The Independent reports that Wenger will be consulted on who, if anyone, will fulfill Dein's role at the club. Ken Edelman is the hot favourite to take up the reins.
As I spoke about in yesterday blog, Arsenal's future largely lies in Arsene Wenger's hands; any decisions taken by the board or prospective bidders will be taken with Arsene Wenger's satisfaction in mind at all times. Nobody will want to upset the Frenchman - especially when his contract is so close to its expiry date in 2008.
While speaking about his 'strong links' to Arsenal yesterday, Wenger came very close to hoisting up a flag with Dein's face emblazoned on it:
“It is a sad day for Arsenal Football Club,” Wenger said. “It is a huge disappointment because we worked very closely together. David has contributed highly to the success of the club in the last ten years and even before that as well. Red and white are the colours of his heart.”
I'm perplexed by one thing about this whole situation: If Edelman was against a takeover by Kroenke, why was he so keen for the link up with Colorado Rapids to happen?
"This is a very important step for Arsenal as this becomes our first venture into the US marketplace," said Edelman of the link-up with Colorado Rapids.
Surely he had an inkling of what was going on? You would expect that he would have known something- especially if you were to believe all the reports suggesting that he was the power broker and Dein had become an isolated figure on the Arsenal board.
Something doesn't quite add up. Either Edelman hadn't a clue what was going or more worryingly, not everybody on the Board is being entirely truthful about their motives...
Who to support?
Make no mistake, we -the fans- do not know everything that is going on behind the scenes.
It's hard to know who to trust:
On one side there's the power-crazed, profit-hungry, Machivellian-like David Dein. He's also the man who was an obsessive fan to begin with; attended several games a week; took an interest in all the players - including the youths; and had a vision of Arsenal becoming a massive football club with style.
Arsenal were a dead club when he bought into it. He took a massive gamble on Wenger in '96. However, he did not support the move to the Emirates.
On the other side are the Arsenal traditionalists. People who represent Arsenal's history stretching back to the 20's... the good ol' Arsenal.
Or are they aristocrats whose only interest in the club is that their shareholding has passed from generation to generation into their hands? Did they care about the club as much in the early 80's? Peter Hill-Wood's motives are honourable. However, he only holds a small shareholding with 0.8% But what of Richard Carr, grandson of former chairmanSir Bracewell Smith? And what of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith who married into the Bracewell-Smith family? What are their motives?
And then there's Danny Fiszman - a former diamond trader who ironically bought shares from David Dein in 1992. He controls the largest share-bloc at 24%. He sold 1%, apparently in ignorance to Kroenke last month. He sides with the traditionalists, for now...
Capitalism v Tradition;
Footballing Vision v Aristocracy;
or is it;
Profit Method A v Profit Method B
I'll support Wenger in what ever he decides to do. He has has his flaws -who doesn't?- but he's essentially a good man who loves football.
If he leaves over this, it'll never be the same again...
As I spoke about in yesterday blog, Arsenal's future largely lies in Arsene Wenger's hands; any decisions taken by the board or prospective bidders will be taken with Arsene Wenger's satisfaction in mind at all times. Nobody will want to upset the Frenchman - especially when his contract is so close to its expiry date in 2008.
While speaking about his 'strong links' to Arsenal yesterday, Wenger came very close to hoisting up a flag with Dein's face emblazoned on it:
“It is a sad day for Arsenal Football Club,” Wenger said. “It is a huge disappointment because we worked very closely together. David has contributed highly to the success of the club in the last ten years and even before that as well. Red and white are the colours of his heart.”
I'm perplexed by one thing about this whole situation: If Edelman was against a takeover by Kroenke, why was he so keen for the link up with Colorado Rapids to happen?
"This is a very important step for Arsenal as this becomes our first venture into the US marketplace," said Edelman of the link-up with Colorado Rapids.
Surely he had an inkling of what was going on? You would expect that he would have known something- especially if you were to believe all the reports suggesting that he was the power broker and Dein had become an isolated figure on the Arsenal board.
Something doesn't quite add up. Either Edelman hadn't a clue what was going or more worryingly, not everybody on the Board is being entirely truthful about their motives...
Who to support?
Make no mistake, we -the fans- do not know everything that is going on behind the scenes.
It's hard to know who to trust:
On one side there's the power-crazed, profit-hungry, Machivellian-like David Dein. He's also the man who was an obsessive fan to begin with; attended several games a week; took an interest in all the players - including the youths; and had a vision of Arsenal becoming a massive football club with style.
Arsenal were a dead club when he bought into it. He took a massive gamble on Wenger in '96. However, he did not support the move to the Emirates.
On the other side are the Arsenal traditionalists. People who represent Arsenal's history stretching back to the 20's... the good ol' Arsenal.
Or are they aristocrats whose only interest in the club is that their shareholding has passed from generation to generation into their hands? Did they care about the club as much in the early 80's? Peter Hill-Wood's motives are honourable. However, he only holds a small shareholding with 0.8% But what of Richard Carr, grandson of former chairmanSir Bracewell Smith? And what of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith who married into the Bracewell-Smith family? What are their motives?
And then there's Danny Fiszman - a former diamond trader who ironically bought shares from David Dein in 1992. He controls the largest share-bloc at 24%. He sold 1%, apparently in ignorance to Kroenke last month. He sides with the traditionalists, for now...
Capitalism v Tradition;
Footballing Vision v Aristocracy;
or is it;
Profit Method A v Profit Method B
I'll support Wenger in what ever he decides to do. He has has his flaws -who doesn't?- but he's essentially a good man who loves football.
If he leaves over this, it'll never be the same again...
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