I came across this link earlier which I think is worth sharing with you.
It goes over Arsenal’s revenue streams, looking at why foreign investors might want to buy Arsenal out. There is also analysis of shareholders.
Click to read the article.
Check the link here at Arsenal Column. Or click the picture above.
Afternoon all,
I’m not the biggest fan of internationals, but I have to say I am delighted that Theo got a hattrick for England in Croatia last night.
Click for video highlights of goals: One, Two, Three
He needs to score more goals for the Arse, so getting a hattrick for England should boost his confidence. Croatia don’t lose at home so the 4-1 drubbing was a pleasant suprise. He commented on his goals:
“I tend to cross those quite a lot. So I thought I’d be a bit more greedy this time.”
He told the press that he just took his chances, after advice from David Beckham:
“Becks told me to be a bit more greedy in the box, then afterwards he said I was probably too greedy!” Walcott said.
“He has been absolutely brilliant to me and he just gave me so much confidence. He’s given me praise and it’s unbelievable coming from David.”
Theo says he’s not getting carried away though:
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself.”
See video interview here.
Praise came from all quarters, scumbag Rooney said:
“He offers something a bit different. He is probably the quickest player I have seen.
Capello:
“At this moment he is fantastic psychologically and physically.
“It is very dangerous for defenders against Walcott. At this moment, he is difficult to contain.
“That’s superb news, he did pretty well for England. But this means I’m going to have to offer him more money (laughs)!”
Great news for Walcott, lets hope he can transfer those goals to the Premiership for Arsenal!
A Cultured Left Foot gives a good roundup of the rest of today’s news.
We start today with the story that Amaury Bischoff is looking to make an impact for Arsenal when he returns from injury, and prove Wenger was right to gamble on his purchase.
Bischoff has had a groin injury since his time at Werder Bremen and still hasn’t recovered fully.
“Arsenal have shown faith in me and are building me up with a daily fitness programme.
“I know about the competition for places here – nobody can take their place for granted – but I am working hard and there is no reason why it should not work out for me.”
Young Guns has an article on how Bischoff was forced to play through pain at Bremen, which may have contributed to his injury.
Another player who expected to return for injury is striker Eduardo – he should be back around Christmas according to latest estimates.
Emmanuel Adebayor has refused to fly to Zambia with the Togo national team for their 2010 World Cup Qualifier. The players demanded that Tata Avlessi Adaglo (Togo Football Federation President) travelled with them. He declined because he was preparing for his mother’s funeral. The team went ahead, but Ade stayed in Lome.
A very random incident, but something which is to be expected when Togo are involved, they always seem to have rows between players and governing bodies, remember the 2006 World Cup bonus saga? Very odd. At least Ade won’t be playing now!
Also Emmanuel Petit has revealed his regrets about leaving Arsenal in 2000 for Barcelona in his autobiography. The player had a formidible partnership with Vieira at Arsenal, but never recreated his success later in his career.
I don’t believe a ‘curse’ exists, but is is true that many players who leave Arsenal are never as good at other clubs. maybe this has something to do with Wenger getting the best out of players and creating a team greater than the sum of its parts?
What do you think? Join the debate and leave a comment below!
Peter Hill-Wood the Arsenal chairman has spoken out about possible takovers at Arsenal FC.
He sensibly made the point that the Board don’t want to sell, they want to keep the club as it is, but in a market economy, if someone will buy ath the right price, you can’t stop shareholders from selling.
“If somebody came and made a really huge bid then you cannot recommend shareholders turn it down because we don’t like it.
“We want the club to stay in its current ownership and, of course, you have some concern that someone will try to buy the club.
“The directors don’t want to sell but we are a public company. It depends on the price.”
This is nothing more than stating the obvious, so I wouldn’t worry too much, it is just the media getting a story off the back of the Man City takeover.
Of course if someone bids a massive amount of money then shareholders are allowed to sell. Luckily the Board are currently in a lockdown agreement, which means that the biggest shareholders aren’t allowed to sell their chunks of the club.
The main contender is Usmanov, who has something like a 24% stake, he only needs 30% to be able to launch a takeover bid. The lockdown agreement makes this very hard for him to do.
I don’t want to see Arsenal sold to a foreign owner, I like the way the club is run and I think we can be successful without a foreign billionaire bankrolling the club and overruling the manager on many matters.
You only have to look at Chelsea – Mourinho sacked, Shevchenko saga, or Man City – Sven outrageously sacked – to see what unstability such oligarchs can create.
In a related story, David Dein, the man who was helping Usmanov in his bid to buy the club, has stepped down from his role at Red & White Holdings. According to the Daily Mail he has done this to improve Usmanov’s relationship with the club.
“Dein realises that there is now no chance of Usmanov having the type of input into Arsenal — and a possible seat on the board — his shareholding merits while the former Arsenal vice-chairman remains so closely tied to him, such is the hostility towards Dein.”
Dein believes that Arsenal need a billionaire owner to compete in the modern world of football, I think that he realises that his relationship with Arsenal is bad, and Usmanov is better off without him.
I have mixed feelings about the guy, he has done a lot of good for the club, but seems to have gone off the rails slightly. I would imagine that he will still have some level of involvement with Usmanov, but not in the public sphere.
According to Arsene Wenger, Arsenal are close to appointing a new Chief Executive. The position has been filled by Ken Friar, the ex-Managing Director, since Keith Edelman’s departure in April.
The lack of leadership in this position perhaps explains why we have struggled to bring players in this season.
Wenger told Arsenal.com:
“It is progressing quite well. We are getting to the end of the story. I am involved in it and I am consulted for it but it is down to the board to make that decision.
“Having consulted me, they will take the responsibility to name the right person. I think the decision will be made soon but I don’t know exactly when.”
A rather large hole was created when David Dein left the club, and we need someone who can play his role in the day to day running of the club, and in transfer negotiations. The Board seem rather distanced from Wenger, and we have been in limbo since the depature of David Dein.
Hopefully a new appointment will help iron out difficulties and play a large role in Wenger’s relations with the board and in transfer negotiations.
Talking of transfers, it was disappointing to see that we hadn’t snapped up a last minute midfielder on deadline day, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming days, as we are linked with Ghana’s Steven Appiah, who played for Ghana last night.
He would be available on a free, so we coud sign him up straight away, but he has struggled with knee injuries, and we don’t need any more injury prone players. Also I’m a little worried that clubs such as West Ham have shown the most interest..
Also, a bit of fun here, check out this post by Block19er at Clockenders.
I’ve also been introduced to a news service called FeedZa recently. You can see their football section here, and vote for stories you like. They list a lot of sites and it makes interesting reading, but it needs your input! Have a go!
ArseSpeak 