Arsenal and Josh Kroenke: Actions speak louder than words

Josh Kroenke has launched an impassioned defence of his and his father’s ownership of Arsenal football. Sadly for the American and his standing among the fan base, actions speak louder than words, and what he says does not match up to what he does.

On Monday morning, a series of well-known Arsenal fans, fan groups and blogs co-signed a letter questioning the commitment of the ownership of the club, all with the tagline, #WeCareDoYou.

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Then, over 75,000 people signed a petition set up off the back of the open letter. The fan base is not happy. On Tuesday, Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan and a member of the board, lauched his repsone.

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In an open letter himself, and later in interviews with the media, Kroenke was impassioned, protesting that the club now needs unity, not more change, that he, his father and Kroenke Sports Entertainment group are in sport to win and not just to make money, and that fans should ‘be excited’ about what is to come during the remainder of this summer’s transfer window — You can read quotes from his interview here. You can read the full 900-word open letter here.

I will not discuss the actual issues that Kroenke raises in this specific piece — I may do in another piece, but there are a lot of topics that he discusses and doing it in one piece would be a little overly ambitious. Rather, I have one rather obvious point to make regarding Kroenke’s most recent riposte: actions speak louder than words.

It was the excellent Tim Stillman that came up with this analogy on Twitter, so I give him full credit, but if I was to consistently tell you that I want to become an astronaut but then did nothing in the way of actually trying to become an astronaut, that does not mean that I actually want to be an astronaut. Your actions reveal your true desires, and the Kroenke’s actions are unquestionably telling.

For instance, they are the only owners to not invest a single penny of their own resources into the club. Even the infamous Mike Ashley has invested more in Newcastle United than the Kroenkes have in Arsenal. Their leadership is non-existent, they consistently distance themselves from the club and the fan base, they seemingly do not care about success, only the size of their wallets.

Kroenke did reportedly speak with great vigour and intensity, like a man who truly was committed to the club and the future of the project. But I struggle to believe what he says when the history of his actions tells a very different story.

Perhaps he — and his father by extension — have changed. Perhaps they really are now set to commit to Arsenal football club, invest in the squad, and lead the new era forward. But, sadly, I have my doubts. I will believe it when I see it.