It's time for Usmanov

The Kroenke era has already proven to be a disaster for Arsenal FC. I do not recall a major club anywhere in Europe ever losing its three best players within the space of 12 months.

We haven't progressed off the pitch either. The only major change apart from the dismantling of the squad has been an increase of what already were the most expensive match tickets in the world.

''American owners are good for the game'' is what Stan said in his eulogy to the Glazers last year. Really Stan?

Manchester United have paid nearly half a billion quid in interest charges while those parasites have been in charge there. That is a similar amount to what Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour have pumped into their (formerly) little clubs. The net difference is a billion pounds. This has been funded by the fans.

Kroenke's arrogance is a slap in the face for everyone who cares about this club. Unfortunately he and his henchmen will get away with it as long as fans are stupid enough to vent their frustrations at the manager and want away players.

The only hope is Usmanov.Its time for all of us to boycott the club until Kroenke gets to a stage where he is happy to sell to Usmanov in return for a profit on his speculative investment.

Who's 'we'?

Arsenal's 2nd biggest investors Usmanov & Moshiri have apparently written to Kroenke expressing "deep reservations" about how he's running the club.

Tweeted by THIS GUY and re-tweeted by Tim Payton.

I just want Kroenke and his puppet Gazidis gone. Nothing but bad things have came here when those two took over.

I just don't want us to become like City or Chelsea. We've worked hard to come at this position. We build the stadium on our own, not depending on some ******* sugar daddy.

NO, WE DON'T.


And believe me. I care for the club.

Who's 'we'?

Anyone who cares for the club. It is beyond reasonable doubt that things would not have escalated to this level under Usmanov. Lets look at the three crucial differences between him and Kroenke.

1) He actually likes football and attends games. Yes, there is the old chestnut out there that he is/was a Manchester United fan. So were the Sheikh and Abramovich. Bottom line is he has a passion for the game, and at the very least an affection for the club.

2) For billionaires from the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, club ownership is a matter of prestige rather than a money making exercise. This has been the case everywhere owners from those regions have made an appearance (Chelski, Malaga,City,PSG). The track record of American owners is the exact opposite (Liverpool,United,Arsenal).

3) Usmanov is far wealthier than Kroenke. For Kroenke Arsenal is a cornerstone of his business. For Usmanov it would be a glorified hobby and an ego boost.

A forum such as this one has considerable power to mobilise fans. While a stay away owner like Kroenke is unlikely to be personally moved by vociferous or even violent protest (see the Glazers) against his ownership, he would be affected by the damage mass dissent would do to his income streams and brand value.

The biggest weakness of Arsenal fans as a collective has been our inability to speak with one voice

David Bond ‏@DavidBondBBC
Breaking: Extraordinary open letter from Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov criticising Stan Kroenke and board...... #Arsenal
Retweeted by tim payton

Well when kronke come arsenal start losing their best players hope usmanov if he come back can keep the best players and offer them good contracts.

So where's the ''We don't want Kroenke'' thread?

How can anyone be happy with Kroenke? He's done absolutely nothing and has to be a major disappointment to anyone who expected anything from him. If the only alternative is Usmanov then so be it. I knew Kroenke wouldn't do anything much but I had no idea he would prove to be this useless. The Denilson of club owners f**k knows how he owns this club. Should just stick to his Chicago Kentucky McNuggets or whatever american franchise he owns and leave us with an owner who actually gives a f**k beyond increasing the value of his shares without risking much.

Its no co-incidence that since Kronke took over, we cannot keep our players, seem happy to sell our top asset every season, not plow that money back into the squad & he hasn't dipped his hand in his pocket once (whilst the club milks its fans like cows)

I'd like to know exactly what Kronke has done for us?

Can things be any worse under Usmanov? I doubt it.

3) Usmanov is far wealthier than Kroenke. For Kroenke Arsenal is a cornerstone of his business. For Usmanov it would be a glorified hobby and an ego boost.

This is the one part of your claims which is not a weird generalization/weak induction. But does this mean it is good? one could easily argue that it leads to the opposite conclusion (I certainly feel so. What's so great about being an insignificant toy of a person with a questionable background and motives?)

The biggest weakness of Arsenal fans as a collective has been our inability to speak with one voice

OK, there's a lot we can do to protest (and protest we should). There's much we can do to say "no, we will not support a 4th place cow". That, long before the word "violence" gets into this (and shady people introduced, straight to the top).
I sometimes wonder what all this does to people.

Gazidis and Kroenke are way out of depth over here. American sports is run different than over here in Europe. Football is not a business like American sports. There are no rules in football and the players have all the power. There's no salary cap no drafts and other stuff.

Nobody wants us to turn into Man City or Chelsea, but having someone like Usmanov who isn't scarred to spend money would help us considerably in keeping the super rich clubs away from our top players.

Just to let you know usmanov has no intention to blow his money like man sheik,chavs and the like.

He just wants to maximise our commercial revenue and rely on the cash from that to fund us.

He aint here to spend dumb money.

I just don't want us to become like City or Chelsea. We've worked hard to come at this position. We build the stadium on our own, not depending on some ******* sugar daddy.

What position?

Losing our best players every season? Haven't won a trophy since 2005? Mismanagement of contracts?

Us moving to the Emirates is commendable, but let's be objective here; We have regressed since 2005.

I just don't want us to become like City or Chelsea. We've worked hard to come at this position. We build the stadium on our own, not depending on some ******* sugar daddy.

We would be nothing like those two. For starters we have a strong foundation while those two were built/bought from scratch.

This isn't about Usmanov buying a Galacticos squad with his personal fortune. This is about:

1) an owner who can ''help out'' when the club are in a temporary financial squeeze.

2)an owner for whom the balance sheet bottom line is not the be all and end all.

3) an owner able (and willing!!!!) to provide a shot in the arm when needed.

4) an owner who has similar priorities to the fans

5)an owner who doesn't take prisoners. Does anybody honestly believe Usmanov would not have managed to ''convince'' Emirates and Nike that it is in everyone's best interest to terminate the current sponsorship deals.

6) an owner who can bring in sponsors of genuine quality and muscle. Look at Schalke's deals with Gazprom (where Usmanov has considerable influence).

The fundamentals are in place at Arsenal.

I just don't want us to become like City or Chelsea. We've worked hard to come at this position. We build the stadium on our own, not depending on some ******* sugar daddy.

What position?

Losing our best players every season? Haven't won a trophy since 2005? Mismanagement of contracts?

Us moving to the Emirates is commendable, but let's be objective here; We have regressed since 2005.

Emirates stadium and our healthy financial situation. Of course I'm not talking about trophies and our lack of succes on the pitch. That's a different story.

We dont need Kroenke gone, we need to address the issues properly with astute purchases, like we did with Arteta.

For me,

Honda/Belhanda/Hamsik/Carzola
M'Vila/Capoue
Vertonghen/Subotic
Lloris

We can more than afford any of the players I mentioned above, and then we go from a team able to perform for six months to seriously challenge for all ten. Im pretty sure this was all VP wanted. We cant rely on Wilshere, Ramsey, Oxlade, etc to carry our hopes, they cant as they are still boys, no matter what anyone says.

Usmanov represents us being able to do that yes, but I suspect he will destroy the entire self sustaining model we have developed. We dont need that we just need proper action.

I just don't want us to become like City or Chelsea. We've worked hard to come at this position. We build the stadium on our own, not depending on some ******* sugar daddy.

We would be nothing like those two. For starters we have a strong foundation while those two were built/bought from scratch.

This isn't about Usmanov buying a Galacticos squad with his personal fortune. This is about:

1) an owner who can ''help out'' when the club are in a temporary financial squeeze.

2)an owner for whom the balance sheet bottom line is not the be all and end all.

3) an owner able (and willing!!!!) to provide a shot in the arm when needed.

4) an owner who has similar priorities to the fans

5)an owner who doesn't take prisoners. Does anybody honestly believe Usmanov would not have managed to ''convince'' Emirates and Nike that it is in everyone's best interest to terminate the current sponsorship deals.

6) an owner who can bring in sponsors of genuine quality and muscle. Look at Schalke's deals with Gazprom (where Usmanov has considerable influence).

The fundamentals are in place at Arsenal.

I'm not exactly against Usmanov if it means that Kroenke and his puppets will leave. I just don't know too much about Usmanov to really judge him. I also doubt that he will reign the club like Abramovic or those Arabs.

Here's the 'open letter':

http://www.arsenaltrust.org/news/2012/r ... enal-board

Here's the 'open letter':

http://www.arsenaltrust.org/news/2012/r ... enal-board" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That doesnt work. Try this:

http://news.arseblog.com/2012/07/full-t ... nal-board/

We dont need Kroenke gone, we need to address the issues properly with astute purchases, like we did with Arteta.

For me,

Honda/Belhanda/Hamsik/Carzola
M'Vila/Capoue
Vertonghen/Subotic
Lloris

We can more than afford any of the players I mentioned above, and then we go from a team able to perform for six months to seriously challenge for all ten. Im pretty sure this was all VP wanted. We cant rely on Wilshere, Ramsey, Oxlade, etc to carry our hopes, they cant as they are still boys, no matter what anyone says.

Usmanov represents us being able to do that yes, but I suspect he will destroy the entire self sustaining model we have developed. We dont need that we just need proper action.

Nice sentiments SA but under Kroneke, your wishlist will ever happen. He won't help fund even one signing yet its no co-incidence that sales of players helps fund incoming usually with a little profit to bank.

Kroneke being here has gone hand in hand with us constantly losing players every season. Personally, I hate everything that Chelsea/City stand for yet unless we move with the times, we will get left behind. We'll keep our principles but be sitting in 7th/8th place every season.

If we sell RvP for say, 20 to 25M then basically we've balanced the books once again. A never ending circle - buy a couple and then sell our biggest asset to fund it - happened last season. Sold Fabregas/Nasri, bought quite a few players yet still ended up in profit as usual.

Usmanov story on sky sports news now. Have a feeling **** might hit the fan soon..

Get in Usmanov!

Its a combination of our board's penny pinching and Wenger's youth priotising that needs a serious look in. Yes, good building blocks for a well run club but it cannot play such a dominant role in our decision making anymore. All Wenger's successful teams had a healthy mix of youth and quality exprience, and these teams delivered fantastic accolades to the club.

For Wenger, he must relax his prioritising of youth above all else, at the expense of ready made players who can do the job. For the board its about focusing on success on the field and doing what is necessary to achieve that. No not Man City/Chelsea/Barca/Madrid expendature but decent and affordable investment in one or two quality additions.

We find ourselves in this position every year now, and then we want to celebrate making the bare minimum as if it is some kind of achievement. That's like your son who is used to A grades at school having pathetic preparations before the year and then celebrates a D grade at the end of it.

3) Usmanov is far wealthier than Kroenke. For Kroenke Arsenal is a cornerstone of his business. For Usmanov it would be a glorified hobby and an ego boost.

This is the one part of your claims which is not a weird generalization/weak induction. But does this mean it is good? one could easily argue that it leads to the opposite conclusion (I certainly feel so. What's so great about being an insignificant toy of a person with a questionable background and motives?)

The biggest weakness of Arsenal fans as a collective has been our inability to speak with one voice

OK, there's a lot we can do to protest (and protest we should). There's much we can do to say "no, we will not support a 4th place cow". That, long before the word "violence" gets into this (and shady people introduced, straight to the top).
I sometimes wonder what all this does to people.

How is it a generalisation to claim Arab/Former Soviet owners make net contributions to their clubs while Americans do the opposite. Every example out there proves my statement to be correct.

Secondly, this is not about Usmanov becoming our sugardaddy. This is about the club being able to punch to its actual weight.

If you want to turn this into a debate about sugardaddies versus leeches, any sane person would have to conclude the former is preferable to the latter. Of course we would all prefer an ownership structure controlled by fans as is the case at Bayern or the two big Spanish clubs. Unfortunately that is impossible.

In crude terms you are arguing the equivalent of it being preferable for a young lady to be exploited by people traffickers and pimps to being kept by a wealthy boyfriend.