Ivan Gazdis Interview - New Spending Power

[Kano]

He's done part of his job and brought the sponsorship money so credit to him for that. But it's worth having a proper read of that because it answers a lot of our questions on the wage structure and the issues we've been talking about for years. I wouldn't say it's the usual rubbish.

it's complete garbage. the usual sales patter about what can be done in the future and the possibilities now. but it counts for nothing until someone puts their hand in the register and uses it. gazidis has contradicted wenger on a few occasions at previous agm's telling everyone there is money to good spend but we've seen nothing.

tom fox is the cco who played a big part doing these deals and part of gazidis remit as a ceo is to make sure the employees under him are making the most of the resources available - if that is their aim at all.

[Power n Glory]

it's complete garbage. the usual sales patter about what can be done in the future and the possibilities now. but it counts for nothing until someone puts their hand in the register and uses it. gazidis has contradicted wenger on a few occasions at previous agm's telling everyone there is money to good spend but we've seen nothing.

tom fox is the cco who played a big part doing these deals and part of gazidis remit as a ceo is to make sure the employees under him are making the most of the resources available - if that is their aim at all.

It's not the usual. He's making it clear that there is money to spend and that we don't have some inflexible wage structure in place that's holding us back. He's also making it clear that he's not going to start telling Wenger how to run the team or the best way to get results. That's fair enough in my book.

It's food for thought because I'm tired of the constant excuses about Wenger's hands being tied or forced to sell his players.

[Özil's Panoramic View]

It's not the usual. He's making it clear that there is money to spend and that we don't have some inflexible wage structure in place that's holding us back. He's also making it clear that he's not going to start telling Wenger how to run the team or the best way to get results. That's fair enough in my book.

It's food for thought because I'm tired of the constant excuses about Wenger's hands being tied or forced to sell his players.

Oh how DD is missed.

Time he came back home, tbh.

[Kano]

It's not the usual. He's making it clear that there is money to spend and that we don't have some inflexible wage structure in place that's holding us back. He's also making it clear that he's not going to start telling Wenger how to run the team or the best way to get results. That's fair enough in my book.

It's food for thought because I'm tired of the constant excuses about Wenger's hands being tied or forced to sell his players.

he's told us there is money there before - what's new?

of course he'll separate the line between the team and the board because it can take the heat off them 'look we've done all we can guv'. i could tell you a million bullshit lines about how amazing the things are in my life - the yacht, the mansion etc but why in the hell should you take my word for it?

i'm sick of rhetoric. they need to do something, in real terms, or fuck off.

[Power n Glory]

Indeed, actions speak louder than words. But it's not as if we haven't spent money before. We've just spent foolishly. Look at the amount of players we've bought recently. Yes, we've sold but we've bought and bought badly.

I said last year that there seemed to be excuse after excuse. First the stadium debt and then the lack of sponsoship money. If you check his past comments, that would always crop up. This time it's pretty clear. We don't have to worry about the debt and teh sponsorship money has come in.

[Marc Overmars]

Gazidis.

Most important person at the club.

[Gooner23]

As said by others, they are all empty words until we actuallly start spending on proven quality.

I did like some of the questions though, summarised many of the fans issues and questions regarding the current squad/policies/general direction of club. May at least give IG some food for thought.

[cricketsi]

It's not the usual. He's making it clear that there is money to spend and that we don't have some inflexible wage structure in place that's holding us back. He's also making it clear that he's not going to start telling Wenger how to run the team or the best way to get results. That's fair enough in my book.

It's food for thought because I'm tired of the constant excuses about Wenger's hands being tied or forced to sell his players.

I think it's actually quite possible (and maybe correct?) to read parts of that transcript as saying that we have been operating under financial constricts in recent years, and back up the theory that Wenger was financially forced into many of the decisions made. I certainly don't think it all reads to back up your position that such a viewpoint is inaccurate.

[Power n Glory]

I think it's actually quite possible (and maybe correct?) to read parts of that transcript as saying that we have been operating under financial constricts in recent years, and back up the theory that Wenger was financially forced into many of the decisions made. I certainly don't think it all reads to back up your position that such a viewpoint is inaccurate.

I don't doubt the restraints. Everyone has to work to a budget. But how it's been spent is the problem and what I have a real issue with.

Imagine you've been invited to a fancy party by your parents/boss/. Suit and tie type event. You notice your girlfriend has run out of nice dresses and needs something appropriate for the party. You give her £300 to spend on a new outfit. As a guy, you don't know what the heck is in style and can't really tell her what to get, this should be her area. But for £300 you'd think she'd be able to find something that looks the part, right? It doesn't have to be designer, just something that looks classy at least.

Hours later she comes back with a load of cheap outfits from Primark that don't look the part. The trashy look. The sort of dress that's not appropriate for this type of party. Kisses you on the cheek and boasts about saving £100 cause the stuff was on sale! You hint about wanting her to look more classy and her response is that she can't afford the sort of dresses the Hollywood stars and rich kids buy.

What can you do about that? The problem is the mentality and not the budget. We're not minted but we're buying low quality players and squandering a lot of money. It will be interesting to see what Wenger does now that the budget has increased. If the standard in quality doesn't go up then there really isn't much else we can do. You just have to hope he gets things right and signs more Cazorla type players and no more Gervinho's and Giroud's. I think the club have done well to push these sponsorship deals through and I thought they were going to pin our financial constraints on sponsorship money once we've paid down this Emirates debt. It so happens they're not and we're moving ahead quickly.

Gazidis can't really tell Wenger who to buy and how to achieve success. That is not his field. But he has set the bar higher and he has openly said we're not settled on 4th and our financial muscle must now translate into success on the pitch. That's the only thing they can do at this point. They've sent a clear message and it at least shows that he's paying attention to the criticism about him, Stan and the club in general. Now that they've made a firm statement, the focus should be on them to get tough if we continue to stagnate. The Board seem to be declaring that they have done their part and we're over that hump. Plus with the wage cap in place, we shouldn't have many more excuses. I said a few seasons ago that Wenger's financial doping argument and emphasis on finances has pushed the Board to try and increase more revenue and to an extent, deflects attention away from the real problem at heart. We'll see what happens over the coming months.

[cricketsi]

I don't doubt the restraints. Everyone has to work to a budget. But how it's been spent is the problem and what I have a real issue with.

Imagine you've been invited to a fancy party by your parents/boss/. Suit and tie type event. You notice your girlfriend has run out of nice dresses and needs something appropriate for the party. You give her £300 to spend on a new outfit. As a guy, you don't know what the heck is in style and can't really tell her what to get, this should be her area. But for £300 you'd think she'd be able to find something that looks the part, right? It doesn't have to be designer, just something that looks classy at least.

Hours later she comes back with a load of cheap outfits from Primark that don't look the part. The trashy look. The sort of dress that's not appropriate for this type of party. Kisses you on the cheek and boasts about saving £100 cause the stuff was on sale! You hint about wanting her to look more classy and her response is that she can't afford the sort of dresses the Hollywood stars and rich kids buy.

What can you do about that? The problem is the mentality and not the budget. We're not minted but we're buying low quality players and squandering a lot of money. It will be interesting to see what Wenger does now that the budget has increased. If the standard in quality doesn't go up then there really isn't much else we can do. You just have to hope he gets things right and signs more Cazorla type players and no more Gervinho's and Giroud's. I think the club have done well to push these sponsorship deals through and I thought they were going to pin our financial constraints on sponsorship money once we've paid down this Emirates debt. It so happens they're not and we're moving ahead quickly.

Gazidis can't really tell Wenger who to buy and how to achieve success. That is not his field. But he has set the bar higher and he has openly said we're not settled on 4th and our financial muscle must now translate into success on the pitch. That's the only thing they can do at this point. They've sent a clear message and it at least shows that he's paying attention to the criticism about him, Stan and the club in general. Now that they've made a firm statement, the focus should be on them to get tough if we continue to stagnate. The Board seem to be declaring that they have done their part and we're over that hump. Plus with the wage cap in place, we shouldn't have many more excuses. I said a few seasons ago that Wenger's financial doping argument and emphasis on finances has pushed the Board to try and increase more revenue and to an extent, deflects attention away from the real problem at heart. We'll see what happens over the coming months.

Every man should think he has the prettiest wife.

Your comment was about putting to bed arguments about Wenger being forced into selling players. Yes, in hindsight he could have done better than some of the signings, but that doesn't change the fact he's been financially hamstrung at times in the past, which Gazidis is kind of saying.