Ivan Gazidis is due to take part in a Q&A session with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust this evening so it hardly takes a genius to work out the timing behind the release of his extensive interview with the club’s in-house PR/media team.
Knowing every outlet will gorge on his words before he tackles more inflammatory subject matter under scrutiny from supporters, it’s a savvy, if not utterly cynical attempt, to bury potential bad headlines before they’re even written.
What you’ll find below is the full transcript provided by Arsenal…
WARNING: If you’re looking for juicy gossip on RVP and new signings, you best look away now. The rest of it though makes for a ‘relatively’ interesting read.
On the 2011/12 season…
Ivan Gazidis said: It was a challenging season, we went through a lot of transition in the team with nine new players coming in. We really lost the creative hub of the team for different reasons, with Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere so that was a challenge for us going into the season. I think we were under intense pressure at times during the season but I felt that the team and the fans came together at critical times. We have ended the season in third place with guaranteed qualification for next season’s Champions League and that allows us to plan with certainty going into next year.
But none of this is cause for popping champagne corks at Arsenal. We want to win things. So while it is a creditable performance it is not achieving our ambition. What we have to work out this summer is how we can take the Club on and take a step forward. That is what we are working hard on at the moment.
Personal high point…
Ivan Gazidis said: I think for me the run of games that we had in February and March, particularly here at Emirates Stadium. I felt that under pressure at difficult times, our fans, players, team and club really came together. I felt at times like our new stadium really began to feel like our home. There was a tremendous unity that pulled us through those times and developed momentum which ultimately ended up carrying us across the line to the Champions League places, which earlier in the season we had been written off from. That to me was the highlight, the atmosphere at those games and the way our fans pushed us forward and came together.
On the supporters…
Ivan Gazidis said: Our away fans are magnificent, we have the best away support in the league. Everywhere we go we know we have their backing and that really does make a difference. To have it come together here in a similar kind of way at Emirates Stadium [is great]. It has happened in the past but I think the way it has happened week after week, you felt that this place was becoming a really difficult place for opposition teams to come. Even when we were down a goal with two minutes to go, you always felt like we could get there and our fans had that belief. That is something I would love for us to carry forward into next year.
On football ambitions for 2012/13…
Ivan Gazidis said: We want to win major competitions, we want to win the Premier League. We want to compete to win the Champions League and that is our ambition. That is what we are planning for during the course of the summer and everything we do is geared towards that, it is very simple.
Developments this summer…
Ivan Gazidis said: I think the good thing about this summer is that there is more certainty in terms of our Champions League position. We have acted early to get the critical signing in Lukas Podolski. Our fans will be able to see him compete at the Euros and see what a very good player he is. The great thing about Lukas is that not only can he contribute goals, but he can also play in different positions so you get tremendous versatility and Arsenal class. He is technically a top-class player and that was a good early addition for us.
I think the way that the window will pan out is with some activity before the Euros, particularly with respect to the European players who are playing, the quieter period while the Euros are actually taking place and then a period of activity afterwards. We always try and conduct our activity as early as we can, everybody wants to do that. But I would say an even bigger overriding priority is to make sure that we get the right pieces in place. We have a good squad which is very solid across all areas, we have developed a very solid British core of young players and this is the youngest squad in the Premier League. They are developing year on year.
Some of the players we have brought in, for example Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny at the back, are developing in the Premier League and I think this is a year for them to really step forward and show what they can do with some experience under their belts.
Then we have some experienced players who bring know-how into the team, players like Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos – those types of players who come in and add something a little bit different. The key for us is not the volume of signings we might make but that the signings we make add something to the squad. That is something Arsène thinks extremely carefully about and for all of the pressure he is placed under, he tends to make good decisions.
Robin van Persie…
Ivan Gazidis said: Robin sat down with us at the end of the season and we had a good discussion. What we agreed at that meeting was that we would keep all the discussions we had over the summer to ourselves and make announcements when it is the right time. We have to respect the fact we have agreed to keep that among ourselves. Robin is clearly focused on the Euros at the moment and we wish him well, and at the right time we will make the right announcements. But at the moment we are not saying anything.
Pat Rice…
Ivan Gazidis said: Pat has been with the Club for 44 years, and although he is retiring as our assistant manager, that association is not going to end. First of all he will be here as a fan but also I think we will find the right role for Pat within the Club so we can continue to draw on his expertise as a player and as a coach. Through all those years Pat Rice embodied Arsenal values, embodied Arsenal Football Club. It is a significant challenge for us to take what Pat has contributed and continue in that tradition. From everybody at the Club, and you can feel the affection that Pat has among everyone here, we thank him for everything and look forward to his contributions.
At the same time, we are bringing in Steve Bould and Neil Banfield. These are two people who have been with the Club and know the way it works, who understand the traditions and the values of the Club, and who will bring their own ideas to the table. Neither of them are wall flowers, so we have two new active participants in the first team set-up. Arsene is very excited about the contributions they will bring. So am I and I think so is every Arsenal fan. They are very progressive, very forward-looking and they understand Arsenal values; the way we play the game and what we represent.
A new chapter…
Ivan Gazidis said: I do think it is an opening of a new chapter, yes. Obviously we will miss Pat – there is too much to talk about in terms of the elements he brought to the table – but I think this is an opportunity to have some new ideas and fresh thinking. I think that will be healthy and I know that both Steve and Neil will bring new ideas and new thoughts to the table.
Commercial operations…
Ivan Gazidis said: One of the things we have to do as a club is become less reliant on our match day revenue. As a big club we are very reliant on the revenues we generate in the stadium, more so than any other big club. That has really been the impetus and catalyst for what we do globally and how we develop ourselves around the world. We take advantage of the fact we have fans all around the world and we can connect with them.
So you are seeing the Club go on international tours for the first time. That is a tremendous step forward and has been welcomed by our international fan base. Our partners are also welcoming that development. We are developing our commercial revenues and our commercial partnerships well ahead of our five-year plan. They are going very well and we are seeing renewal of major partnerships like Citroën. We are seeing new partners come in like Indesit or Betsson and most recently we have just announced Malta Guinness in Africa. So there are tremendous developments on the commercial front and that is important for the Club that we have partners who can help us to connect with fans all around the world, develop our commercial revenue streams and take some of the pressure off locally-generated revenues here in London. We are well on track in that.
Commercial activities to fund on-field activities…
Ivan Gazidis said: The reason we are doing all of this is to invest in what we have on the football side. We don’t take money out of the Club, all of it is reinvested and as we develop our commercial revenues all of that money goes back in onto the pitch and enables us to compete at higher levels. Arsenal Football Club has developed from one which certainly had a wonderful tradition and history, but we have an ambition to be one of the best clubs in the world. That is not an easy ambition to fulfil, particularly in a way that asserts your independence. We are not relying on anybody to do that for us, we are doing it on our own two feet and that is challenging.
But when you look at the steps this club has taken throughout its history, they have always been forward-looking. Where we are aiming to be is at the very top table of clubs in the world. That is a journey in which we are still on because we are not where we want to be yet. But we are making progress. The stadium is one tremendous representation of that and a major step forward. But the next major step forward is going to be driven by people in the Club and our ability to grow our commercial revenues so we can continue to compete with the very best clubs in the world for the best talent.
Looking ahead to Asia Tour…
Ivan Gazidis said: We had an incredible experience in Asia last year. It is difficult to convey the images of what the reality was. We had thousands and thousands of fans wherever we went, really passionate fans who love this club and know more about it than people right here in Islington. It was the most amazing experience for everybody associated with the Club; the players, backroom staff and all of us in the front office who had the fortune to be on that tour. I think it also brought all of us together, so it was a wonderful experience.
We are going back to play games in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing – Beijing on the opening of the London Olympics by the way, so there is an interesting tie in there – and then in Hong Kong. So this year’s tour is going to be even bigger and better than last year’s. We could not be more excited about going back out there and having the chance to reconnect with those fans and also having the kind of experiences we had which really pulled the team together in pre-season last year. I am sure it will have the same effect this year.
And Nigeria…
Ivan Gazidis said: This year because we don’t have an Emirates Cup tournament, we took advantage of that free weekend to go to Nigeria, which is a place where Arsenal has a tremendous following. We have really experienced that on the visits we have made out there this year. Of course we have Kanu too, who is a legend in Nigeria and has strong Arsenal connections. From the outset it was very clear we would get a fantastic reception in Nigeria. This is not something I see us doing every year going forward – a long weekend break – but this year we had the opportunity.
In future years we will go back to the Emirates Cup format right back here in Islington. We will be celebrating 100 years in Islington [in 2013] and it is important that we don’t lose that focus. We talk a lot about the global brand because it is is very important. We have spoken about the development of our commercial revenues and connecting with our fans around the world. All modern football clubs have to do that if they want to be successful. But the roots of this club are very much here in Islington. We have a new stadium which we were so proud to deliver in our own ancestral home and these are very important things for us. In future years we will be coming back to the Emirates Cup format where our fans will be able to see the new team unveiled in their home environment.
Working closely with Stan Kroenke…
Ivan Gazidis said: Stan Kroenke has been on the board for a number of years and has been working very closely, especially in the last year since he assumed majority ownership, with Arsène Wenger and with me. We have had his full support in everything we have wanted to do with the football club. We have had tremendous input from him along the way – bearing in mind he owns sports teams across all kinds of different sports and has years and years of experience. He is not just a successful businessman in his own right, but he is also a very experienced and knowledgable sports owner. That has been a fantastic asset for us to have on the board and now as a majority owner. He could not have been more supportive and his ambition is very simple – he wants this football club to win trophies. He has supported us every step of the way as we have tried to put the pieces in place to do that.
The Euros…
Ivan Gazidis said: I think it is going to be a very interesting Euros this year. We had the surprise selection of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. We think he is a tremendous talent and I really hope he gets the opportunity to show the world what he can do at the Euros. So that will be an interesting sub-plot to follow. We have players right across the tournament so we will be following it closely, not just to see if they get through in one piece or not, but also because I think this year’s tournament is very open. I think it is quite unpredictable with the way it will go and I hope as an Englishman that England can do well.
Message for fans…
Ivan Gazidis said: I would like to thank the supporters. This at times has been a really challenging season. This football club was placed under terrific pressure at times and I think, for a different club, there would have been the possibility that we would begin to fall apart, panic and make decisions that would have been bad. That is not what happened.
When we had our most difficult times this football club came together. The supporters, the team, the front office staff, the back office staff – they all came together. It was that strength and that unity that managed to pull our season back on track this year. My message to our fans is that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that Arsenal can challenge for trophies next year. That is what this summer is about and that is what we are focused on for next year. We have a good team, we have a good young core of players and we need everybody involved to have belief so that we can push forward into next year and make a run at the Premier League trophy and for the Champions League. We believe we can do that.
Albert Einstein:
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Einstein didn’t say it was to cheat people into buying expensive season tickets…
Some common sense will do all of you a load of good…. 1) If you’re ‘cheated’ once or twice then it’s understandable but you guys call the manager and Gazidis and the board a bunch of liars every year, then fall for their ‘lies’ and go and spend more and more money on club merchandise. If you can’t afford the tickets don’t buy them. It is your right to complain about prices, but when you see that a)prices keep rising, b)your money is not being invested the way you want it, you stop giving them your money. Only a fool… Read more »
AR, I can see your love for Arsene has change from he will eventually come good to no matter what we do or protest he will stay here!!!!. So, it is like you saying, no point in protesting just let him do as he wants with OUR CLUB and wait till he leaves when he wants to!!!. I am really disappointed in you to use this defeatist attitude to protect your beloved Arsene. It is one thing to love Arsene more than The Arsenal, but it is different thing to protect the interests of Arsene over The Arsenal. The defeatist… Read more »
CLF, if you read what I wrote again you’ll find that I did not say I WANT Wenger in charge. I said the board will not sack him and the sooner you learn to accept that the sooner you’ll have less to moan about. I don’t see any comparison to Liverpool who have turned into the laughing stock that you guys moan we’ll become every year. Yet we have almost always finished above them and while they have won trophies, they’re also in turmoil and not half as stable as we are. That isn’t a defeatist attitude it is just… Read more »
It is like Einstein was talking about Diaby being a LANS over and over and expecting a different results!!!.
Spurs Shop Advert???? Money is Money but surely they guy who booked that didn’t expect it to get many clicks
From the whole interview, you chose something that has to do with the filthy spurs!
Shame on you.
If you’re referring to the usual banner ads, they are localized. Meaning, based on your browser history and your ISP location. For Example, I live in Texas, play FIFA Ultimate Team, and have AT&T mobile service. So the ads I see are for FIFA EURO 2012 expansin, AT&T, and Dallas Cowboys edition NIKE shoes.
Curious what you’ve been doing to get Spurs ads….
He’s an ass clown.
Why only speak now? Trying to calm who..?
If Arsenal wants to sign a player, it could be done in just a few days, as seen with many other clubs and deadline day last season.
One by one, good players get “crossed” out as they are snapped up by other clubs.
Actions speaks louder than words, Gazidis…. stop smoking and be prepared to hear louder boos.
Why are you moaning we have done our signing for the summer….
Podolski, Jack, Diaby, Afobe, Campbell, Bartley, Henderson, Martinez, Ryo and Yenaris.
Is that not enough for you to replace Almunia, Park, Chamahk, JD, Squillaci,Denilson, Arshavin, Vela, Bendtner, Ozzi, yossi and RVP????
Some people always ungrateful no matter what the club do!!!!!.
My advice to you while this clown in charge and a manger all he cares about is to pick up his wages is to lower your expectations and accept 3/4 is a trophy.
your logic as seen in your post really suit your name
yess the answer is not good enough take those name and compare with chelsea’s new players or man city’s current champion squad
Labanoob,
*shaking head @ you*
You are good at missing the point lol.
Pls our CEO should stop lying to us, we don’t see any investment in the squad and ambition that the team want to win any trophy.
It wil be interesting to see if Ivan Gazidis actually says anything not written here.
Good post. Well written.
Ok, im scared of balloons and i have 4 goldfish
I may be old fashioned in this new high tech world we live in now, but I am so proud that I support a football team which has such qualities as Arsenal FC. A club based on tradition, morals and a sound business plan, our club has been around in the top flight of English football for decades, it is respected throughout the world. I’ve supported this club for over 40 years now and will continue to support it for the next 40. The Man $hity’s and Chelski’s of this world come and go but Arsenal will always be there.… Read more »
If only history didn’t forget Arsenal…. clubs come and go, if you’re not at the top, you’ll be gone with the history books too.
Need examples? look at lower divisions… English league, Italian whatever..
That is the spirits, the taking part is all that matters not the winning or losing rubbish. Beside, we have a better web page, better stadium, better high tech communication with our fans, better PR people and better dross on higher wages warming the bench than Shity, Chavs and Manures!!!!!!!!.
Those high wage bench warmer is a gamble that didn’t work, mind you.
Don’t forget the high wage earners sat in the medical bay all year, yes I am looking at your disastrous Diaby.
He sounds so confident the gunners can challenge.I still have my doubts .For starters the defence is still below par compared to the top teams.The tactical side needs to be looked at. The gunners one dimensional style is easy to neutralise. Until the gunners can find a way past teams that play anti soccer,it remains to be seen whether they can finally challenge.I know attacking soccer is fun to watch if you are winning. The worst is to be the better team and the other team under sieze gets the points. Does any anyone remember the rd were the better… Read more »
Anti soccer????
If you don’t want to say football, at least say the Beautiful Game.
I’m amuricahn and the word soccer leaves a bad taste in my mouth so i say football
4 dislikes? did I kill a baby or something
Empty words, nothing behind them, might as well have been generated by a computer. “Solid team in all areas??” Playing the ‘young squad’ card once again?? It’s actions that count, I’m sure you would like to see AFC win the CL and title, Ivan, but there is not the will at the club to do what it takes to make even challenging for either of those a reality. I think the massive emphasis on Podolski, i.e. “the critical signing” suggests he’ll be pretty much all we can expect.
Got to agree about Podolski, didn’t like how he was referred to as the ‘critical’ signing at all…then again if we were realistic, how many would truly come in? 1 or 2 is the norm isn’t it, for us? For first teamers…and other than that it depends on how much deadwood is cleared and who leaves (and even who comes in, e.g. Joel Campbell) which will all slowly be sorted out, hopefully it does because atm we do need a couple of serious, quality additions.
He will be a critical signing when RVP leases right? But hen of course we will be back to one striker.
Working very closely my foot!……he simply told the press what they wanted to hear, you simply can’t go to the press and say that the talks crumbled faster than totts league position. There was clearly a disagreement over the contract talks (i bet someome choked over the alleged cup of tea and muffins) Ivan tends to speak once in a while about good things that never come…….quality not quantity was said during the january transfer but what I saw was quantity and a whole lot of it too. Preach water drink water not wine!….make due of your promises gazidis (… Read more »
Gazidis is not the problem, Wenger is. The manager is given too much power from which to comfortably make his bad mistakes. I believe Wenger is fully supported from a financial perspective, but the man is as a complete ass who refuses to fix the glaring problems year after year. Arsenal will compete for fuck all as long as Wenger is at the helm, let alone win anything.
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I will wake you up when we win a trophy!!!!!!.
no need C.L.F., i only sleep through wenger out bolloxcasts, i’ll be awake for the start of proper football.
adma, wenger is the MANAGER and deals with football. Transfer deals are done upstairs. why sack the guy that took a team from 17th to 3rd despite having his best 2 players sold from under him? there is a queue of chairmen from all over this little planet, from the grove to timbuktoo, desperate to be first to get his name on the dotted line.
Who do we replace him with?????
just be careful what you wish for…………..
I really dont believe you can be that ignorant to think the problem is just Arsene!
If the club are so unhappy with his tranfer dealings why dont they force his hand, he’s an employee afterall.
I refuse to believe that Arsene has this enormous transfer kitty but refuses to spend it even though the team is struggling that would be absurd.
Any respected manager with ambition to win things would have walked out. Why did Arsene not walk out and explain it to the fans!!!!!.
What Arsene is doing by earning 7 million a year, wining nothing for the long suffering fan and keeping quiet is IMMORAL for a man who never shy to lecture us about morals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Why did Wenger not walk? Because he’s not that stupid. He knows that he would not last 5 minutes at a club like Madrid where results are EXPECTED and failure and excuses are not tolerated. At Arsenal he has exactly what he wants, a huge salary and zero pressure. That’s why he has no urgency, no hunger, no drive and that’s transmitted to all of the players so they have no urgency, no hunger and no drive. He is completely immoral, a fraud and a liar. He dresses up all his underperformances as successes, refuses to acknowledge he’s every wrong,… Read more »
Fucking hell. You people who think Arsene is the biggest problem here need to get a grip. Chelsea and Man City have unlimited resources. Man U have the biggest commercial resources and the biggest stadium. Who were the last team to beat Man U to the title without an unlimited resources Sugar Daddy? Arsenal, under Wenger. If you expect us to finish above Man U in the league, then fair play, they are on something of a level playing field with us (or, more accurately have earnt their large advantage with a bigger stadium and better commercial deals for years).… Read more »
Mill7,
Bla Bla Bla Bla 28 trophies missed in 7 years, we all missed in them because of the chavs and shity?
don’t let me go through the teams that knocked out of most cups and leagues!!!!.
Sorry but your Arsens has lost it, he is a yesterday man stuck in the past, history and the sooner he goes the better.
sorry to break your heart.
No. Neither is the problem. YOU are though. With your negative and pessimistic attitude. You cannot see the woods for the trees you cannot realise that a new team and amazing manager has worked wonders (17th-3rd). You expect everything on a plate without hard work. I detest people like you with no forsight/hindsight and no back bone. just a mouth without a brain. SUPPORT your club and stop looking for quick fixes that are not EVER going to happen. Clubs are built over time and trials, not on the rumours or gossip of bigots in the media. So what are… Read more »
Yeah, how dare he takes us from 17th Position into 3rd….sack Wenger!!!
Little bit worried to hear him refer to podolski as “the critical signing” but I’m probably reading too much into things and anything he says could be a bluff or smokescreen.
Kroenke Gazidis Out!!!!! Thank you f****** much for farming me out, you “fans” better wake up and smell the sh**, these two are no good sobs, oh where was I that’s right, f*** you Gazidis and your cronies! Im off to Germania!
mate if you’re going to try to be me at least be funny you twat
Im not your mate mate, who are you?
Great dane you’re not funny! funny is leaving a club with my pants around my ankles and getting away with it because my drink was ‘spiked’
calling yourself TGSTEL ain’t funny – like your posts
BOOM!
Boom really, wow, yup you funny not!
the likes/dislikes would disagree, SUCK IT
wenger wrote these answers for him. strength , belief , coming together…all the same bollocks wenger says in his interviews…
Arsene knows LOL.
With your posts you will get a lot of Arsen’s blind sheep hurt, and you will be called ungrateful for not appreciating that 3/4 is a trophy.
Would rather have a Carling Cup or finish 3rd in the league?
Dalglish says hello
I would rather NOT stayed with a crazy manager for 8 years without a trophy!!!!
RVP says bye Senile, just like Henry, Cole, Hlep, Nasri, Fab have done!!!!!!!!!.
More condescending rubbish. We’ve been hearing this over and over for the last eight years and it’s getting more than a little trite.
This is obviously an attempt to preempt hostile questions from the AST and I sincerely hope he fails so to do.
Actions speak louder than words and in Arsenal’s case, inaction does likewise.
He’ll do well at the AST meeting as he has probably spent the last 2 weeks rehearsing his answers to the pre-selected questions. He will only be put on the spot if members are able to ask questions from the floor.
Ivan has had long enough to put his stamp on The Arsenal. Apart from employing a marketing team he knows very well from his past, I don’t see a great deal. He’s a good communicator, but his actions are sorely lacking. Last summer’s performance and the ongoing lackadaisical attitude to contract renewals are massive warning signs for the summer ahead…
Yeah lets ring Wonga and get a £500m 10000% bank loan buy loads of players and win a trophy. YEAH fuck the long term stability of the club its all about the short term high…
Clowns.
Birmingham and Portsmouth have won a cup recent history… would you rather be in their position?
Birmingham and Portsmouth charge lower ticket fees and pay less to their squad, it is a ridiculous comparison. We are a different team, with different ambitions and history.
This is complete nonsense. Every single team in the league charges different prices to each other – so none of them are comparable?
Arsenal, Birmingham and Portsmouth are all football teams whose ambition is to win their games. That Birmingham have a Carling Cup trophy AND a relegation is a circumstance that any Arsenal fan should find clearly useful.
Also: “History” is a meaningless term here, too.
C-
Likewise Chelsea & Man City have all won cups and i would rather be in their place!
Don’t ever say you’d rather BE Chelski or Man Shitty. We all get carried away, but some things are not meant to be said.
Im sure it was a response to the Portsmouth & Birmingham comparision.
I too would rather be in Chelsea or City’s current position than ours, but wishing/dreaming and reality are 2 different things.
Why are we as a football club so afraid of change??
We are The Arsenal. we do things differently. With class and style.
Fuck the chavs, the spuds and those citeh cunts.
GET A FUCKING GRIP!!!!
It’s only June for fucks sake!
Matt has developed the Mr Wenger fear of trophies LOL.
If it wasn’t for that giant club from the midland owned by a fish and chips owner we would have won the CC last year LOL.
The kind of unthinking, black and white perspective that the club want you to have, they’ve done their job on you.
As Arseblog himself often says (to try and preempt all the thumbs down from the drones) – make the most of the resources you have.
Announcement after the Euros on Robin? He obviously won’t stay, otherwise it would have already been told to instill confidence around the club, especially with the season ticket renewals.
Obviously they don’t want people to know Robin doesn’t stay until people pay out for the season tickets. 🙂
What is wrong to selling Robben??? Europe suffering a major economic crisis and the money we will get from Robben sell under those circumstances is going to help the poor fisher men in Greece and fund expanding The Arsenal shop with new state of the art energy saving lights. Also, to serve special life extending tea in the director boxes as most of them brain dead and just waiting for the heart to stop beating.
pretty sure he plays for Bayern actually
Yeah, if Bayern want to sell Robben, that’s their prerogative…not too sure how that affects us.
Shut the fuck up, each one of your comments have been retarded and you’ve commented on every single post. Why is it that the stupid ones are the most vocal. Here in US, they’re called the republican Tea Party. Thats what you and ‘dwangoon’, who I’ve never seen post before must’ve just joined thed fanbase to bitch about something, are- a bunch of ignorant dumbshits who are happiest when their pissing their pretty little girl pants about something. Seriously go support chelsea and city, no one wants to be associated with your type, you dumbass cunts. Get a new fucking… Read more »
Ilya,
Now, my advice to you stop watching “soccer” and go watch some of your rubbish yanks sports and leave the beautiful game for the big boys that understand it.
Silly little ignorant yanks.
Yawwwwnnnnnnnn… scrolling down itself put me to sleep..
It’s funny how easy it is you guys think it is to run a football club, and how bad a job our current custodians are doing. If it was that easy then surely some of the smaller clubs would finish above us all the time.. However the only teams that ever finish in front of us are the two/three with bigger incomes/deepest pockets!
Funny that! Definately just a coincidence though right?
Hmm. I’ll take what’s been said with a very large pinch of salt. It all sounds fairly promising, but we’ve definitely heard this sort of guff before. Still, if we go on to have a good summer then fair enough. Definitely not going to be buying many players, then. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – if Per has a better season, and Djourou gets back to form, and we nurture and keep our best players fit, and meteors strike our enemies, and we get a lottery win, and [snip] My real concern is Robin – the more I hear… Read more »
If the past is to be considered then i’m sure that’s exactly what he meant. No smoke screen or anything of the sort, just a twisted gazidis trying to fuck with our heads. See…… there’s even a cartoon pic of the guy. Clown much?.
reply to hurley….whooops!
F**k Robin 1 good year in 8 time his contract done he will b 30 more than likley get an injury in the euro or start of the season football teams will pull out they will not pay him big money for 4 years he will come back crawling begging to sign a contract lol the next line will b the players coming back from injury r like new signings lol the meeting tonight will answer no questions at all. Bring the Russian in at least he likes football and would spend as I don’t see the fair play bothering… Read more »
Would someone please tell me if there was anything of remote interest in the garbage, afraid it got so tiresome I gave up reading. FFS I still don’t understand the Yossi situation, to me a £1m buy was a no brainer. Why the hell hasn’t the deadwood already been jettisioned – frankly I don’t care if they had gone on the cheap (if you go on the econmic basis of assets, in most cases there is no financial vaue to them, but there is a fiscal drag). Many of the supposed targets and therefore perceived misses, were probably never really… Read more »
This is the first time I’ve thought this, but it looks like RVP’s going. If the decision had been made for him to sign a contract and stay (and a decision has been made, apparently) then why not announce it before he leaves for the Euros? It would not cause a stir, and if anything would calm it all down. The only way a stir would be caused is if they have decided that RVP is going to move on, in which case it is natural to wait till after the tournament. Bye Bye RVP.
I love how you only see comments by Cygan’s Left Foot once every three weeks, and only when it’s opportunistic for him. And then he feels the need to comment on almost everyone’s post, being a sarcastic twat to anyone who’s vaguely positive about the team. Go back to the hole from whence you came.
Quite why people believe that RvP announcing before the Euros would have any affect on the rumours beats me. Vermaelen pledges his future to Arsenal, Barca sqeek and the papers and media jump on the bandwagon.
FFS, there is a game going on between RvP and Wenger, what the hell is the point in trying to second guess what it means?
There’s a lot of frustration from fans lately and it’s not hard to see why with the repetitive interviews. The thing is though that what’s being said is what should happen. We’ve never been a club to spend big money on players but we’ve been competitive still, relying on our youth talent coming through. Arsenal’s philosophy has always been the same whether we’re winning trophies or not, it’s only a matter of time until the team clicks, we’ve already seen glimpses of it last season. We are the fans and the life of this club. I’ll stand by my team… Read more »
i don’t read anything into what gazidis says.
for me this summer m’villa is a must.
also we can expect one attacking mid or striker to replace chamakh, TGSTEL and park.dempsey/affelay would be perfect in my opinion but age could be a factor.
oh and apart from these we can make some changes in the goalkeeping area.but,that’s gonna be pretty straightforward.
[…] 昨天，阿森纳官网采访了我们的CEO加齐迪斯，看完通篇的演讲，内心喊傻x的力气都没了。阿丝们若想在这里发现雄心是不可能的，阿森纳卖队长的传统看来还得继续，以下是放屁的浓缩，记得看完喷点香水给自己： […]
“But the next major step forward is going to be driven by people in the Club and our ability to grow our commercial revenues so we can continue to compete with the very best clubs in the world for the best talent.”
Wait, he wants Arsenal to EARN money instead of relying of Sheik Abdullah-bin-Moneybags to rob his own country to buy us silverware?
PREPOSTEROUS!
To those of you bitching about IG’s comments, what exactly do you want him to say? What would make you feel more confident headed into the summer?
And to the “actions speaker louder than words” clowns, how quickly you forget that it is June 6th and we’ve actually signed a class forward in Podolski. Complain in mid-August if we haven’t cleared any deadwood or made any new signings. In the meantime, relax a bit.
Hear Hear!!!
Very positive words but then he’s a doctor of spin. Again I will build up a level of optimism because we should have faith but he said very similar words last year and look just what we did during that summer…
WOW there seems a lot of discontent among fans
Too many stupid cunts/little kids out there with internet access pretending to be arsenal fans. Obviously everythings isn’t rosie but for fucks sake, support your club, there’s absolutely no point in all this negativity when june has just started. Some people are just miserable
You mean sit here like sheep and shutup while Wenger fucks about with his stupid youth project and Gazidis raises all the ticket prices again?
Thick people like you who sit on their hands and swallow every bit of bullshit are almost as big a problem. I bet in Nazi Germany you would have been the first to sign up to the Luftwaffe.
…Wait, what? Don’t start quoting about Hitler! Understand that every fan is nervous, but you can’t just scream and shout at the board in early June expecting us to have another bad summer – whatever happens, happens. The Arsenal has survived losing Petit and Overmars, Pires and Ljungberg, Henry and Viera, Toure and Adebayor, Fabregas and Nasri. We’re still here and standing strong. If Robin goes, yes, it’s a reason to moan and be worried – but don’t lose your faith in the club. If we’re sitting here in late August having lost Theo and Robin with no new signings…… Read more »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law…? Anyway the Luftwaffe was nothing more than a military means to an aggressive expansionist policy (‘Lebensraum’) – which is purported to be (and very much likely) a product of extreme nationalism. How does signing up to champion ideals of ultranationalism, and some form of redemption from the pride and territory lost under the Treaty of Versailles have anything to do with “Thick people like you who sit on their hands and swallow every bit of bullshit are almost as big a problem”? Unless you got confused with the other Nazi policies, you know – the ones that involved mass… Read more »
adma, nazi shite was just POOR, grow the fuck up. this is a supporters forum. people who support the club post here. there are plenty of other sites for you to have a no brained reasonless rant on. you can then sit with the mugs who love to disrespect our great club, but call themselves ” fans “, and call for the head of any of our management or football team. here, we do it different. we keep our bile inside ( its better saved up for john terry) and we give positive support to our club. if you dont… Read more »
[…] no more Ivan I read the transcripts of Ivan Gazidis’ meeting with the fans and immediately thought of this […]
” We always try and conduct our activity as early as we can….”
Did his nose get noticeably longer when he said that? Did anyone mention Jimmy Hill at that point?
There’s no more substance in what Gazidis has said than there is in any public pronouncements of politicians runny for office.
Just skimming down the comments….
Fuck me, some of our *fans* are a bunch of twats, eh?
Did I land at Le Grove? So much angst over an interview! What did all you guys expect to say? That we will sign 10 new players! Get real guys. Ivan simply stated the club’s position that they will make a few signings to improve the squad. I see nothing wrong with that. Even if they want to get rid of some players he is not going to advertise in a interview. So before acting like jerks try and use your brains and if you feel just because you guys are Arsenal fans and that gives all of you right… Read more »
And if you really want to protest, don’t spend any money on the club. That would be the best form of protest. Club will take notice. But what if there are thousands of other “deluded” fans who still want to be season members, buy shirts, support the team? Then what? Maybe then you guys will finally realize that a large majority of Arsenal fans are not really in sync with this negativity and vitriol being churned out by some of the Arsenal fans.
I think there are two overriding issues that concern all fans. 1. transfers 2. arsenal’s fragility and one-dimensional play Contract renewels are mostly out of Arsenal’s hands, although given their perfomance on new signings, I might think they could f things up. If you were a player, would you sign a contract with Arsenal? and let’s be honest it is only the good players who let their contracts run down, are you worried about Denilson’s, Bendtners, and Diaby’s contracts running out? or just hoping they will. I don’t think arsenal could have offerred more money to keep Flammini, Cesc, Nasri,… Read more »
Hey felt I should comment I’m a arsenal can only 14 born into supporting arsenal think some people here need to calm down so if people are not true fans let them be @ the guys swearing and cussing. Bc someone wants arsenal to spend some wonger that does not mean we have to become MAN CITY or CHELEA <— see hiw I spelt there names correctly bc I'm not going to hate on there clubs so they spend money it's the owners money and be wishes to see his club succed nothing wronge with that people who say arsenal… Read more »
Sorry for spelling mistakes typed on iPod anyone who has a iPod will understand …
Lot of Anti-AW moaning from you Left Foot but, as ever, no constructive suggestions going forward. Never seen you suggest who would be a better replacement for AW but then you don’t just want him to go do you. You want the entire hierachy out even though you can’t suggest a single replacement. Everyone out… Nobody in. Brilliant strategy tha one.
You’re just another sucker in the Usmanov For President brigade – a sugar daddy to buy you that mocking bird and make all the pain go away with no regard for the moral values and heritage of our club.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND MAY LIVE LONGER THAN EXPECTED. SAY COMMITTED
The sad truth is that there is now a top tier within the premier league and we’re not in it. I know we finished a credable 3rd this year but chelsea will be back with a vengence next year. Unless we go down the sugar daddy route 3rd place will be beyond us and we’ll be lucky to even make it into the champions league. Whilst i love the club and the traditions and the fact that The Arsenal Way does actually mean something, we will become increasingly marginalised because other clubs will have the strength in depth that will… Read more »
I had come to the conclusion some time ago that ADMA was a complete cunt. However, I’ve revised that view on the back of his insightful and balanced posts. Only joking. He has actually now achieved levels of cuntishness that even John Terry struggles to achieve. ADMA, you need to look up the definition of supporter, and then piss off. No issues with people questioning the direction that the club is going and reasons behind decisions, but the sort of vitriol that you came out with is just pathetic.
there are a few “elite” clubs whose business model is to lose ridiculous amounts of money, have players paid sky high sums to keep them on the bench, and out of competitors sides, and skew the market to the point they are the only clubs to attract marquee named talent. they can then carve up all sponsorships etc, and push clubs that dare to try and compete over the financial cliff. its cheating. plain and simple cheating. do we want to become a clone of city/chavski? or do we have class, and a plan that wont make us the next… Read more »
I don’t understand the hula hoo on the financial fairplay , any ways these billionaires have so much money they don’t know what to do with it, they probably think of new whims & fantasies to satiate their egos every day . So why not take a chance with usmanov on board, atmost we get more competitive on the transfer front with his investment and at worst we will have some competition between Kronke & Usmanov for running the club to make it win trophies . Wenger is an excellent coach and has dragged us way above our league through… Read more »
I want to share my 2 cents as a “foreign” fan. I started watching the EPL in ’97 as that was the year Malaysian TV started broadcasting EPL games, I was 9 years old at the time. Being foreigners we don’t have geological ties, historical, nor traditional ties to any club. So how we choose a team to support mainly depends on: a) Which teams were strong teams b) Teams with talented players whom we came to adore What we perceived at the time was, Liverpool and Man Utd were the two top teams in England, and Arsenal regularly a… Read more »
it was pleasing to see the board have removed our rigid wage structure, and have accepted that big players command big wages, and we need to invest in big players. our self imposed “cap” was honourable, but unrealistic in todays market.
Lets hope that Lu Lu Lukas’ signing is a statement of direction, and that Ivan will earn his keep over the next couple of months
[…] 来源：[Arseblog News] […]