A battle royale or a cosy partnership

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13853577.stm

Is this going to turn in to a battle between Usmanov and Kronke or will they be able to run the club together??

I get the feeling that there is going to be a lot of friction between these two.

FrenchSpur wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13853577.stm

Is this going to turn in to a battle between Usmanov and Kronke or will they be able to run the club together??

I get the feeling that there is going to be a lot of friction between these two.

Usmanov has nothing to do with running the club. He's a shareholder who's trying to up his stake so that he has the right to peruse the Arsenal accounting - who earns what etc. Given that there are a lot of Gooners who are a touch peed off with the lack of silverware in recent times, some also peed off with Arsene Wenger (as if Fat Sam or just about any other manager you can think of would have done better) my guess is that Usmanov will try to come on like the people's hero - "We should be doing this, we shouldn't be doing that" and, TBH Arsenal have played right into his mucky paws by announcing the ticket price-hike. Fans will forget that there have been no price increases for three years - just the fact that they've got to pay more. It's always easy to criticise the people in power from the sidelines - look at politicians - so Usmanov may well win over a bunch of people who might be, dare I say it, gullible to promises. It's certainly going to get messy.

Its like Rocky IV.

'is it east against west or man against man?'

I think Usmanov is wasting his time. He'll just be a dose of thrush, for a while.

jak wrote:I think Usmanov is wasting his time. He'll just be a dose of thrush, for a while.

I hope you're right jak but I'm told there are a lot of Gooners out there open to suggestions of ousting Wenger and buying "Every Top Player In The World" as a direct opposite to what Arsene has always done (which is what your man Usmanov will, I believe, be proposing, from the outside).
For me, the last Top Player (and probably the first in my lifetime Top Player) that Arsenal signed was Dennis Bergkamp. It was truly a one-off - when I heard that we'd signed Bergkamp is was "No! Not possible - how would a player of his stature sign for us?"
I know we've had Henry, Vieira but they were signed as emerging talents - Bergkamp was already "The Business" as far as I was concerned and has remained as my "Favourite Arsenal Player Of All Time".
So now, where are the "Top Players"? Are there any Dennis Bergkamps out there? I don't think so. So Usmanov can crack on as much as he wants, I'd still prefer to go Arsene's way!

6 years without a trophy shows perhaps Wenger might have to alter his way, don't you think? A big name signing in the middle of the park or defence would show some ambition to keep the likes of Nasri at the club.

Ezekiel 25:17 wrote:6 years without a trophy shows perhaps Wenger might have to alter his way, don't you think? A big name signing in the middle of the park or defence would show some ambition to keep the likes of Nasri at the club.

Isn't this a Premiership board?