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When the Forbes list of the richest clubs in international soccer was released last week&nbsp;it was no shock to ?nd Arsenal third on the list. Coincidentally on the same day Arsenal’s&nbsp;manager Arsene Wenger came out with the not so surprising comment that despite the&nbsp;likely availability of transfer funds there would be no major changes at Arsenal this&nbsp;offseason. This of course was met with the understandable fan reaction of disgust that&nbsp;the current underperforming will again return next season for yet another encore&nbsp;performance. However there is another attitude amongst Arsenal fans, one that is spoonfed by the club that is lapped up by it’s more “loyal” fans.
The Arsenal hierarchy often point to the remaining debt from the move to the Emirates&nbsp;as the reason for the club’s frugality. However the truth of the matter is this is merely club propaganda. When you consider that even most successful&nbsp;businesses operate with some level of debt, Arsenal by most accounts is and should be&nbsp;the model for how to run a successful football club. That is of course unless you are a&nbsp;fan. You see the key to running a successful club as a business is to remain competitive&nbsp;while keeping operating costs down, mainly by not paying high salaries and transfer&nbsp;fees. Wenger and Arsenal are the best in the world at this when you consider they&nbsp;challenge every season for the Premier League title and qualify for the Champions&nbsp;League, an honor that brings even more income to the club. The actual winning of a&nbsp;championship would be an added bonus of course but it is not worth enough&nbsp;economically at the cost of raising payroll.
So why is it that Arsenal fans defend a philosophy that is all about maximizing pro?ts for&nbsp;the club while only providing a competitive product on the ?eld? This attitude would&nbsp;bother me less as a fan of a team I knew to be limited ?nancially, but this just isn’t the&nbsp;case at Arsenal. They are a global brand with a growing following here in the U.S. &nbsp;Where the Premier League is enjoying a level of success that has not been seen for&nbsp;soccer in this country since the Cosmos. I will never understand the mentality of the&nbsp;Arsenal fan who points to the clubs ?nancial standing as a badge of honor. I don’t feel&nbsp;the fans should be content merely with being competitive when being elite is clearly&nbsp;within their grasp. This will only elevate this transfer period if Cesc Fabregas, a long&nbsp;rumored target of Barcelona, is sold to the Spanish giants. If this happens and the 30 to&nbsp;40 million pounds is not reinvested in the club, maybe then people will realize what is&nbsp;really the long and short term goals at Arsenal.
Also making things even more&nbsp;complicated is the impending takeover by now majority shareholder Stan Kroenke. How&nbsp;will his philosophy and vision for the club mesh with Wenger’s? Hard to believe this&nbsp;wouldn?t be a match made in heaven. Wenger is any owner’s dream.

Why Do Arsenal Fans Take Pride in the Financial Solvency of their Club? - World Soccer Talk

Why Do Arsenal Fans Take Pride in the Financial Solvency of their Club?

Several teams have managed to put together some pretty decent runs in the Championship this season. All of them, though, are susceptible to poor form and bad results. This is partly because this is a tight league with little difference between top and bottom – especially compared with the Premier League – but also because few teams have the resources to really cope with injuries or suspensions.<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
Newcastle apart, it’s Queens Park Rangers who have probably received the most praise and media coverage over the last couple of months. Goals have been flying in from all angles, Derby were humiliated on terrestrial television and the passing style insisted upon by Jim Magilton has led to the club being dubbed ‘The Arsenal of the Championship’ on more than one occasion.
QPR, though, have problems. First of all they failed to find much flow against Leicester live on Sky and their winning run came to an abrupt end. A few days later they were denied again by a hard working Palace side who held them to a 1-1 draw. Even Rangers’ recent victory at Sheffield Wednesday needed a late winner to patch over a lack of fluency.
The cliche is that the top teams win even when they are playing badly, so in that respect the win at Hillsborough was an encouraging sign. Yet despite the individual brilliance of Akos Buzsaky, Adel Taraabt amd Wayne Routledge, QPR fans harbour concerns about how far their team can go this season.
The reason for this is The Captain Curse. Five separate players have already led the team out this season. Four of those players are currently injured. If Mikele Leigertwood was to be crocked in training this week, the chances are a sixth name would be added to that list. It’s only November!
Rangers are currently chronically low on genuine leadership. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of endeavour. Defender Peter Ramage has a tremendous attitude. Wayne Routledge’s work ethic is outstanding for such a creative footballer. Jay Simpson is a tireless worker up front. But it feels like a quiet dressing room. Teams going for promotion need defiance, they need players in the team that will drive them forward when the going is tough. Sometimes, just playing great football isn’t quite enough.
It all started when poor Martin Rowlands suffered a second cruciate injury in a year while playing in a friendly for the Republic of Ireland, ruling him out for the rest of the season. It was a cruel blow for the QPR captain and also for the team because his energy, his drive and his snappy tackling add an extra dimension to the squad. Gavin Mahon took over the armband and the matchday programme notes as Rowlands prepared for a season watching from the sidelines. Mahon will have been with the club for two years in January and during that time he never missed a game through injury – until about a fortnight ago. He’s now out for four months following knee surgery. While not always a first team regular, Mahon is nevertheless a real leader and was captain of Watford the last time they paid a brief visit to the Premier League.
With defender Fitz Hall seemingly unable to put together a run of games in a QPR shirt without suffering injury, Rangers are certainly lacking a genuine captain. The possible signing on a permanent deal of current loan player Ben Watson in January would help (not least because QPR’s central midfield is now looking a bit thin), but ideally Rangers probably need something extra.
If the club is still in the top six after Christmas, it seems likely that Jim Magilton will be asking Chairman Flavio Briatore for a little more investment (Russell Martin of Peterborough is one name that has already been rumoured in the press). A couple of wise additions in January may well be enough to push Rangers over the line and back into the top flight for the first time in 14 years… unless The Captain Curse continues to strike down QPR’s leaders.

Can QPR Cope With The Captain Curse? - World Soccer Talk

Can QPR Cope With The Captain Curse?

It’s difficult to argue too much with Newcastle’s recent decision to appoint Chris Hughton as their permanent manager. After all, Newcastle are two points clear at the top of the table, averaging two points per game and are undefeated at home.
<div id="attachment_674" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Can Chris Hughton give The Toon what they want?</div>
Yet if I was a Newcastle fan I would have deep concerns about the decision. When Middlesbrough finally took the plunge and ditched the clearly struggling Gareth Southgate, they did not mess about. They appointed Gordon Strachan, a man with genuine experience and a history of success. He has won Championships. He even took Southampton to an FA Cup Final.
Newcastle, meanwhile, appointed Chris Hughton, who has never taken sole charge of a team until this season. I’m not sure how much debate this caused in Geordieland, but whatever discussion it may have generated has surely been totally engulfed by the latest embarrassment to crawl out of a once proud club. When Newcastle take on Peterborough this weekend, you may have read, the two teams will no longer be running out into the historic cauldron of football known as St James’ Park. They’ll be running out into something called ‘sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park’.
Without a doubt, the stupidest, nonsensical and downright insulting renaming of a football ground in history.
But let’s get back to my point. The Championship is now beginning to settle down and while Newcastle still lead the pack, only an extremely blinkered fan would suggest they are certainties for promotion. By all accounts their victory against Sheffield United this week was rather fortunate, as was their draw with QPR and their narrow victory over lowly Doncaster.
At the moment, the quality that United have in the likes of Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez and Steven Taylor is seeing them through. They do have good options up front, but this season will only get tougher as Championship sides figure out ways to counteract their play.
While things are going well Hughton may be able to keep a steady hand on the tiller. But when they hit their inevitable sticky patch, does Hughton really have the nous, the personality or the experience to drag his team through it?
Last season, Birmingham City pretty much achieved promotion through an edge in quality and the bloody-mindedness of manager Alex McLeish. They were never particularly impressive, certainly never as effective as Wolves, but they grabbed the points when it mattered. As the winter months draw in, will Hughton be able to withstand the pressure of expectation?
True, Newcastle are top, but just six points separate 1st place from 10th position (in contrast, eight points separate first from fourth in the Premier League). It is a tiny gap that could easily be breached in a matter of weeks. Several clubs are beginning to find their stride as well. QPR have been looking like an awesome attacking force. Leicester City are incredibly difficult to beat and have genuine quality up front. Cardiff have enough firepower to defeat anybody. West Brom just put five past Watford. Even Swansea are improving at a frightening rate under Paulo Sousa after a difficult start.
Can you imagine how these teams would have felt if Newcastle had chosen Strachan or Alan Curbishley or if they’d managed to tempt someone like Claudio Ranieri? Appointing career number twos very rarely works – something Sunderland found with Ricky Sbragia. You have to be more than a good coach.
Cardiff fans know only too well that a quick start in this league can mean very little come the end of the season. Newcastle may regret their inability to appoint a stronger, proven manager – or even a talismanic figure like Alan Shearer – when next May comes around. If we’re honest the appointment of Hughton would have been unthinkable even six months ago, and that’s no disrespect to a man who is undoubtedly a good coach and a genuine football man.
These days, very little at sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park surprises anyone anymore. Good luck to Chris Hughton – he’s going to need it.

Hughton's Appointment Is Great News For Rest Of The Championship - World Soccer Talk

Hughton's Appointment Is Great News For Rest Of The Championship

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Why Do Arsenal Fans Take Pride in the Financial Solvency of their Club?

Leagues: Championship

Can QPR Cope With The Captain Curse?

Leagues: Championship

Hughton's Appointment Is Great News For Rest Of The Championship