Your Vision

Your Vision - Confessions of a glory hunter

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR VISION ARTICLES ARE SENT IN BY READERS AND ARE NOT WRITTEN BY ARSENAL VISION WRITERS.

I received a lot of flak for my last article, after which I was called a lot of things, among which was "Glory Hinter". This got me thinking am I really a glory hunter? After some thought I got my answer, yes I am. But let me elaborate how I came to that conclusion.....

I'm Egyptian, I'm not living in England at the moment though I used to in the late 80's and early 90's. During that period I used to watch the league as a casual football fan. I had no preference as I was a young kid back then. After I returned back to Egypt I wasn't able to follow the premier league as it wasn't being aired here, but then it started in Wenger's first season at Arsenal. I was still watching casually but bit by bit, game by game things started to change. I started loving Arsenal the way I loved & backed my local team, which by the way is AL-Ahli club which is one of the most successful clubs in the world & the African club of the century. They also went not one but two seasons unbeaten in the league, cup & african champions league. I was born & bred to support them, on the other hand no one made me support Arsenal, I chose to, by heart not mind & that makes me proud I'm an Arsenal fan.

Yes, when I began to support Arsenal we were winning trophies regularly, but my love has increased during the past 5 seasons. I've not missed a single game, when I can I travel to london to see the games at the emirates & at highbury before it. Although I don't go that often, I'm a member as I felt that I needed to be part of the club, an insignificant part at that but a part nonetheless.

So I feel as a true fan. One thing that I'm not really proud of but showed me how much I really love our club, is that this year African cup of nations' final where Egypt were playing Ghana was at the same time as the Arsenal, Utd game .....& I found myself only watching the arsenal game & not being happy that Egypt won the cup as Arsenal had just lost.

Anyway I'll never support another team, It's only arsenal for me( for better or worse?) . But yes I am a "Glory Hunter", I want arsenal to win trophies, that's what makes us fans happy, I don't see any fan that doesn't want his country to win the world cup, I don't know anyone who doesn't want his team to win trophies. Oh, & Arsene Wenger is a trophy hunter, isn't he paid to win trophies? doesn't he put tactics & formations to try & win games to win trophies? To hunt for glory? All our players are glory hunters, right? actually football & sport in general is about winning, about going for trophies, about glory.

I don't just want us to win, I want us to win the Arsenal way, the way that made this club a huge part of me, & I a small part of it. But I want us to win, what's wrong with that ??? Isn't winning good for our club ? Don't we all want arsenal to win? Doesn't Wenger, Cesc & Hillwood?

I will always love Arsenal unconditionally & for that no player, manager or chairman is more important to me than Arsenal. But I will never be content with living in our past glory, I want us to be the best as many times as we can. I Love Arsenal & I love us winning, I love seeing arsenal in glory, so yes I am Glory Hunter.

Mean Lean's Response

All Arsenal supporters want their club to win trophies. In fact every club in the world wants to be successful and so do their fans, we are in the same situation.

It is interesting that you have stated that we were winning trophies when you became a Gooner, many people did around the world because of our style, approach and success. Perhaps a supporter who has been through darker times can handle trophyless seasons a little easier. I have watched Arsenal from the George Graham era, during his successful days and after his trophy winning campaigns.

Without doubt, the most exciting time for me as a Gooner has been under the guidance of Arsene Wenger and I am sure many of even his biggest doubters will agree with that. I guess the question is can Arsene Wenger bring back those days again and more to the point do you believe in him still.

I do not wish to tar everyone with the same brush but it does seem like those who kick and scream the loudest generally do not take everything into consideration. Do not look at the bigger picture. That picture shows us that over the last five years we have been competing with our competition on a different playing field.

If you think that Arsene Wenger is not a winner and all he wants to do is make the club profit then you must be insane. He is a terrible loser and has shown that many times in public. Arsene Wenger is as you say, a 'glory hunter' but he will not do that at the expense of our club's future.

I don't just want us to win, I want us to win the Arsenal way, the way that made this club a huge part of me, & I a small part of it. But I want us to win, what's wrong with that ???

I think you have unintentionally hit the nail on the head with that comment. 'The Arsenal way' is the proper way. Making our club self sustaining, developing young players that will make it in the game at Arsenal or elsewhere whilst naturally generating cash for whichever manager is in charge at the club to buy players.

Don't worry, the glory will come. We have had to make massive cuts and reshape our club to take a massive step forward. Make no mistake, having the Emirates stadium is a massive step forward from our Highbury days and that will continue to be evident in the years to come.

I, such as yourself want Arsenal to win trophies, but supporting your football team no matter what level isn't just about winning trophies or glory. It is about supporting them regardless of the situation. There is no guarantee that any club will win and no team has a divine right to win all the time. We happen to be going through a massive transition which has required patience. Perhaps it has taken longer than we would have ideally wanted but we have been competing against clubs who are willing to plough themselves into debt and risk the future of said club to win trophies. Look at the state of Liverpool and Manchester United behind the scenes. One club has had glory while the other has won only one major trophy. Both clubs are in a terrible state financially.

If you are a Gooner for life then I am sure a few years without glory will not hurt too badly if the future of the club is in the best shape possible for plenty of glory.

On Facebook? Why not join the new Facebook group. Just click this link
Click to follow Arsenal Vision on Twitter

Comments

#1 - podge Says:

simple way to look at arsenals struggles to win trophies the last few years wenger and the club planned to build new stadium since late 90s project began 03 abromivich bought chelsea in 03 inflating the market just after arsenal had committed huge funds to stadium project chelsea became succesful when they had near unlimited funds manu started to spend 60-70m every 2 seasons while chelsea spent even more until lately even the lesser clubs like liverpool spurs villa and now city began to spend huge sums while arsenal remained on same budget we had in 03 we are 7 years behind the other top prem teams in terms of spending but do better than most of them every year and do compete for trophies 06 champs lg final 07 ccup(lol) 08 narrow miss for league 10 good league challenge eventually stopped by injuries. the debt has been cut in half recently so arsenal will be able to spend a bit and we have developed some excellent young players who we still havent seen the best of

#2 - Iron Man Says:

Using financial prudence to justify lack of success just doesn't make any sense.

When we were winning things at Highbury, we were told that we need a new stadium in order to compete financially with the Man U's, Chelsea's, Real Madrid's, Barcelona's etc. Rather, the new stadium has left us hamstrung financially and STILL unable to compete in the transfer market with the abovementioned clubs. We were led to believe that when the world's best players are going for 30/40 million+ Arsenal would be able to have their say without batting an eyelid. Instead, the club are always looking to buy players on the cheap. That and this 'nurturing youth' policy which has yeilded no benefits (throphy-wise) up until this point.

Yes, it is commendable how we've managed to 'compete' with a supposedly shoestring budget in recent years (although the wage bill in that time will tell you that the club aren't as 'poor' as some would have you believe) but 'overachieving' and self-congratulations for reaching semi-finals and finishing fourth is not why the club invested in the Emirates. With profits increasing year on year, Arsenal are hardly down-trodden paupers of the premier league. By not making enough effort to invest in the team - the most important part of any football club - then they are simply letting down us mugs that continue to support them.

ML, when you talk about the bigger picture, do you not think it may not be as ideal as you think? What I mean is, are Arsenal being so tight with money just so the figures look good to a potential buyer? It's inevetable either Kroenke or Usmanov will have control of the club in the not too distant future and what stops either of them taking a nice, financially stable Arsenal FC and plunging us into the exact same situation and Liverpool/Man Utd?

#3 - Snazzy Says:

Iron Man, there is this thing that happened that meant that the property sales did not materialize as planned, to provide the funds we needed, I believe it was called the global financial crisis, you may have heard of it.

The situation stabilized by about May last year with the sale of most of the flats of the Highbury development. If you are looking at Arsenal's books for the last year, and assuming that they can maintain or grow this level; the club can comfortably spend 30 - 40 million on player transfers and afford the attendant wages

The fact that we haven't won anything doesn't change the fact that we did "compete" during these 5 barren years. The club may have been "forced" to develop youth during the period, but the issue now is that Wenger says that there are few players that he can bring in that will improve the squad, and is acting on that belief. You believe differently but that is a matter of opinion and not fact.

In terms of the ability to do an LBO, its possible that someone can borrow money to purchase the shares to buy the club, and use the clubs assets as security on the loan, but it doesn't seem to be a certainty. The fact that Usmanov or Kroenke reach 30% does not require the other shareholders to sell, it just requires the 30% holder to make an offer. The offer does not have to be accepted, and I don't see either one accepting from the other, nor do I see the supporters trust accepting.

#4 - Iron Man Says:

Snazzy, I take your point about the financial crisis but as I say, Arsenal have still continued to turn over a profit in that time and combining that with player sales (people are always quick to point out the admittedly impressive Net spend of the club over the years) surely the finances must be in place for us not to throw around scary words like 'debt' and 'repayments' and use them as an excuse for not investing in the playing staff (I repeat, the most important part of any football club).

Yes, I am of the opinion that there are a vast number of players in world football who would definitely improve the Arsenal team. I base that opinion on the club's lack of success in recent years. I feel I am justified in holding such an opinion and just as entitled to express that as anyone else.

With regard to the potential takeover, I was merely speculating but the two major shareholders are just as likely to accept a bid for their shares for the right price (which will more than likely require the borrowed money you alluded to) as they are to resist. And if they were to resist, we have ourselves a boardroom tug of war and no end of unrest/instability which will ultimately harm the club long-term.

#5 - richie Says:

Iron man,
Humbly I think either you misunderstood the clubs reason for building the new stadium or you have misquoted what was said.

1st, the larger ground was built so we could compete with the wages
other clubs could pay from their larger ground receipts. No one told us the new ground would let the club buy players for big money.
I say this because AW was asked exactly that question, before the Emirates project was started, and he said players wages should only come from the grounds ticket sales, thats why we need to build a bigger stadium so we don't live above our means.

2, As a life long Gooner I take serious exception to your statement
that the most important part of our club is "the playing staff"

No player! No group of players! Is bigger than the club!
The club is the club! Player come and go.
Dennis was a magician
Thierry was a dream to watch
Pirez the biz
Mr Arse Adams the best
But none of them, nor all of the our past legends are more important than the club.
Maybe you think putting the club into danger for the sake of a bit of silver wear is a risk worth taking but not me!

Because of the double dealing done by David Dien we might well end up with a board room struggle, but no one currently in the board room is in a position to put the clubs assets up as collateral to lend money for a buy out of the others.
Long may that continue!

As long as the board don't accept a buy out from either, then our club won't end up like the Man'uer in the hands a profit taking mob like the glasiers massively in debt. Or the pool same as.
As someone old enough to remember when the Man'uer didn't win anything for 5 years (And they weren't good to watch)
I'll take what we've got!
I'll wait to win.

Name

E-mail (Will not appear online)

Homepage

Comment