AST want fresh blood on the board & supply Wenger a Transfer War Chest
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) will approach the Gunners board with a view to rejuvenate the club’s fortunes by injecting “fresh blood” to the aging Arsenal hierarchy and spending more money on the squad rather than claiming profits.
Arsenal’s board are set to meet on Thursday and largest shareholder Stan Kroenke has stated his backing of under fire Arsene Wenger despite poor performances recently that will almost certainly result in the club’s eighth season without a trophy.
The AST have chosen not to discuss managerial appointments at present and remain behind Wenger while he is at the helm, but have aimed the blame at the Arsenal board who have been collecting healthy profits every season and not injecting the necessary cash back into the squad to strengthen as required.
An AST spokesperson told Press Association Sport:
At the meeting today the board must review its approach to much more than just the position of Arsene Wenger. The board needs to consider recruiting new members with exposure to the football world who can support and challenge Wenger to be a better manager.
It’s wrong to focus on just him at the moment. Every single non-executive director of the club is over 70 years old and it is time for some fresh blood. We would call for Stan Kroenke to meet with (second-largest shareholder) Alisher Usmanov to work out how to make it stronger.
Our position is that we review the manager at the end of the season. The board must ask hard questions about itself and not just the manager.
AST members are not happy with the current situation. We think the club needs to review how they scout, recruit and pay players as the current approach is creating a depreciation in competitiveness. It is time for Kroenke to show to Arsenal fans some of his vision, to end his silence and to engage properly with them.
We would also like the board to be more accountable for the transfer budget available to the manager and make sure it is spent on players and not just used as profit.
The AST are most definitely taking the best route, the aging board needs freshening and with they must sanction more spending. There are always players available at the right price, and over the years Arsenal have continually missed out on top talents because they have failed to compete with their rivals. Hazard and more importantly Mata were big transfer targets that slipped through to Chelsea because the Gunners didn’t stump up the cash. With the stadium essentially paid off, now is the time to invest in the squad heavily and bring in some top talents, namely up front, as it is clear to everyone we need a prolific goal scorer.
With a reported £70 million to spend on the squad this summer (should they make the top four), Wenger will have some muscle to flex in the market. They have the bones of a very good squad especially after last summers acquisitions, but a bit more depth is required up front and a defensive, ‘boss’ midfielder to help out the defence is essential and should have been improved last summer or in January.
If only Arsenal had presidential elections similar to Barcelona/Real Madrid’s democratic system where the potential candidates express their vision to the club members and try to excel one another by promising certain investments in players. That would inspire more serious results otherwise you would not be re-elected if you hadn’t won a trophy within your tenure..
What are your thoughts on AST’s statements? Feel free to comment below..
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is it not the case that R&W are equally owned by Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri and so its inaccurate for AST to say Usmanow is second biggest shareholder, both men would own around 15% of AFC shares
a simple question on spending transfer funds, are AST saying the board should force the manager to buy players even if he says he don’t want them, or they are the ones he does not want etc, or is it just a case of paying more for the sake of it so we can say we spent all funds available, would paying more for a player make that player higher quality, for example AFC tried to sign Cazorla and Podolski a year earlier, we bid almost double for both of them, but would paying double have made them any better, or just appeased fans who only judge players on cost
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AST are stating the need to spend money on super quality players not players like Gervinho
In simple terms there are far too many players not of sufficient standard
Gervinho Arshavin Diaby Squid Flappy Mannone Bendtner Denilson Park Chamack plus many failed youth players!! We need to clear these to help the wage bill then spend if required ( free transfers better if around ) on the a spine of quality players
Bergivic , Sahko Fellani Gotze and Cavani would be nice ( if only !!)
We seriously do need change at all levels
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It is Kroenke’s club and his track record in the US is mediocre too. He has a collection of clubs in different sports but it also means that he is taking a portfolio approach as well as only have part-time to each club and that when there are other owners who spend more if not all their time, e.g. Abramovich. As a lifetime Arsenal fan, I have come to realise that the club is controlled by one man whose football management ability I don’t really trust. Therefore, rather than being frustrated with what I see on the pitch, the choice for me is either to forget Arsenal and football and focus on a different sport, or start supporting another football club. My confidence in Arsenal has been waning since they sold their best players and introduced the social wage structure but I will make my mind up at the end of the season.
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I generally agree with the approach.
It is clear that the board are either ill equipped to ‘challenge and support’, or are just not inclined. That is not a healthy role for them to play.
It is also evident that if a budget does exist it is either inadequate or there is a failure to excerpt effective influence over its use. Is this because Arsene doesn’t think he needs to spend or because he doesn’t have enough? A big question.
As for players, again I agree. We have the basis of a premiership winning team. Theo, Jack, Poldolski, Giroud, Santi, Vermaelen, Monreal, Sagna…plus top quality/world class CB, DMC, winger/striker, keeper…..and a squad that otherwise included Arteta, Koz, Sczczensy, Gibbs, the Ox etc….would be pretty awesome.
I do think that Arsene gets wayyyy toooo much criticism. We have consistently been in the top four…… and the other three hardly compare financially. They rack up debt and spend like no other clubs in the world. United, uniquely, have an income to die for. The teams who you can compare us to are consistently (and I very clearly mean just about every single year for the past 15!!), below us. So one or two have a good year every now and then but hey we’ve been there every year for 12 years, whilst also winning the thing.
We clearly need to spend and I think perhaps ask the question, ‘do we want to join, at least in part, the other oligarch financed teams, or hope that Arsenes past financial prudence will allow us to spend as we need and that the board will make it fully available’? That in my opinion, is probably the biggest question.
Overall, I think the AST are approaching this in the right way. Invigorating the board would be a good thing. A proposition that does not put the ownership in one pair of hands but encourages what I persoanlly hope would be a more active and hopefully financially stimulating role from Usamov, can’t be a bad idea, can it?
However, as I say, if the board can guarantee the necessary expenditure and Arsene is not the problem, then that presents a different argument. There is something nice about knowing our club makes a profit every year. If the cash is there and the peripheral players really get moved on this year or contracts ended, there is no reason everything cannot be achieved.
I just hope the AST can achieve a positive outcome. We’ve all got our fingers crossed!!
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Seems a very similar approach to that of the BSM ( scarf movement ) It is only by the various fans groups reaching common ground that pressure can be bought to bear to get change. Our board is tired and staid and needs shaking up, as a club we need to get away from the bad feelings about the way the club is run and get to concentrating on the pitch and uniting the disparate groups that are fighting amongst themselves. Lets start with a bit more leadership from the boardroom.
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I wish u knew what u knew what u are talking about.According 2 my understanding u know mothing about this sport.
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