Josh Kroenke attended an Arsenal fans' forum on Thursday afternoon and, as expected, faced some difficult questions from supporters left outraged by the club's decision to sign up to the breakaway Super League.
Those in attendance made sure Josh, son of owner Stan Kroenke, left knowing exactly where they stand on his father's ownership of the club, in a week that has seen the landscape of English football turned upside down.
In a passionate exchange, Akhil Vyas of the Arsenal Supporters Trust spoke for how most of the fanbase are feeling at present, telling Kroenke: "It's clear that you don't know enough about our game. You don't know enough about our club. Our club is built on traditions, on values, and class."
Another fan also took the opportunity to air his views, increasing the tension in the virtual room by adding: "As fans of Arsenal we've never trusted you. I know that's very offensive but that's the reality that you need to learn."
Protests are planned to take place outside the Emirates Stadium on Friday evening ahead of Arsenal's Premier League fixture versus Everton, but this was an opportunity for Kroenke and CEO Vinai Venkatesham to convey how sorry the club were breaching the trust of their supporters?
Here's the key subjects they touched on and what they had to say.
On whether Arsenal were at the forefront of the Super League proposal
VV: "The first thing I want to talk about is despite the stories to the contrary, Arsenal were absolutely, 100% categorically not the authors or drivers of this proposal. That doesn't excuse what happened but we were not the authors of this proposal. As I said in the last Fans' Forum, there are frequently Super League proposals out there that are developed by others, not by Arsenal.
"Our approach that we have said publicly and privately lots of times, is always to listen and to make sure we protect the best interests of Arsenal. In this situation, what was clear to us is the train was leaving the station. This project was about to be launched with some of the biggest clubs in Europe, and we needed to assess if this launch happened without us, and this tournament came to fruition without us, what that would mean for the club."
On why Arsenal thought joining the Super League would be a good idea
JK: "It was a much more complicated answer than we had time to contemplate. I think the global fan wants to see Arsenal vs Barcelona regularly, as much as possible. I think the European fan wants to see more big matches between top clubs because their domestic league is so predictable.
"I think from an English fans' perspective, this is what was so educating to me over the last 24 or 48 hours, going back 36 hours now - sorry this has been kind of a blur of a week, I haven't slept much.
"For the English fan they want to see more big matches, but as one Chelsea supporter wrote on a sign I saw online the other day - you still want your cold nights in Stoke. To me, that sent a strong message that the EPL, football in the UK as a whole, and the fan sentiment in England. We got it wrong and that's why we're here today apologising and to discuss with you."
On why Stan Kroenke wasn't present
JK: "I would say that if you're hearing from me you're hearing from my father. I've always said that for years now. When I speak or he speaks you're usually hearing from both of us. I might not be my father but that's why I'm here today.
"As far as the tone of my voice, I'm doing my best to try and convey the feelings that are in my heart. From a trust perspective, I'm not asking you to trust me. All of our trust was shredded this week, I fully understand that. That's why I'm trying to rebuild some sort of relationship with the supporters, starting with yourselves."
On whether KSE are fit to run the club
JK: "I still believe we're fit to carry on in our positions as custodians of Arsenal. We were put in a very difficult position by forces outside of the club. To go back to those original questions that we got wrong, those were the questions we asked ourselves and that's why I'm here to try and piece everything back together over time.
"I'm not asking for your trust immediately. We have the same plans for summer as we had a few weeks ago, and I'm so excited about those. I might be met with distrust and skepticism but over time I hope to re-establish a relationship with our supporter groups and show them we're capable of leading the club forward."
On who will pick up the costs of the failed Super League
JK: "Anything related to the ESL will be handled outside the club, with KSE. We've done our best to be true to our values as long as we've been involved with the club. From the self-sustaining model to the different values that the club represents all throughout our history.
"This has been one inflection point where obviously these values were not upheld. We're not trying to say that we were. This was a unique moment in time that was very difficult for a lot of reasons. We're going to be about those values both now and moving forward. This was a moment in time that was very difficult and we did obviously not honour those traditions."
On whether they'd consider fan representatives at board level
JK: "It's a very tough one. I think there's pros and there's cons. In the wake of everything that's transpired in the last few days we're going to be asking ourselves many questions, including the one you just asked me. So while I'm not giving you a yes or no answer, it's definitely something that's up for discussion."
Source : 90min