Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Rocky7 
Date:Friday January 2 2009
Time: 6:30PM
UK time is: 09:02:40
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Wenger Clears Up Transfer Confusion
Arsenal fans everywhere are up in arms at the apparent lack of funds for incoming players this January, but if they took time out to study the comments coming out of Arsenal football club today (or easier still, just read Amos's article he published earier) they'd realise that's not actually the case.
Peter Hill-Wood, the Prince Phillip of Arsenal Football club, gave an interview in which he said,
'I don`t think there is a lot of money anywhere.'
'One has got to look ahead - in the future there is probably not going to be much more money coming in.'
'We have got money, but I am not sure we are going to spend a lot of it. We`ve got to continue to run the business in a sensible way. It may sound boring, but we are not going to rush out and spend fortunes on people who won`t help us achieve anything better than where we are at the moment.'
'Arsene has a lot of young, talented players at the club and I think he will probably give a chance to one or two of them.'
Whilst his comments tell no lies they are given in such a way that they are easily twisted and the red tops wasted no time in doing that and causing uproar in some sections of Arsenal's blogosphere (Seriously stop crying about ticket prices and bringing in superstars, you sound like a spoilt child - you know who you are), however, the more articulate Arsene Wenger has gone some way to straightening out Hill-Wood's mediocre efforts.
"We do have a specific budget. It is not as big as I have read in the newspapers but we will try to use it wisely and well if we can," said Wenger ahead of the FA Cup 3rd round clash against Plymouth.
"I still feel football will be hurt as much as anybody else in this economical crisis. At the moment, people are not conscious of what is facing us economically. It will certainly be more difficult because it was not long ago 1.40 and 1.50 [Euros to the pound] but now it is one to one. It is a big handicap for English football.'
"People still think we are in a bubble, but we will be hit like anybody else, I am convinced of that."
The Arsenal chairman always has the club's best interests at heart, however this time he managed to open a can of worms that didn't actually contain any worms, however people were too quick to read the label and run off screaming before they actually looked inside the tin.
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Your Comments
JUST PLEASE SIGN SOME MIDFIELD AND DEFENSIVE REINFORCEMENTS, ARSENE!!!!
Moorish
I read on F365 today that the reason PHW keeps talking to the Daily Star is because their Chief Sports Writer Brian Woolnough is the only journalist who actually has Hill Wood's phone number!
Little Dutch
Why doesn't Hill-Wood change his number and give it to a more reputable rag then? The tool.
Rocky7
Perhaps Hill-Wood just likes to wind up the Sun and the Mirror?
Amos.
Im guessing Danny Fizman is our Prince Harry?
Tom14
Lol Tom! Given his penchance for saying the wrong thing, I think you might be right!
adamski243
well we all know the media - snakes without tongues
Arsenal_1_Best
For what it is worth to the general discussion and IMO we are an extremely lucky club. We have without doubt the best Manager and the best Board in the EPL. I have read and continue to read nauseating tripe by the media and so called expert fans, to either buy buy buy or sack the Manager. I'm sure if we had bucket fulls of money 'The Boss' would probably have spent money to acquire a few more experienced players but we don't. The continuing debate how he should be sacked the Board sacked does nothing absolutely nothing for the club, and as a fan only helps to make me more despondent. The likes of Amos, who seems to be the only person who writes with any modicum of sense. We have talented writers such as LD but he even falls under the continuing clamor to buy buy buy. I am sure nearly all of the fans who contribute to this blog are true Arsenal fans, but come on stop flogging a dead horse. Try to contribute positive comments not negative one's.
alwaysgunner
We are not under some kind of media spell and this is not a cult, if I feel as an arsenal fan that we need to strengthen in certain areas then vital is the place I choose to air my views. I respect your right to agree with everthing that arsene wenger does but its not how I'm going to follow the club. As long as when I get to the ground and give the boys 100% backing throughout the 90 minutes I see nothing wrong with debating what goes on at the club.
iceman10
There's no point in being positive for the sake of it, this is a place to give your opinions and we all have different ones. The only duty of the writers is to express those opinions as pbjectively and honestly as possible. My opinion is that this squad is in dire need of reinforcement, you may disagree and that's why we have a forum, so you can put your point across. I'm under no clamour, it's painfully obvious in my eyes we need players. The match programme and the club website will always provide the sunny side of life atArsenal, it's our job to reflect what we think as fans and I will only ever continue to say what Ithink, negative positive or otherwise. I would encourage anyone else to do the same.
Little Dutch
I don't think I differ greatly from most peoples views on the current team. I think we are currently short of at least one - maybe more players. I might differ as to where we need to strengthen but even Wenger says we are short. But getting the right player(s) under the right terms is more important than just adding to the numbers.
Amos.
Yes, of course as Arsene says, we don't want to add numbers for the sake of adding them, but then that's pretty obvious. Last season some of us were scratching our heads when we signed Diarra when we already had Flamini, Diaby, Denilson, Gilberto and Song in these positions. It didn't stop Wenger signing him though - arguably that was just adding to the numbers. It's just confusing when in the past Arsene has said "to be at Arsenal the standard you have to be is world-class" and yet I don't see that in every position today.
Gooner_Vin
This is not a clamour to 'buy buy buy' nor have I heard any sensible calls to sack Wenger. This squad needs more players in quantity and quality, and this is one site where this 'demand' is expressed as best as possible. Frankly, there is not much that the club can tell us that we dont already know. Do PHW's words come as any surprise? He is simply re-iterating a well known policy of Arsenal FC (which did not prevent the signing of Nasri at 12M, btw). We as fans need to be more sceptical of how the media spins things.
prits
At just £2m Diarra was adding to the numbers at the right level especially as Flamini had refused to extend his contract that summer. We didn't need Diarra at the time which is why he didn't get so many games but in hindsight it isn't difficult to see that it was a sensible future investment. A shame that Diarra was too thick and impatient to see it. But getting £5.5m for him from Portsmouth and reportedly up to another £5m from the Real transfer still represents good business. I think we have world class, but not neccessarily experienced, players in every position. Many coveted by other leading clubs. Part of the difficulty we have at the moment is in finding available players that are genuinely better than we already have. They may exist but very few are available.
Amos.
Amos - I'm not necessarily picking on him but do you honestly feel that Eboue is world-class? Yes, he maybe a regular international but does that qualify him as world-class? I guess we need to firstly 'define' world-class! Or is that just subjective?
Gooner_Vin
It is a subjective term and it depends on how you define it but Eboue is an international player. Not every player in the squad is equal but from that squad we are capable of fielding a world class player in every position though that might require Rosicky to be fully fit. I think Eboue is a very talented player and somewhat underrated. I watched a replay of the Fenerbahce game a short time back and the piece of skill he displayed in setting up Ramsey for the 5th goal was undoubtedly world class. He is capable of that sort of skill. There are too many aspects of his game that fall short in order to claim that he is 'world class' but it is the temperament he lacks more than the talent.
Amos.
Sometimes i wonder if i write in another language, quote "I'm sure if we had bucket fulls of money 'The Boss' would probably have spent money to acquire a few more experienced players but we don't.' Does that say we would not or should not buy? All I am trying to say its boring reading time after time negative items when it would be good to have positive one's. Fact we don't have the money to spend, otherwise we would have bought. Fact we do have a prudent Board. What other teams can lay claim to our success in this matter. Or should we be like Manu/Liverpool or Chelsea and wonder really wonder what will happen if the financial crisis continues into this downward spiral? Our real worry will be if we have any other teams to play against, (bit dramatic but I'm sure you get my drift).
The following quote 'The continuing debate how he should be sacked'. I've even read our leader on this site say words to the effect that "I'll give him,(referring to the Boss) till the end of this season before consider whether to sack him or not". We only have to have a bad result and out come the hatchets. But as you say LD we are all entitled to an opinion, I'm just expressing mine.
alwaysgunner
Again there is a middle ground that needs to be acknowledged, few here are saying we need to break the bank and live beyond our means. But signing two more decent players would hardly qualify as a massive break with policy- a policy I support- nor would it qualify as doing a Leeds or joining United or Chelsea's realms of spending. As I've said before, I know this manager's ability and I rate it so much that I find it hard to believe he couldn't find something in the Sagna/ Eduardo mould. The negativity I think stems from a general frustration that the team isn't far away and I believe that,plus the fact that this time last year we were 4 points clear at the summit of the league and now we lie fifth with a genuine chance of not qualifyingfor the Champions League. It's hard not to be frustrated at the evidence of that kind of steep decline.
Little Dutch
"Fact we don't have the money to spend, otherwise we would have bought" AG - I dont believe thats an accurate statement, and certainly not FACT, as you state so confidently. We did have the money, its well known that Wenger lodged a few bids in the summer (that wouldnt have happened if there was 'no money') for Alonso, Yaya Toure etc, and we would have landed Arshavin if the price and wage demands were more reasonable.
prits
prits, I don't want to continue on and on but if a car costs $100000 and you have $80000 and they want $100000 then I think you don't have the money for the car; hence it is a fact you don't have the money. As I did say it was IMO.
alwaysgunner
Yeah but it's more like Wengers style to buy a £50000 car for £20000. Make some improvements and then sell it before the MOT is due for £100000. As long as he has the first £20000 we should still be open for business. We have as much money to spend as anyone other than ManU & presumably Man City (I am not so sure whether that is also true of Chelsea any more). The exchange rate also helps a couple of the bigger Europeans but there are few clubs better able to spend than we are.
Amos.
AG, its either a fact or an opinion :). Fair enough, I understand your point of view, although I dont agree with it. Its just that we dont know the full facts behind every transfer target. We probably could afford Yaya Toure, but he didnt want to leave Barca. Zenit were quoting far more than what Arshavin was worth. If a car worth $80000 was quoted at $100000, then a decision not to buy the car can hardly count as evidence that there is NO money available.
prits
sell us a couple of players and you will have plenty of money then....lol
lincolnblue
i think wenger is not, and shouldnt be exempt from criticism by the fans. even he has stated as much in his interviews "you can question my decision but not my commitment". therefore, we as fans have the right to question decisions made by our board and manager. but asking questions is quite different to asking for his head when things go wrong. i think arsenal fans have more sense than to place the blame squarely on the manager. we know there are many factors which have precipitated to our current situation, which includes: untimely injuries and shock departures of key personnel. some of these factors were unforseen or underestimated in terms of their adverse affect on the team. i think wenger will get us through this period of "transition" and will have us in a dominant position financially and in the league for many seasons to come.
supersof
The same transition period that's been ocurring since eo 04. And comparing players to a used car that is improved and sold on as a higher performing motor pretty much sums it up, it's a business to a lot of you.
shewore
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