Sacking Wenger would be lunacy. I am getting angry with all the talk in the media. Every time Arsenal lose a match everyone seems to come out with an extreme opinion. Arsenal fans better be careful what they wish for because I see today that Wenger is getting fed up with it all.
Guess it depends on how you spin it. The fans from other clubs are all saying we should keep Wenger. They're the people that want Arsenal to fail, so what does that tell you?
This is what I don't get, all this talk of "be careful what you wish for". What Wenger will give us in the future is what he has given us for at least the past four seasons: a very real and measurable year-on-year decline. There is no rational reason to believe that Wenger will ever lead us back to the promised land. There is no downside in replacing Wenger with a new man. At worst we just get someone who presides over the decline of Arsenal - which is what Wenger is already doing. At best we get someone who has new ideas and a methodology that may allow us to compete again within a season or two. That's what I'm wishing for.
Do you not have to take the Stadium costs into account? Has that not affected your ability to buy players or resist sales.
I think some people underestimate just how far we could fall if we sacked Wenger. Saying that he's overseeing a decline is true to an extent, but it's not one that he has engineered. You have to look at the money spent on City, Chelsea, Utd and our own financial restrictions. Also in that time Wenger has kept us in the Champions League EVERY season, something that most managers only dream of doing once. It is because of Wenger we are where we are, not depsite him. For those who think sacking him can only lead to an improvement, look at Liverpool.
I'd like Wenger to stay, as I told you some months ago New sponsorships and paying off your stadium is all well and good but if you strip away player sales(assuming you stop selling your best players) and the property sales(which is drying up) you're not all that well placed. If Wenger does indeed have permission to dip deep into your bloated cash balance then the contracts will also have to be taken into account when signing players and this will not be a replenishing reserve without improvement on what you've currently been achieving(regular CL qualification). I don't see any great strides being made with Wenger at the helm anytime soon. Arsene seems to have slowly and grudgingly embraced more direct, quicker build up over the last 12 or so months but give him the money to sign players that he wants and Project Pass, Pass, Pass.... Pass, Win? will be restarted. If you miss out on the CL this season and decide to keep Wenger you might as well give him a long new contract, because you're letting him oversee an overhaul of the squad, if it doesn't work there won't be many interested in the salvaging project.
Arsenal were THE dominant team in the early 1930's when they won won 5 titles and 2 FA Cups in a 9 year period. Under Wenger you won 4 titles and 4 FA Cups in an 8 year period. This means that in the other 113 years of your history you've won... 4 titles; 4 FA Cups; 2 league Cups and 2 European Tropies...12 trophies...just under 10 years per trophy My point was and is that 8 years without a trophy is **** all in the great scheme of things.
Look we are a massive Club with a great infastructute. Those who think we're going to fall apart without Wenger are just paranoid. I dont want us to sack Wenger (I have FAR too much respect for the guy) but at the same time I think its highly possible we would IMPROVE not go backwards under someone less talented but more ambitious.
Look we are a massive Club with a great infastructute. Those who think we're going to fall apart without Wenger are just paranoid. I dont want us to sack Wenger (I have FAR too much respect for the guy) but at the same time I think its highly possible we would IMPROVE not go backwards under someone less talented but more ambitious.
Well, that's a reflection of your world-view that Wenger is a helpless agent, subject to the whims of fate. I see no reason to think that's true. By his own admission, Wenger has few limits at Arsenal - he makes most of the financial decisions. We could spend more money, if Wenger wasn't so intransigent. It's Wenger himself who has decided not to make the most of the resources available to him. Most Arsenal fans (myself included) believe that the current squad is only three of four quality players away from having a real tilt at a prize. It's Wenger who has decided not to really compete and preach the philosophy of jam tomorrow and yesterday - but never today. And to be honest, when I look at Liverpool, I see Arsenal in their reflection.
There might be an improvement at the start (if you got the right man, massive IF) and you'd go on a decent run of results but with your wage structure and restricted transfer budget you'll never compete for the title on a regular basis. You are doing as well as you can expect under the current board restrictions.
Come off it, there are so many players that have been sold for under £10m in the last few seasons that could have improved our team. Santos cost around the same as Enrique, at a time when Enrique was one of the better LB's in the league. Or are you suggesting that Arsenal can't even compete with Liverpool anymore when it comes to transfers?