Reply With QuoteI took the minutes for the meetings and I can tell you why the others didn’t get the job:
1. Allegri – A gentleman and would’ve fitted in well but his long term strategy was to cherry pick Juventus and other top clubs in Europe. He showed us what his preferred starting XI for the 2018-19 would be and there was only 2 players from the current team in it – Kolasinac and PEA. The leadership group felt the one thing the club needed was stability so he was passed over.
2. Arteta – Was the biggest disappointment. All candidates were extremely well briefed on the role but for some reason he wanted full control of the club similar to what Arsene enjoyed. He actually had two interviews because the leadership group felt maybe it’s because he’s new to management & high level negotiations but he pretty much double downed on his initial demands the 2nd time.
3. Luis Enrique – Reports of his wage demands were inaccurate. He did not want double what Arsene was earning. He wanted x3. And that’s net so the taxes would’ve covered by the club. Arsene got paid that money because he did everything. Luis would only be handling the coach so the demands were not warranted. His attitude stunk the place out – All he talked about was how much he wanted and how grateful we should be for having him.
4. Vieira – Never showed up for his interview. I repeat never showed up for the interview. Josh Kroenke and myself even flew out to New York to meet with him and to try to set up a skype meeting but he was nowhere to be found. By the way – Air Kroenke is the bomb. Dude be all like all Air Force One up in the b it ch.
5. Eddie Howe – The leadership group were extremely keen to meet with Eddie. Ivan has kept in touch with him for several years and surprisingly he was also on Raul’s radar when he was working at Barcelona. He was an easy choice for the final list. Unfortunately Eddie is far too in love in Bournemouth. Like a teenager and his first love. The leadership group felt that he should broaden his horizons a bit more before taking on job like this but if something happens to Unai he will be one of the first people the club calls. The leadership group will certainly keep monitoring his progress.
6. Leo Jardim – He was by far the most impressive of the candidates that didn’t get the job. Absolutely astute and genuine pleasure to listen too. You could tell he cares about his profession. Attention to detail was spot on. It was a genuine tossup between him and Unai but where he lost out was that Unai knows every single Arsenal player (senior and youth) in incredible detail. It wasn’t so much their strengths. It’s their weaknesses he was able to point out and he was able to offer a plan on how they can all improve. Obviously he’ll get funds to spend but it was Unai just pulled ahead with his extra knowledge. It was clear out of the two Unai can start the job today, right now, this minute and start getting stuff done.
7. Thierry Henry – I would say Thierry finished 3rd on the list behind Leo and Eddie. From the very first moment of his interview you knew you were talking to an Arsenal legend and this is exactly the sort of command and leadership the group were looking for. Unfortunately Thierry wanted to still combine the job with his role at Sky. He was also not impressed with the £50m budget.
Originally Posted by MickeyPearce
We've had whole pages on them before - I'm still not entirely sure what it means
