Today is going to be an eventful day for Gooners. We will hopefully be getting some communication in regards to the unsettling situation at the Emirates. The Arsenal Supporter’s Trust have secured a meeting today with Ivan Gazidis and the Arsenal board. This meeting will be one where many questions will be asked and Ivan Gazidis and the board will have no option but to answer and they certainly have a lot to answer for. They are the main contributors to this season and the bad one it was for various reasons. Not reinvesting the money from the transfer’s from Nasri and Fabregas wisely, keeping underperforming players with high wages and generally coming out with rubbish statements all season are a few of the reasons. I don’t truly believe that Arsene is totally to blame for the 7 trophyless seasons us fans have had to endure, so the board must hold and accept their share of the blame. I foresee that this could be a rocky meeting between the two groups and it is about time that the questions that The Arsenal Supporters trust have formulated will get answered.
With Many thanks to Tim Payton and the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust I have been given the list of subjects and questions that will be discussed today. (Full article*)
FF
- The club’s footballing expectations for this coming season, 2012/2013, and whether qualifying for the Champions League is the extent of the club’s ambitions– this is one of the most important questions on the list. We scraped 3rd this season as a result of teams around us falling apart, but with these teams as well as the others above us already making improvements to their squad and with Arsene reportedly saying that our transfer window will be quiet-where does it leave us?
- The new Elite Player Performance Plans being introduced and what this will mean for youth development at Arsenal-I can only see from basic research I have done, that this will be a beneficial policy for Arsenal’s youth team but until I have done more research, I cannot comment fully, but I endeavour to in the future
- The future of the Arsenal Fanshare scheme and club support to promote continued plurality in the ownership through supporter shareholders
- What progress Ivan Gazidis feels has been made in his first three years at the club and an update on the club’s five-year strategic plan-I especially would like to know the answer to this. I’m not the hugest fan of Gazidis especially after his “finishing 3rd is like winning a trophy” comment.
- What lessons have been learned from last summer’s transfer window to make sure things go more smoothly and successfully this year, and the position regarding Robin van Persie- Another top important questions that needs to be answered. Why are we in the situation once again of possibly losing our best players. Where has the ambition gone within the team. Something is driving these players to leave.
- How the club will drive commercial income aggressively in the short term given the long-terms tie-ins on stadium naming, kit rights and shirt sponsorship and the need for more tertiary and overseas deal- When it comes to sponsorship we haven’t ended up with the best deals. We need to find a way of improving that.