September 10th, 2008
Paul Donovan has left his post as CEO Central Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Affiliates of Vodafone Group Plc, and is rumoured to be on the verge of being named as Arsenal’s new Chief Executive.
Although Donovan has been linked with the position before, only recently he was talking to friends about his long-term plans for Vodafone. However, yesterday a managerial reshuffle saw Donovan surprisingly end his time with the company. Speculation is now rife that he is doing so to take up a position with Arsenal.
The lifelong Arsenal fan has previously held posts with commercial giants like Mars, Coca Cola and Apple. Presumably it is felt his business expertise and passion for the club could help build Arsenal both as a club and a global brand.
More on this as and when we get it.
September 10th, 2008
International football. It’s awful, isn’t it. Days waiting for a game featuring a bunch of players you don’t really like representing a country you don’t even feel much alliegance for. And then, invariably, the games are impossibly dull and the team even worse. Maybe it’s different if you’re fans of teams other than England. I wouldn’t know.
Still, Theo Walcott is the talk of the nation – after impressing in his first start against Andorra, he could play from the top again against Croatia, which would represent a massive step forward for his International career.
Not much injury news to speak of, though Samir Nasri has picked up a knock with France that might make him doubtful for Saturday’s game at Blackburn. Robin van Persie played 45 minutes for Holland at the weekend, so it seems his ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.
David Dein has been kicked out of Red & White Holdings by Alisher Usmanov. Although his press people released a nice story about him stepping down, I doubt he was given much choice – with him in charge, relations with the current board would always have been extremely strained. Peter Hill-Wood has dropped a couple of hints recently about the potential sale of the club, but if that were ever to happen I suspect Usmanov would be some way behind Stan Kroenke in the queue.
Don’t worry. Only two more days without Premier League action.
