On this busy day of international soccer, check out this interesting piece from Soccer America magazine on Real Salt Lake owner, Dave Checketts. I don't know anything about the man and maybe he is not Mr. Nice Guy but, according to goalkeeper Nick Rimando, at least he seems to care about his team. Can anyone imagine Mr. Click to continue reading...

by JAMES CURTIS The news this afternoon is that Stan Kroenke has ditched plans to invest in further shares at Arsenal by the end of the month, instead choosing to wait until the new year to take his shareholding to the magic 29.99% figure.

This is because Silent Stan has plunged $1 million into a Montana ranch thought to be 10,000 acres and containing 4,000 horses, in an effort to rear as much placenta as possible after yet another Arsenal player has fallen short to an ankle injury.

Click to continue reading...

Stan Kroenke's No2 says the American billionaire will be a great influence on Arsenal.
Kroenke was in the news again earlier this month when he took his stake in Arsenal's parent holding company to 29.9%.
If he goes beyond 29.99%, he is legally obliged to launch a formal takeover bid for the club but, despite moving very close to that mark, he has remained silent on his intentions towards the Gunners. Click to continue reading...

by VIC CRESCIT In a light week for Arsenal on-field news I thought I'd pause today and have a look at the future prospects for ownership at Arsenal.Â

Yesterday saw a bloc of 32 Arsenal Holdings shares traded off-market. I think it's reasonable to assume that Alisher Usmanov's Red & White Holdings Ltd was the buyer.

Click to continue reading...

Last week, Stan Kroenke increased his stake in the club 29.9% and I'd like to speculate, along with others, on what that will likely mean for the future of the club we all love. Mostly, I'd like to respond to an article by David Tully that was posted on Football FanCast this past week. Sadly, fear-mongering has been a great feature of this struggle for controlling interest in the club initiated by David Dein in the wake of his exit from the club.

Click to continue reading...

by CARL ELDRIDGE Congratulations to Rob Shepherd for today's most fanciful tale suggesting that Arsene Wenger will leave the Arsenal for Real Madrid if Alisher Usmanov takes over at the Emirates.

In the News of the World he 'reports':  I understand Wenger has made it plain to the Gunners board he will not work under Usmanov and would move to Real Madrid instead.

Click to continue reading...

Another home game, another win, another game with over three goals. Nearly three months into the season and we have not scored less than three goals in a home game in any competition, it shows just how strong we have been at home this season and any team visiting the Grove will be aware of this record and aware of how strong the squad we have is.

Click to continue reading...

51 responses to Jeff Plush's letter to fans on the Rapids' blog as of 10am November 5. It shows there are some passionate fans out there. Not that I ever had any doubt about that. What I do have doubts over are the very future of this club and here's why.
I have never really understood why sports trophies are given to the owners of clubs when they win championships. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday bought us news that Silent Stan Kroenke has upped his stake by two hundred shares to 18,594 or 29.9%. One hundred of these shares were bought from our esteemed chairman Peter Hill-Wood, he who famously pronounced that we didn't need "his sort" when Kroenke bought into the club via ITV plc's 9.

Click to continue reading...

The 4-1 thumping of Alkmaar in midweek was an immensely satisfying affair, a triumph of footballing philosophy over the defensive nous of coaches such as Ronald Koeman, and yet another demonstration that this Arsenal team is serious about combining footballing beauty with tangible success.

But prior the the match, there was a definite sense of relaxation amongst the fans, as if the game really didn't matter, so assured was our progress regardless of the result.

Click to continue reading...

Better him than Usmanov

News fluttered in yesterday that the American tycoon, Stan Kroenke has purchased more Arsenal shares to bring his shares to 29.9%. Just 0.09% short of needing to make a move for the rest of the shares. Now I've reserved my thoughts on this matter for quite some time as it has already been highlighted in many other blogs and there is no need for me to talk anymore about it, but with Stan so close to a takeover, I guessed now is as good a time as any to give this topic a special mention.

Click to continue reading...

There is only one big issue today, the news that Arsenal Football Club is now effectively owned by Stan Kroenke. I say this rather tongue in cheek, in that until all the shares are owned by Mr Kroenke, this is more a question of voting rights with the effective control of the club that is conferred upon Stan Kroenke by virtue of this shareholding.

Click to continue reading...

Happy Friday to you all,

we should probably start with the news that Stan Kroenke is on threshold of the 30% which would require him to make an offer for all the shares in Arsenal. We've watched him draw ever closer in the last few months, his intentions remain very much a mystery. What you can say though is that with the 100 shares he bought from Peter Hill-Wood what is happening is being done with the full knowledge of the board.

Click to continue reading...

I'm not quite sure where this week has gone. It's absolutely motored past. However, I suspect I drifted along, basking a bit too much in derby delight, and before I could whistle, the Champions League game had been and gone, and Stan Kroenke had hoovered up yet more shares.

We continued our fine form, albeit against what turned out to be the limited AZ.

Click to continue reading...

by CARL ELDRIDGE Silent Stan Kroenke's actions certainly speak louder than his words and, again, this morning's papers reflect on the Yank minted moustachioed one's latest purchases of Arsenal shares as he inches ever closer to a takeover.

Kroenke yesterday took his stake in the Arsenal to 29.

Click to continue reading...

Friday has arrived, only one day to get through until we play again.

I am just glad November 5th is now over for another year – I don't like Fireworks!!

Sadly though, nowadays November 5th seems to go on for about a week, so I anticipate more tonight and over the weekend
Few odd bits of gossip around late yesterday evening and early today.

Click to continue reading...

Stan Kroenke owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets and Colorado Rapids MLS team.
The latest 200 shares that he bought; 100 shares from Arsenal Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, for 8,500 Pounds per share put him on a brink of the threshold mark set up by the Arsenal Board of Directors.
29. Click to continue reading...

According to ESPN Soccernet, shareholder Stan Kroenke might be consider making a full offer for Arsenal. In order to do so, he has to own 29.99% of the club and he recently purchased more shares to increase his stake to 29.90%.

However the possibility of the team being bought by Kroenke has not affect boss Arsene Wenger.

Click to continue reading...

Stan Kroenke has purchased even more shares in Arsenal today taking his holding to 29.9% of the club. With only another 0.09% required to reach the threshold to make an offer for the rest of the clubs shares, Kroenke has purchased 627 shares this week for the princely sum of £5.3 million.

Click to continue reading...

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal may soon have a new owner at the club. Stan Kroenke, who already added to his stock of shares in the North London club earlier this week, reportedly bought 200 more shares today to draw his stake in the club to 29.9 percent -- just 0.09 percent away from the limit where Kroenke would have to make a bid for the remaining shares.

Click to continue reading...

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal may soon have a new owner at the club. Stan Kroenke, who already added to his stock of shares in the North London club earlier this week, reportedly bought 200 more shares today to draw his stake in the club to 29.9 percent -- just 0.09 percent away from the limit where Kroenke would have to make a bid for the remaining shares.

Click to continue reading...

It's now or never for Arsenal Football Club.  Stan Kroenke has been mopping up small shareholdings over the last couple of weeks to raise his share in the club to 29.8%. He is a fraction below the mandatory bid figure of 29.9%.

It was rumoured that he bought 100 shares from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood; this is the same man who famously said, "We do not need his sort at this club.

Click to continue reading...

Join former Arsenal player Adrian Clarke and celebrated sports journalist Iain Spragg for Episode 27 of the world famous Soccerlens Podcast.Â

This week's bouncy banter focuses on Barcelona and Inter Milan's Champions League concerns, big money transfers that defy logic, and Stan Kroenke's bid to take control of Arsenal.

Click to continue reading...

Gerrard actually misses Xabi Alonso. Which is kinda cute.
Don't forget to re-acquaint yourself with this beauty.
But Liverpool still sucks.
Now some links:

• More Bulgarian craziness. [Unprofessional Foul]
  
• Police use water cannon at German riot. [SI]
  
• Carlo loves him some Didier Drogba.

Click to continue reading...

Big Story
So, despite protests from fans and politicians, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has further cemented his unpopularity on Tyneside by announcing the renaming of St. James' Park apparently believing that adding an "@" symbol to it means the club is respecting history.

Click to continue reading...

With our Champions League match against AZ Alkmaar looming, I am just going to use today to briefly talk about a few issues facing the club this week, including the Fran Merida situation, the impending, or not, takeover bid, and a look back at the delusion that is Spurs', and Harry Redknapp's, view of their side.

Click to continue reading...

by CARL ELDRIDGE Arsenal fans are fearful for the future of the club after Stan Kroenke increased his stakeholding to 29.6 per cent — just short of the threshold for an obligatory takeover of 29.9 per cent, reports the Times.

Kroenke yesterday purchased another 427 shares in the parent company of the North London club from the estate of Ernest Harrison, a British industrialist, at a cost of £3.

Click to continue reading...

I have wanted to write a piece about Stan Kroenke for a while now, about a year ago I wrote a story about the ownership of Arsenal just after Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith left the board.

_____________________________________________________________________

Early on Saturday morning I was listening to the World Football Phone In on BBC Five Live and their correspondent for North America was asked about Stan Kroenke what he is like as a guy, what his intentions may be in the future and what we would want to get out of a club like Arsenal.

Click to continue reading...

Stan Kroenke continues to edge closer to a takeover of Arsenal. He is now at a 29.6% shareholding, just shy of the 29.9% that by city rules would trigger a takeover bid. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust (AST) sent out a press release about the news today, which stated that they were opposed to a takeover by Kroenke (and also mentioned they did not believe one was imminent anyway).

Click to continue reading...

Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke edged closer to a potential takeover of English power Arsenal after buying another batch of shares.

Kroenke now owns about 29.6 percent of Arsenal's shares, just three percentage points below the amount that would obligate him to launch a formal takeover bid.

Click to continue reading...

Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke edged closer to a potential takeover of English power Arsenal after buying another batch of shares.

Kroenke now owns about 29.6 percent of Arsenal's shares, just three percentage points below the amount that would obligate him to launch a formal takeover bid.

Click to continue reading...

by CARL EDLRIDGE Stan Kroenke has snapped up another 427 shares in Arsenal's parent holding company, at a cost of £3.6million, as the Yank moves closer towards the takeover threshold, reports the Daily Mail.

Kroenke is now the largest individual shareholder in Arsenal, with a stake of 29.

Click to continue reading...

Â

Photo by ISIphotos.com

When it comes to conversations about the most dysfunctional clubs in Major League Soccer, the New York Red Bulls often tend to dominate the conversations, but one club that needs to start being discussed is the Colorado Rapids.

The Rapids downright imploded in the final six weeks of the MLS season to miss out on the playoffs for a third straight year.

Click to continue reading...

Â

Photo by ISIphotos.com

When it comes to conversations about the most dysfunctional clubs in Major League Soccer, the New York Red Bulls often tend to dominate the conversations, but one club that needs to start being discussed is the Colorado Rapids.

The Rapids downright imploded in the final six weeks of the MLS season to miss out on the playoffs for a third straight year.

Click to continue reading...

Welcome back to TGIF, a feature that was the brain wave of Perry_Groves' Lovechild, where I try to bring together the themes of the week into hopefully a summary of the Arsenal World so far. This week there are many things to talk about, but the news of Professional footballers being given jail sentences again reminds us all that our players are just human after all, apart from Joey Barton who is clearly an extra terrestial who has hijacked a human body.

Click to continue reading...