Tag Archives: stan kroenke

Arsenal Need Evolution, Not Revolution

So, here I am. A 36-year old bloke who really should be revising for a couple of university exams in the next ten days, and instead I’m sat here wondering just why I think so differently to a great many other Arsenal fans, and on a great many things….

Thursday Night Paranoia

Ok, so we’ve now got to play in the Europa League, and that means Thursday night games and the resulting inevitable panic over a new schedule. But why? Thursdays are a day like any other, and it’s still 11 men against 11, and it’s still 90 minutes, so why all the fuss? I just don’t get it.

Every Thursday, followed by every Sunday. Unconventional, granted, but there’s no reason at all why supposedly professional players should suddenly find themselves unable to cope with it. If anything, the fixture schedule is actually better than any we’ve had while playing in the Champions League, when half the matches were on a Tuesday, half on a Wednesday, and the weekend league game getting shunted into any one of half-a-dozen different slots over three days, all at the whim of the TV people.

No more Napoli away on a Wednesday, then Liverpool away on a Saturday lunchtime, and people panic about Thursday-Sunday-Thursday? Behave.

Director of Football = Magical Solution / “Bring Back David Dein!”

Now this is one I really struggle with.

Sure, we’ve been an abject shambles in the transfer market ever since he left in 2007, but would bringing back a 73-year old man who hasn’t worked in club football for a decade really solve all of our transfer issues? (And that’s quite apart from the role his agent son, Darren, played in ripping the heart out of that team with the transfers of Fabregas, Clichy, Nasri and Van Persie).

The other, similar, call is that the club should appoint a Director of Football to oversee all transfers and contracts, but – apart from Wenger’s oft-stated refusal to work in such a model – what is the point of someone else getting it right off of the pitch only for Wenger’s outdated training methods getting them injured, tactical nativity failing to get the best from them, or, as with Lucas Perez this season, simply leaving a proven talent to rot in the reserves because Wenger’s ego was deemed to be more important than the interests of Arsenal Football Club.

I personally believe that the one man in sole charge is still the best model for a successful football blub. For example, Liverpool’s insistence on everything going through their own ‘transfer committee’ is partially to blame for their recent struggles under Klopp and his predecessors of the last few years.

If everything was going right, would people still be calling for a total restructuring of the way the club operates? Of course not. What we actually need is a CEO to take the financial and paperwork jobs off of the manager, so all they have to do is give a list of players he wants to sign/keep, and then everything happens without them, leaving them to concentrate on getting things right on the training ground and pitch. What we need is Ivan to step up and start doing his job.

Blame the Board!

Stan Kroenke is not a bad chairman. There, I’ve said it.

The only thing that you can criticise him for is the £3million he has laundered out of the club in each of the last two seasons, but considering the money that the previous board, under Sir Peter Hill-Wood, Danny Fiszman, Dein and Ken Friar paid themselves in wages, “expenses”, 5-star travel and accommodation to away and European games and even in using the club’s facilities for their own business deals, Stan’s “consultation fee” is probably less of a percentage of the club’s income than that lost to anyone else ten or twenty years ago.

In fact, the only thing which you can blame him for is his hands-off approach and lack of pressure he puts on those he employs. Although he certainly lives up to his ‘Silent’ nickname with his hands-off approach, is that also in itself a bad thing? Would we rather instead have an egotistical chairmen treating the club like his own toy and constantly meddling in everything? Not only would none of this be a problem if we were top of the league and everything else was fine, but there’s plenty of fans from other clubs out there who would love to have him at theirs.

Both the lack of a Director of Football and the owner’s hands-off approach would not be a problem if the team was playing well, being run well, competing in Europe and winning league titles at home. As with everything else at the club, its failures belong to one man and one man alone. The man with “complete control of the football side of the business”. Arsene Wenger.

Why does Stan Kroenke own Arsenal?

7 Replies

So after last nights news that Alisher Usmanov had made a $1.3bn bid to take control of Arsenal about a month ago, today’s news is that majority share holder Stan Kroenke intends to stay at the club long term, according to Sky sources.

Since last night, one aspect of everything to do with Arsenal, the ownership, and moving forward has been bugging me.

Why does Stan Kroenke own Arsenal?

Love

Kroenke does not love The Arsenal. He barely attenda games, could barely name any of the current team, let alone have a clue who Tony Adams, Bob Wilson or Ian Wright are if they walked passed him in the street.

He go’s to less game at the Emirates than someone who says they are “boycotting the ground till Wenger leaves”. He has little, if anything, to do with the club, leaving the day to day running to Ivan Gazidis, the board, his son Josh and Arsene Wenger.

Stan Kroenke does not love Arsenal football Club.

Money

Many people will say Kroenke only owns Arsenal for the money. They will point to the £3million he has taken out twice (I think it’s now twice). They will claim he uses the club as collateral to buy stuff in America. they will call him greedy. And they are wrong.

Firstly on the £3million. At the time, this confused me. For someone worth a reported £5.75 billion, £3m is pocket change. He probably has that in his back pocket.

To put how little it is in real terms, imagine you live in a house worth £575,000, the equivalent to £3m is you boring £300 from a mate. Yes, a decent chunk of money, but not exactly a loads. I would have no hesitation of lending that (and more) to a mate.

If you want to see an example of greed in action at a football club, look at the Glaziers over at Manchester United.

Manchester United recently paid out a dividend to the family worth £18.3m. Last year, the 6 siblings got paid £15m. All this whilst Manchester United’s debt rose. Remember the Glazers bought Manchester United by leveraging the loans needed to buy the club against the club. Basically using the clubs own money to buy itself. They are greedy. Kroenke not so much.

You then have the rumours of him owning Arsenal to use the club as collateral against debts in America. There is ZERO proof in this. A lot of fuss was made when he bought a $725m ranch in Texas. Rumours were he had leveraged the debt to buy this against Arsenal. But he had bought it using cash.

Unlike the Glazers who use assets to buy more assets, Kroenke seems to use his own money to buy everything, from Arsenal to Texas.

And anyway, the old saying is true, no one buys a football club to make money.

Last year Arsenal had a turn over of ~£350m. The average Walmart store in America turns over £850m a year.

Whilst players make a lot from football, clubs rarely show profit. Last year Arsenal shows a pre-tax profit of just £3m.The simple fact is, there is very little, often if any, profit to take out of football clubs once costs such as wages, tax and player transactions have been offset.

The last place to make money from football clubs is trading on the share price. If Kroenke accepted Usmanov’s recent offer of Arsenal.

According to Angry of Islington, Stan Kroenke has spent approximately £424m on buying shares. Usmanov’s offer works out at £1 billion. So that would be Kroenke doubling his money.

As a trader/investor, he makes his money on the share price. Buys low, sells high. So over 100% profit, half a billion pound made, on a 10 year investment. An investor in it for the money would sell. But Kroenke hasn’t. Does he think the price will continue to increase (Usmanov has already offered well over the recent trading price shares)? Or is he simply not in it to make money?

If he owned Arsenal purely to make money, he would have accepted the Usmanov offer.

Ego

Why does the man with a $1.1b yacht commission the build of a $1.4b yacht?

Because his mate moored up next door to him in the harbour has just turned up with a $1.25b yacht.

It is all about ego. All about being ahead of the jonesys. Football clubs, like NFL teams, NBA teams, F1 teams, houses on every continent, 10 houses in London, super cars, and everything else a billionaire buys is basically an ego boost.

I do a lot of work in the luxury housing market. Billions are always buying a new property. Expanding their current property. Putting in a new iceberg basement. Buying the Chelsea townhouse next door and knocking the doors through. They barely live in this property, so why spend the money? Because they can, and because it means their house is bigger, better, more luxurious then their friends from Siberia, Qatar or Texas.

It is all for ego, and own sports clubs is exactly that.

In America, owning an NFL team is a sign that you have made it. Add in an NBA and NBL team and even better. NHL on top and you can boast about it when at the super secret meetings these people have.

Premier League sides are in that category. There is little difference between having $7.5b worth and $8b worth. But if your Premier League side has beaten a friends, or your NFL side wins the Super Bowl, it allows you to boast.

It is rivalry that all of us face at work with our colleagues, but just on a bigger, more expensive, scale.

The thing is Kroenke’s teams do not win things. They are all average. So what does he boast about on the Freemason’s yacht with his fellow Illuminati? He does not run successful teams. They are all failures. So maybe he does not own Arsenal (and his other franchises) for an ego boast?

Kroenke is a dangerous investor. He is an investor that no one really understands why he owns the teams he owns. It is not love, it is not money, it is not ego.

Why does Kroenke own Arsenal Football Club?

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC

Nothing has changed in 5 years, why the noise now?

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So I was looking for an old blog on our old site for GC and was unable to find it (something he wrote way back in 2008 about Stan Kroenke being the wrong man for Arsenal).

Whilst I could not find that blog, I came across another, written in 2010 by him:

OK, its been a while since I have written anything other than my normal “10 reasons why..” this is due to the time I have had to do any decent writing and the fact personally I’d rather read quick bullet points and try and see the lighter more pisstaking side of The Arsenal than read paragraphs of rubbish like other blogs/websites. But this morning ! am just going to let my fingers do some damage to my already battered from last nights keyboard.

Those that have the misfortune to have read some of the articles/status/messages I have put up over the last few years know I am not a big fan of the direction the club has been going in. I don’t like the new ground, I don’t like anyone on the board of directors,Ivan in particular I find a complete waste of space, what does this fella do ??..and sadly now I feel its time Wenger has to sit in a dark room and have a good think.

The new ground – lifeless soulless and full of tourists, no wonder a lot of our traditional support now choose to stay away

The board of directors – Only interested in building flats, reducing what was called “an affordable debt” mainly I fear to increase there own share price

Ivan – Sorry mate, Arsenalisation to me reads Americanisation, you are no David Dein (he’s got a lot to answer for over the current mess as well, but at least he knew how to buy a player)

Wenger – Your experiment is over now, you are losing the backing of a hell of a lot of fans.

Now I am not moaning at Wenger because we have lost a few games,anyone with half a brain knew we would struggle after 5years of neglect in the transfer market. But its the manner of how we are losing that really bites, 2 nil up at home at half-time to the scum and the team come out in the 2nd half like someone had slipped them some kind if daterape drug in the half-time cuppa. Needing a draw last night and yeah we was having a bad night of it and couldn’t break down Braga, so why start bringing on attacking players and leave ourselves open to the counter attack, block the game up, come away with a point and the final game in the group stages wouldn’t be so edgy. Yes that tactic of all out attack would of worked when we had players like Henry,Freddie,Pires,Bergkamp,Kanu even to come on and do something special but NONE of the current squad would make it into anyone’s best 11 over the Wenger years.

SO this is a simple request to the board and to Mr Wenger, BUY BUY BUY this January, prove that when we was told moving grounds would enable us to compete with the biggest clubs in Europe in the transfer market that it wasn’t lies. Prove to us that you have the ambition more than just finishing in the top 4 each season. Prove to us that we are a football club first and a building company second.

This was written in November. Not November 2015, but November 2010. Ten years ago. And yet, over 5 years on, nothing has changed. It could have been written this morning and would be equally as relevant now.