It’s not often that The Guardian and The Sun are in agreement but the two newspapers are unanimous in describing Arsenal’s AGM as “stormy”.
It was never going to be the most peaceful of meetings given what’s happened to the Gunners in the last couple of seasons and tempers almost boiled over, says the Sun, when chief executive Ivan Gazidis described Arsenal as “the most consistently over-performing team”.
That pronouncement was met with a mixture of anger and incredulity by shareholders, who “mocked” Gazidis, although their reaction failed to throw him off his stride.
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“That is despite the criticism we get and the emotion here in the room,” continued the executive. “And despite some very loud subjective narratives and a great deal of inaccurate information. In fact, on an objective basis, we perform very well and have over a long period of time.”
It depends. Compared to Stoke City or Southampton, Arsenal have performed well; compared to Manchester City or Manchester United Arsenal have done less well in the last decade.
While those two clubs have won seven Premier League titles (and a Champions League) between them, Arsenal’s trophy cabinet has welcomed only the FA Cup.
Gazidis, who the Sun says earns £2.6million a year, then said: “There’s one accurate way to assess how well clubs perform. To compare team performance by a series of objective metrics, usually league position or points, against expenditure on transfers.”
Perhaps wisely, Gazidis didn’t put his theory to the test against, say, little old Leicester City, who have won more league titles in the last ten years than Arsenal.
What the Guardian described as Gazidis’s “aggressive defence” of Arsenal’s transfer policy didn’t go down well with his audience.
“The chief executive was heckled at times from the floor - as was the chairman, Sir Chips Keswick,” reported the paper. “And when what passed for an open Q&A session was abruptly halted and the meeting declared over, there were boos and a slow handclap.”
One of the pre-submitted questions from shareholders concerned the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, both of whom are in the final year of their contracts and have yet to show any sign of extending their time at the Emirates.
Asked how this situation had been allowed to unfold, Gazidis replied: “You don’t always have a choice of where you sell a player, nor do you control whether a player extends with you or what demands their agent makes… It’s quite possible that, in retrospect, people may say that some of the decisions we have made this summer prove to be wrong or foolhardy.
“We need to be humble, continue to learn and continue to evolve our thinking and our approach. But it’s also absolutely clear that the decisions we’ve made don’t fit the narrative from some that we are financially motivated.”
Gazidis did concede that “we have to find ways to perform better. We want to compete at the top of the most competitive league in the world”. How do Arsenal intend to achieve that aim? According to the chief executive, “by making investments and giving deep thought to how we can and will improve further”.
None of which pacified the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST), who like the majority of fans believe that changes are needed in the boardroom and the manager’s dugout if the club is to be saved from slipping into mediocrity.
“I’m still staggered at the rudeness and incompetence from the Arsenal board,” said AST spokesman Tim Payton. “No wonder Arsenal can’t deliver on the pitch when they are such a shambles in their governance and ownership. It’s broken to the core.”
