Search: ' John W Henry'

A change in the Arsenal boardroom does not necessarily dictate a change in the club’s direction. Jon Spurling tells all

Last month, Stan Kroenke added Arsenal FC to his extensive portfolio of sports clubs. As usual, “Silent Stan” avoided saying anything of consequence to the media about the development, while in marked contrast to the noise surrounding the “Russian Revolution” at Chelsea in 2003, or John W Henry’s takeover at Liverpool earlier this year, the announcement that Kroenke had become majority shareholder at Arsenal warranted comparatively little media hype. Then again, Kroenke has been steadily increasing his percentage of shares at the club since 2007, while, in media terms, an American taking over a Premier League football club is relatively old hat. It is also the case that Kroenke, much like Villa owner Randy Lerner, has remained resolutely “hands-off” with his sporting investments, preferring to allow his executive and coaching teams to get on with their jobs.

Read more…

With no hope of domestic glory, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is hoping Champions League success can save his job

When Ashley Cole missed his penalty against Everton in their FA Cup tie, the Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny asked on Twitter: “What do you think Ashley was aiming for? Is it an aeroplane? No, it’s just Ashley throwing Chelsea out of the FA Cup.” In fairness to Cole, it wasn’t the most misguided shot he took this month.

Read more…

While the rest of Europe remained quiet, underachieving Premier League clubs Chelsea and Liverpool splashed out during the transfer window

His was a signing that served to demonstrate Liverpool FC’s standing in English football, a player whose contributions to a game would be one of the main topics of any post-match discussion. But, after a torrid few months at Anfield, Paul Konchesky has been shipped out on loan to Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, the one player Liverpool supporters didn’t want to see leave, Fernando Torres, has departed for Chelsea for £50 million.

Read more…

Dear WSC
I would like to ask my fellow readers if their clubs have something called “The Nardiello Factor”. The Nardiello Factor is a phenomenon where a striker’s popularity is based in a large part on the exotic nature of his name. At Barnsley we have seen no finer example of this than in recent months with the arrival of Jerónimo Morales Neumann. My fellow Tykes have been beside themselves at the thought of this player, and have wondered how Mark Robins can possibly limit him to just warming the bench. This opinion seems based on nothing more than the fact that he has a name that would be good to shout out when (if) he scores. Our Jerónimo accordingly scores a Nardiello Factor rating of nine (the maximum score is ten). Contrast this with Chris Woods, our loanee from West Brom. He scores a paltry NarFac rating of four. Were he to slightly change his name to Christiano Woodaldo he would up his NarFac rating to eight but, alas, this is not to my knowledge due for consideration. As a consequence the support from the terraces has been a little limited to date. Liam Dickinson scores a NarFac rating of one, though I am willing to concede that, even if he changed his name to Galileo Figaro Magnifico, he’d do well to register a NarFac rating of five. His yellow boots have had a negative impact.
Ian Marsden, Belper

Read more…

Howard Pattison goes in search of football heritage and asks why more blue plaques aren’t awarded to players

In 1999 the writer Hunter Davies asked: “Why are there no blue plaques for footballers?” Over a decade on, they are still so rare that you begin to wonder if those who administer our heritage simply don’t see football as being part of it. Surely Bobby Moore is worthy of a blue plaque?

Read more…