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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:03:03:19:38:35 by eduardo.

Of course they will spend in the summer, I didn't even need to read the article to know that...they obviously had a plan to bank enough money to go on a decent spending spree and still be able to mantain (even a season that includes not making the CL), its what responsible people do

if the club wasn't run by "billionaires" everyone would respect what they have done, but because its run by billionaires everyone's answer is to simply have them pump their money into the club

So they will spend in order to make the club more profitable again, with the clubs success just being an added bonus if it happens.

Yep, sounds like the Arsenal alright.

I think we should form a society to protect poor oppressed billionaires. After all its they who have created the wealth of Arsenal, not the stupid mugs who have been buying season tickets for years

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.

Excellent article Padre. I think this makes great sense Padre. No doubt whatsoever about that. A lot of Clubs would do excatly as you say no doubt.

My worry is those running Arsenal are wedded to maximum possible profit on minimum possible investment as long as they can possibly get away with it.

That is to say they are happy to make a significant profit even if it is significantly smaller than what they could make by doing as you say because it costs them less money and will still make them money if they do not do it but retain profitability.

It would be like a high-class sports car maker removing key equipment from their cars that makes them more dangerous to drivers simply because it would make the production and sale of the cars even more profitable for them or at least would allow them to be profitable while risking less of their wealth doing so.

Companies do follow that business model - overcharging for quality products while knowing reducing those products's quality to increase their profit or decrease their financial risk already. I'm not sure looking at the last eight years that that has not been happening here (in fact I think it has been), and that gives me little confidence it is not happening still now and will not continue.

Credit must go to Merlion for producing this, of course he had the support of his wise old editor

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.

Well... 2 out 3 ain`t bad

Since the end of WW1, 1919, when the FA restarted its 4 tier football league, with Arsenal fc in the 1st div, there’s only ever been one club to have never been relegated from Div 1/ EPL.

Arsenal fc

Let’s keep making history

Well, in this case Merl makes a really good bit of sense (even just this once) Padre, but then I think the question remains as much as this idea makes sense to a wide variety of all of us, does it make sense to the people running the Club?

I don't get how some people still think the club has just been banking in the cash even after reading this.
@Merl, credit for a decent work. The thing though is, the underlining tone of the article is that the club has "failed" to make arsenal successful on the pitch. I think it wouldve been more true to make it clear that the new stadium has limited Arsenal's capacity to succeed on the pitch, which inturn has affected their overall financial success in this period. One credit though is your admission that our best players have been sold not because the owners want to asset-strip the club but because they needed the cash to cover for deficit in other areas. I want to point out that it is because the club has done business in the way it has for the past trophyless season that it is now able to compete on the pitch. They couldve choosen the other way which is to borrow some more money (how much can they borrow to outperform the oil people really), and give us a better chance of competing, which wouldve made us a few extra cash, but with the greater danger of bankruptcy and an uncertain future, with a far less capacity to spend now. I rather prefer what we have now, which is no trophies but consistency at the top for years and in a position better placed to take advantage of financial regulations of the current time, to become more successful on the pitch. The future looks more exciting now than ever before.

"A club is a union between players, supporters and directors". - Wenger.
Arsene wenger has done an absolutely masterful job within the constraints he has... Every single year, he has outperformed our spending every single year he has been manager. It is extraordinary. -Gazides.

Detimes, by 2009/10 season, our Emriates Debt is no more as we had comfortable reduced the net debt to a manageable level. We achieve the highest group turnover ever of £379.9-million.

That is, during summer 2010, Arsene Wenegr has the funds to buy quality players to strengthen the squad if he wanted to.

Funds were definitely available and just look at the kind of players that Arsene Wenger bought to strengthen the squad!

Read this extract from Arsenal Holdings 2009/10 Annual report from www.arsenal.com:

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

I am pleased to open my report to shareholders by confirming another excellent set of financial results. Turnover of £379.9 million and profit before taxation of £56.0 million are at new record high levels for the Group.

The most pleasing aspect of these results is that the returns generated in the property business during the year, particularly at Highbury Square, have allowed us to repay £130 million of bank loans and reduce the Group’s overall net debt to just £135.6 million.


CEO’S REPORT

The financial results for the year, which are covered in more detail in the Financial Review section of this report, are very healthy and show that the Group’s self-sustaining business model, despite what was undoubtedly a difficult year for the economy in general, is very much on track.

In particular, the results from the property side of the business have been remarkable. Over the last 18 months Highbury Square has moved from being a potential risk for the Group, a project carrying £135 million of bank debt which needed to be renegotiated with a three bank syndicate, to being a debt free and cash generative asset for the Group.

The 600th apartment sale was completed in August and we expect to have fully sold all the 655 apartments by the close of the 2010/11 financial year. I’d like to congratulate, once again, everyone involved in the delivery of the Highbury Square project.

Our property business is now debt free and ready to deliver some surplus cash back to the rest of the Group over the next couple of years.

Part of that cash will be used to support long-term investment in Emirates Stadium, to ensure it remains a best-in-class spectator facility for our fans which reflects and celebrates Arsenal’s history and traditions.

We’ll also look to invest in the player training facilities and there are projects either underway or at the planning stage for new pitches, constructed to the same standard as the pitch at the Emirates, and a new medical / rehabilitation wing at London Colney.

The cash from property will also allow us, for a short period, to push our investment in players ahead of where it might be if it was based purely on the revenues generated from football.

Of course, the profits from property are temporary and we need to make sure that in the longer term costs remain at a level which can be paid from our football revenues.


During the year I have been actively involved in the European Club Association’s consultation with UEFA in relation to new financial licensing rules to be introduced for UEFA competitions. These new regulations under the banner of Financial Fair Play will introduce a requirement, to be phased in by 2014/15, for clubs to operate on a breakeven basis over a rolling three year period.

The Premier League has also recently tightened some of its own rules in the area of financial compliance. Financial Fair Play aims to introduce more discipline and rationality in clubs’ finances in order to protect the long-term viability of the game across Europe. These objectives clearly make a lot of sense and our self-sustaining business model means that Arsenal is well placed to comply with the new rules.

However, it remains to be seen what actual impact the new financial regulations will have on the transfer market and the levels of player wages in general.

On the Field

The 2009/10 season was something of a roller-coaster ride which saw the first-team challenge strongly for the Premier League title over long periods of the season.

Ultimately, hampered by a long list of injuries to important players at key moments of the season, that challenge fell short and we had to settle for a respectable third place.

The reward was a qualification straight into the group phase of a 13th consecutive UEFA Champions League for 2010/11 and all of the exciting competitive challenges and financial benefits which come with participation in that competition.

The team’s positive football and disciplinary record meant the Club received the Premier League Fair Play Award for the 2009/10 season.

In the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League the team campaigned through to the quarter-final stage where, unfortunately, it came up against one of the world’s best players on inspired form. Four goals from Lionel Messi in the Nou Camp was something that few teams would have been able to resist and, while losing is never easy, this was exactly the type of historic game that we want to be involved in – in front of a global audience, on a great stage, in a great competition – and the experience for the players will have been invaluable.

We made some good additions to the squad for the 2009/10 season – with Thomas Vermaelen, in particular, standing out across a very good first term with the Club.

We also saw a number of young players, such as Alex Song, come through to secure regular and deserved positions within the first team setup.

Aaron Ramsey was also one of the young players to make a positive impact prior to his unfortunate, serious injury. I’m pleased to say that Aaron is recovering well and that we’ve recently extended his contract with the Club.

Players

During the close season the Club has secured the signing of some exciting new players.

Moroccan international Marouane Chamakh has joined Arsenal on a long-term contract from French side Bordeaux. The 26 year-old striker made a total of 293 appearances, scoring 79 goals, during his eight years with Les Girondins. He will wear the number 29 shirt for Arsenal.

During the 2008/09 league campaign Chamakh scored 14 goals, helping Bordeaux win the French League title. His good form continued into last season as he helped Bordeaux reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, having finished above both Bayern Munich and Juventus in the Group Stage. Born and raised in France, but playing international football for Morocco through his parentage, Chamakh has made 53 appearances for the North African country, scoring 27 goals, and he was part of the side which reached the Final of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

Laurent Koscielny has joined us from French Ligue 1 side Lorient. Koscielny is a central defender who has made progress very quickly. The 24 year-old made 40 appearances in all competitions during the 2009/10 season, which was his first with Lorient, helping them to 7th place in Ligue 1. Currently uncapped, he was born in France but would also qualify to represent the Poland national team as a result of his family roots. We believe that Laurent will prove to be a great addition to our squad.

Our third signing of the summer was French international defender, Sebastien Squillaci who was purchased from Sevilla. Part of the France 2010 World Cup squad, Squillaci is a strong and vastly experienced central defender with a competitive edge to his game. He has made 36 appearances in the UEFA Champions League and so far has 21 caps for his country. Prior to his time in Spain, Squillaci enjoyed a successful spell in France with Lyon where he was part of the team which achieved back-to-back Ligue 1 titles in 2007 and 2008. He was also part of AS Monaco’s impressive UEFA Champions League campaign in 2004, helping the side reach the Final and beating Real Madrid and Chelsea en route.

The summer window saw the departure of a number of first team squad players.

Croatian international Eduardo left the Club to join the Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Eduardo made a total of 67 appearances for the Club in all competitions, scoring 20 times. His recovery from a horrific leg injury, sustained at Birmingham City in February 2008, was testament to his strength as a human being – his character and determination will be missed by everyone at Arsenal.

French international William Gallas left Arsenal at the end of June; the expiry of his contract ending the centre back’s association with the Club he joined from Chelsea in August 2006. A defensive stalwart and captain for nearly half of his time with the Gunners, Gallas made 142 appearances scoring 17 goals in his four seasons. Quick, tough and an excellent reader of the game, William added experience and influence to the heart of Arsenal's back four. Sadly, his final season was cut short due to a calf injury and his comeback match, against Barcelona, proved to be his last for the Club when he aggravated the injury.

Sol Campbell, who rejoined Arsenal on a short-term contract in January to add some invaluable experience in the dressing room for the closing stages of the season, has moved on to Newcastle United. In total, over his two spells with the Club, Campbell made 211 appearances, scoring a dozen goals.

The other first team squad players to leave were Phillipe Senderos, Mikael Silvestre, Fran Merida, who moved on at the end of their contracts with the Club, and Jay Simpson who was transferred to Hull City.
We wish all of these departing players well for their future careers and thank them all for the contribution they made to Arsenal Football Club.

Commercial Partners

In order for the Club to to compete at the very highest levels of the game, it is important that we continue to develop as a vibrant and robust business, with sufficient revenues to sustain succes.

There is no doubt that the areas of commercial activity and sponsorship provide the greatest opportunity for the Group to generate significant incremental revenues in the medium to long term.

It is vitally important that we have the right people on our commercial team to ensure that we make the most of this opportunity. Tom Fox, who joined as Chief Commercial Officer in September 2009, has led a reorganisation and significant strengthening of the commercial team with some very talented senior level hires in the areas of partnerships, marketing, retail and strategy / business development.

We now have a first class commercial team in place which is well placed to leverage the domestic and international power of the Arsenal name.

The Club has developed its commercial programme over the course of last season by improving and extending a number of existing deals, as well as attracting new partners, despite a difficult and challenging economic climate.

In late 2009 the Club confirmed the extension of its agreement with its kit partner, Nike, for a further three seasons to 2014.

This extension was anticipated in the original sponsorship agreement and it delivers an improvement in the commercial terms for the remainder of the term. As part of its broader partnership with Nike the Club will look to leverage Nike’s global scale to develop its business internationally.

In addition, the Club has recently extended its agreement with Lucozade Sport and we look forward to working closely with the UK’s leading sports drink brand for a further three seasons.

The Club is also pleased to welcome Thomson Sport as a new commercial partner. As well as utilising the strength of the Arsenal brand to build its position as one of Europe’s leading travel companies, Thomson Sport will provide travel services to our players, fans and executives.

Travel offerings for Arsenal fans will include home and away game packages and discounted holidays.

Arsenal Broadband, which operates the Arsenal.com site, has entered a long-term media partnership with MP & Silva with the strategic objective of developing new, exclusive and entertaining high-definition broadcast programming that will appeal to an international audience.

MP & Silva is a leading international sports media company that owns, manages and distributes television and media rights for some of the most prestigious sporting events including the English Premier League, in selected markets, and Italy’s top professional football league, Serie A, on a global basis.

Our Soccer School programme continues to flourish. In partnership with Emirates Airlines, several thousand children in Dubai attended ‘Play the Arsenal Way’ courses and our partnership with IBG has been extended to open another ten schools across Middle East and Africa. The first of these schools was opened in Casablanca by Moroccan International and new signing, Marouane Chamakh.

Prospects

On the field the new season has got off to an encouraging start with some good results in the Premier League

Participation in the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions for a 13th consecutive season is important both from a football and financial perspective. In Arsène Wenger, we have a great manager with a long-term commitment to the Club. We also have a very talented, young squad. There is every reason to be both optimistic and ambitious as we look forward to supporting the team in its challenge for trophies over the course of the season.

I have outlined above the progress the Group has made, over the course of the last year, against three key goals which I have set across the organisation, namely:

• to support and fund on field success;
• to develop significant additional revenues; and
• to enhance the fan experience.

These objectives are likely to remain the focus for the next few years and their delivery will be supported by investment in our physical assets, particularly our stadium, and investment in our people capability together with the work we’re doing to finalise an ambitious strategic business plan across all aspects of our operations.

All of these goals will be achieved showing the fullest respect to, and driven by, the special values of this great Club including the extraordinary work we do in our local community and beyond.

The competitive landscape makes it ever tougher to achieve success on the field and standing still is simply not, and never has been, an option for the Club. From its earliest roots, now nearly 125 years ago, and the use of “Forward” as the Club’s first ever motto, Arsenal has always been renowned for its innovation and for its desire to improve.

I am excited by the opportunities which we have in front of us.

On what basis do you say funds we re "definitely available" because Peter Hill-Wood said so in the Chairman's report? he also no one at Arsenal need to sell or wanted to sell to Stan Kroenke.

He also said money is available to spend if the manager wants to all the way back to 2006 and 2007. yet this week Arsene Wenger said or strongly implied that he was being dishonest about that too - on the Club's Offical Website.

Now I don't know about you but I would fire any employee who undermined my personal or my corporate credibility in any instance to any source without hesitation epsecially if they did so dishonestly as would be the case unless in fact Mr. Hill-Wood was indeed lying.

But to let him do this on the my company's offical website? That just beggars belief - and the only possible reason he is still manager right now is because in fact the Club and the Chairman were in fact lying about the funds available to Arsene Wenger.

I think the real question is were the funds actually available to him or were the simply on the books? I believe the latter because the fatally flawed wage structure which you in fact are completely wrong about as your own attempt to prove otherwise in fact showed, undermined any ability or possibility of spending any of those funds but still allowed such disngenuous claims to be made by the Chairman.

If I am wrong then why is Arsene Wenger still Manager because as I documented earlier this week this is the third time he has publicly attacked the Board's credibility since 2011 in this regard. So either he has honestly exposed the Board was lying three times or falsely impugned the Board's and particularly the Chairman's character and integrity three times - in either case any other Board would have sacked him for that alone.

So why is he still manager then?

????



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:02:28:15:38:30 by Merlion96.

Getting your tips from Eddy now I see pretend not to understand or care when yourown facts aren't up to scratch.

You started with a very reasonable thesis in the OP Merl but as usual you went off the reservation trying to protect the Board again and now you want to play dumb because well what else can you do? You argued yourself back into that familiar corner from which there is no way out. So playing dumb makes sense I suppose.

LOL at "playing dumb makes sense", but that's what a lot of smart people do to protect theoir blind faith in what they believe. They live and think by oxymoron and paradox and contradiction

????

I think all Merlion did was to quote Hill Wood, probably to expose him. I may be wrong but none of the text on the reply is Merlions.

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.

Correct Padre.
That 2009/10 Finanical Report clearly INDICATE that for whatever reason known to Arsene Wenger, Gazidis and PHW, they had no valid reason not to strwngthn the squad.

Whategver we posted here are mere speculations and conjectures as we are not flies n the wall of the Boardroom.

Middle-Eastern Group to bid £1.5-billion for Arsenal and 24-team Dream Football League to from in 2 years time?


Interesting enough as both reports are from The Times.

I alway maintained that Krtoenke and usmanov are corporate predators, ocming in for the money and a quick 100% capital gain within 5 to 10 years.

Kroenke had pushed through a £430-million plus takeover 2 years ago and holds 66.8% share. Usmanov hold abut 29.11% share.

If the Middle-Eastern Consortium is willing to offer at least £20,000 per share, then Kroenke will easily make about £350-million profit, which will take decades for him to earn with a declining Arsenal FC team which will need at least £100-million plus cash injection for the next 2 to 4 years on Player Bill for Arsene Wenger to rebuild and to strengthen teh squad to become title cotnender again.

And when Middle-Eastern Consortiums own the likes of Manchester City, PSG, Malaga, Arsenal plus maybe a few more European clubs wihtin the next 2 years, then that 24-Team Dream Football League by 2004/15 season is viable with pragmatic team owners like Glazer Family, Abramovich and John Henry will jump in to earn that expected £125-million per team.

And forgo that rigid and Platini-socialist policy of giving lesser teams a better chance of playing in CL Cup...and yes, that FFP Regulaitons as well.

English clubs plus European clubs are most willing to desert the European CL and UEFA CUp competiitons - which at the most will earn them less than £50-million per season - for the richness of the bi-annual Dream Football League which guarantees each team a sum of £125-million.

Kroenke and Gazidis had taken a caluclated gmable to concentrate on the financial aspect fo Arseanl FC to mkae Arsenal Holdings plc a most attractive propostions for buyers and this year and next year is a most crucial window of opportunity for them to sell Arsenal FC..or else retaining Arsenal Holdings will cost them dearly in forking out at least £100-million for the next few years on Player Bills.

For a shrewd and absentee "landlord" like Kroenke, it will be daft for him to turn down that £350-million "capital gain" profit if a Middle-Eastern Consortium is willing to spend up to £1.5-billion to takeover a grossly over-priced Arsenal Holdings plc as one of the seeds to build up their Dream Football League in Qatar.

Quote:

Merlion96
Correct Padre.
That 2009/10 Finanical Report clearly INDICATE that for whatever reason known to Arsene Wenger, Gazidis and PHW, they had no valid reason not to strwngthn the squad.

Whategver we posted here are mere speculations and conjectures as we are not flies n the wall of the Boardroom.

No we aren't flies on the wall but that does not compel any of us to just accept whatever the Board says as categorical fact or not to pressure the Board to say more and share more than they are willing to. It does not compel us to allow them to get away with what they may be doing just because we aren't 100% certain they are doing it.

We are not the Metropilitan Police nor the Crown Prosecutor. We are not governed by the same standards of guilt or inniconce or of evidence. We are simply supporters who want what is best for our Club and anyone who chooses to trust the board and accept what they say as categorical fact just because no one is a fly on the wall so we don't know the whole complete word-for-word transcribed truth has to be asked do they genuinely want what actually is best for Arsenal.

We don't have to wait until its too late as the police and prosecutors do too often.

And I think the dream league idea will fail soon enough. They are so many sultans and so many teams for them to buy and the league mooted here will fatally undermine domestic football in many countries and thus UEFA as well, and so not only will UEFA and of course FIFA fight it, but so will the governments in those countries as the collapse of domestic football will be hugely problematic.

More likely the big clubs will use it ala the G-14 using its super league threat a couple of decades back to create the Champions League, to force UEFA and domestic FAs to give some ground on FFP so that it will only help the big clubs that much more.

It's just a high-stakes bargaining chip.

Quote:

RadioFreeArsenal
And I think the dream league idea will fail soon enough. They are so many sultans and so many teams for them to buy and the league mooted here will fatally undermine domestic football in many countries and thus UEFA as well, and so not only will UEFA and of course FIFA fight it, but so will the governments in those countries as the collapse of domestic football will be hugely problematic.
More likely the big clubs will use it ala the G-14 using its super league threat a couple of decades back to create the Champions League, to force UEFA and domestic FAs to give some ground on FFP so that it will only help the big clubs that much more.

It's just a high-stakes bargaining chip.

They had bought manchester City and WC2022.

WHich European countries in their daft minds will prefer to play WC2022 during the hot summer in Qatar if not following the instructions from their political masters and Large Business with hundreds of billins of largesse called "construciton contracts" to be handed out to European construciton firms?

SImilarly for Dream Football League...which football CEO is crazy enough to turn down a guaranteed £125-million "participant fees" if the likes of PSG, Malaga, Manchester City, Chelski, Liverpool, Arsenal, ROma, Inter, Milan, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Ajax, Bayern Munich, et al agreed to participate under pressure from their politicla masters for fear of angering Qatar, UAE, etc?

Remember how Manchester Untied decided to participate in World Club competiiton in Brazil and withdrew from FA Cup competition?

I dare say that when Qatar formally announces the Dream Football League, even FIFA will bow to political pressure from European countries for fear of losing lucrative business deals in the Middle East.....
CLub decision or political decision?

One difference that was FIFA sanctioned.

The point is is FIFA don't want that it will not happen. Period. Remember FIFA can always threaten action not simply against the Clubs but against their players. Actions such as banning from Continental Confederation play and World Cup play or even increasing International matches and competitions to undermine such a league.

Plus there are certain Clubs in certain countries with certain ownership strcutures and domestic attitudes who simply will not sign on. You won't get the German Clubs and may struggle to get Barca and Madrid.

If you don't get the clubs from there that's better than half of the last eight in the Champions League, and three of the biggest Clubs on earth among them. As well as three more clubs in the last 16 of the Champions league or Europa League. In other words any Dream league idea already has a huge hole in it.

Do you really think replacing those clubs with Everton s***s, Newcastle, Rangers, Celtic will really make it a Dream League? Hell right now some would argue Arsenal wouild qualify for that list rather than the Dream League list..


And do you think supporters will comntinue to follow these Clubs is asked to overpay like we do now and with less silverware available to them even than now to sell their fans on paying to dream of?

So this will not happen.

But it will give the big clubs facing the threat of being reeled in by FFP the critical bargaining chip they need to to de-fang any such legislation.

Lack of adidas bid will hurt Arsenal as Gunners search for whopping new kit deal



By Charles Sale

PUBLISHED: 22:25 GMT, 22 March 2013 | UPDATED: 22:25 GMT, 22 March 2013

It will come as a considerable blow to Arsenal’s hopes of maximising their next kit deal to learn that adidas are no longer interested.

Arsenal are looking for a huge increase in their present seven-year deal with Nike worth £55million that runs until the end of next season — especially with talk that Nike’s next long-term Manchester United agreement could reach £1billion.

Arsenal had believed adidas were chasing the contract, particularly as mock-up Gunners shirts with the three-stripe branding had been circulated. That would have given the club extra leverage in negotiations.
But senior adidas personnel have revealed that they considered the contract after being approached but will definitely not be bidding.

Adidas, wary of the money Arsenal want, believe they already have a strong hand of Champions League clubs in Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich and extra Premier League exposure with Swansea, Stoke, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion with West Ham likely to be their next London club signing.

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Well, well, well...it reinforces my hypothesis that Arsene Wenegr will be forced to buy bg this summer as "Adidas" dela maybe the first across across the bow that failure on the pitch will cost Arsenal holdings plc dear as sponsors and advertisers are no longer interested to apy top dollars for a 2nd-tier European club like Arsenal FC.

No matter how much PHW and Gazidis put up a brave front, losing Top-4 status is no longer a matter of losing about £30-million per season from participating in CL Cup competition, but it will cost Arsenal Holdings plc dearly by losing hundreds of millions of commercial, TV and sponsorships deals.

Hence why failures on the pitch cause our broadcasting & commercial businesses "stagnant" in comparison to marquee clubs.

George Karl of the Denver Nuggets is all of those things and can also now add “unemployed” to his list as Stan Kroenke’s Denver Nuggets have fired him.

I know George Karl all too well. He was the coach of the Seattle Supersonics when they made their amazing run to the NBA finals in 1996 only to be beaten by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. His tenure in Seattle started well. He took players that no one thought were going to be great like Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins, and a kid from community college in Indiana Shawn Kemp and turned them into one of the meanest swarming defenses the NBA had ever seen. Annd every season he was coach, The Sonics went to the playoffs.

But one thing my English readers don’t get is that in America the regular season is just an audition. The big show is the playoffs. And every season, save the 1996 season where they got to the finals, The Seattle Supersonics were bounced out of the playoffs early. Once in the first round by the number 8 seed, Dikembe Mutombo’s Denver Nuggets.

Mutombo

By the time his last season with the Sonics ended, I was one of the minority who begged for him to be fired. His replacement was Paul Westphal, bitterly known in my house as Paul Westfail.

Fast forward in George Karl’s career and now he is the coach of those Nuggets. He’s in the last year of his contract, his team wins 57 regular season games, and loses in the first round of the playoffs. Yes, he got the Nuggets to the playoffs nine consecutive years but that was the eighth time his Nuggets were ousted in the first round. His subsequent termination was expected by many.

The man who did the firing was none other than Nuggets President Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan Kroenke. And both men (Karl and Kroenke) have been publicly cordial.

Karl’s agent put it this way:


I can’t praise Josh Kroenke enough for the way in which he handled a really difficult situation for both sides. He was always straightforward and honest every step of the way, and was very clear about what they were prepared and not prepared to do.

What, apparently, Kroenke was not prepared to do was succumb to George Karl’s pressure tactics over his contract negotiations. Karl wanted a new contract so he dangled his coach of the year trophy in front of the Nuggets management (while sending out “come hither” looks to the LA Clippers) and tried to leverage himself a better deal. But as Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post put it:


So, Karl tried to leverage his 57-win season and his coach of the year trophy into a new contract. Guess what? The Kroenke family does not succumb to leverage. Ask former general manager Kiki Vandeweghe what happened when he threatened to bolt.

As one NBA executive told me: The Kroenkes don’t do leverage. They blow up the bridge of negotiations. “Then,” the NBA exec added, “Stan Kroenke comes and blows up your house.”

Boom.

Karl is gone.

Kiszla is in a vocal minority of Denver fans who feel like firing Karl was the right thing to do. George Karl, it turned out, didn’t want to develop the Nuggets’ $11m/year man JaVale McGee. Karl made excuse after excuse for why his teams failed at the big show. Karl then tried to leverage a bigger deal out of the Nuggets and in the end Kroenke had enough and fired him.

The other 70% of Denver fans are left bewildered, however, by the move. Karl’s firing came just weeks after the Nuggets let go of Masai Ujiri, who had just won the NBA’s Executive of the Year and leaves a vacant Executive and Head Coaching spot on a team with no real recognizable star players.

All that Denver fans can ask is what are the Nuggets going to do now?

What is Josh Kroenke going to do now?

[www.7amkickoff.com]

Coach of the Year
Franchise record 57 wins
No stars on the roster
9 consecutive playoff appearances
1000+ career wins as a coach

Who said Arsene Wenger is UNTOUCHABLE if he does not perform during 2013/14 season when he will spend big to buy marquee players?

Our FY2011/12 turnover is about £235million and projected to reach £300million and above by FY2014/15, all the reports are true that EPL clubs are heading for a financial bonanza for the next 3 seasons.

As a minimum, for FY2013/14, Arsenal Holdings plc windfall profit is:
- £50million minimum extra for new TV Rights Deal
- £30million per annum from new Emirates deal
- £30million per annum from new Puma deal
- not forgetting other deals that are expiring in 2014 and can be negotiated for higher payoff.

Kroenke and Gazidis realised that to boost commercial rights and broadcasting rights, Arsenal Holdings plc must have a title-winning team in place; hence Arsene Wenger will be instructed to buy BIG ... and buy a 'Henry-like" player, an iconic figure, to boost the corporate image of Arsenal Holdings plc.

After Henry, our next most marketable and iconic figure is Fabregas.

Theo Walcott is then our next iconic figure and marketable in Asia, the most lucrative market after EU.

For football reason, as well as commercial reason, there is a very real chance that Arsene Wenger will bring back Fabregas, that iconic figure that epitomises the SUCCESS of his Youth Policy.

Look at George Karl "last season" record:
Coach of the Year
Franchise record 57 wins
No stars on the roster
9 consecutive playoff appearances
1000+ career wins as a coach

Does it mirrors that of Arsene Wenger's for the past 8 seasons?

ARSENAL have cleared the way for Arsene Wenger to sign Wayne Rooney.

Chief executive Ivan Gazidis said the Gunners CAN afford to pay Rooney more than £200,000 a week and Manchester United a £25million fee.

Gazidis was adamant only boss Wenger will decide whether to bid for the England striker.

But he claimed Arsenal are finally willing and able to make the stellar signings required for a genuine title challenge, smashing their rigid pay structure.

SunSport can reveal the Gunners’ revenues are set to top £300m with the new Emirates, kit and TV rights deal kicking in over the next two years. They will have £70m every year for new signings.

Asked directly if they could afford the England hitman and his wages, Gazidis said: “I don’t know what his fee would be.

“I’m talking about an extra £70m of additional, high-margin revenue — so of course we could do that.

“We could do more than that.”

It is a massive boost to long-suffering fans desperate to see big-name signings after eight years of losing their best players and winning nothing.

Arsenal scraped into fourth spot last season, pipping Tottenham by a point.

Gazidis, who also hinted Wenger is likely to be offered a new deal, said: “We are beginning to see the escalation in our financial firepower.

“That’s going to happen partly next season, it’s partly available now. It means we can spend more on transfers and wages.

“We can look at options that weren’t previously in our financial capability.”

By topping £300m in revenues, the Gunners will come close to European champions Bayern Munich, who last year posted £317m income.

Gazidis added: “We should be able to compete at a level like Bayern. I’m not saying we are there — we have a way to go.

“We are an extraordinarily ambitious club. This has been about putting us up with the best in the world and now the question is turning that platform into on-field success.

“Fans want to see real progression.

“I do believe we can win the title and that’s certainly our ambition.”


Read more: [www.thesun.co.uk]

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Let's hope it is not with a qualifier like last season ...

Gazidis: "We will never sell Van Persie at any price ... but ..."

But yes, all signs are pointing that perhaps Arsene Wenger will stay, and will be given at least another 3 seasons to rebuild a title-winning team by 2015/16 season.

The last excuse from Arsenal Holdings plc that they did not have the spending power to compete with BIG BOYS are put to rest by Gazidis' bombastic statement ... and really, like that 'Van Persie" statement, Gazidis had painted himself into a corner for post-mortem in summer 2014 ... if Arsenal FC has another dismal season under Arsene Wenger.

Fish or cut bait in May/June 2014 if Arsene Wenger flops again ... another George Karl circa 2014?