THE BOARD - Kroenke, Usmanov and Finance

[armchair]

So whats Wengers excuse?

[northbank123]

So whats Wengers excuse?

Well the only reason for Fiszman and PHW selling out was utter greed. There was nothing actually compelling them to hand control of our beloved club over to some greedy apathetic Yank other than dollar signs in their eyes.

People will say the same about Wenger because of his 'healthy' salary but in reality I think the real reason is, like Hitler, he's started to believe his own myth and thinks he's doing a great job. In the same way that Josef Fritzl genuinely thought he was doing right by his daughter/grandkids.

I've always been very proud at the way the club is run because it's always been so important, but I don't understand how people can pretend to be so proud that we deliver £Xm profits every year. Class counts for something still, maybe not as much as in GG's era but it's still fucking important to the fans and the image of the club, but who the fuck gets wet over a profit when it just goes into the club's bank account and eventually Kroenke's pocket? The conflation of having class like AFC traditionally have and being economically self-sustainable makes me fucking nauseous.

[northbank123]

So whats Wengers excuse?

Well the only reason for Fiszman and PHW selling out was utter greed. There was nothing actually compelling them to hand control of our beloved club over to some greedy apathetic Yank other than dollar signs in their eyes.

People will say the same about Wenger because of his 'healthy' salary but in reality I think the real reason is, like Hitler, he's started to believe his own myth and thinks he's doing a great job. In the same way that Josef Fritzl genuinely thought he was doing right by his daughter/grandkids.

I've always been very proud at the way the club is run because it's always been so important, but I don't understand how people can pretend to be so proud that we deliver £Xm profits every year. Class counts for something still, maybe not as much as in GG's era but it's still fucking important to the fans and the image of the club, but who the fuck gets wet over a profit when it just goes into the club's bank account and eventually Kroenke's pocket? The conflation of having class like AFC traditionally have and being economically self-sustainable makes me fucking nauseous.

[armchair]

So whats Wengers excuse?

Well the only reason for Fiszman and PHW selling out was utter greed. There was nothing actually compelling them to hand control of our beloved club over to some greedy apathetic Yank other than dollar signs in their eyes.

People will say the same about Wenger because of his 'healthy' salary but in reality I think the real reason is, like Hitler, he's started to believe his own myth and thinks he's doing a great job. In the same way that Josef Fritzl genuinely thought he was doing right by his daughter/grandkids.

I've always been very proud at the way the club is run because it's always been so important, but I don't understand how people can pretend to be so proud that we deliver £Xm profits every year. Class counts for something still, maybe not as much as in GG's era but it's still fucking important to the fans and the image of the club, but who the fuck gets wet over a profit when it just goes into the club's bank account and eventually Kroenke's pocket? The conflation of having class like AFC traditionally have and being economically self-sustainable makes me fucking nauseous.

I reckon deep down Wenger knows he not performing or justifying his position and inflated salary. Over the last few seasons hes recognised that his "vanity project" has failed miserably. He knows this and hes tried to change it, but change it in a way that will not be patently obvious. So no big marquee signing. Rather a break from his traditional young, cheap, French, African, unknown, prospect. And so we see Arteta, Mert, Podolski, Cazorla.

Problems is - Wengers a busted flush. And an egomaniac. He cant bear to be seen a failure so continues to try to bluff his way out of it. All the time bringing us down to lower and lower depths, breaking more and more unwanted records of shitness.
And therein lies the problem. He knows he fucked up ut he doesn't know how to fix it without admitting hes fucked up.
He really should have resigned shouldn't he?

[georgeknows89]

The announcement of Chelsea profit yesterday confirms they are on the way the complying with FFP and shows that the 800m that abramovich has thrown at them and made them debt free by converting it all to equity now .

Usmanov remains committed to buying the club and making a substantial similiar attempt to help us whatever colour some people think his money is.

He remains rich but impatient and is as frustrated as everyone about our underperformance and under investment.

No point in repeating the same things again re action we can all take but i know for a fact that he is delighted that the BSM organised march on Dec 1st before Swansea is taking place and wants a good turnout

[Arsenal Till I Die]

Come on gents, all this 'failed investment so I won't throw my money in' is bollocks. He's a businessman, yes, which means he wants the best return on his money. Look at his other sports teams: clearly he feels this is best achieved by investing to the point of commercial competitiveness and no further, and with football CL is the huge cash cow so whilst we're delivering 4th there's no point him putting his money in.

The question is, if we failed to met the CL criteria would he actually invest money or would he look to sell? Lets be honest here, he bought into the club because of the consistency we have playing on the biggest European stage so in a sense, he never had to spend to buy in the club AND build the team into a top four side because the foundations were already there. If we don't meet the criteria - and by looking at the comment ''majorly disappointed'' we're not meeting it - then we could be seen as a failed investment.

He's in a fucking great position because he knows R&W will take the shares off him in an instant at an engorged price and also that he can pillage dividends in the mean time.

I would assume (perhaps more like to hope) that is Kronke's overall goal - selling what he has in the club by taking a huge chunk of money off of a rival buyer/investor.

[StuartL]

Come on gents, all this 'failed investment so I won't throw my money in' is bollocks. He's a businessman, yes, which means he wants the best return on his money. Look at his other sports teams: clearly he feels this is best achieved by investing to the point of commercial competitiveness and no further, and with football CL is the huge cash cow so whilst we're delivering 4th there's no point him putting his money in.

If you told him we could spend £60m and win the league he wouldn't take it because financially the difference between 1st and 4th isn't anywhere near that much. It's more important for him that we get to the CL QF and finish top 4 because that's where the regular income is. He's in a fucking great position because he knows R&W will take the shares off him in an instant at an engorged price and also that he can pillage dividends in the mean time. Anybody who thinks Kroenke is in it for the glory or for the genuine interests of the club is deluded. If he could increase his shareholding again he would happily pass any special resolution he could to clean this club out even further for his own financial gain.

I agree that nobody knows what R&W would really be like but fuck me at least they'd show some ambition. People have mixed views on a potential David Dein return but fucking hell I don't believe he would sell us down the river like Fiszman, PHW and co have and then lie to the fans on a daily basis. There is not one football man on that board and not one person who cares about the fortunes of the club and the supporters.

Yet many people forget that Kronke was Dein first port of call, behind the boards back, resulting in his sacking, before he turned to Usmanov as his backup plan, which has so far failed to gain even a voice on the board.

[georgeknows89]

Northbank123 comment about R & W taking the shares off of Kroenke at an inflated price is incorrect unfortunately.

The fact is that Usmanov is still keen to get to 30% shareholding in a very illiquid market and it is this fact that has pushed the share price up alone.

Once he gets there this season( and he will as he is under 75 shares from target) he will have no interest in buying any further shares until KKE sells and if he made this statement public it would immediately depress the well publicised share price as the only buyers out there will be AST and they could end up with a bad investment if buying at the peak artificial price- are we really a £1bn company ?? no we are not and especially if we drop out of the CL.

Usmanov is rich beyond belief, because of shrewd investments-Facebook as 1 example is nowt to do with stealing Russian billions etc and he knows that Kroenke can only sell to a willing buyer and no one else will buy him out because of Usmanovs stake so he will only have 1 person to sell to when the time comes and Usmanov is keen and impatient but not prepared to pay an artificial price so we are stuck in reality until CL football eludes us and we get pain before gain

[highburyJD]

Buying 10% of Facebook had nothing to do with stealing millions!??!?!!
Dude, try and keep up, he didn't buy a chunk of one of the world's most famous companies with money he found under a sofa cushion

[goonerwalker]

SORRY TO UPSET MANY, BUT JUST LOOK AT CHELSKI AND BLUE MANCS.

FORGET RVP, FORGET STEVE BOULD, THIS GUY IS OUR MAIN HOPE FOR SUCCESS.

HE WILL BID IN THE SUMMER AS THE KRONK DIDNT LIKE THE SHAREHOLDERS MEETING AND HAS BEEN TAKEN ABACK BY THE PASSION OF THE PREMIERSHIP- KRONK KNOWS HE CANT BE A PASSIVE INVESTOR AND I BELIEVED THAT THE KRONK WILL END UP LIKE J P MAGNIER WITH A BIG FAT PROFIT IN A SHORT SPACE OF TIME .

USMANOV JUST FLOATING HOS TELECOM COMPANY TO RAISE ANOTHER FEW HUNDRED MILLION AND NOT EVEN TOUCHED HIS 10 % IN FACEBOOK YET.

HE IS THE MAN, LIKE IT OR NOT AND WILL NOT GO AWAY, JUST UPGRADED HIS SUPER DOUBLE BOX AND INSTALLED HEATED SEATS FOR HIS GUESTS- HE IS GOING NOWHERE ... EXCEPT THE BOARDROOM AND DIRECTORS BOX

GEORGE KNOWS

I see where you are coming from and I think Usmanov will take over eventually but I don't think he's the only solution. Arsenal aready have a LOT of money so I don't know if simply having even more will change that much. The thing tha must change is the spending strategy which is very Conservative and needs to be more risky if we are to attract top calibre players.

However, if Usmanov takes over I think he could e the one to enforce this change as unlike Kroenke I don't think he's bothered about making money out of Arsenal. He will want to make big marquee signings and see on-field success so from that perspective a takeover may be very positive.

[1989]

Usmanov is our only remaining hope.

[goonerwalker]

Silent Stans at it again

http://goonertalk.com/2012/10/28/kroenk ... formances/

Particularly this bit

Stan Kroenke is ‘majorly disappointed’ by Arsenal’s recent performances and ‘isn’t keen’ on investing his money in the club until the Gunners become more successful on the pitch, a source close to the American billionaire has claimed.

What a load of s***e If he was at all bothered about things on the pitch he would have put his hand in his pocket and invested in the team long ago. That is how to get the team playing better not muttering away to yourself in an office

[QuartzGooner]

So whats Wengers excuse?

Well the only reason for Fiszman and PHW selling out was utter greed. There was nothing actually compelling them to hand control of our beloved club over to some greedy apathetic Yank other than dollar signs in their eyes.

Fiszman was dying; he wanted to pass on his shares to someone he believed capable of running the club.
Have no idea if Fiszman had children.

Hill-Wood has children, but one guesses they have not got the wish to run the club.

A question: If Fiszman had passed on his shares to his wife, and Hill-Wood had kept hold of his less than 5% of shares, and the other board members had kept hold of theirs (mainly the Bracewell-Smith/Carr/Phipps-Bagge family) then how exactly would the club be different today?

Because Gazidis would still be CEO and Wenger would still be manager.

[LeGinge (Northern Branch)]

So. We have tons of cash reserves in our account(s) nobody disputes this.

Our board are waiting for Financial Fair Play where, as I understand, clubs will not be able to spend more than they make in revenue each year.

Now what will happen to our cash reserves when we can ONLY spend within our annual revenue?

Will we invest in the playing squad before FFP actually comes into play?
Dividends to Shareholders?
Investment in youth development?
Dividends to Shareholders?
Investment in training ground?
Dividends to Shareholders?

Maybe my understanding of FFP is incorrect but if it isn't then we will essentially have a heap of cash that we cannot use to reinvest in the squad.

Apologies if this point has already been made on the thread...

[northbank123]

So. We have tons of cash reserves in our account(s) nobody disputes this.

Our board are waiting for Financial Fair Play where, as I understand, clubs will not be able to spend more than they make in revenue each year.

Now what will happen to our cash reserves when we can ONLY spend within our annual revenue?

Will we invest in the playing squad before FFP actually comes into play?
Dividends to Shareholders?
Investment in youth development?
Dividends to Shareholders?
Investment in training ground?
Dividends to Shareholders?

Maybe my understanding of FFP is incorrect but if it isn't then we will essentially have a heap of cash that we cannot use to reinvest in the squad.

Apologies if this point has already been made on the thread...

Think it's assessed on a rolling 3-year period unless I'm mistaken. Also spending on youth development and training facilities are expressly precluded and so too I imagine are dividends (interest payments definitely are). That's part of what makes it a sham, it's only basically spending on wages and transfer fees.