"The reason I am involved in sport is to win," he said. "Everything else is a footnote. "Arsenal is a tremendous club with a track record of consistent performance at the top level. That is very rare but we have managed it. I know that will continue as we move forwards. We have an exciting future and our goal is to win trophies."
Kroenke was also challenged by the AST on his interaction with fans, with the group's spokesman Tim Payton grabbing the microphone to assert that there had been no meetings with supporters since the takeover in April 2011, something that was listed as a priority in Kroenke's offer document.
"I'm surprised Tim would make that statement, because I've met with him numerous times," said Kroenke. "I still meet with fan groups, all fan groups. I've always enjoyed that."
Ivan Gazidis, the chief executive, also stepped in. "Can I just again depersonalise this a little bit?" he said. "This club is not about Stan Kroenke, it's not about Arsène Wenger, it's not about any of the individuals. We run this football club through our board."
The rest of that board, notably Gazidis and chairman Peter Hill-Wood, came under sustained attack from other disgruntled shareholders. One speaker earned applause by accusing directors of putting profit on the balance sheet before success and "ruining" the club.
Hill-Wood was heckled as being "patronising" for a series of dismissive remarks to critical questions, including his description of those who voted against the reappointment of board members, including Gazidis, as "the same lot". He also ended the meeting by thanking shareholders for "taking an interest in our affairs".
Gazidis also had to call for order when another AST member, Nigel Phillips, questioned Arsenal's ambition and asked how he should explain to his 10-year-old son the sale of Robin van Persie.
Hill-Wood was then forced to defend the salary of Gazidis and the composition of the board, rejecting calls for some younger faces among the directors. On Gazidis, who received a £675,000 bonus, Hill-Wood said: "It was the remuneration committee's considered opinion that they were fairly rewarded for an extremely good year."
The cost of watching Arsenal was also repeatedly raised, including the £13.90 price of fish and chips in a suite at the Emirates, with fans clearly frustrated that the club ended another trophy-less year with pre-tax profits of £36.6 million and a cash position of £153.6 million. Gazidis, though, argued that the Europe-wide move to financial fair play and new commercial deals in 2014 would allow Arsenal to achieve a new era of sustained success.
"The only way you can really judge over time is by looking at a club's record and its league performance against its spending," he said. "We have outperformed that spend every year for 15 years."
The mood of the meeting was improved when Wenger took the microphone, defended his record and made an impassioned call for unity. He pointed out that Arsenal had finished third in the Premier League last year and reached the Champions League for 15 consecutive years.
"For me, there are five trophies," said Wenger. "The first is to win the Premier League, the second is to win the Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League, the fourth is to win the FA Cup and the fifth is to win the League Cup.
"If you want to attract the best players, they do not ask: 'Did you win the League Cup?', They ask: 'Do you play in the Champions League?'"
No comments:
Post a Comment