Why I’m Negative by Dan Smith
I have been very fortunate on JustArsenal to have a lot of kind words regarding my articles. It has led to me having opportunities such as being invited onto YouTube Channels and taking part in a documentary.
My style of writing is to take relevant topics or rumours regarding Arsenal and give my thoughts. My one rule is I don’t engage with anyone who is personally disrespectful. I was taught that anyone who resorts to that is losing the argument.
So let me stress, I have zero problem recently with some readers commenting on me being ‘negative’.
I am writing this to save myself repeating myself daily in the comments but also, I would hate for anyone to think that I am deliberately trying to put a downer on things. If you are a Gooner who is positive at the moment and is looking forward to this season, then good on you. I have zero right to take that away from you, nor am I trying to.
To keep everyone happy, I could write that our club is the best in the world, we are going to win the Premiership and predict every week we will 3-0. That would guarantee me a certain amount of views and anyone reading would walk away quite happy. After all we love The Arsenal, so naturally we love to hear great things being said about what we adore.
There is also zero evidence that supports the idea that being positive makes you anymore committed or has any bearing on a result (yes that was suggested).
The problem I have Is I don’t see being called negative as an insult. Because …. I am negative.
Guess what? I think I should be. I think our fanbase should be. Or at the very least …. worried.
Again, my choice of writing is opinion pieces. So you take an issue and you can only be positive or negative, there is no in-between.
How can I be positive finishing 8th? How can I be positive finishing 43 points behind the Champions? How can I say everything is fine when we finish in our worst position in 25 years?
Whether it’s your family, your friends or any passions, you want the very best for them. You don’t accept mediocrity. If your best mate was married but being mistreated by their spouse, are you negative for wanting the best for them?
It’s been 16 years since we won the Prem. In the last campaign we were getting further away from winning it, not closer.
As I write this, City, Man United, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds and others have spent more than us. I guess the Pandemic only affects us. So when I read I’m negative I simply think, ‘why are you not as well?’
Long term readers such as Sue, Ken, Jon Fox, etc will testify that back in the days of people screaming ‘Arsene Out’ I defended Mr Wenger and was very positive about ‘only finishing 4th and winning the odd FA Cup.’
The irony being perhaps, that the same people who pushed out the greatest manager in our history are now mocking me for complaining about 8th and the FA Cup, when they were the ones who moaned about 4th and the FA Cup.
I was accused of being negative when Emery replaced him for no other reason then I felt it was a cheap option. I was called negative then. It’s funny how we pick and choose isn’t it. If I defend Ozil, no one says how positive Dan is being today lol. In fact it’s encouraged to be negative towards Ozil, but I can’t question how we are run?
I like Arteta. I really think we have someone who could take us to that next level if the owners just had some ambition. History shows they don’t, hence why I have a defeatist attitude when I read why we can win the League.
You see, I’m not overreacting to one bad year. It’s a decade. A decade of examples I can give where if the Kroenke Family just took that extra step, things could have been different.
We were promised leaving Highbury would see us compete with the likes of Bayern Munich. In 2020, a week after Bayern were lifting the Champions League, we were convincing ourselves that the Community Shield meant something. Yet some of you defend Silent Stan.
I’m sorry. In what other business, where a company makes a promise to its customers is the owner not held accountable if he fails to meet his targets?
Move to the Emirates and we compete with Bayern Munich? Has that happened? Is that close to happening? So again? How can I be positive?
I was called negative for writing that we wouldn’t sign Partey and Coutinho. I was told it’s a conspiracy theory to suggest they are holding off announcing Aubameyang’s contracts so when it’s announced we are so happy; we ignore the lack of activity compared to Stamford Bridge.
I was called names for pointing out that the only reason Ozil is being frozen out is to get him off the wage bill (which he’s confirmed). I’m not saying this to say I’m correct.
There is no right or wrong, it’s opinions.
Yet when you watch a product long enough, when you invest money into something, you learn how they operate.
I’m not asking us to win the European Cup. I’m not asking for us to fork out 100 million every summer.
In life you can only be the best version of yourself. That’s all I ask Arsenal to be, the best they can be.
I believe Arteta will tactically get that out of the resources he has, but ultimately will be undermined by his employer. Someone commented that the Kroenke Family shouldn’t be blamed as they don’t deal with the daily running of the club. First of all, if that’s the case why in the last five years have his company been paid 6 million for advisory services?
Just think how sick that is. He has the audacity to make 55 people redundant to save 2 million a year yet gets 6 million over 5 years to advise us what exactly? Again, how can you be positive about that?
Any of you who think those 55 sackings get mentioned too much, that’s a reflection on you. It’s a disgrace which I will shout to the rooftops.
Then ask; why?
Why is he the only owner in the entire Prem not to invest a single penny in his club? How can you be positive about that?
He’s a Billionaire. Do you think he’s doing his very best to make us the best we can be?
How come Roman Abramovich can spend his own money? Because a business strategy is to invest to make a team successful which makes them more of a worldwide brand and therefore increase their value.
If our owner doesn’t want to do that, he could have sold his shares to Usmanov, who is 6 billion pound richer than Abramovich.
He’s entitled to run the club as a self-financed model, but then you can’t on one hand defend him and yet predict we can challenge for the title. Football is a business where you can’t stand still. Sometimes you have to step in and give funds to help. Arsenal finishing 8th was that time. If he doesn’t care now, he won’t ever.
There’s the odd exception to the rule. Leicester City won the League, but we are Arsenal …. we shouldn’t be hoping to be the exception to the rule. History shows that the more money you put in, the more likely you are to win titles.
We finished 43 points behind Liverpool, Chelsea are spending over 200 million, but it’s okay we have an owner who hasn’t invested a single pound since he got here.
So yeah, I’m negative towards Stan Kroenke. Why are you not?
Dan Smith
Who is positive? Joe Mourinho?
What a stupid article
Do you even understand bushiness or how football works
Stupid click bait articles
You lack manners
I do not think anybody has put such clear views on your face. Till Kroenkes are in control there is no future for the club. They have shut Mikel’s mouth by making him a manager & getting Subs to renew. There is not going to be any major recruitment. I can also assure you that that with Kroenkes in charge we are never going to win the league title or Champions league. Will be delighted if I am made to eat my words but doubt it very much. As a Arsenal fan we have very little to look forward other than ulcers in our stomach.
So stupid you commented on it
Clickbaite?
Title was quite obvious
When you clicked on what did you think you were going to read ?
You sir are lacking class!
I understand bushiness.
A stubble trimmer helps….
Haha good one buddy
I didn’t see it straight away ,that tickled me 👍
Or maybe go and see Willian or Luiz, they’re Brazilian 😉😄
I see what you did there also sue 😂👍
😝
Sue u made me blush lol
If it’s any consolation, Dan, it made my eyes water hahaha!!
Money has been made available every summer u want to see billions spent on a team go support romans team or man city.Its called self sustain for a reason
@Dan Smith From what I could find Kroenke was paid 3 M the 13/14 season and another 3 M the 14/15 season. He has since not been paid by Arsenal at all.
Also Kroenkes company recently invested 184 M to restructure Arsenals debt for the stadium. Under the old agreement, we had to keep back £36 million in a bondholders’ debt service reserve account. That money has now been released and is something Arsenal can use.
If Kroenke stopped receiving money 2015, why is it relevant to bring up now? And he makes sure his company invests 184 M into Arsenal, how does that fit with him not caring?
This writer will bash every person except Mesut Ozil, so no surprise.
Why are we positive? Because we got Mesut Ozil! The rest have the KDBs, Manes, Salahs, Ziyechs, Timos,Kais,rivals beware WE HAVE OZIL and we are coming for you!
Lastly if I were was Stan, I would not invest a dime to feed lazy useless good for nothing spoilt brats. In fact I would conduct an inquiry how they got at AFC in the first place and sack all those who recommended and agreed their transfer.
Good we have a manager who has the guts to show these players where they belong rather then be like Emery and bow down to fan pressure and play wannabes and jeopardize the team’s prospects and the coach’s credibility.
You contradict yourself
You imply I’m wrong to bash Stan then you complain we have ozil while.our rivals have mane , Sarah , Werner , et c
Koronke had resources to buy those players
Yes Ozil the fella with the killer passes, read how the minuscule band of his flowers think how great he is and dream how he will get us those assists and killer passes and what not. So why do we need them when Ozil is there whom they want to be played irrespective of his form?
And for record last couple of weeks praised ….ozil, Wenger , holding , martinez, auba, arteta
Just don’t think we will title with owner and as we finished in our worst position in 25 years don’t think it’s outrageous to ask how a Newcastle, Everton. Spurs , Leeds are spending more
LC @
Was you not one of the fans bashing Arteta ?
Now here you are backing him ,like I say quite often “Fair weather fans “
I never see you congratulating the team when we do well ,but you are like a lion on his prey when something goes wrong .
Dan, agree that I was once an Arteta out guy, when it was crystal clear that Ozil is FINISHED and is no good to football in total, yet he kept playing him. Now he realized that, and chucked him out and see how he won cup after cup, game after game. I wanted and want Arteta to succeed, hence was grudge that we were not performing with that player in the first team . I cheer Arteta every week after he dumped Ozil, if you chose not to read positive comments. We lost to Villa with Ozil on the team sheet, so you know how toxic the situation is when he is around the first team.Keep him away and we win is the mantra. I am a well wisher of the club and never put player above the club. I am a big Emi fan, and wanted him to stay with us, yet the club thought otherwise, I respected that decision and have not ridiculed the coach or the club or the player.
Can you accept that Ozil is finished as the coach does not select him anymore for sporting reasons and wish AFC and Arteta well to get him out of the club and save us some quid?
rZl what a stupid comment, that loose cannon doesn’t rate ozil anymore, does that mean you should bring his old age parents into it. I cant believe even the admin allow this type of comment.
Unlike you LC “if I were Stan” I’d commit suicide, as living with HIS morals is hell on earth(though I DO see that IF I really WERE him, lack of morals would be regarded as a necessary and good thing, NOT the opposite, as I do in my own body).
As me, not him, I clearly see that HE IS responsible for the lack of progress in the decade pre MA and remind all on here that the owner IS solely responsible for disastrous appointments like GAZIDIS AND WORSE STILL, FOR BEING SO REMOTE AS TO NOT KNOW HOW DISASTROUS THEY WERE AND NOT SACKING THEM YEARS EARLIER. Common sense to me, though clearly not shared by such as Eddie and certain others.
Only 6 million then lol.
I look forward to seeing this 36 million saved invested in the team
As things stand we have net spend of 6 million , 4 if you count 55 redundancies
Newcastle spend more this summer
Again if your happy with that fair play
@Dan Why is net spending important though? If we get the players we need and have a net spend of 0 M, why does that matter? If we get the players we need and sell for more than we buy is that not a good thing?
Why does it matter that Newcastle have spent more than us?
Mate if we win. Prem I agree it don’t matter
When we finish 8th , it does
That’s when you need an owner to step.in and go that extra mile
Especially if you said sacking 55 staff was to improve squad
No need for saying clickbate as his articles are always very good and opinionated so we can DEBATE not be disrespectful, respect the time he took to write the article,as iv did a few on here also & we are all her for the same reason… to chat about Arsenal, every fan is different. I have did Articles last year on Conman Stan also.
On to the article. We are a self sustaining club, we only spend what we have and earn, so it’s pretty simple.
Stan is a business man and was made clear when he bought the club this is how it will be ran.
The 55 staff let go is a shame but to be fair I remember Arsene saying when we were at highbury he knew all the staff personally then when we moved to the Emirates we have hundreds of extra staff doing all sorts of jobs. My point is maybe we had to get rid of staff and this was the opportunistic time to do so.
Its business and that’s what Arsenal is, we are not a play thing for Rich Owners like Chelsea, PSG & City. I’d rather win it like liverpool did and spend the Coutinho money on 2 solid players (VVD & Allison) and spend within their means. Firmino, Salah and Mane all didnt cost an arm and a leg, I think under 35m each of them.
Arteta has us on the up so be positive about what is going on and support what we are doing, Stan wont be here forever that’s a cert he will sell when he times right for a profit.
Dangote maybe will come through with his promise of buying the club he cares for which would be a huge bonus but we will be fine without we are bit going to go bust and are not in debt anymore thanks to a loan from Stan for rest of stadium costs.
Not going to go bust
(Suppose to be)
“we are not a play thing for Rich Owners like Chelsea, PSG & City.” Some fans dont understand how important that statement is until disaster strikes. Our model only requires that we buy smart like Bayern.
Sean, the disappointing thing about the sacking of the 55 staff, is not only the negative impact on the people involved, but the Club had to spin it about Covid19 and saving £2 million, rather than be up front and honest that it was structural change to a bloated organisation.
All people want is to be told the truth.
Well said. Sacking overmanned staff is alwAys difficult but as I am tired of having said over the years, we are a football club and NOT a charity. I am very far from being a heartless person and haveall my life campaigned for fair chances for less privileged people but a pro football club is not and never has been a charity. Business is business and can and indeed should and must be ethically run but even so it is still NOT A CHARITY.
LOGICAL THINKING HELPS BUT SO MANY MIX UP EMOTION WITH FACT AND THAT SHOWS LESS THAN A BRIGHT INTELLECT.
If you support a pro footballclub but want it run as a charity, you are not thinking straight. Either leave and be honest with yourself or accept lifes realities!
@ozziegunner: “All people want is to be told the truth.”
Except a majority of Arsenal fans because the truth hurts and Dan knows how to press the right button.
But JF , the TRUTH is only a person’s perspective, if they don’t know the FACTS, wouldn’t you agree?
So am I to assume then JF, that you agree with Jon, that it was only Arsene Wenger’s tinkering that kept us in the top four and CL?
Praise indeed JF, praise indeed!!!!
Spot on! I’m 100% with you.
ozziegunner, we all want the truth my friend, so why did the players take that pay cut and wasn’t that the single most important thing that the three who declined, wanted to know?
I assume that you are now backing the stance these three players took, rather than criticising them?
Ken, at the time, given the facts available, I would back the players who took the pay cut. Similar things have occurred multiple times in industry, where employees have taken a pay cut to preserve jobs, only to be shafted later by management. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Personally, I had employees come to me and say “we often didn’t like what you told us, but you always told us the truth.”
Dan I think the issue you constantly point out we finished 8 and did this or that last season. Yet you constantly ignore the fact that we’re actually buying smart this summer and already strengthening the team.
We brought in defenders and the consensus is that they’ll make us stronger defensively. You constantly ignore that fact, you’re a smart man, you’re aware we actually just can’t keep buying players without trimming our already bloated wagebill first, you ignore a whole lot of factors a lot while constantly complaining about lack of investments. The same Chelsea you constantly mention keep selling players, trimming their wage bill and making money before adding more players but you never talk about that fact.
You don’t talk about the fact that Manchester Utd you constantly mention have one of the worst owners in football.
The Glazers have invested the least among all top clubs since 2015.
Rather they’ve taken out a whooping sum of 89M pounds since 2015.
I keep telling you, I prefer making debates with facts. Something you constantly ignore.
Yes Abrahamovich has invested up to 440 million pounds since he took over, Everton, Man City Liverpool have all had money invested in the club.
They’ve taken out while they can, but the problem you keep seeing is Kroenke not investing a single dime in the club when in all honesty he hasn’t taken 1 pound out of the club to his pocket.
He’s never invested, he’s never taken out.
Matter of fact he lent the club money to pay for our stadium.
You constantly try to compare Arsenal to these other clubs and you ignore a lot of facts.
How many of those clubs have a fat wage bill with average players that are hard to move out?
That’s where the problem comes from, you just want to see or read that Arsenal sign this player for a massive fee, Arsenal sign that player, see our net spend get very high just to be able to say we spend. Yet ignore all of the factors stopping us from spending
I will take the liberty to answer even though it was addressed to a far more capable person than me.
Again this is perfect instance of using convenient excuses for not winning when the only thing that matters is winning.
WINNING IS EVERYTHING AND WINNING IS THE ONLY THING.
I can pick 5 or 6 excuses to easily rebut but my favorite are these two: “Has not single dime in the club when in all honesty he hasn’t taken 1 pound out of the club to his pocket.”
He owns Arsenal. Taking the money out now or letting the club grow as an investment is a win win situation.
“Matter of fact he lent the club money to pay for our stadium.’
Well this is a funny one. Mr. nice guy Kronke is the only winner in this scenario. He lands the club money at zero% interest but he actually saves his club interest payment to the bank. He lawns the club money at lower or equal bank interest rate and he makes a bundle. One thing for sure, this guy knows how to make money.
So in a nutshell, money wins everything? SMH, Arsenal fans though.
The man refused to invest in his own business and refused to take from it. The business is just there self sustaining itself, I can’t keep complaining everyday about what he does.. You can go to his home and go force him to spend then since you all can’t accept a single truth.
You guys keep deluding yourselves that we need to be run like Chelsea and City.
Go force Stan into doing it
@Eddie: Money is a big part of it and it comes first. You also need a manager who uses his players to the best of their ability. Good payers seldom need caching. Motivation yes but coaching just a little bit. You can’t make a blind person walk backward fast.
As for Kronkie not investing why should he. Fans keep watching, TV keeps showing and the assets keep appreciating. What a better way to make money without spending any?
Abramovic had to put in £440 million, because Chelsea FC was a busted flush when he bought the Club.
That also is a fact that our dear Dan constantly ignores
Eddie if your happy with how He’s doing then great
I’m not happy with the way Kroenke runs his own club. Not a bit, I’m one of those who wish we get a new owner.
It doesn’t mean I have to harbour only hatred and contempt towards the man that I’d be making up lies and stuff about him.
Does he invest? No he doesn’t, but FFS the man doesn’t even take out of the club.
There’s nothing I’ll say or do, there’s nothing you’ll say or do that’ll change how he chooses to run his own business except someone buys the club.
Write a thousand articles from now till Armageddon occurs, Kroenke doesn’t give a damn bout what you and I think bro, so what’s the point in me constantly complaining about him and letting him live in my head rent free?
Why should I let him deny me the little joy I can still derive from what Arteta and Edu are doing?
That’s the difference between you and I, you complain so much about Stan that you don’t even appreciate what Arteta and Edu are trying to do so far with our transfers, you’re just all about Stan investing and not investing.
Quick question, if Arteta and Edu pull Aouar and Partey this Window (which I know they can actually do without Silent Stan), your obsession about Stan will continue won’t it?
Why not just stick with Edu and Arteta and let the loser we call an owner be?
Exactly just like the constant Ozil discussions, I’m tired of the whole Kroenke daily discussions.
Manchester United actually have far worse owners that don’t invest but take, and they are still doing better than us in the market every year. Is it to the credit of Glazers or to the credit of how the club was ran and is being run?
What have I lied about ?
Going by your theory don’t write because Koronke don’t care
By that logic you wouldn’t write anything
How many bash ozil ?
Do you write Don’t bother , he won’t care ?
Very selective
If there’s a way you could do it, Go on and check… You’d see I’ve said so many times that I’m tired of the Ozil stuff, especially when people talk about his wage the most. I tell them I simply don’t care or write about what he earns or anything.
If he does well, I credit him..if he doesn’t I don’t start bashing him or complaining, ask everyone on here. I don’t go about bashing Ozil just as I don’t go about talking about Kroenke.
Both situation is similar, I admit to myself that both need to better or both need to leave actually because they don’t offer much to us but what you won’t see me do is constantly complain about Ozilbor Kroenke all the time.
Whenever you’re trying to accuse people of the Mesut Ozil treatment, please do count me out.. Also count me out of the obsession with Kroenke too..
So please get your facts right, I’ve never been quiet about my stand on Mesut Ozil and how people drag him out, just as I’ve never been quiet about my stand on Kroenke.
I don’t go about calling Ozil names and bashing him, and I don’t go about calling Stan names and bashing him.
Both to me don’t worth my time or effort no more.
Nothing I do or say will change their contributions.
Damn Eddie well said hopefully Dan isn’t a secret Chelsea or man United fan or worse still a glory hunter 😂 just joking but yeah what you said☝️👍.
Kroenke is a billionaire. He is good at one thing: making money. He owns many pro teams in the state. They never win anything. Arsenal fans were fools for wanting Arsene gone. He was making Kronkie money. Arsenal fans are delusional for wanting Ozil gone. That will never happen unless it makes money sense. for now He is a good excuse for not spending more money. There is no easy out for Arsenal and buying 32 years old wingers is not one of them. Arsenal needs a complete overhaul. maybe 5, 6 or even 7 quality players. World class managers like Ancelotti, Mourinho, Guardiola and del Bosque are average managers without quality players. MA won’t be any different. Meanwhile, fans are happy because Arsenal in number one in the table (like any beginning of the season), Ozil is a convenient bone to chew on and lately the rule of 23 is the perfect scapegoat for Kronkie not to spend money.
Dude you’re calling peool fools for having their opinions regarding a manager, and you’re the one constantly obsessed about Ozil.
It seems you haven’t noticed that people don’t rwall bother about Ozil anymore, the team is doing so good that sometimes people forget we have player called Ozil.
Fans like you keep dragging him into the spotlight just to create more arguments about him.
You need a reality check.
The club is doing okay so far, why not go be in charge and sell 6-7 players yourself and make Ozil the captain?
Some of you just say stuff without thinking, and you think fans were fools for wanting Wenger to leave. Wonder what fans really think of you every time you bring Ozil up?
Eddie: First of all I use “fool” same as gullible. No harm intended.
Second Ozil the person to me could be any other player on the team. I don’t worship the guy. He is a perfect example of the ineptitude of Arsenal management from the day he was signed. They made a mistake for giving him all that money without surrounding him of talent, and they are bashing him to a point where they can’t sell him. If you don’t realize the stupidity in that, I can’t help you.
Contrary to what you say, the club is not okay so far. Football in not about hope , it’s about ‘ results . As an Arsenal fan, I am excited not because we beat Fullham, but because we did not loose to fullham.
I can’t sell 6 or 7 players from Arsenal because there is nothing there to sell. Just ask the rest of the league.
BTW we all think, some of us see reality and some live on false hope.
Eddie can I ask what you mean by okay ?
Under Stan has he been okay ?
Your opinion
Under Arteta we are doing okay, IDGAF about Stan.
Dude y’all looking at the owner who doesn’t give a damn about anything and I keep talking about the coach and Edu, yet all you guys do is moan and moan… Imagine dragging the ineptitude of Kroenke around the fanbase constantly to the point we start poisoning Arteta’s regime and what he’s trying to do
Eddie, so what your saying, I think, with regards to Ozil, is let someone spout all the nonsense they want, including the Bergkamp conspiracy which was laughed out of court, but others can’t challenge what is being said?
I didn’t see you challenge this joke of a supporter, why?
This guy didn’t even come on andcongratulate our players after the win over Fulham, rather comes on here spouting absolute rubbish and trying to be a comedian (after saying the same thing about Arteta by the way!!!) – No, sorry Eddie, if we let him keep spouting his vile abuse, we are as bad as he is.
Now, on to the article:
Dan, I am puzzled by this article, simply because I can’t recall anyone actually being in favour of kronkie owning the club.
So, what are your grievances with the fan base?
When did anyone say they were satisfied with finishing 8th? Of course, following the debacle of UE, to win the fa cup with the same squad of players, was a minor miracle and Arteta did what, I believe, no other present day manager could have done…then winning the CS against the team you rightly said were 40 points plus in front of us in the league, was a sign of the club going forward. It was a feeling of intense relief and achievement for the club. Of course we were jubilant and why not?
So, what are your grievances with the fan base?
It seems that this article is all about you letting off steam against the owner who 99.9% of the fans ( just my personal take ) want out of the club – so, as the saying goes, don’t come to us with the problems, come to us with the solutions!!!
We can waste every second of the day wanting and/or wishing for something that we have no control over, but what does that achieve?
I’m not the least bit happy he owns our club and I really don’t want Dangote or anyone else having that power, but it is what it is.
Blame the old board, who sold their souls for the mighty dollar, we will never get our club back as it was will we?
Having to give up individual shares was heartbreaking, but that is now history and one either moves forward with the way it is now, or one dwells in the past, stagnating, moaning and bitching, while achieving absolutely nothing.
We all know how stan kronkie works and as the out and out owner of AFC and it’s assets, he will do exactly what he wants.
We all want success, but if it doesn’t happen, as a supporter/fan one then has a choice – time for you to make yours my friend.
Please don’t become one of the doom and gloom brigade, we have enough Grim Reapers, without you joining the ranks of half empty glasses mate!!!!
Hey Ken
I accept very few have said koronke great it’s more the amount of predictions for ‘ why we can win title ‘
‘ All the great signings we make ‘
‘ Arteta better the Wenger ‘
Part of succeeding is admitting the problem
Only when we rid ourselves of owner will we win title
Dan, we have made great signings though haven’t we?
Aubameyang – worth £50,000,000
Lacazette – worth £43,000,000
Willian – worth £20,000,000
Pepe – worth £41,000,000 ( it will go up, but paid too much)
Martinelli – worth £23,000,000
Tierney – worth £26,000,000
Mari – worth £4,000,000
Gabriel – worth £18,000,000
Saliba – worth £20,000,000
Soares – worth ££7,000,000
Leno – worth £29,000,000 ( all transfer markt prices)
Other valuable players – AMN, ESR, Saka, Holding, Chambers, Nelson, Willock, Mavropanos, Nketiah, Belllerin, while we have Dani Ceballos on loan for another year.
There are others of course, but the point I am making, is that we do have a strong squad ( i haven’t listed other senior players ) so that is why I, personally, feel we do have a chance of breaking into the top four once again and, maybe before the window closes, sign two other players who will fit the bill perfectly to ensure it.
Wins over pool twice, city, chelsea are not to be minimized, just as a loss like the villa game need to be looked at in the same objective way.
I take your point about AW ( as you know, I am one of his strongest supporters) and the comparision with Arteta…but I feel that what MA has achieved in his first nine months compares equally with AW in his.
There have always been fans who denegrate our greatest manager and these are the ones who now long for the success we had under him – I just smile to myself at their desire for top four and CL football, as they had no idea just how magnificent a job AW did in keeping us there for 20 years.
They certainly got “Their Arsenal back” under UE and what a disaster their wishes got them!!!
Of course it is too early to say that he will be as successful as Le Prof, but he has certainly turned the club round in every single department.
You cannot possibly judge him on our 8th final position, simply because it was the UE disaster that plunged us into a relegation situation – once MA settled in, we were talking about a different ending entirely.
Let’s not forget that it was AW who recommended MA, but gazidis over ruled him – AW’s influence on our club is still here today (just look at the young players he signed coming through).
Again, I say to you Dan, you have written an article that highlights (for you) a current problem – but you don’t give any solution as to how to overcome it.
In my view it’s impossible to do so, unless the owner decides to sell,so why bother working yourself into a lather?
Let’s get on supporting what we have, be thankfull that MA is one of us and hope he can be more successful than AW – after ten months he is certainly doing better than anyone thought posssible…kronkie or no kronkie.
Apologies for the length of the reply Dan.
I don’t know the solution
How much money you got Ken ?
Fancy buying a football club ?
If only Dan, if only 🙏So, assuming you don’t jbi the answer and neither does anyone else, it seems, fill that glass to the brim of enjoy life under MA – just forget about kronkie, you know it makes sense 🙄👍😏🤗
Correction: Stanley is Not a billionaire, his wife is. The smart and charming Stanley Kroenke married the heiress to the Walmart Money. This sexy beast of a man, this philanderer, this cynical womanizer (!), with a red, red rose in his mouth, made the poor rich girl in love. I don’t know if Stanley have earned a buck in his life (help me with information!), but you can’t blame him for taking care of the wife’s money. Can you? But, of course, he shouldn’t be the owner of a football club, especially when he doesn’t understand the game at all. It’s ridiculous. He only make a fool of himself – and become a joke among the fans of that club. We all know funny histories about that guy (true or false). It’s like the funny histories about a certain Bellman in my far out country Sweden. If you’re a swede in my generation you grow up with Bellman stories. Most of them very stupid. I don’t know if it’s a “Bellman” in English culture. Sir John Falstaff, maybe?
@Robert: “Correction: Stanley is Not a billionaire, his wife ”
That is definitely a wrong statement. Stan was a billionaire before he got married.
Help yourself and Google for facts before you post your own.
Icw, yes, true and you beat me to the punch as it were, in reminding Robert of that fact.
Should I Google? How dare you suggest something that vulgar? Anyway, I thank you for the information about Stanley. I thought it way male sex appeal, but I guess I was wrong. I’m very disappointed.
What’s so vulgar about asking one to check Google : This is from your post.
‘ don’t know if Stanley have earned a buck in his life (help me with information!)”
What is a better source of information than Google? In any event, sorry if I offended you. That was never my intention.
‘
ROBERT, Of course you are massively disappointed to find out he was not a massive sex symbol after all and that he actually had money of his own when he married.
Of course, I could be lying ABOUT HIM NOT BEING A SEX BOMB. AND OH, THAT CUTE MOUSTACHE!!!!!
Help yourself, boyo. SK was NOT a billie in his own right when he 27 y/o married this girl, Walton. Stan, son of a lumber company in Mora, Missouri. Now I’ve red his story. Do so you too.
You’re such a wonderful thinker who understands our club and its devilish owners very well.
Thank you for this piece.
Dan, I too want Arsenal to succeed and am not happy in the fact that Arsenal has finished eighth and the clubs around Arsenal are now strengthening from last season. The facts put forward by the Deluded One, are difficult to argue with. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owns Arsenal FC lock, stock and barrel, including as stated by TDO the £184 million they recently put in to consolidate and buy the Club’s debt.
My complaint about Stan Kroenke is his inability as a successful businessman to select a Board and senior executive to competently manage the financial and player assets of Arsenal FC. The Mesut Ozil situation is one such liability this poor management left the Club with, along with paying over the odds for average players; a Europa League team on a Champions League budget. Also the question, I have been unable to answer, is where has all the income from 20+ years of Champions League football gone? I would like someone with an accounting/auditing background to give a breakdown of Arsenal FC’s financial accounts and status. Without such information it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.
As Dan says we have been lied to regarding the expectations of leaving Highbury for the Emirates. The “promises” have not been kept.
The sustainable model is vital to the long term survival of Arsenal FC. The football world is littered with clubs, dependent on rich benefactors, who left them in financial disarray through buying players they could not afford and then walking away.
KS&E will own Arsenal FC until they decide to sell, meaning someone has to come up with £2 billion plus to make an offer. There is no saying that any new owner would be better. What I and many others want is Stan and Josh Kroenke to pay greater attention to their Arsenal asset and ensure that the people employed to manage the Club at the Board and senior executive level have appropriate oversight for the Club to reach its full potential.
I just have to remember St Francis of Assisi for “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change”.
All major businesses need constant investment though. It’s not static. Only KS&E can do that. They are not doing their job.
arsenal-Steve, KS&E consolidated and bought £184 million of Arsenal’s external debt; is that not investing. That amount is not small change even to Kroenke.
Brilliant Ozzie you summed it up perfectly.
ozziegunner, you keep on saying we were lied to about the move to The Emirates, but have you ever considered any of the situations that our club could never have forseen when they made that statement?
First of all, this very article that talks about kronkie, should be one of your considerations, along with the betrayal of the board members when they sold out to him for their own greed?
On top of that, they also dismissed the one man who would have/could have kept some sanity to the proceedings, David Dein.
Kronkie became the majority shareholder in 2011, when his 66.64 % shareholding put him in control of the club.
He proceeded to warn Arsenal fans that he doubted The Arsenal would be able to compete with such clubs as chelsea and manchester city in terms of expenditure – That was the pivotal point of the dream becoming a nightmare and the” lie” was born.
He stated that “For me, being an individual owner, I have to have some sort of reality involvement.”
He also “noted” that our fans were willing to travel great distances to support the club, meaning revenue would always be generated and says he learned that, from England, the brand name means everything…(ever considered that is one of the reasons Ozil was offered such a ridiculous salary by the way and is still with us today?)
So this was the man who took over our club and destroyed everything that Dein, Wenger and the, then, honorable board had planned out, once the Emirates had been paid for.
Of course, the board etc that promised us we would be able to compete with the very best, also had no idea that a country would become involved with one of the PL clubs and, along with Abramovitch, changed the world of football…not just the PL.
We saw billionares taking over clubs all over europe, owners who were willing to put money into the club and had no regard whatsoever for the rules – transfer fees rocketed, even mediocre players were fetching millions in the transfer market and it has continued to this day.
Chelski have, so far, spent £200,000,000 on new players, while city have spent over a BILLION pounds on players since Sheik Mansour bought the club in 2008…two years after The Emirates was officially opened and while we were paying off the debts and having to sell our best players.
Now, ozziegunner, if you took all of the above into consideration, perhaps your belief that we were lied to, might be seen as a tad unfair!!!!
Just as your thoughts about AW losing it during the last ten years of his management are so harsh, considering how he kept us in the top four, the CL and winning fa cups…while competing with untold roubles and oil money – but not even considered as a factor it seems, even doing it with dross players, if we believe what others, including you, say.
I must ask you ozziegunner, did you envisage any of the above happening, because as sure as eggs are eggs, no one at The Arsenal did, when they decided to build The Emirates.
S, as it seems you feel lied to, carry on feeling sorry for yourself and ignore exactly what did happen during and after the building of our fantastic stadium and the toxic ownership of a man who isn’t interested in winning trophies, his words not mine!!!
ken, I don’t disagree with the events that unfoldered were disruptive; however in running any business there is such a thing as “strategic planning”. A business decision such as a relocation of home ground and massive investment in a new stadium, should have, if Arsenal followed due diligence in accessing opportunities and threats of that decision. External financial support to opposition clubs should have been one of those threats analysed.
As for David Dein I have said ad infinitum that the Board forcing him out was one of the main reasons, why Arsenal declined. He was Wenger’s main support and it was interesting that the transfer acumen and results accordingly decreased after he left. Kroenke should have been smart enough to keep Dein on even though he had supported Usmanov, given Dein’s loyalty was to Arsenal rather the prospective owners he had brought to the table.
On many issues you and I agree, and some we disagree; that is just how life goes. As for “feeling sorry for myself” that is far for the truth. There are far more things in the world and life to feel sorry about than the trials and tribulations, ups and downs of following the Arsenal FC.
Ozziegunner. A a long retired management accountant I find the best information, other than looking at the published AFC accounts, regarding the financial position on the Arsenal Supporters Trust website.
PatH, thank you for the heads up. I’m sure I’ll have enough knowledge to sort though them. I just worry about others, given the nonsense I read.
Dan please stop obsessing about the chavs, without factoring in their mode of operation, it’s doing my head in. Also as a football fan I’d hate the look of a 1.3 billion pound debt, owed to one or two entities that’s Malaga level sh*t.
I have to mate
That’s level.We want to get too , hence comparisons
200 million spent by Chelsea vs net profit 6 million
And Dan, if Abranovich moves his money to Israel, elsewhere or finds another plaything, where goes Chelsea FC?
The best way to get Krownle’s ear is remind him with your wallets about fan power.
I have been in negative territory with Arsenal since David Dein left the club.
It was like the soul of Arsenal was ripped from it and with that the focus shifted from winning to paying for the new stadium and just about hanging in the CL.
I was one of the voices predicting that our successive PL/CL finishing as a result of Wenger’s tinkering were masking our mediocrity.
Unfortunately, time has proven me right and all the sycophants wrong.
So yeah….its okay to be constructively negative.
YES JON AND IF NEGATIVITY MEANS TRUTH, WHICH SOMETIMES IT DOES, THEN IT NEEDS SAYING. ALWAYS SPEAK TRUTH, WHETHER NEGATIVE, POSITIVE OR NEUTRAL.
But JF , the TRUTH is only a person’s perspective, if they don’t know the FACTS, wouldn’t you agree?
So am I to assume then JF, that you agree with Jon, that it was only Arsene Wenger’s tinkering that kept us in the top four and CL?
Praise indeed JF, praise indeed!!!!
Unfortunately, ken over those years you could pick the top four fairly easily, with the exception of the Leicester City year, when everyone else imploded, even second placed Arsenal. The competition is so much tougher now, because of the money from TV and investment in opposition clubs, notwithstanding the impact of Covid19. It will be interesting to see how many can predict the top 4 this season now and be right at the end of the season?
The same argument ws used when we and manure were raising the bar…the amazing thing is, the claim is made by our own fans – never seen it on any other club’s website, including the spuds.
I would love to know why the other clubs couldn’t compete, as you say they are today, were they all under a transfer embargo or just had given up and let us and manure control their destinies for nigh on a decade?
Simple, they didn’t have the money they have today. The pot has increased for competitors in the EPL, plus external sources. Spurs supporter’s mocked when Arsenal had stadium debt, but look at them now they are in that situation. I worry about how they can afford £20 million loan for Bale?
We need to also be worried if Arsenal gets to Leeds Utd levels of debt.
We are not in debt. What are you worrying about. Arsenal are solely owned by the Krankies.
Completely agree with you about the Krankies. We are purely a satellite club spinnig around the Sun of Kroenke’s solar system. Anyone who has studied the Krankies will know we are purely there to support future eventualities for his massive LA venture, in which ‘Billions’ are involved. That said he is sole owner of Arsenal. If he gives or lends Arsenal money he is lending it to himself. He could put the money up for Aouar right now and pay himself back with the sales of whoever returns a fee before deadline day. His method of running Arsenal is in reality unlike any other massive company I have seen. Proctor and Gamble, Apple, Uniliver, Samsung, Chelsea, Man City etc, etc all invest money in product development and new products. It’s been that way since the industrial revolution for big companies. Kroenke though is a chancer and wants something outside of normal business practice. We are just unlucky that the parasitic Silent Stan Kroenke conned his way to sole owner. His business methods are the ‘ultimate’ capitalistic methods. Very few major companies work that way. They invest in their companies.
And Sean the LA Rams venture is all about developing and selling real estate around the Rams Stadium.
Wait until KS&E redevelop the Emirates.
The argument doesn’t stack up, we have a larger net spend over the last 6 years than Chelsea, so taking what has happened this month is wrong. If you hate Kronk, thats different but make your argument on facts many of your statements in this article are bent and twisted to suit.
Thank you!!
People keep spinning statements without facts. I’ve never been a fan of Stan. Jon Fox Once asked me why do I sound the way I sound then, I told him the same thing in saying now WHAT IS THE F##KING POINT IN ME CONSTANTLY COMPLAINING ABOUT AN OWNER THAT DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT I THINK? Am I hurting him or will I be causing only myself headaches?
This obsession with Kroenke needs to stop, it’s not as if we don’t spend… We spend,the only thing is we’ve been very very wasteful with our spendings. HOW TF IS THAT KROENKE’S FAULT??
Seems we moan about the Krankies, but never moan about you or others here. You seem to moan about everybody and make out others are moaning. People are making statements here, and why shouldn’t they, and you are moaning about them.
I saw f##k all out of whatever you typed mate
Eddie you make some fair points but I believe that ANY businesS owner is ultimately responsible for poor appointments of those who run day to day busines When they mess up big time, as GAZIDIS DID, THEY NEED REMOVING QUICKLY AND IN THAT RESPECT kROENKE IS TO BLAME. SURELY?
Jon Definitely the bad appointments are his faults, after all he could’ve swooped in earlier and chased them off but he didn’t.
The whole point I’ve been trying to make is, all of that is in the past now, we’ve gotten rid of Gazidis and Co, reacted so fast that we got rid of the fraud fans were calling Don Raul, right now Edu and Arteta are in charge, they’ve started their regime pretty well with signings and winning the FA cup and it’s not secret that they’re still trying to bring in players. Also they’ve tied up all the important players we have, from the youngsters down to PEA, while looking for deals to ship out the players we don’t need.
Even you Jon have admitted a few times that they’ve been making the right decisions lately don’t you?
My point is why then do we keep focusing on the past? Why then do we have to keep focusing on the fact that we finished 8th and all the bad business. No single fan was happy to finish 8th Jon, I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. No single fan supports Kroenke, no single fan is happy with our previous league position.
Right now we’ve gotten out the bad eggs in the board, gotten a young coach who we all support and agree is doing a great job so far.
Why then do we have to keep going on and on about finishing 8th under the past regime instead of talking about what the new guys are trying to do?
Like Ken said up there “don’t come to us with the problems, come to us with the solutions!!!” shouldn’t that be clear enough.
Every single one of us know we were very poor, we’ve been run badly, but then why do we have to extend that toxic vibe, that pessimistic spirit into this new regime?
Remember we’ll be responsible for the environment we create for the players and coach.
I know you’re fully behind Arteta and Edu, most of us are, but then Jon why not focus on the positives and going for more instead of focusing on the bad history we’ve had behind these two men we all agree to support?
Eddie, your frustrations are my frustrations – what does it matter who did this and who was responsible for that, unless it concerns Mikel Arteta?
We could go back to Sir Henry Norris rubbing up those Northern nancies the wrong way as a reason we get such bad refereeing decisions… but what does it achieve?
All this continuous harping about who did what is absolutely pointless, unless we can change it in order to benefit Arteta… that is what matters supporting him 100%
jon and Eddie, this has been my argument all the time regarding KS&E and their appointments/retentions to the Board and senior executive.
I don’t have, or know anyone who has a spare £2 billion plus to make an offer to buy Arsenal FC. Therefore, I believe I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
Eddies what’s not factual ?
Did we finish 8th ?
We’re we promised by now we compete with bayern
Chelsea have spent 200 million this summer
Newcastle more
We’re 55 staff sacked
So what’s spun ?
Oh Liverpool getting Thiago, Spurs Bale
Like I said if your happy then great
But I’m not positive about that
Okay so since 2008- when koronke joined board and had controlling stake our net spend 299
Chelsea 512
Again if your happy then cool.
Know which owner id have
I’ll go now check United
I’ll check Chelsea but why 6 years ?
Let’s check since he arrived
What about City and United net spend
Be cool to compare
You are trying to say that Chelsea are giving it a go this year because they have spent 200 mil and we aren’t spending. Well ok thats this summer, you conveniently leave out that the five years previous to this our net spend was 270 mil and Chelseas was 115 mil. You have to balance an argument of teams being used as guides that we aren’t matching. Its convenient to suggest we haven’t matched Chelsea this summer but miss out that we have out spent them the last 5. It is easy to twist figures to suit. I agree Kronk is a d**k but dont twist fact to try and prove that. Our net spend is not a problem on the face of it and looking at what we have spent in comparison doesn’t justify 8th but we have had a net spent only beaten by utd and city in the last 5 years, why is that Kronks fault.
Dude if you think.koronke has done a good job that’s your right
Not trying to change your opinion mate
There you go, twisting again. I pointed something out to you and i dont think he has done a good job but please make an argument correct. Read what i think of Kronk, where have i said hes done a good job, i didn’t. Im pointing out facts.
Okay maybe it’s better to.say you don’t blame him and I do lol
I just think finishing 8th is time for him to go that extra mile
But end of day the future will prove me right or wrong
What matters is the results on the pitch no matter who the owner is. Once Arteta doubter I am now 100% behind him as he has convinced me and most of my fellow doubters that he is the one to bring the glory days again.
We have Arteta, we have Aubameyang, we have a wonderful squad which is getting better and better everyday. We have every reason to be positive.
HH, agree up to a “wonderful squad”; the midfield is still ordinary and unbalanced.
If there is any polarising figure after Wenger’s departure it is Kroenke. Indeed some people are obsessed with Kroenke. I have tried to find out why and my analysis indicayes that it is more of Arsenal internal politics. Kroenke was initially brought by David Dein who, for unknown reasons, fell out with him and jumped ship to a Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Because of the love most of our supporters had for David Dein they wanted his man to be the one to take over not Kroenke. However being the smart American businessman he is, Kroenke outwitted both Dein and Usmanov to take over Arsenal fully. Some fans thought that Usmanov, being Russian like Abramovich, would spend big at Arsenal lije his countryman was doing at Chelsea. Thus the hatred for Kroenke was meant to fail him so that he would inevitably be forced to sell his shares to Usmanov. Instead the reverse happened.
I don’t see where Kroenke failed the club by refusing to get the players we needed. Secondly, Arsenal is one of the English clubs that pay the highest wages. Who authorises those payments if not Kroenke? Some of our own statements are self-defeating where we say our players earn high wages but don’t deliver! Is it Kroenke who determines the high wages? There is even no evidence that Kroenke has ever blocked any signing! What then is Kroenke’s sin? If we compare our signings in the past four years we might be shocked to be in the top five big spenders.
The issue of Kroenke getting money from Arsenal is really laughable. Did you expect him not to benefit from his investment? Which businessman does that?
I feel we need to outgrow hatred for Kroenke and examine issues critically. If you compare Kroenke with Sheik Mansour and Abramovic you would be unfair because the latter two are beneficiaries of their Government’s patronage which Kroenke is not. Sheik Mansour is an embodiment of his home state while Abramovic was a crony of Vladmir Putin. Is Kroenke a crony of Trump? Even if he was Trump has no patronage to grant anybody. Thus we need to discuss from an informed position rather than just blaming Kroenke for everything in the world.
Good post, im not a Kronk fan because he is not a true fan of our club, he is in it for business but the reason we have failed is because the people his business employed let him us and Arsenal down by their bad dealings and workings.
we have spent enough money on the playing staff in transfers and wages too make sure we shouldn’t be un 8th. The failure is the recruitment by his employees.
👍 👍
David, with regards to one point you make, just check out how much the kronkie’s have donated to Trump and the Republican party – it’s a lot more than he’s “donated” to our football club, you will be amazed!!!
Oh, and David, Trump can pardon convicted criminals as well… not saying Stanley is one of course, but just making the point ✍️
Ken, totally agree on Kroenke’s support of Donald Trump, who is owned by American billionaires and Russian oligarchys. The Germans are investigating Deutsche Bank for money laundering. Apparently this is the only bank which will lend to serial bankrupt Donald Trump. Also there are judicial cases being run in the State of New York into Trump’s business, political and charitable finances. All you have to do is follow the money.
If ever there is a case for people voting against their personal interest, it is Donald Trump and the current Trumpist Republican Party.
Unfortunately if the UK Government allows foreign ownership of football clubs, there is nothing I can do about it.
ozziegunner, first of all, I must apologise for the way I phrased my comment regarding you feeling sorry for yourself – it was not intended to sound like that, just my stupid eagerness to put down before I think what I’m writing.
I always respect and enjoy your thoughts my friend.
As far as your due diligence remark is concerned, I have nothing but admiration for what our club achieved.
Unlike Wembley and the toilet bowl at spuds headquarters, we deliver on time, within budget and everything was spot on.
That had nothing to do with kronkie becoming sole owner, or the oil money and roubles distorting the game forever.
It would take a clairvoyant to get that correct and, as I don’t believe in them, our club came out smelling of roses for a job well done.
Ken, I too have always admired the project management, design and construction performance in building the Emirates. These are things I spent my life doing in infrastructure projects. However what I am talking about is the strategic planning in advance of the decision to leave Highbury and build the Emirates. In making that decision the opportunities and threats should have been analysed, even if they were not obvious at the time and may even be considered left field. That is my experience on major infrastructure where design lives of 40 to 100 years are considered.
This is a absolute masterpiece, David Rusa.
Well Done.
I think this response deserves to be posted separately on this site as a whole article in order to educate our rather re-educate our fans.
Great article!
Had I written such an article on Highbury House I would have been banned!……………………….oh, I forgot , I am banned!
😆