RIP Danny Fiszman, Usmanov Can… & More

The passing of Danny Fiszman, announced yesterday by Arsenal, put the ownership of the club into perspective. Fiszman is rightly being commended for his role in managing the construction and move to The Emirates. It is a huge legacy to leave behind, a key event in the history of the club.

More than that, comments from the players yesterday on social media sites and the announcement from the club itself, showed the high regard in which he was held. My condolences to his family.

The subject of shares kicked off yesterday. Throughout the transfer of ownership to Stan Kroenke, there has been a growing adoration of Alisher Usmanov. It is unbelievable that this is happening.

According to some, Stan Kroenke is the devil incarnate for becoming the largest single shareholder to the extent that an offer had to be made for the whole company. There is no obligation to sell to him. If the AST has enough influence over minority shareholders then the plurality of ownership is maintained. Usmanov’s holding prevents certain other events which is fine and almost the ideal scenario. That is prevented by the Uzbek’s involvement.

No-one should be fooled by this apparently positive PR he is receiving. Red and White tried to hijack KSE’s deal with Nina Bracewell-Smith. Those are not the actions of someone who had the best interests of Arsenal at heart; that was all about maintaining parity of being in the position to prevent KSE taking a controlling interest in Arsenal. Had Red & White been successful, there would be two bid documents being issued.

In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Usmanov said,

My principle in regards to Arsenal is that it can’t do without me

Actually Arsenal can do without. It existed quite happily for over a century before you came onto the scene and will exist quite happily after you’ve moved on.

If you really love Arsenal, as you profess in that interview, don’t make a hollow gesture about giving some of your shares to the Fanshare Scheme, give them all to the scheme. Now. I am sure that your advisors can find a tax efficient way for this to happen.

Playing matters became more prominent with the tantalising news that Szczesny and Djourou are in contention for Sunday’s encounter with Liverpool. I don’t know about the players but for me, that is a massive filip, a real boost for the run-in. Neither player is without their faults nor are they infallible. Yet they have been two of this season’s real success stories and strengthen the squad at a crucial time of the season.

Elsewhere, United are moaning about playing Arsenal in between the two legs of the Champions League Semi-Finals. Apparently they are not happy at having to rotate their team due to tiredness. We may be complaining about tiredness ourselves next season but not now, no. Get over it.

There are complaints about a possible new shirt, white with blue trim. According to some, it is not an Arsenal shirt – sorry to disappoint but over the years, white has been a predominant colour for away kits. Where there are legitimate complaint is the introduction of laurels around the badge. It doesn’t work and if they want to tinker with badges, dropping the current abomination for an older version would be most acceptable.

The tour of the Far East next summer is likely to change with Japan omitted for obvious reasons, replaced by China and Malaysia. And Thierry Henry’s returning to The Emirates for a pre-season friendly with New York Red Bulls. Wow.

’til Tomorrow.

Stan & Transfers: What Difference Does It Make?

Transfer spending has always been a bone of contention across the spectrum of Arsenal fans. Or perhaps the lack of it separates the views of those who believe in the mix of organic growth with a smattering of experience as opposed to the spending mentality beseiging the English game for the past twenty years.

Fingers point in the direction of others, Chelsea and City with the seemingly neverending pockets of their owners to rely upon, United with a seemingly neverending supply of credit that never gets repaid. Good Old Arsenal, we’re proud to say that name, we’ll never borrow money to buy again.

And that’s the way it is apparently going to remain. Transfer war chests are noted, demands to spend are made, predominantly through a media which thrives and survives on the back of such activity. A lack of it? No problem, they thrive and survive on crucifying the manager, agitating the fans.

The new owner is apparently going to demand that Arsène spend his war chest this summer. It is curiously similar to the opinion that was leaked last month that Arsène had become tired of his squad underachieving and was going to ship out half a dozen and spend the best part of £80m replacing them. Continuation of a theme or at least, continuing the theme from a new angle.

Whatever the case is, will there be any early signings in the Summer? Recent seasons has seen the bulk of the activity late in the transfer window, although last year Arsène did manage new faces relatively early. It galls some that United and everyone else appears to do their transfer business far more quickly. Heaven knows they are miserable now.

And in a sense you understand the frustration. Not from the spending mentality but more from integrating new players into the squad.

United tend to do their business more quickly because they are shopping more often in a different market. They will look to purchase from Harrods as Arsène wanders by, casting a fleeting glance through the window, before wandering into the boutique down the chic little alleyway. When you are trawling through a large number of shops to find that elusive bargain, patience is a virtue.

Will Stan want that to change this time around? He would not be averse to it happening but there is a sense that he will not seek to impose that on the manager. A major signing would be a positive PR spin, currently swimming against the tide in that sense. Indeed such is the flighty nature of humans, a number who oppose Kroenke now will become his biggest supporters in that instant.

The notion of selling to buy is not unique to Arsenal. Manchester United’s biggest spending sprees have always been funded by big sales. Their current potential purchases are still coming from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

If Arsène so desired he could sell Fàbregas, Wilshere, Clichy and a few others, pocketing over £100m in the process. A healthy fighting fund but an unhealthy squad remaining. His problem is that two of three named yesterday said that they are not going anywhere.

Jack Wilshere tweeted that the Manchester City rumour was not true, Arsenal was in his heart. Nobody actually believed it was but that Wilshere took time to issue a concrete denial is a positive for the young man. It followed Gael Clichy’s denial of moving in the summer.

Clichy is still a villain in jaundiced quarters, never wholly forgiven for conceding that penalty at St Andrews. That he wants to wait until the summer for contract talks in order to focus on his football is not surprising and merely an extension of the club’s philosophy a couple of years back when Robin van Persie’s contract was renegotiated. It is also the most solid base for transfer gossip that you are likely to see.

Denilson – a favourite of many, for leaving that is – is hawking the talents of one of his countrymen. Should William join, he won’t be in Denilson’s debt though, the Arsenal player dismissing it as Really Nothing. What a Charming Man he is, although he has instigated Panic at Stamford Bridge.

Actually that joke isn’t funny anymore so time to end for today, I think. ’til Tomorrow.

 

 

Smoke & Mirrors Cloud Arsenal Takeover

The world of Arsenal continues to fill the back pages, until the end of the Abramovich revolution following Chelsea’s exit from the Champions League or United cracking under the pressure following their exit from the Champions League.

Stan Kroenke found himself having a mixed reception yesterday. The AST meeting continued to rightly pursue the path of plurality of ownership but somehow this was contrived to be spun by others as popular support for Red & White Holdings.

Some of this is explained by many still associating David Dein with Red & White despite the fact that they fell out some time ago. Dein retains an almost deific status with some, villified by others for selling his shares to Red & White Holdings.

Bizarrely – and without even trying – Usmanov found himself popular amongst some Arsenal fans. The foundation of this is his apparent refusal to sell his shares to KSE despite no official announcement yet.

There was an apparent offer some time ago from Red & White to ‘donate’ some shares to the Arsenal Fanshare Scheme – a worthwhile pursuit in the ownership of Arsenal – provided that KSE matched them. Kroenke declined to accept which means he is the bad guy. We don’t know the details of this offer nor KSE’s reason for declining.

These two things, it seems, are being construed as Red & White Holdings commitment to plural ownership of Arsenal without factoring in reports of the Uzbek’s stung pride.

Yesterday it emerged that two bids for Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith’s shares were rejected as she was committed to the deal with KSE. Had she changed her mind, Red & White would have been required to make a bid for Arsenal Holdings as well. In short, Usmanov wants to own the club as much – perhaps more – than Kroenke does. This small fact seems to have been lost in the smoke and mirrors.

A real commitment to supporters of the club would be a permanent seat on the Board, a real opportunity to make a genuine contribution to the future of Arsenal Football Club. Even with the necessary caveats, surely this is as desireable as owning the shares?

The PR battle is going to decide the hearts and minds in this takeover. A massive step is being taken by KSE with a slew of stories in the past twenty four hours concerning transfer budgets. Of course, a takeover means that more money is being pumped into club.

This is Arsenal though, we don’t go in for such common touches. We have a takeover where the new owner is not pouring millions into the club. Quite simply because he does not need to shore up the finances, the key difference between Arsenal and other clubs whose ownership has changed.

It has not stopped the stories of how Arsène is going to have a transfer war chest this summer and be told to spend it. The value of this ‘fighting fund’? £40m, a very close relative of the £35m available last summer.

In all of this, football seems to be forgotten. It might not be such a bad thing in that it allows the players to get on with their pursuit of Manchester United in relative peace and quiet. Harmony was in short supply at half-time on Sunday if reports are to be believed.

Cesc had apparently given Abou Diaby a piece of his mind following his needless booking just before the interval. He was then joined by Robin van Persie, who being Dutch offered his opinion on the matter.

Such incidents are portrayed negatively in the media. They are in fact, quite the opposite. A willingness by the senior members of the squad to bring others into line is a sign of accepting the responsibility of their position. It also puts a nail in the coffin of the lie that the players are too nice, unwilling to rock the boat.

’til Tomorrow.

Arsenal Breeze It At The Seaside But Is Stan A Breath Of Fresh Air?

Blackpool 1 – 3 Arsenal

0 – 1 Diaby (18)
0 – 2 Eboue (21)
1 – 2 Taylor – Flectcher (52)
1 – 3 van Persie (75)

It was a day of milestones, all at once expected, unexpected and jaw-dropping. More on the unexpected later. As it was Cesc and Jens Lehmann reached 300 and 200 first team appearances, celebrating the first win since Orient were efficiently removed from the FA Cup.

Victory was necessary, Manchester United having won the previous day. Victory was necessary for confidence, it had been a torrid previous six weeks. The gap at the top is ‘as you were’. The coming weekend is going to be crucial as Arsenal’s game in hand is played when Liverpool visit The Emirates. Win that one and pressure returns to United.

Crucial. The word that will be used to describe every weekend between now and the end of the title race.

Blackpool started brightly, beavering away but it became quickly apparent that they were going to be the sort of opponents Arsenal love playing against. A high defensive line, designed to squeeze play, compress midfield. Perfect for pacey attackers and runners from midfield. Arsenal proved the point.

Eighteen minutes in, Diaby rumbled a Blackpool attack in midfield. Within a minute, the ball would be in the back of the net as swift movement and interplay between Cesc and Robin van Persie found Diaby ambling into the Blackpool penalty area, unmarked and giving the move the finish it deserved.

Lessons needed to be learned by Blackpool but they weren’t. Within three minutes, Eboue attacked down the right, interchanged passes and positions with Wilshere, stormed into the area and emphatically finished past Kingston. Would that Arsenal full backs would always show this endeavour. Would that they were always able to show this endeavour.

Diaby could and perhaps should, have done better once van Persie had broken the offside trap, the chance snuffed out by the weight of Blackpool numbers. Nasri was then released by Cesc, beat the offside trap and Kingston but not the woodwork, the ball bouncing off the outside of the post to safety.

Blackpool started brightly in the second half and might have scored more than Taylor-Fletcher’s solitary reply. Adam found his range of passing and drove the hosts on from midfield. The returning Lehmann might have conceded a penalty, Koscielny definitely did. Well, aside from the continually inept Lee Mason failing to award it. Payback for Everton, perhaps?

As it was Theo Walcott’s return provided the perfect antidote to slack marking and a high line. Creaney had been turned inside out, upside down and round and round. His marking might well have been the same as Diana Ross although she turns a lot quicker on stage than he did when the ball went past him from Cesc’s deft touch. van Persie’s finish was as unerring as Walcott’s cross.

At which point the match report gets curtailed. Suffice to say, Lehmann did well on his return whilst the remainder of the team coped with their rocky spell. Bob Wilson observed how impressed he was with the German’s reflexes, noting that some of the younger keepers struggle to get down to stop shots so the 41 year old did well.

There are some interesting provisos attached to the offer from Kroenke. KSE has confirmed to the current Board that there is no intention to follow Aston Villa and Manchester United out of the public share arena although there is a get-out clause, “unless Arsenal’s PLUS corporate adviser advises at any time there is not sufficient liquidity in Arsenal Shares to maintain an orderly market in the shares)“.

Crucially, Alisher Usmanov is not expected to sell his shares. In order to wholly own the company, Kroenke would need to purchase that holding, triggering the threshold whereby all shares must be sold to him. What this means is unclear. Usmanov can block matters and become a nuisance but overall, if Kroenke owns 62.89% he has no obligation to take any notice of Red & White Holdings.

This is almost ‘fluff’ around the edges. The final two assurances given are the ones which have been at the forefront of any discussions,

– it is their current intention that, if the Offer becomes or is declared unconditional, they will continue to support and adhere to the self-sustaining business model hitherto pursued by the Board of Arsenal;

– the Offer will not be funded by way of any debt finance (banks loans, payment in kind loans or other debt or quasi-debt interest bearing obligations) for which the payment of interest on, repayment of or security for any liability (contingent or otherwise) will depend on the business of Arsenal.

In other words, the debt-loaded model of the Glazers has not been followed. Yet in confirming that the self-sustaining model of business will continue to pursued, KSE is making no commitment to investing in the club. We need to be quite clear about this. So far, the only beneficiaries of any investment in Arsenal that Stan Kroenke has made, have been the shareholders who have sold their shares to him.

The club has seen no funding. No debt has been paid off and reading the official notice, none is intended to be.

With no promise of this in the future, the clamour for Wenger to spend is not going to be sated by the owner’s money being put at risk. No guarantees of a £50m signing. No guarantees that Arsène is going to be forced to spend any moneys at all. In other words, this is business as usual.

The question is forming, why is Kroenke doing this? He has been in a co-ownership situation before with a ‘sporting franchise‘. Quite what relationship he has with Usmanov, if any, remains to be seen. If he pays a dividend, which must be more likely with a single owner that plural shareholders, I dare say that Red & White and KSE will have a very cordial relationship.

Perhaps this is motivated by a desire of the Board to see Usmanov blocked from owning the club. This might be a permanent realisation of that dream; it might just be a temporary barricade on that particular road.

One thing is for certain. If Arsenal becomes owned by one or two individuals, the model of plural ownership as we have seen it, is gone. Whether that is permanent or not remains to be seen but appears highly likely.

And this is where the doubts about motivation arise. KSE has other sports interests and there is no question that Kroenke is a fan of sport. But this is not an act of philanthropy. He is investing his money to earn a return. If successful, he has seen that the business model can generate returns.

Whether that impacts on the playing side remains to be seen. At this moment in time, he is the lesser of two evils. There are too many unanswered questions, answers that are not going to be forthcoming in a short space of time. Until they do, we are struggling to make a good judgement over whether KSE’s offer is good for Arsenal.

The problem is that by the time they come, it might be too late.

’til Tomorrow.

Arsenal At The Seaside: Donkeys Or Rock Hard?

Arsenal travel North to Blackpool, a trip to the seaside which has to show a maximum points return to keep the title flame that is currently flickering wildly in the hot air that surrounds the club. Manchester United found that Fulham were not interested in improving their woeful form at Old Trafford, rolling over letting the Premier League leaders tickle their tummies.

Arsenal, club in crisis. It is a headline that has not been written for a while, Liverpool’s debacle took care of that yet the media has been able to seize on the ‘civil war’ apparently engulfing the club. Following hot on the press conference fall out, the Arsène clear out of players, comes the ‘news’ that Manchester City will be bidding £40m in the summer for the services of Jack Wilshere.

Nothing will come of it, of that you can be sure. But it puts Barcelona on notice. £40m for a player just completing his first full season of Premier League football seriously inflates the value of a World and European champion. It is of course rubbish but then what do you expect of News of the World journalism, a News International organ that gives the bad name of journalists an even worse name.

On the pitch, it feels like a lifetime since the last Arsenal victory. March was awful. Simply appalling. The five goal romp over Orient was the last victory of any sort. Three Premier League draws were accompanied by two cup defeats. That sequence of results has to be broken with victory.

Wenger will be choosing from a partially depleted squad. Alex Song is definitely out whilst there are doubts about Bacary Sagna and Theo Walcott. The latter seemed to be raising more concern during the week but the presumption must be at this moment that neither will make the trip.

The players seem to be aware that simply stepping onto the pitch is not going to be enough today. Blackpool are involved in the relegation dogfight, their expected position but membership of Premier League is not being cheaply surrendered.

Warnings of the potential pitfalls stare Arsenal in the face, a two goal lead against Manchester United and 2-1 / 3-1 victories over Liverpool and Spurs respectively. The potential is there, a focussed performance negates these.

The line-up I would expect Wenger to go with is,

Almunia; Eboue, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy; Fabregas, Diaby, Wilshere; Nasri, van Persie, Arshavin

Personally, I would prefer Wenger to go with a 4-4-2 formation with Rosicky making way for Bendtner. The Dane wittered on about DNA – where has this obsession with genetics in football sprung from? – of champions. Frankly, I’m not interested in that. Putting the ball into the back of the Blackpool net on more occasions that they breach the Arsenal backline is all that matters. To be honest, I don’t if the winner comes from the flukiest goal this side of Christendom so long as Arsenal take the three points on offer.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

In The Red Corner…

The polarisation of views about Arsenal this season erupted yesterday as Arsène responded to criticism of his squad. His brutal response has been taken as a cue by the media to engage in more stories of civil war at the club.

The Daily Mirror has run the ‘written press’ press conference, where Arsène elaborated on his earlier comments. Focus has turned on the dismissal of his critics because they do not know about, and have never been involved in, a professional football club.

Interestingly, the comments about supporters have been seized upon and replicated across various media outlets.

The opening barbs were missed, where Wenger criticised ‘superficial judgement‘ and rounded on journalists, telling them,

Do not hide behind what the supporters think, tell me what you think. You do not know what the supporters think because what people write is only 5 per cent of what they see on the internet. There are 95 per cent others.

Dismissing supporter criticism is always a dangerous game but with the team in second place and by comparison to previous seasons showing an improvement, Wenger must feel at times that there are Manchester United supporters masquerading as their Arsenal counterparts. Certainly the online reaction lends itself to that view.

The defence is routinely criticised. The defensive record this seasons stands comparison to all of the top four so where is the basis for statements that authoritatively tell us they are worse? There is none other than the claimants perception.

Dismissing supporters was always going to be an emotive subject and this morning’s response elsewhere shows the depth of hurt at that cutting comment.

Apparently this signals that Wenger refuses to broker anybody with an alternative view to his own. There is, of course, no such evidence. Which is, of course, taken as proof because everyone is too scared to speak out. Which it, of course, is not.

The manager should be held to account for his decisions and the results. He is but some of the support believe he should be accountable to them personally, their views apparently worth more than those who disagree with them.

Problematically, their judgement is as suspect as the rest of us yet their benchmarks are more rigid.

Wenger believes that success at the moment is not on silverware. He holds qualifying for the Champions League as more important that winning the FA Cup. Actually, so do I.

When I was young, the League Cup and the FA Cup were magical, the trophies meant something. Now, the money generated by Premier and Champions League has rendered both trophies less meaningful. Arsenal should have won the Carling Cup and we would have celebrated but nothing like winning the title or Champions League. Anyone who claims otherwise is deluding themselves.

There is philosophical difference emerging. On the one hand, you have those who judge everything by the amount of money spent on players and silverware in the cabinet. That is a view that has become more prevalent as the money generated by, and invested into, football today.

Wenger – and the Board – fundamentally disagree with it. The new stadium has been built and the squad has come via a mix of signings and youthful promotion. Arsène stated his belief,

Of course, we’ve had a change in policy to sign younger players. It’s important for football that there’s another way then to just come in, put money on the table and buy a star. I feel it’s very important for football.

With that much of a difference in beliefs, peace will always be fragile when it breaks out.

As supporters we have the right to make our views known. We have a right to argue amongst ourselves. We have a right to let the club know how we feel. We have an obligation to do so civilly, without abusing employees going about their work. Yet football players and supporters regularly avoid that obligation.

The anger felt by some within the club surfaced after that. Speaking in The Daily Star, Peter Hill-Wood observed,

I simply cannot believe he will react to these stupid comments from these silly people. They are supposed to be supporters, but, in fact, they do quite a lot of damage. We have set the bar high and everybody expects us to achieve that every year, but it simply isn’t possible.

[The AST] are in danger of us becoming less friendly with them. We haven’t yet, but I am just saying we could become less friendly.

Hill-Wood rarely engages his brain before speaking in the media, this is yet another example.

The AST statement was ill-conceived in its timing, the season nowhere near over yet they spoke of surveys and taking the results to Ivan Gazidis as if it were. The AST does outstanding work in off-the-pitch issues but no supporters organisation is ever going to be representative when it comes to on-the-pitch matters.

The views of any organisation are democratically arrived at. Team matters are opinions and should be left for supporters to debate themselves. The club will pick up on that without the need for any survey on this issue.

Hill-Wood though would do well to remember that this is not his Private Gentlemen’s Club. This is Arsenal Football Club. If Arsenal want to ignore supporters and their views so be it. But no amount of trophies can undo the damage the Chairman repeatedly does. All his words do is re-emphasise the view that debate is not brokered at Arsenal. Someone please muzzle him. Please.

’til Tomorrow.

Hope Remains

No Darius this morning so let’s get cracking as a hectic Arsenal week draws to a close.

Who am I kidding? It has been quieter than the summer months between the end of the old season and the start of the new. It says it all when an Board announcement at an unspecified time about an unspecified event that is ‘good news’ but not about takeovers, shareholdings, Lady Nina or David Dein, is the highlight of the week.

Anything to keep from talking about the draw against Blackburn. Rather than look back, looking ahead ought to be the order of the day. No utterances from the players this week which is just as well as their statements about what they hope will be the outcome and what they are determined to achieve, have been at odds with reality in recent performances.

The adage about ‘actions speaking louder than words’ has never been more appropriate.

It will be a diminished Arsenal side which takes the pitch on Sunday. Alex Song has not recovered from his knee-knack, which he is obviously feigning such is his lack of desire. Apparently.

Meanwhile Theo Walcott has reniggled his ankle-knack and seems likely to miss out on his stick of rock. Business as usual so far. Perhaps Arsène will bring a ray of joy to this darkened world at his press conference this afternoon.

He might need to. Harsh words have no doubt been exchanged about recent performances. It seems a long time ago when Sunday’s opponents were routed at The Emirates. The expected relegation fight has now engulfed Blackpool and it is going to be tough for them to win it.

They are helped by the paucity of talent at some of the other clubs around them and in the longer run, a team which emerges from the Championship and stays up by playing football in a proper manner can only be good for the game as a whole.

If West Brom could do the same, so much the better, particularly if it is at the expense of their neanderthal neighbours.

If the players need motivation (and at this stage of the season with a major trophy up for grabs, they shouldn’t), they can be inspired by criticism levelled at them by Paul Merson. According to Merson,

They have got no chance. I was really bullish about them five weeks ago but now you have to question them. They have just dropped too many easy points. I think it’s all down to (a lack of) winning mentality.

So a moment of truth has emerged. The players will probably choose to ignore him – understandably in some cases as ex-pros tend to be the harshest critics, forgetting their own individual and collective failings – some will probably not even have heard of him. There will be an element of the support were Merson’s words resonates, demanding that Wenger spend to solve the issues.

That will not happen, yet. It cannot happen, yet. And with two months – more or less – of the season remaining, why are people even wondering about the next campaign? This one has not finished and should not be given up on. The inconsistency of all sides in the title race cannot be ignored just because of consecutive draws.

Hope remains. Yes, the outcome is reliant upon United dropping points but they are far from invincible. Arsenal must regain their form and confidence, quickly, if they are to capitalise on any slips.

’til Tomorrow.