An Economics Lesson From David Dein

On the eve of Thierry Henry's departure from Arsenal to Barcelona, he posted a letter and had a press conference to give a final word to the fans that he had served so diligently for nearly a decade.

In his farewell, he spoke about his reasons to leave. He discussed his initial unveiling as an Arsenal player, and remembered that on one side of him sat his mentor and coach Arsene Wenger, and on the other sat the vice-chairman of Arsenal.

He spoke about how that vice-chairman was now gone from Arsenal, and that he believed that soon Arsene would leave as well. Arsene has, to the unknown benefit of the club, remained and has remaining firm in his commitment.

The vice-chairman is long gone.

The vice-chairman was named David Dein, and he was quite the most important businessman to ever enter Arsenal's boardroom.

From 1983 to 2007 he was the director of Arsenal before selling a portion of his shares to ease financial burden, then being appointed vice-chairman. For every Arsenal fan as well as every fan of Premier League football, the 1983 to 2007 period represents the long term growth of Arsenal from shoddy, mid-table team to effective (if boring) trophy winners under George Graham, then a mid-90's collapse, followed by the resurgence-in-style under a certain professorial Frenchman circa 1996.

Want to take a guess as to who brought about the appointment of said bony-nosed French mastermind?

David Dein.

Who supported Arsene with immense player connections and talent agencies at his fingertips?

David Dein.

Who was the sole defender of Arsene in the boardroom when he needed transfer money?

Well you can answer that.

With Dein's departure, now all the problems that Arsene has been going through, modestly defending the club's monetary power, standing up for the board, and even taking a punishment like no other manager ever has at a shareholder's meeting (where he was asked the question if he was teaching his players to defend corners), makes sense.

Arsene Wenger is far from a fool.

But he has certainly been made to look like one.

So it's understandable then why Thierry Henry decided to leave Arsenal when he did. He adored the club, there can be no doubt about that, and he wanted to take it straight to the top. But his last two years at Arsenal, when he knew David Dein was leaving and Arsene Wenger would be by himself to fight for money in already tightly closed pocketbook along with the newly built stadium, were fraught with sadness and regret.

Henry cast an angry figure, even one time sadly saying to news reporters that "Arsenal will never be a big club".

These weren't words of contempt, these were words of deep sadness, in knowing that he would have to leave the place he called home to find ultimate success in Europe.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the key to all of these monetary problems. Arsenal have never been a spending club. Plain and simple. Arsene Wenger, on the other hand, is an advocate of the beautiful game and winner to boot. He doesn't mind pulling out the checkbook every once in a while.

Don't for a second believe this "youth policy" thing is a self-inflicted form of torture on the Arsenal faithful. Do you think Vieira, Henry, Pires, and all the other players that Wenger ran through at the turn of the century were cheap?

The problem is a deep-seated business issue that can only be described as a form of economical stability. Stay in the Champions League, play pretty football, bring in fans to a big new stadium, and get those TV rights.

Hey there's even a Highbury Flats development deal.

See, economically, it may not even be worth it to try and finance through deficit the buying of new players in order to win trophies. It may be more costly to win trophies than to simply make it in the top four.

Why is it then that only when there was  threat of a below-four finish that the money came out for Arshavin?

Of course I'm not an economics expert. I'd really like to hope that there's another answer to this problem.

I really do.

The boardroom is comfortable with keeping Wenger because he is a wizard. No one, and I mean no one, can do what he has done with the team he has. Denilson and Song in the midfield and you can earn a top four spot? 

That's a challenge that would make even Fergie blush.

Ivan Gazidis, who has taken over the many roles of David Dein, recently stated that although Arsenal's youth had a great deal of promise, they needed to show that promise by winning trophies. Ivan Gazidis is no David Dein.

Ivan Gazidis, with all due respect, is an idiot. With statements like that, which only put the onus of pressure on Arsene Wenger, he can't even compare to big league stature of David Dein.

So, I'd like to personally thank David Dein, the man who made Arsenal and Arsene possible.

It certainly hasn't been the same without him.