AGM stuff + Arsecast 49 with Amy Lawrence

Ok, a lot to get through this morning so we’ll begin with the AGM. You can read Arseblog’s report here which sums it up in bullet points.

The most important news was the extended lockdown agreement which makes the possibility of a takeover much more unlikely. As far as Keith Edelman is concerned he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore because the current board are committed to the future of the club and once they remain in agreement then there’s no chance of anything happening. It’s good news because it adds a measure of stability off the pitch which we haven’t enjoyed for quite a while it seems. Since David Dein brought Kroenke on board it’s all been a bit anxious and with Usmanov’s large presence hovering over things it’s been a worrying time. It is interesting to read Keith Edelman talking in the article above (and here in the FT) about how Kroenke is currently examining the agreement and how they’re hopeful he might join the board in signing it.

Still, I’m sure Alisher is delighted that his millions and millions of pounds invested in Arsenal shares have brought him such rewards as discounts to next year’s Emirates Cup and Arsenal TV online, as well as a priority booking service for Member’s Day next July. Money well spent indeed. The AST responded to the news of the lockdown with a statement saying:

“The AST is delighted that the club have extended their lock-down agreement. Danny Fiszman and the rest of the Board have remained true to their commitment to act as custodians of the club. We also welcome Peter Hill-Wood’s acknowledgementof the work the Trust has done to support the club and the Board in recent weeks. The Trust now has more than 600 members, we estimate at least 300 of them were at the AGM. The message from all of our members remains the same; we do not support a hostile takeover. Today’s announcement make this a much less likely outcome”.

Members of RedAction will be sporting anti-Usmanov banners at tomorrow’s game and will be marching from the Rocket on Holloway Road from 2.35pm if you fancy joining them.

The club announced a bust of Arsene Wenger has been commissioned. Arsene was typically humble but it’s hard to suggest he doesn’t deserve it. His influence on the club in his 11 years has been immense and the fact he gets a standing ovation at every AGM tells its own story. He was his usual erudite self and he’s just one of those people you could sit and listen to for hours without being bored. He spoke about the new generation of English players coming through at the club and it would be nice to see homegrown boys make the breakthrough. Not just because they’re English but because if they make the breakthrough then they’re going to be very good players indeed.

Anyway, with the lockdown in place, the AGM over without drama and things looking more stable at board level we can concentrate on the football again. At least until the next iffy move by some of our long term investors but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

There was bad news on the injury front as it looks like Robin van Persie is going to miss a month with a knee injury. That means he won’t play against Liverpool away or Manchester United at home so it’s time for Eduardo and Bendtner, to a lesser extent, to step up and take his place. Eduardo can’t stop scoring for Croatia and Bendtner has been doing a lot of talking which needs to be backed up with performances so while we are definitely going to miss him you have to hope we’ve got the quality to cope.

Arsene’s traditional Friday press conference should update us with the rest of the team news. The big questions are about who’ll play in goal (I think it’ll be Almunia), as well as the fitness of certain players like Rosicky and Senderos. More on that in tomorrow’s blog.

Good news yesterday came with the announcement of a new contract for Denilson. I didn’t realise only Armand Traore was younger than him. Can we get a new contract for Mathieu Flamini now, please?

And that’s about it – now it’s time for Arsecast 49.

This week Amy Lawrence returns to talk about our start to the season, the goalkeeping situation and more. The Man in the Bar has a player history, there’s the usual other waffle and there are details of how you can win yourself a trip to Tokyo with OleOle.com for the World Club Championship. Quite the prize and well worth checking out.

To subscribe to the arsecast in iTunes – click here. To download this week’s arsecast directly – click here (15mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

So there you go. Enjoy and have yourselves a good Friday. Till tomorrow.