Don Pacifico wrote:
Clrnc + Ray
How can you justify that he should be putting his own money in? As Jones pointed out, this way of operating is consistent with how we've been run for decades. In addition, it means there will be no potential debts that any future owners would incur and that we're not in a precarious position if he decides to sell up. Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool would be on the other hand.
Kroenke is a successful businessman, so at the end of the day, he'll be looking to turn a profit. The way he does that is by increasing the value of the club, which as much as we can be cynical about, would suggest that he wants to improve the club.
@[deleted] - what investment in infrastructure are you referring to? I don't disagree with your suggestion but certainly the restructure that we've seen over the past 18 months would suggest that we're taking steps to improve the setup of the club.
I dont know about how good Kroenke is in his other line of work, he got rich with real estate and marrying both of which don't necessitate you being the smartest bloke around. I'm not going to doubt his acumen there though because I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
However his running of the club has been piss poor, and most definitely not the successful businessman type of running a club - and to be fair to him, I dont think he's really 100% into making money with his sports businesses it seems like some sick twisted hobby of his to own clubs and franchises.
Unlike what some have insinuated in this thread you don't tighten the belt when you hit a bumpy road, financial frugality on the contrary is for when things are going really well. That doesn't work obviously for a corner shop but billion dollar businesses like Arsenal FC dont sork that way. You want an anti cyclical budgeting approach so you can correct an anticipated slowdown in financial activity ie lack of CL money. When the club can carry its own weight again you start withdrawing that additional line of funds slowly. People love to mention how well Liverpool are doing, well this is exactly what they've practised in the last years, until they sold Suarez and Coutinho they've been deep in red figures, now they replaced them and got to consecutive CL finals their owners can balance the books.
Bottom line is you don't need to show you can do more with less during bad times, you use any support you can to get out of that hole. I would've thought austerity lost its appeal after how it ruined Europe and facilitated the rise of the right wing everywhere.
