Danny Fiszman's remarks were extraordinary
By Myles Palmer
Dannys remarks were extraordinary.
What he said was very revealing because he touched all bases.
And it was amazing that the mainstream media didnt really comment on what Danny said at the Champions League draw in Monaco on August 28.
In The Daily Telegraph website piece by Henry Winter, timed at 11.09 pm on August 28, Danny Fiszman, a shy man who always speaks carefully, said more than he has ever said before. He wrote a book.
He talked about "the way Arsene plays" and about "breaks" in the lockdown agreement.
He admitted that there were great expectations that Arsenal would "spend heavily" this summer. And, astonishingly, he said he'd love to be a manager. He pointed out that the Emirates was not costing the club money, and he said that, coming from the diamond business, where everything is done on a handshake, the lack of ethics in the football family had left him "deeply disappointed." Remarkably, he complained that Usmanov never calls him.
All this in addition to saying, with four days left of the transfer window, that Arsene had £30 million to spend.
Just before the window closed, he said : Arsene, please spend some money !
All of that confirmed what I've suspected all year. When you have 8,000 corporates in your new stadium, people start bending your ear. Some of his friends, some rich people, some smart people, some of the movers and shakers of our vibrant city, are getting to him.
In subsequent remarks, already reported on ANR by Ian Grant, he re-confirmed his faith in his manager but talked about Arsene's head being "on the block."
On that Thursday in Monaco, Danny re-emphasised that, at Arsenal, Arsene chooses all the players who are signed by the club.
"It's not our decision who he spends money on, nor will it ever be our decision. If he said to us 'I want this guy and he's £30 million, can I buy him?' the answer is yes. Absolutely yes. We totally back him. It's his decision. I'm unfortunately not good enough to be a manager myself but I'd love to be.''
"There's a dual problem for him. If we were to buy star names, you are talking about relatively mature players who need to be integrated into the way Arsene plays. They don't know our style and it also impacts on the youngsters who've been brought through.''
"There were great expectations and hopes that we would buy heavily this summer. We've bought well. If Arsene could find the right player he would buy that player but at the moment he hasn't. There's still a little bit of time.''
Clearly, the Emirates Stadium has transformed Arsenal's finances, and has uses beyond the staging of football matches. It's even been used to host GCSE exams this summer.
Danny said, "There is this constant thing that the Emirates is bleeding the club, that we've got these repayments it's total crap. Look at our accounts and you will see our net payments are £20million and the revenue increase from the new stadium is close to £50 million. Explain to me how that stadium bleeds the club if it's producing an extra £30 million-a-year. Our wage bill is very similar to Manchester United's and substantially above Liverpool's. It's substantially below Chelsea's, but that is expected.''
On Alisher Usmanov, who is now the majority shareholder, he said, "He doesn't call me and tell me anything. Could he buy more? Well, there's not too many shares available. It doesn't matter that much to us what he does. We have the lock-down agreement till 2012 with breaks. There's stability in the club. We don't believe we need extra investment from him or anywhere else. "
Like his manager, and the supporters, Fiszman is furious about the tapping up of Arsenal players.
"I'm deeply disappointed that this very small family of football and in the Premier League we are 20 clubs who rely totally on each other, within Europe there are 10 clubs going for top players is unable to live and run our businesses decently and properly. "My background is the diamond business. There are no written contracts, everything is done on the shake of a hand. It's done on your word. I come from one extreme and now I'm in this industry where your word is not really worth too much and people do not act ethically.''
There are a few things we know for certain. We know there are nine foreign owners in the Premier League and when it gets to 15 they can do what they want.We know that Arsene Wenger has a contract till 2011. We know that this board would never sack him because he has achieved so much.
We know that Usmanov promised the Stock Exchange not to bid for Arsenal in the next six months.And we know that that those six months expired at midnight on August 29, the day after Danny Fiszman said what he said in Monaco.
That's a summary of what we know.
Here's what we don't know : What happens if Spurs, Man City and Aston Villa go above Arsenal in the league? What happens if Arsenal lose to Blackburn, Kiev and Bolton ? What happens if disillusioned Gooners start to vote with their feet? What happens if Adebayor or Fabregas get injured for three months or more?
We cannot know the future. We can try to read signals, but it's impossible to predict the future in football. A week ago we didn't know that Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley would leave Newcastle and West Ham on the same day, or that Manchester City would be taken over by Arabs on deadline day, or that the two Manchester clubs would spend over £60 million on two star players, Berbatov and Robinho.
There's one other thing we know. I forgot one thing. When Chelski happened, it was dramatic. And when the Manchester City takeover happened, it was dramatic. That suggests that when Arsenal is sold, if it is sold, the deal will not be leaked. It will be like Chelsea and Manchester City. If it happens, it will be sudden and dramatic. It will come out of the clear blue sky with no warning. In the meantime, we can only wait and see.
Remember, Arsenal is the jewel in the crown of the EPL, the last Big Four club that's not foreign-owned. And the first break in the lock-down agreement comes on April 18.
Personally, I always pay far more attention to Danny Fiszman than to chairman Peter Hill-Wood. Because Peter only has 500 shares. He has 0.8%. Danny has 24.1 % and wants to keep Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith onside. She has 15.9%. Danny makes the big decisions and Lady Nina will not move without Danny. And he hopes that Hill-Wood, his front man, will only say what he wants him to say. As we all know, that is not always the case.
Hill-Wood trusts Steve Stammers of The Sunday Mirror, who has now quoted Hill-Wood admitting, "If somebody came and made a really huge bid then you cannot recommend shareholders turn it down because we don't like it.We want the club the stay in its current ownership and, of course, you have some concern that someone will try to buy the club. The directors don't want to sell but we are a public company. It depends on the price."
Is that an invitation?
Or is he just saying what he has to say? After all, Hill-Wood is legally required to act in the best interests of the shareholders of the company.
Sep 8, 2008
