Can Josh Kroenke exercise his power as the director of football and bring about the desired change in Arsenal? By S K
When Claudio Ranieri was sacked as the coach of Leicester City football club, it was rumoured around sports circles that the son of the owner of the club impressed on his father the reason why he had to do away with the coach and bring about a positive change to the affairs of the club. Inasmuch as I felt bad with the decision to sack Claudio, the effects of the sack has been positive so far and nobody can really say it was not a bad decision.
Chelsea football club has been managed and owned by the Abramovich family for more than ten years now! The managerial style of the owner though may be brutal and ruthless, but it has achieved results so far. Abramovich is not a man to mix sentiments with decision making! He sacks coaches at will, hires them at will and is not afraid to sack them again. This method of his, has won Chelsea the UEFA Champions league, the Europa Cup, premier league trophies, F.A cups and even the EFL! No matter how we feel about it, Chelsea has been the better for it.
Just this recently, it was all over the sport news that Josh Kroenke, the son of Stan Kroenke, the American owner of Arsenal, wants Thierry Henry to coach Arsenal, as soon as Wenger steps down! Well, he is entitled to his wish but I feel that should not be what he should be thinking of at the moment. Thierry Henry is an Arsenal legend and it will be an honour to see him coach the same team he won laurels for to success, but first things first!
Right now, nobody is sure of Arsene Wenger’s next move; is he going to extend his contract beyond this season or is he going to leave Arsenal alone! If he decides to call it quits with Arsenal at the end of this current season, fine! But if he decides to extend his contract beyond the season, then that is where Josh Kroenke will have a problem. If Wenger stays, Josh may have to wait for years before his dream of seeing Henry coach Arsenal come to fulfillment. Can he afford to wait? I don’t think so.
Josh looks to me an ambitious man; being a football director at Arsenal shows he likes to be associated with success. He knows he is the heir apparent to his father who is currently the chairman of the club and this is the time he needs to start stamping his feet on the ground, regarding issues concerning the running of this great club! His father seems to have been held spellbound by Wenger and may seem reluctant to sack Le Prof but Josh can pressurize and force him to take the right decision for the club. He should talk to his father and make him realize that if things continue the way it is at the club, Arsenal may risk losing their bragging rights as one of the big clubs in Europe. He needs to personally call Wenger aside and talk to him about leaving the club at the end of the season. Maybe Wenger needs somebody in the club to look him in the face and tell him to take a walk; Josh seems to be the perfect person to do that.
However, Josh should take it easy with his choice of Henry coaching the club in case Wenger leaves. Thierry Henry is a good choice but he definitely is not the best choice. We need a coach who can rebuild the club, rebuild the confidence of the players and the fans. Henry won’t be able to do that; he has no experience of coaching a top club.
We can get an Allegri or Simeone to coach the club, while Henry becomes an assistant to either of them. This way, he will still be a part of the coaching team and at the same time, learn from them on how to manage a big club. Don’t you think it is high time Josh talked to his father on the Wenger situation?
Sylvester