Well this is certainly a debate that always opens up a huge can of worms every time, and divides fans opinions, normally to abuse, to criticism and always always being reminded of the past glory that Arsene Wenger brought to the club in his first nine years since joining in 1996 after the departures of George Graham – for me he will always be more preferred manager of choice to Arsene Wenger for his ruthlessness, his ability to mould probably the best defence the Premier League and European football ever saw, creating an England number one goalkeeper for many consistent years and six trophies, consisting of a domestic cup double in the Fa Cup and League Cup in the same season, two 1st Division titles and the European Cup Winners Cup, (major domestic trophies – not including Community Shield/Charity Shield which is certainly not a major domestic honour), in nine years as opposed to seven trophies consisting of three Premier League titles and four FA Cups – including into that two lost European finals in the Uefa Cup against Galatasaray and also the Champions League final against Barcelona.
But I truly believe that the of Arsene Wenger is shortly coming to an end, for many reasons really, but the main reason being with a number of fans alike in recent years, the fact that Arsenal for the past seven years have been in decline, largely due to the manager I would say, he has allowed our biggest players to leave the club whilst at the same time filling the boards pockets with the profits from these sales, he is far too arrogant and stubborn – always quick to blame everyone right down to the blade of grass that blew the wrong way for defeats, when it is plainly obvious that he lost his way now, this season and last season are prime examples of this, and every season since 2005, we are always contenders into the final third of a season when for some reason the club slips until we just manage to fulfil the clubs criteria of maintaining a top four finish to bring the Champions League bonus financial reward to the clubs pocket whilst at the same failing to reinvest heavily in players, the start of this season everyone and his dog knew that Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas were going to leave the club and did nothing to fill the voids left by arguably our best two creative players, he also allowed first choice left back Gael Clichy leave the club without fully covering that position.
Another factor for Wenger’s time being over is that of the fact, that for seven years we have failed to win any silverware whatsoever despite at the start of every season we hear of the potential and promise of the squad, I mean how many times have we heard, ‘the team is maturing’, the team is learning’, Wenger harping on about our mentality the list could go on and on, but the cold hard fact is that every season the team fails and comes up way short of expectations and the team seems to be never ending learning, for years we have heard Wenger going on about youth and put all his empathiseeee on that, yet what has it actually produced, three regular first team players in over 10 years in former Ashley Cole, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere as regular first team players from grass roots, and before people mention Fabregas etc, he along with the multitude of foreign youth players never joined the club until they were 16 so did not develop from the grass roots structure that Wenger placed so much enthusiasm and potential on, in fact 98% of the potential youth players mainly British at that get loaned out never to return to wear the shirt again.
But for to long have we had to listen to years of excuses, it’s time this season for Wenger to put up or go, to bring the results of season after season of failed promises, even now it is a well needed fact we need fresh blood into the team, and yet with 12 days left to go in the transfer window not one signing has been made, with Wenger constantly saying he will not spend in this window even now Taiwo has singed for QPR, Cahill has signed for Chelsea and Hazzard looks to be on his way to Chelsea also and Remy looks set to join Spurs – infact every player we are linked with or on our radar never come, last season was a prime example in January as well, everyone from fans to pundits to critics made notions on how Wenger needed to invest – he didn’t and by mid February we had lost the Carling Cup final and our season went downhill, eventually being lucky that Spurs slipped up in their last games of the season in order for us to clinch fourth spot and bring that Champions League financial boost to the board once again.
Yes Wenger did great things for the club in years gone by, no-one not even myself can dispute that fact, but how long have we got to be reminded of Wenger achievements, yes he created the Invincibles seven years ago now, yes he developed players such as Viera, Petit, Henry, Fabregas and currently Van Persie again that fact cannot be disputed, but how long will Van Persie stay for, if we cannot win anything this season he will be off make no mistake on that, and with Wenger’s reliance and defence of a huge stockpile of fringe and deadwood players the future certainly doesn’t look bright at all for the club, and yes we can blame the board for it also but it falls squarely on the feet of a manager who really has no balls to square up to the board to confront on their philosophies and principals and wage structure etc.
When you look at the Nasri situation in particular, one cannot help but look across the road at Spurs – as much as I hate to believe me, and their stance on their most creative midfielder Luka Modric whom they said firmly and flatly was not for sale at any price and going nowhere and they stuck to that resolve Modric is still there whilst the board and Wenger allowed Nasri to dictate terms and leave to join City.
Yes the changes need to be made at board level but they start at the managers office, and if by May we have failed to even get into a top four placing after so many excuses season after season and failure then it is time for Wenger to au revoir and leave the club whilst he can still hold his head slightly up, if it carries on any longer, just like in 1994 when he took a Monaco team who had become Ligue One champions once, and Champions League semi finalists once as well as one time French League Cup winners in seven years he implemented his philosophies and youth project to the French club only for them in 1994 to become a mid table team in Ligue One finishing tenth in that season before he was sacked for the decline of the team and went over to the Japanese League where as they say the rest is history
Arsene Wenger may be a great economist and businessman in that aspect, as a manager and tactician he is not great, how many times during the match do we see him sat on the bench making no notion to push the team forward.
Seven trophies in 15 years in the same two trophies is not a great record for a top four European club in that time scale, especially when you look back and think for seven years it has been barren and it doesn’t look like any honours will be brought for some time ahead, I’ll leave it for your choice for me the answer is very simple, no honours for the seventh consecutive season, then a management change is needed to fix that (what other top four club would keep a manager on that has failed consistently in seven years almost to bring honour back to the club – none!) and bring the good times back to the club, I could go on and on really, but I’ll leave it on that point for you.
why is it so hush hush to talk about sacking him? He is failing so sack him. It is time to stop making him bigger than the club because that is what he is now. It is a disgrace it has come to this.
100% agree, part from the bit about ecomonics. If he knew anything about economics he wouldn’t have put a lot of kids on £60k a week – kids that we now can’t sell. How on earth the board permitted this lunacy also tells me they’re completely incapable of doing their job.
Totally agree mate, I wish it was’nt the case, I wish he could be the man to turn our fortunes around. But sadly we all know deep down that he has taken his eye off of the ball and that he should step down in summer. I will always remember all of the good he has done at the club, but judging by his demenour during recent interviews I think even he knows he should go. I genuinly believe he loves our club like we do, which is why he will leave at the end of this season.
I am sorry to say but I really think that it is now the right time for Wenger to leave and give someone else the chance to make us great again. I don’t think that he can still do it!
Its time for wenger to leave the team because Arsenal fans are suffering from anonymous diseases.Arsenal is a big team in the world and no any individual can allowd to destroy our support.
One of the worst things about AFC is the way that the fans are treated like mushrooms (ie kept in the dark & fed a load of Sh1t !!!). I mean….Does any one outside of the Board know whether Wenger is being told what to do by the Board or whether it’s Wenger running the show according to his own philosophy? Does he have money to spend or are we struggling financially? Even ex players seem to have no idea. It’s this complete lack of transpancy that will ultimnately harm the club the most.
U gooners who r bitching about wenger do me a favour and don’t turn up – simples . Easiest way to show the board and leave the negativity at home. Sure I am unhappy how we are doing at the moment . But you tell me who can you get that would definitely do a better job? Hmmm can’t think of many myself except for 1 or 2 others top managers – they just won’t come or are ‘ungettable’.
He was a good manager but not any longer. we have given him many chances and he hasn’t changed or improved things. He must go and a new manager with experience and ambition should replace him for the start of the new season.
I agree.
Wenger has failed to produce the promised for 7 straight years.
His team has never been worse. He should have left couple of seasons ago on his terms, but he won’t do that, will he? He will wait to get sacked. Now, Mr. Kreonke, if you really would like to make a statement to the fans that you are here for on field success (and not profits) than be brave and sack Wenger. His head has become too big, he won’t listen to anyone. He runs Arsenal like his own team and insults the fans’ inteligence year after year with broken promises and there I say it – lies.
i also don’t agree with the economic bit, arsenal can save almost half a million pounds a week by getting rid of players we don’t need to make the salaries of 3 world class players. we also pay salaries to players that may never play for us. wellington, galindo, botelho is running down his contract and might walk for free and never kicked the ball for us. then campbell. we have more players on loan than any team in the world do we really need them? vela,denilson, bendtner. you don’t need gcse in math for this, we don’t pay big transfer fees but we pay big salaries to foreign kids to join us some left because for team chances like merida,nordtveit and barazite and some cannot play in this country.
Nice one mate this is the best article ive read on our clubs current state. Wenger must go for us to progress and start winning silverware again. In my opinion certainly 5 or 6 of the players need unloading and proper investment put into rebuilding a trophy-capable squad. Are the current board up to this…. ????
I agree with CB. I also remember the 70′s and 80′s. I remember that we were happy just to win the FA cup. I also remember that we had to wait 18 years to win the title again. Things improved with George Graham and continued with AW but I now feel that we are back in the 70′s again and we are just happy to in an FA cup again.
I don’t think that the fans are spoilt because the are more ambitious than the manager. We have given AW 7 years to prove himself and I am sorry to say that he has failed. I have only respect and admiration for the man but all good things come to an end!
Really- can any of you do better. Stop playing Fifa 12 and think! It is the board who are denying him the money to compete- listen to that fucking hill wood idiot. ‘no Champs League isnt an issue@ WHAT!!
Usmanov must be licking his lips- everybody hates the stingy board and a lot want wenger out. Dont be stupid- look at how good he was when he was given money to compete- look at the miracle he has performed to keep us top 4 with no sodding cash.
Wake up- another manager with NO CASH from the board will be even worse
Fuck off Kroenke and take Hill Wood with you- bring back Dein and let an owner who wants success take the reins.
Unless Wenger decides enough is enough he will not be fired,he could even be here after 2014.Remember Arsenal is no longer a football club but a business model.
You know it’s such a funny thing. We know he can still do it, it’s definitely still in him to win trophies again, however without signing the necessary quality to win it simply won’t happen. I believe it is his ego, he feels he can find rough diamonds and turn them into gems. NO! That simply is not how a top football club is run. Every great manager out there is surrounded by proven talent that they paid big money for, but Wenger thinks he is different and that my friends is his ego before trophies.
i agree with most things you have said. The only point i would not agree on is the stance on nasri. that was a great bit of business. £25 million for a player who drifts in and out in games. He can be wordly at times but not enough in my books. If we took the redknapp stance and said he “aint going nowheres” Nasri would of DEFINATELY left in this transfer window for less than £10 million. Wenger would NEVER EVER let him go on a free. The fact that david silva who still had a long contract at valencia COST LESS than a player who was on his last year says everything about how well we dealt with that c*nt.
Nasri – £25 mill
Silva – £24 mill
What i am angered about is not replacing Nasri with a player . With that money we could of bought hazard or mata. But we buy a player on the cheap who goes to the AFC two years. I have been wondering for a long time why wenger always (ALWAYS i said) lets our best players go each summer and replaces them from within or with a player nowhere near the quality or value of the player that was sold. I think he has a clause in his contract where he gets a percent of the profits if arsenal have a good financial year.
Within this year alone Arsenal have made about £90 million. Sales of Fabregas(£30m),Nasri(£25m),and Clichy(£8m) schzeny’s save against Udinese Which gave us £25 million. i have not included matchday revenue which is about £4million a game. He has no excuse to buy the much needed quality. Cahill or Mertesacker, Park or M. Suarez. I know who i would be choosing.
If we keep AW, there is a risk that we will lose our star players. RVP and others will leave at the chance to win something at another club. There will no longer be Champions league football at Arsenal because we will no longer have the quality players to finish in the top four.
I am not sure if AW is only to blame but changes need to be made in all departments. Sort out the board, players and coaching staff
The problem starts from the board and Stan Kreonke. He is in it for the profits. Look, do you honestly believe he cares about AFC? Not much more than any one owner of any Premier League Club. He cares about profits. Nuggets, Rams, Avalance, Rapids… add to that Arsenal … they are all profitable business models and Mr. Kreonke likes that. There is even a story today he is chasing LA Dodgers, a baseball team. Hell, sell Arsenal to Mr. Usmanov and buy your LA Dodgers. This is the reason why David Dean switched allegiances from Mr. Kreonke to Mr. Usmanov. He saw that Kreonke was in it for the profits and the Russian wanted to invest into the team. Remember – he even offered 100 million to write more shares and reduce debt & invest into the team. Current Board with Silent Stan refused this. They didn’t care. Kreonke owns the team. He sold Fabregas for 35 M and Nasri for 25 M, and brought in cheap replacements – Arteta 10.5 M and Gervinho 12 M.
I doubt Wenger is given money to spend. I blame Wenger for not being straight up to the fans and telling them that he doesn’t have the money – that he is not given permission to spend 25 M, 30 M to spend on a single player. I doubt we were ever in for the likes of Hazard & M’Villa for 25 M as reported in the closing days of summer transfer window. That was a tactic by the club to deceive their own fans into thinking the club really made “enquiries”… We need serious changes at the club.
We need changes in the ownership or approach. We perhaps need a manager that is going to be honest with his fans. On the further note, Mr Kreonke is doing everything possible to prevent Usmanov from reaching 30% ownership in the club. Currently, Usmanov has ~ 29.6 % and trying to buy every possible share he can to reach 30% mark ? Why 30 %? To see club accounts. Why is Kreonke so against the idea of Usmanov reaching that mark ? So that fans continue to leave in the dark. He is afraid that truth will get him the same treatement as Gillet and Hicks at Liverpool.
It seems to me that we either have the wrong players or the wrong tactics and both are a manager’s responsibility. As far as the players are concerned, there is talent there but they do not possess the grit that was there a few years back. Adams, Seaman, Parlour, Vierra, to name a few, led by example, but their grit has never been replaced and you need grit to excel in the Premier League. And those teams did not rely on one player to score goals as is the case now. There was a supporting cast of players such as Pires, Overmars and Ljungberg, all who could score score frequently and in big games.
Compare Wenger’s early days at the Club when he brought in some first rate players, who contributed immediately, with the past few years’ acquisitions. Players have either left for free or the money ralised has not been spent on top-line replacements. I suspect the board has used the cash to help pay off the stadium debt. And look at the price for Fabregas – Wenger said he could have got 10 million more on the open market if Fabregas had not insisted he would only go to Barca; great, then tell him he can’t go to Barca!
Whichever reason you choose, the responsibility comes back to the manager and for this he has to go. Who’s to replace him? Good question but there must be candidates for a team just outside the top four- look at what Red Harry has done with Spurs.
There are many things wrong at Arsenal, Wenger is just part of a large-scale problem at the club. Wenger is stubborn & makes some tactical errors but people forget he is one of the best managers in the world. What Arsenal need are some new owners and a new board, because these clowns are not doing their job. How does anyone let your team into as much disarray as we saw during the summer. Wenger needs a new boss to tell him what to do, he has too much power at the club. If the board stays and Wenger leaves, things will only get worse because not many people can get as much from such a small budget as Arsenal.
I can not be more agree with you, but the problem today is, when you talk about sacking Wenger everybody ask about who can replace him. Honestly is world runing out of manager? the matter is money ,if you pay good money then you can bring the special one him self, then you can see what he can does with our beloved Arsenal and get it back to on track again and we can raise our head again and be proud to be Arsenals fan. bring Morinio, and he will bring Arsenal back to us all.
i totally disagree. Football has ups and downs and he has maintained a stable club and consistently kept arsenal at champions league.How many clubs as big as they are or clubs that keep sacking thier coach has done this. Man city with big spending is playing at europa including Man U . How many coaches will have thier players leave and return to play .
In arsene we trustb we will win trophies how long does not matter we will win trophies.
i totally disagree. Football has ups and downs and he has maintained a stable club and consistently kept arsenal at champions league.How many clubs as big as they are or clubs that keep sacking thier coach has done this. Man city with big spending is playing at europa including Man U . How many coaches will have thier players leave and return to play .
In arsene we trust we will win trophies how long does not matter we will win trophies.
Learn how to write coherent, correct sentences before you yap on on Wenger’s faults. I think the biggest joke in this article (and there are many) is stating Graham’s achievements as superior to Wenger’s. Believe me, I have been a staunch critic of Wenger’s decisions over the last few years. But compare the club now, as to the position it was in when Graham left, and well there is no comparison. A bit more of a balanced argument would have been appreciated.
I dont deny you the right to have your opinion, but some of the content of this article is incorrect.
In the first place, the Graham back 5 was certainly brilliant, but the best in Europe? No way. Secondly, bad as our board are, they dont get paid divedends on their shares, so their pocketc are not being lined by our frugality in the transfer market. And also, Clichy was replaced with Santos – sadly about as good as Clichy defensively, but far superior in attack. Your take on following Spurs lead on the Nasri situation is redundant – we would have lost him for nothing, and you would be baying for blood over that too! Because Wenger took Monaco a few steps down the table 20 years ago, we should sack him? Idiotic as well. What manager hasnt had a failure in a job at some point?
Id advise you to read the Swiss Rambles post on our finances – its actually quite scary. We basically had nothing but player sales to live on since the stadium move. What other manager in the world could have achieved this?
Apparently, we couldnt play Walcott a few years back, as we didnt have the money to pay an appeareance fee that Southampton were due!
If you dont believe me, look at the accounts for yourself. Wonder why the board or Wenger didnt say how bad things were at the time? Its obvious – the media would have had a field day, and we would be here wondering why we didnt keep it quiet….
Arsene Wenger has made mistakes – some of the kids are on too much money, some of the deadwood are on too much too. His tactics are questionable. His disdain towards the media can be unsettling. Why not criticise him for the actual faults he has, instead of twisting facts to support an argument that is based on tabloid news?
Wenger spent plenty when he had it to spend. He is portrayed as an arrogant, stubborn, even insane man. If he was English, the media would be creaming in their thongs over him.
Wake up Arsenal fans – if you have a problem with how the club is being run, take it up with the board. And dont take my word for it. Look up the accounts for yourselves.
Hahaha you prefer graham because he created the best back 5 in europe.. Well he didn’t go unbeaten 49 matches in a row by playing beautiful football. You want wenger to go fine but stop saying this nonsense coz if you weren’t anti-wenger, you wouldn’t have said that. Everyone admired the football we played and your seriously saying you preferred george graham.. Hillarious
How can someone allegedly so intelligent and thoughtful not organise the art of defence, even simple set pieces, not be able to coach or motivate lumps like the lazy Russian on the wing, Theo one trick pony or Maruoane “Male Sauna” Chamakh? Like Clough Wenger has lost it-drunk on his own arrogance, ego and the self sustaining financial model. Time to sit on Uncle Stan’s knee one last time & step down gracefully. Arsenal FC not Arsene FC!!!
Its a pity arsenal fans get influenced by an ungrateful person like you.. You give them this crap and unfortunately some of them believe it. Things are usually not appreicated until they are gone, one day you will know how great wenger was and still is for arsenal
Bull !! Arsene Wenger must stay….which manager has kept his team in the top four for so many years with limited recources. Only Wenger, Ferguson, mourinho all spent many millions on players….this man had to build a team, ensure they were still competitive with the building of o the new stadium, cost of it. Yet with our youngsters we were stil title contenders, in the champions league every year. We are going thru a phase and let’s hope the board gives Wenger the necessary funds. He is Arsenal, he brought the entertaining football that won us those league and FA cup titles. Remember the boring 1-0 to the arsenal
From those George Graham, other managers reigns. Wenger transformed Arsenal fo the better but today the football world is dictated by wealth….Billionaires buying clubs, investing heavily on the best players, paying huge wages…..that is buying success…not earning it. We are the best run club, yes bad patch but. Will get out of it. We have over a week left, let see what happens. By the way, we are still in the top 5, even with the injury crisis……
It’s funny. Every season Arsenal seem to caollapse in the final third of the season. It has been like this since 2008 when the title was within reach only to be sabotaged by Taylor under orders from his boss to maim Eduardo.I believe had Eduardo not been so cruelly and deliberately injured the gunners could have gone to win the title.See the connection between the red faced and McLeish.
For some strange reason Wenger has been unable to get the gunners going from Feb to May.This isn’t good enough.The same defensive blunders and iinability to convert chances have been at the root of the problem.Surely Wenger could have done with a defensive coach.Tactically he has been found out and yet he doesn’t seem to want to resolve the problem.He is too conceited to think he knows all.
If this season Arsenal fail to clinch the 4th spot, he should go.He has been given many chances to implement the changes that could improve the gunners and has failed to do so.Failure should not be tolerated .
It’s funny how the Spurs & Man Utd & Chelsea fans come on here & say “you don’t want to lose Wenger”, “you don’t know how good you have it” etc.
The reason they say this is:
1. Because they don’t want Arsenal to improve & with Wenger still in charge Arsenal will slip even further, thus no longer a competitive threat to them.
2. They like laughing at us.
During the last 7 years, Wenger has bought badly more than he’s bought well, and we are now paying the price for this. £15 million for Arshavin & quite frankly the only decent bit of football he’s played was scoring 4 against Liverpool. Gibbs & Diaby who give us 10 games a season between them if we’re lucky. Walcott, who may be fast but has the crossing & finishing skills of my nan. And she’s been dead 10 years. Squillaci, for reasons best known to Wenger. To be honest I can’t even be bothered to reel off any more names because we all know them.
This season we will finish somewhere between 5th & 7th, as long as we improve. If we don’t then we’ll drop as low as 10th. I have absolutely no idea how far we’ll go in the CL or FA Cup, but I do know we won’t win either. RVP will go this summer as he’s been given the dreaded captain’s armband, which we all know is a sure sign that a player is on his way out.
Would a new manager improve things? I think so. The club has stagnated & a change is definitely as good as a rest.
Hope that you get your wish and become the boring Arsenal that Wenger found before turning you into A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AND EXCITING TEAM… as a United fan, I’m all for it! George Graham was not in Wenger’s class–end of story–enough said!!
I think a relevant point here is if Arsenal are not going to invest in players then ticket prices should be cheaper. I think Arsenal is one of the most expensive clubs in Europe for tickets. My view is that I have no problem with Wenger staying on provided he starts buying a few decent players. Every season a few of our main players are injury and back up is not good enough and I think that is what annoys fans. Lets be honest the Man United team the other day wasn’t a great team and they made a show of Arsenal. Yes Arsenal were the better team in the second half but they were very poor in the first half.
I think he should resign as football manager and be ambassador for the club. I don’t want him gone completely from the club cos I got great respect for he has done for the club. But in football term I think he lost the plot already. He never fix the injury problem that creeping the team, always protecting non-performing players.
Well I think I agree with what many of you guys have said while I disagree with some. Some facts are gradually unveiling but it would be so disastrous if the truth is that the board is actually the problem while framing AW for the responsibility of these problems. Looking at Arsene, one could easily deduce that he still has it in him so what exactly is the problem?….let’s not decive ourselves, these doesn’t get money to spend on players but its so sad that he allows himself to be used by telling us, fans, all sort of rubbish, Jose Mourinho is much younger than him in age and even in the job but would always take his stand and not allow these, I think its time wenger took a decision to either expose the truth about the matter or just LEAVE. And for Mr Kroenke….we are coming for you!
@nick, spot on. dont turn up and show some form of protest, in would if lived in england, and am glad we are finally prepared to part with wenger. at the mo, back to Africa cup as i cheer my country on, they gave me and other gunner fans an exciting consolation win after the Man u game, played some crisp barca-esque football against senegal and their big names demba Ba, musa sow and the lot, so go Zambia go!
you all just complain for nothing…agreed he has to go,but how do you get him to resign as fans or get the board to sack him?thats d point…..we need to find a way cos it is obvious the manager and d board dont care what we think as fans….
Arsenal? Yes! Seven years without trophy? Yes! not even carlin or fa cup? Yes! Ar u rily sure? Yes! Do they have a manager? Ofcoz! Who is he? Arsene Wenger! No wonder, he has a degree on economics, dnt u knw? That’t true, I 4got. Do u nw stil xpect a trophy? Ofcoz nt until afta we’ve gone 2relagation and come bak! Lik how many years r we lukin at? Mayb 15yrs or thereabt as long as wenger remains d manager
I agree with the vast majority of your points, except with perhaps Nasri, as the guy had a year to go on his contract, so he would have gone for free had we stuck to not letting him go. I believe Modric has more than one year left on his contract, so the club had more leverage.
The one question that always comes up when talk of replacing Wenger surfaces is if not Arsene, whom? I don’ have an answer for that.
Think you are painting a very rosy picture of the GG era, yes we had some great times but there was just as much pain. Luton at Wembley, Wrexham etc etc. Never mind the way it ended!!!
You may be right and it’s time for a change but to completly dismiss the amazing times we have enjoyed just because we haven’t won anything for a while just shows how shallow people are.
You should be comparing all our great managers to those up the road and then put everything into perspective. In my lifetime there have only been 2 more successful clubs in England and that is a pretty good result if you ask me.
Sack Wenger! He’s tactically inept, buys crap players! and can’t motivate the team properly!
Sell Rosicky, Walcott, Koscielny, all our keepers!
Support Usmanov’s takeover against Kroenke so we can be just like Chelski!
Our season is doomed!!!
its time for the french forien legion to leave over 60million of so called tallent on that pitch
tonight just give in none of them could lace vieras boots they were a disgrace
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why is it so hush hush to talk about sacking him? He is failing so sack him. It is time to stop making him bigger than the club because that is what he is now. It is a disgrace it has come to this.
100% agree, part from the bit about ecomonics. If he knew anything about economics he wouldn’t have put a lot of kids on £60k a week – kids that we now can’t sell. How on earth the board permitted this lunacy also tells me they’re completely incapable of doing their job.
I think Arsenal fans are spoilt and don’t realise it.
I remember most of the 70s and 80s.
And I remember a time when teams didn’t spend huge amounts to buy the title.
Even given that margins are tight and we would be far higher without the level of injuries we have.
Totally agree mate, I wish it was’nt the case, I wish he could be the man to turn our fortunes around. But sadly we all know deep down that he has taken his eye off of the ball and that he should step down in summer. I will always remember all of the good he has done at the club, but judging by his demenour during recent interviews I think even he knows he should go. I genuinly believe he loves our club like we do, which is why he will leave at the end of this season.
I am sorry to say but I really think that it is now the right time for Wenger to leave and give someone else the chance to make us great again. I don’t think that he can still do it!
Its time for wenger to leave the team because Arsenal fans are suffering from anonymous diseases.Arsenal is a big team in the world and no any individual can allowd to destroy our support.
One of the worst things about AFC is the way that the fans are treated like mushrooms (ie kept in the dark & fed a load of Sh1t !!!). I mean….Does any one outside of the Board know whether Wenger is being told what to do by the Board or whether it’s Wenger running the show according to his own philosophy? Does he have money to spend or are we struggling financially? Even ex players seem to have no idea. It’s this complete lack of transpancy that will ultimnately harm the club the most.
U gooners who r bitching about wenger do me a favour and don’t turn up – simples . Easiest way to show the board and leave the negativity at home. Sure I am unhappy how we are doing at the moment . But you tell me who can you get that would definitely do a better job? Hmmm can’t think of many myself except for 1 or 2 others top managers – they just won’t come or are ‘ungettable’.
He was a good manager but not any longer. we have given him many chances and he hasn’t changed or improved things. He must go and a new manager with experience and ambition should replace him for the start of the new season.
I agree.
Wenger has failed to produce the promised for 7 straight years.
His team has never been worse. He should have left couple of seasons ago on his terms, but he won’t do that, will he? He will wait to get sacked. Now, Mr. Kreonke, if you really would like to make a statement to the fans that you are here for on field success (and not profits) than be brave and sack Wenger. His head has become too big, he won’t listen to anyone. He runs Arsenal like his own team and insults the fans’ inteligence year after year with broken promises and there I say it – lies.
Thank you.
time for him to go,if only he would wake up and see what the fans see,we need players and not has beens,
i also don’t agree with the economic bit, arsenal can save almost half a million pounds a week by getting rid of players we don’t need to make the salaries of 3 world class players. we also pay salaries to players that may never play for us. wellington, galindo, botelho is running down his contract and might walk for free and never kicked the ball for us. then campbell. we have more players on loan than any team in the world do we really need them? vela,denilson, bendtner. you don’t need gcse in math for this, we don’t pay big transfer fees but we pay big salaries to foreign kids to join us some left because for team chances like merida,nordtveit and barazite and some cannot play in this country.
Nice one mate this is the best article ive read on our clubs current state. Wenger must go for us to progress and start winning silverware again. In my opinion certainly 5 or 6 of the players need unloading and proper investment put into rebuilding a trophy-capable squad. Are the current board up to this…. ????
I agreeing! i wann arsenalfc owner sack him now….. nt waiting…..
I agree with CB. I also remember the 70′s and 80′s. I remember that we were happy just to win the FA cup. I also remember that we had to wait 18 years to win the title again. Things improved with George Graham and continued with AW but I now feel that we are back in the 70′s again and we are just happy to in an FA cup again.
I don’t think that the fans are spoilt because the are more ambitious than the manager. We have given AW 7 years to prove himself and I am sorry to say that he has failed. I have only respect and admiration for the man but all good things come to an end!
Really- can any of you do better. Stop playing Fifa 12 and think! It is the board who are denying him the money to compete- listen to that fucking hill wood idiot. ‘no Champs League isnt an issue@ WHAT!!
Usmanov must be licking his lips- everybody hates the stingy board and a lot want wenger out. Dont be stupid- look at how good he was when he was given money to compete- look at the miracle he has performed to keep us top 4 with no sodding cash.
Wake up- another manager with NO CASH from the board will be even worse
Fuck off Kroenke and take Hill Wood with you- bring back Dein and let an owner who wants success take the reins.
i wish this can happen stupid coach ,sacking him sack him sack him sack him sack him
Unless Wenger decides enough is enough he will not be fired,he could even be here after 2014.Remember Arsenal is no longer a football club but a business model.
You know it’s such a funny thing. We know he can still do it, it’s definitely still in him to win trophies again, however without signing the necessary quality to win it simply won’t happen. I believe it is his ego, he feels he can find rough diamonds and turn them into gems. NO! That simply is not how a top football club is run. Every great manager out there is surrounded by proven talent that they paid big money for, but Wenger thinks he is different and that my friends is his ego before trophies.
i agree with most things you have said. The only point i would not agree on is the stance on nasri. that was a great bit of business. £25 million for a player who drifts in and out in games. He can be wordly at times but not enough in my books. If we took the redknapp stance and said he “aint going nowheres” Nasri would of DEFINATELY left in this transfer window for less than £10 million. Wenger would NEVER EVER let him go on a free. The fact that david silva who still had a long contract at valencia COST LESS than a player who was on his last year says everything about how well we dealt with that c*nt.
Nasri – £25 mill
Silva – £24 mill
What i am angered about is not replacing Nasri with a player . With that money we could of bought hazard or mata. But we buy a player on the cheap who goes to the AFC two years. I have been wondering for a long time why wenger always (ALWAYS i said) lets our best players go each summer and replaces them from within or with a player nowhere near the quality or value of the player that was sold. I think he has a clause in his contract where he gets a percent of the profits if arsenal have a good financial year.
Within this year alone Arsenal have made about £90 million. Sales of Fabregas(£30m),Nasri(£25m),and Clichy(£8m) schzeny’s save against Udinese Which gave us £25 million. i have not included matchday revenue which is about £4million a game. He has no excuse to buy the much needed quality. Cahill or Mertesacker, Park or M. Suarez. I know who i would be choosing.
If we keep AW, there is a risk that we will lose our star players. RVP and others will leave at the chance to win something at another club. There will no longer be Champions league football at Arsenal because we will no longer have the quality players to finish in the top four.
I am not sure if AW is only to blame but changes need to be made in all departments. Sort out the board, players and coaching staff
The problem starts from the board and Stan Kreonke. He is in it for the profits. Look, do you honestly believe he cares about AFC? Not much more than any one owner of any Premier League Club. He cares about profits. Nuggets, Rams, Avalance, Rapids… add to that Arsenal … they are all profitable business models and Mr. Kreonke likes that. There is even a story today he is chasing LA Dodgers, a baseball team. Hell, sell Arsenal to Mr. Usmanov and buy your LA Dodgers. This is the reason why David Dean switched allegiances from Mr. Kreonke to Mr. Usmanov. He saw that Kreonke was in it for the profits and the Russian wanted to invest into the team. Remember – he even offered 100 million to write more shares and reduce debt & invest into the team. Current Board with Silent Stan refused this. They didn’t care. Kreonke owns the team. He sold Fabregas for 35 M and Nasri for 25 M, and brought in cheap replacements – Arteta 10.5 M and Gervinho 12 M.
I doubt Wenger is given money to spend. I blame Wenger for not being straight up to the fans and telling them that he doesn’t have the money – that he is not given permission to spend 25 M, 30 M to spend on a single player. I doubt we were ever in for the likes of Hazard & M’Villa for 25 M as reported in the closing days of summer transfer window. That was a tactic by the club to deceive their own fans into thinking the club really made “enquiries”… We need serious changes at the club.
We need changes in the ownership or approach. We perhaps need a manager that is going to be honest with his fans. On the further note, Mr Kreonke is doing everything possible to prevent Usmanov from reaching 30% ownership in the club. Currently, Usmanov has ~ 29.6 % and trying to buy every possible share he can to reach 30% mark ? Why 30 %? To see club accounts. Why is Kreonke so against the idea of Usmanov reaching that mark ? So that fans continue to leave in the dark. He is afraid that truth will get him the same treatement as Gillet and Hicks at Liverpool.
It seems to me that we either have the wrong players or the wrong tactics and both are a manager’s responsibility. As far as the players are concerned, there is talent there but they do not possess the grit that was there a few years back. Adams, Seaman, Parlour, Vierra, to name a few, led by example, but their grit has never been replaced and you need grit to excel in the Premier League. And those teams did not rely on one player to score goals as is the case now. There was a supporting cast of players such as Pires, Overmars and Ljungberg, all who could score score frequently and in big games.
Compare Wenger’s early days at the Club when he brought in some first rate players, who contributed immediately, with the past few years’ acquisitions. Players have either left for free or the money ralised has not been spent on top-line replacements. I suspect the board has used the cash to help pay off the stadium debt. And look at the price for Fabregas – Wenger said he could have got 10 million more on the open market if Fabregas had not insisted he would only go to Barca; great, then tell him he can’t go to Barca!
Whichever reason you choose, the responsibility comes back to the manager and for this he has to go. Who’s to replace him? Good question but there must be candidates for a team just outside the top four- look at what Red Harry has done with Spurs.
Thank you,
There are many things wrong at Arsenal, Wenger is just part of a large-scale problem at the club. Wenger is stubborn & makes some tactical errors but people forget he is one of the best managers in the world. What Arsenal need are some new owners and a new board, because these clowns are not doing their job. How does anyone let your team into as much disarray as we saw during the summer. Wenger needs a new boss to tell him what to do, he has too much power at the club. If the board stays and Wenger leaves, things will only get worse because not many people can get as much from such a small budget as Arsenal.
I can not be more agree with you, but the problem today is, when you talk about sacking Wenger everybody ask about who can replace him. Honestly is world runing out of manager? the matter is money ,if you pay good money then you can bring the special one him self, then you can see what he can does with our beloved Arsenal and get it back to on track again and we can raise our head again and be proud to be Arsenals fan. bring Morinio, and he will bring Arsenal back to us all.
i totally disagree. Football has ups and downs and he has maintained a stable club and consistently kept arsenal at champions league.How many clubs as big as they are or clubs that keep sacking thier coach has done this. Man city with big spending is playing at europa including Man U . How many coaches will have thier players leave and return to play .
In arsene we trustb we will win trophies how long does not matter we will win trophies.
i totally disagree. Football has ups and downs and he has maintained a stable club and consistently kept arsenal at champions league.How many clubs as big as they are or clubs that keep sacking thier coach has done this. Man city with big spending is playing at europa including Man U . How many coaches will have thier players leave and return to play .
In arsene we trust we will win trophies how long does not matter we will win trophies.
Learn how to write coherent, correct sentences before you yap on on Wenger’s faults. I think the biggest joke in this article (and there are many) is stating Graham’s achievements as superior to Wenger’s. Believe me, I have been a staunch critic of Wenger’s decisions over the last few years. But compare the club now, as to the position it was in when Graham left, and well there is no comparison. A bit more of a balanced argument would have been appreciated.
I dont deny you the right to have your opinion, but some of the content of this article is incorrect.
In the first place, the Graham back 5 was certainly brilliant, but the best in Europe? No way. Secondly, bad as our board are, they dont get paid divedends on their shares, so their pocketc are not being lined by our frugality in the transfer market. And also, Clichy was replaced with Santos – sadly about as good as Clichy defensively, but far superior in attack. Your take on following Spurs lead on the Nasri situation is redundant – we would have lost him for nothing, and you would be baying for blood over that too! Because Wenger took Monaco a few steps down the table 20 years ago, we should sack him? Idiotic as well. What manager hasnt had a failure in a job at some point?
Id advise you to read the Swiss Rambles post on our finances – its actually quite scary. We basically had nothing but player sales to live on since the stadium move. What other manager in the world could have achieved this?
Apparently, we couldnt play Walcott a few years back, as we didnt have the money to pay an appeareance fee that Southampton were due!
If you dont believe me, look at the accounts for yourself. Wonder why the board or Wenger didnt say how bad things were at the time? Its obvious – the media would have had a field day, and we would be here wondering why we didnt keep it quiet….
Arsene Wenger has made mistakes – some of the kids are on too much money, some of the deadwood are on too much too. His tactics are questionable. His disdain towards the media can be unsettling. Why not criticise him for the actual faults he has, instead of twisting facts to support an argument that is based on tabloid news?
Wenger spent plenty when he had it to spend. He is portrayed as an arrogant, stubborn, even insane man. If he was English, the media would be creaming in their thongs over him.
Wake up Arsenal fans – if you have a problem with how the club is being run, take it up with the board. And dont take my word for it. Look up the accounts for yourselves.
Hahaha you prefer graham because he created the best back 5 in europe.. Well he didn’t go unbeaten 49 matches in a row by playing beautiful football. You want wenger to go fine but stop saying this nonsense coz if you weren’t anti-wenger, you wouldn’t have said that. Everyone admired the football we played and your seriously saying you preferred george graham.. Hillarious
How can someone allegedly so intelligent and thoughtful not organise the art of defence, even simple set pieces, not be able to coach or motivate lumps like the lazy Russian on the wing, Theo one trick pony or Maruoane “Male Sauna” Chamakh? Like Clough Wenger has lost it-drunk on his own arrogance, ego and the self sustaining financial model. Time to sit on Uncle Stan’s knee one last time & step down gracefully. Arsenal FC not Arsene FC!!!
Its a pity arsenal fans get influenced by an ungrateful person like you.. You give them this crap and unfortunately some of them believe it. Things are usually not appreicated until they are gone, one day you will know how great wenger was and still is for arsenal
Bull !! Arsene Wenger must stay….which manager has kept his team in the top four for so many years with limited recources. Only Wenger, Ferguson, mourinho all spent many millions on players….this man had to build a team, ensure they were still competitive with the building of o the new stadium, cost of it. Yet with our youngsters we were stil title contenders, in the champions league every year. We are going thru a phase and let’s hope the board gives Wenger the necessary funds. He is Arsenal, he brought the entertaining football that won us those league and FA cup titles. Remember the boring 1-0 to the arsenal
From those George Graham, other managers reigns. Wenger transformed Arsenal fo the better but today the football world is dictated by wealth….Billionaires buying clubs, investing heavily on the best players, paying huge wages…..that is buying success…not earning it. We are the best run club, yes bad patch but. Will get out of it. We have over a week left, let see what happens. By the way, we are still in the top 5, even with the injury crisis……
It’s funny. Every season Arsenal seem to caollapse in the final third of the season. It has been like this since 2008 when the title was within reach only to be sabotaged by Taylor under orders from his boss to maim Eduardo.I believe had Eduardo not been so cruelly and deliberately injured the gunners could have gone to win the title.See the connection between the red faced and McLeish.
For some strange reason Wenger has been unable to get the gunners going from Feb to May.This isn’t good enough.The same defensive blunders and iinability to convert chances have been at the root of the problem.Surely Wenger could have done with a defensive coach.Tactically he has been found out and yet he doesn’t seem to want to resolve the problem.He is too conceited to think he knows all.
If this season Arsenal fail to clinch the 4th spot, he should go.He has been given many chances to implement the changes that could improve the gunners and has failed to do so.Failure should not be tolerated .
It’s funny how the Spurs & Man Utd & Chelsea fans come on here & say “you don’t want to lose Wenger”, “you don’t know how good you have it” etc.
The reason they say this is:
1. Because they don’t want Arsenal to improve & with Wenger still in charge Arsenal will slip even further, thus no longer a competitive threat to them.
2. They like laughing at us.
During the last 7 years, Wenger has bought badly more than he’s bought well, and we are now paying the price for this. £15 million for Arshavin & quite frankly the only decent bit of football he’s played was scoring 4 against Liverpool. Gibbs & Diaby who give us 10 games a season between them if we’re lucky. Walcott, who may be fast but has the crossing & finishing skills of my nan. And she’s been dead 10 years. Squillaci, for reasons best known to Wenger. To be honest I can’t even be bothered to reel off any more names because we all know them.
This season we will finish somewhere between 5th & 7th, as long as we improve. If we don’t then we’ll drop as low as 10th. I have absolutely no idea how far we’ll go in the CL or FA Cup, but I do know we won’t win either. RVP will go this summer as he’s been given the dreaded captain’s armband, which we all know is a sure sign that a player is on his way out.
Would a new manager improve things? I think so. The club has stagnated & a change is definitely as good as a rest.
Jesus.
Call yourself Arsenal fans?
Are you sure you are not Spurs of Man U or Man City fans in a very loose disguise.
What a disgrace the vast majority of you are – and a joke too, albeit in very poor taste.
If you are so unhappy with the club why don’t you just go and pick another one?
Leave the club to the real fans and supporters who stick with the club through thick and thin.
Fair weather support is no support.
Arsenal play. I support. And so should you.
Simple. As.
Hope that you get your wish and become the boring Arsenal that Wenger found before turning you into A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AND EXCITING TEAM… as a United fan, I’m all for it! George Graham was not in Wenger’s class–end of story–enough said!!
I think a relevant point here is if Arsenal are not going to invest in players then ticket prices should be cheaper. I think Arsenal is one of the most expensive clubs in Europe for tickets. My view is that I have no problem with Wenger staying on provided he starts buying a few decent players. Every season a few of our main players are injury and back up is not good enough and I think that is what annoys fans. Lets be honest the Man United team the other day wasn’t a great team and they made a show of Arsenal. Yes Arsenal were the better team in the second half but they were very poor in the first half.
I think he should resign as football manager and be ambassador for the club. I don’t want him gone completely from the club cos I got great respect for he has done for the club. But in football term I think he lost the plot already. He never fix the injury problem that creeping the team, always protecting non-performing players.
wenger should sign or leave for Real.
Well I think I agree with what many of you guys have said while I disagree with some. Some facts are gradually unveiling but it would be so disastrous if the truth is that the board is actually the problem while framing AW for the responsibility of these problems. Looking at Arsene, one could easily deduce that he still has it in him so what exactly is the problem?….let’s not decive ourselves, these doesn’t get money to spend on players but its so sad that he allows himself to be used by telling us, fans, all sort of rubbish, Jose Mourinho is much younger than him in age and even in the job but would always take his stand and not allow these, I think its time wenger took a decision to either expose the truth about the matter or just LEAVE. And for Mr Kroenke….we are coming for you!
@nick, spot on. dont turn up and show some form of protest, in would if lived in england, and am glad we are finally prepared to part with wenger. at the mo, back to Africa cup as i cheer my country on, they gave me and other gunner fans an exciting consolation win after the Man u game, played some crisp barca-esque football against senegal and their big names demba Ba, musa sow and the lot, so go Zambia go!
you all just complain for nothing…agreed he has to go,but how do you get him to resign as fans or get the board to sack him?thats d point…..we need to find a way cos it is obvious the manager and d board dont care what we think as fans….
Arsenal? Yes! Seven years without trophy? Yes! not even carlin or fa cup? Yes! Ar u rily sure? Yes! Do they have a manager? Ofcoz! Who is he? Arsene Wenger! No wonder, he has a degree on economics, dnt u knw? That’t true, I 4got. Do u nw stil xpect a trophy? Ofcoz nt until afta we’ve gone 2relagation and come bak! Lik how many years r we lukin at? Mayb 15yrs or thereabt as long as wenger remains d manager
Two Main Problems.
1. Wenger is long past his sale by date.
2. Kronke is a serious danger to our club.
BOTH MUST GO.
Kronke needs to be put under pressure.
WE, the fans can do it, if done properly,
The ‘Customer’ is King.
There is a way.
email: doublegooner@hotmail.com
I agree with the vast majority of your points, except with perhaps Nasri, as the guy had a year to go on his contract, so he would have gone for free had we stuck to not letting him go. I believe Modric has more than one year left on his contract, so the club had more leverage.
The one question that always comes up when talk of replacing Wenger surfaces is if not Arsene, whom? I don’ have an answer for that.
Think you are painting a very rosy picture of the GG era, yes we had some great times but there was just as much pain. Luton at Wembley, Wrexham etc etc. Never mind the way it ended!!!
You may be right and it’s time for a change but to completly dismiss the amazing times we have enjoyed just because we haven’t won anything for a while just shows how shallow people are.
You should be comparing all our great managers to those up the road and then put everything into perspective. In my lifetime there have only been 2 more successful clubs in England and that is a pretty good result if you ask me.
Sack Wenger! He’s tactically inept, buys crap players! and can’t motivate the team properly!
Sell Rosicky, Walcott, Koscielny, all our keepers!
Support Usmanov’s takeover against Kroenke so we can be just like Chelski!
Our season is doomed!!!
Any of you feeling the least bit stupid yet?
its time for the french forien legion to leave over 60million of so called tallent on that pitch
tonight just give in none of them could lace vieras boots they were a disgrace
bring back mr arsenal david dein we would not be in this mess