Rushian

To be honest Dus I don't think Rafa leaving would be much of a problem for us. We'd get a big compensation settlement and could cash in on a couple of the Spanish investments (alonso/Garcia) allowing the new manager an extremely healthy pot of cash to start with. Managers leave, clubs move on. You only really get in trouble when the manager becomes so incompetent you have to pay him off and he leaves you a set of duds

I think there's been indicators for quite some time - Bascombe was suggesting as much as early as the start of the year when in an Echo piece he said things had advanced on the investment front. And we know separate to this we were still in discussions with Kraft in December as he flew in personally for another meeting (having met the finance bods in Liverpool in July and in October over in the States). You can also throw in the very delayed AGM, and comments there on investment. Also titbits on the stadium I've posted on here such as the reduction in the amount we were asking from the grant-funding bodies. And much of this is why I (and others like Dus no doubt) have cautioned against those slagging off the board for "lack of progress" and "missed opportunities". I still remain to be convinced that a) opportunities have been missed in the last two years thanks to "dithering" or "incompetence" b) football investment, particularly the right kind, grows on trees. So in the same way I urged caution then, I urge caution now in assuming everything is hunky dory and we've reached the end of the rainbow to find the pot of oil/steel/gold/bricks/Thai rice.

Just urging caution before everyone gets a bit giddy.

Just providing further information. Knowledge is power after all.

It's a Koptalk rumour.

Both totally overplayed. We haven't announced ANY investment and Rafa wasn't effectively close to quitting the club.

there's also the possibility of strategic partnerships such as that we have with Orange, LG Mobile etc Real Madrid and Man Utd have deals with Audi for instance.

Just merely cautioning against over-reading between the lines as so many seem to want to do.

He did but failed to spend it

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He may have, but until/if things are signed, sealed and delivered we've had no investment and he's likely to get 15-20m net to spend in the summer as per usual. Just adding a touch of realism to the helium-fuelled squeaks from many of the posters

I blame deloitte then Doesn't take a lot of common sense though for any journo's bells to ring and say "that doesn't make sense". The BBC's website is particularly appalling at anything like this.

some guy's post has since been deleted for being absolute b******s

there's been no news

Bit disappointing that the FT would get such a fundamental thing wrong with regards to Arsenal. Yes the Emirates deal is worth 10m a year but it's for both the stadium naming rights (3m a year) and shirt sponsorship (7m a year) so you have to subtract the value of the existing shirt sponsorship contract. Leaving them only 3-4m a year better off which is a 33-34% improvement.

Writes for the Financial Times now.

Last I heard we'd reduced/rejigged the ask to 12m and there was only a couple of million difference between us and the NWDA before being recently told they'd "come on board". Not me. That was Alan Edge, Tim Kelly and Will Melia.

Financially it would be better to stay at 45000 than expand the Main Stand.

cue a 20 page thread based on the revelation "we might sign three players this summer" .... ... and in breaking news iceberg sinks Titanic.

The new stadium would be 15000 more than the current one but it's all the other facilities that would be built that would also help enormously on the revenue front. Starting again with the main stand is simply not an option.

He signed a new contract before Christmas - think it runs till the summer of 2009.

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Doesn't happen - only supporters clubs who get away tickets are those with season tickets and they have to apply in the same way the rest of the ST holders do with the same conditions regarding credits etc I was suggesting Andy sets up his own travel only supporters club for him and his well heeled mates

set up your own away supporters club. Can set your own rules then.