THE BOARD - Kroenke, Usmanov and Finance

[highburyJD]

HighburyJD

Craig Murray and his accusations have been discredited.

Usmanov was jailed for political reasons according to others.

Do any of us know the truth?

Usmanov had no involvement in politics whatsoever - seems very unlikely

Murray was 'discredited' by Jack Straw, Tony Blair et al - I trust 'arry's book reviews ahead of those liars
the guy cheated on his wife, he probably drinks to much, he lost his job after going off reservation
NewLabour needed Karimov as a centralasian anti-Islamist 'ally' in the war on terror

theres no upside for Murray in lying about Uzbek politicians/oligarchs

the mass 'privitisation' of CCCP assets was more easily controlled with gangster muscle
I've heard no more convincing narrative than that one for Jabba's sudden acceptability

He's a close associate of Putin - that alone would be enough to damn him in my eyes

but this is all by the by BS - we aren't some fly by night two-bit no history club like Chelski or ManShitty
we are THE ARSENAL FFS we dont need their stolen money
let Arsene underspend till he retires - we can still compete
and the next manager can have a proper self generated warchest

means a hell of a lot more when you don't just buy it with other peoples stolen money

[QuartzGooner]

HighburyJD

Craig Murray and his accusations have been discredited.

Usmanov was jailed for political reasons according to others.

Do any of us know the truth?

Usmanov had no involvement in politics whatsoever - seems very unlikely



Murray was 'discredited' by Jack Straw, Tony Blair et al - I trust 'arry's book reviews ahead of those liars
the guy cheated on his wife, he probably drinks to much, he lost his job after going off reservation
NewLabour needed Karimov as a centralasian anti-Islamist 'ally' in the war on terror

theres no upside for Murray in lying about Uzbek politicians/oligarchs

the mass 'privitisation' of CCCP assets was more easily controlled with gangster muscle
I've heard no more convincing narrative than that one for Jabba's sudden acceptability

He's a close associate of Putin - that alone would be enough to damn him in my eyes

Usmanov's jailing was political in the sense he was allegedly jailed by his enemies in the state machinery.
It does not mean that Usmanov was a politician.

Murray could have had an axe to grind as he faced a lot of disciplinary charges himself, and wanted to cause a stir.

I have little reason to think the Uzbek regime is saintly, but what government is?

[1989]

I am 100% anti Jabba and 100% anti capslock
(IT READS LIKE YOU'RE SCREAMING DUUUUUDE)

Wouldn't want gangsters who have served time running our club - especially when he's already stated he wants dividends
current board may have increased the value of their shares but they've never taken money out of the club.

Would break my heart if the board sold up to Jabba - would never forgive them
Instantly we become a scumbag joke like the Chavks and ManShitty

Like the club hasn't already sold its soul to the leeching yank...

We're no different to the chavs and citeh, we sold up too! Just like they did, except they sold to mega rich people who are willing to bankroll them, while we sold to a silent yank leech who won't even bother to come down to the spacebowl and watch us play.

If we're gonna sell our soul I'd much rather we do it to someone who actually wants us to spend big and win trophies and is willing to provide us with the financial muscle to do so, as opposed to some *word censored* who doesn't give a flying fuck about the club and is only in it for the profits.

[Herd]

The current malaise really isn't the fault of Kroenke ,after all he has paid absolute top dollar the the grasping but no longer gasping Fizman ,who used both of them to increase the Value of his shares way beyond their worth !.

Far from having a bridge named after him the shyster that was Fizman he should be remembered for what he was, a chancer who got lucky and screwed every dollar out of the club for himself .

(Comment deleted by IHH)

PS Dein can fcuk off too !

[augie]

Some of the others have already mentioned what I was going to say especially the bit abour craig murray being a discredited liar but why HighburyJD, are you inclined to disregard the word of certain political representatives but not others ? I dont trust any politician be they blair, putin or anybody from within russian politics cos what I find is that everybody (and that includes craig murray) in that game has an agenda and rarely is that agenda good for anybody bar themselves and that is a fact in every country the world over As quartz has said, that for me provides enough doubt on stories coming from the anti usmanov and pro usmanov camps to buy into any of them so I basically write off the stories and try to judge what I believe is good for our club.

1989 makes a brilliant point as well when he points out that we too have already sold out to a billionaire owner so the whole morality issue is a bit hypocritical really (and not just cos wal-mart empire built on the back of cheap sweat shop workers). Of course the difference in our case is that our billionaire doesnt want to spend the cash necessary for the club to survive at the top level and actually progress. It surprises me how the guy still has support amongst the fans when he doesnt even attend games Surely that is proof, if proof was even needed, that the only thing that he is judging the state of the club on is the balance sheet cos otherwise wouldnt the owner need to be at matches himself to judge performances, fan confidence and all the x factors which dont show up in balance sheets ? If he only looks at the official attendance figures then he wouldnt see how many seats are actually empty at every single home game ?

No easy way to say this so I am just gonna say it.......I am not against usmanov taking dividends out of the club We have been down the road before where previous shareholders claimed the moral highground saying that they never took money from the club but best I can remember it those very same shareholders still got very very wealthy on the back of our club. In case some of you have forgotten, the previous ownership implimented a policy that seen minimal investment in players, maximum selling of our players thus showing great financial records every season which done nothing for the club but did significantly raise the value of their shareholding that they could then sell to a mercenary yank It was a confirmed fact that usmanov proposed a new share issue that would have seen the club get an extra 100m to go towards transfers and this proposal would have kept the shareholding at the same level (in other words his % would not have risen at all) but this was turned down emphatically by our board cos it would have required them to dip their hands into their own pockets and they were not willing to do that thus backing up the whole "minimum input but maximum gains" from those proclaiming to be the protectors of our club While I wont go as far as herd does, I do agree that the canonisation of fizsman is embarassing in the extreme and there was nobody with a bigger self serving agenda in our club than him

[highburyJD]

herd - just edit that comment
its possibly the most disgusting thing I've read here
and disrespectful of the dead whatever you think of them
unbelievable

can't see what possible reason Murray has to lie...
and sorry the main way he was 'discredited' was that he cheated on his wife
seriously who cares?
new Labour just didnt want to know the truth about an 'ally' the big septic boss told them we needed

I'm not a fan of wal-mart but its not even close to the same ballpark as Usmanov's crimes

my main issue is that no individual is ever allowed to own the cub

[diggerdan]

Usmanov for all his faults ..can blow abramovich out of the water finacally ... instead we have a soleless board only concerned with making £100 million a year profits..while we frustrated fans watch a load of passionless, average, over paid mercenarys, just nip into a champions leauge spot and fail everywhere else..

they dont even play fantasy football anymore .

the club needs a major overhaul from to to bottom.

the board is where to start.. then the coaching team.. the medical staff... the scouting network.. and the staduim .

I want Arsenal to be as it was before the white elephant of a stadium .. a board who ran a challanging club.. coaches/ physios who cared and worked at improving the players.. and a stadium which is a fortress full of passion and noise...

prehaps i ask far to much ... but the current set up is a disgrace ... so for me i would have Mr Usmanov warts and all

[Rosie_titters]

surely, the supporters don't want us to be the next Man City We might not win fuckall, but we balance our books and are in a stable financial position, and when success does come. It will be even sweeter, knowing we did it on tight regimental basis.

What City is doing, is sheer madness, you can't continue to run at a loss of £190m a season. year in, year out...the bubble will burst

[highburyJD]

Usmanov for all his faults ..can blow abramovich out of the water finacally ...

maybe because of his faults? the Mittals have loads of money, QPR will still probably go down. Inter outspent virtually everyone in Europe for over 15 years without winning anything, it was only because of Calciopoli's impact on Juve and Milan they finally won SerieA

instead we have a soleless board

the board have no feet?

only concerned with making £100 million a year profits..

the board haven't taken profits out - Usmanov wants to

while we frustrated fans watch a load of passionless, average, over paid mercenarys, just nip into a champions leauge spot and fail everywhere else..

who won the league? you think Usmanov's money get us AWAY from passionless overpaid mercenaries??!

they dont even play fantasy football anymore .

'we' surely

the club needs a major overhaul from to to bottom.

the board is where to start.. then the coaching team.. the medical staff... the scouting network.. and the staduim .

I want Arsenal to be as it was before the white elephant of a stadium .. a board who ran a challanging club.. coaches/ physios who cared and worked at improving the players.. and a stadium which is a fortress full of passion and noise...

the only way to change a board is offering a price for the shares they accept, the 'coaching team' changes with Rice's departure, scouting network has had mixed success like all scouting networks - throwing the baby out with the bathwater is insane and the stadium - a white elephant... SERIOUSLY? It sells out every week FFS. Do you know what the phrase white elephant means?

prehaps i ask far to much ...

you think...?

but the current set up is a disgrace ... so for me i would have Mr Usmanov warts and all

we may still come 3rd, boohoo lets sell out our birthright to a profiteering, ex-con, accused rapist
insanity

[diggerdan]

JD..you are clearly happy with whats going on at the club..


I am not... and I fully belive we need urgent action ..or my beloved Arsenal will be a mid table side... just like Villa

[augie]

surely, the supporters don't want us to be the next Man City We might not win fuckall, but we balance our books and are in a stable financial position, and when success does come. It will be even sweeter, knowing we did it on tight regimental basis.

What City is doing, is sheer madness, you can't continue to run at a loss of £190m a season. year in, year out...the bubble will burst

But who the fcuk is looking for man citeeh type levels of spending ?? What I am saying is that this club absolutely needs a total change of direction from tip to toe and that starts with the owner - a quote of his on russian tv lately sums up his ethos perfectly for me........"When we invest in national sport we don't expect profit,we expect medals and victories," and that is what we need. This is a guy driven by success not profits and he has already spoken of the need to spend to acheive that aim What good is it doing you or any Gooner sitting on their moral pedestal every season when trophies are given out and we are nowhere near ? Living in a bygone era is very noble but football has long since moved on and we have to accept that just, like we are paying much higher wages than in the past, so too do we need to spend more to compete at the very highest level and that was something the club spoke about when we left home to go to the souless bowl

I am baffled as to how any Gooner would accept the club being a feeder club for the big boys Like it or not that is what we have become as top player after top player has left us in search of glory elsewhere. These guys have short careers and want to win medals instead of telling their kids in years to come about how they finished in the top 4 every season and that we did it with a self sustaining club Even if you forget about the players and focus on the future Gooner faithful (the kids) who are growing up now and watching other clubs winning and how many do you think will stay loyal to our club ? Do you people honestly believe that abramovich and monsour are getting ready to jump ship anytime soon ? How long is it viable to continue on this moral crusade waiting desperately for some day when a financial meltdown will allow us rule the world again ? Please dont point to uefa's fair play rules cos every man, woman and child knows that their proposals in their current form cannot and will not ever be implimented

Finally I dont think going out and buying 3 players that would cost us approx 75m in total would cause our meltdown - manure do it and so can we if we start managing our wage bill with a proper structure so while an initial spending outlay would be significant the wage bill could probably be held in or around it's current level. If buying these players then leads to success then so too will the value of the club when it comes to negotiating sponsorship deals, kit deals, corporate boxes etc and even if it doesnt lead to trophies then the very fact that we have bought big players will bring extra exposure, bring new fans on board and increase merchandise sales all of which contributes to club coffers

[highburyJD]

Silly post, presumably consciously, I want us to win things
I just don't want any individual (especially an ex-con scumbag accused of rape) 100% owning my club
and I dont want to be a joke plaything like Shitty or the Chavs

BTW Villa wish they were mid-table - they were in a relegation battle!

its just silly to suggest that is happening to us, our problem is not at all that we are about to be mid-table.
You may have a point but you obscure it with silly hyperbole like that.
Our problem is that we're close, but lack the last 10% to get us over the line.
Most on here see that as an investment based issue - and we undeniably have holes in our current squad that need filling.
I think its easy to remember the signing we should have made and forget the ones we all wanted that didnt work...

Signings have a compound impact - if we had bought X means Y would not have played
the extra points X adds doesnt take into affect what we lose by not having Y

[Rosie_titters]

JD..you are clearly happy with whats going on at the club..


I am not... and I fully belive we need urgent action ..or my beloved Arsenal will be a mid table side... just like Villa

we won't be a mid table team, for the fact the league is poor. my major concern is that we are over 19 points behind city and united and that is not acceptable, We should be challenging for the league, not happy to settle for 3rd or 4th and be happy that we finish above tottenham again

Also the CL, is a pointless exercise, because we are light years away from winning it

[I Hate Hleb]

...the extra points X adds doesnt take into affect what we lose by not having Y

Now algebra was never my strong point but surely the fact that 'X adds extra points' does take into account what we lost by not having Y by the mere fact we have extra points, and the solution is thus nothing is lost?

[highburyJD]

we won't be a mid table team, for the fact the league is poor.

suggesting otherwise was silly when we were 17th and is even more silly now

my major concern is that we are over 19 points behind city and united and that is not acceptable, We should be challenging for the league, not happy to settle for 3rd or 4th and be happy that we finish above tottenham again

my major concern is us just missing out on the CL, this or next season
but yes we need to close the gap, we have to at least challenge (like we did last season)
finishing above Spuds is not enough this year and def won't be next (they really could be mid-table - not easy to reinvest the Modric+Bale money when you consider they would also have to buy a striker with it)

Also the CL, is a pointless exercise, because we are light years away from winning it

I do like a Euro away day but a bit disillusioned with visiting the same old places...
That said - get to the KO's and it's winnable.
This years Chelski are not all that, not were Porto, Liverpool - its a cup anything can happen