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If, like me, you have been irritated by the number of
"blokes down the pub" who appear to have suddenly become experts in coprporate finance over the last few weeks, and are going on and on about how impossible it is that Arsenal's new stadium will ever happen, or how it will inevitably lead to relegation if it does happen, you will also be pleased to see the
statement issued today by the club's director Danny Fiszman.
"We are totally and utterly committed to Ashburton Grove. That cannot be stressed strongly enough. Contrary to press comment, we are not considering any other stadium than Ashburton Grove.
Our definite plan is to be back at work before the end of the year, which would give us the ability to deliver a stadium for the 2006/2007 season."
"If gambling is doing something without a 100%, then yes, there is a gamble. Are we gambling with the club? The answer is no, because if we were not successful in the move to Ashburton Grove we would still have a substantial property portfolio"
One should not read too much into the fact that, unusually, Arsenal have taken the step of responding to press nonsense.
They have been responding to things more and more in recent years. Not so much in the case of transfer tittle-tattle,
but with the kind of financial gossip that the Arsenal-hating press have been gleefully spreading recently. Because they're
the kind of stories that can become self-fulfilling if you don't make it clear you're confident in your plan.
Blokes I've had to listen to down the pub have been regurgitating tabloid rubbish like it's gospel, and adding their own spin which, if true, would make the Ashburton Grove plans the work of an idiot or a saboteur.
Well, Danny Fiszman, Ken Friar, and David Dein are NOT closet Tottenham fans. And people like that don't get where they are
by being total idiots with money. So I'd rather trust themthan the stirrers. |
