Hill-Wood says Arsenal can’t stop money-grabbing stars (Nasri) from joining Man City
The Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has launched a blistering attack on money-grabbing footballers (Nasri anyone?) that tell the fans that want to leave Arsenal in the quest for glory or trophies, but really just have visions of the piles of money they will get if they join clubs like Man City.
“We know it is there and you have just got to face it,” Hill-Wood said. “But we have got a limit to how much we are going to pay these boys.
“All they are interested in is more money. They put out other statements but that’s really what it’s about. ”
“And if some agent is prepared to come in and upset the player and try to move him on for a lot more money there is nothing much we can do.
“You can’t have a limit on what people are prepared to pay somebody.
“What you have got to do is not lose your own head and pay what you think you can afford.
“And if a player doesn’t accept that, so be it.”
The Arsenal boss was then asked if he didn’t believe it when players said they were looking for success more than financial gain, and he replied forcefully: “That is just a smokescreen,”
“All they are interested in is more money. They put out other statements but that’s really what it’s about.
“How much can they spend? I don’t know but they are p*****g it down the drain.”
Arsene Wenger surprisingly agreed wholeheartedly with Hill-Wood, and left no doubt that he was talking about players like Sami Nasri, when he made it clear they were talking about the riches on offer at Manchester City.
“It’s not that players have to leave to win titles,” he said. “The problem isn’t that.
“Frankly, if you compare what Manchester City have won in the past and what Arsenal have won, then you don’t go to Manchester City to win titles.
“Players go to Manchester City because they pay much better than Arsenal.
“They are a force clearly, because they have exceptional financial clout, so it’s not surprising what they’ve done.”
Man City have bought Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure off Arsenal in recent times, as well as Samir Nasri, so he could be talking about any of them. But let’s hope that he doesn’t know something about Van Persie’s contract talks that he’s not telling us about!
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Though I am a Gunners fan, the comment sounds hypocritical.
Can the board of directors stop making more money themselves and talk abt loyalty like the fans? Tough luck. Speak with honor pls
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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What these people don’t seem to realize is that naturally when a club are willing to have pay high wages, it is a magnet for the best players. Last time I checked a club filled with good players is a club on the road to success. There is no doubt Man City will win something this year. If it’s not the BPL or F.A, I’m sure they will win something. Where as stingy Arsenal who will not bump up salaries for the best players will end up losing them, not draw any new good players and in turn not win a thing.
I read an article a few days ago and Gazidis stated that the wage structure was not limited. Now Hill-Wood is saying the exact opposite. So wtf are we supposed to believe? I’m tired of being lied to. Our club is being run by dishonest thieves. If we have debt, why don’t they just tell us, instead of dashing our hopes every season promising us great new signings etc when we are not going to see any. I have lost respect for the whole bunch of wankers running Arsenal.
It’s not like Arsenal are poor, we are the third richest club in Europe. After 05 we were in a comfortable position to not spend too much on players and still win trophies. We had good players and the fans were happy. Now we are in the situation where in order to get out of it, the only way is by buying big like City and Chelsea. Hats off to Ferguson without breaking the bank and still being able to win trophies.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Wenger must think we’re all idiots to swallow a load of twaddle like that. He must be an idiot to imply that City have no more chance of winning a trophy than Arsenal and an even bigger idiot for saying he’s not worrying about Van Persie leaving. Well I am, and as he’s now by far and away our best player so should the manager be worried. More to the point he should be honest about why he wants to leave and look to doing something about it, not trotting out a load of ludicrous drivel that even the most blinkered AKB could tell was crap. I like Wenger but I wish he would stop insulting our intelligence with stupid statements like this. It suggests he’s either incompetent or a lia
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Nasri went to a club that has more chance of winning,has great players to play with and pays more where as our club is the third richest but pays its captain 70k f**k hil and the board gaz
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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@big gun: may be true that we’re not bad off finacially but the 3rd richest club in europe?! i don’t know where you got this propaganda but i’ll make it easy for you:
barcelona, real, paris stg., man city, chelsea, man utd., malaga, shaktar, anzhi, ac milan, etc. etc.
all of these clubs have either higher revenues or are sponsored by a sugar daddy. not to mention that some of them ar hugely indebted (man iou).
true, the players go were the pasture is greener but why are people always complaining about our club and the finances? you simply can not compare AFC to these clubs financially, end of story!!!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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what we need at arsenal is better balance, in short less money for those that dont deserve it or earned it and more money for those that do.
yes other clubs like united and chelsea pay top money to there stars but in contrast the younger and less provern players are on modest salaries, example! hernandez at united was only on about 25k untill recently, after great performances and consistent goalscoring he is now on 75k which is still a modest salary in todays game.
we need to change the wage structure at arsenal accordingly, less money for people like squilaci and denilson means more for vp, sagna and tv5! we dont need more funds we just need to spend it better and encourage young or new players to earn and aspire to a good wage rather than just handing it to them on a plate before they deliver on the pitch.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Forget this third richest club nonsense because it does not account for the payments made on the Emirates and possibly doesn’t include the payments remaining. If you look at transfer spending over 15 years and then add to that the cost of the new stadium the only teams that have spent more than Arsenal are Chelsea and Man City. They do not need to cover their costs so to compare Arsenal to either of them is unrealistic. If you remove the cost of the stadium Arsenal drop down to 15th in the Premier League spending table but you can’t just pretend that the cost of the stadium doesn’t count. One thing that you can say to argue against this is that the cost is spread over about 30 years rather than 15 and extrapolating the figures over 30 years would put us well below third in the spending league. As time goes on this excuse wears thinner until it becomes irrelevant. As for contradictions regarding whether or not Arsenal are restricted in the wages they can offer the answer would be no but at the same time why compete against a team that can offer any amount without needing to cover those costs, it would be stupid. I don’t like Hill-Wood and want to see Usmanov take over with Dein at his right hand but in this case he has a point.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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with all sense of sincerity you resign from a job to get another bcos of 2 things. 1. pay rise 2. opportunity to build your career. we were unable to offer nas or fab any of the 2. so wot do you expect? if i were a football star my star wont shine playing with jekinson ramsey djorou chama etc. it wont help my career. fab won 3 trophies in 1month nasri is toping d epl with man city and they are earning much more. common ars hill b realistic and stop fooling around.
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dont mind wenger and the board nonse .am just not happy again abt arsenal.
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@Max
Here’s some sources of Arsenal being the third richest football club. Your blind faith should not stop you from google. Your so-called list is full of crap. Wake up.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/04/20/the-worlds-most-valuable-soccer-teams/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/21/manchester-united-forbes
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@Charlie. Very good point, mate!
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you are talking about a club whose owners usmanov is as good as abramovich money-wise and stan who has some4 billion.why dont stan just halve his stake and give the other half to usmanov.they inject equal investments into the club and share the profits in the same way.its not like wenger will misuse funds like mancini,he will be much more sensible in using it on both wages and transfer fees.why are they reluctant to do that with wenger,obviously when you win you will be rewarded through trophies and the better brand-value like united.maybe stan kroenke sees the club as a business model and wants to have the lion’s share….lol
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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if man city like let them buy all the players in the world they can never better than arsenal. let wait till may and judge the teams.
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I think this guy Hill Wood is talking nothing but nonsense
players like Fabregas and Nasri left Arsenal due to lack of ambition of the board and not just for money. A club which has not won anything for 6 years and do not spend money will not be a favorite choice for the superstars and the board has to realize that.
We all know that ManC have much greater chances to win trophies this year than Arsenal and they won FA cup last year. So if you are 23 years old as Nasri, you get an offer twice as much as Arsenal to a club with high ambition and mega projects, what will you do Mr HillWood?????
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bignews! tv5 is signing a new long term cntract with arsenal..
announce by jackwilsherefrim his tweeter account..yahoo
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@Max Those other clubs are in a way more serious debt than Arsenal. AND they are still spending big. Even more of a reason for us to actually buy some better players. We have two Russian billionaires who are worth more than Abromovich, but because of Kroenke retaining more than half the shares he gets to decide what is what. Arsenal have more than sufficient financial backing, there is no excuse for us to not increase the wage structure and buy some world class players.
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Why wouldn’t playesr leave arsenal? At city they can earn more plus they can win trophy.at arsenal they wil never win trophy or get pay wat city pay.most of the former arsenal players would of stayed if the manager showed some ambition to challenge for trophy.see how hypocrite the board n the manager are.they criticize players,what about them pocket all the money not investmenting anything on the club.what happened to all the money from,febrigas,nasri,clitcy
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Dear Hill-Wood,
Am sorry your comments clearly show that you are not fit to occupy top position in the club and leaving in an utopian world.I remember the time you called Arsenal fans demanding the Board to recruit experienced players so as to win Cups as foolish.
If you are to compare the ambition level of Arsenal and Man. City today, they dont compare. It clearly comes out that you, Wenger and the group are still dreaming in the glories of the past.
Its is always said “Charity begins at home”. Therefore, before you condem the players that they like money, i would expect you to condem your selfish interest by yourself, Ivan Gidazis, and the Board. You are simply fleecing the fans. Its good fans have realised it and it may soon be not easy to handle.
Please as a responsible club official, i challange to try and find out why fans, players are not happy. Do fans also want big monenies liquid clubs?.
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While I do agree with the underlying principals of said statement it’s also rather ridiculous to believe you can attract top caliber players and retain them with a rigid wage structure that doesn’t reward or punish based on merit. We have underachieving players that we can’t get rid of because they make for more than they are worth and others aren’t willing to pay for them and then we have players who aren’t making enough and are likely to leave for more money. It seems like the board are at fault for bother, not the players!
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The obvious response to this is “If that’s what attracts the best players why are you doing everything that you possibly can to prevent Usmanov from taking over at Arsenal ? Here is a man who has pledged much of his enormous fortune (35th richest in the world) to buying players for Arsenal just to have the door slammed in his face. Instead you choose one of the many Americans attracted to the Premier League as a way to to pass on their debts.” He is right that Arsenal cannot pay such wages with Kroenke as the majority shareholder but he has done everything in his power to make sure that nobody with money to give to the club can come along and steal his crown. He only allowed Kroenke in on the condition that he kept his mouth shut and he cares about his own power at the expense of what is good for the club. This is what you would call a SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY.
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already been mentioning..hes the major problem for us.already said..many and many times since that last final in 2006?with hem in the board. .we’re gonna keep being this way..wat the way to takes dein backs??and usmanov tking of the shares or jst increase it into 30%?why he dnt wnts dat?atleast he wil b spending..the money is for arsenal club..it is not for kroenke mantions..kroenke cars..kroenke underwear..pft! -.-
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This is rather ridiculous….. Every player wants to win trophy and they get to search for it at any club that shows ambition. Probably Mr Wood is not seeing things from the fans point of view…. The only way to keep players is to show ambition with the kind of player you bring in and attract them to stay by paying competitive wages…. There is no two way to it…. Cant he see players leaving Arsenal and win trophy……Henry, Hleb and now Fabregas….. Arsenal is a big club and we can not afford our chairman sounding like this.
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what we have to say is that, mr chairman, if you dont wanna spend and pay those guys there due wages, it means that u urself u want more money! so, stop saying the players are greedy for money, koz, u’re urself, and if u dont like it, move away!
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I think its a bit rich of Hill-Wood saying that the players want to make “piles of money”.
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@ charlie
you say “Forget this third richest club nonsense because it does not account for the payments made on the Emirates and possibly doesn’t include the payments remaining.”
I have no idea where you study accounting but have you ever heard of “interest payable” in the P/L accounts, which includes charges on bank loans, fixed/ floating rate bonds etc??
These figures HAS TO BE INCLUDED in the financial statements or they wouldn’t even pass the audit!!!!
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forget about the loyalty plz. playing football is footballer’s job. Whoever pays them highest, majority will accept the offer and play for them. In addition, they will have more chance to win trophies. for players, why not just go to club like City? there is nothing wrong. For us, we will have to take this and find our own way to increase the possiblity to win trophies!!!
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There must be a fair play rule otherwise football in England or even Europe will be heading for a disaster. There is a difference between somebody who is in business and tries to sustain it and somebody who has so much money that he is not in business but spending as a hobby. Man city and chelsea are in the later category. The owners spend as a hobby and pasttime while Arsenal is run as sustainable business. This is the difference. So a player who sits on the bench or even in the crowd is paid 180 GBP per week, another on loan playing for another club is paid 100k while the other pay the balance. This is maddness and there must be some form of regualations otherwise the game will be heading for disaster. Imagin what will happen to Chelsea if Abramovich drops dead today, Chelsea will die as well because their present status is not sustainable.
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Is dat the pot calling the kettle black ???
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Its good business allround. Hill Wood forgets to say that Arsenal pocketed £22m for Badebeyor, £15m for Tolo Koure, £7m for GayLe Clichy and £24m for £ammy £asri. Lets see which of them is still playing in five years and how much they have won
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arsenal having financial limitations/ problems is all bs. Uzmanov the second richest part owner/owner in the pl has what 17 odd billion and is the 35th richest person in the world. he could afford to give arsenal 1billion if he felt like it no problem. There are no limitations get uzmanov in as majority shareholder, lady pinkett smith back and throw out all the business minded investors like our american “friend” kroenke and send him back on the first flight to america.
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*dont know where the hell i got pinket from *bracewell-smith
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Peter Hillwood would have advice the board to hold on to him so that they won’t sell him for money next season, or else he should tell us his share of profit been declare every year by arsenal FC…….speaking to cover up his shortcoming
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eeehmmmmm!!!
an Arsenal without Peter Hillwood can definitely stop this.
It i definitely idiotic to pay this kind of salaries to players like djorou, diaby, rosicky, fabainsky…. but i think RVP deserves one and soon will wilshere… one thing is to counteroffer 180 a week with 90 a week, i’m pretty sure 150 would have been enough to keep both…. people forget that the club with the biggest salary bill is barshitlona…
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