Arsène Wenger to Step Down at End of the Season

[Guest Cannabis]

In light of a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace which now gives Arsenal five away defeats in a row Arsene Wenger's tenure at the his club is under more scrutiny than ever before.

With a confirmed two year deal on the table will the Frenchman sign up or walk away?

Note: This is what you think will happen, not what you personally want.

[SirBalon 2,607]

I think he'll go...  His job is unattainable, but for me that is unfortunately not enough.  The board should go too but that one is obviously not going to occur.  It's their fault Wenger has been at the club for 10 years scratching his bum and watching his bank account grow.

[True Blue 853]

Well he will probably miss out on a Champions League spot and that will have a financial impact on the club. I think he will part after the season ends, not a on a high though. I expected them to raise their form and take something out of the Spurs game, i can see a mauling at White Hart Lane in line now.

[Stan 11,514]

I think he'll go. Surely position is untenable now? Ridiculous state of affairs the club has got itself in to now. 

Wenger's not the only one to blame but he is a big part of it. 

[The Palace Fan 2,018]

He will stay. It's borderline hilarious he's waited almost a month now for a good result to announce it.

[Eco 2,121]

I also think he'll go. He's been a staple there for some time, but as of recently they haven't won jack. It's probably best for both parties to part ways.

[SkyBruce Championship 3,018]

He's been trying to go for years but hasn't been able to get his coat done up

[SirBalon 2,607]

22 minutes ago, Aaroncpfc said:

He will stay. It's borderline hilarious he's waited almost a month now for a good result to announce it.

If that's the case that he'll stay, then he'll probably announce it if we qualify for the Europa League.  No longer will it be the respectable Arsenal managerial career of getting Arsenal to participate (because participate is all it's always been) in the Champions League...  Now it will be painted as "qualified for Europe for over two decades".

[Asura 306]

How embarrassing it should be for him to get beaten 3-0 by one of the "smaller" clubs in london 2 weeks after claiming there is only one club in london. If he has any shame, he should apologise to the fans and just quit right away.

I think he will go, its becoming too much for the old man

[SkyBruce Championship 3,018]

 

 

[IgnisExcubitor 671]

I desperately want him to stay just to witness the fireworks from Arsenal fans. 

I also believe that he will stay. 

[Toony 95]

I think he'll go, over the years he's been an outstanding manager for Arsenal but things have gone stale now and his position looks untenable.

It's a shame because I quite like him.

[True Blue 853]

He will be pushed out by the fans and the media pressure. He will also probably lose his ticket to an contract extension and that is a top four finish. Shame really as Arsenal TV won't as fun as it was before.

[Panna King 910]

Reports in Holland, Arsenal have contacted Ajax for the services of Marc Overmars to become the first technical director at the club.  Wenger is strongly against it, Gazidis apparently has met a number of fans behind Wenger's back as well as taking advice from other people in football.  Wenger has been told he has to clear out his back room staff so a new team will come in plus the whole structure at the club will be changed plus an appointment of a director of football to come in.    I do believe Gazidis is as accountable as Wenger for the trouble at the club regarding the football side because it has been neglected due to the money coming into the club and Wenger is not capable on his own to do the football side as his ideas are so out dated.  You cannot really blame Kroenke to much as he has made money available to the club but the wrong players have been brought in for lots of money plus the contract side is a joke on how it is run which is down to Gazidis/Wenger. 

[Vegan Kel 171]

He'll go out of Arsenal in a coffin and, though he should have probably been sacked a long, long time ago as football is a results business and his results haven't been good enough for where Arsenal should be aspiring to be, I can't help admiring the loyalty his board shows in him, even if it probably isn't justified. It's a rare thing today, especially in football, and it should be commended (on some level at least).

[Dan 1,418]

I think he'll stay. He'll pull a couple of good results out of the bag and will therefore delude himself.

[SirBalon 2,607]

3 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

[SkyBruce Championship 3,018]

Funnily enough that drawing looks like Wenger 

[DeadLinesman 3,665]

And people say Mourinho isn't a tactical genius 

[Cicero 3,965]

What a tease

[Cicero 3,965]

Talks of Jardim being the #1 replacement now 

[Panna King 910]

Wenger is going no where, he will stay and nothing will change. 

[nfb_10 42]

I think if Arsenal win the FA Cup the board may decide to give him one more season while they sort out potential replacements and the like. I know a lot of Arsenal and pro-Wenger fans who want this to be the outcome, as they want to make sure it's as smooth a transition as possible after seeing what happened when Sir Alex left United. 

But personally Arsene Wenger really doesn't have anything more he can do for Arsenal. Regardless of the result of the FA Cup final I think this really should be the end of that era. And they'll have the likes of Jardim, Allegri and Tuchel to look at as some high class potential replacements, all three of whom would do a fantastic job for them I think.

 

[SirBalon 2,607]

5 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Wenger talks to take place after FA Cup Final:

Arsene Wenger says an announcement on his future is likely to be made following an Arsenal board meeting to be held after the FA Cup final.

The Gunners boss has confirmed his position will be discussed with the club's hierarchy after the clash with Chelsea at Wembley on May 27, along with summer transfer business and ongoing contract talks with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

But Wenger refused to discuss the continued uncertainty over his job ahead of their final Premier League game of the season against Everton on Sunday, with his contract set to expire this summer.

The Frenchman said: "I cannot tell you (about my future). The most important thing is to win on Sunday and what happens to me after can wait. I'm here to serve the club.

A man that earns the stupid amount of money he does shouldn't use the word or term "serve".  Everything else is by the by because Arsenal being a PLC means us fans mean nothing where our opinions are concerned.

[The Palace Fan 2,018]

Whilst they've got there act together now I can't help but think all this uncertainty and his comments after the West Brom did hurt Arsenal and there mentally pathetic squad enough to cost them the points for fourth place.

[Hugh Jass 59]

I can understand why disgruntled Arsenal fans want Wenger out. They have on average the second most expensive ticket prices in Europe I believe after PSG, so they are entitled to see their team showing more ambition, challenging for the title more often, and not just content with qualifying for the Champions League.

As many people have said when Wenger came to the Premier League he was revolutionary in terms of players' diets, training methods, sports science and oversees scouting. However he has gone from behind ahead of the game and a trend setter to a dinosaur who has struggled to evolve. It hasn't helped that he has been allowed to gain too much power and control at the club, and hasn't been willing to delegate responsibilities effectively. 

I'm sure that he will sign his 2 year contract extension and stay, but if I was an Arsenal fan I would want the club to take a punt and replace him with a younger, more innovative manager. 

You cannot compare his situation to Ferguson's at Man Utd at all, as Ferguson of course squeezed every last drop of talent out of his squad before he left, and IMO overachieved in his last 3 seasons there. Arsenal on the other hand have too content to underachieve. 

 

 

[FootballBo 0]

Wenger would stay at Arsenal even if they were relegated to the Ryman Leagues...Arsene believes he has a divine right to manage Arsenal because of his name. 

[Danny 1,308]

On 2017-5-21 at 7:22 PM, Hugh Jass said:

I can understand why disgruntled Arsenal fans want Wenger out. They have on average the second most expensive ticket prices in Europe I believe after PSG, so they are entitled to see their team showing more ambition, challenging for the title more often, and not just content with qualifying for the Champions League.

As many people have said when Wenger came to the Premier League he was revolutionary in terms of players' diets, training methods, sports science and oversees scouting. However he has gone from behind ahead of the game and a trend setter to a dinosaur who has struggled to evolve. It hasn't helped that he has been allowed to gain too much power and control at the club, and hasn't been willing to delegate responsibilities effectively. 

I'm sure that he will sign his 2 year contract extension and stay, but if I was an Arsenal fan I would want the club to take a punt and replace him with a younger, more innovative manager. 

You cannot compare his situation to Ferguson's at Man Utd at all, as Ferguson of course squeezed every last drop of talent out of his squad before he left, and IMO overachieved in his last 3 seasons there. Arsenal on the other hand have too content to underachieve. 

 

 

Ferguson also had more money to spend.

Arsenal can't keep up with the transfer fees being paid by Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. Other than Leicester's one season wonder, the only side to challenge on a small budget have been Spurs and that's only happened the past two seasons.

People talk about how Arsenal need the Henry's and Viera's of today but I doubt a new manager coming in would deliver continued success seeing as the club don't have the finances to bring those players in.

[Dr. Gonzo 4,776]

It's tough to say. If you look at Kroenke's history of NFL ownership, he's pretty content with mediocrity as long as the fans keep showing up and giving him money. I know he's not the only shareholder at Arsenal, but he's the majority shareholder, and with a controlling interest I can't imagine Wenger gets sacked without his say-so.

From Arsenal's perspective, I wouldn't say they've been mediocre. Arsenal have been stable, but it also seems they've been content with 4th place to the point where they no longer think the club is being ambitious or even making an attempt at being the club they used to be. One could argue that by failing to make the top 4 and qualify for the CL, that's about as mediocre as it gets for Arsenal.

It's a bit different when you compare the NFL as well, as the Rams have been free from fears re: relegation and the St. Louis fans were pretty loyal - but now the Rams are in LA (much larger market, but with fans that are less likely to show up if their side is shite). The Rams endured Steve Fisher as their coach, and he's a man famous for basically winning as many games as he lost. It wasn't the move to LA that Fisher was under immediate pressure for mediocrity and they axed him.

There is immediate pressure on Arsenal and on Wenger right now. This is their worst domestic season in ages. I'm not sure how much of that is down to Wenger or how much of that is down to the fact that Wenger has to work with an unambitious cunt like Kroenke.

On the flip side, however, there's the argument Danny just made. Arsenal have to compete with Citeh, Man Utd, and Chelsea's spending. Plus it's not like Spurs or ourselves are not going to attempt to compete to spend to improve our squads. At the same time, the influx of money into the league means that mid-table and below sides have more quality generally and the league in itself is a lot less predictable. Chances of another side pulling a Leicester, which was remarkable, but I don't think going to be something we see regularly happen in our league are rare. In that time period, Arsenal have enjoyed relative stability while they may have taken a hit to their ambition. But compare Arsenal to what Liverpool has dealt with from the Hodgson-era on and it's a pretty bumpy ride where we haven't had much stability or certainty.... we almost let a terrible January let Arsenal back into the CL qualification picture until the final day of the season, when before January I think it looked fucking nailed on we'd be up there. Spurs have struggled for stability for as long as I can remember until they brought in Poch. And Manchester United can't really be considered too stable of a club in their post-Ferguson days either.

So the question is, does sacking Wenger present a new opportunity for Arsenal to build... or does it throw them into the mid-table wasteland as they search for stability when many of the people they're competing with around the table are either looking stable and to build on this season?

If they win the FA cup though, fuck sacking him. The man is an Arsenal legend and has done enough at the club to where he can be afforded a "bad" season (and there's a case to be made that: 1.) it wasn't a bad season, or 2.) that this is more than his first bad season. It's not like he's stayed well past his sell-by date like Brian Clough to the point where he's just a washed up & drunk moron literally ruining the club he helped build...

[Gunnersauraus 724]

57 minutes ago, Danny said:

Ferguson also had more money to spend.

Arsenal can't keep up with the transfer fees being paid by Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. Other than Leicester's one season wonder, the only side to challenge on a small budget have been Spurs and that's only happened the past two seasons.

People talk about how Arsenal need the Henry's and Viera's of today but I doubt a new manager coming in would deliver continued success seeing as the club don't have the finances to bring those players in.

I've spoken to a few people who understand finances a lot better than I do. The general jist appears to be that Arsenal probably have more money to spend than Wenger spends but not as much as some fans think. Kronke doesn't seem to want to invest much of his money so I think it will be hard for any manager to turn us into a real powerhouse. I think arsenal need a change though.