Nah - I don't like grapes. I don't support Barnet, just stating that I got my son a season ticket there because he supports them more than Arsenal - which I find refreshing, it reminds of my first days at Arsenal that he'll never have the chance to have. I'm glad he's so into supporting a lower league club and he's passionate, he's unlikely to ever see them win anything or play brilliant football, but he doesn't care because he loves the Bees. £18 can sit where he likes and it's a great place for kids - unlike the Premiership these days. Like how football used to be and how I remember when I started going. Don’t think City have any bearing on Barnet, or the lower divisions, at all.
I've always like City, especially for sitting in the shadows of United. But to me, it's a bit of a Chelsea thing, and let's be frank - who really respects the likes of Chelsea for their achievements? And I don't see how City is different. I'm not knocking that you must be keen to win things and play great football - but I believe it can be done a different way, I think Arsenal have proved this on some levels.
As for Arsenal and new ground and blah, blah - you're correct, we built and moved to a bigger ground to compete with the likes of Chelsea and United, bigger ticket sales and so forth. Yes it's called Emirates, yes sponsorship is involved but quite clearly there's a difference, because the ground has crippled Arsenal and we're still trying to pay for it. Why do you think Wenger does not really buy? There's not the money there too. It's played down by the board big time, but it's a major strain on Arsenal as a club. Although I’m not entirely sure Wenger would still spend big like City has, even if the cash was there. There’s got to be an element of ethically doing things differently that you surely can’t deny, when you refer to the young players that Arsene has proved can be nurtured into world class players, without spending big, big, big?!
I’m hardly holier-than-thou, but on the football front there’s no denying the difference in spending on players at Arsenal in relation to Chelsea, United, Tottenham, and now City and at the end of the day it’s the football that it’s all about come kick off, and we’re not the same as any of you when the squad takes the field.
I'm not denying that football everywhere has changed, and sadly because of this I won't go to Emirates very much anymore because I can't stand what the Emirates has become. It’s not Highbury, it’s not the same kind of ‘fans’ that went week in and week out at Highbury. It's a disgrace, and I can tell you often the seats are empty (remember all the so called Arsenal fans streaming out the Emirates in the second leg of the semi against United last season?) - Especially when Arsenal is not competing, and it makes me mad. I went to many away games last year – it kicked the arse out of home games. The fans are much tighter, the hardcore, more fun, more like how it was at Highbury and exactly why I am an Arsenal fan – that sense of being part of something and making the long trips home when you had been battered away. Nearly all my friends I’ve gone to football with for the past 25 years have given up their season tickets. I find that sad. Arsenal typically has a five year waiting list for season tickets - this year I was offered over 20 to buy. This is a clear signal of the state of play at Emirates, however. That was totally unheard of a few years ago. A season ticket was gold dust. We've won nothing since we moved there, in some sick way I’m glad though. I'm hand on heart when I say my only saving grace at Arsenal is that we've not spent big but played good football. We chanced it on the stadium and we’ve struggled. I believe there is a different business ethic between Arsenal and the other big clubs, not entirely, as you have pointed out, but it’s there. For now.
Even as far back as the 90s Arsenal have refused to pay the obscene amount of wages that other clubs have, Ashley Cole being a prime example of Arsenal refusing to back down on a few grand even at the cost of losing a player. That appeals to me.
And the young bloods you refer too - well they're leaving us slowly, Col – again as you pointed out, to move to bigger and better clubs that win things (I believe Adebayor’s parting shot was that he went to City to er, win things?) - so if that happens to Arsenal, what hope do the smaller clubs in the Premiership have (I was not referring to lower divisions but the smaller clubs in Premiership) Clearly having sponsorship does not pay as well as having a rich owner, otherwise the ground would be paid for and we'd more proven world class players, instead of relying on young or unknown players.
I can't see how you can justify the fact that swooping into clubs and buying whoever you want and them having no choice but to sell to survive financially (or completely outbidding a smaller club within the premiership with unlimited wages for a player) is not going to have a significant effect on how those clubs compete within the Premiership?
I think it's a well known fact that Arsenal are not competing to a standard that is expected for a club that size, so where are these ‘rewards’ you talk of?. I'd rather finish 4th every year, than splash the cash and be a Chelsea or a City. It's inevitable however, with how these teams have set the standard that Arsenal will sell out completely eventually to compete with the big spending clubs.
And of course there will always be a seat for you at the Emirates – take your pick!
