Ivan Gazidis said that in order to ensure the recruitment process wasn’t tainted by personal opinion, he, Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat didn’t discuss candidates in any detail during the process which saw them decide on Unai Emery as the new head coach.
Earlier, the chief executive outlined the steps they went through to appoint the Spaniard, but strangely said communication between them was limited before they came to their final decision.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, he said, “We went through a pretty wide-ranging discussion, challenging each other on as much as we could on preconceptions and assumptions we might have had going into the process.
“By the way, all the way going through the process, Raul and I and Sven spoke to each other as little as possible.
“Because we didn’t want to pollute each other’s viewpoints from the discussions we had had. We wanted to come to the discussion fresh when we had been through all eight of the finalist candidates.
“We narrowed it down to three. We spent an entire day discussing among those three.
“At the end of the day, three of us all wrote on a piece of paper, 1, 2, 3, and put them into the middle of the table.
“And the choices were all 1, 2, 3 the same. And Unai was at the top of all of our lists.”
The old three envelopes trope. Lovely stuff.
Anyway, we’re on board with Emery who seems like a sensible appointment. A Europa manager for a Europa League team, and hopefully both can kick on to better things.
The 46 year old has signed a three year contract.
Europa league is all well and good, but can he do it on a wet rainy Tuesday night in stoke? Oh no wait, he won’t fucking have to.
Nicely punt!
Piss off Stoke and don’t come back like ever 🙂
Orcs being relegated is easily the greatest success of this season
Lol
Heady times we’re in!
Haha, so good.
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Hahaha love it
This would have (rightly) had about 500 upvotes if they were working.
Odd, this notion of “pollution”! My understanding of hiring exercise is that conversation among the committee during the process helps clarify expectations, opinions and inform the decision making – rather than the reverse.
Read the article again, then repost your comment sir, you clearly skipped a passage or three.
Not necessarily agreeing with this specific instance, but speaking to each other can prime people’s thoughts and insert biases. Some tech companies go out of their way to allow multiple groups to interview and not talk to each other as well.
They did have a conversation. The idea is that in the early stages you try not to canvas or influence others, so that the choice really does feel unanimous rather than the result of one person’s influence over another (which can lead to resentment). I’ve experienced this method of hiring at my business (not, as my moniker suggest, McDonald’s), and it’s been very successful, especially in preserving relationships among the hiring committee and in giving confidence to the person hired.
Agree. I also don’t like to talk about candidates until I have spoken to candidates.
With respect to the headline: this is a good thing! If the implication is that Gazidis was disregarding their opinion, then I think that it is incorrect. Selecting in this way is quite typical in hiring processes as a means to avoid bias from the top down. Suppose X is the superior and Y and Z join X on the hiring committee: it’s imperative that X doesn’t unduly influence Y and Z’s decisions, as otherwise it’s very likely that there will straightforwardly be a unanimous decision which is just X’s in the first place. By Gazidid not talking much to… Read more »
This article infers that Gazidis just made the appointment without confering with anyone, whereas he clearly says: “We spent an entire day discussing among those three.”
I’m all for holding the board to account for their cuntishness, but I can’t see what the bald one has done wrong here.
I probably missed something, but can someone please explain to me where did the “likes” and “unlikes” gone on comments and is it temporary or not? I believe they put certain things into perspective, and are doing more good than harm. Hopefully they’ll be back. Thank you
Agree. Where are the likes/dislikes?
Also agreed. It gave me a good hint on which comments I should skip reading.
Me too. It saved me at least 25 seconds each day.
I asked blog same question on twitter but I didn’t get any reply. can someone explain to us what happened to the like/dislike counts? The comment section is boring without it.
Rocked up to his interview with video analysis of our academy players.
Literally love this guy already.
What a click-bait headline! As bad as what you see in some of the rags
Could not agree more. I’ve been coming to this site for about 10 years now and I hate often click bait has featured lately.
Hey Kool-Aid man. I’ll never forgive you for what you did to Freshie. Also my basement wall.
Hamburgler is my boy. Had to break him out.
Blogs, please bring back voting for comments
Yes, this wasn’t one your better headlines. Definitely misleading (“wide-ranging discussion” and then “spent an entire day discussing” is not quite the same as “barely spoke”). Though maybe “click-bait” is going a bit too far?
Came here to say just this. Definitely below normal standard.
Why the self deprecation about being a Europa league team, Chelsea are in the Europa league are they shit now too? Lets have some positivity ffs. EPL is highly competitive now and we need to get use to volatility amongst the tops teams.
? (as the thumbs up and down still don’t work)
There’s no points in getting a new manager if we don’t change the culture of the club. NO MORE “FOURTH IS A TROPHY”!!
EMERY SHOULD BE TOLD THAT HE IS HERE To WIN THE TITLE AND THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!
SIMPLE!!
Or how about we be practical and acknowledge that no matter what Arsenal do, there’s no way we can win the CL this season (because you know, we are not in it)
But nowadays fourth is a trophy for a lot of teams not just us. Having said that, I would hope in time his targets are the PL and the CL but to expect him to deliver that in his first season is unrealistic, even Pep couldn’t do that at Man C.
Hey! Where’s the downvote option for Fatgooner comments??
It’s been my customary protocol to click on the thumbs down icon when I see him post.
Bendtner ego, I would totally thumbs up your comments if I could!
Blogs, when are the thumbs up/down functions returning? It’s so difficult filtering thru the comments that I rather not be reading all day long (read Fatgooner)
No need to shout.
As he said he wants Arsenal to be the best team in the Premier League I think he might have that idea
If we get to fourth next season, i think it’s fair to say most will consider it a trophy.
Dude, your headline needs work.
And that quip about being a Europa coach for a Europa team was not funny.
I know you’re bitter about your idol Arteta not being the guy, but keep your chin up, mate. The sun will still come up tomorrow, no need to throw the passive-agreessive hissy fit.
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I bloody dig Emery already! Unai, dos, tres
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What happened to the Thumbs up and Thumbs down buttons??
Apparently we must use words now to express our feelings.
Down with words!
aoweipsdfjvh;anrwegtouiwehtzxl;dgohy8902345dsfbvszdetrh!!!!!!!!
Zzzz…
+1
I think this explains very well why the rumor was that Arteta would be hired, only for a seeming 180 to occur. My thought is that Gazidis wanted Arteta, and that was transmitted to the media as virtual fact, because Gazidis naturally assumed everyone would agree with him. Instead, the actual football men, Sven and Raul, were impressed with Emery, and overwhelmed Gazidis with evidence and persuasion when the time came to collaborate. Since Gazidis is ultimately a windsock, the decision became unanimous, and here we are! For the record, the more I read of Emery, the better I like… Read more »
I also believe Gazidis wrote his numbers after watching Sven and Raul.
A thumbs up from me if I could…but I can’t. So, to clarify in words – I completely agree to both the original post & later comment.
This is mere speculation. Unless journos like John Cross, who told us Arteta was the choice, tell us who or where they got that information from, we’ll never know. It was, let’s remember, only a rumour (or, if you’re a foreigner, a rumor).
Yes, I believe it’s pretty clear that I was just presenting my own pet theory. But just in case, let me say this: “I was just presenting my own pet theory.”
Where do you get the impression Gazidis is a windsock?. He is the guy who has been driving change at the club and brought about Arsene,.s removal
I get that impression by reading about him and watching him on video. Nothing he has done has led me to believe he is anything but a grasping yes-man who believes he shouldn’t have to say yes, but rather than simply say no, he prefers to scheme.
If my impression is wrong, then fair enough, but it will take some convincing.
Anyone know what’s the length of his appointment? I do not know if it was stated anywhere.
3 years
Hardly matters any more, does it? As long as it’s not 1 year, he’ll stay longer if things are going well and get the sack if they aren’t.
What becomes of the coaching staff left behind by Arsene?? Esp. Steve Bould
“A Europa manager for a Europa League team, and hopefully both can kick on to better things.” Just to point out he won the Europa League, and has managed in the Champions League although he didn’t win that. So that’s three big cups in Europe more than Wenger with a lesser budget, and experience of being knocked out in the CL, which is the same as most managers, like for example Allegri who was handed his ass in the final. Nobody mentions that fact about Allegri. Getting drubbed like that in the final is shameful. Calling Emery a Europa league… Read more »
? for the first part of your message ? for preferring Moyes to Arteta
He’s very specific. Almost too specific. Specific with a capital ‘SMUG’. They interviewed 8 people. Since the 25th April. And David Ornstein still only knows the names of 2 of them. I think it’s fair to say not a single person outside the boardroom knew what the fuck was going on and what we thought was happening was deliberately put out to us to mislead us, or at the least, we were deliberately not corrected. I’ve got a feeling Gazidis is revelling in this. Trying to mock journalists, fans and blogs alike. I can just see him now, sipping his… Read more »
Extremely well put.
I’ve gone from quite liking three seasons ago to becoming increasingly repulsed by his smugness.
Think we’ll be seeing and hearing allot more of him. I hope for the right reasons but I fear for the wrong ones.
Its high time our CEO showed power. I really don’t see anything wrong with him maintaining confidentiality on such a sensitive issue
? like it
I get the feeling that Josh kroenke may have had a slight hand in some of this too.. If so.. Good on him.. Really hope he can be a positive force
I’m happy with the decision but I’d love to know who was #2 & #3 and who were the other 5 on the short list!
What’s the deal Mr Arseblog? Is someone paying you for your anti-Gazidis propaganda?
No, it’s free.
I can’t stand him.
Nevertheless, he’s put some good people in place and I hope it all goes brilliantly. I just find it hard to take that he’s put himself so much in the spotlight when he’s basically been invisible for so long.
I feel sympathy for Ivan. For years, he was overshadowed and undermined by the presence of Arsene Wenger. Ivan should have been Wenger’s boss; instead the club was effectively managed by Arsene, who reported directly to Kroenke. And Gazidis was humiliated last summer when he was ignored and overruled by Stupid Stan over the new contract for Le Prof. With Wenger having all the power at the club you can’t blame Gazidis for hiding in the shadows, although you could argue that he should have resigned once he realised that he was Chief Executive in name only. Now that it… Read more »
Finally, some outright honesty from you.
I know it’s better late than never, but at least you showed you’re capable of it.
Are you saying I’m not honest?
Miss!… Miss!…, Ivan copied off me!
Seems a sensible and well thought out process where they actaully did collaberate deeply at the right times, despite the headline 😉
I’m really impressed with the way things have been handled in last few weeks. Well Done Ivan.