Fiszman - Not For Sale

Rocky, did you get the e mail from AISA? I got it last night and they 've sent a full transcript of what Fiszman said to them as well as the AST's position on the affair. I've got to say I'm very enthused by Hiull Wood and Fiszman's comments, in the long term a takeover makes no sense at all.

Another plus point that I didn't mention was the fact we have a manager that doesn't spend money. An erection inducer for any tight arsed board member.

Rocky, get a job in the education profession, you appear to get loads of time on your hands:)

Back in 2001 when the new stadium looked a risk, and the money men were ridiculing the expense of building in islington as opposed to outside the M25 citing that broadcasting revenues were more important than fans, investors were few and far between. It's easy to forget that finance was not that readily available and the board had to work very hard to get the initial finance in place and to restructure that finance at key stages of the development. Wenger understood the logic and built his team strategy on prudent spending and youth investment accepting the restrictions that the farsighted investment plans demanded. 5 years later, after the stadium opened, the 'investors' now see that we can fill the capacity with an entertaining and attractive brand of football. They now see that taking the risk of staying true to our roots has paid off, that Wenger has astutely managed the team without sacrificing our ability to compete in the medium and long term. In short they now see that the current board and management were brave, bold and right. Finances look positive for the future and only now these 'investors' so concerned about the clubs future now, though not when it looked riskier, want a slice of the action. The reality is we don't need them now, the time has passed when finances looked challenging, and we should resist these fairweather 'investors' for as long as the current board feel motivated and supported to continue to do so. They have earned our support.

Just hope Fiszman is true to his word. Many of us might agree on not needing to be sold, but hopefully we will start to see some cracks in the plans of those that have gone down the takeover route. If there is any truth in the recent stories about the Glazers, and they were to cut and run inside the next year or so, it might tell business-people everywhere that buying out clubs is not a simple road to riches. That might help signify the peak of the takeover mania gripping the EPL. As PHW sort of said himself: "how far can the lunacy on transfers and wages possibly go?"

Say what HS? Coming from an Arsenal fan.....that is all English to me!!!

Hatespur - that only puts in perspective the sterling work (pardon the pun) done by our Board. I believe our loan of £210M is a fixed rate loan at about 5.79%, so all the increase in libors does not impact Arsenal's cash flow. Another example of the financial acument of the men currently running the club.

A libor is the interest rate banks charge each other for borrowing each others cash. That rate goes up when banks are scared of lending each other money, which is what is happening now. Why? They realise they have sold too many mortgages/loans etc to their customers who are struggling to pay them back, and as defaults rise, and cash dries up things get a bit paralysed. Part of the Glazer loan is libor-backed which explains some of their problems with the present high interest they are having to pay. I'm no expert but with global markets are not looking great, and if it worsens the Galzers will have even more serious problems. The other problem they have of course is they are a business first and foremost, and have little if any love for their 'vehicle', and this appears to be rubbing off on their fans who seem to be steadily declining season tickets and price hikes. It makes our club look like a bloody oasis!

I'm all for the no investors, but I always think it would be nice to be able to splash out once in a while and sign a player who really lifts everything and gets the excitement going. Someone big superstar signing. Kinda like we did when we signed Reyes (not wanting to get into the whole Reyes debate though lol). Better example would be Liverpool with Torres or Tevez to United.

That's all very well but the pitfalls of signing a big player are rather numerous. The huge pressure on them, the ego, a lot of the time they end up dragging things down as they get bigger wages and that effects team spririt, especially if they don't deliver. I don't think the signings of Shevchenko, Ballack or Cole contributed to a lift at the Bridge. The thing we have to do as supporters, particularly while Wenger is in charge, is trust that if the manager buys a player it's because he thinks he will work for the club and not get sucked in by the media hype surrounding a player. Football fans always go nuts about the likes of Torres, Ronaldinho, Kaka etc, etc. But I'm willing to wager most of us see those players play an entire 90 minute game possibly two or three times a year tops. A manager like Wenger will watch a player dozens and dozens of times before making a decision on him.

Sorry boys, i've been out. A libor means 'London Interbank Offered Rate', which is an indication of where the 16 banks included in the survey (major institutions) would be able to take money. These institutions are the ones who should, in a reasonable market, be able to fund the cheapest. If they are unable to fund themselves at less that 1.2% (current libor) over base rate then we have a serious liquidity problem. The Glaziers have set their funding to 3 month Libor as i understand. A major problem for those concerned. For your guide base rate is set at 5.75 and 3 month libor is 6.91.

Sorry 12 banks make the libor fixing.