It's totally centred around fear of changeQuote:
Originally Posted by Letters
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It's totally centred around fear of changeQuote:
Originally Posted by Letters
It really does sour his reputation. He doesn’t have to retire. He could easily get the football buzz that he craves somewhere else and maybe successfully mask his short comings as a manger. A few years at a Madrid or Barca and he must be able to get away pull in some sort of silverware. Or go to France, Italy or Germany and takeover one of the biggest clubs that has the most money and best players. Pull a Pep with Bayern! Or if the pressure of winning trophies is too much, take on an underdog team and bask in the glories failure heaven. Another project club that needs reshaping…he has options. But the longer he stays at Arsenal and fails he only exposes himself and opens himself up to more criticism.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
I think he genuinely loves Arsenal and wants to deliver one last big trophy, every season he becomes more like a desperate gambler staying for one more hand trying to recoup his losses.
It would be nice if we win the FA Cup and he then leaves. Maybe not quite the high he hoped but winning it 3 years out of 4 would be an achievement, he'd be the outright record holder as a manager and I think we would be as a club.
I don't think any of that will happen though.
That would be the ideal scenario. Anything can happen in the final but I doubt he'd leave even if he won.
The question is would the likes of Bayern, Real, Barca, PSG even look at Wenger i'd have my doubts and i think he knows that, plus he knows he'd be only a head coach in a set up that he wouldn't get to choose. I think he has total control over Arsenal and has had it for so long he's scared to give it up.
I think he'd get a job at a big club but maybe not at that sort of level and agree he wouldn't have the autonomy he has at Arsenal.
I still think the Wenger name still holds it value around the top clubs. But it doesn’t matter either way. If he wants complete control, there are other clubs he can go to in order to get that along with a lengthy contract and good salary. He doesn’t have to tarnish his reputation here with the fans in the process. If he’s not hungry for trophies and wants another project, find a Southampton type club elsewhere and he could focus on developing players and the structure of the club. That has to be better than out staying your welcome at Arsenal. Someone has to set him straight.
I don't think there is any club that is in the top flight of European football that would allow him to operate with the same autonomy that the club has allowed him. Southampton has a very structured system for instance, and the modern football set up largely makes the manager but a cog in the machine, yes the manager still decides who plays and who doesn't and to what formation and to what tactics but they don't control everything from a football aspect top to bottom.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Again, it doesn't have to be the top flight and I mean Southampton before the structure. Wenger can help a struggling club to get to that point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
No but do you really think a man of 67 would take on a job that's a long project, rather than one where he's totally in a comfort zone. Letters himself spoke about the lack of spark or challenge, but at that age you don't want to be too challenged.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
My Dad as I previously mentioned is Wengers age, my brother and I constantly talk to him about taking up a consultancy role where he can pick his own hours but I don't think he wants the hassle of having that in place but equally he's scared of retiring like Wenger is.
Now I don't think my Dad is being selfish, as I don't believe he would do anything that would put strain on him and his health (he's only just gone back to work after a three month recovery period after an op to remove cancer) and I think Wenger is being selfish as I think his decision is preventing the club from moving on.
And you may be right the board might not want to sack him out of a sense of loyalty and that might be the only explanation for their behaviour, but the point I'm making is you're right he's tarnishing his reputation and his legacy but ultimately I think his first and foremost issue is not being able to tear himself away from a job that takes up all his waking hours.
And I don't think he'd want to have to start again elsewhere in order to maintain that, I can understand that even if I know in this life we don't always have the luxury of getting what we want.
If Wenger is talking about staying on and feeling the same hunger to win, then yes, why not? There are plenty of managers around the same age as Wenger that have taken on new roles and still coaching. Allardyce, Redknapp is still around, no idea what Ranieri will do but he may continue on, Hodgson still wants to coach after the England debacle. I'm not going to presume too much about Wenger's psyche. I can only go on what he has said and he still talks as if he wants a challenge and before our first FA Cup win, even suggested he may have left if we lost the final. I don't think it's a case of coasting. He's just incapable and tarnishing his rep in the process.
I don't think he's likely to ever say he's not full of vigour and up for the challenge. I'm taking him at his own word when he said he's scared of retirement. And at a club he's shown loyalty to for over twenty years he feels he is owed it in return.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Does he believe he can turn it around and take us forward yes because he's arrogant like that but he knows his personal currency has been devalued for some time.
None of those guys have had the same autonomy as Wenger. The position Wenger holds is unprecedented in modern football. He needs to call it day but it's easy to see why he wants to stay, even if it is very selfish.
I'm not making that comparison. Wenger is in a league of his own in that respect. But as one of the eldest and most respected managers in football, he has options outside of Arsenal and I'm sure if the Board toughen up and give him the boot, he'll find a position that suits him. He's confident enough to flirt with the big clubs and make subtle threats when things get on top here at Arsenal. For example, he's always spoken highly of Madrid and I think he has a relationship with their President, who is also a Wenger fan boy.... trying to compare Wenger to the everyday guy on the verge of retirement is senseless. Wenger has way more options on his hands if he decides to leave Arsenal. If Zidane and Enrique can win Champs League medals, I wouldn't put it past Wenger being able to win one in Spain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
The fact that he says he's scared of retirement and has said he'll continue to manage suggests he's still up for the challenge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
It also means you can be scared of changeQuote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Will he try and find another club if his contract was not renewed? Yes but given the choice he will stay with us because that's where it's stable and secure for him.
It's not that he doesn't want to win things with us or doesn't believe he can, he just knows there is not the same pressure