Morning all,
it’s not football we start with this morning but boardroom goings-on. Yesterday Stan Kroenke purchased shares from the Carr family to bring his stake to the club to 28.3%, making him the largest shareholder ahead of the porcine Uzbeki tubster.
What’s interesting is that last month, when Kroenke purchased shares from Danny Fiszman, it brought his stake to 20.5%. Now, from the brief digging around I did the Carr family had somewhere in the region of 4.4% of the shares, somewhat less that the 7.8% increase we’re seeing.
According to the official website ‘the shares were acquired at prices of £8,500 per share and £10,500 per share’, which suggests two sellers. The ins and outs of the deal are beyond me although I know that Lady Nina has not disposed of any shares in this sale. What it does mean is that Kroenke is just a percent and a bit away from a shareholding which would require him to make a bid for all the shares. Interesting.
The Arsenal Supporters Trust said:
The AST were the first shareholders at Arsenal to welcome Kroenke’s initial investment. We have since established a good dialogue with him and this will continue. Our position is that stability and plurality in ownership is to the benefit of Arsenal. New Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis has made a good impression and says he values our role and the importance of custodianship. We hope he will build relationships with all shareholders so that the club has stability off the pitch which is a vital ingredient for success on it.
Things do seem to be moving quite quickly though. It was only last September when he joined the board with a 12% stake. In a little under 8 months he’s now our largest shareholder. I suspect there’s more to come in the months ahead.
On to matters of football and the manager confirmed the absence of Eduardo for the rest of the season after that wonky-mouthed pillock Ferdinand fell on him. After his broken leg he made his comeback with goals, suffered a little groin injury which is par for the course when you’ve been out that long, but the latest injury was a complete accident. Arsene Wenger said:
The season is over for him. Eduardo is like the guy who stands on the motorway and gets run down by the lorry coming up the wrong side. He is really distraught.
You’ve gotta feel for him and for us. He’s such a clever player and I was really hoping he’d be fit for the United game on Tuesday. Not just because he’s got that bit of class but because he adds depth to the squad and provides competition for other strikers who feel that trying hard on the pitch is beneath them these days. Hopefully he’ll have a good summer lay-off, a good pre-season and we’ll see the best of him next time around. It’s a real shame to lose him now though and just typical of the season we’ve had in terms of injuries. I’d say I’ve never known anything like it but I remember last season too.
At his press conference yesterday the manager was pressed about whether or not Manuel Almunia should play for England. As he rightly pointed out if the rules allow it then that’s pretty much all there is to it. If England want him and Almunia wants to play for England then that’s that. He said it had nothing to do with him. Asked if he thought Almunia was good enough, he said:
I believe he is not only good enough, but he is the best.
Personally I think he’d be mad to do it. He’d be on a hiding to nothing. The jingoism of the British sports press would be a huge obstacle. Any tiny mistake and he’d be crucified, lampooned and taken to pieces. Then, of course, there’s the whole concept of playing football with utter cunts like Lampard, Terry, Rooney, Cuntley Cunt and the rest – and I’m sure their ‘banter’ would be relentless.
He’s unlucky in that Spain have some very good goalkeepers at the moment. Casillas has been a fixture in the national side for years and will most likely continue for years to come. All the same I’d rate Almunia as highly as Reina and certainly well above Valdes at Barcelona so there’s no reason why he couldn’t get involved in the Spanish set-up. If I were him that’s what I’d be aiming for, not England.
On today’s game at Portsmouth the manager has insisted we’ll go for the win, knowing that a win today would secure at least 4th position in the league. Despite the upcoming game on Tuesday I think the three points today are important. While there’s still a chance of third and automatic qualification I think we have to go for it, and should we lose today and Villa win, our next two league games are against Chelsea and United before we play Stoke on the final day of the season.
It’d be good to make sure of a top 4 finish before we play either of those two. Still, I expect some rotation, he has to. We’ve got no Sylvester, who looks set to miss Tuesday as well, no Clichy, no Eduardo, no RVP, so he has to try and win today and keep some legs fresh for United.
Right then, that will have to do. I’ve got me a hankering for some breakfast and then, as its a nice day, a stroll into town before it becomes overrun with rugby fans.
Come on you reds, more tomorrow.
