The so-called “Arsenal model”.
Posted on June 25th, 2009 | 33 Comments |
In Mike Ashley’s statement following the Keegan departure, he tried to defend what he called his ‘Arsenal Model’ for the club but, as the last bit of my bacon sandwich disappeared into a grateful dog, I realised I was a bit bemused by what the Arsenal Model actually is.
In terms of finances, I can only see two models for a football club. Either you look to make a profit (or at least break-even) or you have an owner with deep pockets who doesn’t mind funding things at a loss. If you’re going to try and make a profit then it makes sense to look for young up and coming players you can get at a decent price who either give you good value for money as your future stars or you sell them on at a profit. There are ‘in between’ scenarios where for example you might borrow some money against future success but ultimately you either make a profit or have a rich owner who doesn’t care. I am not sure how clubs like Liverpool, who reputedly owe many millions, are going to achieve financial balance.
The idea of an Arsenal Model sometimes also seems to imply a Director of Football, but I don’t think that’s particularly relevant. That’s just an operational decision designed to provide consistency across managers by dividing up responsibilities. A club with a DoF still either has to make a profit or have a rich owner.
I’m beginning to think that the term ‘Arsenal Model’ comes about merely because Arsenal have been particularly successful at installing a (relatively) prudent financial plan at their club, scouted some decent youngsters and have managed to secure regular top 4 finishes as a result of it. It’s not that there’s any new, dynamic business principle that Arsenal have discovered.
As far as Newcastle is concerned, under Freddie Shepherd we often seemed to be running the rich owner model, but without actually having a rich owner, which is a major flaw in the plan. Then when Ashley came in with his Arsenal Model idea we were simply in too much of a mess to implement it. In fact, we seem to have operated our own ‘Newcastle Model’, which appears to involve buying expensive players on big wages with money we don’t have, allocating them a bed in the injury room and then selling them on at a huge loss. It’s not a model that will win many business awards.
Our new owner, whoever it turns out to be, is unlikely to be the sort who’ll simply finance anything at a loss because such owners are few and far between. We’re much more likely to get someone who’ll want to operate a sensible financial plan, although that doesn’t preclude investing some money up front in lieu of future returns of course, which they’ll have to do if we don’t want to go into administration or end up playing Division 1 football next season.
So I suspect we’ll end up with an ‘Arsenal Model’ anyway, inasmuch as one can call it that. We may even end up with a Director of Football as I seem to remember reading that Shearer wanted to install a football person in the boardroom. How financially successful we are – and indeed how successful any football club without a rich owner is – depends a lot upon how good the management team are at spotting a bargain. Good scouts are probably worth their wages.
Anyway, my point is that I don’t think there really is such a thing as an ‘Arsenal Model’, at least not in any specifically Arsenal way. Perhaps I should have just said that in a comment and saved a lot of electrons, although then I wouldn’t have had an excuse to include a picture of a pretty girl!
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
Great Post Hugh!
“As far as Newcastle is concerned, under Freddie Shepherd we often seemed to be running the rich owner model, but without actually having a rich owner, which is a major flaw in the plan.”
Fat Freddie played both camps, spent money and signed us up to wages we couldnt afford and he didnt have, BUT decided to make us look profitable to pay himself dividends as profits AS WELL! lol
And I wonder why I despise him!