In April 2017, Ivan Gazidis spoke about Arsenal’s disappointing season said it would become a ‘catalyst for change’.
How much has changed since then though? Here’s a timeline of the significant events on and off the pitch.
2017
May 31st
Arsene Wenger signs a new two year contract with the club after our 2-1 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup.
CEO Ivan Gazidis says, “When you look at the world of football, and you think about the great candidates that there are … you don’t find any better candidates than Arsène Wenger.”
June 18th
Gazidis oversees the appointment of Darren Burgess from Port Adelaide as Head of High Performance. This is the first sign the CEO has been given some power when it comes to recruitment of staff for the football side of the club. Up until now every appointment had to be rubber-stamped by Wenger, this one was not.
June 19th
Huss Fahmy comes in from Team Sky to become Chief Contract Negotiator. With ongoing issues with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, as well as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere all into the final 12 months of their deals, greater focus is needed on this particular area and it’s hoped the arrival of the new man will improve things.
July 5th
Arsenal break their transfer record with the £50m capture of striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, eclipsing the previous record of £42.5m on Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid in 2013.
July 5th
Former Gunner Jens Lehmann returns to the club to take up a position as one of the first team coaches.
July 7th
Sal Bibbo joins the staff as a goalkeeping coach from Reading.
July 7th
Arsenal announce that from the summer of 2018, club captain Per Mertesacker will become the Academy Manager. In the meantime, he’ll play one more year and work with interim academy head, Luke Hobbs.
The BFG says, “This season I will remain fully focused on my job with the team and am looking forward to a successful last season on the pitch. After that, I look forward to the exciting challenge of helping produce young players good enough to play for the Arsenal first team.”
July 19th
After two years out on loan, Wojciech Szczesny officially leaves the club to join Juventus. He pens an emotional farewell to the club he grew up at and supported.
August 1st
The Academy Head of Player Development, Jan van Loon, leaves the club to join former academy chief Andries Jonker at his new club Wolfsburg. Jonker is fired by the Bundesliga outfit in September.
August 3rd
Alexis Sanchez has made it clear he’s like to leave, but Arsene Wenger is unwilling to let that happen. The Frenchman says, “My decision is clear. He will stay, it’s as simple as that and he will respect that.”
August 9th
As improvements behind the scenes continue, Arsenal install a state of the art cryotherapy chamber at London Colney.
August 18th
Brazilian defender Gabriel joins Valencia for a fee of around £11m.
August 30th
Having joined the club as a youth and making 229 appearances, Kieran Gibbs is sold to West Brom.
August 31st
The Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain saga comes to an end as the midfielder joins Liverpool for £40m, just days after playing a part in the Gunners pathetic 4-0 defeat to the Mugsmashers. A late deadline day bid for Thomas Lemar is unsuccessful despite a reported £90m offer.
September 1st
Arsenal announce that extra capacity will be added to the stadium with extra seats will be installed in the club level area.
September 30th
Dick Law, the transfer fixer and contract negotiator, sees his contract expire and leaves the club to spend more time with his family in the US.
October 4th
After rumours appear in the press, Alisher Usmanov releases a statement to say he is not selling his stake in the club to Stan Kroenke. However, for the first time he says he could consider the idea, and his line which says, “I am not holding any talks with Mr Kroenke about a sale”, suggests the ice may be thawing between the two billionaires.
October 9th
Whispers emerge that Arsenal are looking to appoint a Director of Football, and the first name linked with the job is Marc Overmars.
October 25th
Reports in Spain say that Arsenal are set to appoint former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi to a role they describe as Director of Operations.
October 26th
On the day of a fractious AGM during which comments from Sir Chips Keswick cause dismay, Stan Kroenke reaffirms his long-term commitment to the club.
November 7th
Joe Montemurro confirmed as new Arsenal Women head coach.
November 11th
After it emerges that head scout Steve Rowley is to leave the club, reports link us with Borussia Dortmund’s recruitment guru Sven Mislintat.
November 20th
Arsenal confirm the appointment of Mislintat and the departure of Rowley.
November 28th
Arsenal confirm the appointment of Raul Sanllehi who will have the title of Head of Football Relations, or, Definitely Not Director of Football.
Wenger makes it clear that the Spaniard will work with him, and that Ivan Gazidis has no part in making transfers, tersely telling the press, “Ivan has nothing to do with buying players.”
2018
January 4th
The first signing of the Sven Mislintat era is made as young Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos joins the club. Initially, Arsene Wenger says he’ll go out on loan, but impressed by what he sees in training keeps him and he makes three appearances before the end of the season.
January 11th
French midfielder Francis Coquelin is sold to Valencia.
January 14th
Reports of Arsenal interest in Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang begin to emerge. In a not very subtle show that things at Arsenal are changing and that Wenger’s vice-like grip on football matters is weakening, Sven Mislintat tips off local press in Germany and he and Ivan Gazidis are pictured in Dortmund as they try to get the deal done.
January 17th
Theo Walcott is sold to Everton for £20m, as rumours of a swap deal involving Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan become more concrete. Arsene Wenger calls this month, “…the most destabilising transfer window ever,” and it’s not simply because of external influence. It’s because of what’s happening inside the club too.
January 22nd
A deal which would have seemed impossible barely weeks before sees Arsenal swap Alexis Sanchez for Manchester United’s Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
January 23rd
Stan Kroenke increases his shareholding in the club with the purchase of another 22 shares.
January 31st
Arsenal sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a club record fee of £55m, while Olivier Giroud is sold to Chelsea. The Frenchman’s departure, along with Walcott and Sanchez, means the club have let go three players in one month who scored 60% of our goals the previous season.
Mathieu Debuchy is another senior departure as he joins Ligue 1 outfit Saint Etienne.
February 1st
After months of wrangling, and with less than 6 months left on his current contract, Mesut Ozil signs a new long-term £350,000 a week contract with the club. The German says, “In the end I let my heart decide. As I always said, I feel at home here and I’m highly motivated to achieve big things in the next few years. Once a Gunner, always a Gunner!”
February 15th
Arsene Wenger reminds everyone that he always respects his contracts as stories in the papers, placed there by journalists friendly to Ivan Gazidis, say change could be coming before the end of his current two year deal.
March 25th
In Germany, kicker run a story to say that Thomas Tuchel is in line to replace Wenger when, not if, the manager leaves in the summer.
April 14th
KSE announce that Josh Kroenke has been promoted to vice chairman of KSE and KSE UK.
April 20th
Despite progress in Europe, Arsenal’s away form remains dreadful, and just three days after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle, Arsene Wenger announces that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
“After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season,” says the Frenchman.
“I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high. To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club.
“My love and support for ever.”
Stan Kroenke speaks of Wenger’s ‘unparalleled class’ in a statement, while later that afternoon, Ivan Gazidis, who nobody has heard from in months, holds an often toe-curling press conference in which he pays tribute to the manager, before saying, “In the coming weeks and months, the world will see the unity and power of this great football club, and the people within it.”
May 6th
With the last hope of silverware gone after defeat to Atletico Madrid, Wenger takes charge of his final home game. Fittingly, the Gunners beat Burnley 5-0 on day of love and celebration at the Emirates.
“I would like to finish in one simple sentence: I will miss you,” said the Frenchman on the pitch after the game.
“Thank you all for having such an important part of my life, thank you all, well done. Bye bye.”
May 13th
Freddie Ljungberg’s return to the club is confirmed, he’ll take charge of the U23s in Per Mertesacker’s new look academy.
Many candidates are mentioned for the manager’s job, including Juventus boss Max Allegri, but Mikel Arteta becomes the name on almost everyone’s lips and the Spaniard is hotly tipped to be appointed.
On this day, Wenger takes charge of his final ever game as Arsenal boss, a 1-0 win over Huddersfield.
May 14th
Allegri says he’s staying with Juventus, leaving the door open for Arteta to take over from Wenger.
May 20th
The former captain has been in close contact with the club, having had many meetings, and spends the weekend in London looking for houses as he finalises his move back from Manchester where he has been working as an assistant to Pep Guardiola.
May 21st
With almost everyone expecting Arteta to become the new manager, Arsenal spring a surprise by announcing the appointment of former Sevilla, Valencia and PSG boss, Unai Emery.
The news is a shock, as best illustrated by the reaction when it was announced at the half-time break of a live Arsecast Extra in which the first period had been dominated by discussion of Arteta. Go to 42’11 in the player below to listen.
May 23rd
Gazidis unveils the new head coach at a press conference, showing him around the stadium and, of course, our famous tunnel area, before outlining the process which resulted in the 46 year old being given the job.
Emery speaks broken English but faces the press in his non-native language to talk about what he sees as the important parts of his job.
“It is about showing that personality and showing the stature of this football club,” he says.
“What we want to do is not fear any team neither here in the Premier League or in Europe and our objective is to be among the best and to beat the best.”
May 29th
Javi Garcia is set to be brought in as the club’s new goalkeeping coach.
June 5th
Arsenal sign veteran Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner.
June 8th
A list of 12 players to be released is made public, among them Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla whose contracts have expired.
June 10th
The club appoint Dutchman Marcel Lucassen as Head of Football Development at Academy level, and Lee Heron, Reading’s Academy manager, also arrives to add experience to Mertesacker’s team.
June 19th
The club announce Unai Emery’s coaching staff, and while Steve Bould is retained, an unimpressed Jens Lehmann is let go, as are Neil Banfield, Tony Colbert, Gerry Peyton and Boro Primorac. As well as the Head of Medical Services, Colin Lewin, physiotherapists Andy Rolls and Ben Ashworth, osteopath Dr Philippe Boixel and Travel Manager Paul Johnson.
Bernd Leno’s £22.5m signing from Bayer Leverkeusen is completed, while Jack Wilshere announces his intention to leave after 17 years at Arsenal when his contract expires at the end of the month.
July 2nd
Arsenal bring in Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund for £16m, another Sven signing.
July 9th
Former Liverpool and Crystal Palace physio, Chris Morgan, is appointed as one of the first team physios.
July 10th
Lucas Torreira’s signing from Sampdoria is confirmed, the £26.5m spent on the Uruguayan makes him the most expensive deal of the summer.
July 11th
Relatively unknown French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi joins from Ligue 2 side Lorient.
July 15th
Physio and sports scientist Tim Parham – head of Port Adelaide’s rehabilitation program – moves to North London to join up with his former boss Darren Burgess.
July 17th
Arsenal insist they are unaware of any links between AC Milan and Ivan Gazidis.
July 24th
The Financial Times report that Alisher Usmanov is actively seeking to sell his holding in Arsenal, having come to the conclusion that he will never be anything other than a minority shareholder.
July 25th
Arsenal release a statement about the Ivan Gazidis AC Milan links. It does nothing to dampen the speculation, in fact the language of it simply adds fuel to the fire. Perhaps that was their intention.
August 7th
Seismic events take place at ownership level as Alisher Usmanov, who has long said he would never sell to Stan Kroenke, does exactly that. It means that the American can take 100% control of the club, as he can make compulsory purchases of all other shares. The Russian will make a significant profit on his initial investment, and the deal values Arsenal at around £1.8bn.
August 10th
Arsenal invest heavily in a new table.
August 29th
Showing real boardroom decisiveness, the club reportedly tell Ivan Gazidis he has to sort out his future before September … some time … whenever might be convenient for him.
September 14th
AC Milan confirm talks with Gazidis are ‘ongoing’.
September 18th
The club confirm that Ivan Gazidis is to leave the club at the end of October, and will take up his new position with AC Milan in December.
Raul Sanllehi is appointed Head of Football, while Chief Commercial Officer, Vinai Venkatesham, is made Managing Director.
—
And here we are. By any standards it’s an extraordinary amount of change from top to bottom, dressing room to boardroom. Let’s hope the people now tasked with running the club have a clear vision of where they want us to go and how they want us to get there.
Time will tell.
I’ve been unfair to Gazidis in some ways, he has overseen a lot of change recently. He should have done lots of it before, he has been the CEO so had the power to do it. Lots of good people taken on e.g. Per, Sven so some hope for the future.
Onwards and hopefully upwards.
Amen! Me thinks that these massive changes happen to be the consequence of the lack of moolah that the UEFA Champions League would have generated for Arsenal FC as a business venture. Out of topic but been wanting to say this since Arsene’s departure: I also think that Le(gend) Prof’s somewhat ‘sudden’ announcement of his leaving the club JUST BEFORE the Atletico clash was to egg the team on to beat Atletico and thus win the Europa league. This MIGHT have thus ‘enabled’ those business buggers in the boardroom – maybe some of us #WengerOut Gooners too – to let… Read more »
This is what I term…. Overhauling….
Change is a difficult process because no one can predict the outcome….
I stand with the positive thinking group to believe that the club is moving in the right direction.
#MakeArsenalGreatAgain
Arsenal have always been great. COYG
Don’t want to be associated with that lunatic across the pond in any way …
Fascinating stuff
Wow, this is really getting bad. I know the guy maybe disliked but this is bordering on hatred. He is a CEO, yet gets blame for our on pitch performance. He even gets blamed for contract negotiations when Arsene was in charge of those. I think people seem to forget the scope of Arsene’s powers when he was at the club. Ivan did what he could under very unique circumstances. No club has had a manager as powerful as Arsene except Sir Alex, and United beat us commercially because they were winning. Even after he sir Alex left, they were… Read more »
Lots of good points, well made. But can we tone down the “Sir” Alex bullshit. The man was a ruddy nosed cunt, and while he mellowed in his later years, for most of his time in football he was a grade A prick.
(I’ve never used such profanity on here. I wonder if it gets through….)
Spot on.
Thanks, Ivan, for putting your side of the story.
Look, I’m trying to say that since he got some power to put a foundation for on pitch success, the changes have been visible. The trade off for Arsene getting a new contract was Ivan getting power to prepare the club for the future, and he has done so in the past 16 months. I doubt these appointments couldn’t have been made a while back if he had the power to make them happen. I didn’t want Arsene to go, I hoped he could have these people that Ivan hired alongside him. Tactically the man was underrated, I think his… Read more »
My problems with that are that:
1. Ivan was the CEO, he had the ultimate power to change things earlier (and didn’t)
2. Arsene is a bright bloke who did best when he had a counterpoint (David Dein) to help him.
Ivan could have persuaded him that he needed help and could have forced him if not. The biggest indictment is that we didn’t sign any of the French World Cup winners, who you would think Arsenal should have targeted.
So I do blame Ivan for standing back, he was the boss.
1. I’m sorry but lets face reality. The last 16 months are a clear reflection of Ivan having ultimate power. I can take Ivan being too weak or staying while working in bad circumstances, but we all know who the boss really was before last year and it wasn’t Ivan. 2. Arsene also went above Ivan’s head. He had a direct line with the owner of the club, that says a lot. No other manager has that. So if he hired Ivan and still went over his head shows that he didn’t want a counterpoint, he wanted a subordinate. 3.… Read more »
Or am I just missing a very clear point guys? I don’t see a reason for all this hate but if so many people see it that way, then there must be something to it.
I have no feelings either way about Ivan, but I do think all this criticism isn’t based on anything concrete. I have not seen a clear and rational point that is taken with context, for all this hate.
I really hope I am not missing something here guys.
You’re not missing anything Devlin. Pedant like many fans for whatever reason doesn’t seem to recognize the reality of the situation that Gazidas really was CEO in name only up until last summer. Gazidas ran the business side of Arsenal while Arsene had complete control over the footballing side of the business. Arsene also had a direct line to Kroenke. In effect we had 2 CEO’s – not the one all powerful one that Pedant keeps describing. I don’t know that Gazidas did a great job, but he certainly didn’t have any easy job either.
As you say, ‘he was CEO in name only ‘. We agree, he didn’t have the effect a CEO should.
And he was willing to take a CEO large salary. That’s a fact.
Case closed.
Pedant – that is one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever heard. If you look at Arsenal’s structure under basically all of Gazidas’ tenure it’s a pretty simply org chart
Kroenke – owns the club
Gazidas – runs business side of the club paid 2m gpb per year
Wenger – runs the footballing side of the club paid 8m gbp per year
Pretty much everything you keep complaining about was 100% Wenger’s remit. I would add that if you look at salary alone it’s pretty clear who was the real “CEO” in this relationship.
You haven’t heard many arguments then, or thought through your own. £2.6m he has been paid the last two seasons. [Most of our first team players get far more, that’s football economics. Football managers too.] The argument above is: ‘It might not seem like a big deal now, but I am scared by the fact that, if there was a better candidate for the CEO of a football club, wouldn’t AC Milan have gone for him instead of going for the second highest paid CEO in the premier league?’ So he is paid a lot in CEO terms and has… Read more »
I understand your arguments but they aren’t remotely logical. The level of Gazidas’ salary is less than fringe players like Carl Jenkinson, Joel Campbell or even Ospina. We can argue about what he “should” be paid but at the end of the day it’s not totally out of line with a business the size of Arsenal (over 500m euros per year in revenue). If the owner believes that Gazidas was worth his salary (which he did) then so be it. The level of his salary however says NOTHING about his job description. This is where your argument really just makes… Read more »
The CEO of a football club is the guy in charge of all of it.
But success on the pitch ‘not remotely in his job description’? Despite it being the key aim of a football club.
Explain the logic, you say you are the expert.
His job description was to run the business side of the club. You can’t by wishing somehow give him past authority over Wenger. I know you were a massive Wenger in guy but at the end of the day our failings on the football side are 100% down to Wenger
& by the way – if you want to see who actually ran the footballing side look no further than one of hundreds of statements by Wenger about he alone deciding that aspect of the club.
Last post, I’m getting bored now, as I’m sure are most others.
If Gazidis was a very good CEO/boss of the club (2nd highest paid in the PL remember) he would have realised that the business side is boosted by success on the pitch eg CL revenue for a start, sponsorship revenue second, both of which are below what they should be.
So he would have supported Wenger better in the key aim of a football club, success on the pitch, and done better on the business side, which he was worrying about.
Pedant – Wenger ALONE ran the footballing side of the club and had a direct line to Kroenke. Wenger repeatedly said he wanted no interference from Gazidas. At this point you’re just making excuses for Wenger’s failings. He was a great manager at one point and did some great things for the club, but he also faded very badly towards the end. He deserves both the credit for what he accomplished and the blame for the mess he left. Most reasonable people can agree on that.
Atom, just realise that a lot of what pendant is saying is avoiding context, even when we provided it in many comments. That’s why I thought I had missed something, but it turns out that there really isn’t a substantial argument against our points. The hate just seems like people looking for a villain.
It’s very hard to people to recognize that Wenger alone was the architect of his own ultimate downfall & I am sympathetic as to why. But at the end of the day Wenger whatever reason refused to delegate to the people he hand selected which meant that he had so many things going at once that he really couldn’t do a good job at any of them – transfers were a shambles, contracts – over 1/3 of the first team including all the top players were allowed to run contracts down to less than a year & the team had… Read more »
Whay you call ‘Hate’ is actually disagreement with you as your points and arguments are often weak. Easier to call it hate but remember we are all Arsenal fans here.
Multiple thumbs down are hard to take, though I’m sure you would take it if you got more thumbs up than down.
He also agreed with you, see the posts above. And attacks like ‘you aren’t remotely logical ‘ or ‘the dumbest arguments’ weren’t his.
But feel free to keep trying to justify yourself, against the voting of other Arsenal fans.
I don’t mind the thumbs down at all, I actually want someone to explain to me why all of this criticism is directed at Ivan. I only call it hate because nobody has provided me with a reason for the criticism, while acknowledging the very unique circumstances which the club ran by.
I am not fighting and have not attacked anyone. I am just a fan trying to understand why my fellow fans feel or judge him the way they do.
And I am in agreement with Atom.
Well, here is what I think is happening. You are on Arseblog. And blogs has made it clear many times and gone out and blamed Gazidis for some of the failings. People who visit here , definitely agree to what he says. So naturally your views are not in line to this blog. That puts you in a massive disadvantage when it comes to getting votes. Personally, I think you made some really good points. But , ignore the downvotes . As blogs always says, it’s hard to find a middle ground , when discussing about anything online.
C.B. – I’m fine with thumbs up or down. I’m with Devlin however that Pedant didn’t actually have a substantial argument to anything that was brought up to him.
So Ivan didn’t have any responsibility on the playing side as CEO but a huge salary for a CEO. Unable to talk to Wenger about things that would improve the club. And Wenger not bright enough to realise there were any problems.
Makes sense, I get you.
CB – Ivan’s salary is not out of line for a CEO of a major financial firm let alone for the PL. The guy just got a 1m pound raise to leave as well so while you might not think he’s worth it, clearly at least 2 firms do.
Pendant – just to add a little perspective. You keep raising 2 chief complaints 1. you don’t like Gazidas’ salary which you raise with virtually every post. He made less than Ospina, Joel Campbell, Carl Jenkinson. That should lend some perspective 2. your other complaint is that Gazidas simply didn’t overrule Wenger and force Wenger to accept the help that Wenger himself said many times publicly he didn’t want or need. That pretty much speaks for itself. I get you were a massive Wenger in guy but at the end of the day Wenger ran the footballing side of the… Read more »
It’s not ‘hate’, it is disagreement and thinking you haven’t seen/read the rational and clear points above about what a CEO is.
They are the boss and are paid a lot for being so. The success of the club is ultimately on their shoulders and so are the failings.
The context is the lack of success over the years that he was here and that he has only recently started doing things he should have done a long time ago.
Pedant – Gazidas should be judged based on his remit and not on your concept of what a CEO “should” be. If Gazidas had the power to overrule Wenger on football decisions (clearly he did not up until last year) then he should share blame for the decline on the footballing side. It’s pretty clear however that Gazidas did not have the authority to overrule Wenger or to decide whether to retain or fire Wenger. Wenger had (and publicly said so many times) complete authority on the footballing side. Regardless of whatever title Gazidas negotiated, his remit did not include… Read more »
Ok, so we can agree that Gazidis was a weak CEO and was paid a lot. And the club suffered due to this weakness.
Let’s hope we can run things better from now.
I judge Ivan over his time as CEO and how Arsenal performed then. If he was too weak or didn’t know enough to help Arsene for most of that time (if he couldn’t help Arsene on transfers he should have got someone who could) that reflects on him. A CEO is the overall boss. As I said in the very first post, Ivan has overseen a lot of changes recently, so should get some credit for that. But that doesn’t hide the whole time he has been at the club and the failings (happy enough with the 4th placed trophy)… Read more »
I get your argument too. But since 4th placed trophy (and the cash flow) was all they (and us Gooners too, since Kroenke’s takeover) had ever known when it came to footballing ambitions, I doubt if the CEO or even the owner gave 2 hoots about whether we won trophies or not. So technically, his job as the CEO didn’t “seem” to require anything. He was just competent – an adjective Le(gend) Prof himself used to describe Ivan when the FOOTBALL MANAGER appointed the CEO of a Football Club. This could be seen in the way that Arsene was repeatedly… Read more »
This is surely as close to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as possible. Arsene Wenger is honestly a living, breathing philosophical legend of a human being, but like you so elobrately put, he is mortal afterall. Taking up waaaay too much of the workload put paid to his true love – management of his football team.
Applaud the patience and drive in putting up such lucid statements Devlin. Kudos!
You could argue that Ivan should have been able to convince Arsene of the need for the changes that have been made all-too-late, but I suppose it was difficult in the circumstances that he was operating in.
Really, I don’t know how you can say whether he’s done a good job or a bad one, as we don’t know what constraints he was operating under.
I think you make some very good points above. The final paragraph in particular is something I hadn’t thought about, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
And out of all the myriad changes that have happened over the past year, that one statement -“I’ll miss you” – still brings up a sizable lump in my throat.
This really brings to fore how much of a grip wenger had on this club, too much for one man to have me thinks. The minute Ivan starts to impose himself, Wenger quits.
Wenger’s love for this club has never been in doubt but his hands on almost all affairs of the club was detrimental especially in this age and time.
Fingers crossed these changes bring more successes on and off the pitch
Really interesting to see the time line, puts everything in perspective.so much change in such a short time after so many unchanging years were we slowly declined and lost our way. One things for sure we’re not wasting anytime anymore.
You can all have your varied opinions, all I know is that if we end up playing AC Milan in the Europa League it could all get very interesting…!
Because the two teams have real pedigree and are desperately trying to reclaim past glories, and would hopefully put on a great show of football. Or it could be an uninteresting tie, how the hell should I know.
What on earth even is an iVan? Sounds flimsy.
From players clashing against former clubs to managers clashing against former clubs to….CEOs?! Hell in another couple of decades or so, it will be billonaire club owners. 😐
Our Sapiens race (Yuval Noah Harari!) is evolving at an astonishing pace alright.
This is just the beginning. Now I don’t know much about PPVs, event organising or just information in general but by the year 2020 I’d bet my house on Sky Sports hosting an Ivan Gazidis v David Dein in a Hell in a Cell ppv match. This will be an easy cash magnet event for them, to exploit the Arsenal fans who in the two years prior were relegated to the Welsh division 5 and need an old fave to piledriver a recent heel through a boardroom table to help them ignore the state of the club as it negotiates… Read more »
He pocketed over £20 million during his 9 years & never scored a single goal for the team. I would like to have been a fly on the wall & seen Arteta’s reaction when he heard he was leaving.
I still think it was criminal of Wenger to sell Szczesny, playing in the Champions League last night, for smoking a fag in the showers after the Southampton game.
You can’t seriously believe that Wenger would oust him for a single minor indiscretion. No-one does. It’s about patterns of behaviour, professionalism and impact on the rest of the team. It must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back but we never get enough insight to see all the straws.
“I will miss you”. Still gets me every time.
And yet we really haven´t seen anything change significantly on the pitch. This lot and the way they are playing in recent weeks – Cardiff and Newcastle – shows that painfully. Torreira the only visible bright spot – and he isn´t a starter.
Oh no, I’d been living under a rock. It’s been a month since the table change news and I just read it!
Arseblog. Arsenal-Mania. Le-Grove. AFTV. Piers Morgan and countless others. They fed off the brand, Arsenal that had become a global phenomenon. Then somehow they destroyed the goose that laid the golden eggs. The old order is gone. The unity is gone. The ethos is gone. The pride is gone. The playing identity is gone. Champions league is gone. Santi is gone, and there was a push to get Ozil to go too. and now Gazidis is gone too. All those who left were blamed for a multitude of sins. They have all left. Now, these places that buzzed with activity… Read more »