, he works twice harder than any PL manager and yet we don’t give him the credit. The club has managed without a big spender. We have been the most successful English club in Europe and not Liverpool who won the trophy but have not been able to appear again. We have been consistent in the last 15 years. Our consistency contributed to English league having four slot. To me this is a trophy. I read and see beyond what the masses cry out for because I see a future in a great club with the greatest manager of all times.

      • Fine.

        Wenger is one of the all-time greats but people rate him on his team’s performances and it has been a bit shambolic in recent times.

        You can attest to the fact that a worthy replacement for Fabregas would have helped the team’s cause this season.

        We didn’t necessarily want the manager to spend 100000000000 on a player. The fans wanted an able replacement and Ramsey hasn’t been good enough.

        Our financial position is worth emulating but things haven’t gone down well. On the officiating decisions, we have had so many wrong calls but we aren’t the only team that suffers such.
        Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

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