Ivan Gazidis has stepped into his first footballing role since he departed AC Milan, becoming the president of Saint-Etienne under their new ownership group.
Gazidis joined Milan from Arsenal in September 2018 and he instantly set about trying to bring the club into the new era with regards to commercialisation and growing revenues, an area Serie A has struggled with in general.
It was announced that he would step down from his role as CEO in December 2022 after an over four-year stay with the Rossoneri. He overcame throat cancer during his time, while the club won the Scudetto the season prior to his exit.
Now, he is back in the game. Canadian investment group Kilmer Sports Ventures (KSV) have become the latest foreign owner of a Ligue 1 club after completing its takeover of AS Saint-Étienne, and they instilled Gazidis as the president of the club.
Kilmer are investors in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) which are one of North America’s leading sports and entertainment companies, and the parent company of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and others.
MLSE owns or operates all of the venues its teams play and train in, including Scotiabank Arena, BMO Field, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Ford Performance Centre, BMO Training Ground, and The OVO Athletic Centre.
It comes almost immediately after Saint-Etienne drew 2-2 at 10-man Metz to win promotion back to Ligue 1 on Sunday, with substitute Ibrahima Wadji scoring the decisive goal deep into extra-time to secure a 4-3 aggregate win.
This dude is the antithesis of ambition. Plunged Arsenal into the Abyss for decades and his philosophy lead to us losing our best players for nothing. His hard headed and over reliance on individual caps on salaries, and duration terms based on player ages completely set Arsenal back by 15 years. Loosing Kessie, Donnaruma, Hakan due to his hard line management style, accompanied by Mr.Beane ended up costing us Tonali as well. We are going to need 3 to 4 years minimum to make up for dismantling our winning team. It will cost us our best players too who will become tired of not having the opportunity to compete for honours while being embarrassed time and time again. Can’t stand this dude. Literally one of the poster boys for imcompetence and poor asset management.
yet people with serious financial backing keep hiring him to do the same job, either your full of crap or they are clowns with more money than sense. I have a strong suspicion which one it is.
How did Arsenal fair with him? Go ask their fans and experts in London what they feel about his stay there. Their owners were clueless Americans that preferred profit margins and squeeking into the Champion’s League while they built stadiums with American companies.
We were taken over by Elliot who never managed a football team either. Our sporting executives had to fight this guy to build the core of our team we have now that he participated in dismantling. He is connected because he was the CEO of the MLS and is connected in North America, Saint Etinne were purchased by MLSE. A Canadian sports group. They have nearly unlimited funds and their team can barely win. The Leafs have a top 8 team in the NHL and can’t win 1 playoff round. The Raptors won one championship and couldn’t retain any of their star players. Toronto FC hasn’t won despite having a huge budget in comparison to other MLS clubs. That MLSE group is a far cry from a competent and knowledgeable sports management group.
So him being hired by American and Canadian owned entities is ni testament to him being a competent executive that aims to build winning organizations.
Go learn about his history before saying I don’t know what I am talking about. This man is not a good football executive.
my suspicion is now confirmed
Couldn’t be more wrong
This dude turned Milan back into a functioning club, he made a lot of tough and unpopular decisions, didn’t get everything right and focused a lot on off-the-field deals but he’s a big part of why Milan are a credible club in 2024 and not a basket case like when he was brought in.
I preferred him to this Furlani guy that is always giving a clownish smile on camera
It’s not easy steadying the ship after the Chinese fiasco. So, personally, the work of Elliott, Gfazidis, Boban, Maldini, Massara, Moncada, Pioli, etc would always be appreciated. It’s hard enough to keep the team aloat, but they managed to get us a Scudetto amidst all those difficulties with a shoestring budget, as well as improving the valuation of the club. Of course their works aren’t perfect, but whose is?
Having said that, it was also the ideal time to part, as Gazidis would be an awesome CEO for the shareholders, as he excels financially; but he won’t be a popular amongst the fans with the heightened ambitions and expectations now.
They should hope that they run the club like Toronto FC during the Giovinco era and not the Maple Leafs , such a trash organization
Also different phases of a football club’s progress needs a guy like him. At the time we needed the way he works…shore up the accounts, increase revenues, decrease costs before starting a winning cycle. Arsenal held on to him for too long, for instance.