Ian Wright has aimed a sly dig at Stan Kroenke after claiming that he is jealous of Leicester City’s owners.
Kroenke has had controlling stakes at Arsenal for around a decade, but the club has struggled to compete for much of it.
The American is one of the richest men in the world, but he has hardly pumped money into Arsenal like the owners of Chelsea and Manchester City have.
Even Leicester City has enjoyed more success than Arsenal in recent years.
The Foxes are set to end this season inside the top four after winning the FA Cup at the weekend.
Wright watched as the club’s owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who replaced his father after his death, was brought onto the pitch by Leicester players to celebrate their FA Cup win.
Arsenal won the competition last season, but you could see the difference between both owners and Wright says he is jealous of the Foxes in contrast to his former team.
The ex-striker, 57, said via Sun Sports: “I tell you what, look at him with the players, with the manager.
“The jealousy I feel, knowing an owner can be like that… Honestly, it breaks my heart.
“I’m absolutely delighted for Leicester and him. Magnificent, magnificent. Brilliant.”
There is a big difference between the kind of owner the Arsenal fans want and Leicester owner
Leicester owner do not spend big on players, they spend wisely and sign the right players
Arsenal fans want the owner to spend 200 to 300m a season
and spend more than 100m on a single player
I don’t think Arsenal fans expect that kind of spending.
Many of us understand that FFP limits our ability to spend and that’s why we saw the problems coming once we decayed to such an extent that CL football and revenues that come with it were out of our reach. We knew it would mean less money to spend each year and we saw the owner
did not stand in the way of us spending the maximum allowed under FFP.
We regret having an owner who doesn’t care enough about the club or football to understand who to put in charge of the club. When football was still simple enough that it could be run by one man we were OK because of Wenger’s exceptional skill set. When football became so complex and competitive, and player scouting, diet, and training methods evolved without Wenger and our club evolving with it, it was only a matter of time before we would drop out of the top 4.
Now we are a top club in terms of fan base but a management structure and board who are light in terms of experience and football know-how. This is why we have a difficult way back, this is why we have wasted precious money on many of the wrong players and this is why it will take a long time under this owner to get back to the top 4.
Not because we don’t spend enough.
If we had a board with the likes of Wenger, Flamini (an ex-player who understands business), and a David Dein as Ceo and a Klopp as manager we would be fine.
The right CEO would have poached Klopp because he knew it was time to move Wenger upstairs. Klopp would have come because at the time we were a more attractive club. Our future would have looked different.
Klopp has done well because the club supported him with signing the right players…..
with Coutinho funds and support he managed to get the players he want….
No one mentioned VAR helped them so much last season……..
they would have lost at least 5 games and drawn at least 5
that would have been a detrimental effect to their morale and confidence
they are not doing very well this season too
No manager be it Klopp, Pep or Conte can win titles/cups without proper support
What a wise , mature post, full of evident truth. Sad though that truth is to read!
I totally agree with you @JanV about the timing of Wenger being relieved of his duties (SACKED), and a CEO with his prime concern being the future of Arsenal Football Club would have seen the signs of Wengers inability to move the club forward and replaced him earlier. Klopp AND Pep were available for a period of time, both not working and both would have snapped up the opportunity if the position was open. But Wenger created a closed shop and surrounded himself from top to bottom of yes men who all answered to him.
That’s why we are now a mid-table club and now find ourselves in the position we are in
Phil, I agree with the first part of your post. However, although I wished Wenger had left long before, the errors in club management and player acquisitions and sales continued well after Wenger left. There was no steep turn-around after his departure. Clowns like Gazidas left, was replaced by Raul who left, we had a short stint of Sven as recruitment genius etc. We are and where managed like a start-up business is managed by first time business entrepreneurs.
So, although Wenger’s stay past his prime did cause a trickle effect (like possibly missing out on Klopp or Pep), the mistakes in how we spend our money and who we hired to manage the club continued.
Pepe, Willian, Saliba, Auba new contract sending Kolosinac out on loan, not sending Nelson out on loan selling Martinez are all costly mistakes in which Wenger played no role.
In fact, although I thought it would be best for Wenger to be away from the club after he left to make it easier for a new manager, I now think it is possible that Wenger with his wisdom and knowledge might well have been very useful either in the board room or as director of football or CEO.
Phil, Sad to read but PRECISELY right!
As JanV correctly says too, Gazidis is the TRUE villain of this story though. Wenger should have left far earlier but AT LEAST, in his defence, he did personally care about our club. Gazidis cared only for himself and ruined our club.
ULTIMATELY THOUGH, KROENKE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EMPOWERING Gazidis to come and to stay so long, thus damaging us even more. And responsible for allowing WENGER TO GO ON FAR TOO LONG!
No arguments Jon when blaming Gazidis, but he did what Wenger told him to do. Says everything about the control Wenger had at the club that a Manager tells the CEO what to do
I would say that Kronke seems to supports whoever is appointed to each position, and lets them get in with it. The trouble is he allows the wrong person to be appointed in the first place. The only one who I believe could have been perfect was Sven Misilant, and he was bright enough to know he was sold down the river and quickly got out before his reputation went with him. Good move on his part, but it’s cost this club greatly.
Agreed Phil , save that I do not agree that Gazidis, as CEO, needed to do exactly as Wenger said. A proper CEO worth his salt would of course consult his manager but ultimately do what HE considered right for the club and not for himself and for the manager who supported him.
Simply put, Gazidis was a snake and despite all my comments about Wenger, going back many years now, he was NEVER a snake and cared about the club as a true fan does. Unlike Gazidis and Kroenke.
That is precisely why I still retain affection and respect for AW but obviously not for those other two poisonous snakes. Whatever mistakes AW made (AND HE MADE VERY MANY) they were honest ones, made with good intentions IMO.
Phil and JanV I agree totally. I was called a “traitor” by Wengerites when I suggested he wasn’t moving us forward and I thought at the time, with Klopp leaving Dortmund, it was a great opportunity. Sadly we’ll never know as Liverpool signed Klopp and the rest is history!
@GrantyGooner- lots of us wanted Wenger out, and when he did go you would have thought the Club would have had a plan in place. We didn’t and have regretted the incompetence ever since. Two words- DAVID DEIN. How was this man ever allowed to be out of this club. If ever we needed his calm authoritive approach to ALL football related matters it is now.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the Kroenkes attend even important mat he’s like FA Cup and Europa League finals, let alone ordinary home games?
David Copperfield did a brilliant illusion of walking through the Great Wall of China, I bet even he couldn’t conjure up Stan the man attending a home Arsenal match?
Gg, love your analogy.
I’ve always argued Arsenal needs Merlin the Magician; however at least David Copperfield is still alive.
So often the conversation goes back to Arsene Wenger. This suggests that we are not through with that aspect of our history. Personally I find it difficult to blame the best manager we have had. I also find it difficult to pretend that he had infinite power, as this is improbable. A football club is a long term business. Succession is a must. If AW starts to age you need to replace him with someone even 75% as good. You cannot move from him to Unai and then to MA. I have nothing personal against them – but they seemed as reactive and panic driven as the way we purchase some players. In summary, I am upset STILL with the owners and Board. They should have made the decision about Wenger long before – and the decision should have been. We give him the full support or make plans to change him. The decision was: we love this man’s ability to use a dollar and make us 10. Let’s see how far we can go before the wheels fall off. How then can a few of us be blaming the wheels that fell off. Sorry I blame the group that kept the wagon going to market without even some grease. I shall always put my money on these 2 positions: 1. Arsenal would have been better now under AW if he had received the funds he asked for when the Club began to dip badly. 2. Arsenal would have been even better off than position 1 if they had worked with AW to create a transition plan that had the Club in mind. The owners remind me of the dog and the shadow. The greed is immense. I shall never for get the VW advertisement that said even though VW is so fuel efficient – remember to refill your tank.
I think we need to become focused about this problem and demand that the Owners put fuel in the tank – now!