Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself 

- Henry VII by William Shakespeare

An interesting day at the office, I suppose you would call it. What should have been a routine Champions League draw was, for want of a better word, hijacked by David Dein’s sale of his shareholding in the Club to Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri in the guise of Red and White Holdings. You can read all about the two individuals in question in any of the broadsheets that you so desire; The Times, Independent, Telegraph and Guardian all have their views on the man – read them and other sources before making your mind up about him, his past, his ethics and his morals, rather simply taking on board the sweeping generalisations or knee-jerk reactions of others.

So what of Mr Dein’s actions? Leaving aside the dubious timing of their announcement – they knew that they would get maximum publicity with the CL draw taking place – what does it mean for Arsenal? At the moment, more destabilisation surrounding Dein, more speculation about the future of the Club and the Manager. Whilst Dein may say that he has urged AW to sign a new contract, it has not happened and this share transaction could have waited to abate the media circus in this area. Having said that, the timing is such that the announcement leaves little or no room for Arsenal to be held hostage over transfer fees in the current window, assuming of course that Arsene was not telling ‘porky pies’ over his intentions and that there is a signing still left to be finalised. As far as Wenger is concerned though, I find it inconceivable that Dein & Co have not informed him, privately of course, of their intentions. To them, he will be the key employee to convince. It will now be assumed that this is the reason for the delays in signing, something that we may never know. However, Dein’s stated aims of making the Club the best in the World are convergent with Wenger; the methodology of achieving them appears to be at odds with the reluctance to spend huge sums of money of players. Perhaps that is what Usmanov has brought into? Time will tell.

The one thing that is certain about this is that Dein is absolutely desperate to be a kingpin in football again, specifically at Arsenal. That he has a passion for the Club cannot be denied, whether he is in acting in the best interests of the Club is a matter of personal opinion. That he was a large part of a successful past should not be forgotten nor should it be ignored that he will put his own best interests first; no point in denying it, that is simply human nature. His willingness to court any number of investors can be viewed as unseemly; there have been three publicly acknowledged, who knows whether there are more privately? To some that is a signal of his passion to become involved in the Club once more, to others it is the acts of a desperate man. I cannot think of one Director of the Club who has provoked any reaction in the years I have been a supporter, let alone the extremes that he has managed to stir up.

The key question to be answered is whether or not his plans for the future are the best for the Club? It is ground that has been trodden in the past without answer; those steps will be retraced and rehashed but ultimately, the grandiose words yesterday remain exactly that until hard plans are put in place and a takeover formalised. Where this leaves Kroenke is an interesting point. The speculation was that he would make a bid, with Dein at the helm. Yesterday would seem to put that idea to bed. He might still have a desire to buy the Club; he may never have entertained such an idea seriously. Perhaps the latter is somewhat closer to the truth than was previously thought hence the changing of horses by Dein in mid-race. Whichever way this flows, his shareholding is a key to any battles ahead. If he goes into cohorts with Red and White, it is inevitable that a takeover bid will be made before the expiry of the Board’s non-sale agreement. That appears to be as solid as ever with Danny Fiszman having apparently told the AST prior to the Sparta game on Wednesday, that he had no intention of selling his shareholding. A bid would test that resolve but there is no evidence that it would bring about a change of heart.

The question of foreign ownership of Clubs will eventually take up more media column inches than ever before. The key to the answer from Arsenal’s point of view is how much a new owner would change the Club. That is something that has to happen, very few takeovers leave traditions and cultures intact. The problem with judging a Russian involvement is that the only previous example has developed a vulgar and trashy culture surrounding the Club; extreme arrogance and petulance from the playing side, masked behind a media friendly term of a ‘winning mentality’, through to the dropping of their trousers for any Corporate gain.

This is the battle that Dein has to win in the minds of supporters; he has to prove that any bid would uphold the traditions of Arsenal Football Club and treat us as if we matter. In order to do so, I believe that he will need to be quite open and as public as the Laws and Regulations surrounding any bid allow. Crucial to it is stopping uninformed speculation being printed as fact; falsehoods will be produced proclaiming that they are sourced from ‘those close to the Investors’, making it difficult to discern fact from fiction.

The Champions League draw was ultimately favourable to Arsenal. It looked for a long while as if a trip to the Ukraine was going to be the final option, instead trips to Bucharest and Prague are as far as we shall travel. Personally, I am looking forward to the trip to Seville, not purely for football reasons either. On the pitch, they have proven to be an exceptional team; you do not retain a European trophy purely through luck or the paucity of opposition. They have been making steady progress under Juande Ramos, occupying ground previously inhabited by Deportivo; a consistent performer in the Primera Division. They will fancy their chances of topping the Group. For Arsenal though, there is no reason why progression should be anything less than comfortable; Slavia and Steaua may be technically proficient but are they any better than teams we have faced and overcome before? To win all six games may be too lofty an expectation; to remain unbeaten is within capablities.

’til Tomorrow.