The protests are great, but Arsenal won’t be sold so easily. by Konstantin Mitov
Welcome Lovely Arsenal people. Lots of events have happened around Arsenal, mostly for the wrong reasons, but after spending a few days in Zagreb and seeing the Dynamo fan store and remembering how Spurs were dumped out, than seeing them lose the Carabao cup final, my footballing mood has slightly improved.
The news that Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek showed interest in buying Arsenal are good, but the rumours of an incoming bid sound more like click bait than anything else. Valued at around 3.4 billion pounds, he will need partners to prepare a bid that has any chance to intrigue the Kroenkes. And it’s not like Usmanov didn’t try to buy the club before selling his share, and Dangote who is valued almost triple of what Ek is has also expressed desire to buy the club, but unless 2 billion pounds are coughed up, you shouldn’t be holding too much hope.
On that fan forum where Josh Kroenke spoke, he said the KSE have no intentions of selling Arsenal and that’s probably the only true thing he said. You shouldn’t trust one word coming out of the Kroenke family. They’ve moved teams in the US, after saying they won’t do it, and when money is around the corner, they’ll do anything. The super league was an attempt to make money the easy way and Stan was supposed to be a vice-chairman of that competition. We weren’t there so we don’t miss out, we were a driving force.
There was a protest with people numbered in the thousands before the Everton game and if that continues something may be achieved. This season has been atrocious and the super league fiasco doesn’t help. If fans were at the stadium for games, it would’ve very easily gotten toxic.
We’ve lost 13 games already. In Emery’s first season we amounted to 70 points and lost 10 games, finished with a GD of +22 just a point short of 4th spot, we played in the Europa League final and that was deemed not good enough for us, and Emery was sacked.
Ironically we’re once again in the semis of the EL playing a team managed by our former manager. Imagine the hypocrisy of the situation where our entire season lies on winning Europe’s second tier competition to enter the Champions league which a week ago we tried to leave, so that we can play a “super” league where we don’t need to qualify, but we’ll get an insane amount of money. That would’ve sentenced us to complete mediocrity and achieve Kroenke’s dream.
Now it’s a bit more different, because finally most of the fans have a bullseye on his back and a dart in their hand. I do not rule out a possible attempt to buy out of this situation by spending some money for once in the summer.
This would actually be a very welcome improvement on the footballing side, but again, I don’t trust the Kroenkes and hardly see them dropping 150 million on new players, which is the absolute minimum considering we need a goalkeeper, a new RB, a backup LB, a midfielder next to Partey, a creative number 10 (if we don’t sign Odegaard) and a new striker.
As much as I want to see Arteta gone yesterday, he’ll likely be here no matter of the results in the Europa League and if that is the case, they better back him big. Nevertheless the Europa League still means something to us fans. It’s only for the fans! It’s the only thing left that can put some pride and justification for why we stick our necks out for this football club. Hopefully the players and Arteta realize that and put a solid performances. As dead as we have been, it’s just a total of 3 games where we need to be good. It’s possible, they won’t be in a row, so as bad as we have been, we still have a chance to salvage something.
What we shouldn’t do it use it as cover. The EL doesn’t undo the damage off the pitch, nor our league position.
Konstantin
I agree Kroenke saying he has no intentions of selling has to be the only thing coming from him we can believe as for the EL as much as i want us to win it one of the things I believe in is Karma and for the shameful disgraceful way some our fans treated UE they’ll get their comeuppance in the form of elimination by his Villarreal team.
Siamois
Well I’ll be getting my comeuppance then come Thursday so I’ll take part of the blame for what happens against Villarreal.
I don’t think I was rude about Emery as a person but I did call for his departure.
This is from someone who is still standing by Arteta (for a while yet anyway) and reads the same things about him that were said about UE.
@SueP you shouldn’t feel concerned by my comment as you said you called for his departure (nothing wrong with that) but never were rude to him i was alluding to people who crossed a certain line the personal abuse mocking his accent that sort of things !👍
👍siamois, I naturally want Arsenal to win, although the future progression to the Europa League final depending on overcome Emery’s Villarreal couldn’t be scripted better if it was Hollywood.
SueP, I believe Emery should have been given to the end of the season and supported to the degree Arteta was; in hindsight the FA Cup was far and away the highlight with 8th place a memory.
Fair point ozziegunner
I was definitely less patient then.
I agree had he been supported by the club the same way MA has been/is and given the players he asked for coupled with another couple of transfer windows to clear up and add “his” players i truly believe that we would be in a much better position now but I guess he was not slick enough for some.
the media backed fans wants Kroneke gone….
look how contradicting the media are towards the other owners
Stan isn’t goer sell not for the foreseeable anyway even though the rumours are intensifying about the Daniel Ek takeover .
For me the real problems that need sorting at this moment in time are board and management lvl ,It’s pretty obvious that Arteta is way in over his head and even if by a miracle I believe he should be replaced immediately when the season ends if he could take his slimy pal Edu with him that would be great also .I don’t want to spend the summer seeing pictures of Edus son taking pictures of his dad on the phone and tagging him telling us he’s working hard on transfers ,one of the most cringe things I’ve ever seen .
Dan kit
I checked to see who the board is made up of. Apart from Kroenke and son there is Lord Harris carpets of Peckham with Tim Lewis as a non executive board member for less than a year.
Exactly sue ,Tim Lewis who I believe came on board late 2019 and josh Kroenke are made up of 50 % of the board Tim Lewis is ,was a lawyer and josh is a used car salesman ,what do they know about football .
SueP, it’s the head of the snake that has to be chopped off. Given the gun culture in Missouri and Kansas, after what Kroenke did to the people of St Louis, he doesn’t worry about Konstantin’s “bullseye on his back and dart in their hand”.
Dan kit, just by way of information Tim Lewis is a long term Arsenal fan, so he may be quite knowledgeable on football, as well as corporations law. Reading between the lines, his investigations as a non executive Board member may have led to the demise of Raul Sanheili.
The appointment of Richard Garlick as Director of Football should be positive given his FA and club experience.
I get that Ozzie but something is obvious not working at board lvl these guys are making the decisions and look where we are ,they have bought in vinnie and edu and they couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery and have now made Arteta manager on the back of a FA cup win .
These two will be far better than Gazidis, Sanheili and Vinai (who is still there despite me agreeing with your assessment). Hopefully Garlick can guide Edu, who I have concerns about with his relative inexperience and narrow Brazilian focus.
In my view the forcing out of Mislantat and the disbandment of the scouting system have been and will prove even more a loss to Arsenal.
Even by a miracle he wins EL *
As the sole owner of Arsenal, Kroenke has spent more than one billion to buy Arsenal and many high profile players. I don’t think anybody would spend 2 billion to buy a football club in this difficult situation
Even if a mad man buys Arsenal now, he or she will have to make sure the return of investment worth the gamble. The new owner will likely make a trade-off by buying cheaper players, so forget about 50+ M superstars
The most lucrative ownership would be having a business oligarch like Dangote on board, instead of Spotify owner. I personally don’t want Arsenal stained by oligarchic corporations, such as Abramovich’s, Sheikh Mansour’s and MBS’
Oil refinery and cement industries have badly polluted the world, including Nigeria. But I guess some fans and glory hunters don’t care about the destructive impact of the club owners’ businesses, as long as their clubs get huge transfer budget each season
OT:Richard Garlick is leaving the PL with immediate effect which means it might take up his new job at Arsenal sooner that planned!
Breaking News (again).
It’s rumour time of the year folks 😉
Consortium.
“Spotify Founder Is Working With Henry, Bergkamp & Vieira To Buy Arsenal”.
Stanley – or those 3 legends hmmmnn, let me think for a milli-second.
Do you think SS knows who those legends are?
Probably thinks they’re a firm of Undertakers or Solicitors !
Blaming Stan Kroenke for Arsenals dreadful league season is pure delusion pathetic and quite frankly embarrassing.
The Arsenal squad is a very expensively assembled and obscenely paid group which only make the league results even more grotesque.
Anything worse than 5th is terrible.
All the fault lies with player recruitment contracts, salaries and the coaching staff.
Owner Stan Kroenke has nothing absolute nothing to do with the footballing side of the club.
The fans condemn the ESL yet demand the owner spend mega millions on new players.
Mr Kroenke did not allow Richarlison to saunter past Xhaka and Mr Kroenke did not induce the feeble attempt at a save by Leno which lost us the game.
13 home losses has nothing to do with Mr Kroenke. The failure is down to the vastly overpaid players and the coaching staff.
The toxic deluded protesters ought to be directing their bile at the real problems which are the poor player recruitment ridiculous contracts and the coaching staff.
Mr Kroenke is actually the only consistently good thing about Arsenal these last ten years. All the managers playing staff and coaches have come and gone but Stan provides the one reliable foundation at Arsenal.
No Wyoming, what’s ” pure delusion pathetic and quite frankly embarrassing.” is having an owner who espouses ;
” I didn’t buy Arsenal stake to win trophies”.
or, if you prefer;
““If you want to win Championships then you would never get involved.”
Have you not noticed football, is a highly competitive sport ?
Mr Kroenke seems to have missed that bit !
You are a troll and are deliberately sticking up for Kroenke to cause trouble on here.
jon, he should be on the stage doing stand up, because he is obviously “having a lend”.
@Wyoming
RealTalk…
@@Wyoming This is Hard Fact!
Fans if you need someone to blame for the place we are in now, try Arteta. I maintain that we have one of the most talented squad in our last 10years. If anything, our squad far outclass the likes of WestHam, Leicester and even Totenham player for player.
If Wenger had this squad, I can only imagine what he’d do.
Kroenke and the board are doing his bit. They gave us Pepe, 72, partey, 45, Auba,53, laca, 50, Ozil,42, Gabriel, 22, and the “Mbape of Defenders” deemed not good enough by Arteta, 27, all in millions. What else do you want from the board? Messi?
With this coaching crew, even KDB would look clueless.
Who chose Mikel Arteta, with no Club Manager experience (expected to learn on the job) to manage a club like Arsenal?
Good shot @Ozzie! Nice shot!
Wyoming, Stan Kroenke is at fault because he owns Arsenal FC lock, stock and barrel and has been responsible for hiring or retaining the senior managers and Board members charged with running the Club on KS&E’s behalf.
About and best time to do so, he is losing money, he can see decline and no Europe football, last year saved by cup.
Best time for him to sell and for buyers, we now have Spotify’s sweedish co owner ready to buy all kroenke’s share…
It is going to be a party for sure!
Losing out on a European competition is not that big of a hit for KSE because footballing success funds the transfer kitty and not the ranch.
He’s quite content with any scenario that doesn’t involve getting relegated.
Also, it would take many seasons like this one to make Arsenal less valuable.
If he sells, it will be because he got an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Fans amassing 1 billion pounds seems like quite a stretch. Even if don Robbie partakes in the business venture, I don’t think it’s possible.
KS&E is already looking at how much Norwich City was given to be relegated and then promoted back to the Premier League. He’s thinking I can some of that!
Although Kroenke said is is not going to sell, there are some little things happening that may change that. He is having to borrow more money for his LA project which is for the Rams and the future olympics. One of the reasons he bought Arsenal was as a financial safeguard against that project (he care not an iota for the wishes and emotions of Arsenal supporters). He is beginning to lose money on the project and is taking very long term loans to balance his project books. He will be drawn both ways, keep Arsenal as cash safeguard (2 billion valuation), sell Arsenal as an immediate fix for his big problem. Given some real buyers that make REAL offers his tune may have to change. If the hundreds of thousands of Arsenal supporters could get half that sum, then Mr Spotify and Arsenal supporters could dance the most romantic dance ever known.
Kroenke must be haemorrhaging money left right and centre and just might ‘HAVE’ to sell.
Things may get a lot worse for Kroenke very quickly.
It will certainly all come down to how much money KSE is haemorrhaging and how KSE is mortgaged for all its debt, which must be substantial, given that all his franchises must have been losing money fast and even a multi billionaire can find himself overstretched.
I do not see DANIEL ek coming up with 2 billion though and I THINK KROENKE WOULD WANT AT LEAST THAT FIGURE TO EVEN CONSIDER SELLING NOW.
But he will continue losing money for ages yet and that is why he wanted to join the ESL. He thus showed his financial hand to OTHER would be investors. I still see DANGOTE AS THE MOST LIKELY TO BID, IF ANYONE DOES.
Good afternoon guys
Hope you are both keeping well
Saw your thought on this long drawn out saga that will run and run
The question to ask ourselves is if silent stan sells do we replace him with a businessman or do we replace him with a fan owner
If the first then we are back to square one and if 2nd then do they have deep pockets and willing to make a financial loss. The bigger the club the bigger the loss and I still consider ourselves as a big club
Only way to get rid of stan is to vote with our wallets. Stop watching arsenal games. Stop buying g tickets when they are available. Make him feel the force of fans
The most important aspect is to follow the investigation and outcomes from the UK Government’s review of football and the failed ESL.
KS&E have to operate under the rules of the FA and the laws of the UK.
KS&E have no intentions of selling. We are a business back up plan for all his other US teams so he doesnt care regardless of what we do and say.
But, with Thierry, Denis & Patrick on board (to get every gooner in the world, which they will, on board) with possibly a co ownership with Ek for the club partnering with someone like Dangote (billionaire fans at heart)
Arsenal could well make something positive out of this bad situation we find ourselves in.
Why not club is worth more than £2b & stan will ask for more than this figure and Eks is valued at 3.4b so will not have enough to buy the club on his own.
Let’s see what happens but Get the yanks out and actual Arsenal men in charge of our historic club.
Sean, Club valuation is much less than £2 billion, which has been the assessment of what KS&E would want to get to sell. As others have said, we don’t know how much Arsenal FC is haemorrhaging money or the financial demands of KS&E’s other sporting frangises in the USA, particularly the Rams Stadium development.
I posted this in the wee hours last evening, but in light of emerging info this morning it makes more sense on this thread
I think the chances of us attracting an owner with bottomless pockets is exceedingly low…of course, our massive fanbase, which extends across much of the globe, and the fact that we’re based out of London, means that anything is possible, but I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath…as such, I do agree that if we want to win things at the highest levels it will require us to not only rebuild our squad but also our organizational model…that said, without the right owner in place, the chances of bringing in those with the necessary acumen to facilitate such a reconfiguring is highly unlikely…I so wish that Sven had won the day over the scheming Raul
I kind of think a consortium of sorts, which would include 2 or 3 extremely wealthy individuals, who are looking for an incredibly viable long-term investment, with a former Arsenal player as their “front-man”, might be our best option…this has become a bit more commonplace in the US, as it allows investors to share the obvious financial burdens of ownership, considering how incredibly expensive it is now to buy a franchise, unlike a decade or so ago, while likewise easing concerns within the fanbase by combining forces with a former player with deep historical roots
TRVL, if you look at Dennis Bergkamp, he is an intelligent man, with profession qualifications in mechanical engineering and a high degree of business acumen. He has made more money outside of football than he made playing. As well as being a great player, he has experienced success coaching in the Ajax Amsterdam Academy.
I’m well-aware OG…I wrote this on the evening before any announcement was made regarding the whole EK/former Arsenal player consortium…I would have likewise fully supported and Overmars/Bergkamp combo pack at the Emirates, of which I spoke about prior to the arrival of Arteta
If Arsenal fans are genuinely serious about getting the greedy yank out action speak louder than words and should boycott all home games and hit him where it hurts in his pocket if this was done properly and consistently every home game once fans allowed back he will seriously have to consider selling but I doubt every Arsenal fan would go along with this but to me it’s the only way we can remove him!!
I really hope this new bid is SERIOUS. There have been rumors Kroenke is willing to sell, even if he wont publically admit it. There’s reports that fan representation in ownership is being floated too in the Spotify bid as well. I will love Florentino Perez forever if our superleague involvement leads to Kroenke finally out! For now i’ll stay grounded and be prepared for the worst.
“ To those who fight his corner and claim Kroenke has spent money on transfers for Arsenal – with the real failures coming on the pitch and in the dug-out rather than the boardroom – it is worth noting that the club has received no funding over the last five years from their owner. The money flows only one way, and will continue to flow that way now Arsenal owe Kroenke rather a lot of money”.
@A J
Is it normal procedure for a company to finance its operations from handouts from the shareholder(s)? Because that is basically what you are demanding, handouts from Kroenke to finance unsustainable transfers and contracts. The diabolical wastage of club finances over the last couple of years has proven this club is more than capable of standing on its own two feet financially. We must first rectify the culture of wasting money at this club before we start demand for Kroenke’s money to eventually squander away.
Oh Dream, you really are hard work.
Do you actual bother to read the flow of threads.
Let me repeat from above, quoting Mr Kroenke ;
” I didn’t buy Arsenal stake to win trophies”.
or, if you prefer;
““If you want to win Championships then you would never get involved.”
Thank you for explaining my own (obviously muddled) thoughts to me i.e.
” what you are demanding, handouts from Kroenke to finance unsustainable transfers and contracts.”
WHAT I AM ACTUALLY DEMANDING IS THE CLUB TO BE PRESIDED OVER BY AN OWNER WHO HONESTLY TAKES PRIDE, HAS AMBITON AND HAS AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO BOTH CLUB AND IT’S SUPPORTERS – OF ALL AGES, NOT JUST THE 19-24 DEMOGRAPHIC !
YOUR MIND READING OF MY POSITION ON THS IS 100% INCORRECT.
HOW DO I WANT ” handouts from the shareholder” WHEN SAID SHAREHOLDER IS THE VERY INDIVIDUAL I WOULD LIKE TO SEE PACK HIS BAGS AND SELL UP ???
So you can keep you Kroenke “handouts” thank you.
Also, I happen to know a thing or two about what makes a SERIOUS FOOTBALL CLUB FUNCTION, AND A STARTING POINT OF ZERO SPORTING AMBITION FROM THE TOP DOWN IS NOT A GOOD POSITION !
But thanks for the lecture in good business practice. although I probably covered that some 50 years ago.
Arsenal Football Club is not Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Amazon and the like. So if you want to go play the stockbroker, be my guest.
I am simply stating I want an owner who strives to make Arsenal Football Club the best it can possibly be via success on the playing field – have we forgotten that ??
And yes, to achieve the above in the framework of a workable financial model.
A model that is implemented with the clear aim of achieving sporting success NOT CLEARLY GEARED TO INCREASING THE OWNERS SUBSTANSIAL WEALTH WHILST LORDING IT OVER MEDIORITY AT THE VERY LEVEL THE CLUB EXITS FOR.
Your argument would also seemed floored in that as this weeks events unfold elements WITHIN THE CLUB WHO MAY KNOW A TAD MORE THAN YOU & I ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB are now calling for a change of ownership – yes, this from WITHIN.
So your idyllic “business model” under Mr Kroenke’s stewardship seem to be being questioned at differing levels more and more on a daily basis.
So, to reduce the argument to simply being a matter of “demanding, handouts from Kroenke to finance unsustainable transfers and contracts. ” is quite frankly laughable, tired, hackneyed and pathetic.
We have long since moved on – or have the events of the last week passed you by ??
In closing I again repeat ;
” I didn’t buy Arsenal stake to win trophies”.
“If you want to win Championships then you would never get involved.”
” THE CLUB EXITS FOR”
“THE CLUB EXISTS FOR”
(There’s only one “EXIT” I’m hoping for !)
@A J But you were just moaning about the club not receiving any funding from Kroenke for the last 5 years! This implies you either wanted or expected handouts from the owner during said 5 year period. If it did not matter to you then how much Kroenke puts into the club coffers from his personal fortune should have been irrelevant.. so don’t pretend you are so proud all of a sudden, because handouts are definitely some of the things you want from the owner.
Kroenke probably would sell. He has again just borrowed heavily to support his LA stadium project…the Rams and the Olympics. In the background he may be trying to big up Arsenal’s value. If he doesn’t want to sell he now knows that he is despised in the UK. More than any other owner. Things are changing because Kroenke is haemorrhaging money both in the US and here in Islington.
F.A.O. Q D
“ so don’t pretend you are so proud all of a sudden, because handouts are definitely some of the things you want from the owner.”
Grow up !
“Pretend “ – I’m long past
“pretending “ anything in life, preferring plain talk and honesty.
“Pretending” is for children so perhaps that explains your use of the word.
As for MY “ moaning” about Kroenke’s lack of investment in our club.
Notice the “ “ marks around my post.
Guess what “ “ (quotation marks) mean.
THE COMMENT MADE IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SOMEONE ELSE !
My post got pushed down the thread, when I tried to reply to those saying how much Kroenke had invested in players !
The post is a clip from a report (of which there are various) saying Kroenke has NOT invested a penny of his own money over the previous 5 years.
I was simply replying to other postings on the thread with a piece authored elsewhere, hence
“ “ – so PRETENDING NOTHING !
Probably all a bit subtle for you to comprehend.
By the way, please remember, there is a huge difference in SANCTIONING the spending of the clubs funds rather than your own.
So I have feeling I have to repeat for you.
The clip you refer to as me “moaning” was within “ “ marks and posted by me in direct response to those duped into thinking the using leech we are currently lumbered with has in fact personally invested in the squad.
In closing may I ask you never again on a public forum refer to me as PRETENDING to be proud about anything in my life – IF I SAY IT, I MEAN IT !!!!!!!
“Blaming Stan Kroenke for Arsenals dreadful league season is pure delusion pathetic and quite frankly embarrassing.”
Really? The buck stops with the owner. When Wenger wanted money, where was Stan? Why would Stan bring in managers without actual experience in the EPL after getting rid of Wenger? We cannot blame Emery or Arteta for what they bring. We can blame those who did not promise enough money in the transfer market to get the bet players.
Look at what happened to the keeper slot. We lost the better keeper to make money. Leno is not good enough for the type of game being played, while Martinez was better. With four more wins, or 12 points, we could be closer to the top four. Look at Leno’s errors, simply not acceptable at this level. If Stan cared, he would have insisted on the FA Cup winning keeper staying. Leno could have back Martinez with proper competition for the place. It took Wenger years to build the keeper’s slot, and it took Stan three years to destroy it.
Owners who are not passionate about winning have to go.
If anyone knows how to win this cup it’s Emery, and he has done a sound job at Villareal and we will need to fight a lot harder than we did against Fulham and Everton, as for the Krankies Iam with you admin I wouldn’t trust a single word of these two moneygrabbing twisters what a pair of kaniving scheming greedy parasites they are, to bring this club with such history and tradition to where we are now is beyond belief,Get out Now.