On Monday, our own CEO Ivan Gazidis held a Q&A with the Arsenal Supporters Trust at the Emirates. The meeting took quite a while, but there were some very good questions asked, and answered.
I've decided to shorten the meeting, and give you the key points.
It is also important to remember that what I wrote below is not the exact words from the meeting; it is a very close translation that I did in order to shorten everything and deliver the key points. However, some of the words below are direct translations.
If you instead wish to view the meeting in it's entirety, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.
Gazidis started with an introduction, and made a few points.
Despite the dissapointing season, we need to step back and take in some achievements the club has made:
- The beautiful stadium
- Our style of play
- Arsenal's financial stability. "The ability to stand on our own two feet, to be able to say we don't owe our success to an outside party."
- Our work in the community.
Gazidis then went on to say that there will be a turnover of players in the close season. Some players leaving, some new players coming in. He suspects, as Arsene said, that it will be a busy summer for Arsenal.
He also said that the club is a social and cultural institution. To be the best that it can be, and to deliver excellence, it must also be a good and sustainable business.
Because of Arsenal's sustainable model, as of now Arsenal is well behind in revenue streams compared to our top competitors: Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United. However, this must be done in a responsible, sustainable way.
Regarding spending: It is critical our spending is as efficeint as possible. In the end, the objective is to put out the best team we can on the field.
Against our background of balance, the season ticket price increase can be justified, along with other things. Since moving to the stadium, there have only been two increases in six years. Gazidis says we've been very restrained and balanced in our ticket price increase, and that the board could've made the ticket price higher.
Gazidis also justifies the ticket increase when put in context to what we are trying to achieve on the field.
Utilities in the stadium in the last two years have gone up 100%, electric has gone up a third, and other costs are going up dramatically.
At some point or another, inflation increase would have to happen.
Some more points that Gazidis made:
- Our ticketing approach must be more sophisticated. We are devoting many resources to this difficult task.
- Arsenal is trying to invest in commercial revenue vs. ticket revenue. Touring internationally will help do so.
- Ultiamte aim is pride not profit. Arsenal pride. Trophies need to be won for pride
- Kroenke owns 66.6%, Usmanov about 30%, and AST about 3%
- The board is confident in Stan. Stan believes in Arsenal's self sustaining model. He loves Arsenal. Also, h plans on remaining in background and wont look for publicity via Arsenal.
- We need to stick together and not fall victim to the public attention to our failings. These failings are bloated, cant divide Arsenal.
Question 1:
Who is responsible for the contracts of our players, ie Mr. Nasri and Mr. Clichy? How has it gotten to the situation where they can wish to leave and we can only sell them for a cheap price? Or they could simply leave as free agents next season?
Answer:
I'd rather not talk about individual players, the media can blow what I say up into something it's not.
As a club, we need to reach a balance of what we are prepared to spend, and how much we think a player can give us. This decision made by the technical staff and Mr. Wenger.
Response:
He didn't exactly answer the question. He basically said that there has been a disagreement with the players on how much the club thinks they're worth and how much they think they're worth. But it is completely understandable why he couldn't talk about the individual players.
Question 2:
You spoke about familiar disappointments at the end of the season, do you see yourself removing the manager, and what would that situation look like to you?
Answer:
We support Arsene 100%, I support Arsene 100%. There is no plan for removing Arsene.
Response:
You couldn't really expect much else from him. But good to hear all the same.
Question 3:
Ivan, you joined the club two and a half years ago, how would you compare the level of football at the club then to how it is now?
Answer:
I think we have moved ahead, but others have moved ahead as well. I don't think we have moved ahead enough though.
Response:
He's right. We are better, but not good enough.
Question 4:
Many neutrals have said that we haven't done very good business in the last four transfer windows. I have two propositions: To take the manager out of the financial side of purchasing players, and if that is too much to ask, bring someone in to help Arsene, like David Dein.
Answer:
That plan doesn't seem to make much sense to me. You need to discuss with the manager the worth of a player, ie how much the club should be willing to spend in order to sign a player.
Regarding David Dein, I do not know what type of role he would play of the club and as of now I am not aware of any plans to bring David back.
Response:
Well I agree it would be naive to take Arsene out of the equation, but I do encourage the idea of bringing someone back to help persuade Wenger into splashing the cash.
Question 5:
Speaking of removing the manager from the element of the financial part of signing players, its the market that sets the price of a player, it isn't up to Arsene. What happens is we reject to sign an overpriced player, and then another club goes and buys him which would set the price.
Answer:
We spend the money we generate. We plan in a sophisticated way how to sign our players, we have a financial model. It's not just the transfer fee, but it's also a plan to sustain their wage bill throughout their time at the club, without putting a strain on the relationship with the fans from a financial standpoint.
Response:
Spot on, to an extent. You can't go by what Liverpool says. If you did, Cesc would be worth 90 million. For Henderson (19 million) to be worth more than Gervinho (12 million) is just bonkers. But we do need to be a little more loose with our spending.
Question 6:
Peter Hill-Wood said "Remember who you are, what you are, and who you represent" Diaby wears a chicken on a basketball shirt, and the players rarely come to applaud the away fans. Fans are still frustrated at the lack of respect from the players.
Answer:
It's not an Arsenal only issue. It's across the game. More disconnect between players and fans. We need to do a better job, so our fans feel like a bigger part of the club. This meeting is a way of doing so. We will move to address it (lack of respect towards fans and club). We need to do better.
Response:
Absolutely. Diaby can fuck himself per se, he should really know better. Jack Wilshere and Benik Afobe are the ones that seem to really know what being an Arsenal player means.
Question 7:
How can a Silver membership rise from 26 pounds to 39 pounds? That is a 50% increase in one year, and it is contradictory to your point that you want to encourage young fans to come to the games.
Answer:
Silver is for longest serving, most loyal fans. That level gives priority to tickets. However, there was too much of a balance between silver and red membership. The red membership prices and silver membership prices were too close, nearly indistinguishable. That gave silver membership less importance. Either way, our silver membership is still below its commercial value. And to encourage youngsters we proceeded to keep the Junior Gunners ticket prices flat.
Response:
I don't really have a response to be honest.
Question 8:
Safe standing areas. Will Arsenal consider this? It could help reduce ticket prices, and help with the atmosphere at the stadium.
Answer:
I find this attractive. In some cases it could be costly because it wasn't built with the stadium. However, I will look into it more.
Response:
I'm glad this was brought up, and I hope this can be done this summer. It would really enhance the atmosphere in the stadium in my opinion.
Question 9:
At home games during the winter, you can't see reserve team. The matches are behind closed doors. It isn't that bad in winter time.
Answer:
During the winter, the technical staff has felt the facilities aren't good enough to promote good player development. I'll look at it again, but I don't want to raise any expectations.
Response:
If it's not safe for people to watch the games, it is understandable for the games to be held behind closed doors. However, the facilities should perhaps be improved so this problem won't happen again this winter.
Question 10:
Does Mr, Kroenke plan on taking out share dividends in order to pay off his debt from his purchases?
Answer:
Mr. Kroenke has made no specific commitments which is understandable from owners.However, he hasn't done so with his past sports businesses, and he hasn't done this at Arsenal in the past, so no reason to believe he would do so.
Response:
It's understandable that Mr. Kroenke wouldn't make any commitments, god forbid something happened elsewhere with another one of his sports teams. None the less, I don't think we have anything to worry about.
 |
| You cant say no to those shades and that mustache. |
Question 11:
95% of the club is owned by two investors. If self sustainability is where the fans are asked to put more and more in, is this the way we're gonna go forever?
Answer:
I hope not. Arsenal will plan on getting more commercial revenue.
Response:
I hope not? Definitely not. Once our commercial contracts run out in 2014, ie Nike, they must be renewed but for a bigger wage. Like what Nasri is doing with us. United's sponsorship deal with Nike gives them 20 million a year, while for us, only five million. This has to change.
Question 12:
Some statements by the club are transparent. The attendance announced at every game is not true. Also, it seems the waiting list can't be too long what with the inflationary rise.
Answer:
It's sold tickets that is said over the loud speaker, and that is the industry standard all around the world.
To fix the empty seats, better ticket exchange is needed, which we will look into.
We do have an extremely long waiting list.
Response:
Not much to say on this, but Gazidis is right- more must be done to help with better ticket exchange. Empty seats for a match that fans want to attend isn't right.
Question 13:
What have we done regarding commercial activity, with hospitals, schools, public services? And what about data about the fan base?
Answer:
We have a good commercial team. We are starting to see some green roots. I'm proud of our community work. We are involved in a broad range of community service.
Arsenal just finished a huge research in fan base.We now understand very well how a fan views the club from age to age.
Response:
I personally always knew that Arsenal was very good in the community. Commercially is a different story. We need to do better. Going to Asia will help though.
Question 14:
My father wrote me a letter... I'm 70 years old and I've been a supporter for many, many years. I've never seen a team with a worse worth ethic. We beat Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, which shows the team can win- when they want.
Answer:
That is something we need to acknowledge. Perhaps not about heart and desire necessarily. There have been moments where things went badly wrong. I'm not sure it's all about heart and desire. Also experience is needed.
Response:
SPOT ON MATE. Alex Song has said that sometimes in the 'routine' games, the team thinks that by simply showing up they can win. Obviously, this is not the case.
Question 15:
Does our transfer budget of a reported 40 million cover only the transfer fee or the salary too? And have we used all the money we have or half, etc?And when a player is loaned, who pays for his wages?
Answer:
Our transfer budget is not segregated, and it's complicated. We look at money as money, basically. We haven't used all of our money. We spend when we need to spend. And the club that takes a loanee usually pays the players wages, however there are also individual negotiations that can occur.
Response:
Thought this question was a little daft. To think that after making the signings we did in the past few seasons, our transfer budget could be anywhere near halfway gone, is absurd in my opinion.
Question 16:
Who is Arsene Wenger accountable to?
Answer:
Ultimately, the fans. They can make it unsustainable for Arsene to stay. I still think Arsene has the support from the majority of the fans.
Response:
Good question, and from Le Grove. Many expected Gazidis to say Wenger is accountable to the board, but if the fans get too upset with Arsene then the board will be forced to act.
Question 17:
At Arsenal, I don't want to see our players become world class and then get poached by bigger clubs.
Answer:
Our spending levels are far better than our competitors. That doesn't mean we're better though. But we are a role model for efficient spending.
Response:
The question was fantastic. The answer, no. He didn't answer the question. Why? I'm not so sure. Perhaps he misunderstood the question, but I doubt it.
The only way for this poaching from bigger clubs to stop happening is if we start winning trophies. So simple, yet we can't seem to grasp it.
Question 18:
We have trouble with defending set pieces, I'd like to see a change of a defensive coach.
Answer:
I don't think Arsene is as stubborn as people perceive. We are contained about our decisions and views. I cannot talk too much because the media will blow it up.
Response:
There is no doubt we need a better defensive coach. Our set pieces are shit. I suggest bringing in a former forward, to help with our defending of set pieces.
Question 19:
Does Stan Kroenke plan on continuing an open dialogue with the AST.
Answer:
He supported fan share and AST and remains a supporter.
Response:
Uhm... Good. Yes. Good.
Question 20:
I know you back the manager, but Arsene Wenger can't last forever so is there currently a plan for Wenger's departure?
Answer:
There would be media attention on what I said, so I cant really speak about plans after Arsene.
Response:
I don't see why there would be a plan for Arsene to leave as of yet. He can still last a couple more years.
Question 21:
Tony Adams is currently in Azerbaijan. Someone like him could help us with our defensive problems. Carl Jenkinson just came from Charlton, a young player, but as of right now it seems that there is no one at the club that can really help him learn his trade.
Answer:
Again, this is a question I can't delve into too much detail with because of the media. We know our failings this season, and we will try to address them.
Response:
Similar to the other question regarding defensive coaching. Someone needs to be brought in.
Question 22:
There is an outstanding debt to be payed off for the stadium, which would be allowed under the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations. Could the two billionaire shareholders help pay off that debt?
Answer:
The debt is sustainable over the long term and as a business man it does not make any sense to do that.
Response:
I agree with Gazidis, I think it's better to slowly pay off the debt of the stadium.
Question 23:
Have you (Arsenal) talked to anyone in the transfer market?
Answer:
Yes, many people.
Response:
Signs of intent. Good.
Question 24:
Are we closer to signing anyone?
Answer:
I can't answer that one. It's gonna be an active summer. Arsene and I expect to be busy. I feel positive about our prospects next year.
Later in the question, Gazidis mentioned how the overseas tour to China is good as it will relieve the dependency on the stadium, and that it will help expand Arsenal commercially.
Response:
Gazidis said exactly what you would expect him to say. Nothing for the media to pounce on, and obviously he would feel positive about our signings.
All in all, I think Gazidis conducted the Q&A very well. He mostly gave us what we wanted to hear, and gave us all he could it seems.
That's that. Feel free to leave your thoughts below. I'll have another post up soon in regard to summer transfer updates.
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