I’ve always hoped something big would happen at Arsenal this summer.
And I’ve been hearing, for the last three weeks, that David Dein could be back soon .
Today The Mirror has an “exclusive” by Darren Lewis under the headline STAN PLANS DEIN RETURN
BILLIONAIRE Stan Kroenke is desperate to clinch a £650 million takeover of Arsenal – so he can bring back David Dein and stop Arsene Wenger quitting.
Kroenke, who owns 12 per cent of the club, is preparing to join forces with ex-vice-chairman Dein, who still has a 14.5 per cent stake. A bid is expected within the next fortnight.
Kroenke is still snapping up shares in the north Londoners, with the plan to raise his stake to 30 per cent – at which point the man willing to pump millions into the Gunners is obliged by takeover rules to launch a formal bid….
Arsenal have admitted they would welcome talks. A statement said yesterday: “There is an open invitation by the chairman for Stan Kroenke to meet the rest of the board.”
The Sun’s headline is : Kroenke keen on Arsenal talks
STAN KROENKE wants to meet the rest of the Arsenal board following talks with chairman Peter Hill-Wood and managing director Keith Edelman.
Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, refused to say whether his boss was looking to make a further investment.But he said: “Mr Kroenke’s very fond of the way they run their business operation.”
So watch this space !
If Arsenal could operate like Barcelona they could win the title twice and also the Champions League.
Frank Rijkaard has just signed powerful players in ball-winner Ya Ya Toure of Olympiakos, left back Eric Abidal of Lyon, and Gabriel Melito of Real Zaragoza.
I don’t think president Laporta would have bought Henry if he was keeping Ronaldinho, although I would definitely retain Ronaldinho, who is still a phenomenally creative player. Will Ronaldinho go to Milan for £40 million? That hasn’t looked like happening. But the deadline for registration of players for the Champions League always concentrates the minds of coaches and presidents
In other news, Real Madrid say Arjen Robben will be their player on Monday. Mourinho says the Dutch winger is going nowhere. Abramovich also says Robben going nowhere.
Carlos Tevez to Manchester United for £30 million hasn’t happened yet. Interesting that FIFA is now involved, as Blatter is a friend of Kia.
Overall, I’m feeling fresh, enthusiastic and optimistic about the new season.
Last July’s World Cup slog on ANR blunted my appetite for August and September. At the time I thought I was enjoying it.
Now I love to hear the phrase “I can’t wait” when it’s used by players who have just changed clubs, or by players like Fabregas, who is hungry for the real action to start.
Although my love of football is a constant thing, my appetite for the new season varies a lot from year to year. But this time I’m up for it. Mainly because Henry’s gone and because I think Eduardo is the sharpshooter Arsenal need. I’ve heard he’s red-hot in training but not really interested in anything except putting the ball in the net. For me, that’s fine, that’s what Arsenal need. They have players who can do all the other stuff, players who can give him a pass. If Eduardo wants a pass, they’ll give him a pass.
And maybe my mini-breaks are keeping me fresh.
In the Brighton Dome yesterday I met best friend Doug after our daughters graduated with 2.1s from Sussex University on the same day, and Caroline and Jessica had both booked lunch in vegetarian restaurants round the corner from each other. On a day of social kissing and photos, having Doug, Kate and Jess there too made it more special. And son Michael came down by train to join us.
Doug and Kate had just flown up from Antibes and Doug said, “I should have brought you Nice Matin. It’s got a picture of my mate Marco with Patrick Vieira in Juan-Le-Pins yesterday. Marco knows a lot of the players.”
We’ll remember it as the day we saw our little girls shaking hands with Dickie Attenborough. Many of the girls kissed him, as did several boys. Caroline said, “He’s tiny ! I just said Hi and thank you.”
It was a jolly affair, less dour than Sheffield City Hall two years ago, and the Dome is a stylish venue where I’d like to see a good rock band.
Looking at the grim weather today, we got so lucky on Wednesday and Thursday, two beautiful sunny days. Wednesday we walked down the Devils Dyke, the world’s deepest dry valley, and then hiked up through a stupidly steep wooded hillside. And we had it to ourselves! Saw nobody until two girls passed us coming down through the wood as we were staggering up. They say the place is mobbed at we weekends. For a city kid, it was an adventure and that evening I felt as if I’d done something.
Having said all that, my favourite moment this week was the serious stuff in the middle of the graduation ceremony, the awards for excellence in teaching, and the honorary degrees, one of which went to Sir Nicholas Stern, a guy Sussex vice-chancellor Alasdair Smith said he’d first met in 1971.
Stern, he said, wasn’t one of those academics who lived in an ivory tower, as he had he’d once spent an entire year living in an Indian village, to study the economy of the village.
He went on to become chief economist of the World Bank and Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Smith said Stern had done academic work of the highest value and the degree recognised his work on global public policy, especially his hugely influential 2006 Report on The Ecomonics of Climate Change, which was commissioned by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Stern said a helluva lot in a few words. On policy, he said it was best to observe, reflect and then recommend. The period of reflection is vital, he reckons. By contrast, he said, the approach of one powerful East Coast American, whom he didn’t name, was the exact opposite. This Yank’s approach was : FIRE…AIM…READY.
Stern said the most important things were the welfare of the poorest billion among the six billion on our planet, and climate change. He said we have to sustain and share our prosperity. He admitted that his generation didn’t understand the problem of climate change but, fortunately, this generation understands it a lot better. “Your generation has to undo some of the mistakes that our generation made. ” He noted that some of the philosophies of the last 20 years were very, very self-centred.
His advice to the graduates was, “You have to continue learning if you’re going to make a contribution. As you think about what you’re going to do next, please think about what you’re going to learn in the process.”
Inspiring stuff ! I loved it.