02 Sep 2021 00:45:28
Mad summer or systemic stupidity?

There's pain whilst Kroenke is here. I am careful not to complain about Kroenke's financial input, at least to the squad. Long before this summers Supermarket Sweep of middling-to-promising-to-finger-in-the-air purchases, his administration has spunked hundreds of millions on player purchases and scrumptious (to the recipient) contracts. Kolasinac is reputed to be on a weekly wage on, or in excess of £100k per week, as is Leno.

Pablo Mari, a player who barely could get a kick at Citeh on a "paltry" £85k. Per week. Pépé, PEA, White, Partey, Lacazette. Mustafi (! ) , Özil, Sanchez and Xhaka: this little bundle alone cost an eye watering £433m! Add to that Odegaard, Mhikitaryan, Ramsdale, Saliba, Tierney, Gabriel and Leno, there's another £210m plus countless others including our new right-back/ centre back/ defensive midfielder Tommy, that guy all other Premier League clubs have been scrambling over, for whom we paid relatively "small" fees (ahem! ) and we're talking close to three quarters of a *billion* quid in transfer fees alone, let alone the wages bill.

So I don't think fans can say Kroenke hasn't dipped into his pockets, or if not his own money, which it doubtless isn't, hasn't sanctioned the expenditure of some large wedge.

But where Kroenke has failed, catastrophically, is his c-level appointments, his removal of the older guard, his governance, his understanding of the club, his ambition, or that of the supporters. He's made zero attempts to engage, less to endear, and has either silently, but still complicity, or at his behest, made many, many poor key appointments, from the internal structure and division of responsibilities of the business management team, to yes, first team managers or coaches or whatever they are titled these days.

I wasn't against trying Arteta out when he was appointed and I do often feel clubs are either too slow or way too fast to jettison a manager who struggles, and maybe Arteta could or should be given time, but only if, and only if, there is an obvious plan, some signs of progress and, and this is crucial, those plans actually get executed. So, if we need to "clear out the deadwood" (an expression I have used myself) then, clear it out.

Don't have two 1st choice keepers, say we have to sell one (the wrong one, strongly arguably) and then, next summer, spend £30m buying another one! If we think Xhaka should go and then argue the toss about a difference in valuation of c€4m with the interested party, cut the loss! Definitely do not haggle to the point where the other party walks away and _then give the player in question a pay rise and contract extension_! It defies belief.

So Kroenke and his team, should do one so far as I am concerned. Clueless. Utterly and totally, mind-bogglingly clueless.

1.) 02 Sep 2021
02 Sep 2021 04:04:15
I agree with all of that and I have been absolutely in the Kroenke out camp for the past few years. As supporters we are within our rights to ask for someone who cares about the club enough to actually hold people accountable. Ditching Raul was a good first step but we haven't seen enough action on other troubling issues such as the Kia thing and our inability to negotiate properly with other clubs over sales.

This season is a write-off more or less - I would be happy with 6th and an upturn in our football, provided we actually look like we're building a team. It took Klopp a while to get the wheels of his team moving but you could see the vision they had, and they have become a juggernaut since then. We need to see the same from Arteta - that the time he's investing is getting the wheels going. If not, we need to make a decision soon. That is the kind of thing that is down to Kroenke. I don't hold too much against Arteta because the executive structure above him is a mess and as others have said Auba's decline in form just killed us, but there are things that are 100% down to him that need to be resolved ASAP if he should keep his job.

2.) 02 Sep 2021
02 Sep 2021 10:11:59
Absolutely spot on Max.