ARSENAL CEO, IVAN GAZIDIS REFLECTS ON LAST SEASON, WENGER'S FUTURE, CONTRACTS AND LOTS MORE.

Here is the transcript in full.


IG: The FA Cup is the iconic trophy for people  of my generation. But I’m sorry old friend, this is not really the trophy that we want above all others.

It’s difficult to process a season like that, because we won a trophy but feel disappointed.


Last season we finished second and spent about £110m on transfers. The objective of that spending was to push on and challenge for the title.

At the beginning of the season, we started well, lots of people felt we had the most complete squad that we’d had in a long time.

We went on a long unbeaten run, though we weren’t playing the most fluent football, but we were finding ways to win games.


We were in contention, I think a lot of the fanbase and we were feeling that there were possibilities in the season.

We hit a patch which we’re still analysing, where things were really, really bad.

It was a bit disappointing, we were in the mid-70s for points and our ambition is to win the Premier League and to do that you have to be at least mid-80s, probably upper 80s. So there is a gap. We have to close that gap and that’s not just about spending, although that’s obviously a big part of it.


So we’ve already signed one of the players of the season from the Bundesliga team of the season last year, we’re very actively in discussions on a variety of different players at the moment.

On the squad side, we’re not looking to add more squad depth now, we’re looking at players who can come in and compete for a starting position.


We want to raise the quality of the starting XI with top quality players, we feel we have good squad depth.

There have been other appointments behind the scenes and there will be more as the summer plays out, which you’ll see if you pay very close attention.


Some of it is personnel- we’ve added a new contract negotiator, we’ve added a top class performance coach to go with that.

These are some of the changes we’ve seen already, you’ll see some others in the weeks ahead. It’s not all personnel, some of it is just the way we do things, can we do things better?


Q: What about Arsene Wenger's new two-year contract ?

IG: The first thing to say is that it wasn’t a sentimental decision, the decision was mutual.

The decision was made against the ambition to win the Premier League.

When we think about who might do that, we also consider who embodies the values of the club.

Somebody who has a successful track record over a period of time. This job is a massive responsibility and we need someone who can carry the weight of that and has the experience to carry the weight of that.

We wanted somebody that plays attractive, exciting football that people want to watch. Giving young players a chance is another one of the values of the club.

Sometimes that costs us in points, but the emotional investment we all feel in watching a player’s journey with the club is an important part of what we want to have at Arsenal.

So those are the qualities you look for in a manager and you look around the world and there are some fantastic coaches and maybe some of those would be interested in coming to this fantastic football club.

One day a new coach will come here and take advantage of those opportunities.

But when the board is looking for those qualities, we are looking at the man across the table.

We understand there is disagreement in that amongst the fanbase, but the board has to make decisions focused on what it the right decision and not what’s the popular decision.

We will all be judged on what the club is able to deliver and we are very conscious of that.

Q: Why was there such a lack of effort in so many games, particularly away from home?

IG: I’ve been in professional football now for over 20 years. I think what I have learned is that what goes into a performance can sometimes be a little deceptive in how it appears.

I’m always cautious about making judgements about desire and passion.

Sometimes it is down to confidence, sometimes nerves and wanting to win too much, sometimes it’s just tactical.

Sometimes it can be lack of desire. It’s a very delicate combination of all of those things. When confidence starts suffering, it is very difficult to recapture.

When we were at a low point, Arsene took a risk in going to the new system. I can’t honestly tell you the system solved all of our issues, but it gave the players something new to concentrate on.

Q: In over 50 years I don’t remember such a period of stagnation and the matchday experience is probably the worst I have ever known it.

IG: I don’t think you’re alone in that feeling and it doesn’t make me proud or happy to acknowledge that, but I have to. We have a lack of unity and some dissatisfaction.

We have done a lot of things over the last 4 or 5 years to push the club forward. Club run on values we’re proud of, etc, etc, etc.

I want to deliver trophies to you and also a sense of pride in what this club does and how it does it.

There is an enormous amount about this club to be very proud of. I don’t think there are many Arsenal fans attracted to a vision where we have to be thankful to somebody who is pushing money into the club.

Most Arsenal fans are proud of the way that we run this club but have fear about whether we can be successful.
But I am optimistic.

I think this challenge of standing on our own two feet in the world of football gives us strength and not weakness.

The reason I am optimistic is that we’re not dependent on any one person for our success. I want the atmosphere in this stadium to be united, to be together and I want for us to get behind the team.

That we haven’t had that togetherness is a real regret for me. Part of that is to do with modern football generally, part of that is to do with a new media environment we’re in which pushes dissatisfaction, there would’ve been many years where we would have sat here with three FA Cups in four years and felt pretty good about life, but we are not right now.

But part of it is failure on our part and we have to be honest about that and we have to work out what those failures are, so we can re-engage with our fans and make them feel pride in this football club again.

Q: Why haven’t we heard about Kroenke’s ambition to win the league for the last seven years? All he has done is take money out of the club. His only aim is to make money.

And now we reward Mr. Wenger’s failure with a two-year deal.

IG: I have to say, I don’t really understand the argument that Stan Kroenke is only in it for money. This is going to be more productive if you listen to what I have to say!

All Mr Kroenke has done is support us to make us the best football club we can be. If he was only here to make money, he doesn’t take a revenue stream out of the club, the best way to raise the value of the club is success and trophies.

He hasn’t put any debt on the football club, he wanted us to go out and spend the money we generated from new commercial deals on the squad, which we did.

We finished second in the league and we spent £110m.
Someone asked about the fee he took from the club, let’s examine that.

KSE is one of the most high profile, respected sports companies in the world. The expertise varies greatly from ticketing to digital media, to sports marketing and sponsorships.

We have been using the services of that company and why wouldn’t we? Stan Kroenke never asked for payment for that, why would he? He owns 100% of KSE and two-thirds of Arsenal. £2 of every £3 is going from one pocket to the other, so it’s immaterial to him.

So what happened was that our chairman saw that we were using these services year after year and said it would be good governance to pay for these services that this football club receives.

Our chairman is a stickler for good governance and he insisted we do that.
A couple of years went by, people were upset about it and Stan, who always comes to the annual general meetings, saw that and said, “Look, I don’t want to get involved in that. I’ll just waive that fee and my company will pay those services for free.”

The idea that he would invest millions of pounds a year to make £1m a year is preposterous. The reason Stan gets criticised is, in my view, a bit like kicking the dog, is because results on the field are not what we want.
Some people want an oligarch owner that puts money into the club and I understand that, because that’s the environment we are competing in, that’s an attractive solution. But nobody has ever been held back by Stan Kroenke, he has been nothing but supportive in terms of reinvesting all the money the club generates back into the football side.
If you think it’s all about money and, by the way, he hasn’t sold his shares, so that doesn’t seem to make sense. If it’s all about money, there are far easier, more secure investments than a football club.
Q: Why was Wenger only given a two-year deal, rather than three?
IG: We did have some amazing moments this season and we finished on a high with a trophy that, for me, is very important and it’s very important to the history of this football club. I will say it’s a disappointing season, but I do take pride in it as well.
Graham has expressed that very eloquently and the reaction to that is probably a little bit what’s going on in the fanbase. Which is a mix of opinions. We all want the same thing, we may have differences about the decisions we take, but we all want the same thing and we’ll be stronger together than we will shouting at each other and being in conflict going into a new season where we could have hope and unity.
But going into the new season, I beg you, please, get behind this team and this manager and give them the support they need.
Q: If you take one thing away from tonight Ivan, think seriously about the divide in the fanbase. We need someone on the board like David Dein, who has a connection between the club and the fans. Someone who bleeds Arsenal.
IG: It’s very unusual for a new owner to come into a new football club and keep hold of a board who he has had no prior association with. Chips Keswick has been an Arsenal fan his whole life, Lord Harris his whole life, Ken Friar his whole life too.
I think what we haven’t done well is to communicate the love that those people, and by the way, me, have for Arsenal. We need to do a better job of that. But yes, I think our board does need to be refreshed, we do need a better connection with the fans. I don’t take your comments lightly, I do listen and I do take them seriously.
Q: Can you say, hand on heart, that the board were unanimous in the decision to award Arsene Wenger a new contract, before and after the decision was made?
IG: Uh, we, urmmmm…. The way that the contract decision was made, was the chairman made a statement during the season that a mutual decision would be made at the end of the season. Both on Arsene’s side and the board’s side, we both had to feel that this was the right decision.
That required a lot of thought and some quite detailed conversation, both through the board and Arsene. I have never spoken about board discussions and I don’t intend to do that now. What I will say is that the board acted with unity and the board is 100% doing everything it can to make sure that this decision will be successful.
We don’t have different agendas, our agenda is ‘what is good for this football club?’. We have to make decisions for the football club to be as successful as it can be.
Q: Should the decision have been made sooner?
IG: The board and Arsene really wanted to take some time to think about whether it was the right decision. The decision could have been made sooner, but I’m not sure it would’ve been appreciated by the way. We wanted to do it maturely with the right amount of reflection. Was it the exact right time? I don’t know how to answer that.
Q: I wanted to ask about the deal with Boreham Wood for the reserves and why we have to pay when the reserves play at the Emirates, when we don’t have to at Boreham Wood?
IG: We thought about a variety of different things we could do to have the best possible facilities for our youth, reserves and our women’s team. The pitch is being relaid with a Desso surface, which is the same specification as here at the Emirates.
There is other work going on within the stadium too, a new stand, new floodlights. It is going to be a top class facility. With respect to the reserve games we have at the stadium, it is not a revenue generator.
When we open this stadium, we have a certain number that we have to give to the staff and the authorities, so if you charge nothing, lots of fans say they will come, but that don’t. So we charge a nominal fee, which is like a deposit so we have people who are committed in some way.

Q: Appraise your hopes for the season ahead.

IG: There is an awful lot going on, we’re only four weeks from the end of last season.

You’ll see the product of some of that work soon, some on the player front, some will be behind the scenes.

All of that work is geared towards getting from 75 points to 85 and more, to win the Premier League.

We want to generate some of the pride that I am ashamed to say many of you are not feeling.

The goal is to win things and add to the history of this football club.

The people that work here care about this football club, we do and we want it to be successful.