I'm getting Wet !
No, not just because of the 1-6 away win over Everton on the opening day. No, not because of the 0-2 away win over Celtic in the CL Quali. No, not because of the 4-1 poking of Portsmouth in our first home match of the season. Truth is - all of these got me moist and hard at the same time (or was that the currys and kebabs... not sure).
I'm getting genuinely excited over a couple of items coming out of Arsenal.com.
The first, a few days ago... This
Tom Fox (Chief Commercial Officer) - Ex Gatorade/Quaker Oats, Ex NBA, Ex Nike.Svenja Geissmar (General Counsel) - Ex MTV Europe
Trevor Saving (Head of People and Operations) - Ex Pepsi, Ex Revlon, Ex Levi Strauss & Ex Dunlop.
And the Secondly... This
Interestingly... the impact of the initial points mentioned by Gazidis are all cost centres and cost a LOT of money... a more staid approach would have been to start with initiative which generate revenue and then turn that back into the pot to use on bigger and grander initiative from there on and keep using that momentum to fund these changes. But... Gazidis is making a statement. The 3 heads he has brought in are not cheap. They will all be on £150k plus salaries with appropriate bonus incentives to match (which in a majority of US organisations* - will include loyalty bonuses to keep them in post). It is very important not to underestimate the influence of American business models here; because this is the path we are heading down and believe it or not its not a bad thing. Most people will hear the term American business model and think credit crunch / global financial downturn and other media soundbites... that's not what I mean here.I firmly believe that Kroenke was a big player in Gazidis' appointment as CEO. The good thing about that is that Americans know how to market a brand. They really know. OK Gazidis is not American, but has been MLS VP and has enough of a twang to pass for one on a dark night.
For me, this looks like a clear and significant move away from the stuffy old guard that has long been the image of Arsenal FC some years ago. Don't misunderstand me here... I felt warmed by the comments about the shrine to Highbury. The one thing I have always thought that should happen during the induction process for new players at Arsenal should be they are taken through the museum and made to understand the passion and history of the club - especially the values of Arsenal. Wenger has embraced these from his arrival - and for better or worse, has agreed to stick by these in his management of the club which has been displayed by his transfer policy. Spending £10bn on a player just isn't Arsene's way and isn't the Arsenal way either.
The "Arsenalisation" of The Emirates is an essential key marketing move. Gazidis is seeking to bring in an atmosphere and pressure in the stadium. You know, you go to some grounds and you just feel that "it's their manor, their gaff". Obviously, moving to a new ground, it takes time to create that. It's not something that you can pick up and move it from Highbury. You have to start again and create a special atmosphere again. Wenger knew this, but also knew it was not his job to do that. Gazidis knows that's part of his job description.
To be fair, we the fans need to do our part. It's been well (and rightly) observed that the typical AFC home crowd is bit like a family picnic. Some parts of the ground are quiet and only a polite ripple of applause on a good pass. But crowds are like that - if left alone. A crowd will follow the group behaviour... a quiet crowd will generally remain quite and a loud noisy vociferous crowd will generally maintain that level of noise for longer periods.
Anyway, I digress... the executives are getting our house in order. These appointments are pretty heavy hitters. They are used to operating in very large global corporations; which means that we are gearing up for a steady expansion in staffing and global coverage. This expansion (when done properly) is going to seriously raise our profile outside of the UK. Shirt sales, merchandising is only a small part. Retail and media interest will bring big revenue increases. Wenger has said that he has committed to his current transfer policy and fiscal constraints for the next 5/6 years. The plans being unveiled here will go a long way to having up on a even keel by this time. Depending on our success between no and then - we will have removed the debt from the stadium build by then. Transfer budgets and wage structures will then be more flexible - should Wenger wish to inflate these areas to meet the demands of the market at that time.
