Colin Lewin has become the latest casualty in what appears to be a real clearing of the decks by Arsenal as the backroom cull continues in the wake of the departure of Arsene Wenger as manager.
The Head of Medical Services has been with club for over 23 years, and the decision to fire him has, according to reports, left players and staff upset and angry.
Arsenal head of medical services Colin Lewin has lost his job after 23 years at the club. Shock decision delivered this morning and understood to have left many #AFC players + staff stunned and upset. Lewin leaves as part of a medical department restructure that could see more go
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) May 14, 2018
The decision to let Lewin go was reportedly made by Darren Burgess who, last year, was appointed Head of High Performance last year, brought in from AFL side Port Adelaide with whom Arsenal forged a working partnership.
His appointment was made by Ivan Gazidis without consultation with Wenger, the first sign that the chief executive was being allowed to flex his administrative muscles, and it seems that Lewin, very much aligned with the Wenger era, has become a casualty of that.
Others on their way out include goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton, first team coach Neil Banfield, fitness coach Tony Colbert, and long time equipment manager Paul Johnson is also set to be relieved of his duties.
Meanwhile, with a ruthlessness being shown to Wenger’s staff, changes could continue at youth level with an investigation of alleged bullying continuing into U23s Head Coach Steve Gatting and his assistant Carl Laraman.
Should their contracts be terminated, the club would be in a position to bring in replacements, and already there are reports that former Gunner Freddie Ljungberg has agreed a deal to return to the youth set-up he left in 2017 when he became assistant manager of Wolfsburg with former academy head Andries Jonker.
Meanwhile, it seems more and more likely that Gazidis will see his choice for manager, Mikel Arteta, rubber-stamped by the board.
At this moment, despite links to Max Allegri, the Spaniard appears to be the only name under serious consideration despite his inexperience.
Surprising
Is Wenger officially gone?
Hmm, I’m having mixed feelings about all of this. On one hand, I understand the need to remove long time servants under Wenger regime, all businesses usually have a clear out when new management comes in. On the other hand, out values of being a ‘classy’ club risk being swept aside for corporate toe liners.
Let’s see how it all pans out. If it goes wrong, you’re the first one out the door Ivan.
When someone from the AFL is making decisions you know we are fucked
To be honest I’m Australian and hate AFL. But this guy we’ve brought in from Adelaide really does know what he’s doing.
Shock to just sack Colin, but sports science has changed and this go is leading the way in Australia.
Props for lacing your own subjective opinion with objective info also Goontag. ?
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/who-is-darren-burgess-arsenal-fitness-coach-high-performance-arsene-wenger-a7796841.html?amp
The article in the link says, he was hand picked by Wenger. If that is true we can probably have more faith in Burgess than if he was hand picked by Gazidis.
Burgess was as “handpicked by Wenger” as much as “Wenger finalised the deal for statDNA).
Sorry but this is ignorance talking. Burgess is arguably the absolute best in the business. AFL has similar loading and demands as football, yet through their complete adoption and trust in modern sports science and analytics, have significantly less injuries compared to European football, and Darren is the main leader in that field. The first to truly adopt wearable tech and GPS (don’t be fooled, 99% of clubs don’t even know what to do with the data, Darren does). He’s a very innovative coach and is always on the edge of modern scientific applications and technologies. If he’s letting go… Read more »
This seems quite an astute comment too! ?
I am wondering what ‘goes wrong’ means for most Arsenal fans. Do most of us expect a title challenge next season? And what happens if it doesn’t materialize? More planes flying over the stadium and ‘X out’ chants? It just isn’t clear to me what the level of expectation is. Personally, I’d be happy to give a new manager 2 seasons to work the squad out and imprint his own style on proceedings, especially if it’s a relatively inexperienced guy like Arteta, but are others that patient? I can foresee the same divisions opening up again if we are out… Read more »
The problem with giving someone two years to build with the squad and have this transition is what does that do for the top players at Arsenal? Would Aubameyang and Ozil be content to be with a team that may not compete for a couple more seasons? I’m sure when they signed/signed a new deal it was because they thought things would improve to a point where we seriously challeng for the title next season. I’m not saying we won’t compete but I would have a lot more faith, and I’m sure the players would, if we had a proven… Read more »
I agree totally apart from viewing Ozil as our top player. For me he is a waste of money and space. Sorry
I can somewhat sympathise with Auba, but not Ozil. He knew the nature of the squad dealing with and signed da ting.
If anyone is expecting huge spending to get us to the top (because that’s what is required to win the league that way), then they should know that’s not gonna happen.
Ultimately this squad needs a project, and I’m not concerned about Mikhi, Auba, Ozil and their age.
I’d expect an improvement in performances and at least a strong fight for top 4. We might finished above spurs, especially if poch goes. Being 10 points behind 4th again would be a disappointment. Finishing top 4 would be mission accomplished for 2018/19.
If you only want a strong fight for top 4, why bother letting go of Wenger in the first place? We should demand a strong fight for the title, with top 4 achievement a bare minimum. Anything less is a degrading target for The Arsenal and all the fans. I just hope our board shares this target.
Since when?
There is simply so much work to be done to even get this team in a position of viably challenging for 3rd place let alone the title that while our goal every year should be to challenge, it simply isn’t realistic for next year. Every team in the top 4 is miles ahead of us right now.
GAZIDIS OUT !
Gazidis is at least trying to make things better
So is this what its come to now?
People are just furious for furious sake, and if it’s not Wenger, it’s Gazidis, or someone else to take their ire.
I know blog has managed to paint Gaz as the villain and fans are just gonna follow in suit, but he finally now has power and has a plan. How about we judge him on this and his success, rather than Gazidis out just because he managed to do get out the person those same fans have been asking to be pushed out?
Its an appointment drenched in hypocrisy. You’ve got Gazidis running around cutting peoples heads off for being part of the ‘Wenger regime,’ behind the scenes. But then he goes and appoints Arteta as the new manager? A former player of Wengers,’ bought in that mad trolley dash back at the start of 2011 season. And that was pretty much was the inception date of when this slow slide into mediocrity began. Gazidis was all about ‘the catalyst for change.’ But whats actually changing? In reality nothing is. And in actual fact, we are going backwards. Because we are appointing a… Read more »
Can we stop this now please. He hasn’t even been appointed and fans are already throwing tantrums. Replacing Arsene and his back room staff IS change. Almost all of us wanted that. Alegri sounds great, but he has no experience of the PL at all, and nobody can say whether or not he would be successful. The same applies to Arteta IF he is to be our next manager. Whoever we get in needs our unconditional support and patience, or we will just be making their job harder! Nobody likes Gazidis, but Arteta is not his puppet. He is, however,… Read more »
Stop what exactly? All I am saying is the truth. That is it. You can either accept it, or you can ignore it. Because if I was wrong. And this wasn’t a question of finances then please explain to me why aren’t we appointing Allegri? Or Ancelotti? Or Enrique? Or Jardim? Or Nagelsmann? Or Low? Or whoever else. Do not tell me for one second that we aren’t able to get one of those names above if we actually wanted to. As a prime example. If Chelsea were in our position, and they wanted any one of those names above… Read more »
Get over yourself.
“Truth” as you so poorly put it, is an abstract concept.
Facts – on the other hand – are objectively verifiable.
None of your comment if factual; its largely opinion.
And you, using the oft-bandied, but little meaning, “ambition” … come on.
I don’t want to argue (or agree) with the substance of what you say, but it is pretty clear that some of your supporting “facts” make no sense. It is completely irrelevant how rich Usmanov is; he is a minority owner frozen out of any authority in the club.
My guess, for what it’s worth, is that the choice of a new manager (or really, coach) will be much more influenced by perceived power relations between the coach and the rest of the management team than by an unwillingness to pay a high salary.
You misunderstand finance.. Appoiting the cheapest manager does not equate to financial success. Obviously financial factors may play a part in the appointment but not to the extent you suggest. If Arteta is the boards choice it is not because Steve McClaren was too expensive
i just dont understand the fascination with arteta. the guy has not managed a single team in his life, no first team , no reserves not even a kids team. i couldnt care less if hes smart . to lead an entire team is a different ballgame altogether and espicially a team like arsenal who have aspirations to be in champions league in one of the most competitive league in the world. in all honesty he could be a guy with potential to be next guardiola , but the thing is we have not seen any kind of indication as… Read more »
I feel like Arteta’s name is being thrown in the ring by the board and it’s proxies to gauge the reaction of the fans and from what we can see and logic, he is not best suited to take over from Wenger. They better listen and do what’s right.
And breeeeaaathe……
Arteta is a good guy… And he hasn’t. been appointed yet. For me….. If not Allegri or Jardim then I want Vieira
Lets hope we can get someone who can keep the players fit,
I don’t think he will be, but he bloody should be – lets hope if it does go all wrong he gets some serious shit from everyone (fans and media alike). I have a bad feeling about Ivan – mainly that he’s pretty incompetent – we’ll see……
Time for a fresh start.
I’ve no idea on the impact of Colin Lewin, whether he is good at his job or not, or whether he was good and has gone ‘over the hill’. I’m sure most of us are similar, we don’t know.
If Arteta is the new man then I’d have thought he’d have wanted to keep some familiar faces to keep the spirit high.
Overall, no objection to improvements in the staff, just too many changes all at once often means a backward step (you lose the synergies built up), so better to phase the changes over a season or two.
And we need to keep the expectations for the new manager low, he has a hard act to follow (our greatest ever manager, given Wenger could have lost the next 100 matches and still had a higher win ratio than any other Arsenal manager) and no-one is ever that good immediately in a new job (especially if they haven’t done that job before…).
This is an important you make. We can’t have the plastics and Arsenal Fan TV boo the team after a loss. We won’t win every game.
Nowadays any w*nker with a keyboard or phone (including me)can express their opinion so we will always get ‘fans’ that aren’t ‘supporters’.
And it will fluctuate wildly with what happens on the pitch – check the days we won against those we lost in recent years and the balance of the comments for and against our manager.
I would only be agreeing with you had they actually appointed a guy with actual managerial pedigree. Not a guy like Mikel. He would not be offered the job at any other top club in Europe due to his lack of experience other than Arsenal. Not even Man United were crazy enough to give Ryan Giggs the Managers position full time. And when he had the caretakers position at the end of that calamitous season they had, didn’t they lose every single game they played under his management bar a handful of games. But when you’re charging fans upwards of… Read more »
> you can’t lose every single match, while not losing a handful
> Struggling to finish 7th, would’ve finished 6th even if he had lost at Huddersfield.
> Compete for Jonny Evans with ‘ City ‘ who can throw around 30-40m for depth and HG quota.
Completely understandable , you and most of us should expect someone more accomplished that Arteta to take us ahead. But the propaganda bits are laughable ?
Cheers
Equally arteta has worked with these guys and more recently worked with peps team. He might have realised how poor they were or the fact he wants his guys in position.
I’m more excited for the season ahead than I have been for years. I will see a manager trying to fix the clear problems there are in the team and playing players in their correct positions
Any new manager will need time. Even great managers from overseas need time. Pep won nothing last season despite spending £160m net. Our manager isn’t going to get anything like that to spend (or the £200m Pep spent this season…).
This current board doesn’t build any confidence with the current uncertainty. I just hope they know what they are doing with aces up their sleeves. Gone are the days where they will hide behind Wenger when things go wrong.
This is true, up to a point, but I’m actually pretty impressed with a lot of the boards recent signings, from Shad to Mislintat. The women’s team seems to have made progress, too, so perhaps we are being harsh by just following the narrative. Certain board members (looking at you, Chips) certainly don’t help though.
Its been less than a week lol the season isnt even truly over in any league…What do you expect really?
Tat is actually good news. Our injury record and recovery time has been abysmal for years. I hope the shakeup continues with the training staff.
Very odd. If it is to be Arteta, the lack of continuity in staff will be a hard one to overcome. Presumably Arteta’s contact book is still very thin and he won’t be turning up to London Colney with an entourage of staff…. Presumably this fits the bill of new modern coach tasked just to work with the first team and the rest of the burden of the club’s responsibilities will fall on Gazidis’ appointments…
We already have the best in the business in charge of that area and he will be looking to replace what was there with his own vision now wenger has gone…im sure he signed on that pretext
Arsenal needs a fresh start, from top to bottom
Literally right at the top….where it should have started…with Stan!!!
I don’t want to sound like a dick, but our medical history is not exactly great so I’m all for something new.
But it’s good old Collin.
That should count more than our stupid old bad injury record. Just like how Hector is given stick but we had to “understand” Carl.
I’m a bit bafflede at the reactions here. Our injury record and more importantly our recovery from injuries has been awful. Santi was allowed to train with an opening wound. The club is so behind the times.
Our injury record has improved drastically over the last few years. Seems mental to make massive changed in the face of that.
Yes, since we hired Shad Forsythe we’ve gotten better. Still there are cases like Santi Cazorla.
There were cases like Eduardo too. They saved his leg from amputation.
No, that was the actual surgeon at the hospital doing his job. We don’t have in-house surgeons. The surgery is done in a proper clinic not at the training ground.
Nope, if the right thing wasn’t done on the pitch in the first five minutes, no chance the best surgeon in the world could have saved his foot.
So, congrats, they’re not total mugs?
Last few years you say. With some new guys in the last few years.
Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to bring in another new body and replace probably the one that remained of those from more than just the last few years.
again, I just want to reiterate this, how poor our medical treatment is. Santi Cazorla was allowed to train with an opening wound from his surgery. The tendons in his ankles were exposed. So much so that he needed graft implants. (See here http://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2017/11/07/cazorla-nearly-lost-a-foot-who-is-taking-responsibility-for-this/)
I don’t even want to go with what happened with Vermaelen, Rosicky, Diaby, Van Persie, Wilshere. I know some of their injuries were impact injuries but their recovery from those injuries was never handled well.
All the guys from other teams Saha, Gareth King and plenty I forgot were due to their fault too?
Why should they be? This makes no sense.
Remember when Arsenal had class?…. suddenly we look like every other club…
Since when did class have anything to do with stagnation and complacency?
Class isn’t the same thing as stagnation and complacency. What a ridiculous comment.
well that’s a bit of a shock, I always thought that he was a top, top medic
Top medics don’t put on protective gloves until they need them. He spent every game breathing germs all over his. How long does it take to put on a pair of gloves?
Everyone thinks they’ve got the prettiest wife at home
Can’t help but think that these changes mean that someone other than Arteta is in high contention for the head coach/manager role. Agree with other comments that you would think they would keep a lot of the guys behind the scenes in place to make it easier for Arteta. Who knows though. Let’s hope it’s all positive in the end.
Unless this is what Arteta asked for. It isn’t inconceivable that he is critical after seeing the standards at man city, and wants new appointments. If that’s the case best that all this goes down before Arteta arrives.
At the end of the day these guys are probably earning a fat severance after 23 years in the same job. Which is way more than what anyone of us can hope for.
Either we succeed or fail horribly. Scary times ahead for us.
Very true, I didn’t consider that side of things. It does feel as though we were pushing AW to move on without really having a plan in place, and they are now dancing to the tune rather than playing it themselves. I hope we don’t end up with a large amount of egg on our faces.
I honestly don’t know why Arteta would want to manage Arsenal right now, unless somehow he’s changed his tune in 2 seasons with Guardiola. He left instead of taking a youth team position at Arsenal because he wanted to challenge himself with learning more about management–having played and worked with Wenger as a captain, where his leadership was directly influential to us salvaging seasons like 2012-13, and bringing out the best in Ozil and Ramsey in 2013-14 (for a few games), Arteta wanted to learn a different side of the game. He’s hugely driven, and the hunger from his playing… Read more »
The board and Gazidis can chop and change all they want but at the end of the day it’s the investment in playing squad that matters. Everyone at the club including some of the fans seem content with Laca and Auba while in reality we need 1 more player of that calibre up front so that we can rotate between the 3. It’s not a crime to bench one of Laca, Auba or the other guy. We need 3 quality strikers to SERIOUSLY compete for the league. Of course this is in addition to the defensive re-inforcements that everyone wants.… Read more »
I reckon we need to bring 3-4 players in other positions before we even look at our offense. We scored a lot but conceded a lot. The defensive part (defense + DM) and defensive tactics should be our priority IMHO…
You forget our Mkhi?
@Cyprus The Immortal Gooner Wouldn’t it be better to complete the puzzle up front and then shift our focus to defence? I still feel we lack the cutting edge up front. Despite Auba and Laca we still rely on midfielders to create and score goals. Midfielders like Ramsey for example can contribute more to defence if we get one more guy with goals in him. @Arya Wiryawan No i didn’t forget Mkhi. Let me just illustrate. I’ll use Marco Reus(A goal scoring dynamic forward) for illustration purposes. In a 4-4-2 we can have- Reus – LW Auba – ST Laca… Read more »
Keep down voting guys. Let’s buy 4 CB’s, 5 GK’s and 3 DM’s to solve our ‘defensive woes’. Let’s forget our attack because it’s ‘perfect’ and it’s sorted. Laca, Auba, Mkhi and Ozil will start all 38 league games and will score/assist 100+ goals The great back up squad Iwobi, Welbeck, Nketiah, Nelson will score/assist another 50+ goals from the wings. After all some of them are from the academy and they deserve to be in the first team bench. So, yeah no worries. Let’s just buy defenders, GK and DM’s. Let’s forget we have Holding, Chambers, Mavropanos, Mustafi and… Read more »
The stability of our attack would improve with a greater defensive foundation. Our defense would improve with more clinical attacking in the opponent’s final third (less counters on bad balls, better positioning by midfield and players tasked for recovery, and greater influence in control with more goals on your tally). So which to address first? In a chicken/egg problem, you have to address both sides for balance. Having already spent 110 million between Laca and Auba, the team is heavily shifted in its best personnel for attacking already. The two strikers are also world-class talents. Adding a third to sit… Read more »
@Bould’s Eyeliner You make by far the most compelling argument. You have acknowledged the fact that we operate with limited resources. I built my entire case based on ‘what if we had only 50 million to spend’?(Apart from the odd 15 million and 2 millions for unknown quantities in different positions) Would i buy a world class winger/striker or a world class CB? Based on your arguments and mine i would say it depends on the tactics we want to adopt going forward and the quality that is available in in the market. We have to also consider the fact… Read more »
The thing is i don’t believe we’ll do defensive tactics with the new manager. Even with Wenger we didn’t do defensive tactics. It worked just fine when we had Cazorla. The real question is do we really need to do deep defending(Buy top CB’s) or do we need more quality players/variety in CM and upfront(pace+goal scoring)? Also, you touched on finishing. Finishing is cyclical. I think having 1 more top player upfront will make the existing partnership even better. We have seen it in barca with Messi, neymar, Suarez. Nobody at Barca said we don’t want Suarez because we already… Read more »
If you already have Laca and Auba, you give Nketiah a chance. United did that with Rashford two years ago.
So disappointed with our unambitious board.
They will appoint Arteta, hand him 50 million and the only target will be 4th place. And if this heads south, cunts like AFTV will start abusing Arteta and not the board.
If they had any ambition they would have appointed a decent manager like Jardim or a top class one like Allegri, gave him a decent transfer kitty and ask to win the league in the next 3 years.
But they just want the cash from top 4 and the fans to return to the stadium.
Yep. You’ve summed it up quite nicely.
Ahmmmm… We are still waiting to see who will be appointed. I.all hold breath until then.. And until he has had 6 months in the job
When new managers come in, they often bring in back room staff as well. Never really been too sure what that means, but can that include the roles of Colin Lewin and others mentioned in this article? I.E. A new manager has been lined up and has a team he wants to bring in?
True. A lot of these guys have been around so long cause they were part of Wenger’s team.
Should that automatically mean they stay on when a new guy comes in who maybe has his own people in mind?
As long as it’s not change for changes sake, then I don’t see the problem.
It’s more usual than not because a manager is a position that relies heavily on trust–you need to trust the advice of your staff, and they need to understand what the manager wants. Two professionals may offer similar quality of service, but the one that efficiently and easily works with the manager would be preferable.
All I see is typical transition moves from Arsenal, with too little so far to really understand what’s going on in the front-end of the business. Time will have to tell, because it’s sure as hell that nobody else cares to inform us.
COYG.
It usually means they bring in their assistant coaches, maybe a goalkeeping coach, but not medical staff, youth team coaches etc. This is more a general shake up driven by the club itself. He’s been at the club for so long and our injury record is not exactly been good.
I wonder if it means that the Board will now make key hiring and firing decisions regardless of what the Manager/Head Coach wants. Bringing in a relatively inexperienced coach like Arteta would align with that idea. I hope it isn’t true as I would like us to have an experienced Manager who builds a back room team around his philosophy and approach to the squad.
We’re bhind the times there and we have to expect a higher turnover of managers in the future. The club needs to have continuity and the power and competence to make deicisions regardless of the manager. A manager usually doesn’t go into so much detail at a club. enger was a control freak who personally looked after every detail, but I’d rather the coach concentrates on his work than having interviews with candidates for the medical staff. It’s laudable that the club takes matter in his own hands and tries to actually work like a modern club. We’re behind the… Read more »
Very good point and we should expect the club to adjust in the post-AW era. My concern with that (at present, anyway) is that Ivan Gazidis has failed to demonstrate that he is an effective CEO despite plenty of opportunities to do so. The executive model needs to allow for the dynamic you describe, aqreed, but I am far from convinced that Gazidis is the right guy to run the club and direct the executive team.
Well, Gazidis is also the one that appointed Forsythe, Mislintat and Sanlehi. It’s hard to say how much he was really allowed to do until now. I mean, We couldn’t call Raul Director of Football because Wenger threw a fit. But without a doubt it’s on him now.
Gazidis like all others deserve a chance to clear the record with his plan forward from now on. It’s clear that he and Wenger were at odds with one another, and the away record clearly indicated that Wenger had lost a little something by the twilight of his career. Whatever Gazidis is doing now, we won’t really understand until the end of next season. Faith and hope are our allies, but they may also be the ones twisting the dagger in our side, should our suspicions about Gazidis come true. The reality is that we have no idea what Gazidis… Read more »
Arteta!? Ar fucking teta!? Vieira or Henry would be a million times better but a legendary player and hero to our club means nothing when you would also be a black manager.
And not a single woman’s name in the mix either… disgraceful from the board
Ha, well I was just thinking that it would be a nice touch for us to hire a certain Eva Carneiro. I’m sure Mourhinwank would love to see her on the opposition bench.
Henry? What credentials does he have? He should be the last name in the mixer (as much as I loved him as a player).
And Vieira hasn’t exactly set the world alight in the US…
If we’re going for an ex-player I feel Arteta would be the best bet. Mind you I think it’s ridiculous going for someone who has never been a manager himself…
This is the most ruthless I’ve ever seen from the Arsenal board. It smells of Josh, not Stan.
I’m cautious, but also intrigued by this new change in stance. Decisive. Feels like a plan is in action. I’m unaccustomed to this. Exciting and nervy at the same time.
Yes, it must be Josh. I am also excited.
“The Head of Medical Services has been with club for over 23 years”
Well, that pretty much explains everything re: Injuries
Oh fuck, not Arteta pls….
I’d be sad to see Lewin go (particularly given how long a Lewin of some description has been at Arsenal), however if Burgess has a team ready and this was part of his roadmap form the start then this shouldn’t have a negative impact on the club. If, however, this is a clear out for clear outs sake and we’re scrambling to find someone then you would have to question the club. I hope its the former, however given it looks like we’re no nearer a new head coach than we were a month ago, I wouldn’t rule out the… Read more »
Burgess had a good reputation here in Oz. If people are being sacked purely because they were Arsene friendly then Gazidis is a complete twat and has clearly become power crazed.
All this confirms what I said in my post yesterday.
If a new “king” was coming in then the club would surely wait for him to make these important back-room decisions. It looks like the new man will simply be a first-team coach who will work under Ivan, Sven and Raul. It seems that the de facto Arsenal manager has already been appointed: Raul Sanllehi, the current Director of Football.
Interesting times.
PS: I hope the club can find a place for Steve Bould. He’s an Arsenal legend.
Is Bould any good though? Again, I don’t know but he seems very quiet on the bench.
Club legend is good, though only if they can add things in their behind the scenes role. [I can think of lots of ‘club legends’ eg Merson, Groves, Adams that I wouldn’t want anywhere near the coaching side].
I think Bould would add a lot as a defensive coach.
I think he was forecefully subdued under Wenger, much like Pat Rice’s last few seasons…
Worse was Keown, coaching players like Senderos and Flamini to be in a CL team that kept 10 clean sheets in a row and then not being kept on.
I just have never seen much from or about Bould (eg players and/or Wenger saying how great he is), so have no way of judging him. If anything I’m a bit negative about him given that.
That was criminal indeed. Keown is still working as a scout for us, maybe we can persuade him to take a coaching role.
Do you have anything to really back that up? Bould was a top defender, but his youth sides weren’t known for being strong defensive units.
Further, none of us are at the training ground on a day to day basis to assert whether any coach (particularly one who has been coaching here for 17 years) has been ‘forecefully subdued’ by any other member of staff.
It doesn’t sound like aggressive defender Bould to be forcibly subdued. For 17 years.
I’m not opposed to change, but getting rid of some of the institutional know-how at the club (the behind the scenes go-to-guys) when you don’t particularly need to, is a recipe for chaos & confusion.
It doesn’t sound like “the Arsenal way”, to me, at all.
We don’t know if we need to or not.
Let’s look at the facts, he’s been with the club for 23 years – during that time we have by far the worst injury record in the Premiership.
Granted, we’ve improved a bit in that regard over the last few seasons, but that was because we hired new staff with serious expertise (like Shad).
Perhaps replacing Lewin with someone educated and experienced in modern fitness and injury science would improve that stat even further?
Not surprised by the termination of the ‘coaching’ staff and Colin Lewin’s could be an indication of the findings from the medical review undertaken a couple/few years ago that led to a shake-up of our medical facilities of which only timing has played a part to his departure. The biggest surprise for me is Paul Johnson, I remember when I first started going to away games in the 80’s and he was managing the travel club. Particularly enjoyable were the Anfield trip in 1989 and some of the European jaunts I managed to take part in during our cup winners… Read more »
It would be interesting to see how many of the fans screamed for change and then find themselves screaming again: “NO I DIDN´T MEAN THAT TO CHANGE”
It’s always “Curse of the Monkey’s Paw” or “Be careful what you wish for,” or “the grass is always greener”. Any one of those three pretty much apply to all Arsenal Fan frustrations, or pretty much any sports fan frustrations.
Is this kind of a clear out surprising to anyone now that Le(gendary) Prof himself had stepped aside?
Anyway, I’ll stick to my default mode of being a positive pragmatist and wait with bated breadth.
Especially since the next few months in this DigiCorp (football) era will not only have the World Cup but also the commencement of a truly new saga (within an era!) for our own beloved Arsenal! 😀
Bated BREADTH it seems. DOH! ?
PS: Why was the “edit” option removed? Even WhatsApp has a “delete comment” option Mr. Mangan!
I can’t claim to know at all but I’d suspect it’s to keep us all honest.
So nobody can bait people with toxicity and when they get the response they deserve just delete it and run and hide leaving a senseless thread. See it all the time elsewhere.
A “This will go down on your permanent record” kind of thing. Seems to work for those purposes for folks to have to own their words.
Ooooooh niiice! That makes sense but still. What about country bumpkins like me who make a lot of typos? Maybe a 2 minute probation time window when we’ll be able to edit/delete the comment?
This sounds like a train wreck about to happen.
Is it just me or is this all panning out as a cost cutting exercise carried out by an owner with no real ambition? I fear that it’s going to get a whole lot worse than it is now!! What we need in this scenario is a young 1996 version of Arsene Wenger to do it and they only come around once in a life time…
Gazidis reputation is on the line now thst Arsene had gone. Ivans seems like a slick operator and will want to make a success of this. The fact that some of the old group are being shipped out pretty ruthlessly suggests he is going all out to take ownership and make a go of it. I’m watching with intetest
So we signed top, top quality Head of Football Relations and Chief Scout, but thinks that we should hire an inexperienced person for the most important football job in the club? Gazidss, Gazidis… oh boy.. well done Einstein… :S
LOL. Blogs pimping his man-crush Arteta again as the next manager. Despite nothing truly being decided on that front yet. But Blogs just HAS to let himself keep imagining a way to get Arteta back into this club in some capacity. Just can’t let that ghost go, can he? What’s next? Ramsey being appointed player-assistant manager? Anyway, if people thought that Arsene divided fan opinion and fractured the support of the fanbase… hoo boy, they’ve seen nothing yet. Arteta’s appointment will get slammed so hard there won’t even be dust left. And all those fans that suddenly left those seats… Read more »
This is nothing to do with me wanting Arteta, it’s what’s happening.
It’s what’s happening? Really? So where is the official Arsenal press release saying that Arteta is the man to take the club forward? Or hell, even the rumors stating what Arteta’s wage demands are? Who he’s targeting in the transfer market? How much he wants in the transfer warchest? Or even the most elemental and basic of all managerial change-related rumors: Who he wants as part of his backroom staff? You know, the kind of rumors that accompany virtually EVERY OTHER “It’s happening” imminent managerial appointment/recommendation? No, the fact is that there has been no decision yet one way or… Read more »
You obviously don’t know Arsenal very well if you think the press office are going to comment on it.
I liked Arteta as a player, but he’d be a long way from my first choice for manager. I don’t understand why you’ve jumped to the conclusion this is something I want, or have just made up.
The fact is he is the main candidate right now, and it’s not just me reporting that.
Hey, you’re the one who basically said “he’s about to be rubber stamped by the board”, as if it’s about to be official. Not us. The press office would be calling a press conference for some set fixed date and time if if was at that stage, and that much in the bag. Because that is how Arsenal do things. You know that as well as I do. But it’s not. It’s not anywhere near that. All Arteta is, is one of a number of candidates they are considering. He’s not the main candidate, let alone one who’s about to… Read more »
I’m not trying to fool anyone. You’re taking this in a very weird way. Let’s see what happens.
Why don’t you take a saunter over to NewsNow and take a look at the articles being written across the internets….Arteta, Arteta, Arteta….
That dude is melting down, Blogs; your posting/reporting is on point – there’s nothing to read into it. Keep up the good work.
I think it’s Brendan.
Would have been perhaps true if it was Pires.
Me, I am disappointed Berg didn’t put himself in the position to be a hot possibility.
It’s beginning to look like a bit of a witch hunt.
If a new manager isn’t announced quite soon with his full team joining him then we ‘could’ be in a poor situation for the start of next season…
Pfffftttt. Not surprised. It’s all on the board and you Ivan, you fucknut. Better get it right, or the people will let you know. I have Zero faith in you by the way. I Love Arteta the player, but he has Zero experience as a head coach. Bringing him in as a Yes man that won’t put up too much stink. That’s a bunch of Zeros so far….. I gettin’ a ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ad feelin’ about this…..
Arteta isn’t a done deal.
I might be talking out of place.. But it seems like his biggest qualification was being Gary Lewis son. I like this Gazidis ruthlessness
He is his cousin. Also heard he is a bit of a rude bastard to the mascots so not the best advertisement for AFC.
The bigger the clearout the better. Ivan et al are making the place their own, which is a good thing.
By all means let Arteta return as a first team coach or even as an assistant manager under someone like Ancelotti. He’s a good guy with loads of potential, but to give him the head coach role alone is near-on-madness. It takes proven management experience to keep a top club at, or near the top. No novis should be considered, but Ivan’s oversized ego is being allowed to run riot at the expense of our club. He wants his power at a cost and that cost is to rule out quality managers that are equipped for this difficult task. Mind… Read more »
Like what Blogs said, this wholesale clear out of the backroom is very much Ivan “flexing his administrative muscles”. If he doesn’t achieve results, this will all blow up in his face. Then we can all go “Au revoir, Ivan”.
I don’t get the hostility. We wanted change, this is change. We’ve been so conservative for so long I’m glad to see Gazidis is finally actually doing something.
I don’t know about this. It’s a shame to see him go but difficult for us on the outside to be able to assess how well he was doing his job. You sort of want both. Us to keep our people but also to be progressive and willing to make changes. It’s tough to know if this was necessary. As for Arteta, it is tough to imagine that you’d be tying your name to this raft like Gazidis seems to be doing. It’s his appointment. Seems hasty. Again both decisions await judgment and we all know who is responsible for… Read more »
Once thing just crossed mind in regard to a possible Arteta appointment. Does he want the job? “Gee, guys, I’m flattered as all hell, but I don’t think I’m ready yet to take on the responsibility of heading up a big club like Arsenal. Maybe in a few years and with actual management experience under my belt…”
I’m astonished he is being considered. Working with Pep doesn’t mean his is ready to manage. I’m betting we don’t have big money to spend and no other heavy weight manager wants the job without big money to throw at the team. So plan B is an experiment. Arteta would be an experiment.
Wenger loves the club and told everyone that the next manager needs to be a guardian of the club. This was a message also to the board that they need to make the right decision. If they sign someone like Arteta and don’t give him any control or say in transfers or backroom staff then that would kinda be the opposite of what is needed. As per the podcast we need a manager who can stand up to the board, communicate with them and guide them through and damn well convince them what we need. Past history shows that Wenger… Read more »
Allegri had little intention of leaving Juve unless they decided to get rid. He’s just won the double. Playing in the CL. Has a good squad and their Board is listening to his requests for new players and will just go out and close the deal. Enrique et al will have made demands in which they assumed that the Board had got rid of Wenger because he’s underachieving and out of the CL. Fair to assume they indicated that it would take considerable investment to get us back to anywhere near the top. They would have wanted at the very… Read more »
Well one indicator might be that he HASN’T given that response.. All the other managers seem to be, the way Allegri has done.
I bet a lot of the serious experienced managers are waiting to play the ‘second ball’. Fear of the Ferguson effect.
2 weeks ago it was Klopp’s assistant, in the frame, it seemed more likely he would return to Germany maybe Dortmund. Now its Arteta! Though isn’t it much better to be the man that follows the man etc Like Maureen at Utd. Point being who wants to replace Wenger now.
Even though we’ve lost the class of Arsene Wenger and we’re reliant on the egotistical Gazidis approach to power by diluting the future mangers role to the point where anyone of quality would cease to be interested; Arseblog still continues to deliver quality!! Thank you for keeping me sane in testing times as a gooner with your fair coverage and injection of humour. It’s nice to have you as a stable constant in changing times 😀
True and true! Does that mean Arsene will be a co host one day on Arseblog?
So much upheaval behind the scenes….
It is strange how many backroom staff are being ejected before a new manager is announced.
Or has one been decided but they are delaying the decision, if that is the case, I can’t see it being Arteta.
My fear with Arteta is twofold: 1. Extracting the required improvement funds from the cold, dead hands of the ‘board’. 2. Assembling all of this back room staff and assistant coaches from scratch. Experienced managers already have their key staff to bring along for many of the roles. Sure, medical is different, but for some of the others, what would he do- draw lots? All that said, if he got all that right – or right enough- he’s an intelligent footballer and highly respectable individual. The ‘not quite top flight’ careers do seem to turn out some quality managers. I’d… Read more »
If they do pick Arteta as Head Coach, I think it’s obvious that they are completely changing the management structure to something more like that in US sport. Lots of coaches each with specialist areas. This means we will (hopefully) be employing a specialist defensive coach (probably why Steve Bould has been kept on) and a specialist attacking coach (DB10? Dennis would make a lot of sense actually as it would give the fanbase something to rally behind). Lens is already there as goalie coach, and we’ve got the fitness side sorted, as well as all of the non-playing stuff… Read more »
Quite a lot of premature outrage and scorn here. It’s absolutely normal for there to be a wholesale change of backroom staff when a new manager is appointed. And it’s not necessarily a judgement on their competence, just a reflection of the fact that managers expect (& deserve) to choose their own staff. While I understand that Gazidis isn’t a particularly likeable figure, what he’s doing is entirely in keeping with what fans have been calling for in recent years. Let’s see how his plan unfolds before condemning it out of hand.
For some one who there work life. I think it was wrong to sack them with out recognition for there work . Most them 7 day a week on call all the time.
good.