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Arsenal social media is full of panic as we approach the deadline day and ahead of that, the North London derby, with Arsenal proudly boasting two new free transfers and our rivals the 4th biggest net spenders currently in Europe.
Yesterday, the spending continued when they broke their transfer record for the 3rd time this window.
I thought we could have a bit of fun today on the eve of the first North London Derby of 2012/13.
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The media wet their collective knickers with excitement at the plethora of stellar incomings at the Lane this summer. At the same time, they are laughing into their collective pint glasses at the lack of activity at the Emirates.
Well, whilst we fans sit and collectively worry at what exactly Wenger and the Arsenal have planned for the next few days, let’s look back at the last 12 false dawns since ENIC arrived in Seven Sisters and super businessman Daniel Levy took the helm of the good ship Totteringham.
Simple facts suggest that this heavy outspending of Arsenal and the mass arrival of big names, who went on to under-deliver, is not a new North London trend!
Premiership False Dawn Number 1 2001/2
Arrivals included Dean Richards (RIP), Casey Keller, Christian Ziege and Goran Bunjevcevic (Who?).
Net Spend £8 million – 50 points, position 9th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Kolo, Gio and Sol (From a feeder club).
Net Spend £10 million – 87 points , Champions
Premiership False Dawn Number 2 – 2002/3
Arrivals included Robbie Keane, Helder Postiga and Jamie Redknapp.
Net Spend £13 million – 50 points, position 10th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Pascal Cygan and Gilberto.
Net Spend £6 million – 87 points, Runners Up
Premiership False Dawn Number 3 – 2003/4
Arrivals included Defoe, Paul Robinson, Michael Brown, Freddie Kanoute and Bobby Zamora.
Net Spend £14million – 45 points, position 14th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Lehmann, Reyes, Clichy ad Fabregas.
Net Spend £10 million – 90 points, Champions and Invincible
Premiership False Dawn Number 4 – 2004/5
Arrivals included Michael Dawson, Andy Reid, Pedro Mendes, and Michael Carrick.
Net Spend £11.5 million – 52 points, position 9th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Eboue, Flamini (1st time) and Almunia.
Net Spend £1.6 million – 83 points, Runners Up
Premiership False Dawn Number 5 – 2005/6
Arrivals included Berbatov, Jenas, Murphy, Davids, Huddlestone, Cerny, Lennon, Ghaly and more.
Net Spend £17.5million – 65 points, position 5th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Rosicky, Walcott, Adebayor, Hleb and Diaby.
Net Spend £10 million – 67 points, position 4th
Premiership False Dawn Number 6 – 2006/7
Arrivals included Bent, Bale, Chimbomba, Zokora, Mido, Malbranque and more.
Net Spend £23.8 million – 60 points, position 5th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Eduardo, Song, Gallas and Denilson.
Net Spend of MINUS £34 million – 68 points, position 4th
Premiership False Dawn Number 7 – 2007/8
Arrivals included Modric, Hutton, Woodgate, Boateng and Giovani.
Net Spend £17.5million – 46 points, position 11th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Ramsey, Nasri, Sagna and Diarra.
Net Spend £13 million – 83 points, position 3th
Premiership False Dawn Number 8 – 2008/9
Arrivals included Gomes, Keane again, Chimbomba again, Pavlyuchenko, Bentley, and Defoe again!
Net Spend £19.4 million – 51 points, position 8th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Arshavin and Silvestre.
Net Spend of MINUS £3.5 million – 72 points, position 4th
Premiership False Dawn Number 9 – 2009/10
Arrivals included Bassong, Crouch, Krancjar, and Kaboul again.
Net Spend of Minus £1million –70 points, position 4th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Vermaelen and Sol Campbell again.
Net Spend of MINUS £31 million – 75 points, position 3rd
Premiership False Dawn Number 10 – 2010/11
Arrivals included Van de Vaart, Gallas, and Pienaar.
Net Spend of £17.5 million –62 points, position 5th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Koscielney, Chamakh and Squillaci.
Net Spend of £6.8 million – 68 points, position 4rd
Premiership False Dawn Number 11 – 2011/12
Arrivals included Parker and Friedel.
Net Spend of MINUS £27 million – 69 points, position 4th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Mertesacker, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho and Jenkinson.
Net Spend of MINUS £17 million – 70 points, position 3rd
Premiership False Dawn Number 12 – 2012/13
Arrivals included Vertonghen, Adebayor, Dembele, Dempsey, Sigurdsson, Lorris and Holtby.
Net Spend of Minus £1.3 million –72 points, position 5th
Arsenal
Arrivals included Giroud, Cazorla, Poldolski and Monreal.
Net Spend of £8.6million – 73 points, position 4th
So Gunners, I think we can say with some certainty based on the above evidence, we have been here before. Daniel ‘Wheeler dealer’ Levy and his numerous changing managers have so far presided over a grand total of 12 false dawns, so let’s wait a tad longer once more for St Totteringham’s Day 2014.
Our squad is thin, but it is battle-hardened for this league and is demonstrating a collective spirit not seen since 2008 in my view.
