The Football Thread - Season 2012/2013

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We have Kroenke to thank for ticket prices. It's a policy he apply across all the various sporting teams he owns. That said, a lot is being made of this £62 thing as though it's vastly higher than similar fixtures at the Etihad, Old Trafford and Anfield which simply isn't true. It's no more than £5 extra. I agree it's too much, but to single out Arsenal and fail to mention any comparisons in the way that every article I've seen has just stinks of making a story for story's sake.

Ultimately, it's only going to change if large numbers don't turn up. Number 1 priority as a fan has to be filling the stadium - something Arsenal is one of the best at against smaller clubs because of their remarkably cheap pricing policy - but I understand the logic behind charging as much as you can because all teams want to make money. It's a fine line, and perhaps everyone's gone a little too far, but to halve the ticket prices like some fans trusts are advocating would remove a massive chunk of revenue from clubs.
 
TriggerHappy said:
We have Kroenke to thank for ticket prices. It's a policy he apply across all the various sporting teams he owns. That said, a lot is being made of this £62 thing as though it's vastly higher than similar fixtures at the Etihad, Old Trafford and Anfield which simply isn't true. It's no more than £5 extra. I agree it's too much, but to single out Arsenal and fail to mention any comparisons in the way that every article I've seen has just stinks of making a story for story's sake.

Ultimately, it's only going to change if large numbers don't turn up. Number 1 priority as a fan has to be filling the stadium - something Arsenal is one of the best at against smaller clubs because of their remarkably cheap pricing policy - but I understand the logic behind charging as much as you can because all teams want to make money. It's a fine line, and perhaps everyone's gone a little too far, but to halve the ticket prices like some fans trusts are advocating would remove a massive chunk of revenue from clubs.
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Football is a business, and only a fool would sell tickets too cheaply. If you can sell out the ground week in week out at £100 then do so, Simple supply and demand economics!
 
tiler65 said:
When have they done it for free? At that level especially.
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Before they turned Professional, I believe most Refs/linesman had full time employment elsewhere, and football clubs covered their expenses on match days .... Could be wrong!


Anyway, paid or not, full time or part time, I haven't seen any improvement from match officials.
 
The Greek said:
Before they turned Professional, I believe most Refs/linesman had full time employment elsewhere, and football clubs covered their expenses on match days .... Could be wrong!
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refs and linesman are different.

premier league refs are employed full time. linesman get paid per match and have other full time jobs
 
tiler65 said:
It is only what Manu and Liverpool fans have had to endure for years....why the big hoo har because it is city fans?

Oh and I think every club does it to some extent, even city do it.
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FA Cup 3rd round, West Ham United V Manchester United away tickets £25.

Replay at Old Trafford, away tickets £52.
 
Stratman said:
FA Cup 3rd round, West Ham United V Manchester United away tickets £25.

Replay at Old Trafford, away tickets £52.
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Thats because for the hammers it is actually an away game, but for the man u fans the game at upton park was a home game anyway so the prices were set accordingly :D
 
joescrivens said:
Thats because for the hammers it is actually an away game, but for the man u fans the game at upton park was a home game anyway so the prices were set accordingly :D
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:D:nono:

As an aside (and to paraphrase big Sam) why were WHU so bad against Sunderland on Saturday - same team as played ManU a few days before. Nevertheless WHU must be worth at punt for the win at around 10-1 ?

PS. And why is Big Sam called Big Sam when he's not really that Big?
 
Spuff said:
:D:nono:

As an aside (and to paraphrase big Sam) why were WHU so bad against Sunderland on Saturday - same team as played ManU a few days before. Nevertheless WHU must be worth at punt for the win at around 10-1 ?

PS. And why is Big Sam called Big Sam when he's not really that Big?
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I think it is more about the size of his head.

He has a very large head. Huge in fact, it has it's own weather station
 
Sunderland have conceded the fewest headed goals in the league. West Ham rely on aerial ability in every game. It's a simplistic comparison but essentially their strength was also the opposition's strength so they didn't carry the same goal threat.
 
Stratman said:
FA Cup 3rd round, West Ham United V Manchester United away tickets £25.

Replay at Old Trafford, away tickets £52.
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was that the price of West ham tickets or Man U tickets?


Yet here is says your figures are wrong....I don't know who to believe anymore.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ester-United-FA-Cup-replay-ticket-prices.html

Just found out from a hammers fan that his ticket cost him £20 as he is a home season ticket holder but none home season ticket holders had to pay £30 for the WHU v Man U match last week.
 
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tiler65 said:
was that the price of West ham tickets or Man U tickets?


Yet here is says your figures are wrong....I don't know who to believe anymore.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ester-United-FA-Cup-replay-ticket-prices.html
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From WHU website

Manchester United v West Ham United
The F.A. Cup with Budweiser - Third Round Replay
Wednesday 16 January 2013 - 8.05pm k/o - Live on ITV
Allocation 1,400 tickets

Standatd Ticket Prices are as follows:
£45 Adults, £35.50 18-20 yrs, £26 Over-65s/16-17's & £12 Under-16s

Disabled Ticket Information
12 Wheelchair Bays & 2 Visually Impaired Free + complimentary carer
5 Ambulant seats = £45 Adults, £35.50 18-20's, £26 Over-65s/16-17's & £12 Under-16s + Carer Complimentary

There are some (small) fees for booking charges. Coach up is £36 for non-members.
 
Spuff said:
From WHU website

Manchester United v West Ham United
The F.A. Cup with Budweiser - Third Round Replay
Wednesday 16 January 2013 - 8.05pm k/o - Live on ITV
Allocation 1,400 tickets

Standatd Ticket Prices are as follows:
£45 Adults, £35.50 18-20 yrs, £26 Over-65s/16-17's & £12 Under-16s

Disabled Ticket Information
12 Wheelchair Bays & 2 Visually Impaired Free + complimentary carer
5 Ambulant seats = £45 Adults, £35.50 18-20's, £26 Over-65s/16-17's & £12 Under-16s + Carer Complimentary

There are some (small) fees for booking charges. Coach up is £36 for non-members.
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yeah, so where does it mention £52 ...again...it is scaremongering.

And I think the allocation is wrong too, it should read nearer 10k as there is a minimum for FA cup matches as a percentage of the normal gate..... it used to be 25% but that has been reduced depending on amount of season ticket holders per venue.
 
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tiler65 said:
yeah, so where does it mention £52 ...again...it is scaremongering.

And I think the allocation is wrong too, it should read nearer 10k as there is a minimum for FA cup matches as a percentage of the normal gate..... it used to be 25% but that has been reduced depending on amount of season ticket holders per venue.
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From the DM article it says the allocation is 15%. And based on Old Trafford capacity of 76000, then 15% is 11400. So most likely a typo on the WHU site.

Interesting that they stand to get 42.5% of the total gate receipts though!
 
I'm not sure if it's changed in the last year or two but around 2011 the FA rule was something along the lines of a 15% allocation for visiting supporters but Old Trafford was given dispenstation to offer 11% due to the 76,000 capacity. I think the figure they normally offer is around 8,500

Exact allocations also differ from stadium to stadium due to points of segregation and the location of exits etc
 
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What a ridiculous article. The writer fails to mention the opponents and results, which may well have more of a reason to the lack of victories over that of a 'bad' referee. I'm sure there's a few more teams in the league who can point to similar results, over any given time, with any given ref.

The fact that is was a red card any day of the week for Koscielny seems to bypass most Gooners.
 
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mindcrime said:
What a ridiculous article. The writer fails to mention the opponents and results, which may well have more of a reason to the lack of victories over that of a 'bad' referee. I'm sure there's a few more teams in the league who can point to similar results, over any given time, with any given ref.

The fact that is was a red card any day of the week for Koscielny seems to bypass most Gooners.
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It's not ridiculous (despite the fact it's the Daily Mail :D). What it points to is a startling discrepancy in results. I'm sure if you compared our results with and without Mike Dean, a statistician would describe that variance as 'statistically significant'.

I'm reluctant to engage in the discussion for fear of being put in the camp of conspiracy theorist, but there's something in these results that needs explaining.

Note our only win with Dean in the last 17 games we've played was our first 5-2 win over Spurs last year. That's the same game where Bale was awarded a penalty incorrectly and there was an odd jump that looked vaguely celebratory by Dean when Saha scored.

I'm not suggesting that Koscielny shouldn't have been sent off, in fact I'm yet to see an Arsenal fan that has, but there was a lot more in that game that was wrong. Garcia and Silva hacked at Wilshere all game and it wasn't until something like the 70th minute that the ref even addressed it.

Conversely, once the game was dead and buried there was a dubious red for Kompany and cards against City appeared more proactively, whi.ch points to other problems with how accurately the game was officiated

I'm not saying there's some conspiracy, bias, anti-arsenal, pro-united or any such thing, but that is a damning statistic that a team who wins more often than not should suffer so many defeats at the hands of a single ref. That alone is worthy of being looked into and explained.

By all means look into the statistics for other teams and find similar discrepancies if you want to prove that it's nothing to be concerned by.
 
Well, a quick look on a ref's site, Soccerbase and for one ref, Martin Atkinson who I've always felt gave us (Everton) a bad deal in games has these stats from the 20 games he's officiated in:

Won 5
Drawn 4
Lost 12

Granted not as bad as the 1 win for Arsenal with Dean, but still shows what I was thinking.
 
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TriggerHappy said:
This is brilliant, Joey Barton can't go more than a couple of hours without running his mouth about something!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...in-frankly-hilarious-Twitter-altercation.html
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You really couldn't make it up, I actually watched that car crash in slow motion earlier. Embarrassing that he's still officially a QPR player. oh, and I've made a correction to your post. ;)


In other news, it looks like we're about to gazump Newcastle for Marseille's Loic Remy. Not sure whether it's a good thing or not. More money thrown at a problem with a rumoured salary of £80k per week!
 
Looks like M'Vila is most likely to be heading your way for £8m as well. Wheeler dealer 'arry at it again.

I'll be so happy once he finally moves somewhere! 18 months of Arsenal fans banging on about him when I don't even think he's the type (personality wise) of player we need.

It's funny to see how Rennes were holding out for £17m in the summer and now they're willing to settle for just £8m. It shows what hype and agents can do to build up a player's value, and how a few questions over a player's discipline can bring that valuation crashing back down.
 
Apparently there were rumours the other day that Arsenal were going to hijack the Remy deal but that appears to have come to nothing.

As for M'Vila, I'm not sure we need yet another midfielder, especially one that's going to cost tat amount of money. On Saturday we had a defensive triangle of Hill, Nelsen & Derry, each of them is 35,a combined age of 105!! Nelsen will be leaving shortly to take up his post as head coach of Toronto FC so this is the area we need to concentrate on.
 
fabs said:
Apparently there were rumours the other day that Arsenal were going to hijack the Remy deal but that appears to have come to nothing.

As for M'Vila, I'm not sure we need yet another midfielder, especially one that's going to cost tat amount of money. On Saturday we had a defensive triangle of Hill, Nelsen & Derry, each of them is 35,a combined age of 105!! Nelsen will be leaving shortly to take up his post as head coach of Toronto FC so this is the area we need to concentrate on.
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I can't see that we need another striker. I really don't understand the calls for it. In Giroud, Walcott (if he signs) and Podolski we have 3 great alternatives. Podolski really does deserve a go through the centre.

What we really lack is a defensive midfielder, a wide option (why has Ramsey been playing wide left and right?!) and left back cover for Gibbs. If we're doing a wishlist you could add a world class CB and a mature goalkeeper to help drive Szczesny on some more.

Whether we'll see even 1 established player sign is a whole other question!
 
TriggerHappy said:
I can't see that we need another striker. I really don't understand the calls for it. In Giroud, Walcott (if he signs) and Podolski we have 3 great alternatives. Podolski really does deserve a go through the centre.

What we really lack is a defensive midfielder, a wide option (why has Ramsey been playing wide left and right?!) and left back cover for Gibbs. If we're doing a wishlist you could add a world class CB and a mature goalkeeper to help drive Szczesny on some more.

Whether we'll see even 1 established player sign is a whole other question!
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Just heard on SSN that you're back in for Wilfred Zaha. Can you see him choosing Arsenal over Man Utd?
 
fabs said:
Just heard on SSN that you're back in for Wilfred Zaha. Can you see him choosing Arsenal over Man Utd?
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I can't see us offering a better deal for him than United but he's a lifetime Arsenal fan so I only hope that can sway things our way. I think it's probably 70% in favour of United at this stage though.
 
TriggerHappy said:
I can't see us offering a better deal for him than United but he's a lifetime Arsenal fan so I only hope that can sway things our way. I think it's probably 70% in favour of United at this stage though.
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Didn't realise he was an Arsenal fan. Still think he'll go to Man Utd though.
 
TriggerHappy said:
I can't see that we need another striker. I really don't understand the calls for it. In Giroud, Walcott (if he signs) and Podolski we have 3 great alternatives. Podolski really does deserve a go through the centre.

What we really lack is a defensive midfielder, a wide option (why has Ramsey been playing wide left and right?!) and left back cover for Gibbs. If we're doing a wishlist you could add a world class CB and a mature goalkeeper to help drive Szczesny on some more.

Whether we'll see even 1 established player sign is a whole other question!
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2 world class cb are needed. All 3 currently are very hit and miss.
 
dinners said:
Did you watch Holloway talking about the move a couple of nights ago on Sky ?

http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,26924_8389406,00.html
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fabs said:
Gotta love Ollie. He's the reason I actually have fond memories of being in League 1. :D
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It was a good watch - even if Holloway goes round in circles whenever he tries to explain anything.

That's only the snippit about Zaha's proposed move but his views on agents were interesting.

In short he said that when one of his players is linked with a move away from the club - he sees it has his duty to do the best for that player.

He said that agents that have nothing to do with the player or the proposed buying club all then hassle the player trying to get him to join them with the promise of making this happen or making that happen or getting this wage and that wage etc.

He goes on to say that he explains to the player that the only person who can make a deal happen is him and as long as they continue to graft for the team he will help the player progress and get best deal for him and the club.

The bit not on the clip is where he all but says that his plan is to do the deal (to options open) in January but keep him till the summer.
 
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PMK said:
So when players go out of form you expect the club to buy new players instantly?! No club does that.

Mertesacker has been good when played, no idea why Wenger decided not to start him on Sunday.
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No, Vermaelen has been out of form for a year now. After his first season I thought he was the best CB in the Prem. Far too many shocking games. Koscielny is annoying, does play well for a spell but a liability as you never know what he may do next (as seen on Sun). Mets has improved but none of these 3 would get into the top teams. Mets is not good against pace so needs to be played in the right games.
 
Good solid performance tonight from a pretty much 2nd string side. Stand out performances from Bothroyd, Faurlin & Mackie not to mention some great saves from Green. That's what I could make out from the radio commentary anyway. :gag:

That's 4 games since New Year (2 of those games played with mosty 2nd choice players). 2 away wins, 2 draws, only 1 goal conceded, 3 clean sheets and all against top half premier league opposition. Certainly reasons for cautious optimism.
 
fabs said:
Good solid performance tonight from a pretty much 2nd string side. Stand out performances from Bothroyd, Faurlin & Mackie not to mention some great saves from Green. That's what I could make out from the radio commentary anyway. :gag:

That's 4 games since New Year (2 of those games played with mosty 2nd choice players). 2 away wins, 2 draws, only 1 goal conceded, 3 clean sheets and all against top half premier league opposition. Certainly reasons for cautious optimism.
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I've been relatively positive all season that we could stay if we got rid of Hughes, but after the Liverpool game I was demoralised to say the least. Looks like that was just a one off blip. I know most people think the spurs game was dull, but I loved it. There is finally a bit of feelgood and togetherness around the place - not quite the league one days you mention above, far from it, but you can feel the change.

Why we are trying to sign two central midfielders is beyond me - a central defender or two is what we need if Nelsen is going - and a striker would be nice - looks like Remy is on his way - at least we are learning our lessons about not signing players only here for the money!
 
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