It’s funny how quickly things can change in football. Until last week, Arsenal were probably the most stable and well-directed club in the country. The Emirates faithful were not burdened by concerns about whether or not their owners would be able to cope with the crippling debts they had secured against the club, or indeed, whether their manager may be sacked in an act of Stalinesque ruthlessness. They had a new stadium promising a healthy financial future, a manager who had delivered unprecedented success, and a stable board upon whom Arsene Wenger could rely.

Following David Dein’s resignation, however, amidst talk of a takeover by American billionaire Stan Kronke, the north London Club has been shaken to its core. What was once a cruise liner on a tour of success has been transformed overnight into a dinghy stranded in open water.

From beneath the mire of internet rumour, only a few clear facts have emerged. We can be fairly certain of one thing: Mr Arsenal (David Dein) was in favour of the American takeover, whilst the rest of the Arsenal board – headed by Chairman Peter Hill-Wood - were vehemently against any such proposal.

The Chairman was certainly keen to let everyone know his position regarding a possible change of ownership: ‘Why don’t we want the American at our club? Call me old fashioned, but we don’t need his money and we don’t want his sort. Our objective is to keep Arsenal English, albeit with a lot of foreign players.’

Keep Arsenal English? His sort? The temptation is to allow such jingoistic nonsense to pass without reply, but so bizarre is it coming from the chairman of Arsenal that it really does demand a few words. Had this rant spouted from the mouth of Doug Ellis before Villa fell into American hands, one could - just about - have understood it, but Arsenal are quite possibly the most cosmopolitan team in the world. The first-team is regularly made up of eleven foreign imports, the manager is French and the majority of their fans live outside North London.

One can only assume, therefore, that what Hill-wood was getting at when he said he wanted to ‘keep Arsenal English’ was that he and the other board members don’t fancy losing their jobs. So, unless of course, the ageing Chairman is party to plans on the part of the American to uproot the club and plonk them in the deep south or replace the tea lady with a coffee-pouring truck stop dame, then he comes across, at best, as a man caught up in an act of desperate self-preservation while at worst, he reminds you of a clichéd old granddad still bitter about the fact that the Americans came over here and nicked our women during the War.

Of course this doesn’t mean that Kronke should be welcomed with open arms, but claiming that he should be rejected on the basis of his nationality, when your club is quite so nationally diverse is ludicrously dumb.

In fact, Hill-Wood’s ramblings serve only to confuse the issue. There are questions that need to be asked and if the chairman had wanted to appear slightly less self-concerned and worried about his own future, he could have emphasised to a greater extent the fears that many fans have regarding the sudden influx of foreign – and in particular American – investment.

To the vast majority of Arsenal fans, the nationality of their owner will be of little concern. What they will want to know is whether or not a takeover could benefit their club. They need to know if Stan Kronke would have the money to invest substantially in the team after the buy-out. David Dein would no doubt have us believe that his support for the American is due to the club’s present – though relative – poverty. But would Kronke have to borrow substantial amounts to buy out the present owners? And would this debt be secured against the club?

These are the sort of issues that should have been brought up by Hill-Wood. He, on the other hand, obviously hoped that there would be a general agreement amongst the Arsenal faithful that selling out to an American would be a step in a terrible direction. He probably assumed that the average football fan is a barely coherent, patriotic, club-waving thug, whose tribal instincts would be so riled by the thought of imminent Yankee invasion that they would immediately jump into the Hill-Wood corner. This isn’t going to happen. Most Arsenal fans have become quite accustomed to a foreign presence and are distinctly laissez-faire in their attitude. This is probably due in no small measure to the fact that since they broadened their horizons, they have won three league titles, two FA Cups, and reached the Champions’ League final for the first time in their history. If these fans feel that new owners could help move the club forward then they will welcome them with open arms and will abstain – almost certainly - from patriotic tub-thumping.