On Arsenal’s official website, there is a Robin van Persie fest. Accolades are pouring in to acknowledge his great run of form and as usual Arsene Wenger is taking the credit for this performance. here are his comments to the media
“Robin has scored 28 in 27 games and still people tell me he is not a centre forward,” Wenger said. “How many goals does a centre forward have to score?
“We are a team that goes forward a lot and players spend a lot of time in the final third.
“His movement is exceptional and his confidence is so high that he takes advantages of all situations. I believe that the captaincy has helped too.”
Listen this is a great day to be a Gooner and if we beat Marseille tomorrow at the Emirates, then the afterglow will last long as will our current unbeaten run. Perhaps the most enjoyable thing about Saturday’s 5-3 victory over Chelsea, was the absolute joy and happiness being expressed by all Gooners. This Arsene Wenger is what UNITY is about. This is more than saying “I told you so” when you are proved right, It is meaning that fans are easily united in success, the challenge is to create that Unity in adversity. RvP was the man of the match easily with his hatrick, but his all round game was intelligent and breath taking. This was not RvP just playing lead striker as AW’s words seem to indicate. This was RvP playing in the hole behind Theo, and Gervinho, then playing lead striker with Theo and Gervinho on the flanks and this was RvP playing midfielder next to Rambo and Arteta. In short, Robin played as he was needed where he was needed and this was partly due to AW but more often than not due to the player himself.
So how can this Unity be maintained? Simple really, and that is for the Club to accept that world class players will deliver and we cannot do without them. It also means that as a club we must now stop selling our best players, and in fact build around them by adding more world class not less. Robin has delayed signing his contract for very good reason, for it would appear that the Arsenal Board and AW do not want to break the wages structure and in so doing they wish to maintain the Self Financing model. Well the only thing that is being financed by this model are Stan Kroenke’s share portfolio and not the eligibility to next year’s Champions League, because what is clear is that UEFA will be powerless to prevent the likes of Real Madrid, and Manchester City having their own way. This is because of the way in which they have used massive funds to further their own interest, way in excess of any new revenue streams thus blatantly infringing the spirit of the FFP rules in my opinion. Chelsea will again run at a loss, but will they knocked out of the Champions League? No way in hell, because UEFA have failed to act against the Spanish league’s blatant unfairness and so have set the precedent for the Court of Arbitration in Switzerland to kick any attempt at holding clubs to account immediately into the long grass for the lawyers to profit from.
What is clear, is that loop holes exist to enable teams to get around the Fair play rules, and it is only down to the clubs to have the gall to exploit them. Arsenal Football Club appears to have double standards, where the requirement and fairness of applying Corporate governance is taken upon a case by case basis in a rather arbitrary manner. It appears from the outside that it is take, take, take, by the Board and give, give, give by the fans. Even the new commercial deals seem heavily weighted upon the requirement of the fan base to spend, spend, spend. I can see no evidence that Stan Kroenke has any intention of putting his own money at risk, neither are there plans to allow anyone to inject equity into the club’s coffers. Yet if Robin van Persie is to be retained, Arsene Wenger and the Board will have to come up with a salary deal that will make RvP the highest paid Arsenal player ever. Frankly who would begrudge our Dutch captain that? He has more than earned it in my view. I have taken the same stance over AW’s position at the club. He should be allowed the right to stay because of his contribution to Arsenal’s heritage, so I will not call for him to be fired. I believe that the very same man who’s stubborness and mis-placed loyalties led us into this mess, is actually the best man to lead us out of it.
Let me explain how. Arsene Wenger can attract high quality players like Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill, but the club appears unwilling to pay the wages demanded by the current spiralling wage inflationary climate. However as I said in earlier blogs, we have the highest paid CEO in the premier league, so clearly we are prepared to spend the money if we want to as a Club. The club will lose £25 million next season for Champions League if we fail to finish in the top four. To pay Robin a 150K per week deal would cost the club £8 million a year, the first three years paid for by qualifying for next season’s Champions League. The interest on the Stadium Loan is around £20 million a year which can easily be paid for by the stadium income of £3 million per game before broadcasting revenues which makes £57 million. The current wage bill would only increase by £4 million a year. If The Board is worried about this, then I suggest the following. Ivan Gazidis use his bonus to fund part of RvP salary, and we stop paying inflated salaries to the youth and squad players who fail to come up with the goods. We should also run high level efficiency savings to reduce the £50million costs that we incur in order to to run a stadium. Perhaps a few less Diamond lounge improvements and more Player squad improvements Ivan? Any new renewed player contract must now be judged upon that player’s return, not upon the market differentials related to Robin van Persie’s new contract. We did it for Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas, and in turn we must do it for Robin van Persie. So as well as smashing scoring records, Robin van Persie has smashed Arsenal’s argument for having a Self Sustaining Finance Model, but will they heed the call?
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