Is Stan the Man For Arsenal?

So the Goonerverse is alive with the news that Enos Stanley Kroneke (KRON-key) is set to become the majority owner of Arsenal after buying out the shares of the ailing Danny Fiszman and the for sale (for a while) shares of Lady Bracewell-Smith.

It was the deteriorating health of Fiszman – a man beloved by Arsenal fans that prompted the haste at which this was done. Fiszman’s sons have no desire to have a life in Football so unlike Peter Hill-Wood and Bracewell-Smith there was no legacy to take over his shares. Which left them open for purchase possibly by Alisher Usmanov, the Russian tycoon noone at Arsenal wants around.

So with all haste this developed. But the real question is this – is this a good move for Arsenal? Is a move away from the shared ownership group to one of a single man the best direction. Frankly my opinion varies day to day. The problem is – it is really to early to gauge what impact Stan’s running the club will have.

We can try and go off what we know of Stan. His company KES is majority owner of the St. Louis Rams and he is also owner of the MLS Colorado Rapids, Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets. Mark Kizzla of the Denver Post once said this about Stan in relationship to his ownership style

. . . and simply appearing to be cheap (Stan Kroenke’s Avalanche and Nuggets). Isn’t it fair to question whether Kroenke is simply spread too thin in terms of interest with all the teams he has ownership of?

It seems like a fair question. If he has ownership in all these companies and if he is an active owner – where does his attention lie? He seems to have little interest in beefing up the ailing Rams.  TheAvalanche Yo-Yo from bottom of their Western conference to around 6th place every other year. The Nuggets always look dangerous but never do too much. The only real winner he has is the Colorado Rapids.

People are praising Stan for his influence in bringing Ivan Gazidis to the club. I have a fundamental problem with that – I think Ivan is part of the problem at the club. He does not provide the necessary leadership the club needs to move beyond its current station – also rans. We are a great team who needs a great executive and Ivan Gazidis is not it. If that’s Stan’s influence i wonder.

Fans are also on about Stan’s statement he does not intend to purchase the additional shares through leveraged debt ala Hicks and Gillette and the Glazers at United. Right now that seems pretty good but as the Guardian today suggests there is no gurantee that this will stay that way. There is nothing in the plan to say pay back KES through leveraged debt at a later time. The only thing that would prohibit him from doing so would be if Usmanov does not sell his shares.  If Usmanov doesn’t sell than Stan would basically be in charge of the day to day but large wholescale decisions would have to be made with the remaining share holder – i.e., Usmanov.

All in all it is an exciting development and does allow us all to speculate what may be. For us over in the states it brings hope that the Arsenal will be coming over to our shores for a summer tour at some point. There is nothing more dreadful than hearing that United are coming back for the summer. Having Arsenal on our shores would certainly open the doors to possibly thousands to millions more fans. That sound of cha ching is music to Arsenal’s ears.

But overall I don’t expect much to change. after many protestations, Peter hill-Wood and Danny Fiszman’s relented to his being on the board. In time it seems they found someone kindered to their own mindset of how the club should be run. It made sense then when Usmanov made his move that Kroneke was given a seat on the board as opposed to the Russian.

I don’t think the board would’ve allowed him a seat on the board if it didn’t in some way think he was going to carry on the traditions of prudence at the club. That being said of course, much like the debt issue, once in charge Kroneke is free to do as he pleases – to an extent. There is the issue of Usmanov still out there.

Additionally, Stan seems to be getting kind treatment from Fan groups especially the Arsenal Supporters Trust who were invited to meet with Stan in Colorado. In their letter back to Stan they said they were encouraged by statements to honour the traditions of the club.Since their interet is the fans – and rightly so though – the AST supports ownership of not one person but of a group (at least it seems that way).

So there is enough good will right now and any negatives are muted by the fact that there could finally be a silverlining in the leadership make up of the club.There are even reports of David Dein returning to Arsenal. Thought I think that’s unlikely. Even though Dein was responsible for introducing the board to Stan, David Dein is now part of Red & White Holdings – the group headed by Alisher Usmanov.  Either way the prospect of Wenger’s foil back at the club is a promising detail we shall all have to watch.

Admittedly, I am interested in this development and I can see the positives. I also see some negatives that make me want to hold judgement on this. Really, I probably won’t know my true feelings on it until I start to see some ripple effects of his stewardship of the club. And that’s all it is – he is a steward of the club on behalf of the fans. Arsenal fans are well entrenched in the wall of the Emirates and were at Highbury – hopefully Stan respects that and gives the fans what they want – a return to the glory years.

By the way – we won on Sunday – Arsenal 3 Blackpool 1.

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