It has been a remarkable week for Arsenal football club. On Monday the #wecaredoyou campaign was launched with a hard-hitting open letter from a group of Arsenal fan groups, websites and blogs urging the club owners, the Kroenke Family, to start listening to the fans, among many other demands/requests.
Well, yesterday Josh Kroenke responded, twice, in an interview and via an open letter to the fans and he had a lot to say.
It is easy to dismiss what he had to say and to a large extent we have here at JustArsenal, however, he does deserve credit for at least responding and giving an insight to the clubs thinking, strategy and vision.
Here are five things we have taken from both the interview and letter.
The Kroenke family are listening
Well, that we cannot deny, you may not like their response or you may well be heartened by what Kroenke had to say but they cannot be criticised for ignoring the fan’s statement from earlier in the week. Josh Kroenke has at least had the courage to take the criticism head-on and give a strong response.
There will be more signings
Kroenke never actually came out and said 100% there will be more signing but he did say “be excited” when asked about transfers and there really is no ambiguity in that. He really is saying there will be new additions to the squad and that they will be exciting. I just cannot read that any other way.
Wage bill is burdening the club hugely
These words are rather damning
“It’s no secret we have a champions league wage bill with a Europa League budget right now. That’s a fact.”
Now, we can all lay the blame at whosever door we want to but that does not change the fact the wage bill is strangling the club and that too many players are overpaid based on the competitions that we are competing in.
Edu is the last appointment in the new structure
Kroenke has now confirmed that Edu is the final appointment at the club following the overhaul that has been in place over the last 12 months or so.
“Edu represents the final piece of a very important jigsaw puzzle that is our new football operational structure”
That is significant, it means the club at that level is now stable and that all the focus can now be on the team. Having a structure in place is of course of the highest importance and it has been a mess over the last year with resignations and departures.
Josh Kroenke is asking for patience
At least he is being very honest here.
“It’s a daily approach. There are no shortcuts. As much as we would love to say that we’ll be competing for the top trophies tomorrow, we know that that’s not the case and that we have to get to work on that”
He has basically told us straight, do not expect to win the big trophies next season, the revolution that Kroenke is trying to implement at Arsenal is not going to happen overnight, it is going to take time and he is asking us to be patient.