Why Arsenal has broken us

[IBK]

Been a long time since I've started a thread. I hope this hasn't been posted elsewhere, but Gunnerblog's entry on 5 May is one of the best, lucid commentaries on where we are both as a club and as fans, that I had to re-post it here. Sums up 100% how I feel - and why it is so difficult to be moved to write about Arsenal these days. Here it is.


I used to write about Arsenal here all the time. I loved it. I did it for free and I did it for pleasure. If you read during those days, I remain incredibly grateful.You probably haven’t noticed, but over the past couple of years entries on this blog have tailed off to an eventual halt. While I’ve continued writing, podcasting and vlogging elsewhere, I’ve found it difficult to find the time and energy to update this site. This, after all, was always a labour of love—and the sad truth is that much of the love has gone.
In many ways, this blog is a shrine to Wenger’s Arsenal. It was his teams that made he fall so hard for the game that I dedicated a significant portion of my life to writing about it. I’m now lucky enough to do that professionally. I cover Arsenal for a variety of sites, and I recognise it’s an incredible privilege. After years of graft, my work was my hobby. But over the past couple of seasons, it has begun to feel very much like work again.
The reason I’ve returned here is because when you’re writing for other people, you usually have to have a measure of objectivity. You have to be professional. This is not a professional piece—it’s a deeply person one.
Here’s the thing: I need Arsenal to change. I need a new story to get my teeth into. Part of the reason I haven’t been writing here is because I know you’ve read it all before. It’s increasingly difficult to find new and entertaining ways to say “we looked quite good then we absolutely fucked it”.
Arsenal hark on about stability, but continuity can prove the enemy of optimism. Turbulence brings about the possibility of change, and Arsenal fans are surely ready to welcome that now. I know I am – I’m fully aware that it might get worse before it gets better. Bring it on. I feel like I’ve watched 1000 episodes of Friends back to back and now you’re gong to randomly change the channel. Yes, we might land on Made in Chelsea, but at least it’s different. And we might get Planet Earth. We don’t know. Just change the fucking channel. What is elite sport about if not taking risks?
I’m beating around the bush, because I’m not sure I’ve ever said it in such plain terms, but Arsene Wenger has to go. It’s horrible to say because I’m such a huge admirer of his. Trust me, when you’ve sat opposite him in a press conference, it’s difficult to square this brilliant, erudite man with some of the vitriol and abuse he receives from his harshest critics. He isn’t ‘comical Arsene’, he isn’t a joke — he’s an incredible manager and thinker who has clung on too long.
Make no mistake, we’re in a real mess now. When Wenger signed his new contract in 2014, many assumed it would be his last. However, it feels like almost no plans have been to put in place to deal with the eventual succession. The board are paralysed, and players unwilling to commit. As a club, we are sleepwalking towards a nightmare of a summer.
Well, I feel wide awake now. It’s sad but satisfying to have some clarity. Arsenal need a new man to break this cycle of perpetual disappointment. I’m invigorated by the prospect of something different.
So I’ve come out of retirement to say that I hope Arsene Wenger will soon enter his. Or go to another club—genuinely, it would make me really happy to see him succeed elsewhere. I would love to see him complete his CV and win the Champions League. I hoped for a long time he’d do that with Arsenal, but I now recognise that isn’t going to happen.
I still think he’s capable. There are clubs and leagues where Wenger could still be a success, but unfortunately Arsenal and 2017’s Premier League are no longer one.
It’s almost impossible to break down where it all went wrong, but the simplest answer is that it never really went wrong—it went stale. Top level sport is about pressure and accountability, and those things have been uniquely absent at Arsenal. The manager has never been under real threat, and that comfy atmosphere has seeped into the playing squad. There has been pressure from the fans, sure—but never in the history of the club have the fans held less sway. There are tactical issues of course, but the fundamental problem is a lack of ambition and aggression. The owner and the board play a huge part in that too, and I hope some of the anger at Arsene is redirected at the entirely deserving Kroenke & Co.
Earlier this week, Wenger spoke of himself as a ‘masochist’. He’s entitled to his kinks, but as an Arsenal fan I no longer want to subject myself to this. Any algedonic pleasure has long since worn off.
I do love Arsene, but I love Arsenal more. For that relationship to work out, I need something to give. Change the manager, and maybe we can have a fresh start. Start again. Renew our vows. Maybe I’ll even blog here more often.
I’d love Arsenal to be fun again. I’d settle for it being interesting. Give me something different, Arsenal. Give me a reason to believe.

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[Power n Glory]

It's a good piece. Caught it on Arseblog. Sums it all all up. If Wenger's not gone by the end of this season and that's me done with Arsenal. There is nothing left to say.

[Marc Overmars]

When you talk about exactly the same things every year then eventually people will lose interest and that's what we're seeing now. You have to be a real glutton for punishment if you haven't checked out yet.

I don't care where we finish, whether it's in the top 4 or not, above Spurs or not, it's all academic. This club needs a wake up call.

I'll still maintain an interest in the cup because as fans I don't think we should ever turn our noses up at a trophy, but even then you have to think what good will that do, as it might pacify enough fans and give Wenger a window of opportunity to sign his deal.

[Letters]

This is my favourite part:



I feel like I’ve watched 1000 episodes of Friends back to back and now you’re gong to randomly change the channel. Yes, we might land on Made in Chelsea, but at least it’s different. And we might get Planet Earth. We don’t know. Just change the fucking channel. What is elite sport about if not taking risks?

:lol:

Good article.

[Niall_Quinn]

Read it yesterday.

Gary Neville and his lot will tell us we're spoiled, precious, we never had it so good. Be careful what we wish for.

Easy for them to say because they haven't been suspended one inch from touching distance, frozen in time, finger tips reaching for over a decade. And we're supposed to celebrate never quite making it, it's supposed to be an achievement to fail with such consistency. Even so, the fans sat on their hands, the most docile bunch imaginable. The revolt is finally happening because now we're being pulled back to two inches, three, a foot, a yard. Tease us by dangling the prize but don't take the piss by withdrawing the carrot altogether. After all this time of being patient, trying to understand, taking the reasoning of the board and the manager at face value. Like idiots. And the man we trusted, Arsene Wenger, is not only letting this happen but he seemingly approves. There's the betrayal. There's the source of the vitriol. Not the results. With a willingness to learn and adapt, results can be fixed. But betrayal is permanent and the damage is done and can never be undone. So he has to go. That is settled.

But it's only football, they say. No it's not. It's another thing that has been taken away from us by the banksters and the city suits and their eager to earn henchmen. Something that was ours that we were invested in. Well we're still invested by habit but now we share nothing with the clubs, any small control input has been shut down, nobody is listening to us or can even hear a word we say as we watch the sport we grew up with being bagged up and pinched by a bunch of soulless bean counters who think the, "Hand of God", belongs to the Fed chairman and, "It's up for grabs now!", is the opening bell on the stock exchange. Vicious, nasty, unimaginative, banal, bland, mechanical, deeply unimpressive and uninspiring cunts, despite the price tag on their suits. Their reassuring, public relations smiles are a screaming invitation to punch them in the face, as far as I'm concerned. But from where do we get the opportunity to lay a glove on these bastards? It seems the only solution left is to give them exactly what they want. Concede, hand it all over without a fight. Don't give them the money they crave. Cut our noses in spite as they ignore us and persuade Asians the expensive shirts made by slave labour Asians are a crucial accessory for anyone who wants to be part of the mock fandom that has replaced the real thing.

The OP has identified the real issue. Yes, Wenger has to take the heat right now because he deserves it and because he's a major part of the problem. But it will be a real shame if we think we've achieved anything on the day he leaves. That's just the start of it. For me it's not a case of, "Wanting my Arsenal back." It's much bigger than that. I want my world back. I want to live a life that isn't exclusively defined in monetary terms. I want these horrible vampires that have quantified life and attached a price tag plus mark up to be routed from the face of the earth. The fight for Arsenal is a battle in a much bigger war. The removal of Wenger is an opening shot.

[GP]

When you talk about exactly the same things every year then eventually people will lose interest and that's what we're seeing now. You have to be a real glutton for punishment if you haven't checked out yet.

I don't care where we finish, whether it's in the top 4 or not, above Spurs or not, it's all academic. This club needs a wake up call.

I'll still maintain an interest in the cup because as fans I don't think we should ever turn our noses up at a trophy, but even then you have to think what good will that do, as it might pacify enough fans and give Wenger a window of opportunity to sign his deal.

The fact that you can go back to threads from 5 or 6 years ago and see the exact same thing (though maybe not with the same frequency) tells you all you need to know.
It's time for change. There's no reasonable argument against it left.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I want these horrible vampires that have quantified life and attached a price tag plus mark up to be routed from the face of the earth.

You mean human beings?

[selassie]

Been a long time since I've started a thread. I hope this hasn't been posted elsewhere, but Gunnerblog's entry on 5 May is one of the best, lucid commentaries on where we are both as a club and as fans, that I had to re-post it here. Sums up 100% how I feel - and why it is so difficult to be moved to write about Arsenal these days. Here it is.

Good article IBK, I've missed you posting on here mate!

[Globalgunner]

Why Arsenal has broken us?
Death by a thousand cuts, 10 years on the torture rack. That has certainly done it for me.

[selassie]

When you talk about exactly the same things every year then eventually people will lose interest and that's what we're seeing now. You have to be a real glutton for punishment if you haven't checked out yet.

I don't care where we finish, whether it's in the top 4 or not, above Spurs or not, it's all academic. This club needs a wake up call.

I'll still maintain an interest in the cup because as fans I don't think we should ever turn our noses up at a trophy, but even then you have to think what good will that do, as it might pacify enough fans and give Wenger a window of opportunity to sign his deal.

That's exactly how I feel MO and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I actually don't care about where we finish or who finishes above us, I mean how sad is that? That is me literally saying I don't really care about Arsenal....

But this is what things have come to, the emotion and fun has been taken away due to season upon season of the same thing...I don't get excited anymore about watching the team I have supported for nearly 40 years.

[Niall_Quinn]

You mean human beings?

No, this is where you are 100% wrong. Human beings may have faults and many of them, but there are degrees and extreme cases. Kroenke is a deviant. To suggest otherwise is to say that everyone would behave like him if given the privilege of owning a football club that means so much to so many people.

Would that be you? Would you be Kroenke if given the opportunity?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I can't say I dread losing games or finishing outside the top four anymore.

It means so very little, what I want is good football, a more equitable record against teams around us, big European nights at the Emirates in the quarter and semi finals and sustained title challenges.

I don't expect us to win things every season, money in football has made that impossible even with a better manager than Wenger. I expect us to either win or go down fighting.

[Niall_Quinn]

I can't say I dread losing games or finishing outside the top four anymore.

It means so very little, what I want is good football, a more equitable record against teams around us, big European nights at the Emirates in the quarter and semi finals and sustained title challenges.

I don't expect us to win things every season, money in football has made that impossible even with a better manager than Wenger. I expect us to either win or go down fighting.

That's the real kicker. The games are becoming unwatchable. Not just our games but the majority of them. The football is shite. Negative. Two teams with too much to lose refusing to play each other. It's horrible stuff. Remember those flying wingers? Push the ball to them and off they went.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

No, this is where you are 100% wrong. Human beings may have faults and many of them, but there are degrees and extreme cases. Kroenke is a deviant. To suggest otherwise is to say that everyone would behave like him if given the privilege of owning a football club that means so much to so many people.

Would that be you? Would you be Kroenke if given the opportunity?

Yes, fair play to anyone who is a philanthropist but they are the outliers. So yes I would be Kroenke. I wouldn't be Usmanov but Kroenke very easily.
And in honesty I think you're denying human nature to say otherwise.

[AFC Leveller]

This headline below proves this guy is simply deluded and still doesnt get it..

Arsene Wenger says 'two weeks out of 20 years' will not decide Arsenal future

[Niall_Quinn]

Yes, fair play to anyone who is a philanthropist but they are the outliers. So yes I would be Kroenke. I wouldn't be Usmanov but Kroenke very easily.
And in honesty I think you're denying human nature to say otherwise.

Hold on, why not Usmanov?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Hold on, why not Usmanov?

Because there is a difference between being an amoral realtor and a gangster and human rights abuser who has used Gazprom to put the financial squeeze of Russian satellite states. I don't know maybe you can find me evidence but has Kroenke ever used his ill gotten gains to pay to stop a rape trial proceeding.

[IBK]

That's exactly how I feel MO and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I actually don't care about where we finish or who finishes above us, I mean how sad is that? That is me literally saying I don't really care about Arsenal....

But this is what things have come to, the emotion and fun has been taken away due to season upon season of the same thing...I don't get excited anymore about watching the team I have supported for nearly 40 years.

An excellent summary of how most of us feel, mate.

I haven't posted recently because firstly there isn't anything new to say about where we are, and secondly, the stagnation and eternal groundhog day that we have seen for a long time at Arsenal - coupled with the lack of response and seeming indifference of almost all of our players - has meant the total erosion of my interest and passion in the club that I used to live and breathe.

Last year I started a thread http://www.goonersweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3750&highlight=arsenal+broken+club

This summarised where I saw Arsenal then - and what is happening now is the total vindication of what I wrote. The sheer inevitability of what is going on is nothing other than depressing. It remains to be seen whether this can be rekindled by a change of management - but the attitude of those controlling our club means that I'm not holding out much hope. Bad times.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I wrote this a year ago

Arsene Wenger AKA The never ending story


On the day I write this (if tapping at my screen on my iPhone can be called as such) the nation is celebrating the longevity of another long reigning figurehead.
However the figurehead to whom I refer is certainly not quite so widely celebrated.
Arsene Wenger is limping towards his 20th year in charge at Arsenal football club, or at least he would be if there was any sense that his job was under pressure and indeed there is no great overriding consensus on whether he should be under any.
One might argue that he is the victim of his own success, and frustration at his inability to challenge for a league title even after the club has passed through the period of financial uncertainty could be just boredom of perpetual stability.
It's true we are not suffering the reversal of fortunes being endured by Manchester United in the wake of Alex Ferguson's departure, let alone the living nightmare that Aston Villa fans are being subjected to.
It's also true that when Arsene Wenger does step down he will have left the club in a far greater position than how he found it, a club that has consistently reaped the financial benefits of qualifying for the top tier European completion every season. A club that has financed its own move into a modern 60,000 capacity stadium and a club that can only be surpassed in spending power by The European super clubs and those financed by a billionaire benefactor.
However that departure is quite probably at this moment in time something the majority of fans wish to expedite, we are currently third in the table quite some distance away from the two teams battling it out for the title.
But with the rather luck lustre form shown by the traditional competing clubs of Chelsea, Man United and Man City the two teams competing for the title are North London rivals Tottenham and a team considered eight months ago more likely to be battling against relegation than for the championship in Leicester City.
There is no doubt looking at it impartially that both Tottenham and Leicester deserve to be in their respective positions, they have both shown the most character, the most consistency and more often than not the best quality of football.
Arsenal fans feel betrayed that what was for a short time a three way battle, has seen Arsenal decline to challenge for the title until the bitter end and drop off into the more familiar area of battling to finish in third or fourth.
This is considered unacceptable by fans who have they believe shown great patience when the club has in the past sold off its best players and not given itself the tools to compete in order to allow the stadium to be paid for in a timely manner.
With a renegotiated sponsorship deal for the stadium naming rights as well as a lucrative deal for kit manufacture , the money is there to be spent on transfers and this was evidenced by an outlay of almost 100million by Arsene Wenger between July 2014 and January 2015.
However despite finishing some distance behind the eventual champions Chelsea, he decided not to make not one single outfield addition to the squad during the summer.
His solitary purchase being that of Petr Cech from Chelsea which taken on its own was greeted as an excellent piece of business.
In the fans view the failure to bring in at the very least a consistent goalscorer has brought about what is viewed as an all too predictable collapse after being top at the beginning of the calendar year.

This discontent is becoming ever more apparent, and has grown from rumblings of discontent on fan forums and social media over the last few years to banners and Anti Wenger chants in the crowd at the Emirates stadium.

However despite a mixture of apathy and apoplexy from the Arsenal supporters, the long serving manager seems stubbornly unmoved and reasserts that he is the best man for the job.

With absenteeism at tonight's game vs West Brom likely to be at all time high, the question has to be asked how will all this end?.

My own view is that Wenger did himself no favours by signing a contract extension in 2014. A contract signed in the aftermath of our FA cup win over Hull which was the first trophy won by the club in nine years (which was incidentally also the FA cup).

Had he chosen to end his tenure at the club on a high with one final piece of silverware, his send off would have been the mawkish but resplendent goodbye ceremony that would have been no less than he deserved.

However perhaps understandably now that he had the opportunity to work with a less restrictive budget he wanted to take a punt at the bigger trophies he must have felt that years of the clubs self imposed austerity had denied him.

It has been at best a mixed time for him since. There have been excellent one off results, from the wins against Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich (especially welcome as our performances and results against the big sides were too often predictably disappointing) to the FA cup final annihilation of Aston Villa to the cautious optimism at the beginning of this year that a first title for 12 years was within reach.

Wenger also does himself no favours with his prosaic way of answering questions in press conferences, where almost on autopilot he praises the team for its hunger, desire and spirit where it's abundantly clear that none of these qualities have been on display. Which makes it appear that he doesn't seem to grasp that there is something amiss with how he is setting his team out to play, and how his players don't seem to be functioning as individuals or a unit.

I say makes it appear because it's unlikely he is suffering impaired mental acuity and more likely taking his usual poker face mentality into press conferences.

However it can be infuriating when in the midst of a title collapse he extols the virtues of consistency in finishing third or fourth.
Frankly finishing third or fourth were useful bolt holes when playing with a team shorn of its brightest talents due to financial constraints.
You have to think that someone who is aiming for Gold does not boast about how many Bronzes they have.

Whether he is aware of what has gone wrong or not, as he admits himself the responsibility falls squarely on his shoulders.

He chose not to spend relying on players to stay fit when empirical evidence suggested that wouldn't be the case.
Throughout the course of the season he has often made baffling substitutions some of which have arguably gone on to lose us points.

And frankly whatever side he has put out week in week out has often lacked the drive and intensity seen in Leicester and Tottenham.

If this was a younger man you would think this would be a cause for reflection before going back to the drawing board and starting again.

For a man of 66 you have to question whether the willing is there to change his methods and begin afresh next season.
And for many fans staying away tonight is recognition that their team is being managed by a man treading water who is still there either because he doesn't know when to quit or out of some stubborn resolve to honour his contract.

There is no question of the board intervening on the fans behalf. Stan Kroenke holds Arsene Wenger in very high esteem and as he owns two thirds of the club his opinion trumps the thousands of discontented fans.

Which means of course that there is literally no chance Wenger isn't in charge at the beginning of next season.
The question is though if Wenger does not address the flaws in the squad or his coaching methods which many believe he won't, will fan boycotts become par for the course. Will people renew their season tickets in the same number in the interim between the end of this season and the start of next.
Will the majority shareholder be hit where it hurts him the most in his wallet, either by people not buying tickets or season ticket holders not turning up for several games when they do.
An empty stadium for several matches would surely have a detrimental effect on the clubs share value, which could force Kroenke to intervene.

The likelihood when all said and done is that Wenger will still be master of his own destiny, and if the relationship between himself and the fans which despite rocky patches has been generally fantastic continues to sour might he decide that his current contract will be his last.

My personal feeling is that his exit should not be up to him to determine. Even those who declare themselves President for life in impoverished states with abundant natural resources are subject to coups.

Wenger has achieved immense things with Arsenal, in his time he has proven to be a visionary who has provided so many Arsenal fans with so many treasured memories that his legacy is almost unassailable. He has achieved immortality within Arsenal football club and hopefully he will be spoken about long after he and we have ceased to be.

And Yet no one in my mind should go on forever, and no one has the right to believe that only they can determine the manner and timing of their departure.

This was exactly the kind of hubris that saw Margaret Thatcher removed from office by her own colleagues.

If Wengers 1990 moment is not here already, it surely can't be far away and I hope for his own sake that he has the good sense to see the writing on the wall.

[IBK]

I wrote this a year ago

Arsene Wenger AKA The never ending story


On the day I write this (if tapping at my screen on my iPhone can be called as such) the nation is celebrating the longevity of another long reigning figurehead.
However the figurehead to whom I refer is certainly not quite so widely celebrated.
Arsene Wenger is limping towards his 20th year in charge at Arsenal football club, or at least he would be if there was any sense that his job was under pressure and indeed there is no great overriding consensus on whether he should be under any.
One might argue that he is the victim of his own success, and frustration at his inability to challenge for a league title even after the club has passed through the period of financial uncertainty could be just boredom of perpetual stability.
It's true we are not suffering the reversal of fortunes being endured by Manchester United in the wake of Alex Ferguson's departure, let alone the living nightmare that Aston Villa fans are being subjected to.
It's also true that when Arsene Wenger does step down he will have left the club in a far greater position than how he found it, a club that has consistently reaped the financial benefits of qualifying for the top tier European completion every season. A club that has financed its own move into a modern 60,000 capacity stadium and a club that can only be surpassed in spending power by The European super clubs and those financed by a billionaire benefactor.
However that departure is quite probably at this moment in time something the majority of fans wish to expedite, we are currently third in the table quite some distance away from the two teams battling it out for the title.
But with the rather luck lustre form shown by the traditional competing clubs of Chelsea, Man United and Man City the two teams competing for the title are North London rivals Tottenham and a team considered eight months ago more likely to be battling against relegation than for the championship in Leicester City.
There is no doubt looking at it impartially that both Tottenham and Leicester deserve to be in their respective positions, they have both shown the most character, the most consistency and more often than not the best quality of football.
Arsenal fans feel betrayed that what was for a short time a three way battle, has seen Arsenal decline to challenge for the title until the bitter end and drop off into the more familiar area of battling to finish in third or fourth.
This is considered unacceptable by fans who have they believe shown great patience when the club has in the past sold off its best players and not given itself the tools to compete in order to allow the stadium to be paid for in a timely manner.
With a renegotiated sponsorship deal for the stadium naming rights as well as a lucrative deal for kit manufacture , the money is there to be spent on transfers and this was evidenced by an outlay of almost 100million by Arsene Wenger between July 2014 and January 2015.
However despite finishing some distance behind the eventual champions Chelsea, he decided not to make not one single outfield addition to the squad during the summer.
His solitary purchase being that of Petr Cech from Chelsea which taken on its own was greeted as an excellent piece of business.
In the fans view the failure to bring in at the very least a consistent goalscorer has brought about what is viewed as an all too predictable collapse after being top at the beginning of the calendar year.

This discontent is becoming ever more apparent, and has grown from rumblings of discontent on fan forums and social media over the last few years to banners and Anti Wenger chants in the crowd at the Emirates stadium.

However despite a mixture of apathy and apoplexy from the Arsenal supporters, the long serving manager seems stubbornly unmoved and reasserts that he is the best man for the job.

With absenteeism at tonight's game vs West Brom likely to be at all time high, the question has to be asked how will all this end?.

My own view is that Wenger did himself no favours by signing a contract extension in 2014. A contract signed in the aftermath of our FA cup win over Hull which was the first trophy won by the club in nine years (which was incidentally also the FA cup).

Had he chosen to end his tenure at the club on a high with one final piece of silverware, his send off would have been the mawkish but resplendent goodbye ceremony that would have been no less than he deserved.

However perhaps understandably now that he had the opportunity to work with a less restrictive budget he wanted to take a punt at the bigger trophies he must have felt that years of the clubs self imposed austerity had denied him.

It has been at best a mixed time for him since. There have been excellent one off results, from the wins against Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich (especially welcome as our performances and results against the big sides were too often predictably disappointing) to the FA cup final annihilation of Aston Villa to the cautious optimism at the beginning of this year that a first title for 12 years was within reach.

Wenger also does himself no favours with his prosaic way of answering questions in press conferences, where almost on autopilot he praises the team for its hunger, desire and spirit where it's abundantly clear that none of these qualities have been on display. Which makes it appear that he doesn't seem to grasp that there is something amiss with how he is setting his team out to play, and how his players don't seem to be functioning as individuals or a unit.

I say makes it appear because it's unlikely he is suffering impaired mental acuity and more likely taking his usual poker face mentality into press conferences.

However it can be infuriating when in the midst of a title collapse he extols the virtues of consistency in finishing third or fourth.
Frankly finishing third or fourth were useful bolt holes when playing with a team shorn of its brightest talents due to financial constraints.
You have to think that someone who is aiming for Gold does not boast about how many Bronzes they have.

Whether he is aware of what has gone wrong or not, as he admits himself the responsibility falls squarely on his shoulders.

He chose not to spend relying on players to stay fit when empirical evidence suggested that wouldn't be the case.
Throughout the course of the season he has often made baffling substitutions some of which have arguably gone on to lose us points.

And frankly whatever side he has put out week in week out has often lacked the drive and intensity seen in Leicester and Tottenham.

If this was a younger man you would think this would be a cause for reflection before going back to the drawing board and starting again.

For a man of 66 you have to question whether the willing is there to change his methods and begin afresh next season.
And for many fans staying away tonight is recognition that their team is being managed by a man treading water who is still there either because he doesn't know when to quit or out of some stubborn resolve to honour his contract.

There is no question of the board intervening on the fans behalf. Stan Kroenke holds Arsene Wenger in very high esteem and as he owns two thirds of the club his opinion trumps the thousands of discontented fans.

Which means of course that there is literally no chance Wenger isn't in charge at the beginning of next season.
The question is though if Wenger does not address the flaws in the squad or his coaching methods which many believe he won't, will fan boycotts become par for the course. Will people renew their season tickets in the same number in the interim between the end of this season and the start of next.
Will the majority shareholder be hit where it hurts him the most in his wallet, either by people not buying tickets or season ticket holders not turning up for several games when they do.
An empty stadium for several matches would surely have a detrimental effect on the clubs share value, which could force Kroenke to intervene.

The likelihood when all said and done is that Wenger will still be master of his own destiny, and if the relationship between himself and the fans which despite rocky patches has been generally fantastic continues to sour might he decide that his current contract will be his last.

My personal feeling is that his exit should not be up to him to determine. Even those who declare themselves President for life in impoverished states with abundant natural resources are subject to coups.

Wenger has achieved immense things with Arsenal, in his time he has proven to be a visionary who has provided so many Arsenal fans with so many treasured memories that his legacy is almost unassailable. He has achieved immortality within Arsenal football club and hopefully he will be spoken about long after he and we have ceased to be.

And Yet no one in my mind should go on forever, and no one has the right to believe that only they can determine the manner and timing of their departure.

This was exactly the kind of hubris that saw Margaret Thatcher removed from office by her own colleagues.

If Wengers 1990 moment is not here already, it surely can't be far away and I hope for his own sake that he has the good sense to see the writing on the wall.

Agree with most of that. And like almost all of us, your piece last year eloquently encapsulates a situation that has been coming at us like a slow motion car crash for as long as we can remember. Where I would, on reflection disagree however is the feeling that Wenger will have left the club in a better place when he leaves. I think that moment came and went 2 or 3 years ago. Wenger's lack of personal perspective - and the utter failure of the owner and board to hold him to account and provide this - has now eroded our reputation to the extent that I cannot see the very best players - or even the most ambitious and established managers - considering joining us even if he does leave. The manager continues to believe that top 4 consistency equates to success. The rest of the football world sees it as under-achievement and failure. This malaise will take years to reverse...particularly when there is no commitment from those at the top of our club to take the measures necessary to reverse it. Because of his unique position of power at AFC, Wenger is more responsible than any other manager. He is responsible for taking the decision to leave because noone else will. And he has failed in this responsibility.

[Ernesto]

When you talk about exactly the same things every year then eventually people will lose interest and that's what we're seeing now. You have to be a real glutton for punishment if you haven't checked out yet.

I don't care where we finish, whether it's in the top 4 or not, above Spurs or not, it's all academic. This club needs a wake up call.

I'll still maintain an interest in the cup because as fans I don't think we should ever turn our noses up at a trophy, but even then you have to think what good will that do, as it might pacify enough fans and give Wenger a window of opportunity to sign his deal.

I genuinely hope that fans that go to the games don't feel the same way. I'd hope they want to support the team and want them to finish as high up in the league as possible (heck, I'd hope they're eternal optimists and hope that we can still win the league, cup and champions league treble at this stage of the season)

The bottom line is the team needs support. That's what we as fans signed up for. We're disillusioned, we're hurt, we pretty much unanimously want Wenger out, but to not care if we finish below Spurs or not get Champions League football next season doesn't sit comfortably with me.

[Marc Overmars]

The team will always have my support and of course I want us to finish as high as possible. I don't actively want us to lose, that would be silly.

I'd be lying though if I said I'm bothered anymore about the top 4. If we miss out then so be it, we've got bigger things to concern ourselves with as a club.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I feel virtually the same way....