It’s really, really encouraging to have a new chief executive starting in January.
It will be eight months since Keith Edelman was sacked. Eight months with nobody driving the business ! How incompetent is that?
Ivan Gazidis is 44 and in his prime. He’s 15 years younger than Arsene Wenger and 30 years younger than Acting MD Ken Friar.
He probably thinks like an American and that might be good. Americans have a can-do attitude and they’re used to running big businesses and they’re not scared to make changes that upset a few people. He helped set up the Major League Soccer 14 years ago and that was a big challenge. Putting Arsenal where it should be is not, in my view, such a big challenge because he has the infrastructure and a heritage and a brand that is global already. He’s not starting from scratch.
Stan Kroenke refused to join the Arsenal board in 2007, even though Danny Fiszman rolled out the red carpet for him. Stan joined in 2008 on his own terms and sat next to Arsene Wenger at the AGM on October 23, without signing the lockdown agreement. Stan probably recommended his friend Ivan, so this appointment may have been discussed for some months. Or maybe the idea came from Paul Andrews, who runs Kroenke Sports Enterprises from Denver.
They say Gazidis turned down a similar job at Manchester City and he may have done that because he wanted to come to Arsenal. It looks as if Ivan Gazidis is a very bright, energetic guy who can do a lot of things to improve AFC. I really don’t think he’ll sell replica shirts whose Fly Emirates logos peel off after two washes. He will have more class than that.
Commercially, Arsenal are backward, five years behind where they should be. Their matchday income and TV income are relatively fixed if the stadium is full, although there were 5,000 empty seats for the Kiev game. The club declared 59,000, which means 4,000 people had tickets and couldn’t be arsed to turn up.
Ivan Gazidis might prove to be an imaginative and heavyweight deal-maker who can generate more income streams. But he should do it with a bit of class. Let’s not have 24 Platinum Partners, eh? Let’s not have the McDonalds Bridge. If Gazidis can make the right deals, and boost commercial income, the club could afford to freeze season-ticket prices for a couple of years. If he could do that, Arsenal fans would love him.
Remember : in the USA, football clubs don’t take their fans for granted. They have to work for their fans and look after them. It’s not easy for the MLS because the NBA, NFL and NHL are so big and so entrenched. And the MLS salary cap is $2m per squad. Not per player, per squad. Contract negotiations are at a much lower level.
So it’s all looking a bit brighter for Gooners this morning. Clearly, Arsene Wenger needs help. He has needed help since David Dein was kicked out. Now he has a new captain and a new lawyer is coming to work with him and run the club.
Also, Chelsea stunk the place out last night in a 1-1draw with Bordeaux. Scolari’s side have not been playing well of late, so I’ll expand on that theme tomorrow. Take care & have a good Thursday.