Quote Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory View Post
This is getting silly and we have to use some common sense here. This is getting bogged down in use of words and semantics and distracts from the overall point. As seen with Chelsea, they have sacked their boss for a brief period outside of the top four and a run of bad results. When I say top four, or a team on our level, I mean teams with the ability to compete for the league, domestic trophies and European in one season. Of course I'm not comparing us to Stoke or Sunderland.

But even those clubs have strict standards in terms of what they feel a club of their size should achieve each season. We've seen managers that have brought teams up from the Championship to the Prem and sacked the next season if it looks like they're about to go back down to the Championship. Wasn't Rafa sacked for dropping outside of the Top 4? Wasn't Jol sacked because Spurs couldn't get into the Top 4?

The Board have shown a lot of patience with Wenger and I understand the criticism from fans. It shows a lack of ambition, but I can also understand why they're looking for stability. But Wenger really should have won more given that he's been here for so long and able to compete for 4 different trophies each season. The league can be forgiven, but he should have won more cups over the last few years. Two league cup finals, one champions league final and a bunch of semi finals. He's too bloody humble.
The problem is, he is meeting the standards the Board have set. It is crystal clear they are happy with him. In fairness to them and Wenger, they have had to set and meet criteria that has been unique to Arsenal in that a team good enough to reach the ECL in the run up and aftermath of the stadium project was required.

The problem as I see it, is that neither the Board nor Wenger have moved on from that mindset. Fans like myself that tolerated that strategy have now moved on and want a team built that maximises the resources the Club has at it's disposal. That this is not happening and unlikely to happen with Wenger in charge is why I want a change of Manager. But until the Board move on in the criteria they set, there will be no change and I fear the only way we will see a material change is when we finish outside the top 4. And by in large, failure to finish in the top 4 has been the main impetus fir managerial change at other clubs with a realistic aspiration of ECL qualification.