Before the Fulham game Danny Fiszman did an interview on Sky.
What I saw was interesting but I didn’t write anything about it because that match was on Sunday April 29 and we had the builders here from Monday April 30.
There were three things I wanted to say about that interview with Danny, whom I’ve met occasionally over the last eleven years. But to write clearly I have to be able to think clearly. As you know, demolition, plumbing and carpentry are noisy, plastering is messy, and cutting tiles is noisy. With hindsight, I should have checked into the Savoy with a laptop.
First of all, and I know this from doing a bit of broadcasting, it’s hard to say exactly what you want to say and no more when you’re talking into a microphone, unless you are a practiced broadcaster, or a politican, or a master of the art, like Arsene Wenger. Even the best BBC newsreaders and presenters make a tiny slip of the tongue from time to time.
Secondly, this was the first time I’ve seen Danny Fiszman’s ego. Here was a guy who was, in effect, saying : We’ve built a great new stadium, I will not be bullied, nobody can run a football club better than us.
Thirdly, he didn’t slam the door shut. He didn’t wholly rule out a takeover.
Since all that was 12 days ago, and since my ANR stuff is mostly pretty topical, written in the moment for the moment, I could easily ignore what Danny said and write about something else, even though nothing significant has happened in the last two weeks.
However, it’s important enough to deserve further consideration, beyond what Ian Grant wrote at the time.
If you’re an Arsenal fan, and you’ve been on another planet for the last two weeks, here’s a summary of the plot and the dramatis personae:
Danny Fiszman has 24.1%
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith has 15.9%
David Dein has 14.6%
Stan Kroenke has 12.19%
The directors have never allowed Dein to become Arsenal chairman, although he ran the club for years and brought his friend Danny Fizsman onto the board in 1992. As I heard it at the time, on a typical Saturday morning David would go round to Danny’s house in his Porsche and pick him up and drive him up to Maine Road or somewhere similar. That was how it was in the Nineties when the two were close friends.
The infighting between board members in the last seven years has been kept in-house. Lately, it looks as if the directors hardly talk to each other, and of course gentlemen never talk about each other in public. This year I heard that Dein and Fiszman were barely on speaking terms and only communicated when they had to.
When Brian Woolnough was on The Sun he used to occasionally phone chairman Peter Hill-Wood at home and get a quote. Now that Woolly is on The Daily Star he occasionally phones Hill-Wood at home and gets a quote. And Peter invariably says some things that a chairman should not say. All football reporters know that, most Arsenal shareholders know that, and most club employees know that.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 17, we heard that David Dein had left Arsenal, which Arsene Wenger called “an amazing decision.”
Why had he left? He must have done something truly beyond the pale. He must have done something that could never be forgiven. There was a board meeting, at which Danny and Lady Nina were not present, and Dein was kicked out.
What did he do? Apparently, he tapped up Lady Nina, asking her to come in with him.
That betrayal enraged Fiszman, as it would enrage anybody. David Dein got the boot but told friends, “I’ll be back, I’ll have the last laugh.”
The fact that Fiszman agreed to speak to Sky Sports on April 29 was notable in itself. He is not high profile and has never wanted to be. But Dein’s departure was a crisis that generated so much speculation that somebody, preferably the guy with the most gravitas, had to go on TV and say : Don’t worry, everything’s fine, everything’s under control, the ship isn’t sinking.
Danny Fiszman told Geoff Shreeves, “I’ve been on the board 15 years now. Since then, we’ve had tremendous success on the pitch and we’ve built a fabulous team, a young team.
“We’ve built the stadium. It’s not a bad stadium is it? And also a state-of-the-art training ground. All that has been done with our own resources. We’ve done everything in a sensible and financially-conservative way.
“Other than Chelsea, we’ve seen no evidence of big amounts being put into a club. The board is there to ensure that the future of Arsenal improves and that we continue the success that we’ve had in the past. We will do everything we can in order to ensure that.
“We are open to anything that will improve the club but we’re going to have to be seriously convinced that it would improve the fortunes of the club.It’s going to be very, very difficult to explain to me and to the rest of board how you can actually make substantial investment – which would be another £400million, £500million, £600million – and expect a return for that.
“If it’s just an 8-10% return, you’re talking about £50million or so. That’s got to come out of the club, otherwise there’s no point making a purchase. I don’t know how they’re going to be able to improve the finance of the club at that sort of amount.”
Geoff Shreeves asked, “Why did David Dein leave?
“I really can’t say any more than I’ve already s – than has been said by the chairman. Irreconcilable differences, and I can’t go any deeper than that, Geoff, so we’ll have to move on.”
“Do you know whether or not David Dein is working in League with Stan Kroenke ?”
Fizsman smiled and said, “I’d rather not comment on that.”
“With regard to the actual stability of the club now, it obviously affects Arsene Wenger’s future ?”
“We don’t think the ownership is in doubt. The board will support Arsene Wenger. If he wants to have another one, two, three players, then the board will support him..”
“How does it work if you meet with whoever the investor is and you don’t agree with their plans? If they try to mount a hostile takeover, can you see them off ? How does that work?”
“They can mount a hostile bid but they’re never gonna get control of the club.The board has 45.5% of the shares. We also obviously have friends which takes us over 50%. The future of the club is in the hands of the board.”
So that was where we were on Sunday April 29.
Yesterday, on Wednesday, May 10, the share price dropped by £250 to £7,025. That was the first time the share price had dropped for a long time and it probably means that whoever placed an order in the market has withdrawn the order.
So Silent Stan, a strategic investor, is playing a long game.
He knows what Arsenal want to do but they don’t know what he wants to do. He has called their bluff. He can now sit tight and see what Arsene Wenger can deliver next season. He might think that if Wenger signs more kids and finishes sixth, the manager might throw in the towel at the end of his contract. If that happens the share price will go down sharply and Kroenke can buy the club more cheaply.
But, in my view, it is very unlikely that Wenger will quit.
So that’s where Arsenal stand at the moment. They don’t know what Kroenke wants to do. And they don’t know what David Dein is doing. And while Fiszman has friends, he knows that Dein has friends as well. Ultimately, business is business. If you’re a friend of Danny Fiszman and Stan Kroenke offers you 10,000 a share, would you sell ?
IN OTHER NEWS, Getafe won and Tevez is leaving.
Last night my gambling greengrocer told me to back Getafe because Barca were leading 5-2 from the first leg in their Copa del Rey semi. So I did and Getafe won 4-0 and will meet Seville in the final. John is about £8,000 up this season.
Carlos Tevez, a major talent, is leaving West Ham. He would be fabulous at Liverpool, replacing Bellamy, and fabulous at Real Madrid, replacing Raul.