Comments on: AZ Alkmaar in financial crisis

By: Cape Gooner

Cape Gooner — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:28:06 +0000

My interpretation of David Dein’s position is that you don’t fart against thunder. We live in a neoliberal environment where there is no limit to what can be done with money. Therefore, we need plenty of that money for ourselves.

I feel very strongly that this is wrong. Rather, I think I do. I really admired what Elton John did with Watford. In principle that is no different from Abramovich, just a different scale. I think I hate Chelsea so much because the money is so tainted. The Russian government pays no pensions but Abramovich was able to buy his share of Russian oil with a $50000 loan because he was a boyfriend of Yeltsin’s daughter and the IMF told Yeltsin to privatise.

The Lord Wenger has demonstrated that you can fart against thunder. AZ Alkmaar has been unlucky. They have not done anything outrageous. They were sponsored by a bank that went bankrupt. ManU are sponsored by AIG, and they are bankrupt by any reasonable system of accounting.

Outrageous is ManU and Liverpool, massively in debt to banks, and totally unable to repay these debts from revenue. Only a serious rise in the value of football clubs or a large inflation can save them.

Of course, the last sentence is not true. They can go the Chelsea/Man City route; a rich and benevolent owner. High risk as he can change his mind, but not outrageous. What is outrageous is that we are have reverted back to a situation where the entertainment of the masses is at the pleasure and mercy of the very rich.

By: shotta-gunna

shotta-gunna — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:41:29 +0000

Along the same lines of “where will we/they/you be in 20 years?” – I just read on that tabloid site football365.com where one of their regular columnists was mourning the future of Liverpool FC. He acknowledged, as most of us have long done on this blog, that it is a financial basket case, burdened by the debt the owners have put on the club and could easily do a Leeds and go into administration if they don’t qualify for the Champs League this season. Even Pool fans wrote in to share their concerns. The irony is this website has for the past two years ridiculed Arsene Wenger for his emphasis on rebuilding based on youth and not overspending on ageing players. The chickens are certainly coming to roost.

By: Paul C.

Paul C. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:04:14 +0000

Walter – Great point about the doubters jumping out of the woodwork at the first sign of a draw or loss. There is a depressing lack of long-term thinking sometimes. People often seem to forget that once your money is spent, it is spent. There is no getting it back, unless you buy low and sell high exactly as Arsenal has done for the past decade. Yes, that means that great players will often be lost to Real or Barca but it also means we will never be in a position like Chelsea, with a squad of highly paid players of almost zero worth approaching the end of their careers.

I always like to ask “where will we/they/you be in 20 years?”. Arsenal will still be around, will still be competitive, and will still be in very sound financial shape. To their (and Levy’s) credit, Spurs will probably be around as well. But can many other clubs say that with 100% confidence?

By: walter

walter — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:45:36 +0000

True LRV, we all know that.
But we also know it only takes one point dropped somewhere on the road to let those fools come out their sewer to demand to buy players, for a take over by whatever rich man who doesn’t give a damn about our club but who is bored and not knowing what to do for the moment with his money.
We cannot remind them enough of what could happen…

In a way I felt, over the last years, a bit of sympathy for AZ. It was a small town club that came between the big players in Holland like Ajax, PSV and Feijenoord. It was a bit refreshing in a way. But now it seems it all was done with money not belonging to the club. There goes my sympathy….

By: LRV

LRV — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:35:47 +0000

Thanks for the article and the update walter. Only a fool will still doubt that the Arsenal Financial Management Ethos is the best for a football club as in other forms of business.

By: walter

walter — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:18:30 +0000

I wrote the article last week and yes this morning DSB Bank was officially made bankrupt. So we will be playing a team that will have the name of a bankrupt company on it’s shirts tomorow.
Also on the pitch the results this year have not been as expected so far. You could say we play against a club in problems on and off the pitch.
The last sentences become more important than ever.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:22:56 +0000

Walter,

you are nearer to the situation than I am, but i read that DSB Bank was officially made bankrupt on the 19th.October.