On Thursday morning Arsenal Football Club held their Annual General Meeting at Emirates Stadium.

In his first AGM since taking over from Peter Hill-Wood, Sir Chips Keswick began by paying tribute to the former chairman. He then conducted the formal business of the meeting before handing over to majority owner Stan Kroenke and manager Arsène Wenger, who each made an address to the floor.

Sir Chips and CEO Ivan Gazidis answered all the pre-submitted questions and then took some more from the floor before the meeting closed.

Here is a transcript of the speeches by Stan Kroenke and Arsène Wenger

STAN KROENKE

“It is a pleasure to be here. This is my sixth AGM and it is great to be back. I appreciate people re-electing me to the board. Well, it was close to unanimous!

“Anyway, it is great to be here and I would tell you we are pleased with the progress of the Club and that is made up of a lot of things, most importantly on the pitch.

“None of us up here [on the board], fans, players, or Arsène [Wenger] are happy until we have won championships and trophies. We have said that over and over again and are committed to that.

“Also, when you try to build towards that, it is very important for the Club to be successful commercially, and we are very pleased with the progress we have made in that area.

“We have come a long way, with the debts of the Club being paid down, the commercial revenues are increasing in a nice way. Certainly you guys are aware of the Emirates deal.

“We have more [deals] coming and are confident. However, nothing works unless we have success on the pitch.

“The reason we got interested in Arsenal [after years of approaches from other teams] was… the tradition, the image and the success of the Club and that to me has been established by none other than our manager.

“In our opinion, with the values he stood for and the things that we value in sport, they were evidenced through him and through this club. So we are very pleased to be here and I couldn’t be more honoured to introduce our manager Arsène Wenger.”

ARSENE WENGER

“I would like to thank Mr Hill-Wood and wish him very well. He was a symbol of what Arsenal is about. He respected traditional values and was forward-thinking as well – the biggest example was he appointed me, which was very brave and forward-thinking.

“During the time I have spent here, I always had backing of the board, and that is a brave attitude, which was one of the qualities he had. I would also like to wish well to Mr Chips Keswick and I hope we will have a great time together in the coming months.

“Last season did not start in the best way, because we lost Robin van Persie and that created a lot of unrest and scepticism around the team, we were a bit destabilised. Nevertheless, we managed to redress the course of the results and from November onwards until the end of April, the beginning of May, the team has shown a fantastic mental strength.

“We had two huge disappointments in the cups, it was the first time in 17 years that we went out against lower division teams, but in the Premier League, we stabilised the results and we finished in a very strong way. If you put the end of the season onwards from March up until today, we lost just one game in 26 or 27.

“I must say that the Aston Villa game created a huge revolution, for two simple reasons. First of all it was the first game of the season, it happened at a time when we had not bought anybody, people became a bit nervous and I can understand that.

“The mental strength of the team was fantastic because three days later we travelled for a difficult game in Turkey and came back with a very positive result.

“I would say that our policy in the future of the Club… after a very long, restricted period financially, when we had to be very tight, we have come out of that with good stability in our results. But of course we have a huge ambition to win this league again, that is the target of the season.

“I still believe our policy has to be based on three different levels and we want to continue that with success.

“The first level is, of course, to continue to defend our style of play, our philosophy of play and our values. That can only be done by developing our own players, and the core of our team has to come from the development inside our club.

“That is why we make huge investments again in our youth policy. I believe that has to be the core and the strength of our club. If you go today through our squad, for example we have completed or partially educated Szczesny, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Gnabry – all these players who have made their debut in the Premier League with us.

“They know how we want to play, they know how we want to behave and they bring their qualities and these values to the team.

“The second level of the development of our club has to be based on the intelligence of our eye. That means players who are unknown and who can become big players here, through our connections, the quality of our scouting, through the quality of what we have seen in them and how they could develop.

“For example Koscielny has come here, nobody knew him, today he is an international with France. Giroud has come here, not many people knew him and he has now become an international player with France. Many people have come here and through the quality of our coaching and our development have become international players. They can complete the part of the players that develop inside from the youth level to the top level.

“Then, the third part of our development and ambition is to scout and buy recognised world-class players. This season for example we have bought Ozil. You don’t need any scout to buy Ozil. You just need money!

“I am quite happy that we have shown to you that we are not scared to spend money when we think the players have the quality and we have the funds available to do it.

“Nevertheless, I would say our world is quickly changing. Why? Because Europe as a continent is becoming poorer, the rest of the world is becoming richer, especially Asia, for example, and these people invest in football in Europe.

“That means [with] the competition we face financially today, we have to be really aware of the number of countries who now have big investors coming in from different continents other than Europe. The competition you face on an international level, financially, has become bigger than before.

“Even if you look at the Champions League, before you had four or five clubs who could win it, today you will have 10. I can give you about 10 clubs who at the moment can pretend to win the Champions League because they have the financial resources to do it. They have the budgets to think ‘we can do it’. That has changed in recent years and I believe that the number of clubs who will have huge funds available will be even bigger.

“That’s why I believe that we still have to convince ourselves that the future of this club will rely on the quality of the work we do here, inside with developing our players, scouting with quality and of course, when it is needed, then to put big numbers out and buy the player [we need]. But that cannot be the basis for the stability for our club.

“I believe we have a huge advantage in that our club is well respected all over the world because we have values, because we are not artificial, because we are based on tradition, because we are forward-thinking and we give a chance to young people who deserve it.

“That is for me something that is very important to preserve. I travel a lot and, believe me, our club is loved not only for the results but the way we try to play football and for the qualities that our club always defended.

“I believe that our future is very positive. Of course the Premier League is tight again this season. We will need your support and we had some moments where at the Emirates we did not always feel that, but I can understand that, because it is up to us to give you the belief and it is not for you to give us the belief.

“Our attitude, our commitment on the pitch has to bring everybody on board. I personally am convinced we have the team that has the attitude and the desire to do that.

“We are top of the table, we are in a very strong position, but if you look the schedule, then by the end of November you will have a much clearer situation of where the strengths of everybody lies in this Premier League.

“When we get all of our players back, then at the moment I am confident we have a very big part to play in this league. I am confident that at the end of May, we will be happy.

“That is my wish, and I am confident that is your wish as well. Therefore I hope that at the end of May we can organise a very positive meeting and I will have the pleasure of meeting you again. Thank you very much.”

http://soccergunz./2013/10/17/transcripts-from-arsenals-agm-kroenke-and-wenger-speaks/

Before the game
According to a Reuters report, two Somali suicide bombers, whose intention was to kill many football fans during Sunday’s 2014 World Cup play-off between Ethiopia and Nigeria in Addis Ababa, accidentally blew themselves up before they could carry out the attack.

The explosion took place in the Bole district of the country’s capital, which is about 5km from the Addis Ababa Stadium where thousands of fans gathered to watch the game.

“They were Somali nationals and plotted to carry out a suicide attack disguised as fans on either the stadium or areas where large crowds gathered to watch the game,” Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said.

The blast happened one hour before kick-off and explosives, arms, hand grenades and football shirts, were found at the scene. Three suspects have been detained.

Shimeles added: “Heavy police presence must have caused their nervousness and state of agitation which led to the detonation that caused their own death.”

No sect has claimed responsibility for the incident yet.

After the Game:

According to reports from Addis Ababa, irate Ethiopians attacked the Nigerian team bus, after their side lost 2-1 to the Super Eagles in Sunday’s 2014 World Cup play-off.

The bus conveying the Super Eagles from the stadium was delayed and even when they eventually drove out, the fans were waiting for them and hurled missiles at the vehicle, shattering the rear window.

Midfielder Nosa Igiebor suffered a cut on his right palm after a big stone hit him and was attended to immediately by the team doctor Ibrahim Gyaran. NFF General Secretary Musa Amadu revealed that the incident forced the players to miss the dinner organised by the Nigerian Embassy in Ethiopia.

for more: http://soccergunz./2013/10/15/suicide-bombers-fail-but-ethiopian-fans-attack-the-super-eagles/

Garium (II) Tetraoxosulphate VI: GaSO4

I am a triparte supporter of Enyimba, Heartland and Rangers with the Elephants at the tip.
I miss the Jos trio of Mighty Jets, JUTH FC, Plateau Raiders.
I also miss Julius Berger.

I believe the bottomline is that the church, the bible and God frowns and forbids premarital sex.
A christain about-to-be couple shouldnt mind about the test unless they rushed into marriage cos there is a pregnancy.
Moreover, no church would stop U from ur marriage. Punishment would be but the marriage wud be acknowledged in d long run.

Well, it tells U who the real racist, continentalist is: FIFA. They kept Muller's but the Zambian's unknown. But the mistake maybe from the recordlessness of Zambia and Africa

[img]http://www.leprogres.fr/fr/images/E1F0D1DE-F484-4EC4-95F0-E1FB1F7AA6AA/LPR_03/capture-d-ecran-sega.jpg[/img]


An unknown youngster has beaten off competition from former European Player of the Year Jean-Pierre Papin to be named the new manager of Azerbaijani club Baku FC – based on his experience of playing the computer game Football Manager.

Vugar Guloglan oglu Huseynzade, aged just 21, was confirmed as manager of ambitious Azerbaijan club, Baku FC on Wednesday, following the sacking of former Olympiacos defender Bozdar Bandovic.

Huseynzade, who has been a behind-the-scenes advisor since February, fought off competition from former France striker Jean-Pierre Papin – a man who has previous managerial experience with Strasbourg, Lens and Chateauroux.

The young man has now understandably shot to fame, but the size of the challenge does not faze him.

Speaking to a Swedish newspaper after the news broke of his appointment, Huseynzade explained that while he has never held a real managerial position, he has 10 years’ worth of experience to call upon from the computer simulation Football Manager.

‘I've always wanted to work in football and have played Football Manager since 2002,’ said Huseynzade.

The passionate prospect has already set out his aims for the future, with the goal to get Baku into the Europa League within three years.

A realistic challenge perhaps, but Baku are currently in the relegation zone in the Azerbaijani Premier League, and have it all to do to avoid relegation.

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/918759-baku-fc-name-21-year-old-as-manager-based-on-computer-game-experience#ixzz2D4FrVI2O

Will the club survive relegation? Can we try this in Nigeria?

Hi friends,
Please i need more info on the undergraduate programmes offered by the National Open University of Nigeria. especially business management. is the school good? any hidden information not on their site? i need help before my friend registers.

thanks.

I think Haram Sanusi loves to pose in front of the media. N5000 will bring too much wahala. Inflation et al.
Just imagine giving a conductor N5000 for a fare of N50?
D coin-ification of N5, N10 and N20 na hm vex me pass. Jobless Boko Lamido

Thanks bro. But tisnt possible to back-up a sim contact wit pc suite. D .vcf is a nyc option but it takes time. I tink anoda sim card will just do.

12k??!! Haba!!
Thanks all d same.
Tis better to write it down in a book then. Thanks

I backed up my contacts from my nokia phone to my pc through pc suite. Only my contacts on the phone was backed up, my sim contacts wasnt backed up. Is there any other way i can back up my sim contacts without using MTN's back-up?

It took world number 3 and 16 time grand slam champion, Roger Federer 90minutes as he cruised to a semi final match against Novak Djokovic. Hope the swiss wins d serbian.

Instead of waiting for a scarce test format, y not practise d one u have. We ve been told d format, so check for it in apt test books or websites and practise. No tyme.

The path just became clear for Federer.
I am surprisingly glad, Nadal is out. I pray Roger wins it.
Notyn for Murray, he is just hyped by the british

I was also invited, but i negotiated my date to another. It looks unseriously scammish because a standard firm wont give u as much as 2weeks grace to come for a test. I wud go for myself though, for d sake of d test. Tis been long.