A lot has happened in the last couple of days, not much of it positive for Gooners, but we have most certainly learnt a lot about certain individuals, both of whom claim or have claimed to 'love' Arsenal FC. In particular the rambling, angry and largely incoherent letter from Red and White, Usmanov and his partner (in crime (tfic for the lawyers!)) Moshiri.
It is abundantly clear that Usmanov has exploited a moment of turmoil after RVP's letter in a rather malignantly opportunistic manner. Usmanov's letter is meandering and random with its childish mud slinging, it is also poorly composed and poorly structured. This is not the work of someone with a clear strategic plan for the club, it is the selfish ranting of a megalomaniac who wants to get his own way by divide and rule.
The proper analysis of the balance sheet structure, profitability and financial strategy is glaring by its absence. The letter is purely a PR stunt, and should be ignored at all costs. Much as RVP said it isn't about money, Usmanov and Moshiri say they don't want to create conflict, it is clear that in both cases the protesting too much gives their game away I'm afraid. Usmanov is an unpleasant individual with a deeply shady past, and judging by his petty ranting he is not someone we need anywhere near our football club.
Criticising the current board and owner is one thing, I have no problem with this, we have many issues that need addressing. However I do think that the board are going about a lot of this work in a very professional and efficient manner. A lot of the nonsense spoken about Kroenke in the last few days has been nothing but downright lies, he has not taken money out of Arsenal or any other of his sporting franchises.
There are also a lot of issues that the club are completely unable to control, the unsustainable and reckless spending from clubs like City and Chelsea has created a false environment, realistically by trying to compete financially with these clubs we could very well be digging our own grave. In my opinion whatever we offered RVP, clubs like City and Chelsea could double it, practically it is difficult to outspend a blank cheque.
In conclusion I would beg all Arsenal fans to take the time to read Red and White's letter, consider the motives of these untrustworthy individuals and analyse if they offer the club anything concrete other than vague wishes and angry ranting. In my opinion being an Arsena fan is not about winning and trophies, it is about supporting a club that always tries to behave with a bit more dignity and class than others. I do not want Arsenal to be another tycoon's play thing or a criminal's penis extension, I want Arsenal to retain its unique status in football and this means keeping Usmanov at a safe distance. We trust and welcome Usmanov into our club at our peril.
28 comments:
whole heartingly agree.....I dont trust the Russian and more so Dein when he sold out.
Sound words...Usmanov seems to have all the charm, dignity and scruples of Abramovic. We support Arsenal because we care about a club that has a great history . We start next season competing for four- if we are lucky we win one....count the clubs that don't win, we don't have a god-given right to silverware.
Literally worst article I've read in the last few days ...
Whoever wrote this in not a gunner
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
Everything Usmanov said is true and if you can't see it you are blind.
I hope he buys out the resto of the monkeys and restores our club to greatness.
Christopher
thanks for the kind comment, anyone who puts BSc and DMD in their profile need say no more........
Tom
seems you also have a rather limited grasp of the English language, much like our Christopher, you also have logic to match!
Thanks though both of you, you have nicely demonstrated that those who oppose Usmanov are the ones with more than three grey cells......
Im sorry brother but Arsenal is in a bad condition right now. All businessmen are weasels and so are Usmanov and Kroenke. If the same trend continues we will lose Wenger, walcott, song and vermaelen. So whoever is willing to keep our best players and bring in class, not cunts, im on his side and seems like kroenke is not doing so. We have no choice but to accept a change. Either we go high or go down, but if we continue like this then the only way is down. I really respect your view and you have every right to share your view but right now Arsenal fans will oppose it. So lets support a new era at Arsenal, not see our players leave and aim higher than just top 4. We are not Wigan not to think about trophies, we are ARSENAL and our history does not allow us to think we are ok without trophies.
Gunner for Life!
Kroenke builds new supermarkets for Walmart - a company that pays minimum wages to its employees and who put local businesses out of business just like Tesco's have here in the UK. All business men of Kroenke and Usmanov's level have skeletons in their closets. It is time to stop being so pedantic and look at the situation. Arsenal are falling further and further behind until we become another Aston Villa - do you want morality or do you want Arsenal to do well ?
How deluded you are, another Gooner totally blind to what is happening around us, we have become a laughing stock, and instead of looking at the obvious you ignore the fact, the dictator, the board and the Yank are killing our club, you live in the past,me I look to the future and at the moment ours is bleak, we are ripped off at every opportunity, we are sold lies, we have a manager so out of touch, it's farcical, open your eyes and stop bleating on about the Arsenal way because it is slowly disappearing
I love this club. But I honestly believe that each and every Arsenal fan deserves an open an honest explanation from the board members (including Arsene) to calm this ridiculous PR storm. My problem with this all this BS is that very few Arsenal fans can stand up and claim they know and understand the true situation the club find themselves in currently. What is the vision/strategy for the next year, next 5, 10, 15 years. How many of us honestly take some of the announcements from the club at face value these days? How many seasons have gone by where our club have proclaimed a sizeable war chest of readies to spend on talent if required? What is our top five priorities? To become self funding/ self sufficient? If so, when will we expect to pay our debts off? Give me a date... Surely they can tell us that as paying fans? Is the top priority to win trophies? Because if it is we/they have monumentally FAILED FAILED FAILED!
I love my club, and have respected the management unconditionally up until a couple of seasons ago. As per the author of this article, I agree wholeheartedly that Usmanov is bad news, and by all accounts should not be trusted by any means! However the Arsenal board has much to answer for. I am bored, tired and no longer nieive of the political BS/spin that is being churned out. Truth please! Us devout fans deserve at LEAST that much!
Even though I agree that Usmanov's letter was opportunistic, that does not mean that there isn't an iota of truth in it. I just published a guest post for Arsenation and I highlighted parts of his communique.
Oliver whats-his-name (cannot remember right now) from the Daily Mirror made mention of the fact that Arsenal was the only club that constantly lost their prize players ever since the move to the new stadia.
Look at Manchester United, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter, Barca, even Bolton and Tottenham, they've been able to hold on to most of their star players. Baines says Everton might have to sell him because they need the money. Baines did not say he was not renewing...doesn't that ring a bell? He is in tune with Everton's ambitions cuz they've got one.
Do we?
I believe this reporter has a point. Let's not let our passion for the club blind us to some nuggets of truth we can find in Usmanov's letter.
“Arsenal are a club who desperately try to do things the right way… They have a fine tradition… a manager who is widely coveted and a financial policy that is prudent. So being jilted by its best players comes with a bitter sting, particularly as it is getting to be a habit. Two years ago, it was Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure who turned their backs on the Emirates. Last year, it was Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and, most grievously of all, their captain Cesc Fabregas. Now, Robin van Persie… for everything they are doing right, they must be doing something wrong, too. Otherwise, why can’t they keep hold of their top stars?“(Oliver Holt, Daily Mirror)
Akb site says it all!!
"Being an Arsenal fan is not about winning or trophies.."
That really sums up just how low we have fallen! Not only does the Club lack any ambition but even the fans have given up! Incredible.
Silent Stan, who makes one visit a year to check on his "investment vehicle" makes sure any revenue raised is used to pay off the stadium mortgage early. After that he will sell and walk off with a huge profit. He has no interest in football or the club, at least Usmanov attends the matches!
Wake up for Heavens sake.
Well said Bon Jokey, well said.
I'm sorry but what is your point?
clueless assesment,... I wonder maybe I should have my own website to give a proper ones instead.
The yank is sucking us dry.
If Usmanov brings Dein I'm happy.
I think part of your article may be slightly incorrect. Kroenke takes a salary of £25k a week, it was shown in the financials at the last AGM, and Arsenal supporters trust I think. Tim Payton may have previously highlighted it. Althought I do believe Usmanov's letter was opportunistic, a lot of truth is said within. It should have been a private letter, and he must have been poorly advised to make it public, as most people should be able to see the real reason. He claims to not want to create conflict but it is the letters exact purpose
Apologies, I meant to say 25k a year. Althought not much, its certainly not justified
Bull......Usmanov says it how it is. You idiots who dont trust him??? Everything he says is the truth cant you see and understand that? So you trust Hill-Wood who sold out and made millions and has not put a cent back into the club. You trust Kronke who collects sports clubs and never invests just takes profits. GET REAL!!!
Usmanov states he wants to be involved for the long haul and want his family to make it a stable ongoing involvement. He states how he wants to invest in the club ...he doesnt want or need to take any profit or make money from the club, isnt that exactly what we want? He comes regularly to our matchs, how many has Kronke been to?
STOP this ridiculous xenophobic attitude against Usmanov, it is stupid when you want to sit back and accept an american who has no pedigree of interest in our sport he just saw the investment and I wouldnt be surprised if he bailed in the next 6 months selling his shares at a massive profit to Usmanvo (and I will greatly applaud that day!) we need investment now to make us competative, we need investment to make us winners again, WE NEED ALISHA USMANOV.
Some sensible comments including Robin,
Of course I agree that mistakes have been made by the manager and the board, however those who use this as justification for welcoming in Usmanov have again shown themselves up to have the combined IQ of a pidgeon
In fact some of the comments are laughable in their breatktaking ignorance and stupidity
Haseeb for example, some of the most hilarious ignorance I have read for many a moon, all businessmen are the same are they? We can compare those from the highly developed and regulated US to those from the corrupt Eastern block? Thus they are all the same, all weasels?
What childish drivel.
Again of all those of you support Usmanov, not one of you has made a coherent argument to justify your stance, you have not addressed any of the robust points against him made, your arguments go along the lines of :
'you're wrong, i'm right, usmanov loves Arsenal'
hilarious!
can none of the Usmanov supporters do better than just saying it is because it is?
can a single Usmanov supporter outline what his miracle strategy is?
Simply you do not know a thing about Usmanov and what he has planned for our club, and your trusting of this man has shown you up as a bunch of rather immature uneducated fools.
xenophobia?
hahaha, that is one of the most stupid comments I have ever read, even a pidgeon could do better than that.
Usmanov is trying to divide and rule, this is what is happening, he is sorting the men from the boys, and the men are not those supporting Usmanov, only those with the IQ of a pidgeon would support such an untrustworthy charlatan.
Usmanov is right. Just read peter hill woods response and he claims we are on the right track just cause we haven't been relegated.
Who enters a race to finnish fourth?
If they can't compete they should sell their shares to someone that can.
How can a chairman with ambition say we have not done bad that its not as if we r relegated. So our ambition is to keep out of relegation? Is that arsenal's ambition now? Really doesn't suit the likes of rvp, tv, tw
Hello 1979 gunner you obviously are limited in both you grammer (pidgeon, come on you couldn't think of a more inventive to insult people with?)and you understanding of the word xenaphobia, as you didn't even make a cohesive insult against me for saying that!
If all you can do is make destructive and inane attempts to ridicule other people, rather than make a constructive arguement, I suggest that you go away learn some more English grammer, learn more of the true facts relating to this subject, learn the real in depth history of Arsenal FC, learn facts behind the people who you are writing about, and then come back here and make a tangeable case either for or against other people who have taken the time to write on a subject that is vital to the future of "our" Club.
Sure Usmanov isn't perfect but then certainly those in control of our club (the Hill-Wood / Kronke alliance) are far from being so.
The question is simple you have 2 options:
First - if you are happy with the steady decline in the standard of the quality of players that represent our Club and the lack of serious investment in the playing staff , then fine just sit back and let each season roll by and accept just making the top 4 as the limit of our ambition (with the likelyhood that we will even fail to achieve this target very soon!).
Or
2. We can have Usmanov take over the club, pay off our debt. Invest a the money that is needed to bring the very best players into the club and keep them which will then enable us to compete at the very highest level and have the REAL opportunity to WIN something again.
Mikey
Amusing (again), for many reasons, including the fact that you must have been called pidgeon like before as you don't find it inventive, no surprise there given the complete lack of coherence in your naive and simplistic stance
Xenophobia? At least learn to spell it, you can't even do this and you clearly don't understand what it means, and it has been used above to cover up a complete lack of any solid argument
Your choice 1/2 is demonstrative of your naive and simplistic views
choice 1 is.not as you say while choice 2 does not exist because Usmanov has never stated what he would practically do if in charge, and the man cannot be trusted one inch
Your hypocrisy astounds, my original piece makes all this clear but you teeny little pidgeon brain is clearly set on its path and unwilling to listen to reason
Instead you naively and stupidly believe the words of a rich man whose actions have done nothing to deserve your trust
oh dear, oh dear, oh dear
Please do carry on your self humiliation
Peter Hill wood works for one Usmanov's biggest steel competitors back in Russia. Kroneke had to borrow the money he used to buy his shares from Deutch bank and therefore needs us to turn a profit so he can pay back his loan. Ivan just does as he is told. So we have an owner who doesn't like fotball and never invests or gives a damn. A chairman who is looking out for himself and his mates and a CEo with no spine. Not a good combination. So each year we only make profit because we sell our star players while our commercial revenues are well below our competitors and we show no amabition which would allow us to bring in btter players. To be honest this is about as un sustanable as I could ever think of. Before long with this board the euro league will be "as good as a trophy". Its time for Kroneke and his little minons to get out, ted and white holdings will invest in the squad in a sustanable manner by doing rights issues and take us forward. The only reason the current board doesn't want a rights issue is because Stan can't afford anymore shares as explained above he can barely afford the ones he has. So what do we do? Allow these men to charge the highest prices in the land sell off our best players while lining there own pockets or do we want an owner who actually comes to games and invests in the squad so our commercial revenue is good and we win some trophies and show ambition? I know which one I want as an AFC fan so if you agree with actually moving forward then pls sign the petition below as there is not much time
http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savearsenalfc
the last comment is even more amusing than mikey!
I am sorry but the fact that your petition has only a few hundred signatures after many months says it all, very few Gooners agree with your foolish views.
I believe usmanov is a good guy Soka Majik
i'd rather have a listening 'owner' than a Abrahamovic style owner........it's as simple as that.
The passion that Arsenal fans have worldwide for the club is different than that of other clubs.......it's so obvious.
The simple reason for this is the way the club gives opportunity for it's fans to, one way or another vent its spleen and for that noise to shape, however slightly it's management thinking.........
If we lose that, ten years running, I'm not sure if I'll still be a fan at all........maybe I'll just keep my interest in the game and follow the general narrative.....but being a fan?? Naahhhhhh!!
My point: at least Kroenke has listened and is now buying. The club is healthy and growing strong again and the morale is high....what else do we ask for?
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