Archive for Company News
Why Ivan Gazidis Is Arsenal’s Most Important Player
Posted by: | CommentsIn recent observations, I’ve suggested that the best signing Arsenal has made in the last 2 years was that of Ivan Gazidis as Chief Executive. It’s usually hard to notice progressive moves made by any new head honcho within the first year as different organizations adjust differently with change of leadership.
Gazidis however, has made tiny strides in securing some quick gains that have earned him some serious political capital both in and outside the club. Whether it’s the ’Arsenalisation’ program currently taking place, or the introduction of a high powered commercial team to focus on maximizing brand Arsenal around the world; Gazidis’s impact is slowly but surely setting in.
Arsenal Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis
Without diminishing any gains Gazidis may have made in different quarters around the club, my sense is that the Arsenal CEO has had two significant roles this far, and during this critical time in Arsenal’s development, I believe that he has the most crucial role to play as a facilitator and enabler.
Firstly, I believe he has acted well as a counter balance and check to the inevitable power that Arséne Wenger wields at Arsenal. It’s not a secret that very few, if any people find themselves courageous enough to challenge the influence Wenger holds over the technical side of the club’s affairs.
Wenger in a lot of respects has earned the authority and right to his leadership and his record and achievements speak for themselves. However, since the departure of David Dein, it’s been clear that Wenger has seriously missed a reliable aide and confidant to share the load with and to assist him in the very critical task of seeing the wood from the trees.
A question has been raised as to whether there’s anyone at Arsenal who can pull Wenger aside and provide an alternative opinion. Take Pat Rice for example, is he capable of saying to Wenger, ”Actually, I think you should revert Song to central defence, and let Denilson hold the fort with Diaby and Cesc in midfield because the opponent are ball players and we’ll have a better chance this way”.
Part of the problem for the Arsenal board is that the balancing act of keeping the club as strong as it is with a move to a new stadium, as well as keeping the squad competitive year in year out is a very precarious and even career threatening job (if the manager fails).
In Arséne Wenger, the board have possibly one of the few managers in the world who is able and willing to take on such an audacious job with a hand tied behind his back. They recognize this and they will bend over backwards and kiss Wenger’s ass to ensure that he is happy.
None of them wants to contemplate the alternative scenario of having another manager who is not capable of operating at this elite level without screaming for big money in order to survive, let alone challenge. The point is that even now, but more so in the last 5 years, very few managers of a world class calibre would have agreed to do Wenger’s job under the same conditions.
The key challenge is therefore one of continuing the arduous task of keeping Wenger happy, supporting and encouraging him, while walking around with a big stick just in case. The man with that unenviable job has been Ivan Gazidis, and let’s face it, it’s not an easy job by any means.
So far, Gazidis has shown that he’s a class act, but now more than ever, he needs to earn his corn by helping steer Arsenal through this last mile that is proving elusive and challenging for this squad.
He needs to throw his full weight (well – the weight of his office and the furniture in it) behind the manager, while being comfortable to pull Wenger aside and apply the right amount of pressure at the right time; all without rocking or sinking the boat and losing the significant gains made this far.
He needs to be able to bitch slap Wenger at the same time as holding an arm around the manager’s shoulder and smiling with him in encouragement at the realisation of Arsenal’s audacious vision. When difficult decisions have to be made or supported, Gazidis needs to be able to tell Wenger to go to hell in such a way that the Arsenal manager looks forward to the trip.
More importantly, Wenger needs to feel and believe that he has a friend who not only supports him through this challenging patch, but can be a trusted sounding board and critical voice that will help move the club to the next stage.
That is why in my view, Ivan Gazidis has the most important role at Arsenal during this precarious period that demands that Arsenal turns its massive potential and stability into championship results.
This responsibility is somewhat related to the second key task that I think the Arsenal CEO has. This is the task of acting as a referee to the various protagonists on the board and the power play that is going on.
More often than not, it’s hard to know which side of the bread the different Arsenal board members are buttering. Not that we can control the eventual ownership of the club if the shareholders involved choose to swap around their stakes.
The thing is that this sort of high stakes poker has an impact on the rest of the club and the fan base in general. Gazidis has a key role to play here in keeping all the parties talking and keeping them focussed on what the operational issues are and how they will be impacted by their shenanigans.
He has already done this in many ways like insisting that he will continue to talk to all parties and try and keep the harmony; but again, playing referee in such a scenario is an unenviable task.
As we go into a summer with much promise of investment in the squad, Gazidis must exert his influence to ensure that the club has the best chance of starting the season with a strong squad capable of challenging. He must steer the board to achieving the right balance between debt repayment and squad investment.
He must support Wenger in whatever the manager feels needs addressing, while applying pressure on him to make the difficult decisions. Most importantly, he must take responsibility for steering the club in a direction that serves our interests long term, and not bow down to the pressure of popular culture and emotion of the day.
Does Arsenal Do What It Says On The Tin Anymore?
Posted by: | CommentsThis has perhaps been one of the most difficult weeks for Arsenal supporters in recent times. Many are still holed in the bunker waiting for a favourable display against Manchester City before they chance a glance and thrust their heads above the parapet.
Reason dictates that it’s time to lick our wounds and move on, yet there is a burning desire for the players to firstly redeem themselves and provide a respectable and gallant performance for the remaining games of the season.
It’s fair to say that what has hurt most supporters more in the past fortnight is the manner in which we lost the last 3 games; with the opposing teams rolling us over and tickling our bellies, before sending us back on our way to London Colney with a pat on the back.
Many supporters are still nursing bruised egos as relentless pressure from all quarters has made it more difficult to find solace or a place to ‘plant’ one’s head to shelter from the cloud of storm that circles Arsenal.
Everybody has had something to say about the failures, perceived or not, of Arsenal’s season. From the media hacks to the pundits, from supporters to former Arsenal players, from agents scheming for new contracts for their players to clubs shamelessly chasing the signature of allegedly disgruntled Arsenal players, from the groundsman at Stoke City to the tea lady at White Hart Lane; Arsenal’s performance has been dissected from every possible angle, contemptuously masticated over, and spat out to anyone who will listen.
Yet as we demand that our team goes back to the drawing board and arrest the situation and then show tangible improvement, as supporters, we also need to question and reflect on what we do next. Many inside and outside the club will point out that all the exquisite and attacking football counts for nothing if our defensive walls are cracked as often as they are.
It’s like we’re a team of two extremes, one of playing the most attacking and entertaining football, and one of capitulating when undue pressure is applied on us. Our game strategy works well on the proviso that we break teams down early enough or wear teams down with our ball carrying and technical ability.
It’s more like a strategy of ’We’ll score more than you’. Where a team is able to absorb our attack and hit us when we run out of ideas we struggle with the discipline to see the difficult patches through.
Despite the perceived or actual short-comings of the team, the reaction over the last 10 days in the Arsenal blogosphere makes me pose a question as to what supporters really expect and demand. Granted, the blogosphere is only but a representative sample of the millions who support Arsenal around the world, but it’s a valid cross section nonetheless, and a credible measure of the temperature out there.
My sense is that the bitterness from the collective disappointment, the raw emotion and exacerbation of our defeats by the teams laissez-faire approach in the last couple of games has contributed to the general lack of perspective that could help measure the true progress of this team.
The reaction features extremes from those who feel that the only solution is Wenger’s head on a silver platter, to those who are more circumspect or realistic about the rate of the teams progress. A balance has to be achieved to allow the gains made so far to continue as tweaks are made to resolve the issues that seem to revolve around the mental fortitude of the team.
For some, this is not enough as they quickly point out that it’s pretty much groundhog day when it comes to Arsenal falling short at the last hurdle for yet another season. The view from those who subscribe to this school of thought is that major surgery is needed as enough time has been given to this cohort to prove their worth but they’ve failed time and time again. They don’t want to go on with ’The Arsene Wenger Project’ because it doesn’t do what it says on the tin anymore.
I’m reminded of the story a couple of weeks ago when an American woman fedexed her adopted son back to Russia because he didn’t do what it said on the tin anymore. Apparently, the authorities in Russia who’d shopped her this lovely young and promising lad for adoption didn’t point out his deficiencies and the woman had tried all she could but felt she had got a raw deal and promptly shipped the kid back with a letter of disgruntlement to boot.
The feeling you get is that a section of supporters want to throw this team to the wolves; put them on that one way Emirates flight out of Arsenal with a packed lunch and a souvenir to thank them for their time at the club. Some would throw the manager on that flight too.
Supporting your team though, takes more than throwing in the towel when times are hard. It’s easier to seek alternatives with the ’grass is greener on the other side’ mentality, than to work hard to continue the challenging journey you started. Even during tough journeys, it’s inevitable that you will make changes along the way as some things work and others don’t, but this is markedly different from abandoning the journey and starting over.
Sober reflection will still overwhelmingly point out that Arsenal has progressed both on and off the pitch, but there is still work to be done. If your only measure of success is a trophy, then you will clearly be disappointed that this hasn’t happened soon enough.
Off the pitch, Arsenal has retained its position as the 3rd most valuable football club in the world (valid as of yesterday’s Forbes Magazine publication) behind Manchester United and Real Madrid. A listing on a Forbes index is certainly one valid measure of success.
On the footballing side, the development of all levels of the team through the academy to the first team continues steadily on the path it started. It still is an essential part in securing the long term stability of the team by developing our own crop of players and building the team spirit and togetherness that are the hallmarks of a solid foundation for the future.
We still need the reinforcements to supplement the gains in the first team and these will come. It’s a far cry though from the alternative being suggested following yet another season without a trophy.
While Wenger and his staff get on and refresh the squad for a new campaign, as supporters we can only but dust ourselves off and prepare for the next roller coaster ride.
Did I mention that Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers? Just in case I didn’t, we are looking.
If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Power Shift Signals Change Of Guard At Top Of Premiership
Posted by: | CommentsIf ever there was a case of ’The Usual Suspects being expected to do what is routine, then you have to say that the top 4 positions of the EPL table would correct itself every year.
The ’Big 4’ in England have hitherto executed their ruthless rendition of ’the rich get richer and the poor on the other side of the tracks watch and wish it was them’.
In fact, apart from Manchester United’s 11 Premiership haul’s, Arsenal’s 3 titles, and Chelsea’s 2 titles, Blackburn are the only club in the EPL to have won the Premiership.
Even then, you could say that Jack Walker did for Blackburn Rovers, what Roman Abramovich did for Chelsea, and ”bought” the title by throwing 50 pound notes at it.
In recent times, so much emphasis has been put on the ’top 4’. It’s become the elusive holy grail of English football and achieving a top 4 finish is even hailed more than winning domestic trophies like the FA cup and league cup.
The glamour and razzmatazz of playing amongst the elite in Europe and the financial rewards offered have heightened the perceived importance of finishing in the 4 Champions league places that English football is allocated.
Except for the 2005 season when Everton eclipsed their bitter rivals Liverpool to the 4th spot, Champions league football has been a preserve of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in recent years.
Even though, Liverpool in that 2005 season were handed a ’get out of jail free card’ by their argument that they had the right to defend the trophy.
As we approach the last few games of the season, some new patterns are emerging signalling a change of guard at the top of the English football high table. Many may argue otherwise, but such arguments in my view are the desperate kicks of a dying horse.
The two biggest casualties of the shift of the power axis are Liverpool and Manchester United. In two very different ways, they are tangible case studies of ’the beginning of the end’ of an era of domination by the two clubs.
Liverpool is in a more perilous state right now from the point of view that the lack of Champions league football next season will be a catalyst for a lengthy spell in the wilderness of mid-table mediocrity.
The performance of the team this season has been questionable at best and the exacerbation of the fans with the fortunes of their team is palpable.
In Manchester United’s case, the loss of Christiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is so painfully obvious , only a rookie disembarking off the milk train at Manchester Piccadilly will argue otherwise. Despite the world record sale of their former Portuguese ace, United weren’t able to afford Tevez who was snapped up by the blue side of Manchester.
Various parties within the club have tried to insult our intelligence by suggesting that Carlos Tevez was not worth the £25m price tag, but it was more to do with the fact that United couldn’t afford him. I mean, how do you let a striker of Tevez’s quality go so that you can get a crocked Michael Owen on the free and try and convince folks that it’s good business.
United and Liverpool are surely heading south, and their performances on the field have shown this all season. Unfortunately for both clubs, assumptions about success on the field have been made when projecting the financial fortunes of the respective clubs.
In yesterday’s article about the financial reality hitting football, Saloner highlighted the difficulty Manchester United find themselves in with falling revenues. Even if you factor in relative success on the pitch, the situation still looks bad.
Raphael Benitez is already screaming for money to rebuild his squad, and many observers also note that United need major surgery as it’s time to call curtains for the senior citizens like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Gary Neville.
Here is the thing though. The business of football has changed, and it’s my view that many observers within football haven’t caught up with this reality.
I’d like to say that it’s misguided optimism on their part, but it’s more to do with collective gross incompetence within the football establishment. It’s the sort of incompetence that blinds them from realising that the days of ’big money football’ are all gone.
There are no billionaires from Russia waiting to burn their oil dollars; or no Sheikh’s from the middle east looking for a play toy. The constant hope that clubs will be ’rescued’ by a sugar daddy of sorts is a lottery gamble that is farfetched from reality.
Liverpool have tried to invite investment and have failed miserably. In truth, Liverpool needed more of a marriage counsellor than they needed a high net worth investor; Gillett and Hicks were constantly bitching at each other it’s hard to see who would have been interested in throwing their money in there.
Liverpool have ended up appointing an independent chairman who happens to hold a season ticket in the Matthew Harding stand at Stamford Bridge. But it’s that sort of desperation for credibility that forces them to have someone at the helm who can give Liverpool the respectability to invite investors in.
Manchester City are an anomaly; a freak show if you will. Their owners, the Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation have the luxury of printing their own money from the mint attached to the back of their office complex.
The problem there is for Liverpool and United (less so for Chelsea and for Arsenal) is that once City get into the Champions league, they won’t let go. They’ll be like a bull dog that refuses to let go of your ass once it bites.
They have the money to throw at football mercenaries, and I even fear for Roberto Mancini who in the grand scheme of things, will be left high and dry as they appoint a ’Hollywood’ name as manager.
Jose Mourinho already submitted his CV live on a pre-match interview a week ago, and I think we can conclude that it was noted, if not accepted. The Sheikh’s of Middle Eastlands are going to throw an obscene amount of money to cement their position.
A lot of people think that Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation’s interest in Manchester City has to do with football. I submit to you that it has very little to do with football, and more to do with marketing Abu Dhabi as a country to the rest of the world.
Gulf states are making a concerted effort to put themselves on the world map, and the Emirates and Qatar have not been shy at implementing audacious programmes to brand themselves around the world as they seek the attention of the world.
Call it an exercise in vanity, but taking a club out of obscurity into the highest echelons of football is a pretty straight forward loss leader for them if there was ever one. It’s almost like the cost of the Manchester City project is irrelevant; they can print the money anyway.
More people around the world are talking about this Gulf state called Abu Dhabi than they are about Manchester City.
As for Chelsea, it really depends on the intentions of their one benefactor, and any way you look at this one, it’s hard to see how sustainable it is. Will Abramovich have the stomach to ’buy’ a new squad to replace his senior citizens? They say Chelsea has a good academy, but it’s a long stretch to see any of their academy products breaking into the first team.
Arsenal on the other hand have the best of both worlds. A manageable financial structure leading towards a debt free scenario as the stadium mortgage is paid off; and on the other hand, a stable management structure that works well to move the team in the right direction.
considering the meltdown that’s happening and its impact on United and Liverpool, Arsenal are well placed to ride this storm, even if more adversity comes our way.
There’s a lot of hysteria about Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith’s decision to sell her shares, and many people have jumped on the band wagon.
For one, I don’t think Usmanov has a chance and any bid by him will be blocked by Danny Fiszman and Stan Kroenke.
My sense is that Stan Kroenke loves the way Arsenal is run and believes it’s a good investment; but I think he’s ambivalent towards buying Arsenal outright if there is resistance to a takeover.
Arsene Wenger’s likely decision to leave Arsenal if there’s a pissing contest to take over Arsenal is a huge factor and I don’t see the board risking that.
Lady Nina has appointed an investment bank to seek an outside buyer and I don’t think Blackstone have any intention of selling either to Usmanov or Kroenke, so it’s likely to be an outsider.
The most likely result is that the ownership structure stays the same with the protagonists changing, and we can carry on with the business of cementing our place at the top of European football.
Whatever happens to Arsenal’s ownership though, there is clearly a change of guard at the top of English football.
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Desperately Seeking ‘Silent Stan’
Posted by: | CommentsEven though I often complain about some of the uses of our controversial ‘licence fee’ to the BBC, I took a more open minded approach about the fishing expedition that BBC radio 5 were carrying out in Denver. Maybe I’m just used to anti-Arsenal journalism at every available opportunity, and I hoped that whatever Brian Alexander fished out of Denver would highlight some new info about the ever elusive Stan Kroenke.
Based on the promotional headlines, an assumption I made is that after spending all that money sending a crew to Colorado, the least they’ll achieve is manage a cup of tea and a sound bite with Stan the man. But I should have known better I guess, and I only had myself to blame for expecting too much.
You can listen again to the In search of ‘Silent Stan’ documentary by Brian Alexander. It’s a 30 minute piece with some preamble and network news up front and the piece starts about 4 minutes in.
I didn’t learn anything new except for the fact that Stan can’t see the Emirates stadium from his high flying penthouse at the Pepsi Centre in Denver where the Nuggets and Avalanche play – but I guess that’s neither here nor there. I suppose it was useful information to those who had no clue about KSE and their collection of sports franchises. Speculation of course has hit fever pitch in the UK about an imminent takeover of the club by the American billionaire – but let’s face it, none of us have a clue what the dude wants to do and it’ll stay like that.
Kroenke didn’t walk into the world of billionaires barefoot from the central reservation, this is a dude who is used to playing his cards quite close to his chest, some would hazard a guess that he prefers to play them from inside his chest. Trying to figure him out at this stage is an exercise in futility.
What caught my attention though was Brian Alexander’s masked attempt to look for a negative aspect on Kroenke to report on, or more interestingly, start a rumour or seedy story on. There were times he came with an edge in trying to seek out that negativity, but it was clear that those he interviewed had mortgages to pay and kids to feed and they were unlikely to commit professional suicide by unleashing any dark side of Kroenke that is perceived to exist. Nice guys don’t usually make good copy.
Credit to Stan for side stepping this expedition as I suspect anything he says will be chopped up left right and centre and interpreted by any hack or pundit to suit what they want. It doesn’t even matter that Kroenke has an obligation to conduct himself with integrity at a delicate time where a takeover could be an option though not necessarily one he would take.
You can just imagine the question from the journalist: “Mr. Kroenke, can you confirm or deny here and now whether you will take over Arsenal? The Arsenal fans deserve to know what is happening to their club?”
Somehow I don’t think Kroenke is a mug to answer such a question and the endless speculation about his intentions will do just fine. The media would have a better bet going down to Thames House and making a freedom of information request from MI5 to release ’Silent Stan’s’ File from the archives in the basement if they want to find anything seedy to use as fodder for a story to unsettle the Arsenal.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund