2) What exactly is going on at a boardroom level at the club?
Ever since two billionaire owners – Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov – wrestled for control of Arsenal, most of the board members sold their shares to Kroenke – mainly because then-director Danny Fiszman did not want Usmanov to gain control.
At the time, it seemed like a wise move as the American owner was ready to give the reins to Wenger to guide the club instead of the Russian businessman doing a Roman Abramovich and spending big to sign star players in what was then a financially unstable climate at the Emirates.
Now? It seems like they chose between the lesser of two evils as the club seems to be drifting into mediocrity under Kroenke – just like his franchise sports teams in the USA.
The club seems to have lost its way even after stadium debts became manageable and huge commercial deals were signed to maintain a steady flow of money coming into the club. Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis promised to compete with top clubs in the transfer market but, instead, they were getting thrashed by the same clubs (remember the 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern?).
It all started to go wrong when David Dein left the club in 2007 when the rest of the board thought he was trying to take over the club. It was Dein who appointed Wenger and sanctioned moves for players that formed the Invincibles. He was used to winning and he knew how to successfully run a football club.
Why did the board have irreconcilable differences with Dein? What is Kroenke’s ambition? Is Gazidis really capable of running a club that was used to winning trophies?
