According to The Times, Arsene Wenger has told his coaching staff that the only way his Arsenal tenure will end before the end of the season is if he’s sacked.
Despite his side’s awful domestic campaign and the fact his side have lost five of their last six matches, the Frenchman still believes he’s the man to turn things around at the Emirates and wants to see out his current deal, ending in June 2019.
Pressure is mounting on the Gunners board to either relieve the 68-year-old of his duties immediately or at the very least announce a summer changing of the guard that would afford the boss a dignified exit after 21-years at the helm.
It appears that a plan to facilitate a succession has been hatched by Ivan Gazidis with the likes of Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat joining as head of football operations and scouting respectively.
From the outside, the introduction of new faces seems to have complicated matters at London Colney with Wenger somewhat frosty to developing new relationships having held complete control of all football matters for so long.
Wenger currently maintains the support of majority shareholder Stan Kroenke but that the balance of that relationship could shift depending on feedback from son Josh, who has been getting to know the club first hand in the last couple of weeks.
While it’s not something the Times reports, it’s rumoured that Kroenke Jr could take over as chairman from Sir Chips Keswick at the end of the current campaign.
Interestingly, the author of this morning’s piece, Matt Hughes, does mention that Ivan Gazidis missed Sunday’s trip to Brighton because he was on business. A tactical leak perhaps given his absence struck a bum note with supporters fed up with the board’s unwillingness to put their collective heads above the parapet.
I’m sure he doesn’t want to quit given the current state of play, he’d hope to quit on an up.
While we all (most of us) would like to see this happen, sad reality is that ship has sailed. Shoulda happened with the last FA trophy. All we can do is bask in the current state of affairs and continue to let voice out discontent knowing nothing will happen ?
And yet, after all this, it still matters what Wenger wants to do?
We’d all love to be paid handsomely to perpetually underachieve in our jobs. It’s time this board started behaving like a top club organisation and not a scared, toothless bunch of individuals who don’t have the balls to say enough is enough.
The whole world knows it’s time and if Wenger is still here in August, this club has completely lost it’s marbles and quite frankly needs taking out back and shooting.
This also worries me for Thursday night. If the Arsenal players want change and the manager has said he’s not leaving, what kind of a performance are they going to put in for him against AC?
My guess is that they’ll want to send a message to show how they feel about the managers position at the club.
If you think the players would do that then I want them all out too. If they aren’t focussed on doing the best for the club, given what they are paid, they can get lost.
Pedant; unfortunately it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think it might happen. We’ve certainly seen it happen at other clubs.
Not denying it is possible, just saying that I don’t want to support extremely privileged players that are not playing for the club, match after match, regardless.
I don’t think they’re playing to lose, it’s just that natural feeling that whatever they do it won’t work in the coaching system employed. I’m sure we’ve all worked hard for bosses we didn’t really like but didn’t really worry too much if things went wrong for him.
I definitively want Wenger out because his system doesn’t work anymore. The players, why would they dislike their sugar daddy ?
I totally agree mate, it would be unforgivable. However maybe it won’t be so blatant. I used to work in a busy city bar that was a lot of fun but always chronically understaffed. The manager was a bit of a tight arse and always put on as few members as possible to save money. Although we liked him, our colleagues and our jobs, we started working slower and slower as the crowds of impatient drinkers swarmed the bar. We wanted to show him that his methods were not working the only way he would understand – by our dip… Read more »
That was far too pertinent to the topic for Rambling Pete.
Call me an optimist, but I still hold a little hope that the continued slump in the league is down to player knowing their efforts now are essentially meaningless, and that the possibility of a Europa league run will prove sufficient motivation.
On the flip side players may recognise the fact that FA cup wins have been used to justify Wenger staying when he should have moved on…
Were you making 350K a week in that bar ? Were you driving luxurious Maserati to work ? Were you dating model girls ?
Oh yeah, I was dating model girls. Thing is, as soon as you took them out the packaging, they weren’t worth as much. But they never gave me any shit.
Looool, Congrats, I never managed to get one.
The hope is that some of the best-paid professionals on this planet would not sit around like a group of unhappy barkeeps.
What you did then makes complete sense, because it directly hurts your owner’s pockets, thus making a statement. What about the angry, thirsty, drunk-but-not-quite-there-yet crowd? Are they screaming vitriol, (BARKEEP OUT), and bowing their heads in disappointment with half-filled pints?
Maybe I’m hopelessly optimistic, but I would believe that professional athletes at that level have a stronger ethos than most, and a personal desire to win at everything.
@Mein Bergkampf. You might be right. At the same time, it might be necessary. This guy will not leave of his own accord. And having complete control for so long, attempts to oust him will take time.
Pressure from the players might be necessary. I hate to say it, but I’d rather it be over sooner than drawn out for any longer so if they do it, then so be it.
Yeah it’s a Sophie’s choice kind of deal – a horrible end to the season with total and absolute humiliation but Wenger goes OR we find some form, have a run in the Europa, make a too little, too late dash for 4th and Wenger stays for another season. Call me fake, plastic and disloyal, but I’d take the crashing into the iceberg and bringing someone new in in a couple of months.
Well the players can do that, but they need to remember that most of them will be with Arsenal next year and they may miss the chance to play in Europe altogether if they continue to boycott the Manager or the club. It’s in their best interest to put all they have and achieve something for next year.
Maybe they’re aware that there is no point in being in any kind of tournament with the current coaching staff, (Chronic failures in the past). I for one am certain. You can NOT do the same things over and over again expecting a different outcome. This Old Mann has got to go. The writing has been on many wall’s for many years. Think about the 8-2, 6-0, 10-2(agg). Those are the kind of defeats that suggest fundamental flaws. You can have a bad day and loose by 3/4 goal margin. But when it gets past that it means you lack… Read more »
It’s not Wenger’s job to step aside. It’s his job to try and deliver, and whilst he is still in a job he will try to do so. Even if he isn’t delivering anyone would love to keep having another crack. It is down to the board, his superiors to put an end to this. Wenger is a huge figure at the club but only because he has been allowed to become that by having people around too inept to challenge and to comfortable and cowardly to make a decision that puts the club first. I’m sure Lacazette would not… Read more »
They’re not paid all that money to sacrifice the club for a message to the manager. Fans have every right to be mad at Wenger but not the players. He’s been too lenient with them and condone the lack of quality of lot of them. With their performance this year, a bunch them will not go to the world cup and they need to start thinking about this.
You seem obsessed with the fact they earn a lot of money. I don’t know that this equates to loyalty in any way – in fact it seems to make most of them even more mercenary. It’s natural that they earn vast sums of dollar, all their colleagues do and Arsenal on the whole don’t pay as well as some of the bigger clubs. I doubt they wake up every morning thinking “I am so lucky that Arsenal pay me £100k a week”. They more likely look at players like the Ox, who’s getting less money but playing for a… Read more »
Beautifully articulated Mein Bergkampf.
They dont want to send a shit as long as they get paid they are happy enough. Or thats how it looks in this “we are united with wenger” tenure. This has become so pathetic
do you really think with him its about collecting money? the guy is 70, he is rich af and still i bet he doesnt spend anything and just saves for his children.
he loves football and loves arsenal and he knows the club is in mess right know and he still believes he can turn it around. it is probably too late now because of the toxic atmosphere but i wish so much he could do it, its really sad to see. such a pity he didnt surround himself with top managment earlier.
So now its the staff then? So we have been blaming the wrong guy all along? WTF is wrong with some of the Arsenal (or should I say Arsene fans). Craig Burley said on TV Arsenal fans where as spineless as the club. He might be right. Anyone who still is Wenger in, is either a masochist or someone who believes in AW (in a religious way).
Bask?
Like say winning an FA cup ? He already had that chance. Twice.
He had the chance to do just that in three of the last four years.
It’s done now.
His shamelessness has crossed all limits. Wenger has leeched the club enough already, taking in millions of undeserved dollars as salaray. Can’t he have an ounce of dignity to let go of what to him is a meagre few millions and step aside.
He will still get a good severance package which will mean he still leaves with plenty more money. Just how greedy is he.
#WengerOut
@TDTBO I doubt his greed has little to do with it, since as you put it correctly, it’s a meagre few million pounds a year to him. My guess is he’s too stubborn to leave the situation.
I was thinking about this a little while ago. I don’t think it’s greed that is keeping him here. It’s a mixture of arrogance and delusion and the knowledge that he will lose power which is something that is clearly more important to him than money and success.
Not defending Arsene Wenger here, but why would he resign? Its not in his best interests to do that financially. By declaring that he’s staying as the article states, the board therefor have to fire him, which would result in a pay off. And when you consider how close he is to Kroenke, I highly doubt that Stan had the due diligence to insert any performance based contingency plans in Wengers current contract extension that would enable Arsenal to terminate his deal without paying him off. As an example; if you AW don’t qualify for the Champions League and finish… Read more »
Of course he’ll never quit, he’s always made that’s very clear. Personally I still have so much respect for Wenger and it breaks my heart to see his legacy shattered. I would love for us to make a change before the end of the season with the club making a statement that was mutual consent and pay the man the respect he deserves for the loyalty and service he showed to our club, he’s still the most successful manager in our history. Get ancelotti in asap!
I too reflect much of the same views however this doesn’t seem to be about the board and Wenger making a mutal decision correlating with our club values. It’s going to be about the club finding a way round proceedings with the smallest financial impact.
So I honestly would not be surprised to see Wenger announce he is staying to see out his contract.
“he’d hope to quit on an up.”
He needs to think of diminishing returns, otherwise he becomes the guy who leaves the Casino homeless.
But did we expect anything different?
Am I right in thinking if he resigns there’s no settlement, but if he’s asked to leave he gets compensation?
Yeah right imagine how stupid you’d have to be to quit and miss out on that sweet sweet payout.
That too, i might even hazard a guess that there might be some penalty clause in his contract for resigning, presumably to discourage managers from abandoning their contract mid term for a more lucrative one with a rival……however, i doubt if finance will play a major role in his decision not to resign, i am more inclined to agree with pedant’s take that he will prefer to leave on an upswing in form, this is what most managers will do in the same situation, but there is nothing wrong if the board terminate the contract, in Arsene’s case, for his… Read more »
I think majority of fans will accept it peacefully if he decides to step down at the end of the season. No matter how we do in Europa league. It’s time for a change
He’ll also give the fans the opportunity to send him off with respect…
I would imagine, with the greatest of respect, that the last thing on Wenger’s mind is the fans.
If you honestly believe that the club will be better without him, good luck to you.
He’s obviously lost the dressing room, there’s no going back for him now
If he’s lost the dressing room, there’s only one solution… give him a map of the complex, that’ll help him find it again.
What do you mean by “He’s obviously lost the dressing room.”? That the players don’t respect him? REALLY?! ?
They don’t listen or belive in him anymore. Looks obvious on the pitch
It seems a whole like the players don’t believe in…..THEMSELVES anymore. You know, self-awareness? And that will ofcourse be lacking when youthful football players are paid bazillions and lead a lavish lifestyle…..all just to kick a goddamn ball (no euphemisms intended). 😐
So yes, Arsene is culpable of trying to MANAGE a bleddy FC based on idealistic and utopian ideals and principles. Like some kind of new age Aristotle. 😀
And in our NEED-IT-NOW-OR-WE-SHALL-NUKE-YOUR-CANDY-ASS modern society having buggers like that awesomesauce peeps presiding over the most powerful nation, WHO GOT TIME 4 ALL DAT, EH? 😛
How can they respect his decisionmaking or his ability to prepare them for games? They respect, and some even love, him as a man. But he’s not doing a good job, and it’s making everyone at the club look worse. It’s a business. Fire him and give him a nice party.
Maybe, just maybe, Arsene should start respecting the club (the fans) a bit more than he does his contracts.
Better without who?
He will have to go at some point…
He seems to me like he wants to stay forever, maybe he will get embalmed and left in the dressing room.
At least Fergie had a wife and horse-racing and wine to interest him, Wenger has nothing but football.
There clearly are fans who believe Wenger is the best man for the job given the number of upvotes Michael has received. I would genuinely like to hear why? Is it all based on what he achieved a decade ago or do people still think he is genuinely a top class manager still?
I want him to leave. But I still support him. Not sure if that makes sense but that’s where I am.
I’m with you in the sense that I don’t think he deserves all the name calling and disrespect we often see here. I do think the argument for him to stay at this point is primarily based on what he did a decade ago and not on his current abilities. In a lot of ways the longer he has stayed the more that works in his favor as some simply can’t envision a future without him in it.
I feel exactly the same, I know it makes no sense at all, but, I can’t help it!
What exactly leads you to that conclusion ? His past achievements? Or do you look at our games and “style” of play and base it on that ? Apparently he sent the team out with no game plan against the mighty Brighton and Hove Albion and told the players to solve their own problems, now is that what you regard as top management ? Or is it the actions of a man who has absolutely no idea how to turn this season’s malaise (as opposed to every seasons malaise since the implosion of 2008 ) around ?
@Nick,and it showed, in fact it was glaringly obvious, embarrassingly so.
I’m really scared he will stay for another year.
He’s never said it’s his last contract. I’m scared he’ll stay for longer!
I truly believe that an exorcism is the only way to get this guy out of the club.
“I’m sure he doesn’t want to quit given the current state of play, he’d hope to quit on an up.” Are you taking the piss? Arsene Wenger will NEVER quit this job. It doesn’t matter if we’ve just won the quadruple or if we’ve just been relegated. HE WILL NEVER QUIT! Wenger is a sad, pathetic old man with nothing in his life outside football, and Stan Kroenke is the only owner stupid enough to pay a loser like him 10 million quid a year. The crazy thing is that the club should never be in this position: only at… Read more »
@ Fats, how does it feel knowing you have been right about Arsene all this time & all you got was abuse from your fellow supporters? Ironically probably a bit like how Arsene feels right now apart from the ‘being right’ part ?
It’s not a question of whether he was right. It’s a question of showing decency and respect.
Wenger deserves NO respect. If he cared about Arsenal and not just himself then he would have gone years ago. He’s turned us into a joke. Now it looks like he’ll be sacked from the club like some third-rate nobody. Good.
Your castle is besieged having retreated their after defeat after defeat on the open battlefield , the commander of your forces has won great glory for you in the past but for the last decade has made mistake upon mistake which has seen your once mighty empire eroded almost to nothing, your soldiers have lost faith in your commander too and no longer fight with heart and soul for him ,what would you do ? What would you do if there was a mercenary general who has shown himself more than capable leading other armies and there was a chance… Read more »
Wow, Nick. Will our women be ravaged by savages from Manchester if the castle falls? Way to up the stakes!
To be honest, AMOT, it gives me no pleasure. I just want the best for the club which I’ve supported for over 40 years. I’m not interested in the plankton who worship Wenger like he’s some god. I remember, back in 2014, being slagged off on the day it was announced that Wenger had signed a new contract. My post was two words: “oh, no!” The muppets all told me what a loser I was. Now, after four more wasted years, we haven’t moved on. The fact that I’ve received 40 thumbs down shows you the mindset of some of… Read more »
I doubt there’s any arsenal supporter(apart from Ty from AFTV) that wants Arsene to stay, even a blind man can see his time is over. It’s a matter of when, not if!
Haha!
The ONE TIME Fatgooner gets more likes than dislikes on his post!
While Fatgooner comes across as pretty abrasive, he’s basically correct. Sports is a performance-related business. If you do not produce, you should go. Wenger has spent his ENTIRE life in football and I’m not sure if he knows any other way of life. He’s scared to leave and will not go willingly.
To be honest, I think he could be a decent pundit if he wanted to and his banter skills are quite good when there aren’t 20 journalists in a room, ready to pounce on him.
Well He does have a Contract
But I think it is not too bad to think of moving aside gracefully. Arsenals needs fresh ideas and a ruthless strategist. Sadly Arsene is lacking in both right now. I am his huge fan but time for His statue outside Emirates is calling along with a new manager.
We probably should have put up a statue to him after the Invincibles…at least it would have given us something to draw a moustache and horns on!
Mr Gattuso needs to do us a favor…. Yes I want my club to lose. If it makes me a bad fan in your eyes I respect that… But I’m tired. Can’t go through another season like this.
I’m not down voting this. I’m torn. I want us to do well but if I had the choice of it completely spinning off this season so he leaves vs. getting to the semis and having another season with Wenger, well id think it about it… If there were any other way for him to go then fine but actually, I feel for the players here. Hes let them down and needs to go. The sooner the better. If we have to explode this season then let’s get it over with so we can move on to something else. Another… Read more »
Regardless of what u want, we’re deffo losing against Milan. We can’t just turn it off & then on again. This team is broken in more ways than 1. It’ll be 3 nil to Milan unfortunately
The theory being that the players won’t turn up for the manager. If there is no contingency on that then I’m fine with it.
Mr Gattuso will not do us a favour…he will simply do his job! Part of me wants to be wrong but I suspect we are going to get our Arses handed to us Thursday…if the score is less than 5-0 it won’t even be embarrassing after the Bayern fiasco!
We would be fools to expect anything else. I feel very little sympathy for him. I will feel very little remorse once he goes. The end of his tenure at the club has been a complete mockery of the club’s values. The board and the manager are both to blame.
@Lula. Well said mate. My sentiments exactly. The self delusion of both Wenger and the board is staggering.
It’s a lot of talk about quiting at the end of the season, yet he has a year left of his contract, and he continously reitarates how he never walks away from a contract. Now I wonder; is there anything in his contract or another agreement with the board that puts an end to all this misery at the end of the sesjon? For me it’ll be a big surprise if his tenure at Arsenal is ended at the end of the season, despite how much it’s needed, I still can’t see Wenger quiting if the board doesn’t step in.… Read more »
The thing is, the board aren’t completely incompetent. They work for the owner and to that end, have done a fine job. The issue is that this is the club now. Incompetence would absolve them of what they’re doing to the club Now I hate serving corporate overlords and all of that. I would love the club to be owned by the fans or a representative consortium, but here we are. Maybe Josh Kroenke has a bit more ambition of making his own name than his father has having already established it. This isnt so much clutching at straws than… Read more »
This has the makings of a great novel one day, but whether a drama, tragedy, or a farce is hard to say… right now it looks like all three.
No Manager resigns these days, they wait for the sack and the pay off.
Arsene is an economist (maybe no longer a great one) there are 10 million reasons why he’d stay before he’s pushed.
Although I don’t want to make it personal, he had no life outside of football. He lives alone, eats alone and his whole life (with his Daughter aside) is dedicated to his job and Arsenal….that’s not healthy.
The club will be doing him a favour letting go of him now.
I agree with everything you have said, but having said all that, can you imagine how that must feel. You say not healthy, and I agree, but if you can imagine back in his successful times with Arsenal, his dedication to his job was all that mattered to him, probably to the detriment of his home life and social life. Now, that same dedication, which I assume most fans were happy with in the successful era, is the only thing he has left, so, do you believe that anyone in the world who is in that position, having given practically… Read more »
This power struggle spearheaded by Gazidis is not helping at all, catalyst of change concept has so far led to departure of more than normal number of players and arrival of others in a way that affected the balance of the team. The constant attempt to destabilise the manager from within has definitly casted uncertainty and ultimately led to the current state of affairs. We need to accept the fact that we lagging far behind other team in terms of quality,we are in position currently to compete with the likes of man city or even united no matter how many… Read more »
Gazidis isn’t trying to help the current situation and you are correct about him trying to destabilise and undermine AW. This is war and in war you have to play dirty sometimes. Certain sections of the board are fully aware that AW will not do the decent thing and leave and so they are resorting to “sacking him by stealth” or at least making his position untenable.
“You got to have open and honest dialogue about the reality that we are on because if we are sugar coating anything about ourselves, about our team, about our direction, we’re only kidding ourselves and we’re only going to be worse off for it in the long run.”
The words from Josh Kroenke.
Business comes first…
Exactly, which is why Arsene won’t be here next year. Any football club is only as good as it’s current team, what anyone did twenty years ago is history. At the moment Arsene isn’t capable of doing his job properly, that’s the bottom line. He’s been dividing fans for about eight years now, he’s dividing the players and even Hill-Wood has remarked that he should be gone, so now he’s dividing the board. With all the trouble last season I don’t believe that he would have been given a two year contract without performance targets to be met, so I… Read more »
Yes, he effectively said nothing. “I’m not for sugar coating things.” – Yep. And now would you like to say anything or remote relevance or anything that means anything? Corporate babble. Business as usual.
I’m not sure what, but something major is happening and will be resolved soon.
Wenger can say what he wants to his backroom staff but the truth is their jobs are on the line this summer, and unlike Wenger there will be no lucrative media jobs waiting for them. Even if Wenger does stay another year if you were Steve Bould and the other backroom staff would you stay with him or find work elsewhere?
Who would employ Wenger’s old, has been staff, a bunch of YES men. Is the old fool hanging on to stick 2 fingers up to Gazidis & the recent appointments, to the fans who he has NO respect for obviously.
Memo to Josh: Sack Wenger. Love, Pop
If he’s sacked he’ll get next years wages, if he quits he won’t. Would you quit?
If the club had paid me in excess of 100 million in wages and bonuses, then I’d do the decent thing in return. The club (or Stan Kroenke) stood by him last summer when the easy option to pacify the fans was to get rid of him. Wenger knows that paying up his 10 million salary would actually have an effect on the transfer budget of a new manager, especially with another year outside the champions league. By not quitting he is demonstrating that he cares about himself and not the club.
He needs to go now. Not the summer. Not a single other top six club manager would survive this. Why should he? It just wouldn’t be accepted by their owners.
He’s had numerous opportunities to quit on a high. Refused to. It’s his bed.
How the fuck could any sane Arsenal fan thumb this comment down???!??!?!!!??!
I’m with you 100% MeSoHornsey
Board makes their move
Blogs, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while but was trying to think of a way to do it without coming across as too confrontational (being someone who obviously values your opinion and reads your blog every day). You’ve mentioned a few times you want to see the board put their heads above the parapet but what exactly do you want them to say? If they sack him, they sack a man who is still popular with many Arsenal fans and is also our most successful ever manager. If they give him an ultimatum (win the EL or… Read more »
Personally, i dont think Gazidis is afraid to sack Wenger, i think they’re playing it cool and see how the season pans out. If and it’s a big if and Wenger wins the Europa League, then i’m happy for him to see out his contract. I don’t like clubs who sack manager’s when they’re winning things. If which as i expect us to bow out to Milan, then Wenger doesnt really have an excuse for us to keep him on. As much as he has kept us going on a shrewd budget due to our owner showing zero interest in… Read more »
Stan Kroenke is the real problem. If you buy a lapel badge in the club shop you will have put more into the club than him.
Unless you’ve somehow stolen over 3 million pounds from the club shop, you’ve definitely put more into the club than him.
It is so dire at the moment, but it would be completely classless to sack him before the season is over, I don’t want us to be that kind of club. Let’s not panic like we have done with transfers & just wait until the end of the season to make the change, Europa league win or not. He deserves that. We have a few messy months ahead, but hopefully that will make things a little easier on his successor’s task. As for Thierry Henry or anyone else for that matter, coming in for the last few months of the… Read more »
Wenger has done great things for this club over his 21 year reign and it is that because he has basically been the tail wagging the dog on all aspects, more like he owns the club than manages it. Ivan wanted him to leave after the last FA cup but he got refused but the absence of him personally and him being more quiet than stan Snr is evident. the poison chalice is if we win the Euro cup he will see out his contract for another year not one to go out on a high,his legacy is crumbling and… Read more »
Well..he is doing a good job to be sacked at the end of the season. The only way he survives is if we win Europa. Else no chance.
One of the most annoying things about this whole fucking saga is, it’s all gone on for so long that everything that needs to be said has already been said. He’s not going to fall on his sword, no matter how bad it gets. This being the case, I’m incredibly sorry to say, he needs to be sacked. Other clubs would have done it by now. This club is ill. It has gangrene. The effected part needs to be amputated.
Maybe they will play like how chelsea did against city
Ofcourse he is going to stay. He is not going to get sacked and he is not going to step down. How many collapses has he survived and seen the banners being put back into storage. He genuinely believes he is capable of recovery. But that seems to be the most he can achieve between now and his contract expiring, not success but recovery. At this point even recovery seems unliekyl
Dignified send off! For What? I keep hearing this.
Wenger has been paid every week or month for his 22 years of service plus bonuses.
He needs to go just like that!
What is that he has done to the club? Building the Stadium?With his own money? Winning 3 Championship in 22 years! Rubbish!
I have no sympathy for this man who behaves like a dictator from the 3rd world!
Can someone tell me what led to his sacking from Monaco?
I used to love this man but now I hate him to death!
If we don’t get past Milan over 2 legs maybe the board will act then.
No surprise if that’s true and the only outcome I see is how increasingly undignified his eventual departure is becoming.
Fans have a say in all this. Its not like we are helpless, we can make our voices heard instead of turning up at games to watch a crap performance and going home in a shit mood. The board will have no choice than to sack Wenger if we force their hand. I say boycott all games till they address this. An empty emirates will show those pussies not to take fans for a ride. Even wenger will know it’s because of him. Let’s show our love for the club by acting. No ticket renewals till he goes. Given the… Read more »
Crumbs I hope Wenger is just talking about staying till the end of this season, not his whole contract!!! If the latter we will end up in a relegation dog fight and go the same way forest did with Clough!!!
It’s increasing obvious that the end game for Arsene at Arsenal will not be dignified. It will be ugly and embarrassing and not worthy of his great tenure at AFC. And that makes me sad. Not sad enough for me to want him to stay but sad nonetheless.
True, but he has brought this on himself – its not going to be as much a disaster as Clough at Forest, but its going to be a mess.
Like all dictators, he is setting the stage to leave with ignominy
Club was in no position for his departure last summer. Board had made no plans. Had Arsene walked the club would have been left with no manger, no plans and no idea what to do next. My understanding is Arsene was ready to go but the Board took little or no action in finding a replacement. Arsene stayed on to allow Board time to make changes and find a successor. Changes havenow been made at most levels so the club is much better prepared for his departure. Even the transfer dealings have been with an eye on next season rather… Read more »
Arsenal don’t have a God given right to be the best team in the Premier League let alone Europe. Our European pedigree is frankly shite. Look at our history – we have blips. Liverpool are a far bigger team than us but when was the last time they won the league. When did spurs last win the FA cup??? At least we have won major trophies recently. Having said that – as a Wenger supporter – the end is undoubtedly here. I’ve given him the benefit if the doubt for the last 10 years, but now I just hate the… Read more »
He’s already informed us we need perspective. In his eyes he’s still doing a good job and he’s had no qualms burning bridges with most of supporters so there would be no reason to give up the ~9m he’ll earn next year
We have to hope the board make the decision. But if we win the Europa and qualify for the CL then I fully expect the board to let him stay on to save them paying him off. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they kept him on regardless
Gazidis Out. He has created chaos, as the so called CEO he should resign.
Gazidis is caught between the owner and the manager.
I don’t think he has much manouvre room.
Of course he will never leave mid-season, and the board would never want his time to end in that way. A mid-season announcement is as much to hope for i think.
What I fear most is Kroenke Sr continuing to make this decision, without being involved, and feeling this toxic environment directly. Therefore, Wenger could yet be far from leaving this club.
Spot on.
It will be stupid to leave at this juncture. The problems will only increase. The team will not focus on task on hand in January, there will be stronger distractions from Barca on Bellerin etc.
I guess the best thing we can hope for at this point is that we can win the Europa League and get back into the Champions League for next year, kind of like what Manchester United did when they finished 6th. That would allow Wenger to at least prevent this year from being a complete loss, and should make it a little easier for management to let him go this summer where he wouldn’t be leaving in complete disgrace. Also, would be a big help for a new manager recruiting new talent since we would be back in the Champions… Read more »
But we won’t win it. We will get a new ring torn against Milan. End of.
IF we win it, it will at least offer him something to bow out with. Milan isn’t as strong as many like to make them but we are just so weak (minded) at the moment which is the problem. Very difficult this Thursday. I think we need to exercise caution. They play with 4 in midfield so we have to be able to put pressure on them. They have similar issues to us defending with fullbacks pressed too high and holes between their lines. I feel we may be better playing Elneny in a holding role to add a third… Read more »
Bur of course Ivan Gazidis missed Sunday’s trip to Brighton because he was “away on business”… back stabbing business. The entire Board are weak, pathetic & cowards..
But what do you expect from a “suit”?
I love this man with all of my heart but some things he now does or says are downright inexplicable. The no subs game against City when we’ve got a game in 3 days. The blaming the fixture list when we knew this is pretty much our schedule this year since we play in the UEL. The first half fatigue thing which makes no sense to me at all. That’s only the past 5 days or so. Hate to admit it but time’s up. It’s over and it needs to happen asap for the sake of this club. As Arseblog… Read more »
I don’t feel we can entirely blame the players tough. Its up to the manager to get the best out of them. He has his faults which have been amplified because we have not bought well enough to cover for the sort of non tactical interventionist he is. Even last game with 7 minutes left, he sits there with the passive Bould and does not bother to at least get up and tell the players we have time or instruct them to go more direct. At the same time we have got rid of options like GIroud that afford us… Read more »
Definitely agree with everything you’ve mentioned, said myself time’s up as well. However sad it may be, it’s the truth and the club needs to move forward. Yes, getting rid of Giroud was a mistake (I still dream we get him back summer of 19 when his Chelsea contract is up though!), purely because of his unique skillset and effectiveness under certain circumstances. And it genuinely felt like he loved the club. I didn’t imply we should entirely blame the players, that would be denying the manager’s shortcomings and the other factors that have led us to where we are… Read more »
But, Arsenal fans in London, why don’t you guys boycott the Emirates Stadium for one day when Arsenal is playing at home? That can assist in piling pressure on the board to sack him
Do you need more pressure on a team that is already struggling?
The issue will see its own course out.
Meanwhile this team needs support even if they conspire to make fools of themselves and the fans.
And the europa match forthcoming is going to need critical support from the hard core fans.
If there is protest in terms of absentee attendance, I should think we will start to see it over course of remaining league matches if we turn up empty handed with europa
The truth is that fans have largely been dissatisfied with the teams performance over the past 4-5 years now. The FA Cup wins pretty much just put lipstick on a pig in terms of the season being a success or not.
Last season presented a golden opportunity for Arsene to retire on a high, beating City and Chelsea to win the FA Cup. Wenger and the board failed each other last season with the failure to properly prepare rather than react to Wenger’s indecision.
I am fully in support of a change being made, but I can understand his not wanting to walk away and doing all he can from his perspective to fix the problems. No top coach in any sport wants to be seen as a quitter when times are tough, but that certainly does not mean that the board should not look to make a change. I don’t think a change will be made until the end of the season and what I would like to see is an announcement before the last home match that it will be Wenger’s final… Read more »
He’s not going to say he is quitting now. It would be stupid. This can wait the summer. If he says he is out, there will be more speculation and the team will be further unsettled. ‘ Those vultures at Barca will come swooping in for Bellerin etc. Fans are generally idiotic and don’t think things through. They just want change now. I can understand the frustration but these sort of decisions (announcements) have to be carefully done or we can make further mess . Wenger is right to quash any talk. At the moment the focus must be on… Read more »
It’s not up to wenger to quit, it’s the board who should be deciding his fate, which is more worrying as it shows what kind of board we have & proves they got no bollocks. It’s time for wenger to go now but The main problem will always be Kronke
The board won’t make any decision till closer to end of season. I would think they will offer the europa as the make or break. Its the right thing to do as they would appear to have given Wenger one last chance for redemption. BUT regardless even if we do win the europa, they should strongly consider Wenger leaving “by mutual consent” and forgoing the last season on contract. Give him a “loyalty bonus” and graciously kick him up stairs because the France job may likely be open to him (and at 68yrs at one club, I’m not sure he… Read more »