afc The Mighty Transition: Why Arsenal Haven't Won Anything in 6 Years.

[Heero Yuy]

Danny Fiszman 1945-2011It is with great sadness that Arsenal Football Club announces the death of Danny Fiszman after a long battle with illness. He was 66.Danny, who joined the Board of Directors in 1992, was a much loved and respected figure at the Club and will be deeply missed by his many friends and colleagues at Arsenal. During his time as an Arsenal Director, Danny, a hugely successful businessman whose love of Arsenal was obvious to all, was a leading influence at the Club. He played an integral role in the Club’s move from Highbury to our new stadium, working tirelessly for many years leading the team which created one of the finest sporting arenas in the world. Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood said: “Danny Fiszman was a visionary Director, a gentleman and a true Arsenal fan. “We are all deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend Danny. His voice, wisdom and presence around the football club he so dearly loved will be sorely missed. “Arsenal Football Club will forever be indebted to Danny for his invaluable foresight and contribution during the move from Highbury to our new stadium. “Our thoughts at this time are with Danny’s wife Sally, family and friends. We have lost a much loved husband, father, grandfather and friend.”http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/danny-fiszman-1945-2011

He done LOT for the club, thanks Danny for everything R.I.P.

Was just about to post thisR.I.P

[Chicharito]

RIPMakes me sick we got the likes of Arshavin, Koscielny, Rosicky, DIaby, Denilson and Squillachi representing the work Danny Fiszman has put in, they should never pull on the red and white shirt for his honour again.

[Guest Sun Tzu]

R.I.P

[Michel Kane]

R.I.P

[mp*]

R.I.PDone alot to push the club forward.

[TF S4DK]

R.I.P

[Rhymer-2]

R.I.P

[Tom]

RIP

[Taurus]

R.I.PDone alot to push the club forward.

[TF S4DK]

Arsenal Football Club is renaming two bridges at Emirates Stadium in honour of long-serving Club Directors - Ken Friar and Danny Fiszman.The bridges, which before today were known as the ‘North Bridge’ and ‘South Bridge’, have been renamed to mark the two men’s huge contribution to Arsenal Football Club.Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood unveiled commemorative plaques on the two bridges on Thursday during a ceremony at Emirates Stadium, which was attended by the Arsenal Board of Directors, Arsène Wenger and many Club employees.

[TF S4DK]

Ken Friar has paid a glowing tribute to Danny Fiszman following the announcement that his friend and colleague had passed away on Wednesday.The two men were leading lights in Arsenal's move from Highbury to Emirates Stadium in 2006 and Friar believes that Fiszman will always be remembered for the role he played in keeping the Club in the Borough of Islington."Emirates Stadium is his legacy," he said. "He poured six years of his life into this stadium. He devoted all his time day and night to it."I think it's true to say that, without Danny's work, Arsenal might not be playing football in this Borough. Danny would want me to say that there was an army of people involved, it wasn't just two people. But he led that team and did a magnificent job."Danny did an enormous amount for this Club. He came on the Board in 1992 and he was a visionary Director. He and I became very close friends, we travelled to all the away matches together and in the year 1999 we first embarked upon the new stadium project. "He and I were delegated by the Board to lead that and I really could not have had a better person to work with. He was highly intelligent, he was good at everything he did and I was very fond of him. He was a very special man and he will be dearly missed."

Arsène Wenger has paid tribute to Danny Fiszman's "extraordinary courage" after the Arsenal Director lost his battle with illness on Wednesday at the age of 66.The manager had worked closely with Fiszman since joining the Club in September 1996 and was deeply saddened by news of his death."It is a very sad week because we closely followed his battle and I want to pay tribute to his absolutely extraordinary courage," said Wenger."The way he fought the illness was absolutely amazing and sometimes I wondered where he found the strength and desire to fight it."For the Club it is very sad news because he was a very influential man behind big decisions."He was always a big influence and you had to be impressed by his huge intelligence and his capacity to analyse every single problem. For the Club it's a big loss.”

[Chicharito]

How did they build that momnument so quick after his passing, must be f*ck*ng mystic meg or sometin

[TF S4DK]

Mihir Bose: Kroenke deal as much about keeping David Dein away from ArsenalSoap operas dressed up as morality tales do not come any better than the American Stan Kroenke's take-over of Arsenal. The official word from Arsenal made the latest arrival of a foreign owner sound like the welcome a 19th century father might have given a man seeking the hand of his daughter.This is what Peter Hill-Wood, the long serving chairman of the club, said: "The board of directors and I consider it a key responsbility to protect the ethos and spirit of the club. Mr Kroenke, although relatively new to Arsenal, has shown himself to be a man who values and respects the history and tradition of this very special club that we cherish. We are confident that he will be a safe custodian of its future."These could be the words of Mr Bennett in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when a suitor came calling for the hand of one of his daughters. Yet, without wishing to suggest that Kroenke is anything like Mr Darcy, the fact is that Arsenal has done a deal four years later than originally proposed. Then, as now, Kroenke was lined up to become the largest shareholder and bid for the club. So why has the club waited four years to make the deal?The reason is that, four years ago, the deal was the work of David Dein, a man who has been a pariah at Emirates. This week's deal was the work of Danny Fiszman, who died within days of the announcement of the Kroenke take-over. He is revered and a bridge leading to the ground now bears his name. Kroenke, viewed with great suspicion in 2007, is now being presented as the man who can be trusted with Arsenal. But this cloak of respectability on the American cannot obscure the intense feud that has been raging between Dein and Fiszman, once close friends. The last few years have been dominated by Fiszman, with help from Hill-Wood, making sure that, whatever happened, David Dein should never again get his hands on the club.To appreciate how much Fiszman - and Hill-Wood - loathed him, recall what happened when Dein lined up Kroenke as the next owner back in March 2007. Dein had turned to Kroenke because he was worried about Arsenal losing out to Chelsea – and the endless coffers of Roman Abramovich. The deal he had in mind was that, in addition to buying the ITV stake, Kroenke would also buy Dein's stake and that of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith. It would also have meant Dein continuing to run Arsenal. If anything, his position would have been strengthened at a time when Fiszman had, to an large extent, marginalised him.Fiszman reacted with unprecedented fury at what he felt was unacceptable behaviour. He alleged that Dein had gone behind the Board's back. The result: Dein was unceremoniously bundled out of Emirates and he even had to surrender his mobile phone.Since then, the Board has watched like hawks for any sign that Dein (pictured above right with Hill-Wood) might be coming back. This worry grew as other foreign investors circled round the club. The fears centred on the Russian Alisher Usmanov as he bought Arsenal shares. Dein made no secret of his liking for the Russian and he was often a guest of Usmanov at his Emirates box. He eventually sold to the Russian pocketing £80 million, but this only intensified Fiszman's dread that there could be a Russian take-over which would see Dein back in charge at the club.Indeed anybody getting close to the Russian bred fear that Dein might return and this was what led to the breach with Lady Nina. Worried by how close she was getting to the Russian, she was dumped from the Board in 2008 hours after she had been unanimously re-elected by the annual general meeting of the club. Since then, her intentions regarding her share stake have greatly concerned the board.The relief when Fiszman finally persuaded her to sell to Kroenke is evident. This explains why Hill-Wood went out of his way to praise the Bracewell-Smith family for the role they have played in the development and success of Arsenal over the last 70 years. He ended with the promise: "We will be considering appropriate ways to mark this long and valued commitment." Lady Nina has clearly been forgiven now that she has done what Danny wanted, even if it was at the last moment.There is no such redemption for Dein or even a mention that he originally brought in Kroenke. There may be a new chapter in the Arsenal story but Dein cannot be forgiven. And that is a great pity.The fact is that Dein, for all his faults and mistakes, played a significant role in the making of modern Arsenal, not least in the recruitment of Arsene Wenger.Just draw back a bit and consider the situation when David Dein first got into Arsenal. He was much taken by what Irving Scholar had done at Tottenham in the early 80s, managing to get round restrictive clauses that meant directors controlled who could buy shares in closed companies. Scholar's arrival at Tottenham marked the start of commercialism in English football with Tottenham being floated on the stock exchange. Arsenal did not list on the exchange, Hill-Wood vetoing this Dein idea, but Dein did introduce commercialism at staid Highbury.The thing to avoid here is the romantic notion that there was an English footballing paradise before money came into the game. There wasn't. English football in the 80s was rotten. It was racist, sexist and, what is more, dangerously unsafe. English football needed to change and Dein was an innovator.Dein had financial problems as a result of the collapse of his sugar business where he was the victim of a massive fraud. It was this that brought Fiszman into Arsenal, buying some of Dein's shares. Having once been the unchallenged King of Highbury with a 42 per cent stake, Dein slowly saw it wither away while Fiszman's share rose.The two men might always have fallen out. But it did not help that they had sharp differences over Arsenal's future strategy. Should the club have a new stadium or should it share the new Wembley? Dein favoured Wembley, Fiszman made sure Arsenal went for a new stadium.You could argue that Fiszman was right and Dein was wrong. Building Emirates has been a success although it meant huge borrowings. It also soured relations in the board as the man Fiszman brought in to run the stadium project, Keith Edelman, did not get on with Dein. Indeed, when they both represented the club at Premier League meetings, the joke used to be that it was always a score draw with Arsenal since whatever Dein said Edelman opposed.Kroenke, as the new custodian, does not have to worry about such things. He has made fine promises about not using the club's funds to finance his purchase and respecting the self sustaining Arsenal model. But only time will show if these are the promises newspaper proprietors make when they buy a title. In such cases written pledges often prove not to be worth much.And what all this does not answer is what happens to Wenger?It is clear that he lost a soul mate when Dein was dumped. Arsenal then said there would be a replacement. There has not been. It will be interesting to see how the new owner will go about replacing the sounding board Wenger lost when Dein left.For Arsenal fans, all this talk of Kroenke being the ideal custodian will mean little if the Frenchman does not rediscover his winning ways.

[Captain Planet]

Amen.

[TF S4DK]

Russian investor Alisher Usmanov has moved to increase his holding in Arsenal, despite Stan Kroenke clinching deals to acquire a controlling stake in the club.Usmanov has underlined his vow not to sell his shares to the American tycoon by spending more than $115,000 (£70,500) on six shares to maintain his hold of 27 per cent of the club.Kroenke secured a 62.89% controlling share in Arsenal earlier this month after agreeing to buy out two major shareholders for around £234million.The late Danny Fiszman (16.1%) and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith (15.9%) were those bought out and, by passing the 30% threshold, Kroenke is obliged to make a cash offer for the remaining capital at £11,750 a share.The club's total value has been set at £731million and Kroenke will look to purchase the £194million stake owned by Usmanov.But the Russian, who does not have a seat on the Arsenal board, has previously stated he has no intention of parting with his shares, underlining his 'love' for the club.

Starting to like this Russian, fully doesn't give a sh*t.

[Heero Yuy]

I don't like the Russian but I do like the fact that one single man will not have complete control of our club

[MF Cunt]

tbh in the grand schemes of things it wasnt ever gonna be a good enough dealconsidering he is a billionaire, he keeps more money in his left trouser pocket, than he would have earned

[MF Cunt]

Emir Spahic back on Arsenal's transfer wish listArsenal boss Arsene Wenger may have denied that he is planning a squad revamp at The Emirates, but the Frenchman has once again been linked with defender Emir Spahic.According to the Sun, the Bosnian is back on the north London club's radar, in spite of the £25 million price tag slapped on him last summer.The strong centre back plies his trade in France with Montpellier, but the newspaper claimed that Wenger is ready to raid his homeland to secure the 30-year-old's signature at the end of the season.However, he is likely to have fellow Premier League side Aston Villa competing for the star's attentions.The Birmingham side are said to be keen admirers, but with manager Gerard Houllier in hospital with a heart complaint, negotiations might have to wait.Spahic is reportedly more inclined to play for the Gunners, who have Bosnian Boro Primorac as a first team coach.'I will play in another country next season. I have a preference for England,' he said.The newspaper also claimed that Arsenal are set to go head to head with Tottenham Hotspur for the signature of Inter Milan striker Diego Milito.Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/861582-emir-spahic-back-on-arsenals-transfer-wish-list#ixzz1KJBys9JS

[MrJibbles]

Lol at the media, virtually every headline is different, 1 being he will spent another saying he won't.Not like he'll come out and say with 5 games to go. yeah we are chucking out all the dead wood and bringing in new blood.Players will be bought in.

[MF Cunt]

hopeful he will stay tbhWenger probably now fullly aware of his feelings for stronger playerscan see him promising fabi that he will bring in some fresh talent prob still use them same bars that mans is 23, he wont prob get as regular game time/be captaining Barcelona anytime soon thing is if wenger can convince fabi, nasiri and clichy to stay in his mind it will be like making a new signings

[Bobby Reds]

Remember when we just used to rip into teams in the opening 15 minutes, and they'd be like 3 goals down at the end of it? The good old days of Wenger teams. Aggressive attacking from the off - the show-boating and tippy-tappy came later on when we were already 3 or 4 nil up.

Serious quote.What happened to these days....

[MF Cunt]

what happened was we built a team of players who grew up on Wengers philosophy not just some experienced mans who could adapt to the situation

[Marly Mar]

Remember when we just used to rip into teams in the opening 15 minutes, and they'd be like 3 goals down at the end of it? The good old days of Wenger teams. Aggressive attacking from the off - the show-boating and tippy-tappy came later on when we were already 3 or 4 nil up.

Serious quote.What happened to these days....

I still see this from time to timeBut we don't have the mental strength to hold leads ffs

[Captain Planet]

im beginning to cringe

[Student of Accounting]

im beginning to cringe

shut your legs then