Damning statement from Arsenal Supporters' Trust doubts board's ability to find right replacement for Emery

Tony Mogan29 November 2019

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust says it has no faith in the club’s ability to find an adequate replacement for sacked head coach Unai Emery.

The Gunners confirmed the Spaniard’s departure on Friday morning after a run of no wins in seven matches.

The AST, who have persistently pushed for changes beyond the dugout, described the decision as “unfortunate but inevitable” but say a board with “no expertise” will struggle to bring in the right man to lead the club out of their current malaise.

The statement read: “The dismissal of Unai Emery was unfortunate but inevitable. Performances and results have been far below what is expected at Arsenal.

Frontrunners to replace Emery at Arsenal, according to bookmakers

1/9

“But Emery’s departure is the easy part. The more difficult challenge is to recruit a suitable successor. We are far from certain that Arsenal has the right personnel to lead this process.

“The AST has long been advocating that the most important changes needed at Arsenal are in the Boardroom where Arsenal need better governance.

“It is a sad fact that the club is now wholly owned by an overseas investment vehicle, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, who are largely absent from London.

“This means that the club needs to be governed by a strong Board in London, one that is truly independent and has the expertise and dynamism to drive a football club forward.

“Arsenal’s Board currently has no one with football expertise. Its three 'independent' members are 85, 79 and 77 years old. None of them have football experience nor reflect the diversity of Arsenal’s playing squads nor supporter base.

“A strong Board would be able to hold the club’s executive to account and to provide them with counsel.

“Arsenal also need to build better relationships with their supporters especially at the ownership/boardroom level. New appointments to the Board should include looking for people with the skillset to ensure better dialogue with supporters and provide a sense of purpose and direction.

“So if Arsenal are to genuinely move forward from today it requires not only a new head coach appointment but also a rejuvenation of the boardroom”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in