Board Having A Bowie Moment Or Something & Nothing

The Twitter world of Arsenal was abuzz with Sport telling us that there was an ‘imminent‘ announcement from the club concerning the Board. Imminent, it transpires, is in the next couple of days. It might be about Danny Fiszman’s health which you would hope is taking a turn for the better or could it be that there are ch-ch-changes afoot.

The immediate speculation was whether Red & White would be offered a seat, a not entirely unreasonable idea given the size of the shareholding – 27% and rising – which led to musings whether David Dein would return and whether or not either would be welcomed. I think that the answer to the former is probably not and the latter, probably not.

Personally I am against any one party owning Arsenal outright. The current Board do not get everything right – nor wrong, despite what some will tell you – but ensuring plurality of ownership is fundamental. This does not preclude shareholders loaning money or underwriting share issues, but it does stop financial policies being followed that lead to the club to the poorhouse.

Dein is a divisive character. Some believe him to be a footballing guru, able to magically force Arsène to bow to their desires for big money signings whilst at the same time ensuring that this is funded through financial wizardry, increasing commercial sponsorship deals immediately. It would make him a footballing alchemist. The problem with alchemists is that they are invariably charlatans.

There is no denying that Dein was part of a successful team behind the scenes. Yet since leaving Arsenal his footballing star has waned. His contacts book is frequently cited as a reason for bringing him back but it has done him little good in attempting to get back into the game, his recent failure to become FA Chairman evidence of that. Crucially though he brings no guarantee of success, no certainty of change.

To be honest, I feel more ‘that was then, this is now‘ about Dein than anything else. Suspicion surrounds him, hopping into bed with Kroenke, rolling over to Usmanov and supporting Wembley as a new home rather than The Emirates suggests a troublesome element in his judgement.

Some will argue about his ability to make deals – well if that is all we require, lets appoint Harry Redknapp as the media are always telling us how good he is at that.

Elsewhere, Phil Parkinson has apparently been appointed as Chief Scout in northern England whilst his old club, Charlton, are apparently going to lose their young full-back Carl Jenkinson to Arsenal in the summer. He can apparently play on either right or left although is seen as back up for Gibbs and Clichy. With that in mind, it seems certain that Armand Traore will be leaving as the left would be overloaded with players.

That’s it for this morning. ’til Tomorrow