$tan Kroenke Becomes Soul Owner

[A_G]

If Usmanov has taken over, he’d have been in the same boat as Abramovich last year. Who would’ve been our Boehly?

 

[jones]

If Usmanov has taken over, he’d have been in the same boat as Abramovich last year. Who would’ve been our Boehly?

Boehly

 

[A_G]

Boehly

Imagine Hagn if we had Chelsea’s transfer policy

 

[Macho]

Imagine Hagn if we had Chelsea’s transfer policy

would have been an American anyways. Or KSE had he not purchased a prem club by now, so kind of inevitable.

 

[Macho]

-Pre complete Kroenke takeover Arsenal board and shareholders seemed to be proper asocial cvnts

This was already obvious by the infamous "thank you for your interest in our affairs" line. They were Arsenal fans, but fan ownership is overrated in this context.

Sometimes cold and calculating is the way, as long as success fits into the owner's goals.

 

[Macho]

Pardon the triple post, but one thing I'd love to see covered by a proper investigative and non bias outlet (sorry The Athletic) is an indepth look in the turnaround in KSE's approach to PR.

It's been a huge leap from "we didn't buy Arsenal to win trophies" and "why speak when the numbers speak for themselves" (the second one paraphrased) to what we see today.

I'd guess the super league backlash, the end of Emery's tenure with the lessons learned and Josh as major catalysts.

 

[ArsenesCoatMaker]

-Wenger himself did not want to spend. Crucial info, he kept us hostage for his own dreams.

I think that's speculatory. Wenger himself said he couldn't afford certain players like Hazard. He said that Kroenke didn't want to increase the value of the club until Usmanov agreed to be bought out. Board directors had said Wenger was accepting of budget constraints.

 

[Maybe]

-Wenger himself did not want to spend. Crucial info, he kept us hostage for his own dreams.

in his defense, it was a really strong team with some amazing young players. If we avoided some big injuries that team could've achieved a lot. In 2008 we won against Milan who were the strongest team at the time, add a healthy RvP to that team and that's a CL trophy

 

[<<reed>>]

Imagine Hagn if we had Chelsea’s transfer policy

LookingForHairspray's wet dream

 

[Maybe]

I think that's speculatory. Wenger himself said he couldn't afford certain players like Hazard. He said that Kroenke didn't want to increase the value of the club until Usmanov agreed to be bought out. Board directors had said Wenger was accepting of budget constraints.

Reading it now I just respect the big man more than ever, just insane that people think that some bald fraud with unlimited resources is better than him

 

[Rex Stone]

Which genius spelt that title then?

 

[jones]

Imagine Hagn if we had Chelsea’s transfer policy

Imagine Arteta if Boehly just kept buying players he didn't ask for. He'd have his Auba type dossiers ready to tell them to **** off at their unveiling

 

[jones]

Which genius spelt that title then?

Pretty sure that's a play on words?

 

[Xln]

in his defense, it was a really strong team with some amazing young players. If we avoided some big injuries that team could've achieved a lot. In 2008 we won against Milan who were the strongest team at the time, add a healthy RvP to that team and that's a CL trophy

Just judging from this article, which I don't even know if it's all true or accurate, Wenger had the vision to win without spending big on players. Think he wanted to win that way to prove a point to the big spenders, which I obviously think it's an honourary dream and only for people with class. However, the later years he had to drop it, that's my opinion.

Again it's a speculatory post btw, can never know what was really going on.

 

[A_G]

Pretty sure that's a play on words?

Rex rn:

 

[Macho]

Just judging from this article, which I don't even know if it's all true or accurate, Wenger had the vision to win without spending big on players. Think he wanted to win that way to prove a point to the big spenders, which I obviously think it's an honourary dream and only for people with class. However, the later years he had to drop it, that's my opinion.

Again it's a speculatory post btw, can never know what was really going on.

On one hand Wenger was signing Ballon D'or contenders for 12-15 mil so it's reasonable to imagine he struggled to accept the prices bandied around for players as he got older.

On the otherhand, the first half of Wenger's tenure proves he had no problems spending. He spent a lot of time courting big players in the 2nd half of his Arsenal career as well, some successful in Özil and some not in Mbappe/Hazard etc.

I prefer to take his words from his book at face value that there was no money and he was deeply hurt when he would raise Cesc's and Nasri's and they got sold before he could reap the rewards.

The scrutiny Wenger and now Arteta are under, I find it hard to believe either of them would voluntarily hamper themselves over ideals. They are both winners first.

 

[jones]

Wenger was definitely hampered by finances, guy went to the media saying no big club would sell both Cesc and Nasri then a week or two later both are gone.

Then again there's no way we had so little money we could only sign helmet boy in 2015, that one's 100% self inflicted.

Truths in the middle and some supportive and corrective executive would've made a big difference in later years, problem was Dein is a piece of sh*t and Gazidis is bald and useless.

 

[Makingtrax]

Spoiler: part 2

In 2013, Arsenal broke their transfer record to sign Mesut Özil. They added Alexis Sanchez 12 months later. That period brought a flurry of FA Cups and continued the club’s impressive record of Champions League qualification — something fans would soon learn they could not take for granted.

As much as Arsenal’s self-sustaining model made it difficult to compete with Chelsea, it was a point of pride for many working at the club. They saw it as a badge of honour.

None more so than Wenger. As he saw clubs committing what he believed to be “financial doping”, he became increasingly entrenched in his idealism. When money was made available, he would often decline to spend it. In the summer of 2015, Arsenal could follow up Özil and Sanchez with another marquee signing. In the end, the summer transfer window ended without Arsenal signing a single senior outfield player.

Wenger sought a purer way to win. That was his dream and, for a long time, the Kroenkes were prepared to indulge it.

Sanchez was a significant addition at Arsenal, but Wenger was reluctant to spend his way to success (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

When the Kroenkes took full control in 2018, there was a distinctively different approach. The football arm of the business took on a new structure, with a more committee-led approach to recruitment. As a statement of intent, Arsenal smashed their transfer record to sign Nicolas Pepe for £72million.

The pace of change was almost too much. In the space of a few months, Arsenal took on a different ownership model, a new executive structure, and a new head coach in Unai Emery. This revolution was initially clunky, not cogent.

It was only once Arsenal emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic that the new era took shape. The departure of the head of football, Raul Sanllehi, consolidated the power of sporting director Edu and the new manager, Mikel Arteta.


Lewis was added to the board and within one week, Arsenal announced they would be restructuring their remaining stadium debt of £144million by way of a substantial loan from KSE. This freed Arsenal up from their need to keep back £36million in a bondholders’ debt service reserve and dramatically improved cash flow at the club.


The refinancing had been discussed among the board many times over the years, but Kroenke had always been clear: he would only proceed once he owned the club outright. This was arguably the most significant outcome of KSE taking sole ownership, as it significantly loosened the financial restrictions under which the club had been operating.

The subsequent spending and revival of Arsenal have been underwritten by KSE. Arsenal still aspire to be a self-sustaining club but have recognised that, for that to be realistic, they need to qualify regularly for the Champions League. That has necessitated significant expenditure, which Arsenal’s financial results state “would not have been possible without the support and commitment of the club’s ownership, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment”. This has admittedly come in the form of favourable loans rather than a straight equity injection.

Arteta has overseen Arsenal’s restoration as title challengers (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

In that respect, Wenger’s assertion has been proved correct: having gained full ownership, KSE has financially supported the club.

But was that a sound strategy?

“The answer to that question depends on whose perspective you are taking,” says The Athletic’s financial expert. “From the perspective of the Kroenkes, who wanted 100 per cent control and Alisher Usmanov gone, it made all the sense in the world, and in fact, it achieved their goals.

“They forced Usmanov to sell to them by giving him the silent treatment for a decade — their gambit paid off. And they didn’t permanently damage the asset because Arsenal are back at the top of the table after only a few years of investment.

“If your perspective is a fan’s perspective, somebody invested in seeing the club win, then it was not sound. The club underperformed for more than a decade.”

That is the crux of it. The stand-off between Kroenke and Usmanov, that decade of drift, was understandable from a business standpoint. But in terms of custodianship, it was undeniably problematic and fostered the frustrations among fan groups that KSE is still battling to overcome. The Kroenkes may not have had outright ownership, but they did have control. More could have been done to improve Arsenal’s position had the club’s interests truly been at the forefront of their minds.


“I love Arsenal, but I failed,” says Usmanov. “What can I do? But I also believe Arsenal lost something without Usmanov.”

Attitudes towards the Kroenkes are softening now. Investment — and improving results on the pitch — will do that. Arsenal appear to have turned a corner and the era of single ownership has certainly begun. It seems that, as the Kroenkes made plain to Usmanov time and time again, KSE is here to stay.

Nothing more than I expected from these two. Churchill said history is written by the victors. They’ve been pushing this narrative for some time now. But if I had choice of believing Arsène or these two hacks, it‘s no contest.

 

[Makingtrax]

I’ll repeat this for the hundredth time, the idea that a manager has been given the go ahead by the owners to spend millions on another player or two, but the manager says, ‘Oh no I don’t need it, I’d rather try and beat the oil clubs knowing it was done with the purity and idealism true to the game of football’, is beyond crass. But not laughable, more an insult to the intelligence of a great manager. Wenger knew full well the impact of money in football and has written about many, many times.

 

[jones]

I’ll repeat this for the hundredth time, the idea that a manager has been given the go ahead by the owners to spend millions on another player or two, but the manager says, ‘Oh no I don’t need it, I’d rather try and beat the oil clubs knowing it was done with the purity and idealism true to the game of football’, is beyond crass. But not laughable, more an insult to the intelligence of a great manager. Wenger knew full well the impact of money in football and has written about many, many times.

Not that I disagree with the overall notion but do you think there was no money other than 10m for Cech in 2015? Not sure what to make of the reaction earlier.