Is this what is wrong with Arsenal? or its the players?

by Raptorgunner Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:32 pm

Song’s departure has been accompanied by reports he was repeatedly late for training, was lazy and lacked discipline.

However this has provoked an angry reaction from those in the Song camp, who hotly denied the suggestions. “Alex Song was massively committed to Arsenal, he loved the club and was dying to sign a new contract,” Song's representative told Telegraph Sport.

“Alex Song was massively committed to Arsenal, he loved the club and was dying to sign a new contract,” Song's representative told Telegraph Sport.
“We tried six times to renegotiate his contract. They kept saying it has three years to run.

"They’d say things like ‘we’ll sit down in September, October,’ when at first they’d said it would happen in the summer.
“Then Barcelona came in and yet Alex still said he wanted a new contract. When they said we’d all sit down on 1 September that was the final straw.

“That shows disrespect to the player. Barcelona is a once-in-a-lifetime thing; you have to jump on that train when it comes.”
“They’re covering themselves because they’re being killed by the fans,” claimed the source. “I know it’s [a senior Arsenal executive] covering his a***.”

“He was one of the worst paid at the club,” said the source. “He was on about £55,000 a week and his performances deserved a pay rise. He became dissatisfied and upset. You can work out what’s going on there — the same’s happened with Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/9487891/Arsenal-did-not-sell-Alex-Song-to-Barcelona-because-of-his-unprofessional-attitude-midfielders-agent-insists.html

by mani88 Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:49 pm

If Wenger wants a player want to stay than I don't think this would have happened. If that's true than I would still trust Arsene. (He accepted that Song wanted more money hence wanted a new contract despite THREE YEARS left on his current contract)

by urbaNRoots Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:50 pm

Meh, Dein trying to wash shit with pee.

by Jay29 Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:59 pm

It's a bit of both, I think.

On one hand, the club has been negligent when it comes to renewing contracts which has put them in difficult negotiating positions.

On the other hand, players are being impatient and are demanding bigger wages for one good season. Song had three years left on his deal and was already on good money. He could've proved this season that he truly deserves to be up there with the club's top earners. Instead, he and his agent threw a hissy fit.

I can see the point of view of Song's party but I don't agree with it. He was earning good money with a good amount of time remaining, so it wasn't like his future wasn't secure. If he had stayed humble and patient, he probably would've gotten the deal he wanted.

I really dislike this attitude that players seem to have after one outstanding year. Flamini, Adebayor and Nasri all had it, too.

by Raptorgunner Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:30 pm

Song deserved a pay raise, how many of you would sit there and watch other useless players collect bigger pay cheque than you? I for one would never take that.

Song is gone, but how long will we sit here take this and allow players to leave and while we keep paying useless players crazy wages?

I dont think Wenger wanted Song to leave, I could be wrong though.

by Lex Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:38 pm

How much was Song on and what was he asking for?

by Sina Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:41 pm

JB ‏@gunnerpunner

Song on £55k p/w at Arsenal >> £27.5k after tax. Song on £70k p/w at Barca >> £52.5k after tax. Song's basically doubled his salary.

by EL Patron Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:42 pm

Raptorgunner wrote:Song deserved a pay raise, how many of you would sit there and watch other useless players collect bigger pay cheque than you? I for one would never take that.

Song is gone, but how long will we sit here take this and allow players to leave and while we keep paying useless players crazy wages?

I dont think Wenger wanted Song to leave, I could be wrong though.

He got greedy, if he really wanted to stay he would waited till the end of this season then signed a new deal.

by Jay29 Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:48 pm

Raptorgunner wrote:Song deserved a pay raise, how many of you would sit there and watch other useless players collect bigger pay cheque than you? I for one would never take that.

Personally, I wouldn't care what the guy next to me was earning so long as my own pay was respectable enough for what I do.

Giving players a pay rise on the basis that there other players earning as much or slightly more for doing less would inevitably exacerbate the problems with our wage structure. The wages given to Squillaci and Bendtner, for example, should not be used as a measuring stick because they're mistakes. They shouldn't be earning that much, but they are through a fault of our wage structure.

Song is gone, but how long will we sit here take this and allow players to leave and while we keep paying useless players crazy wages?

I dont think Wenger wanted Song to leave, I could be wrong though

For one thing, the club doesn't want to sit there and pay useless players crazy wages. We've been trying to get rid of these guys all summer.

Wenger wanted Song to wait a little bit, sit down and discuss a new contract and agree to a new deal. When it became apparent Song wasn't prepared to do this and that his agent was trying to engineer a move away, Wenger thought "*bleep* it" and sanctioned a move. Think you're better than the club? Get the 'eff out of Arsenal.

If Song had a year remaining on his deal, then the fault would lie almost entirely with the club for being too negligent. But in this case, Song had three years remaining. The club is well entitled to not to rush into renewing his deal.

You could argue "why not show faith in the player and reward him for his good form?". Well, just how do you think Denilson, Diaby and Bendtner ended up with such big salaries? They were given them on the basis they will turn into players good enough to deserve them. As we know, that failed pretty spectacularly.

Perhaps that has influenced Arsenal's thinking when it comes to renewing contracts.

by Rev Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:56 pm

Great point Jay. I would like to think that we've learned from our previous contract extension mistakes and have been a little more cautious when rewarding our players. Actually, this might be for the better.

In my opinion, this is like a filter. We separate those who truly want to be with us and are committed to this club. Frimpong would never stir shit up like Song. He would work hard and earn that extra 20k on the pitch. cheers

by Lex Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:01 pm

So it was all about money again :facepalm:

by Raptorgunner Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:07 pm

Song was not asking for crazy money and when Barcelona came, who would turn Barcelona down.

by Lex Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:10 pm

Someone who's ambition is life is to be more than a bit part player?

by urbaNRoots Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:03 pm

Raptorgunner wrote:Song was not asking for crazy money and when Barcelona came, who would turn Barcelona down.

There were still 3 YEARS TO GO mate, if Dein wouldn't turn his head around that easily he would be patient over his new improved contract. We know what happened with Adebayor, Bendtner, Denilson after 1-2 seasons of great display - so they tried the safe option.

He just wanted to go Barcelona end of story and Arsenal wont miss him if replaced correctly.

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