Kroenke hits back after unrest from Arsenal fans

Arsenal director Josh Kroenke, son of club owner Stan, admits criticism of the club’s leadership has been “hard to take”, but maintains there will be no compromise over the direction of the board.

On Monday, a total of 16 signatories from across Arsenal supporters’ organisations, fanzines and blogs, published a statement hitting out at Stan Kroenke’s “passive ownership” as the club prepare for a third season without Champions League football.

Under the heading “#Wecaredoyou”, criticism of the make-up of the Arsenal board, “soulless” atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium and a lack of transfer strategy are all aimed at Kroenke, whose company took outright ownership of the London club during August 2018.

Josh Kroenke addressed the issues raised during the club’s tour of the United States, and also later released an open letter to all Gunners fans calling for unity.

“For me, on a personal level, I’m not sure how to address my passion. Anyone that knows me knows how passionate I am about Arsenal Footfocused ball Club,” he said in an interview published by several national newspaper websites.

“Is it hard to take? Absolutely. But I’m not in this business to make friends, I’m in it to win.

“If anyone is ever going to question anything about our ownership, which I view as a custodianship, the supporters trust us to be a custodian of the values, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to win whilst also respecting the values and traditions of the club.

“I’ve sat down with supporters’ groups. I’ve not been afraid to sit down to have tough conversations with people because I’m transparent, we’re transparent, we don’t have anything to hide. We all want the same thing and we’re all trying aggressively to make it happen. It’s just sometimes our timeline might not be as aggressive as others would like to see. But we’re not going to compromise the values that have kept Arsenal Football Club the way it is for over 130 years.”

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