From: Raj :Unethical business practice
Completely agree with Alex D, no need to write anything about the Watford game you’ll sound like a broken record.
A lot of neutrals don’t understand why Arsenal fans seem to think they have a right to complain about anything.
My best mate is a Palace ST holder and he laughs when I complain, he says “Poor you, you get to sit in a fancy stadium every week, see the likes of Ozil and Sanchez in your team, play in the champions league every year.”
I think it’s a view shared by many neutrals. I think it’s also a view that many neutrals and Arsenal fans share to empower the “be careful what you wish for” message when it comes to wanting changes at Arsenal.
But these people just don’t understand.
They don’t understand where the crux of the frustration comes from, and partly I think that’s because a lot of the frustrated ones struggle to articulate why the feelings of resentment, unfairness and helplessness come from. I’m going to have a stab although I’m sure I’ll struggle myself.
Arsenal has become an immensely immoral institution applying a business practice to a unique industry which is unethical to apply this practice to.
It’s quite simple. You want to buy a TV so you go look for one that meets your requirements. You buy the TV and If the TV does a good job you may retain some loyalty to the brand. So then when your TV eventually needs replacement, you may choose to go buy the same brand. If the TV didn’t do a good job, you may replace it with a different brand. It’s YOUR choice and your prerogative.
So if a brand does well they may keep their prices high, but again if it’s too high versus what they offer and consumers can get elsewhere, customers leave.
This basic dynamic of business is what keeps businesses motivated to maintain high standards, improve when needed and develop unique selling points – essentially this relationship creates a fair market. The dynamic exists on the fact that consumers are free to change their brand if they wish.
In football, you cannot do this. The same dynamic which you need to create this relationship does not exist. Fans cannot be treated like customers because fans will stay loyal regardless of the performance.
Fans stay loyal because of the emotional attachments they have to the club. Whether it be the fact that it’s a family tradition or they grew up in the area or their Uncle’s friend played for the club and gave them a signed shirt when they were 5. They can’t switch from Arsenal to Leicester just because they prefer Leicester as a product. It’s not how the business works.
Arsenal use the fact that football as a business lacks those dynamics, in conjunction with the commercial set-up and positioning of the club, to take the decision that the business can remain optimally profitable through ensuring they remain in the top 4. Aspiring for anything more is not good business in a business where your customers will not change product.
The worst bit about all of this is everyone at the club buys into it whether they realise it or notThe board and the manager are crystal clear about the approach and they endorse it 100%.
The players (who many may actually be stupid enough to not see the approach) get paid enough money to shut up and not hand in transfer requests, but neither are they challenged enough mentally to want the big trophies.
I firmly believe the players are slowly worn down into believing that winning isn’t everything, and staying true to a philosophy and winning only based on that is the only way. The players slowly drink from same cup without even realising. When a player is brave enough to do so, they’re replaced usually by a cheaper alternative.
Many people point to the fact that we signed Ozil, Sanchez and Cech as “proof” that we have ambition to win titles.
Seriously? Wenger is a clever guy. He had the foresight to know that the Premier League was going to get more competitive. More teams were going to be challenging for fourth. Those signings were made because he and the board knew they had to make them to make sure they could stay in the top 4. Not because they wanted to win the league or the UCL. If they really wanted to win the big trophies, why add such quality but leave such glaring weaknesses in other areas?
So back to the original point. Why are Arsenal fans so frustrated? We’re being emotionally exploited to fund a vehicle which aims to keep a bunch of power and money-hungry individuals very powerful and very rich, and no-one of influence in the club cares in the slightest.
Myles says:
If you’re a businessman, fourth is a trophy because it’s big $$$$
We’ll never know how much money Kroenke is taking out of Arsenal, and whether he is pumping it into his US franchises.
From Pete : Is hoping Spurs win the greatest sin?
In the early part of the season I wrote saying that to get any change I hoped Spurs finish above Arsenal.
Should they actually win the Premiership it would be their first since 1961. Contrast that with Arsenal’s 11 years of pathetic attempts.
Regretfully, I hope they do, because imagine the revolt by virtually all Arsenal fans, making those current banners pale into insignificance. Bring it on!
Myles says:
Half the punters at the Emirates don’t feel the rivalry as you do, Pete.
It’s not in their blood.
Highbury the Library has been turned into the Ashburton Grove shopping mall. Banners and chants are not allowed in a shopping mall and if you stand up, the stewards will make you sit down.
The Arsenal Corporation wants passive, sells passive, insists on passive, rejects any alternatives to passive.