AGM: Angst, Grumbles and Moaning

1,158 comments October 26th, 2012

Before you read this piece, I highly recommend the excellent write-up of the AGM by Hayley Wright for Arseblog News.  It gives you all the relevant detail on the piece, and makes sense of everything that follows this.

We’ll never know now, but if Arsenal had gone in to this AGM on the back of two victories rather than two defeats, I suspect it would have been a rather different affair.  Not in terms of content: many of the points raised by the shareholders yesterday would remain valid.  I can’t help but feel, however, that the tone would have been rather different.  Reports of yesterday’s meeting sound more like a stroppy teenager questioning a belligerent parent than any kind of constructive debate.

In the rather catty dialogue, both parties are at fault.  The heckling and jeering from the supporters who were present simply does not help.  Nor does the patronising and dismissive tone employed by chairman Peter Hill-Wood.  By the end of yesterday’s events things seem to have taken on a pantomimic tone, and the result is a plethora of headlines about “revolt” and “restless natives”.

I think it is possible to ask probe and even pressurise, to drive at the heart of the matter, and ask the questions that sorely need to be asked without resorting to the bitter register adopted yesterday.  I think that a man standing up and asking how he is supposed to explain to his ten-year old son that Robin van Persie has left is adopting emotive language that adds little to the debate.  His ten year old son will cope.  There are plenty of men entering their forties now who survived Liam Brady’s departure for Juventus, and most of them seem to have escaped any lasting damage.

Whilst I don’t doubt that some of the fans present at the AGM are experts in football finance, I do feel that the majority of our fanbase seem very quick to forge opinions on the economic policy of our club without the necessary expertise to undertake such a role.  I would refer such fans to the Q&A with Tom Fox and Mark Gonella, our Head of Marketing and Head of Communications respectively.  From my unashamedly ill-informed perspective, this new team do seem to know what they’re doing.  Granted, their appointments could have come sooner, but it’s better late than never, and news of a forthcoming £25m kit deal with Adidas is evidence of the work they’re undertaking.

I have to say that as a rule I’m far more interested in events on the field of play.  It’s when economic matters impact upon our performance on the pitch that my interest is piqued.

In general, I’m a fan of the “self-sufficient model”.  It is not just admirable – if FFP does come in to play, it will swiftly become necessary.  However, I do understand some fans’ concerns that our penny-pinching is leading to stagnation.  The question has to be asked: Self-sufficiency is all very well, but what exactly are we sustaining?  A competitive team?  Not really.  The status of the club?  Barely.  We’re sustaining a very functional, very well run business.  We won’t be going under any time soon; everyone gets paid on time; debt is minimal.  But all the while we tick over, trophyless in fourth spot, our stock falls just a little.  Talismanic players continue to leave, and we’re perceived as a feeder club to Europe’s giants.

Arsene, of course, would argue that we’re not truly ‘trophyless’.  In an intriguing speech, he said:

“For me, there are five trophies – the first is to win the Premier League, the second is to win the Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League, the fourth is to win the FA Cup and the fifth is to win the League Cup.

I say that because if you want to attract the best players, they do not ask: ‘did you win the League Cup?’, they ask you: ‘do you play in the Champions League?

I say that as well, because recently we had a meeting in Geneva about when a manager is in some situations, what does he do? For example, a guy came out with a problem. He said ‘I played the semi-final of the Europa League at home and three days later, I played the decisive game in the championship to qualify for the Champions League.

And I was thinking ‘what do I do?’ Do I go for the semi-final of the Europa League? Or do I go for the qualifier in the Champions League?’ And the whole meeting was about that decision.

What came out as a 90 per cent conclusion, is that all the managers said ‘if you take care of you, you go for the semi-final of the Europa League. If you take care of the club, you go for the Champions League position.’ And that’s what we do, always.”

It’s an interesting debate – one that’s almost too big to open within this blog.  In Arsene’s defence, I’ll say this: every so often, such as in the light of Wednesday’s defeat to Schalke, I’ll hear fans saying: “Maybe it’d be better if we didn’t qualify for the Champions League one year.  That’s shake things up at last; show the board.”

Let me tell you now: no good would come of such a thing.  Would you rather win the League Cup and miss out on the top four?  Really?  I’ll give you one last chance to rethink that before I hit you with this: that’s what Liverpool did last year.  It got Kenny Dalglish sacked.  It meant the players they bought in the summer were from clubs like Swansea and Heerenveen.  They missed out on a player from Fulham – to Spurs, of all people.  They currently sit 12th in the table.  It is not a recipe for success.

Top players want to play in the Champions League.  And we need to top players in order to win a trophy.  The problem we currently have is that there are three sides in Britain who are comfortably better than us.  No Arsenal player in his right mind would move to another club other than that Chelsea, United and City.  From this position, we need to move up once more in to those echelons, not down to join the Liverpools of this world.  I think we’re one disastrous season away from that happening, and it doesn’t bear thinking about.

To move up, of course, requires investment.  I still believe we have the right manager.  I still, just about, believe we have the right board.  But whichever of those two entities truly holds the purse strings (and my firm belief remains that the reluctance to spend comes primarily from Arsene) needs to loosen up a bit.  Cazorla and Podolski show you don’t have to spend crazy money to get quality players.

If the AGM had been a month or so ago, it might have been a very self-satisfied affair.  The new signings looked inspired, we were defensively solid, and being talked about as genuine contenders.  That AGM would have been misleading: it would have overlooked some of the crucial issues that it was essential to raise yesterday.  But by the same token, a couple of bad results shouldn’t cast an ugly light across the entire club.  Arsenal don’t need saving: they just need to get a bit better.  Starting tomorrow.

Pssssst.  I found a few (a very few) of these in a cupboard.  Half a dozen, to be precise.  If you missed out on them last time, grab yours quickly.  But don’t talk too loudly about it.  We wouldn’t want to jinx anything.

Talking About A Revolution

105 comments July 6th, 2012

I’m not going to call this a blog. I’m going to call it a statement. I’m not going to publish it, I’m going to release it. This, it seems, is the new vogue. Less than 24 hours after Robin van Persie rocked the boat with his public declaration, Alisher Usmanov’s Red & White sought to tip it over with a few words of their own. As I said on Twitter: Robin turned on the fan; Usmanov’s arrival on the scene was the shit. Cue mess.

The statement, which arrived in the form of a public (or at the very least deliberately leaked letter) to Arsenal’s board members, can be read in its entirety here. If you haven’t yet, I suggest you give it a once over. At first glance, it’s stirring stuff: a vision of a debt-free club, able to compete for the most talented players and the most prestigious trophies. It’s a rallying cry to a disenfranchised fanbase to rise up, and put the sword to their indulgent, swan-eating stadium-building Etonian oppressors. But before you pick up your pitchfork and find a set of stocks perfectly sized to encase the round head of Ivan Gazidis, stay a while, for in my mind echoes the nasal voice of my GCSE History teacher, Mr. Kinder. He taught us about some of history’s greatest movements: the English civil War; the French Revolution; the American uprising. Whatever the setting, his mantra remained the same: “When assessing evidence, always consider the source”.

Now Mr. Kinder was a strange man. Very slightly built, and seemingly demure, but with the capacity for astonishing outbursts of anger. Imagine if Martin O’Neill was anaemic, and a teacher. But he did know a thing or too about history. Admittedly he knew almost nothing about football, but that’s not relevant in this instance.

He did know that when people say something they’ll often do so with a motive. And there was a word for that, I seem to remember. It was called ‘propaganda’. Propaganda, for those who did not have the benefit of Mr. Kinder’s guidance, is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of community toward some cause or position. And that’s exactly what Alisher Usmanov is trying to do.

I have to credit his PR people. They’ve managed to turn many fans’ opinions of him around entirely, from a predatory villain in to a red and white knight, say bestride what must an incredibly strong horse. He’s cleverly turning the debate from ‘Why not to support Usmanov’ to ‘Why should we support Kroenke?’, and it’s working in his favour.

I don’t quite buy it, though. My primary objection is this: Red & White state in their letter they “will never do anything that would destabilize or “create conflict” at the Club”. And yet at this very moment in time that is exactly what they, like Robin, are doing.

Wherever you stand on Red & White and the current board, I’m sure we all agree that this kind of public bickering is altogether unseemly. Unfortunately I don’t expect it to end any time soon.

Here’s a quick run down of what else is happening in the Arsenalsphere:

_ The club have cancelled a planned trip to Nigeria this summer. It’s a big shame for our fans over there, who must rightly feel a little jealous of that fact we’re going to Asia for a second consecutive summer, but I’m sure the club will make sure we recognise our huge African fanbase sooner rather than later.

_ Terry Burton has been appointed as Reserve Team Manager and Head Development Coach, essentially taking on some of the duties previously belonging to Steve Bould and Neil Banfield. The guy is Arsenal through and through and everyone around the club tells he he’s perfect for the job. Here’s a nice story about how he helped Aaron Ramsey to turn down Manchester United and sign for us.

_ Denilson has extended his loan spell with Sao Paolo for a further twelve months. Nice guy though he is, it tells you a lot about the disproportionate amount of money he was being paid that an Arsenal that we’ve had such trouble moving him on. At the end of this loan spell, his contract will be just a year from expiry – it wouldn’t surprise me if we never receive any true transfer fee for him at all.

_ Finally for today, have a read of this from Robin van Persie in 2008. How things change.

Stan breaks silence as Arsene hits 15 years

27 comments September 30th, 2011

Until now, the most we’ve heard from Stan Kroenke was a fictitious rap rant at Arsene Wenger.  Finally, he has broken his silence to give an exclusive interview to The Telegraph.  It is a fascinating and essential read.  What’s immediately clear is that Stan comes across as undeserving of his “silent” epithet – he seems warm, conversational and good-humoured.  I think his silence until now has been down to two things: a desire not to disrupt those who run the club day-to-day, and a geographical distance.

The headlines have been made by his declared support for Arsene Wenger.  Kroenke says:

“You know something: Arsène is one of my favourite people I have met in the last 20 years. He is a great person and I love the way he handles himself. I love his focus. He is a very intelligent guy. You can talk to him about anything and, when he starts talking to people, I really love to listen to him. He should hold seminars he is so good at it.

I have tremendous confidence in him. He is one of the great managers in the world.”

That vote of confidence, very much along the lines of Ivan Gazidis’ words to the press last week, won’t surprise anyone.  And as a businessman, his admiration for Arsene’s ability to “spend money and extract value” is clear.

Whilst he would clearly prefer to marry economic stability with success on the pitch (“It’s much more fun when you win”), after the sales of Cesc and Nasri – both deals, apparently, were Arsene’s decision – the new owner seems to be admitting that we may be in a period of transition.

“Maybe it is one of those times when we have to work our way through, maybe with some young players. Arsène has been really good at developing these guys, people like Alex Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere.There are some really good players that Arsène thinks can be special.

Sometimes you go through periods like that. Arsène’s our man. As an owner, that’s who we put our confidence in.”

Anyone hoping for a quick-fix injection of cash is going to be disappointed.  Kroenke is not about to play the generous benefactor, and hopes to continue with the club’s current model of self-sufficiency:

“Some people want their private benefactor. I don’t think it is sustainable. Maybe it is, maybe it [football] will always be the one place where there will be guys coming who are willing to pour money in. I don’t know. We have a self-sustaining model. We are committed to that model.”

In the meantime, he’ll be working alongside Gazidis to try and increase commercial revenue and increase our spending power in line with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations.

All in all, I think Kroenke comes across well.  He’s got a huge track record in sport, which is more than can be said for the majority of foreign owners, and is clearly passionate about the club and its values.  I look forward to his presence at Arsenal’s forthcoming AGM.

The quotes emerge on a significant anniversary for Arsenal Football Club.  It is 15 years to the day since Arsene Wenger officially took the reins as Arsenal manager.  It’s an extraordinary legacy, comprising an enormous contribution to English football in terms of both entertainment and education.  At this auspicious date falls, Arsene finds himself under great scrutiny than ever.  As Kroenke puts it:

“There are always going to be people with a point of view, particularly in this internet-laden 24-hour news cycle with the ability for anyone to say anything. That’s just part of the game. Sure it is a challenging start to the season. I know everyone thinks it is always going to be like that [pointing upwards], but it’s not. We would all love it if it did.

If you look at the Arsenal’s history, it has not always been that way. To finish in the top four 14 times in a row is just unbelievable.”

Unbelievable indeed.  We will look back on Arsene’s reign in awe.  Win on Sunday, and we might even start enjoying it in the present again.

Truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan (Kroenke)

592 comments August 9th, 2011

Since buying Arsenal, Stan Kroenke has truly lived up to his reputation for being ‘Silent’. Until now.

Gunnerblog has uncovered correspondence between Kroenke and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, set to the tune of Eminem and Dido’s hit, ‘Stan’. Enjoy.

Thanks to David Rudnick for that remarkable Japan rhyme. I might be back later today with more bloggery – it’s a big week at Arsenal.


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