Last week it was mooted that there was some big news set to come out of Arsenal, and it has materialised in the form of a takeover bid from Stan Kroenke. Whilst given the history of Hicks and Gillette at Liverpool, American owners are immediately mentally repelled, this particular move can only really be a positive change at the club.
The majority of Arsenal fans only tend to care about two things; the first being the safeguarding of the future of the club, and secondly the connection between the board and the playing staff. Arsene Wenger has said repeatedly that he would resign if Alisher Usmanov took control, and consequently the positive of this move is that the Russian will have no chance of gaining the power he craves. Kroenke has a good track record in sport, and will provide the sustainability that the previous board desired, whilst keeping both the backroom and playing staff fundamentally intact. Kroenke is a by-word for stability.
The link between the playing side of things and the board is where Arsenal have been lacking over the past few years. Wenger has single-handedly been charged with building the bridge between the two, and whilst Ivan Gazidis has helped affairs somewhat, there has always been a need for greater clarity and direction from the top. In the last six years or so, has anyone really known how much money is in the bank? Does anyone really know what the ambitions of the manager are in comparison to the board? These are the crucial questions, and they should be resolved by Kroenke’s arrival.
No-one is asking for Arsenal to change the habit of a life-time and air their every thought in the public arena. The problem has been, however, that Arsenal fans, a majority anyway, feel a little peeved and rightly so. There is absolutely no information about transfer budgets or anything else related to the team emanating from the board when they pay some of the highest rates for season tickets in the country. There is an issue of respect – if the board want people to buy season tickets, it is only right that they inform them of the direction into which the club is headed. Kroenke shall be under pressure to do that, and if he follows his previous habits, he will.
This will place the pressure on Wenger firmly back onto the pitch and outside of the boardroom. No longer will the manager feel obliged to utilise his economical training, and he will be given clear information about what he has to spend, whilst players shall not be forced upon him in the manner of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea. The pressure to win trophies will be higher than ever, but this move should facilitate that happening with more regularity in the future. Kroenke should be welcomed with open arms for he intends not to pile Arsenal with debt, but to merely attempt to bring back success whilst keeping to a sustainable business model, something which should be lauded.
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i think arsenal fans should take a cautious approach to kroenke taking over, the feedback from the arsenal board is that buisness is as usual and it will be run in the same manner, kroenke yes likes success look at hi sporting clubs in america but he is very astute he wont throw money away, we must look closely to why hill-wood is staying on, david dein bought stability to arsenal, hill wood does not think before he speaks like calling arsenal fans stupid, we as arsenal fans are entitled to success especially by what we pay at the gates, wenger goes on this is a great team wait a minute george graham bought dixon, winterburn,bould these were not overly inflated in price george graham was astute in transfer dealings, all credit to wenger he has tried to be, but when we fans weak in and out seen a team that defensively has so many holes in it, the final third we can not kill teams off, it seems they are content just pass the ball,then look at the performances this season they have been disgusting, it is clear to see certain players are not committed to the club ask the question why? if we can see the proplems in this arsenal team, all the football pundits see the same proplems, even ex arsenal players and managers a like are saying the same thing, yet wenger goes on it is best team? if a team goes down fighting win or lose we would all stand up and applaud the team, but the balance in the arsenal team is not there, with the comments coming out of arsenal board room i am not sure money will be plowed into the team as some arsenal fans think, and we must also consider we are only second in the table because of the poor performances of other teams, but when you look at blackpool, they have shown what committment is when you wear that jersey,i am not convinced that kroenke is going to get his wallett out he is a buisness man, money obviously is why they are in buisness, and that is the underlining thoughts that are coming out of the boardroom, i dont think that wengers policy of bringing in youth has worked that is evident from their winning mentality, and to me i would like to know what they do on the trining field, thye should be learning to defend and score unfourtunately in these areas as shown in matches they are far from convincing, lets just hope that kroenke wants to see success, and to remedy the proplems in the team, but i think we are all in for a culture shock, there will be no major spending as people think.
bassicly nothing will change we’re just gona have a leachy american sucking are profits
This guy will do nothing for Arsenal. He’s not going to change how Arsenal are run, if eveyone is expecting to pump money into the club then think again. Would you change the way things are run at Arsenal if you are making a profit of 55 million a year. The answer is NO! Expect the same transfer policy and the same old rubbish.