Ivan Gazidis says he’s excited by the appointment of Unai Emery as Arsenal’s new head coach but admits that ups and downs lie ahead as the Gunners embark on a new chapter in their history.
Having joined the club yesterday, Emery, 46, has spent the day at London Colney getting to know his new staff and surroundings and will no doubt be hoping to hit the ground running when the players return for pre-season training in early July.
Before the Premier League kicks-off in 80 days time, the new man must tackle a lengthy ‘to do’ list that includes integrating new staff, sprucing up his English, tackling the transfer window and, when the World Cup is over, taking the team to Hong Kong for a couple of friendlies, one of which is against old club PSG.
Even with a helping hand from Gazidis, Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi, it’s going to be a roller coaster journey.
“The hard work starts right now,” Gazidis told Arsenal Player. “We are right into the transfer window of course, but we’re also into many other things such as how we’re going to integrate his team, how we think about pre-season planning, how the teams are going to work together.
“There’s a lot of work to be done now to integrate this new team into our existing team. I know that we can do that successfully but it’s going to take hard work through the summer.
“There’s been obviously a lot of question marks as we’ve gone through this period of transition over recent weeks but now it’s really time to look forward as a football club.
“I am really excited about Unai’s appointment. I feel he’s a great fit for our football club. His value set, the way he conducts himself is really Arsenal class.
“Underneath that, you’ve got all of the technical side that he brings to the table and then on top of it all, which our fans will connect with, is this passion for the game and this energy. Once he brings that into the Emirates and into the Premier League, our fans are going to feel electrified by it.
“We don’t know what the journey will hold exactly, and there will certainly be ups and downs, but I think our fans will appreciate the commitment and the passion that we’re bringing to this effort and I think they’ll be behind us on this journey.
“I’m convinced that if we as a club are together and remember our motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit – Victory Through Harmony – I’m convinced that the sky is the limit for us.”
Heh. We’re really glad he translated the club’s Latin motto for us. Again.
What a well spoken cunt
I can’t really understand, why the mass hatred towards Ivan. I comprehend Kroenke, who, I feel has not really done much for our club, and, looking at what Stan has done with his other sports ventures, it seems quite reasonable to be apprehensive of him. But Ivan just does the job he has to do. He always acts with soft grace and class, and is probably single-handedly behind us getting Sanllehi and Mislintat in, who are extremely highly regarded in the football world. Your vile language would be much better aimed at the Jose’s of football, rather than people of… Read more »
You’re right. But he’s just so slick
I really cannot see that Gazidis has any class whatsoever. To me he’s a slimy creep who’s only interested in Arsenal as a business. His insincerity shines through with every statement he makes.
Sorry I totally disagree. I watched IG’s press conference after AW announced he was stepping down. I’m really into body language and was keen to look for any “tells”. I believe that Ivan respected Wenger but knew it was time for him to go because he has a genuine ambition for this club. Of course he is now taking centre stage and he is a good “politician” but I think Slimy creep is just too harsh. Also I hate to break it to you, but Arsenal is a business.
This! I believe he wanted Wenger out earlier as, I guess, most of the fans did. I believe he wanted to bring the new structures, change earlier but couldn’t because Kroenke to hold on to Wenger. I know he always talked a lot without saying much but this was to respect his boss’ decision to keep Wenger. He just couldn’t have gone up against Kroenke. I do believe he wants to push the club forward as he said years ago, not just financially because he knows we need to be competitive on the pitch to do that. Now he has… Read more »
The issue with Ivan is not the talking lots without saying anything – it is the not fronting up when the going got tough. His shield is now no longer there to deflect sh*t from him when it next hits the fan – he saw to that. I cant say I much like him… I found his shirtiness with Ornstien at Emery’s first Q&A really misjudged. That “those who know” line is really tedious from a management that have so often kept the fanbase in the dark. Still we do not have to like these people, we just need them… Read more »
You should get yourself a time machine and go back a few decades if you can’t handke it. That’s football now, business!
Shame on Ivan. Wanting to grow the business revenues in a club that prides itself on being a self-sustaining model. Boo, hiss.
In the bygone era of likes & dislikes, I would have created many fake IDs and UPvoted this particular comment to oblivion. ?
How I miss those days
I’m disappointed the like/dislike buttons have gone. Where’s the fun in that Arseblog? I’d like to know the reasoning. It’s actually very useful to scan through – especially on mobile – and see which comments have generated the most reaction, be it insightful analysis or witty jokes. Personally it makes this site less interesting as I do not have the time to read through every opinion, so consequently I will be visiting Arseblog news.com less. Please consider reinstating them.
We’re aware of the problem.
We’re working to fix it, but it’s not v simple.
Christ blogs, letting things slip already. This would never have happened under Wenger!!!
Its good it has gone. You see comments like whooooooshweee getting thumbs up. When you criticize Wenger count yourself in trouble, so stereotypical. Now if you don’t like my comments, take me on and let’s see how articulate you are without hiding under the likes and dislikes. It would stream line a lot of nonsense.
Tbh I blame blogs for this. We know Andrew isn’t a fan for whatever reason, and they’ve been on this campaign to paint him as a villain no matter what, and fans of the site generally follow whatever narrative arseblog sets. They criticise him for doing nothing. They criticise him for pushing Wenger out. The criticise him for being quiet. They criticise him for being vocal. They criticise him for hiding. They criticise him for sticking his neck on the line and not hiding. They criticise him for bringing no change. They criticise him for saying catalyst for change. They… Read more »
Well,He couldn’t make them love ramsey.so you have to think that fans used something called “brains” to figure out that gazidis really is a slime…and If you want to see real partial point of view,get your nose up duncan castles arse.that’ll change your mind for sure…
FACTS!! I have nothing against Gazidis, but at the same time I don’t believe a word he says & that’s all down to blogs ?
I can’t agree with that. The Board which includes Ivan went out of their way to apparently hide behind AW and let him take all the flak, so naturally they would be a “hate figure” to a lot of fans, so unfair to blame Blogs alone. Having said that I really don’t like the scepticism and mistrust that is instantly applied to Ivan by one and all, but I guess only time will tell if my current faith in him is misplaced.
Maybe he was not hiding but sending a clear message to Stan -I don’t support where Wenger is taking the club. Fact is that nobody around here knows the true story or motivations for any of these guys, you’re all, blogs included, talking shite.
Blogs you know you’ve made it big time when you are being single handedly blamed for brainwashing the entire Arsenal fan base’s perception of our CEO!
😉
I agree. Just a year ago so many of us thought–very understandably given the history of the club under Wenger–that there would be no succession plan, that it would take a very long time to get a structure in place that would rationally disperse the power that Arsene had accumulated and centralized over time, and that Arsene would manage until the end of his two-year contract no matter what results he had produced on the field. Like Ivan or not, it seems to me that he has managed all of this very well and far more quickly than most of… Read more »
Totally agree, Gazidis has done a very good job in setting everything in place for a successful post Arsene transition. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.
We really should cut him some slack now. Plus I saw his little face during the victory parade when we won the FA cup and he looked so genuinely happy, after that I could never dislike him.
I have to say I don’t hate Ivan nor anybody but this post Arsene thing is catching him offside.
He’s kinda talking too much presently, it’s worrying. More worrying than when he was nowhere to be seen recently.
Also, translating the moto to cover your bases in case things go wrong? Sneaky!
Gazidis fits the narrative for a hate-figure. He’s an Oxford educated lawyer who is also a CEO. What a cunt! Of course, his actual story seems to be quite different. A quick Wiki shows that he’s probably much, much better at football than almost all of us fans, and has spent his whole career in positions related to football. Compare that to Keith Edelman (who I can’t remember ever receiving that much ire) who was working for banks and Eurotunnel before joining Arsenal. Not a “football man” at all, but quite a useful businessman! Gazidis is guilty of nothing more… Read more »
Nailed it! If only that unbiased approach provided clicks you’d be on to something
Exactly that. In the still recent but increasingly frustrating days of Wenger I did wonder about Gazidis if it was about biding his time, behind the scenes work not visible to us fans or both. One thing that made me give him the benefit of doubt was that unlike others he actually has a football background.
Now we’ll see what he’s really made of.
Totally agree with you mate.
Well said
i think the reason why people dislike Ivan has been down to this recent two year window, where as we all know, results have been bad, but yet where was he? He didn’t once come out and say anything, not even after we got beaten away at Palace and the away fans chanted at the players ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt!’ Ivan was still nowhere to be seen. Arsene was the only one accountable in the post match pressers. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere, Arsene announces his retirement, and Ivan is everywhere. Even being the… Read more »
To be fair even the FA or was it UEFA have been trying towhead hunt him, he’s a slick act in my opinion lol which is why everyone is so skeptical haha
I’m loving the vibes. I really, really am. COYG!
It feels like we’ve hardly heard anything since he joined (I’m sure we must have but can’t remember anything memorable) but all of a sudden he is starting to do the speaking (and possibly work to improve the team) that he should have done in the Wenger years.
He’s unleashed
We thank Arsene Wenger for the 22 years at Arsenal and we warmly welcom Emery To Arsenal to rebuild the squad and inject new energym but above all it is up to the main shareholder and members of the Arsenal board especiall Ivan Gazidis to make the necessary amount of money needed for rebuilding the squad. Without that it will only be wishful thinking of improving the club status > Wenger failed during the last 15 years because he was reluctant to sign world class players to the club and he acknowledeged that at the end.Emery can really be a… Read more »
The budget is a lot higher. The money available for transfers is 50m not the budget. It is also ammortised over the duration of the contracts negotiated which means the real spending power is a lot higher. Plus we will also be selling players. Even if the likes of Campbell, Perez, Jenko, Asano, Akpom don’t sound like much value, they will garner a decent amount and half the battle this summer will be to be better and clearing house. As far as the keeper is concern, unless Ospina doesn’t renew, I don’t see why Emery has to reinvent the wheel… Read more »
An average of 10m for those 5 players ???????? Hahahahahahahahahahahaahhah
You are truly hilarious santori. Living in a fantasy world.
what a melt
We have a motto?
Not happy with the way the appointment was handled, not happy with the CEO, not happy that Arsene stayed on so long. No wonder everyone hates us — some of our fans do nothing but moan. I’m just gonna do what I’ve done since I was a kid and support AFC. I don’t give a fish’s tit about the ‘u-turn’ or the way the selection process was handled, just as long as we got our man. And get our man we did.
Don’t forget moaning about refereeing conspiracies & media conspiracies & FA conspiracies…..& unfair opposition tactics… moaning that everyones hates us is what actually makes everyone hate us !
Completely unrelated to Ivan’s blah blah but I really thought that I should say this. Especially coz this comment is also related to a new era – an era where likes/dislikes should – ideally – not influence the opinion of others.
And that is this: Merci….Mr Andrew ‘Arseblog’ Mangan! 😀
Was there some sort of announcement that blogs has done away with the like/dislike system or simply b/c it’s been off for a few days?
He said the plugin that does it is buggered
Who cares! As long as its gone, its good! To borrow one of the oft mentioned quotes one Le(gendary) Professor of a manager used to say, having likes/dislikes EVEN in this (eternally) awesome Arsenal Blog portal will be akin to masochism, no?
I like having my opinion influenced
maybe it’s just the stuff on here isn’t as contentious, but the comments seem a lot more civilized for lack of a better phrase since they’ve been gone. actually kind of like not having them.
I think it’s more fun with the thumbs
😀 😀 😀
Correction-Arsenal take on PSG in Singapore,not Hong Kong
(Some of us Singaporeans get very…erm…unhappy when people mistake us for being a city in China,Hong Kong or Taiwan.)
I think people tend to think Singapore is in China bc the majority of the population is Chinese stock…which is stupid since it would be the same as saying Aussies are in Europe.
They are according to the European Broadcasting Corportion
I don’t know what people are expecting from Gazidis. He’s a suit and he does his job well. The club is well run off the pitch and commercially sound. As a self sustaining entity, we have done very well. Whether we spend enough was entirely up to Wenger. As Gazidis mentioned, the funds are there. I think Gazidis should be pleased that he has done very well with the Unai Emery decision. Likely, he will want to balance out Mslintat/Sanheli and ensure there are no excesses with transfers purchased on expediency of old contacts so someone like Emery with the… Read more »
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11382907/arsenal-coach-unai-emery-faces-huge-task-to-close-gap An impossible job for Emery, Skysports reports.
Might as well give up now then
:/ Cunts.
Gazidis, can you please put Eradicate Breast Cancer on one of the shirt sleeves so that it makes some sense ?
Great podcast with Ornstein and Millar BTW. Thanks Blogs. indeed….all good things do come to those who wait. I think also the fact that we released plenty of the back room staff of Wenger’s was indicative that it was Emery and NOT Arteta coming in. You would think the more inexperienced manager would have benefited from some of the old team having none of his own resource in that respect. As mentioned, the press want to believe what they want to but the reality tends to be very different. Also in terms of working with football director/Mslintat/Sanheli, it makes so… Read more »
Cech….bella mavra chambers kolas….Niles Wilshire mikhi….auba lakaz Lucas…..not a bad 11 for pre-season.
Dear Pajanee, I can see you’re enjoying the absence of downvotes there.
Nah…just a gooner who can’t wait to see his team playing again…arsenal is my life….even pre-season is passionate for me. Is it a crime?
Anybody see him explaining the Liverpool game in 89′ to Emry on the youtube channel? it was hard viewing.
Modern football is working together. Arsene was too big for everybody, save Kroenke. How could Gazidis have thrived under the stifling structure. Unai would get the signings he needs, but now he has to lobby( which I think he is capable of considering how he politicked the job out of Arteta’s hands). Lacazette was a panic buy. He is not Arsenal’s quality and Unai would prove me right. Such a buy is a thing of the past now. These fantastic three- Gaz,San, and Sven seem so capable of placing decisions in a laboratory before acting. That was how we got… Read more »