Arsenal Will Have To Box Clever
Jun 21st, 2009 by 'holic
An interesting discussion, and some even more interesting emails, followed my piece last week about season ticket holders looking to hire out their precious gold memberships as they cannot afford to renew this season.
I understand that the economic situation is really starting to bite and Arsenal do not have full take up of their executive box allocation for next season, so supporters will be offered the chance of premium matchday hospitality. Club level packages too will be available on a match by match basis.
Obviously the club is charging a premium for these so as not to upset existing corporate clients and platinum members. Prices will range from £250 per person up to a four figure sum for grade A games, so Dad will have to be worth a few bob if he is to treat the family to a luxury Arsenal experience.
What is interesting for me about this development is the fact that once again we have proof that Arsenal is not immune from the economic realities of the outside world. The signs are all there. Boxes not sold, Highbury Square properties not yet paid for, ‘Setanta’ cash may be reduced when those packages are resold, season ticket holders unable or unwilling to renew. Those who would have us throwing money at expensive signings really need to understand the pressures the club are facing.
Although in the short term Arsenal have solutions to all of these situations, they will know that they will not be able to shift premium level seats on an individual basis for more than a season or two. I can imagine a number of fans will be keen to sample that level of comfort once, but not many will be able to afford to repeat the experience.
The club was always able to withstand pressure on ticket pricing from the bottom up because of the number of people on various waiting lists, or on the red membership list. This is different. If boxes and club level tickets remain unsold for any length of time then the price pressure from the top down will have much more of an effect. If at some point the prices for ‘corporate’ seats are forced down, then the other levels will have to be adjusted accordingly.
So if you are on the Arsenal mailing lists be prepared for the charm offensive that will start to arrive in your inbox in July. Then think long and hard about how many highly-priced and highly-paid players you expect the club to move for when it is desperately hawking its prime seats to all and sundry.
Most of all though do not be tempted to view this as being a potentially negative development for only Arsenal. All clubs are facing the same challenges, and those like our friends up the road who have new stadiums in the pipeline should be absolutely bricking it at this moment. The years of prudent direction are about to work in our favour, I think.
Charity Arsenal Celebrity Match
I’m indebted to the Arsenal Away Boyz for sending me details on Facebook of a charity match to be played at Marriotts School, Telford Avenue, in Stevenage on 12th July. If you are in the area why not take the family down for a great day out.
A team of Arsenal ex-professionals and celebrities will be playing at the event. Tickets are just a tenner for adults, and a fiver for kids (under fives go free). The proceeds will help to provide a better life for Kayley, and further details can be found on the ‘Future Events’ tab on that site. If you are able to go along, please do. Thanks.
31 Responses to “Arsenal Will Have To Box Clever”
good article so we cant expect any high profile signings but i dont mind vermaelen will do me and a good defensive midfielder beside the captain will do me personally i dont think ade will go i saw his interview slating the boo boys and i agree we shouldnt slate our own team but he will have to pull his socks up and play with heart like before to win us gooners again
My biggest worry is that we solve defensive and midfield problems. But Wenger still leaves Alumunia to mess up between the sticks!!
Almunia is as good as any keeper in the prem. Granted he’s not in the same class as Seaman. He won’t make a string of unbelievable saves that give his team heart to go and win games they should lose, but he’s proven himself to be a solid, reliable keeper. He made very few errors last season. Fewer than (the once brilliant) Cech, VDS and Reina.
In a perfect world, we’d have a world class no1, but the main areas that need improvement are the centre of defence and defensive midfield. If Arsene cracks those problems, you won’t have to worry about who’s between the sticks.
I agree Frankie, Almunia still no where near good enough if we are to compete in europe and regain premiership. His mistakes always comes in the big games, second goal again utd in champions leagaue semi, enough said!!!
It’s one thing selling boxes to watch Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira every week as Arsenal challene for cups.
It’s another thing trying to sell them to watch Emmanuel Adebayor, Abou Diaby and Alex Song aiming for 4th each year.
almunia is the least of our worries.
he was good enough last season when we would have won the PL had it not been for a string of injuries and refereeing errors, and we could have gone further in the ECL as well if it hadnt been for dodgy decisions vs liverpool
Last warning, or I will have to start banning instead of just deleting abusive posts. This post is not about Almunia, and at all times I expect to see a level of respect shown to each other.
Please.
“It’s one thing selling boxes to watch Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira every week as Arsenal challene for cups.
It’s another thing trying to sell them to watch Emmanuel Adebayor, Abou Diaby and Alex Song aiming for 4th each year.”
This for me, hits the sweet spot. This is the crux of the problem. Vieria, Pires, Henry developed into world class players right in front of our eyes. Adebayor, Diaby, Song, how long have they been at the club? 3, 4 years? How long more they need to develop? I would think Arsenal fans have been conditioned to enjoy the thrill of watching relatively unheralded players blossoming. Just that this batch seemed to have arrested development.
Of course everyone is aware of the economic reality. We are not asking for Wenger to throw in silly money. We are asking for budget solutions to address glaring problems – Centreback, Centre mid and as many rightly pointed out here, a barely competent keeper wont inspire the team. (hey, i managed not to bring up his name !)
The 5m Hitzlberger (wrong spelling) to Arsenal rurmor would be ideal. Experienced, industrious, good attitude worker, all for 5m. Won’t set the Premier league alight, but wont repeatedly make silly mistakes aka Im-a-lanky-sausage-Diaby.
My point is, economic reality aside, the Boss has been too obssessed, defensive and stubborn. Last year, we spent 5m on Ramsey when that could be better spent solving CURRENT issues.
Where were we when Shay Given moved to City for 6m? Was 6m not cheap enough for a class keeper? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh but we can’t afford it because we spent 5m on a youth who will come go 3 years later, and we spent god-knows-how-much on increasing the salary for our Emirates superstar Adebayor.
Its time for Arsenal FC wake up and realise the fans are not to be taken for granted. Who would want to pay to watch that stuff? WE ARE NOT EVEN LOSING BEAUTIFULLY ANYMORE. We are just losing/ dropping points.
lol jim, i guess you only named that goal vs man u because you couldn’t think of many other glaringly bad errors he made. which is odd considering you say he always makes them in the big games.
i do wish people would watch games and get off the media bandwagon. it’s quite tiresome already
True fans will go to Emirates whoever is playing for the team. You don’t just go because we have world-class players on the pitch. You go because the club is in your heart, your soul…..you follow your team unconditionally….I was brought up in Holloway and went to my first game in 1963 and went to nearly every game in london for seven years before I saw them win anything. I waited 18 years from 71 to 89 to see them win the league again. It makes me sick when I hear people whinging about how long players take to develope etc etc. I tell you who would want to pay to watch “that stuff”….TRUE FANS !!
Not latterday glory boys who jump on the bandwagon and as soon as it gets a bit rough they start moaning.In modern times Arsene Wenger has given us the greatest days the club has ever seen , so please belt up ,support your team, have some patience and trust Arsene !!!
Frankie spot on…………almunia too many mistakes still never appears to be able to keep his performances at a constant.Always in the back of my mind is his 15yard rush from his goal line into no mans land.Given would have done for me…oh well
i agree with davi, almunia is the least of our problems… goalkeepers are usually only as good the defense theat protects them.. do u really believe that van der saar is better than almunia..(just compare their defense to our’s) c’mon give me break frankie
sorry goonerholic..but its a boring post really…gooners just wanna hear about football and not the politics behind it
Disagree Oz-Gooner, gooners want to read about all issues surrounding our club. This is a real issue for us and lots if other clubs out there and this like most other issues will have a real effect on the pitch aswell. If you just want to read about fantasy signings, I suggest you go to Le Grove.
Great blog ‘Holic
Anyone who thinks Almunia is not a good enough keeper should piss off to Chelsea, where they try and buy superstars every year.
Almunia was world class last year. He made fewer mistakes than VDS and Cech. In the CL semi first leg, he kept us in the tie, with a string of saves which very few others could have performed. He ony had two poor games last season – one against Tottenham, which besides pride, didnt affect anything. The other was against Man U and even then I think Ronaldo’s free kick was an absolute pearler. He would have been as shocked as anyone after man U’s goal – we had dominated and that was the first time they had ventured forward. And to be honest, even if Almunia had of saved that free kick, would we have scored 3 goals – I dont think so.
Some fans need to lighten up and support the team.
Brian
I kind of agree with your post, but this isn’t about ‘true fans’, this is about executive boxes and the club level brigade.
Yes, real fans will go whoever is playing, where ever we are placed in the league etc, but these guys buy seats for hospitality, to woo clients or their own ego, and as soon as we start struggling they will move on to the next successful club! Hence the seats not selling at the moment and indeed the crux of the post!
To be honest posts like yours tend to annoy me slightly! ‘I’ve been going since 1892’ like it’s some kind of competition! My son is 12 and has been going to Arsenal since be was 3, that doesn’t make him any less of a supporter than you! If you’re such a great supporter, why don’t you grab one of these great seats, heighten your footballing experience and then you can support your club to a greater financial standpoint.
Surely that’s what any ‘true supporter’ would do, right?
Totally agree with gooner almunia is a good keeper he just needs a better defence!!
i live in the real world Radgoon, whatever executive decision arsenal makes will not affect me in the slightest..i love arsenal but i dont pretend to be a shareholder in the club either..unlike others who want to know about what they cant even control anyway..Your just another wannabe politician who cant make it ..
I speak for the majority of supporters out there who just wanna see and hear about arsenal on the field.. I’ll leave executive decisions for those who are fit and capable to make them within the club.. Fantasy signings indeed…you idiot
Thanks Brian you have summed it to a tee…
Nice one Gooner 1971
get a life Goonerholic and all who find this post interesting
It turns out I’m a journalist — and a Gooner — who follows both what happens on the pitch and reports on the financial side of sport.
This original post is quite perceptive, and supporters who ignore the “realities” and just want to argue about signing another goalkeeper might as well just stare at the sky.
Goonerholic is correct that Arsenal’s long-term prudence will make our road a lot less bumpy than some in the coming months and years. I first realized that a LOT of clubs would be in serious financial trouble as soon as Arsenal began having trouble closing deals on the Highbury property project — that’s some of the most valuable real estate in the world and the club believed (correctly) that fans and others would snap up the apartments at such a historic site.
Everything that has followed since the global economic crisis has been SO predictable, right down to the takeover of some clubs by various groups of Arab oil barons. Likewise the weakness in selling those top-end executive suites and club seats.
‘Holic is right that many other clubs will suffer far more severely than Arsenal — assuming the boardroom dance is resolved sensibly.
One last thing: For fans screaming about signings and all of that, please remember that the price of acquiring a player — like Given for 6 million, for instance — represents only portion of the cost. Experienced players command VERY high salaries, and while supporters conveniently forget those numbers, they DO have to be paid.
That’s the reason a player like Samuel Eto’o — still one of the very best strikers in the game, as we saw again in the CL Final — is available for 20 million. His wage is astronomical.
You might be surprised to know that Arsenal’s wage bill for players is higher than any club in the Prem bar United and Chelsea — food for thought. In other words, in tough economic times, you’d better be sure you’re getting a player who will DEFINITELY help win matches before you commit to the salary of an “experienced” star.
Would Shay Given and his large salary have won us more games than Almunia? Doubtful. But if we were paying Given, as an example, perhaps Arsene would have had trouble funding the purchase of Arshavin.
(Lord, that doesn’t even bear thinking about…)
I know we all want to win and there’s a tendency to dream like this is some kind of fantasy football, but there’s REAL money at stake. Fans who pay for tickets or TV packages should be well aware of it.
So do something about it scotland steve…but your a fence sitter just like the rest who just want to talk about it
There is something really depressing about the people who comment on Arsenal blogs: the absurd, ignorant, childish ramblings of ‘Le Grove’ pick up hundreds of comments from loyal followers and a sensible, well written and well thought through blog like this has just 22. Says it all about so many of our ‘fans’ these days! Anway, top work, if only more people out there realised how well run and secure our club is compared to so many others instead of ignorantly demanding we sign everybody with a good youtube compilation!
I think oz gooner sums my point up: ignorant, childish, can’t spell (it’s you’re, not your) and throwing around pointless and meaningless semi-insults like “do something about it…your just a fence sitter” and “your just another wannabe poltician”. No doubt he feels right at home at Le Grove.
Thanks Steve and Hugo. I now fully understand why television and the popular media sets the bar so low 😉
oz, you are welcome, as long as you are civil, but I don’t understand why you are spending so much time flaming people here if the topic bores you.
Unlike some, I won’t bar you for holding a view that is different from mine, but your sweeping generalisations do you no credit.
Goonerholic
Thank you for putting the morons in their place. All the other blogs are full of people ranting about signing this superstar or that superstar, with no concept of finance.
Wenger is s genius at keeping us challenging for the trophies. We may not have been successfull in the last fours years (same period as Abramovich was on the scene), purely due to the fact that we don’t have a sugar daddy.
I must admit I find the whole Chelsea and Man City sponsorship thing has no place in football. Man U, at least seem to be able to balance the books (although it is unscrambling for both Man U and Liverpool).
Arsenal are a really well run club who balance the books, provide great entertainment, in an excellent stadium.
Back to the original comment on corporate boxes not being sold. The price of the boxes is too rich for me. However, the overall demand for general tickets is still huge, so I cannot see any change in policy on ticketing. Supply and demand will rectify this issue. I would love to have the opportunity to go and see them play, but my best bet is to go to a grim northern football club and see them there.
While we may bemoan the fact that we don`t (not can`t, people), spend the many millions that Manure and the scousers spend even though they are far more in debt than us; following correct business practices will eventually, eg. once Highbury Square is all sold, see us in an enviable position. Don`t forget that Liverpool don`t look like having a new stadium for some time, and the fans are pinning their hopes on the yanks selling out to DIC or some other arabs. You might have been a spuds supporter drooling over pictures of their new stadium, knowing full well that the image is only Levy`s sop to the fans, and while they continue to spend £40m+ each season, their new stadium is but a mirage.
On the subject of support, while it was wonderful to see Henry, Pires, Vieira et al. I go to support the team and watch the usually fine brand of football; and get almost as much pleasure in watching he likes of Nasri, Fabregas and Edouardo apply their skills.
£5m for Ramsey was a great piece of business, especially as we put one over the mancs. Is there anyone who doesn`t believe Ramsey will be a top, top talent in two years.
Can we also stop this silly anti-Almunia nonsense. People are talking about him as if he were some cock-up king. He`s not. We have greater priorities.
Almunia had a tough time when he first came over. It’s painful, I know, but try to remember that awful spell just after the 49-game run came to an end. We were dropping points all over the place and Arsene dropped Mad Jens in an attempt to change things. Almunia looked a very nervous keeper behind a back four whose confidence was shattered. He (and the whole team) had a succession of poor games, culminating in the awful 4-2 home defeat by the Manks.
That was 4 years ago. Since then, Almunia has rightly taken over from Jens and has performed consistently well (ok, with the odd clanger – but no more than any other Prem keeper). Some people wrote him off 4 years ago and will not give him any credit for the tremendous work he’s put in to reach the level he has reached.
And sure enough if you go to the official website now, you have to click through a big advert for hospitality packages for the new season. If that wasn’t ironic enough, there’s a big picture of Almunia on the advert!
The club are going to have to smarten up in the customer services deaprtment from now on. My away scheme membership renewal didn’t come through on time, I phoned Supporters’ Services, who put me through to the guy responsible for the Away Scheme. He was not only very short, but, and I swear this is true, he said, “Don’t call me, talk to my staff” before I could explain his staff were the ones that dialled me through to him he hung up withoyut letting me reply. Arsenal are currently fishing for away scheme members for the first time in a fair few years and there is no longer a waiting list, which suggests it’s not just the exec boxes feeling the pinch. The club cannot afford to be this rude to supporters, as they have been for a number of years now, because, as this post points out, they can’t afford to be picky anymore. I’m not quite sure the club really realises this yet.
*leaves a glass of fizz for the birthday mollusc*