First let me say that the attendees were (at least those who spoke) level headed and articulate – but there was plenty of disagreement all the same. The AST is an effective vehicle for access to the club and we are very lucky that we have a CEO in Ivan Gazidis who gives his time to attend open forums as well as having regular private meetings to discuss particular issues (one is taking place this Friday).

I doubt many other CEO’s of top clubs would be so obliging. For this I have to applaud IG. He does not have an easy job having to juggle the conflicting factions of the business – an absentee owner who will not invest, an entrenched Board in dire need of new blood and a manager who is both brilliant and intransigent.

As far as the meeting itself is concerned, there wasn’t a single point made by the presenters or those who spoke that hasn’t been made many times on here over the last few years.

A lot of discussion early on was over the results of their annual survey. I know some supporters suspect that the AST adopt an anti-Wenger stance but this was dispelled by the response to the question asking whether AW should remain as manager which showed 77% in support of Arsène Wenger.

Amongst the many topics discussed, there were two main points that received general agreement at the meeting but that some on here will probably take issue with, and I would like these to form the basis for today’s discussion.

1. It is ridiculous that the Board refuse to meet with Red and White Holdings.  Apparently neither Usmanov or his partner Farhad Bashiri have ever been invited into the Boardroom to discuss there intentions as major shareholders. They have never been invited into the Directors box to watch a game (he is currrently purchasing his third private box) or entertained in any way by the Board.  They own nearly 1/3 of the club and yet are completely ostracised and this simply would not happen in any other sphere of business. Some kind of dialogue should take place to see if R&W Holdings can contribute to the success of the club whilst still maintaining a self-sustaining business model.

2. The ownership together with the Board are hiding behind FFP simply because they can, and because self-sustainability has been our business model since since moving to the new stadium.

The meeting was attended by accountants, solicitors and people who understand contract law and the belief is that we could be more aggressive in our approach and still comply with FFP.

It was said that the true impact of FFP (if any), extra income from TV rights and the renegotiation of big sponsorship deals are all about 2 years away and the club basically chooses to take the risk of falling out of the top four rather than raise funds to invest in the squad.

The club runs at about a £15m loss annually and this deficit is made up by the profit from the sale of players. There is also a buffer of £30-40m from the sale of players in recent years that is held back in case the club fail to qualify for the CL one season. The feeling was that this money could be invested in the team as the club are likely to be about £70m better off come the 2014/15 season.

FFP is a UEFA policy of some 72 pages and much is left to interpretation and could be easy prey to top lawyers but it does seem already to be affecting the behaviour of clubs although oddly it is the smaller clubs that are likely to be affected the most. Man City were very astute in doing big player deals before the start of the system and continue to exploit it intelligently. Arsenal in contrast appear to be living in the hope that it actually achieves its goals – the general view at the meeting was sceptical that this would actually be the case.

…………………………discuss

Written by Rasp

Kickoff – 13:30 GMT (19:00 IST), 26th February 2012

Another Sunday comes our way, and after a week of much soul-searching for everyone related to the club, there is nothing bigger and better than beating your cross-town rivals in a derby game.

Yes, Milan made us look like schoolboys from a slum in Los Angeles. Not that there’s any connection there. And, then Sunderland heaped more misery on Wenger’s team, and with it ensued a whole lot of media negativity, about Wenger having to leave, Arsenal players having to leave, board having to leave, Arsenal responsible for global warming etc.

And, like after any other defeat, emerging from the shadows was Johan Djourou, the customary clumsy defender Arsenal have in their ranks after the likes of Ian Ure, Gus Caesar, Igor Stepanovs and Pascal Cygan, with comments like ‘You are going to see the best of me as I am playing in my favoured centre-back position’ and ‘Arsenal will be back stronger and better’. Yes, we know what the routine is like, because it has been quite a long time since this very pattern has been followed with utmost sincerity.

But, amidst all the doom and gloom, compounded with the fact that our fiercest neighbours are 10 points ahead of us, which seems an event of the long bygone past; there is a derby game, which Arsenal must win. There are no doubts about that, are there?

The Sunderland loss saw the Arsenal Supporters Trust raise many questions to the board, about the functioning of the club. Of course, the financial analysis by AST reveals that the Gunners are a healthy business, and that they are financially very sound. But, to the common Arsenal fan, who seem to be least bothered about it, will only want to see the results on the pitch, and hoping for a piece of silverware to go with it. The meeting between AST and the board, was fruitful by the fact that the club has decided not to hike prices for season-tickets. However, club level tickets will be increased by 2%. Ivan Gazidis, said

We understand the pressure fans are under in the current economic climate and hope this will go some way to helping them.Our season-ticket holders are the heart of our Club and we are recognising their loyalty by holding their ticket prices for next season.This is the fourth year out of six that we have held season-ticket prices flat against continuing pressure to keep pace with rising operational and player costs.

This seems to be a fair decision, with the possibilty of Europa League football being played at the Emirates next season.

Also, another fact revealed by the AST was that Arsenal have the fourth highest wage bill in the league. This is largely down to the fact that mediocre performers like Chamakh, Djourou, Squillaci and Almunia, who rarely even get to play, pocket £50,000-£60,000 every week. Seems ridiculous amounts of money. Heck, I run more than them and I get paid a penury compared to that, and I am at a job which requires me to sit, yet I run more than them. It is time the club gets rid of such deadwood.

Amidst all the turmoil, if rumors are to be believed, Stan Kroenke will be in attendance for the North London  derby. After being accused of being an owner, who doesn’t even bother watching a game, it seems a nice decision by him. Whether it will inspire the team to a win, is completely a different matter.

While we are on the matter of under performing players, Theo Walcott is one. He has been found wanting in most games, and seems out of ideas. However, Ian Wright came to the winger’s defence recently.

There is talk about whether Gunners skipper Robin van Persie, 28, will sign a new contract which is unsettling.And it is also really disappointing to hear people have a pop at Theo Walcott, 22.He is a good, young England player with a big future.

I am not sure where this comes from really, considering that Walcott has demanded £85,000 in wages. Bollocks, I say. On the lighter side, I found this hilarious illustration on one of the communities in Facebook.

Meanwhile, its been a week since Thierry Henry moved back to New York after a mixed loan spell. Coming on as a sub against Leeds to prod home the winner, and then unable to inspire the team to a result at Swansea, then supposedly making an invigorating team talk in the 3-2 reversal against Villa, a late goal in the Blackburn thumping, and a priceless late winner at Sunderland, he finished it off with an unyielding 45 minutes at the San Siro. Statistically speaking, Henry played 191 minutes, scored 3 goals, and had he played all season that would mean 54 goals all season. Before leaving for the States, Henry had a message for everyone supporting the club.

If you are an Arsenal fan then you are an Arsenal fan, that’s the way it is. Once a Gunner you are always a Gunner, you can’t change.I can’t talk for people whose families have supported Arsenal forever. But I am sure if you talk to their parents, and their parents too, they will tell you to enjoy this generation because they had some bad moments.I am sure the fans will understand that they have to stay with the team. We all need to be together because it’s the same when the team is winning and also when you lose.Even the generation before that won the Double in 1998 or 1971, they had some very bad moments,So that is what I would like to say to the fans: do not forget that.It was not always nice and pretty, you have to remember that we had some times where we just wanted to go home at the end of the game. The difference is how this team can react and I think this team can do that.We realise it is going to be a hell of a task but who knows? The Sunderland game is just around the corner so we have to go there and win.

But, of course, the Sunderland game was lost. Sigh! Moving on, Gervinho did at times look lively in the cup game against Sunderland. He is just back after a draining experience at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. Gervinho, unfortunately missed a penalty in the shootout in the final against eventual champions Zambia. However, Arsene Wenger says Gervinho will come over it

He was very down when I spoke with him on Monday,We don’t know [what impact the Africa Cup of Nations will have]. I see Yaya Toure played on Thursday night for Manchester City and sometimes the best thing to get things out of your system is to play a game and have a performance.When you are young it is important to focus on the next game and show you are a good player.

Moving on, Arsenal are one of only 16 clubs in England, to have responded positively to the Football vs Homophobia campaign. The other 15 teams are Aston Villa, Fulham, Liverpool, Newcastle Utd, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Derby County, Ipswich Town, Millwall, Huddersfield Town, MK Dons, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City, Port Vale and Hyde FC.

Just like Johan Djourou, this time the PR initiative was handed to Bacary Sagna, who had the task of telling the fans that the team will have to fight hard.

We have to keep our heads up, work hard and think about the Premier League because we have a derby next weekend against Tottenham.We need to do it for us and for the fans as well. We have to react. We can’t play like this against Tottenham otherwise we will lose.We have one week to get ready for the game, to question ourselves, to work and to talk to each other. We are professional and we have to fight until the end. Personally I want to do it and everyone else wants to do it as well.We just want to thank them one more time even if we didn’t get the result. It is not easy for us and for them as well. We are just thankful for the support that they give us and we’ll try to win next weekend.We have to look forwards. We are fourth in the Premier League and we can’t let it go like this.

Sagna has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent players over the last few seasons. It is a joy to watch him come marauding from the back. He will surely have some scores to settle, after he was injured at Shit Fart Lane, last time round, and kept him out for 3 weeks.

Another player, who has been doing well, recently is Riyo Miyaichi. The Japanese youngster, transferred from Feyenoord over the summer, was shipped to Bolton on loan during the January transfer window. And, he has come good for them with a goal against Millwall in the FA Cup. It seemed a bit Henry-ish, the finish and he was quick to thank the mercurial Frenchman after his goal-scoring exploits.

I like the style in which you attack from the left to get into the box, like Thierry Henry does,When I was in Arsenal, I saw it many times as Henry scores the same way during training. Van Persie also did it plenty of times at opposite side, from the right flank with a left foot shot.They showed a very good example for me and that helped me score.At Arsenal the atmosphere is incredibly tense, but here (at Bolton) things are much more friendly.There were certainly difficult times. But it wasn’t a waste to practice with superstars (like those at Arsenal) every day. In fact I think that sort of experience was irreplaceable.

Couple of years back, Jack Wilshere was loaned out to Bolton, where he put in some commanding performances, and returned to enjoy a good first season with Arsenal. Hoping, Miyaichi returns with the same outcome.

Staying with youngsters, young midfielder Oghuzan Ozyakup has chosen to play for Turkey, despite captaining Holland to the final of the U-17 European Championship Final in 2009. He chose the land of his parents over the country where he was born.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s big German defender Per Mertesacker has been ruled out for the season, after he suffered an injury on Sunderland’s tractor pitch. However, he revealed recently he would be fit for the European Championships in the summer.

My participation in Euro 2012 is not in danger.Dr Stöckle in Tübingen did the operation on Tuesday evening, attached a piece of bone back to the ankle and patched up the deltoid ligament on the inside of the ankle.All went well and I’m in Donaustauf, Bavaria, for the physical rehabilitation.

Speaking of injuries, one man who will be returning from one is right-back Carl Jenkinson. After being thrust to the first-team, in no time, the youngster suffered an unlucky injury, which kept him out for quite some time. He returned in the reserve game against Norwich reserves. Also, in the side, which won 5-0 were Russian, Israeli and South Korean captains, i.e Arshavin, Benayoun and Park along with Morocco international Marrouane Chamakh. Despite all the international stars on show, it was infact Spanish defender Ignasi Miquel who donned the captain’s armband. Arshavin scored 2 goals, which will hopefully instil some confidence, while Park and Benayoun grabbed one each. It seemed like Wenger gave them a run out, not only because there could have been some discontent at the lack of first team chances, but also to keep all his options open, going into an important run-in.

Arshavin has been the subject of much transfer news recently and could be the subject of a bidding war between Russian clubs Anzhi Makhachkala and his previous club Zenit St. Petersburg. Anzhi recently appointed former Russia coach Guus Hiddink as their manager, and will be looking to sign the Russian midfielder before the Russian transfer window closes. Arsene Wenger still says he is one the midfield options and an important player for the club and wouldn’t want him to leave as of yet.

Staying with rumours, Walcott could be swapped with Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge. Seems a good move for me. Sturridge was an Arsenal fan as a kid, and has put in some good performances this season for the Blues. Would be an improvement over the over rated Walcott. Also, Lukas Podolski, who recently had a fallout with his club FC Koln, could be the subject of a move to Arsenal, after it was revealed recently that he and Mertesacker are good mates, and that Per is ‘doing his bit’, to get the German striker to North London. Another player linked is the all-action Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena.

Speaking of options, Arsenal will have one more option in the goalkeeping department after Henri Lansbury kept his first cleansheet. A defensive midfielder by trade, he kept goal for West Ham, becoming the second loaned goalkeeper from Arsenal this season! For some weird reason, Sam Allardyce decided not to go with a goalkeeper on his substitutes bench. Rob Green was sent off with 37 minutes to play in the Championship game against Blackpool. West Ham, who were 2-1 up at the time of the red card, eventually won 4-1.

Fabianski, here I come!

Another youngster, who seems to be at the top of his game is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has however told he is keeping his feet on the ground, literally. He emphasized, how his dad, Mark Chamberlain, an ex England international, is helping him stay firmly rooted.

With him being by my side I can never get too big for my boots. He always keeps me rooted and highlights the things I need to do better.When I do have a good game he’ll have a quiet word and say ‘well done’, but that’s as far as it goes because he points out that I’ve now got to keep doing it.As a winger, when you have a good game and take people on then people expect the same every week. I’ve got to do what I can to apply that consistency, and that’s what he tells me.It’s the same with my mum – she was always encouraging me to do my schoolwork and focus on other things in life. I think I’ve got a well-grounded family network and that definitely helps me.

In other news, probably fuelled by the media, Ivan Gazidis has told Robin van Persie that he will have to see out his present contract at Arsenal, which runs out for one more year. No one’s sure if that really happened or no. van Persie is in a situation similiar to that of Nasri’s. A year left on the contract, would the club be cashing on him now. Mark van Bommel, meanwhile says van Persie would be perfect for Milan. Seriously, how many strikers can a team have? They already have Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Pato, Cassano and El-Shaarawy. Are Milan the new Barcelona? We might come to know very soon.

Samir Nasri, or le cunt recently in an interview with the media had some words for Arsenal.

Sometimes it’s good to win ugly,Arsenal are proof of that. They play good football but, after seven years, they don’t win.I don’t want Arsenal to fall down,I have respect for the players and the manager.It’s always tough when you change,When you go to another team and have to be involved 100% and I wasn’t.Now I start to be settled and you will see a better Samir every week.I never asked City to pay £24m so it’s not me.

Well, you keep it to yourself, you f*cking benchwarmer! And, while we are at it, on-loan striker Niklas Bendtner has been banned from driving for 56 days after he crashed his Porsche, after driving it at 104 kmph.

Twitter wars, then, and one is brewing up between Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong and columnist Piers Morgan, who is an Arsenal fan. Here’s how its going!

@piersmorgan Stop chatting soo much rubbish you. UNO nothing about football u sit behind ur laptop nd just talk utter rubbish

@Frimpong26AFC Oh really, Mr Frimpon? Well truth hurts, sunshine. And I’m not afraid to tell it. (you can’t even get in THIS #Arsenal team)

@piersmorgan just don’t bring ur ugly face to the emirates cus we as Arsenal are sick and tired of ur abuse towards players and coach .we don’t need ur support u better of reading script leave the football to ppl that no about it. Wasteman. it still amazes me u call urself a fan? A fan don’t doesn’t do the things u do.the fans are the ppl that travels thousands of miles every weekend to support their team fans are the 60,000 ppl we have every sat fans don’t turn their back on their team. so yes piers u ain’t a fan u just some big old school bully that has too much time on twitter now u go bed wake up early 2 read

@Frimpong26AFC Big words, big guy. I suggest you focus on improving your game – rather than abusing loyal fans. Most of whom agree with me.

I actually like @Frimpong26AFC and his passion – but his youthful arrogance and complacency sums up #Arsenal ‘s malaise

@piersmorgan Loyal?? Well in football u have bad and good times the LOYAL fans are the one that remember the Good times And wait for More.

@Frimpong26AFC I’ve followed #Arsenal for 42yrs and own 4 season tickets. That entitles me to an opinion. Which is: we need a new manager.

@Frimpong26AFC you’re so loyal to #Arsenal you went to Wolves. So put a DEEENNCH in it and stop pandering to the blinkered minority.

@piersmorgan when was ur last game at the emirates? Instead of the Internet. What have u ever done for Arsenal in 42 years? Nothing

@piersmorgan ur entitled opinion of course u r but there are ways of doing it and tellin ur 2millfollowers rubbish we don’t need ain’t class

@Frimpong26AFC I’ve supported them. Nothing more, nothing less. And I want us to be competitive again, not perennial losers. #Arsenal

@Frimpong26AFC you started this by abusing a diehard fan who cares about his team. That demeans you Emmanuel, and I thought better of you.

@Frimpong26AFC I genuinely believe it’s time Arsene moved on, and we had fresh blood as manager. I am not alone. #Arsenal

Fancy a bet, Mr Loyalty @Frimpong26AFC ? I predict you’ll leave #Arsenal for more money somewhere else, before I stop being a fan.

Fancy a bet, Mr Loyalty @Frimpong26AFC ? I predict you’ll leave #Arsenal for more money somewhere else, before I stop being a fan.

I couldn’t give a damn what @Frimpong26AFC has to say. Much more interested in @Persie_Official staying than some rent-a-gob fringe player.

I quite fancy becoming manager myself. First two actions: 1) Pay @Persie_Official whatever he wants to stay 2) Sell @Frimpong26AFC to Spurs.

@Frimpong26AFC If only you were half as good on the pitch as you are with the cheap insults to #Arsenal fans, Frimpong. Pipe down, son.

I hope people read way fat Morgan is saying wen I start being rude don’t tweet me saying Frimpong is disrespectful and rude.KMT

@Frimpong26AFC You were shockingly rude the other night. To a fan that pays your wages. I suggest you learn some humility. And how to spell.

Right, off to the gym. Going to pretend my trainer is @Frimpong26AFC and give him a good hammering with the gloves. #Arsenal

@piersmorgan Well done y don’t we meet and do it properly instead of pretending

Seriously, I wonder what would happen if they really get into a brawl. Would be enthralling to watch

Ahead of the North London derby, both clubs have issue a statement.

Fans should be aware that breaches of ground regulations will not be tolerated,A north London derby is always a special occasion and we hope this game will be remembered for both the action on the pitch as well as the positive support for both teams off it.

This is of course after Emmanuel Adebayor was supposedly the target of Arsenal fans in the earlier North London derby in October. I do agree that chants regarding the Togo team bus attack are completely against order, but is calling a cunt, a cunt, an offence? I don’t think so.

Team news, then. Laurent Koscielny was substituted late in the first half at the San Siro. After the match, Wenger said he ‘should’ be fit for next week. And, he should be. Kieran Gibbs was hauled into the first team after four months on the sidelines, on the biggest stage of all, the Champions League, and suffered a strain. He missed the Sunderland game, but should be fit for Sunday’s clash. Wenger’s team selection will be quite intriguing to watch. While Oxlade-Chamberlain, will be one of the first names on the team sheet, Wenger will have to choose between Gervinho, who had a decent game against Sunderland, and Walcott, who, as ever, looks, out of sort. I assume he will play Chamberlain on the right and Gervinho on the left. Also, Arshavin and Benayoun put in good performances against Norwich reserves in midweek. Of course, the present Spu*s side is a completely different proposition from Norwich reserves, but a surprise element could take the opposition by surprise. Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin will both miss the game after picking up injuries against Sunderland. Szczesny returns after Flappyanski took his place in the FA Cup.

Spu*s selection looks pretty much straighforward. Despite missing Greedybayor, Rafael ‘Handball’ van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Ledley King for the FA Cup tie at Stevenage, it seems all of them are fit and in contention to face Arsenal. Redknapp’s team selection also will be equally interesting to watch. Whether he goes in with one striker or two strikers up front. Either ways it will prove problematic to the Gunners’ leaky defence. Should he choose 2 strikers upfront, it will be Saha and Adebayor, who clicked together instantly, in the 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle. That will mean a midfield of Bale, and the Croatians Modric and Modric . If he goes with only Adebayor up front, he will play wide Bale and Lennon wide and Modric/van der Vaart or Modric/Krajkcar in attacking midfield. As I said, either ways they will provide a bag full of problems. Spurs also have some decent options on the bench. The likes of Rose (Remember that cunt who scored a long range screamer couple years back), Lennon/van der Vaart/Kranjkcar (depending on team selection) and Defoe. Compare that to Walcott, Chamakh, (Yes, you got the point, I assume!)

As is clearly evident, believe it or not, Spurs do look a stronger side than the Gunners. Maybe, the Mayans were right, after all. The end of the world is preceded by strange occurings. Emmanuel Petit and Lee Dixon, in a recent interview, had this to tell.

This is the most important derby in Arsene Wenger’s 16 years as Arsenal manager,It comes at a very poignant time in the club’s history.If they don’t get Champions League football next season it’s going to be a nightmare,To get back to where they were, Arsenal need to sign big players in the summer and you can’t do that if you don’t play Champions League.Spurs are a better team than Arsenal,

There has definitely been a gradual shift of power over the last few seasons.There’s no bigger game than the north London derby at this stage of the season with so much at stake. So roll your sleeves up and get stuck in.

Spurs were branded a team without ambition for almost a decade,But in the last two years they have signed so many good players and big characters that this team seems far more competitive than Arsenal.

All of a sudden the politics changed and they started to spend a lot of money. Big wages, bringing in many international players with big experience, big characters – mixing the likes of Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor with very good players already in the team like Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe.Now the quality is there and they have the mentality too. It will be very interesting to see how Arsenal react to this, especially at home. It’s a massive test after what’s happened during the last week.

Going into a north London derby, as fans you’ll read lots of stuff. As players you put that all out of the way, you forget it, because it is ultimately about what happens on the day.The thing to pay more attention to is recent results and Arsenal’s form is poor.That in itself is demoralising. But when I was at the club, if we ever had a bad series of results the next game you want to be a big one because it gets your mind focused on what’s coming rather than feeling sorry for yourself.

Meanwhile, Alex Fynn, who authored the book ‘The Great Divide’ in 2000, which explained the Arsenal’s dominance over Tottenham, said,

Certainly there is no great divide now,If anything, it may be role reversal.Wenger needed a challenge from his backroom staff and the board,This is the most significant problem he has failed to deal with.The other major clubs have arguably had better backroom staff and refreshed them on several occasions. Just look at Manchester United.Wenger has never had this and, as other clubs have moved on, Arsenal have stood still and maybe even gone backwards.Why has he not surrounded himself with men of quality? What on earth is [retired former Arsenal captain] Patrick Vieira doing at Manchester City?

I know this is my longest preview till date, but the clash is such it deserves nothing less. Meanwhile, while the world seems to coming to an end very soon, all I can hope is I have something to cheer come Sunday. 3 points and nothing less is what I expect.

Jai Arsenal

1) How much money has the club spent over the last year? (May 31 2010 to May 31 2011)

The total expenditure mounted up to £225m. They include:

£125m – Player Wages

£20m – New Players/Contract Renewals

£55m – Other Costs

2) How much did player sales bring in to the club?

£29m - Fabregas (to Barcelona)

£7m – Clichy (to Manchester City)

£4m – Eboue (to Galatasaray)

£25m – Nasri (to Manchester City)

£1m – Traore (to QPR)

That means, the club received a total of £66m million in initial payments on the players that were sold.

3) How much profit was made on the players sold?

Now, some of the players who were sold, were on contracts such that they would be free agents soon. Hence, their value would have been considerably reduced. Arsenal made a profit of £55m on player sales.

4) How much was spent on new players?

£11m - Gervinho (from Lille)

£12m – Oxlade-Chamberlain (from Southampton)

£1m – Jenkinson (from Charlton)

£1m – Campbell (from Saprissa)

£1m – Miyaichi (from Feyenoord)

£10m - Arteta (from Everton)

£9m – Mertesacker (from Werder Bremen)

£6m – Santos (from Fenerbahce)

£3m – Park (from Monaco)

Arsenal spent a total of £54m on new players.

5) What are the additional costs on player dealings?

Add to the above transfers, £6m in amortisation charges (which is basically accounting and contract charges), plus agent’s fees, plus the contract renewals of players like Vermaelen, the total additional costs mount up to £10m.

6) How much revenue did the club generate?

Revenues are subject to the performance of the club in the competitions such as the Champions League and the FA Cup, because the Premier League more or less, remains the same. According to the Deloitte Football Money League, the club had revenues of £224m.

7) How much improvement is that from previous years?

There was an improvement of £10m in revenue from the previous year, where revenues were recorded at £253m.

8) How is the revenue broken down?

The revenue of the club can be broken down as follows. (Note that the figures below are in the more stable Euro, and not Pounds)

Source : Deloitte

9) Which areas have the revenues changed in?

i) Matchday revenues fell to £93.9m from £100.1m. (Fall by 6%)

ii) Broadcast revenues rose to £86.5m from £75.8. (Increase by 14%)

iii) Commercial revenues reduced from £48.1m to £44.0m. (Fall by9%)

10) Despite the early exits in competitions, how have the revenues improved?

i) Ticket prices were increased by roughly 4%, hence generating £4m to the club.

ii) The Asia tour was a success, raising the club £3m.

iii) Secondary Sponsorship Deals, £5m. (Lucozade Sport, Thomson Sport)

11) Where have revenues taken a hit/ Where could the revenues take a hit?

The Premier League Merit Payment Scheme, means the clubs are paid depending on their league position, according to which their matches are broadcasted across the world. Now, while Arsenal had 22 matches live last time, the number has fallen to 17. This has cost the club £2-3m.

12) What is preventing the club from making bigger commercial revenues than other clubs?

Arsenal have signed a stadium sponsorship deal with Emirates, upto 2020/2021, which amounts to £90m. This partnership also includes kit sponsorship deal till 2013/2014. Moreover, the club signed a new and improved kit contract with Nike. These long term deals means a substantial decrease in commercial revenue on the short term.

13) How much is the net change to costs?

Considering the fact that the club spent £3m approx., to cover Stan Kroenke’s takeover, and that money will be regained from summer games and pre-season games, and that the player salaries of the players who left, is slightly in excess by the new players, and will gobble up the £10m revenue profit, there is no net change in costs.

14) How much cash is due to the club?

Arsenal is yet to receive a sum of £35m for Queensland Road and Hornsey Road. However, this will effect only from the next financial year.

15) How are the financials affected this season?

Now, revenues are calculated according to two time-periods. One is from December to May and the other from June to November. Now, as there are no matches during June to August, the revenue generated from June to November was less for the 2010/11 season. While £98m was received from the period June to November 2010, it rose to £127m during December 2010 to May 2011.

Now, since there have been more home games in the first half of the season, the club has generated £113m, which is £15m more from the previous season.

16) How much overall profit before tax has been generated?

A total of £45m overall profit has been generated.

17) Can the profit be used for strengthening the squad?

No. It is because of the timing of receipt of the money, and also for repaying the amount that was used to build the new stadium.

18) So, how much boost is there in the cash reserves?

£25m boost from property sales.

£14m Tax Refund

However, ticket money was received later and sponsorship received in advance fell by £25m.

Hence, the year end cash figure comes up to £160m.

19) Where does the £160m go?

i) £32m for future stadium repayments.

ii) £65m for estimated season ticket advances

iii) £13m for payable VAT

iv) £4m, cash trapped in Queensland Road Property Development

Which is a total of £114m.

20) So, how much do Arsenal have with themselves to spend?

After the above deductions, the club has £46m. Add to this net proceeds of summer transfers of £14m. Minus the agents fees, contract renewal fees, around £10m.

Hence, the club has £50m ‘to spend or to save on a rainy day’.

21) How high is the club’s wage bill?

The wage bill of everyone employed with Arsenal Football Club comes up to £130m. This is the 4th highest in the Premier League, behind the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.

22) How much will not qualifying for the Champions League affect the club?

Not qualifying for the Champions League will cost the club a sum of £45m.

23) How £45m?

i) Loss of £27m payed by UEFA as TV and Merit payments

ii) It will affect on keeping players, for eg Robin van Persie, who will be reluctant to sign a new contract if the club fails to qualify for the UCL.

iii) General seat sales will be affected. Lower prices will be put into force, and lower attendances for Europa League games.

iv) It will affect future sponsorship’s of the club. Shirt sponsorship and kit manufacturers currently yield £14m every year. Both these deals will be up for renewal in 2014.

24) Does the club have a safety net to cover the above losses?

Yes. The club has £50m cash surplus. Add to that pending payments of £35m.

25) Finally, what questions will be raised by the Arsenal Supporters Trust, to Stan Kroenke and the club in general?

i) Most Arsenal fans feel that funds were withheld for spending by the manager. Is it true? Is the club holding him back, as a back up incase Champions League qualification is not secured?

ii) £130m is the current wage bill, considerably higher than that of fierce rival Tottenham, who are now 10 points ahead in the Premier League. Hence, the wage bill is not justified by on-field performances. Moreover, there are too many players, who are not good enough for the first team on the payroll. Is the club doing enough to address this issue?

iii) In the face of reduced revenues, which will make the club yield losses, is the club looking at other sustainable financial options, to be compliant with the Financial Fair Play rules, which come into effect in 2014?

Moreover, AST will also discuss the following issues with the board, regarding the rise in ticket prices

iv) Overall, there is a freeze in headline rate of ticket prices in all Arsenal tickets

v) If the club qualifies for Europa League, the ticket prices should be reduced.

vi) Improvements in Ticket Exchange Facility, to reduce empty seats during games.

26) Who are the current shareholders in the club?

i) The largest shareholder is Stan Kroenke, who owns 66.76% of the club.

ii) Red and White Holdings, co-owned by Alisher Usmanov own 29.25% of the club.

iii) Minority shareholders, including former players and AST itself, own 4% of the club.

27) Rangers, who went into administration recently, sold Usmanov ‘historic shares’. What exactly does that mean?

Glasgow Rangers have owned a stake in Arsenal for over a century now. In 1910, when Arsenal was going through financial turmoil, Rangers had purchased 2 shares. When Arsenal became stable enough, further 14 shares were gifted to the Scottish club. What happened was, Craig Whyte, the owner of Glasgow Rangers, decided to sell these shares to Alisher Usmanov, who duly obliged, in the midst of the financial crisis at the club. Now, Usmanov’s stake has risen from 29.25% to 29.63%, hence closing in on the 30% mark.

More information and detailed analysis of Usmanov’s position can be found, well articulated in Angry of Islington.

28) Why, in general, Arsenal fans feel Usmanov is a better owner than Kroenke?

In what seems to be another USA-Russia cold war brewing, disgruntled Arsenal fans seem to be on the Russian side. This is because, the club looks like it will go 7 years without a trophy now, since the FA Cup win in 2005. They feel Kroenke, is here just for the money, and is using the money he generates here into his American sports sides, which are NFL team St. Louis Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, National Lacrosse League team Colorado Mammoth and MLS side Colorado Rapids. As you can see, he has a vast sporting empire in the USA, in a variety of sports. Fans feel that Usmanov has better knowledge of the game and will be willing to fund some big transfers to the club, much like the model followed by Chelsea and Manchester City.

Usmanov’s net worth is US$17.7 billion, compared to Kroenke’s US$3.2 billion.

SUMMARY

According to Deloitte,

Arsenal is committed to its mission of financial self sufficiency and has a strong and stable business model. Its investment in its stadium has provided the business with a solid foundation. In the longer term, if its strategy of pursuing international commercial development is successful, it could provide The Gunners with a financial strength matched by few clubs.

Everyone ok? *Hides*

So we all must have seen it… ‘Arsene Wenger to be given a war chest of £55 million’

I literally swore when I saw it…£55 million…..Let’s be frank, it’s a bloody lot of money, but in today’s game and especially for club of our stature it’s just shrapnel…

All the obvious questions are flying about in my head. Will Arsene be there in the summer? If he wasn’t, would you want Gazidis picking our next manager? I certainly wouldn’t!! – Is Arsene capable of doing all that business by himself and simply can it ALL be done?

First things first, the squad needs a complete face lift and we all know who the culprits are:

• Almunia
• Mannone
• Squillaci
• Gibbs (I write this with a heavy heart)
• Djourou (He won’t, but I would)
• Diaby
• Denilson
• Benayoun (we’ll just send him back so will be the easiest to offload)
• Arshavin
• Park
• Walcott
• Vela
• Bendtner
• RVP (Maybe?? Or maybe it is an inevitable consequence of our failure that he will make a swift exit, stage left)

Thirteen, possibly fourteen if you include RVP, players that will (we hope) be shunted out of London Colney come June. That’s what I assume the fan’s would want – do you agree? Being realistic, it could ony be five or six off that list, which then limits the amount of players able to come in. Arsene has already commented on the 25-man squad rule which for me is one of our main problems. Obviously Benayoun’s loan deal would be up, so that frees up a space. On the other hand certain players being classed as under 21 now over that bracket would be a major issue.

If…and a big IF…. we manage to offload some of the better players from that list, and I use the term ‘better’ loosely – not the word I would normally choose for most of the players on that list - firstly we need to free up before we add but more importantly we will need more than £55 million for our overhaul. How much value can you put on an underperforming Walcott? £12million? What about Arshavin? £9million? Vela? £6million at a push and Denilson at £3million? (I plucked these numbers from the top of my head) That’s another £30 million added on to our almighty ’War Chest’. Giving us an….Wait for it…… a wooping £85 MILLION people.

So what could we get for £85 million? Possible (Arsene-eque) player incomings could be (if you believe some of the press reports) Oliver Giroud, Andre Ayew, Marvin Martin and Yann M’Vila. This list seems the more likely to be honest, which would cost around £70million within the original budget. Peter Hill-Wood is rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of remaining ‘within budget.

In my opinion we NEED more than that!

My in’s would be Gotze (£30m), Siem De Jong (£10m), M’Vila (£25m) and Jan Vertonghen (£10m) – £75million all in. I could continue, we all could continue but I have to stop somewhere.

‘Apparently’ last summer we did try to offload some of the ‘culprits’ but due to the large wages the players demanded we where unable to shift the dead wood… So does that mean we are going to have to accept a lower offers? Put simply – yes. This team is simply dire…Arsene is going to have to take a long hard look at himself and admit defeat on his ‘Philosophy’. For Now.

In Arsene Wenger’s time as manager he has roughly spent around £7Million NET. *Pause – Inhale, shake head…Continue*…..perspective people, perspective!!

If we are talking about just spending (without sales) last summer was the most he has spent, around £50Million. So he has got it in him…. We where rumoured to making considerable bids for Mario Gotze and Yann M’Villa whether they where just enquiries or bids?? We will never know! (Unless he writes a book, Which would be awesome).

In 05/06 he spent – £25million and in 08/09 he spent – £32million. Which are the other largest amounts he has spent in a transfer window. But nowadays that’s just childs-play. For his job and future at Arsenal he is going to have to smash all of his previous expenditures.

Arsene’s Expenditure

The Mystery Money – The Emirates has cost around £470 Million to build. Since the move from Highbury, even once the debt repayments are taken into account turnover has increased by at least £20million a year. Now add the money from player sales and more recently the sales of Fabregas and Nasri. That’s well over £100million. In my opinion the board must be holding back. After seeing the backlash from fan’s, the board and Arsene are going to have to `release some of our money for the future of Arsenal.

Cheers for reading

Try to be happy

Ben

Please follow the Suburban Gooner’s team @BenLeeder , @ChrisHoward1982 and @Oaf12

Editors note (Chris)

Yesterday saw the latest Arsenal Supporters Trust meeting which outlined in a little bit more detail what the AST, who are very close to the inner workings at Arsenal, believe has happened in terms of Arsenal’s finances. The AST takes a very close look and makes some pretty accurate ‘assumptions’ based on information fed to them by the club. Yesterday’s meeting was in the wake of the clubs interim financial figures they will publish in about a week’s time.

You can read their statement and assessment of the latest set of figures here – Arsenal Supporters Trust.

I know that what the AST is only the ‘assumptions’ from a fans perspective, but as I said above, they are usually quite accurate with their analysis and, if you read the statement, it makes for some slightly worrying reading. Stan Kronke has plenty to answer for at the moment, not least in what direction this club is going. Let’s not hope he doesn’t plan to just syphon money out of this profitable venture to cover other ventures closer to his US home.

More tomorrow.

I’m not really sure what I expected as I headed to the Emirates for the Arsenal AGM yesterday, but once things were over and I shuffled out of the stadium and into the drizzle I realised that what I should have expected is exactly what we got – a reinforcement of the clubs perennial message of self sustainability and determination to continue on it’s current course and precious little else.

Chief executive Ivan Gazidis began the meeting by discussing the change in ownership and Stan Kroenke’s dedication telling the crowd that the owner was not new to Arsenal and that during the three years he had been involved with the club the American had grown to understand it’s key values  and that his vast experience with sports clubs would help sustain security and stability.

Amongst the acknowledgements for the achievements of Laura Harvey and her treble winning Arsenal Ladies team, the success of the summer tour of Asia, the clubs community work, growth of Arsenal player and  global support, Gazidis paid tribute to the club’s ‘sound financial platform’ revealing that all bank loans had been paid off and any outstanding debt was related to the move from Highbury and building of the new stadium. Reassuring us that this debt was set at affordable fixed term rates he went on to speak about the new commercial partnerships with Betsson, Indesit, Carlsberg and Thomas Cook whilst revealing that the relationship with main sponsors Emirates and Nike were strong and that the club will continue to work closely in maintaining and improving its commercial deals.

Ultimately the CEO stuck to script and reiterated the importance of the on field achievements of the football team (being a force in the Premier and Champions Leagues), sticking to the core principals of the club and the role played by Arsene Wenger, saying we should be proud of our style of football and proud of our manager and the fact that he acts with responsibility and vision always putting the best interests of the club first.

He finished his speech by paying homage to the history of the club, that it had been built by extraordinary individuals who had vision, commitment and responsibility. Paying tribute to Ken Friar and Danny Fizsman and the part the two men have played in maintaining the clubs continued growth. Gazidis rounded off by saying that Arsenal Football Club was about more than football, that it is about unity, class and always moving forward and that all staff involved with Arsenal care passionately about the club and are obsessed with seeing its succeed.

It was now time for Stan to break his much reported silence. When PHW had stated in his awkward introduction that Mr Kroenke would be saying a few words there was a murmur that was somewhat akin to a mothers meeting learning a juicy bit of gossip.

The American began his address with an attempt at humour, and perhaps breaking the ice which has formed since he took control of the club, quipping that he was unsure why anyone was interested in hearing him talk.

I’m not sure it went down quite as well as he had intended it, perhaps matters had not been helped by the rumours that circulated whilst we all enjoyed ‘pre match’ tea & biscuits that the major shareholder had only arrived in the country earlier that morning. Personally I quite liked this attempt at humour but I think I may have been in the minority.

The address was kept relatively brief and again there was little said other than that which we would have expected to hear. Revealing that prior to become involved with Arsenal opportunities to invest in football clubs across Europe, including the Premier League, had been presented to him but that none of these opportunities had sparked his interest. It was not until he became involved with Arsenal, initially as a commercial undertaking he told us, that he had any interest in becoming involved with a football club and revealed the key elements of the club which saw his interest grow -

“The club has tremendous management at the top, a wonderful manager on the pitch who makes great decisions in regard to personnel, and a tremendous following with the supporters. With all those things in place, it was an easy decision to get more involved”

Kroenke went on to pay tribute to the late Danny Fizsman and the part he had played in the clubs growth and success in his time at the club before adding -

“We are glad to be here, we are happy with the direction of the club and we are here for the long term. We love London and you better get used to seeing us”

So there was no outlined personal vision for the club only the reassurance that he was happy with the structure in place and was committed to the club. That wasn’t at all what the crowd had wanted to hear, the right things to say perhaps but not the impassioned call to arms and watershed moment that many had been waiting for and whilst I share that view to a degree I once again find myself unsurprised and forced to accept that we were never going to get anything more than we were given.

It was the Q&A which followed that really sparked the ire of the crowd. Peter Hill-Wood was to answer the pre submitted and approved questions and to say he did so with muted enthusiasm would be a massive over statement. In truth it was little more than a waste of time, no question was answered with anything more than a blunt and standard response.

Essentially Hill-Wood stated that the focus on self sustainability would continue, there would be no injection of equity capital, the fruits of the new commercial deals would come to fruition in next years financial results and the board will continue to deliberate it’s possible further  support of the Fanshare scheme…

At one point there came a call for PHW to stand down and for David Dein to return as Chairman, this was instantly batted away by Hill-wood who said “I have no intention of standing down, I regard it as an honour and a privilege to be chairman of this club. I am also a fan and I want this club to be successful“. It was at this point that Stan Kroenke stepped in to give Hill-Wood his backing telling the heckling crowd

“We’re all fans. Peter has our support. We’re with you, we’re fans too”

I must admit whilst I do agree that Hill-Wood should no longer be in the position, he is an old school chairman in every sense of the term, I did respect the fact that Stan stepped in. It would have been easy for him to remain silent at this point and let his chairman take the flack. What I don’t agree with is the continued calls for the return of David Dein, I’m not going to dismiss the work he did whilst at the club but we can’t live in the past, after all isn’t that what PHW is being accused of?

By this point things had become uncomfortable and the situation wasn’t helped by Hill-Wood claiming that the vote to see him continue as chairman was unanimous, when in fact it wasn’t, and then completely forgetting to call for the vote for Kroenke’s continued presence on the board and when the chairman refused to give a satisfactory answer to a question asking why Red & White Holdings (Usmanov) were not being invited on to the board there were cries of “Answer the question”

The only positive point to come from Hill-Wood’s time on the mic was the unveiling of a new bust of Ken Friar. Commissioned to commemorate the directors sixty years of involvement at the club the bust is to be placed in the stadium entrance alongside those of Wenger and Herbert Chapman.

It took a rousing speech from Arsene Wenger to bring an air of unity to proceedings. The manager spoke with passion and verve and not from a script. Beginning with a suggestion that the media don’t always give a true report of what he has said the boss spoke of his gratitude for the confidence that had been shown in him during his fifteen years at “This special club“.

He defended the values of the club and asked that despite the difficult start to the season we gave our full support to the team because they are “A group ready to fight for this club“. Admitting that he couldn’t predict where the club would finish this season he said that he hoped that we would be able to look back on the season with pride and that we can still qualify for the Champions League.

Speaking of last season and the disappointing finish he confessed to feeling at points that he was completely at fault because he had convinced his players that they could win all four trophies, but ultimately that progression in every competition meant that in November, December & January of last season the side had to play a total of 27 games. Ultimately he admitted, that level of commitment in conjunction with a difficult spate of injuries meant that by the time March and April came around there was not quite enough left in the tank to take the team over the line but we should look back now and see that the overall performance across the season was much better than the disappointing finish suggested.

The Frenchman spoke of the disappointment of loosing “More than two” world class players during the summer but asked that we celebrate the emergence of another world class star, Jack Wilshere, and that while he was always being put under pressure to sign a goalkeeper we have found a soloution to that problem buy showing faith in the ‘keepers we had and can now appreciate that stance thanks to Wojceich Szczesny.

Wenger urged the fans to be united and suggested that whilst he understood the fear and discontent he can see in the clubs support we must remember that only Manchester United and Real Madrid have been as consistent as Arsenal during the last fifteen years.

The boss ended his passionate address by suggesting that the number of sceptics surrounding the club was too high but the support shown by the fans during the last two games shows that there is trust in this team and that if that continues we have every chance to succeed.

I’m not quite sure what the mood would have been had Arsene not given such a speech, the reception he was given before he spoke was impressive but nothing like the ovation he received once he had finished.

It seems that a little of his spark and belief has returned of late, as well as his passion. Maybe they never went away in the first place? But the change in his demeanour is certainly noticeable, perhaps the disappointing end to last season took more out of him than we have previously appreciated.

We know, as well as Wenger does and yesterday admitted, that he doesn’t get it right all the time but if we want to see our team return to winning trophies then his passion and leadership is integral to our resurrection in that sense.

I’ll freely admit that I, like many others, may have forgotten that of late and while one rousing speech doesn’t fix everything it certainly shows how much the Frenchman still cares and that he still has the desire to compete and most importantly to win.

With concerns still lingering about Kroenke’s long term plans and involvement and the lack of support for the chairman ever growing it is heartening to know that we have a man who cares about Arsenal Football Club, perhaps as much as we do, in charge of our team and continuing to push it forward…

I must say a massive thank you to the Arsenal Supporters Trust for making it possible for me to attend the AGM  and for the huge part they play in making sure that the fans of Arsenal Football Club are represented and given a voice within the club. If you still haven’t joined them you should do so now…

Thanks for reading,

Paul.

Morning all,

And thank goodness, because the football world has been a bleak passionless cesspit with all the Joie de vivre of a night spent discussing the Arsenal defensive frailty with Alan Hansen whilst Gordon Brown massages your feet and the music of Michael Buble plays in the background.

Players will begin to return to London Colney over the next twenty-four hours and as always we’ll all be praying that they do so in full health - no limbs hanging off, strained groins, river blindness, guinea worm disease or monkey pox – I’m specifically thinking of young Aaron Ramsey with that last one, he has after all been in the company of Gareth Bale…

So far the news appears to be good, insomuch as I’ve heard nothing bad, but as we all know that means very little and whilst Robin Van Persie may have completed the full ninety in Holland’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sweden last night, and left the pitch unscathed, the Dutchman could quite easily have choked on T-Bone Steak Royster’s at the airport last night causing Dirk Kuyt to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre and consequently break a couple of our skippers ribs.

Andrey Arshavin was on duty for Russia captaining the side in their fake game against made up nation Andorra which saw the home side notch up a six goal to nil score line. To be honest, I could play a pretend footballing nation on my own and win by more goals than that, in fact I did… Last night I single handily thrashed Scothmististan 18-0 and let me tell you, I played a blinder.

I’ve heard a fair bit about Ju Young Park’s hot streak during South Korea’s games against Poland & United Arab Emirates. Three goals in two games is pretty good going I agree but what no one has mentioned is the fact that the two scored in last Fridays 2-2 draw with Poland beat our own Lukasz Fabianski. I’ve probably broken some kind of official Arsenal secrets act now haven’t I?

Per Mertesacker completed 180 minutes for Germany in their duel 3-1 wins over Turkey & Belgium respectively.

Aaron Ramsey captained Wales to two wins on the bounce, surely the first time that has happened since the principality played back to back games against Andorra in a dream back in the mid 1930′s. One of the wins was a 2-0 victory over Switzerland – you look at the nations involved and you look at the score and you assume that Johan Djourou played for the Swiss but in actual fact he didn’t, the centre half is keeping himself fit so he can pick up an injury against Sunderland on Sunday.

Laurent Koscielny is surely hated by Laurent Blanc – having chosen to play for Les Blues ahead of Poland the centre back has been forced to hang out with Samir Nasri for the best part of two weeks by the French manager and not even given a run out on the pitch.

Others have been trotting the globe and playing games that I frankly don’t care about (or not in some cases) and as long as they return intact and help us win on Sunday then I’m happy to put this whole miserable period behind us and to mention it no more – that’s what we all want isn’t it?

I hope tomorrow we might have something Arsenal related to discuss that you & I care about…

Before I go let me remind you that the club have picked the home game against Everton on December the 10th to celebrate our 125th birthday and as such a number of fans groups including the Arsenal Supporters Trust and REDaction are asking fans to submit ideas for ways we can show our appreciation and thanks to this wonderful, beautiful, historic club, so be sure to get involved with that…

Until tomorrow dear readers…

Thanks for reading.

Paul.

Last night Dave and I attended the Arsenal Supporters trust meeting which had an emphasis on finance, highlighted by guest speaker Andy Green, a United supporting Swiss Ramble-a-like, and his Power Point graphs, facts, stats & figures as well as an overview of the clubs recent financial results from the AST’s Nigel Phillips.

Mulling it all over while I couldn’t get to sleep last night due to the ridiculous amount of coke I drank in the pub before & after the meeting in an attempt to avoid a hangover this morning (To be fair it worked, I don’t have a hangover. I just wished I had managed to get some sleep) some key points stood out for me…

• During the Kroenke takeover Arsenal Football Club employed Rothschild’s and Slaughter & May as ‘advisors‘ at a cost of £3M. There was no tender from any other financial institutions or law firms which may have provided cheaper advice, the club went straight to the banking and legal giants and in order to be told to either take or leave the American’s offer they shelled out almost the exact amount raised by the season ticket price increase.
• Red & White Holdings believe that Kroenke borrowed every penny he spent on the takeover and could leverage that against the club at any time. Incidentally, were Stan to sell at the current price of £14k a share he would make a profit of £80m.
• Alisher Usmanov’s RWH are still attempting to snap up shares and are contacting small shareholders and offering £14k per share, all while the AST Fanshare Scheme edges closer to hitting a brick wall. Arsenal/Kroenke are unwilling to release any shares to the trust and whilst RWH have intimated in the past that they may be willing to do so that is not going to happen if it weakens their own hand. Unless further shares are made available from somewhere fanshare is likely to hit the buffers and take an enforced break within the next few months.
• Our wage bill is around the £125m mark whilst United’s is closer to £145m, although when you take away bonuses paid by the Manchester club and costs related to MUTV the gap is in reality about £10m.
• Ironically when we were the side winning trophies a few (ahem) years ago we were no where near as close to Fergie’s side in terms of wage expenditure.
• The £10m deal United have recently signed with DHL is not solely for sponsorship of the clubs training kit, the delivery firm will have their brands name bandied about all over Old Trafford. Under the restrictions of our shirt/kit sponsorship with Emirates we would be unable to sign a similar deal, it seems that with United there was a loop hole in the clubs main sponsorship deal with AON which allowed DHL to swoop in.
• Manchester United have twenty-one separate commercial deals, ten of which are with communications companies in Asia. Arsenal believe they are starting to make significant strides and have recently announced new deals with Betsson, Carlsberg, Indesit & Citroen.
• Our current lack of success on the field has and will continue to have a massive impact on our ability to undertake similar levels of sponsorship. Although as a corporate vehicle our geographical location and London postcode puts us ahead of United and City but it’s our global identity which lets us down.
• This summers Asia tour was an attempt to boost that ‘global brand’ and whilst we only earnt £2m from our far eastern jaunt it opens the door to further investment and income and increases worldwide commerciability so it’s something we better get used to seeing.
• The Emirates is making us money – our domestic match day revenue far outstrips that of United, City & Chelsea. So whilst there is still plenty of money related to the initial costs of the stadium move/build it is proving to function as it should – but again, this could all soon change if our on the field performances continue to suffer. Less success equals less bums on seats and money paid.

Right now in the race for riches we are managing to keep our heads above water but other clubs are catching up or in some cases running into an enviable lead by some distance. If we can bring in the kind of money that United do via commercial sponsorship our earning potential and potential to compete with the likes of City and their Manchester rivals would be on a par with any other club in the world. In order for that to become a reality we need to compete on the pitch, no body is going to pay the big bucks to a club that isn’t doing the business season after season. We may have the financial safety net to survive a season out of European competition but the margin for error is so small we can ill afford to sail anywhere near it’s reality.

While we may be the ultimate poster boys for FFP we need it to come into full force sooner rather than later, it would give us a clear advantage over our rivals. But the likelihood of it being enforced to such stringent levels in the short term is on a par with Marouane Chamakh winning the golden boot this season.

So, for all the talk of mega millions, earning potential, commercial viability and financial fair play one thing is ultimately as important now as it has ever been and should ever be – the football teams performance on the pitch is the key to everything…

Lets hope we can start putting that right against Sunderland at the weekend.

If you haven’t yet joined the AST then do so now by clicking HERE - it’ll cost you as little as £2 a month to become a part of this vital vehicle. No other supporters group shares the kind of relationship with their club as the AST do with The Arsenal and that is something we should all be taking advantage of.

Thanks for reading.

Paul

My tiredness is due to attending last nights Arsenal Supporters Trust meeting (Well actually it’s due to going to the pub after the meeting and getting home six hours before I was due to get up)

It was the first time that Dave & I had attended an AST gathering and I have to say that if you are a member it is well worth getting along, and if you’re not a member then join now. It really does give us supporters a voice and a line to the club and not only that but it also allows for a better understanding of certain club issues and dismiss some of the stories bandied about by the press, a few of those that I found significantly interesting last night were -

• Mickey Arteta did not take a pay cut to Join Arsenal – The Spaniard had three years left on his contract at Everton and Arsenal have given him a four year deal worth £70k pw.
• As Arteta has no resale value he will cost the club £25m in total
• The club made a £15m profit during the transfer window which puts the Transfer Proceeds Account (TPA) at around £50m.
• Abou Diaby earns £60k per week which is significantly higher than the £48k Luka Modric earns down the road.
• Arsene Wenger is in total control of all footballing matters including player purchases, sales and salaries. This includes the spate of late signings made by the club as the transfer window closed. There was no pressure put on Wenger by any board member, executive or owner before or after the 8-1 mauling at Old Trafford, in fact up to that point Arsene was content with the signings he had made earlier in the summer but in the wake of that result and the injuries sustained by Jack & Tommy the manager decided to change tack.
• The fan share scheme has gained more than 2000 members in less than a year but as there is a shortfall of available shares the scheme may have to be paused. Indeed the best source of available shares are those of the dearly departed.
• After initially backing the fan share scheme Stan Kroenke has cooled his interest since taking control of the club, Alisher Usmanov has followed suit. The Russian has mooted that he would match any funds/shares committed to the scheme by Kroenke and indeed is doing just that at the moment, the joint level of investment by the clubs major shareholders currently stands at 0.
• Usmanov is a regular attendee of games and now has a ‘Super Box’ at the Emirates having knocked through and joined two boxes. The money for this came from his own pocket.
• The AST are in constant dialogue with the club and in particular Ivan Gazidas, further meetings are planned and the trust are pushing for Stanley to address the supporters and set out his ambition and direction with regards to the club

Fellow bloggers Le Grove & Ashburton Grove have also posted their thoughts on the meeting which I recommend reading, if you haven’t already. And also cast an eye over  this piece by Gooneroobs.

And so on to tonight’s Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund -

On paper this is arguably our toughest game of the group stage, Dortmund are the reining Bundesliga Champions and whilst they saw the departure of a key player this summer with Nurit Sahin moving to Real Madrid, the German side certainly have a squad capable of reducing the impact of that loss. In Mario Gotze they have a readymade replacement, who is himself much sought after and was subject to interest from Arsenal. But while Die Schwarzgelben are certainly strong in midfield where they have Sebastian Kehl, Shinji Kagawa & Sven Bender as well as Gotze, It’s at the back that I believe they are at their strongest and in particular the centre back pairing of Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels.

We’ll need to be at our attacking best against the two solid centre halves and Mickey Arteta, making his Champions League debut for the club, could hold the key to unlocking the German defence and creating openings for the likes of Van Persie.

That said the Borussians last line of defence is equally as talented as any of their outfield players. Whilst Roman Wieldenfella may not be a household name the young goalkeeper has certainly caught the eye of former Arsenal stopper Jens Lehmann who has called for his compatriot to be installed as the number one of the German national side.

In defence Per Mertesacker should be able to provide us with the inside track on our opponents having just switched leagues and the big defender should be right at home facing players he is familiar with.

Whilst we see Alex Song and Gervinho return to the 18 man squad we’ve lost Aaron Ramsey and Tommy Rosicky to injury. With the attacking threat the German side pose I think it likely that we may see the reappearance of Frimpsong tonight, the pair would allow an extra level of protection to the back four whilst similarly allowing our attacking players to get forward. However in order for that to work both Song & Frimmers will need to be disciplined enough to work in tandem and the Cameroonian in particular will have to curb his own attacking instincts.

My line up would be – Szczesny – Sagna – Koscielny – Mertesacker – Gibbs – Song – Frimpong – Arteta – Walcott – Van Persie – Gervinho.

I’ve been lucky enough to contribute on the official club websites ‘Talking Heads’ preview of the game along with Dan Roebuck & Martin Hayes and you can see that by clicking here.

As I’ve said in the preview I think we’re capable of nabbing three point but I would certainly be happy with one. It promises to be a great game, both sides like to play attacking football so we can expect it to be end to end stuff.

Thanks for reading & enjoy the game wherever you’re watching it.

Paul.

"I am score goal like Badger"

Well that’s it then, our season has finally started, again, and now it’s about to start in earnest with the games coming thick and fast. From tomorrow night when we face Borussia Dortmund in our opening Champions League group F clash we have six games in a twenty day period that ends with the first NLD of the season.

And when you look at the fixtures we have during that period you have to say it looks like the perfect time for the group to really gel and find it’s feet (Yes that’s what pre season is for but we can’t keep flogging that now dead horse).

Since the win over Swansea on Saturday, our first in the Premier League this season, it seems that there are still many prepared to find something to grumble about and criticise the team. Maybe those people have forgotten that the game came off the back of an international break, our squad, including the late signings, hadn’t trained together for the best part of two weeks until a couple of days before the game. It was our first fixture since Old Trafford, we had two players making their full debuts and another starting only his second Premier League game.

Those aren’t excuses because I don’t feel that excuses need to be made but they are valid points that need to be considered. Many Arsenal sides of recent years would never have ground out a 1-0 win in a game following the kind of devastation inflicted by United – surely that in itself should be taken as a positive? United & City had resounding wins on Saturday but they still received three points just as we did, I’m not going to loose sleep over goal difference at this stage of the season.

The positives garnered from the victory far out weigh any negatives in my opinion. Of course it would be fantastic to sit here this morning and wax lyrical about crushing a newly promoted side six or seven goals to nil but come on we all just wanted to see the team get back to winning ways didn’t we? Well we got that and it’s a foundation to build on.

In other news it seems that there has been some confusion over whether or not Theo Walcott is suspended for tomorrow nights game in Dortmund after the forward received bookings in each of the two qualifying games against Italian side Udinese.

Well there is a simple answer to that question – No. No he isn’t.

Had Theo or any other Arsenal player received a straight red in either of those games then they would be suspended but yellow cards are not carried over so Theo will not be sat up in the stands with Arsene Wenger.

We’ll be looking at the game in more detail tomorrow morning but it was interesting to note that Die Schwarzgelben sufferd a 1-2 home defeat at the hands of Hertha Berlin on Saturday. Hertha Berlin, like Swansea City in the Premier League, are a newly promoted side.

There are a few rumours doing the rounds that Aaron Ramsey picked up a knock against the side from his homeland on Saturday but as yet there is nothing official from the club to collaborate that. I guess we’ll have a much better idea when we discover who is on the plane to Germany later today. For updates on that keep an eye on our Twitter feed.

This evening Dave and I will be attending the Arsenal Supporters Trust meeting and no doubt we’ll both be Tweeting any information of interest and I will of course provide further details in tomorrows post so that’s something for you to look forward to right?

Thanks for reading.

Paul.

I don’t want to repeat the comments as they’ve been all over the internet. Just in case you missed them the link above provides the full statement.

Telling people what they want to hear – it is usually an art mastered by successful politicians but any entity, be it an individual or an organization, that is connected with the masses has to, at some point or the other, rely on this skill to steady the ship or get the weight of popular support.

In the past I have mentioned that the Arsenal manager and players often give very honest and intelligent interviews that come back to bite them in the, well, arse. While the discerning readers/listeners appreciate their comments, they get twisted by the media and the mass opinion is often manipulated to the detriment of the club and the squad.

The point is not that people are stupid. But I strongly believe that collective or popular opinion is often ill-informed and illogical. It works on the principle that if a lie is repeated often enough it becomes the truth. Those who scan the internet with a perceptive eye will have noticed how many people voice an opinion just because they think everyone else is saying it. An individual’s power to rationally judge right or wrong is indirectly proportional to the number of times he or she reads a particular twist on a story.

Let’s consider the Usmanov statement. To me it appears to be a blatant PR exercise where his team have captured the pulse of the disgruntled fans and succinctly captured the sentiment expressed by many. Such a simple exercise has done a lot to increase the support for the Russian who was widely regarded as untouchable just a few months ago. Many fans now think it might have been better if the current board had sold out to Usmanov instead of Kroenke. Some are even demanding similar rhetoric from Silent Stan.

But does the Russian oligarch really have Arsenal’s best interests at heart? His actions don’t support his words which seem hollow, appeasing, and meant to lure in the gullible.

Lady Nina wanted to sell her shares but there was no taker for a long while. One might wonder, why didn’t Usmanov make her an offer she couldn’t refuse? What is the point of offering £14,000 per share now when such an offer earlier could have taken him in the 40-42 per cent share bracket? Subsequently, he could have released a statement like the one he has done now, and with promise of significant investment he might have been able to acquire a portion of the minority shares. Who’s to say he would not have crossed the halfway mark? Some of the directors opposed to him might also have been tempted by such a generous offer. After all, doesn’t the Russian claim that they were in it for the money?

The simple fact is that Usmanov didn’t act when he could have and was probably caught off-guard by the suddenness of the deal between Kroenke and the others. So it is safe to say he didn’t put his money where his mouth is.

Then there was the other publicity stunt where Usmanov offered to donate shares to the AST if Kroenke matched him. What prevented him from donating a few shares unilaterally and unconditionally? Surely, it would not have put a dent in his considerable fortune! That would have shown his intent and put the ball firmly in the American’s court. It’s just another instance where his words were not backed up by action.

Ultimately, this is a big money game and fans would be naive to assume anything else no matter the spin put on the story. I have my issues with the previous owners who were not perfect and could undeniably have done better. But that doesn’t mean Usmanov is different nor is he the saviour.

In another public statement of significance, Cesc Fabregas has reaffirmed his interest in joining Barcelona and his loyalty to Arsenal. Those who have seen through the unabashed lies and concocted tales surrounding this saga have always known the few hard facts that matter.

Fabregas wants to go to Barcelona. To be honest, I don’t grudge him that wish. It is natural to dream to be part of something great. Which football player worth his salt would not want to play with Messi? More so if one has grown up playing with the phenomenon.

Equally important is the fact that El Capitan has immense respect for the club, the manager, his team-mates, and the fans. He does not want to throw a tantrum to engineer a move he craves. Only a man with impeccable values can behave in the way that Fabregas has done. Those values must be cherished and respected, especially in the modern world. Fans have to give him space for his individual desires and hopes while admiring his principles and collective based actions and decision making.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised when this transfer eventually happens. It could still happen this summer but only if Arsenal are convinced such a move is in their best interests. That is the key. For that, Barcelona have to cough up a small fortune to sign the only player in the world who can significantly improve that superb squad. I am not sure the Catalans can afford that after the Ibrahimovic fiasco. And I am absolutely certain Wenger will not succumb to the incessant pressure tactics from Spain, or the baseless rumours in the media followed by meaningless but extremely annoying noise on the internet, none of which is likely to cease anytime soon.

Looking back at the events of the summer so far, it seems to be heading in the right direction.

“Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one man.”

The AST has announced that it will work closely with Kroenke to ensure that the fans still have a role in the ownership structure of the club. This can only be good news, as it will ensure that Kroenke will not have the kind of control of other billionaire owners.

The holding company also owns several assets based in the US, including teams in the NFL, NHL and NBA. The shares at the club are now £11,750 and this values the club at around £731 million. The majoirty of the other shares in the club (over 27%) are owned by Uzbekistani billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov is said to be extremely unhappy and will be reluctant to sell his shares to Kroenke, so much that he made a late counter-offer to Fiszman and Bracewell-Smith on Sunday night in order to prevent Kroenke from taking control of the club.

When interviewed hours after the news broke, Kroenke said:

“Arsenal is a fantastic club with a special history and tradition and a wonderful manager in Arsène Wenger… we intend to build on this rich heritage and take the club to new success.”

We cannot rule out the possibility of Kroenke taking control of the club in the near future. Therefore, from a fan’s perspective, this deal seems to be the lesser of two evils. I am relatively happy to have Kroenke in control because he is said to have a more relaxed style of ownership, meaning that he is less likely to interfere in the day-to-day running of the club (unlike, for example, Roman Abramovic). Usmanov could be slightly more controlling and may endeavor to be more actively involved in the club (which is not what we need).

Kroenke would also require some of Usmanov’s shares in order to go beyond the 75% that allows him to make any major decisions regarding the assets of the club. Usmanov can still prevent any major restructuring of the club, and I am unsure as to how the two will be able to negotiate a deal.

On the other hand, it seems that Kroenke is less likely to table another bid for the club, after the rejection from the AST. He may allow the shares to rise in value over the next few years, and then sell the whole lot on at a large profit. If he were to sell to Usmanov, this could spell trouble, but there is little proof to suggest that this is going to happen.

Kroenke is also a close friend of former vice-chairman David Dein, meaning that a return for Dein to the Arsenal board cannot be ruled out at this stage.

Wenger was quick to give his support to the American:

“I have worked with Stan Kroenke at board meetings over the past couple of years and I believe he has the best interests of Arsenal at heart. He understands the club’s heritage and traditions and our ambition to run the club in a way which protects our long-term future.”

By: Kieran Dunne

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust has refused to sell shares to prospective new Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke after holding a vote in which it was decided that a fans’ stake in the club was vital.

Kroenke triggered a full takeover on Monday after acquiring a controlling stake with the American now posed to launch a mandatory takeover bid.

Each share is priced at £11,500 with board members recommending the sale of these remaining shares. But AST has “unanimously” decided, at the vote, that they will reject the cash offer for the £500,000 worth of shares owned by the trust.

They have vowed to remain an integral part of the club’s ownership structure, something in which they have always highlighted as crucially important.

They were also pleased to learn that Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov is likely to keep hold of his 27% stake.

While the more than 100 members do not oppose Kroenke’s takeover, a spokeperson stated: “Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person. The AST wants to work with Stan Kroenke to keep Arsenal supporters involved in the club’s ownership structure. The AST and the Arsenal Fanshare scheme will not be selling the shares it owns and urges all supporters to reject this offer.”  

It has been alleged that the takeover bid will not be financed by debt secured against the club, something which AST are said to be encouraged by.

Stan Kroenke currently owns and heads Kroenke Sports Enterprises which has had a 40 % stake in the NFL’s St. Louis Rams since their relocation to Missouri in 1995. He also owns NBA side Denver Nuggents and has done so since 2000. Another of the sports mogul’s acquisitions is the NHL side Colorado Avalanche. He also has involvements in Lacrosse and the Arena Football League’s Colorado Mammoth.

Another Colorado investment came in the form of the Rapids, an MLS side – America’s  professional soccer league.

Arsenal fans will also be delighted to learn of Kroenke’s relative lack of celebrity status. He is widely regarded as a reclusive figure and is nicknamed “Silent Stan.” He never gives press interviews and is known for his lack of interference in day-to-day activities in which he controls.

On Monday he bought shares from both Danny Fizman and Lady Bracewell-Smith which now brings his stake in Arsenal to a controlling 62%.

Is Arsene Wenger the genius we all thought he was, or just the Wizard of Oz? Last Friday the Frenchman gave what was possibly his most forthright press conference to date. The Arsenal Supporters Trust have recently expressed their disappointment at not having won a trophy in the last six years.

When questioned about this Wenger became defensive, he stated that given the players he has at his disposal, the team has performed to 100% of their potential. He turned the question back on the journalists, asking what they thought constitutes as success? The response was clear. A trophy.

Wenger alluded to the fact that many of the first eleven have not quite reached their prime. It seems to be a mystery why the Arsenal manager insists on having players the wrong side of their prime. Bringing back Jens Lehman and Sol Campbell when it was obvious that neither were up to the level required was ludicrous, and is blatantly against Wenger’s transfer policy of re-signing players.

It appears to be easy to poke holes in Arsenal’s recent success, or lack of. That fact of the matter is that since the heady days of the invincibles, Arsene Wenger has greatly over achieved with many players who quite simply are sub standard. Instead of being impressed further at these achievements, we expect more. Is the expectation founded upon the history and tradition of the club? Or the unwavering faith that Wenger has in his players?

The real reason why larger amounts of money haven’t been spent in the transfer market have never really come to light. We can only speculate about why Arsenal’s short arms haven’t reached into their deep pockets to strengthen in certain positions that are screaming out to be filled. The Frenchman’s mantra has always been to judge his teams at the end of the season.

There is no doubt in my mind that Arsene Wenger has revolutionized football in England, and is one of the finest managers of all time. The displeasure that the Arsenal Supporters Trust have shown recently leads me to believe, that they feel the manager is digging himself a hole that is becoming more difficult to escape from. My message to the Supporters Trust is simple, be careful what you wish for…..

Lots of bloggers with much more intimate knowledge of the finances of the club than I do have blogged about it in greater depth, so I’m not planning on covering that aspect.

What I want to ask is: what difference will it actually make to us fans?

Firstly, apart from the Arsenal Supporters Trust, do any of us really have a say? Well according to Peter Hill-Wood recently, the club could (and may well) stop ‘co-operating’ with the AST anyway, if the AST get too ‘uppity’ (my word, not his, but that’s what he meant). Complain too much and we’ll cut you off is essentially what he said. So in what sense do we (the fans) have a say in the running of the club?

Should we have a say in the running of the club? There are plenty of clubs where the fans have quite literally zero say in the running of their club. In fact, it’s not their club at all – it belongs, properly, to some businessman somewhere. It has ALWAYS been that way. The idea of community owned clubs is rare, and more popular recently than in the beginning of those clubs.

I guess I’m arguing like this – the club is not our in a business sense, or a controlling sense, in any sense at all. We support the team, we love the team, but we don’t have any SAY in either the club OR the team. And why should we? We’d probably screw it up if we did.

Do I think Stan Kroenke will make a good owner? Inasmuch as any rich businessman would  make a good owner, yes. I think he’s cautious, sensible, and will retain the sensible self-sustaining financial approach that Arsenal has at the moment. That’s certainly better than Usmanov, who has loads of money in the bank (apparently), but nobody knows where the money came from and his approach is less…. reasonable than Quiet Stan’s. A simple choice between the two is no choice for me – has to be Stan. But I know some Arsenal fans who think otherwise. They think that Usmanov has loads of money in the bank and will spend spend spend, and that is a good thing. Not for me it isn’t. It’s not financial prudent, and that’s not for me.

On balance we have someone who is sensible and prudent financially, and who (apparently supports the current board and manager), and on the other hand, what the hell does it have to do with us? We who have no say anyway.

I’m going to keep my nose out of it. Aside from a preference for financial prudence, there’s really nothing I can influence – nothing I have any real say in. So I’ll keep my preference, keep my council and keep my peace. I can only suggest that other Arsenal fans do the same.

For now, both parties are offering predictable responses. According to the tailored statements, Kroenke will continue in the traditions of the club , the self-sustaining model will be adhered to, debt will not be imposed on the club, Arsene will continue to get the support he has been getting from the current board who in turn will keep their places, and minority shareholders will not be forced out.

I’m not quoting all the comments and relevant aspects of the offer as plenty of publications have done so already. If you want to read the details I recommend spending a few minutes on the official website. Start with this article and follow the links at the bottom.

I am dividing my thoughts into some broad categories,

Current Board

In the past I have registered my displeasure at the way the current board has handled certain issues. Now that some of them are pocketing hundreds of millions it begs the question, why weren’t fresh shares issued at some stage so that at least part of the money went into the club?

Well, it the owners’ prerogative and their shares so they can do what they feel is right. But I have my disappointment and opinion that I have the right to share. Imagine if 20 percent of this takeover cash had gone into the clubs coffers rather than the individual bank accounts, how it would have improved Arsenal’s competitiveness in the market.

It would have been a completely legal and ethical way of improving the clubs finances. That money could have been used to reduce the stadium debt, buy out the low-value Emirates deal, investment in the squad, or any other expense that directly improved the club.

I don’t completely agree with the allegation but there is some truth to the notion that the present board cares a lot about their own wealth. Whether that has reduced the pressure on Arsene to deliver titles is difficult to judge because to me Wenger seems to be the kind of person who would put more pressure on himself to win than any external factor/person could.

However, I do respect the board for doing things the right way and developing a model club that countless others would love to emulate. Since E. Stanley Kroenke has been around for a few years and has seen the madness and troubles at other clubs, one can hope he realizes the strengths that Arsenal have.

Alisher Usmanov

The Russia based oligarch, Alisher Usmanov, is reportedly unhappy with the current developments. He even tried to buy Bracewell-Smith’s shares with a couple of generous counter offers. Unfortunately for him, the deal was already done. Since NBS’ shares were on the market for a while now, the Russian can only blame himself and his advisors for their laxity and indecisiveness. It could also be that they didn’t expect Kroenke to make his move but that is also a failure of understanding the situation on their part.

Some fans want Wenger sacked and significant investment in the squad. Usmanov would have been more likely to go down the uncertain cycle of splash-demand-sack that would more likely have lead to instability and chaos rather than trophies. Funnily enough, many fans who wanted to go down that road don’t support the Russian.

I’m not sure how Usmanov will proceed in the next few days. He seems to have a choice between selling his stake for a decent sized profit or staying put with a minority stake that can prevent Kroenke from making certain changes at the club.

It is possible that if the Russian does sell his stake, the American might squeeze out the minority shareholders and take complete ownership of the club. This is an aspect that might worry the AST and those involved with the Fanshare scheme along with other smaller shareholders. But based on most reports that I have read, Usmanov does not intend to sell his shares. I think in the short to medium term it will be good to have a person like the Russian keeping the American in check.

With David Dein closely associated with Usmanov and his earlier involvement in introducing Kroenke to the club, we might see a good working relationship developing between the two billionaires. Having Dein back on the board might be a good move for the club but I don’t want to speculate on that right now.

On a different note, I’m not sure whether Usmanov has any legal options to challenge this deal. I hope the club will not be dragged into a dirty legal battle just when the run-in is heating up.

Wenger and the Squad

For many fans, the above two sections might not be very relevant. These fans would care about trophies, great players in the squad, and enthralling performances on the pitch more than the background dealings, which is fair enough.

I don’t expect any serious changes to the football side of things under the new ownership, at least not at the moment. I guess the paperwork for the transfer of shares and other relevant details might easily extend the process into the summer.

Let’s not forget Kroenke is a business man and will want to eventually make some profits out of his investment. From that point of view it could be a nightmare for the Arsene-out brigade because if their allegations have any truth, why will the American sack a manager who is making him good money while keeping the expenses in control?

We don’t know where Kroenke is getting his money to finance this deal. If he does have sufficient cash he could pay off some of Arsenal’s debts and might be able to negotiate better commercial deals after buying out the old ones. This could generate extra cash for investment in the squad but I would not expect big investments in the short-term. However, even if there is an additional 15-20M generated it could lead to an extra player in the squad.

Irrespective of the takeover I was expecting some jiggling of the squad in the summer, although not as many transfers as those predicted by the sensationalist media and doom-mongering blogs. Even after the change in ownership I don’t see Arsenal buying big names for crazy money.

Debt

According to the confirmations given to the board, Kroenke will not use debt to fund the takeover. At least no debt will be placed on or serviced by Arsenal. But to me that doesn’t mean much. If the American does get control of the club he can withdraw the cash in the clubs accounts to suit his needs. He can also pay himself generous dividends to cover for any kind of interest payments or other financial matters.

In effect, once a person is in charge of the club it is not easy to control how he runs it and what he does with the revenues or cash generated by the club. The previous owners of Liverpool or Manchester United could never have predicted that their clubs would be in the state we have seen them get into. So the statements by the Arsenal owners justifying the sale and predicting a continuance of the traditional, sensible approach don’t carry any significant weight. However, that doesn’t mean Arsenal are guaranteed to get into a miserable mess like the aforementioned clubs.

In that regard, having someone like Usmanov in a minority shareholding position that is at least able to block certain decisions could turn out to be a good thing.

Something does tell me that Kroenke will not exploit Arsenal and will turn out to be the right man but it’s difficult to explain.

Conclusion

In the immediate future we are not likely to see any changes to the status quo. Some fans will undoubtedly prefer greater demands being placed on the manager in terms of trophies and the new owner’s stance in this regard will be worth noting. The impact of that might not be seen this summer but I expect to get a better understanding based on the summer dealings and the statements made during that period and all through the forthcoming season.

The most significant impact can be made in terms of improving the commercial deals and marketing/branding of the club. Hopefully, Kroenke will be able to move these issues in a more decisive, purposeful, and beneficial manner than the present board.

A lot will also depend on the way Alisher Usmanov deals with the cards in his hand. I’m hoping he will stick around and make a constructive contribution. While I have nothing against E. Stanley Kroenke, complete control of the club in the hands of one person doesn’t seem like a good situation at the moment. Of course, future events might tell us that having the American as the sole owner is much better for the club. It’s difficult to be certain one way or the other. We’ll just have to wait and watch.

Arsenal have announced that the price of Club Level season tickets will rise by 6.5% for 2011/12.

7,000 fans will have to pay a minimum of £160 more than they have paid this season, with the Arsenal Supporters Trust worried that this could lead to increases in prices throughout the stadium. A decision will be made early next month to decide if the rest of the Emirates season ticket holders will face similar price rises.

A club statement aimed to assure us that the the rise is only 4%, but this is further inflated by a rise in VAT. However, the Supporters Trust has criticised the timing of the price increases and suggested that the club is simply trying to maximise commercial revenues.

“We are very concerned at the impact this will have on the fans at a time when bills are increasing, wages aren’t and some people are losing their jobs… Some members have come to us already expressing their concern. They are worried that they won’t be able to afford to come to games. This is stretching some fans’ loyalty to the limit.”

Despite having just over 60,000 seats, tickets at the Emirates are a rare commodity. There are currently over 40,000 fans on the waiting list for season tickets and Arsenal will have no problem replacing those fans who cannot afford to or choose not to renew their tickets. Fellow Arsenal blogger Le Grove was quick to give his opinion saying “…it’s an absolute disgrace and about time Arsenal fans voiced their discontent about the way things are going online and in the ground.”

It would seem that many fans are unhappy at the way that the club is currently being run, and I have two questions that I wish to raise:

1) Do Arsenal fans get value for their money?

Most fans go to the Emirates to watch the team play beautiful football, dominate games and outplay opponents, but the fact remains that we are without a trophy for 6 years. The good thing is that the club offer 7 tickets for cup games on top of 19 Premier League matches, something that I don’t think many other clubs currently offer. However, increasing ticket prices despite record pre-tax profits of £56 million seems unnecessary. If Wenger was spending large sums of money and the club needed to raise funds then I might be able to understand the logic behind this proposal.

2) Does the club justify having the most expensive season ticket in the League?

An Arsenal season ticket is currently 74% more expensive than a season ticket for Manchester United, who are the most successful team in English football. United have won countless trophies during our barren spell and remain in three of the four competitions this season. Liverpool have the second most expensive season tickets in the Premier League, but even the cheapest season ticket at the Emirates is £200 more expensive than one at Anfield.

In an attempt to stop a takeover bid by a majority shareholder, the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust is leading an effort to gain shares of Arsenal.  One “fanshare” will cost $150, or one hundredth of the value of a share of Arsenal.  Shareholders will be entered into a ballot for the club’s annual general meeting, while shareholders with at least $15,000 in shares will have full voting rights.

In order to avoid the fans being left powerless and voiceless, Arsenal have come up with an interesting scheme. The London club has invited fans to buy shares in the club and play a role in its governance. Although with one Arsenal share trading at £10,250, not all Arsenal supporters could afford it. This is where the Arsenal Fanshare scheme which took  The Arsenal Supporters Trust five years to plan comes in handy. This scheme encourages supporters to buy an affordable portion of the share, a minimum of £100, either up front or in in £10 monthly contributions, to buy one fanshare, one hundredth of an actual share. This secures the supporter full shareholder’s rights: they get to attend the annual general meeting, ask questions of the directors and vote on policy.

Arsenal is majority-owned by four shareholders: US property and sports entrepreneur Stan Kroenke (30%); Alisher Usmanov (27%), the Uzbek-Russian mining and minerals billionaire; long-term shareholder Danny Fiszman (16%) and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith who is currently looking to sell her 16% stake which her family has owned for three-generations. Arsenal is valued at around £640m and each of its 62,000 shares trades at £10,250.

Arsenal Fanshare was a brainchild of The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, a body that opposes the club being bought by one rich individual and demands that supporters be represented in decision-making. The trust hopes that many of the Arsenal’s supporters here and overseas will subscribe, massing small contributions together to form an influential stake. The supporters’ trust spokesman, Tim Payton, said, “The aim is to increase supporter ownership and influence.”

Arsenal Fanshare is fully backed by the club and according to Ivan Gazidis, Arsenal’s chief executive, “In the club’s relationship with supporters, the important thing is that fans are valued and nurtured, not exploited. That’s not only good for the club’s soul; it is also ultimately good for the club overall, because engagement with our fans helps us to be healthier, more vibrant and successful.”

Even though the scheme allows a maximum monthly payment of a £100o which ensures that no one can build a significant holding quickly. The idea is refreshingly democratic especially in light of the recent wars between fans and the absolute owners at  the debt-ridden Manchester United and Liverpool.

Article first published as Arsenal Offer Fans A Voice Through ‘Fanshares’ on Technorati.