"No, it’s business as usual. It’s a transaction between two Board members, both of whom believe in the philosophy of the Club, the self-sustaining philosophy on a day-to-day level. It has absolutely no impact at all."
- Ivan Gazidis, with a nose about the size of Pinocchio's
The big news today is that Danny Fiszman sold 5,000 shares to Stan Kroenke for £42.5 million. This makes Kroenke the second largest Arsenal shareholder with 20.5%, and reduces Fiszman's stake to 16.1%. After the sale, Fiszman did an interview with Arsenal.com and stated:
"I have no current intention to sell any more of my shares in the Club. This sale to Stan was a one-off sale. I certainly intend to continue as a long-term substantial shareholder."
It's interesting because of a number of points:
1. Ivan Gazidis is surprisingly bad at lying. It augers poorly for his effectiveness in the looming transfer window. He's going to have to compete with snakes-in-the-grass like Barcelona and Real Madrid, and unless he can lie effectively, our chances of buying someone in the Valencia firesale are shot.
2. Danny Fiszman didn't wait for the Highbury Square development to go to completion before selling his shares. It's been speculated that the reason the lockdown agreement expired in mid 2009 was so board members could sell at the inflated share price that the Highbury Square should have provided. For Fiszman to sell his shares now, rather than a few months down the track, means that the Highbury Square development will probably not deliver a profit.
3. The board lockdown agreement meant that the board members had to offer each other their shares, before allowing anyone else to buy. The other members also have to approve purchases. So Kroenke's purchase was done with the tacit approval of the board, and gives Kroenke a more promenient role at the club. It also confirms him as the board's preferred potential owner, if and when the rest decide to sell their shares.
4. Alongside the appointment of Gazidis as CEO, it gives Arsenal pretty extensive knowledge of the American sports market in general, and the MLS in particular. Gazidis was the CEO of the MLS before his appointment with the Arsenal, and Kroenke owns the Colorado Rapids. So I expect something major in terms of commercial expansion happening in the next few years.
5. The spotlight now falls on Nina Bracewell-Smith, who has a 15% stake and was ousted from the board last year. With Usmanov on 25% and Kroenke on 20%, whoever she'll sell to will end up with enough shares to mount a full takeover. Which is a problem because the other side will probably refuse to sell. Which would lead to activation of the "death-match" clause in the Arsenal constitution. With this clause, Usmanov and Kroenke will step into a cage and the cage is then locked. Nina Bracewell-Smith will then breaks a pool cue in half and throws the two halves into the cage. And whoever comes out is the new owner of Arsenal FC.
6. It's a great distraction from the other big story of the day, that van Persie's injured himself while on international duty. Again. It's a hamstring strain, so knowing the Arsenal physio team, he'll be out for 3 months at least. Damn van Persie's hamstrings. Gosh darn, golly gosh darn. Can't he stay uninjured for ONE season at least?
Showing posts with label Danny Fiszman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danny Fiszman. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Edelman's gone
"Please follow this story elsewhere. It's big news and good news. It's the first of many changes we will soon be seeing."
- Myles Palmer, ANR, 01/05/08
Myles' right - the sacking of Keith Edelman is BIG news. I'm struggling to figure out what it means for the club. I don't live in the country, so it's a bit of a mystery. I'm going to muddle through this post, so please bear with me.
This is the information I'm getting:
1. Keith Edelman was a good managing director when the club needed finance for the stadium. He ran the club like a business. No one else in football could've managed it.
2. Keith Edelman was sacked because he's no longer useful. Now that the stadium finance is stitched up, we needed a more "football-minded" MD. We need someone with the nous to compete in transfers and contract negotiations, and Edelman can't offer that. In fact, we're still looking for a replacement for David Dein.
3. If we get that new, football-orientated MD, we're going to be spending big.
4. Danny Fiszman is the absolute ruler of Arsenal.
5. Usmanov is the major shareholder.
These are the speculations:
1. Wenger's transfer policy was dictated by Edelman, not Wenger. Wenger always knew he needed to spend big to genuinely compete, but understood the necessity of austerity. However, he's cracked the shits after this season, as evidenced by his comments over the past few days regarding Hleb, Flamini, economic "doping" and the stadium finance.
2. With a new MD who is willing to provide greater funding, Wenger will be in a position to buy established stars. Please, Wenger, a goalkeeper!
3. Fiszman sacked Edelman to shore up support against the inevitable Usmanov takeover. He knows the fans are getting pissed off about the transfer policy, and he knows that if we don't win something soon, we're going to clamour for greater involvement from Kroenke and Usmanov. I don't know how much influence fans wield in a PLC club, but it must be pretty significant for things to come to this.
Whatever the case, the new MD will have a major effect on the transfer policy specifically, and the direction of the club as a whole. If anyone has any insight on these developments, I'd love to hear them. I'm pretty clueless at the moment.
I've just got one other question: what the fuck does Peter Hill-Wood do?
- Myles Palmer, ANR, 01/05/08
Myles' right - the sacking of Keith Edelman is BIG news. I'm struggling to figure out what it means for the club. I don't live in the country, so it's a bit of a mystery. I'm going to muddle through this post, so please bear with me.
This is the information I'm getting:
1. Keith Edelman was a good managing director when the club needed finance for the stadium. He ran the club like a business. No one else in football could've managed it.
2. Keith Edelman was sacked because he's no longer useful. Now that the stadium finance is stitched up, we needed a more "football-minded" MD. We need someone with the nous to compete in transfers and contract negotiations, and Edelman can't offer that. In fact, we're still looking for a replacement for David Dein.
3. If we get that new, football-orientated MD, we're going to be spending big.
4. Danny Fiszman is the absolute ruler of Arsenal.
5. Usmanov is the major shareholder.
These are the speculations:
1. Wenger's transfer policy was dictated by Edelman, not Wenger. Wenger always knew he needed to spend big to genuinely compete, but understood the necessity of austerity. However, he's cracked the shits after this season, as evidenced by his comments over the past few days regarding Hleb, Flamini, economic "doping" and the stadium finance.
2. With a new MD who is willing to provide greater funding, Wenger will be in a position to buy established stars. Please, Wenger, a goalkeeper!
3. Fiszman sacked Edelman to shore up support against the inevitable Usmanov takeover. He knows the fans are getting pissed off about the transfer policy, and he knows that if we don't win something soon, we're going to clamour for greater involvement from Kroenke and Usmanov. I don't know how much influence fans wield in a PLC club, but it must be pretty significant for things to come to this.
Whatever the case, the new MD will have a major effect on the transfer policy specifically, and the direction of the club as a whole. If anyone has any insight on these developments, I'd love to hear them. I'm pretty clueless at the moment.
I've just got one other question: what the fuck does Peter Hill-Wood do?
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