Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
First up, the jury isn't out on Kroenke and whether his end game is to the maximum benefit of the club. The release of proper funds for a major signing was a good indicator though. I stand fully behind what I said about those who put little in and took the maximum at a time when finances were crucial. Unbelievably some are accusing Wenger of this and never a mention of the ones who pocketed ten thousand times their meagre investment. It was never about instant gratification, it was about the possibility of having the future taken away (remember the boardroom stabbings?) and the patience you mention being exchanged for a confidence trick rather than the real prize - which is the financial muscle to compete at the top of the game. The competing can't come before that, at least not on a consistent basis. One step follows the next and if the first indications are a prelude to delivering the remainder of what was promised when this project began then it's pure insanity to kick it all in at the death. For sure, it's still a risk but we're watching the big deals getting landed. We've all done the, "Are we there yet?", routine but now the answer is finally yes and we're pulling onto the driveway some stupid fuckers want to wrestle the wheel from the driver and crash the fucking car. I think it is because they have forgotten (or never knew) why they were on the journey in the first place and now they just hate the driver.

True enough, even with bolstered finances we can't dominate the criminals unless we bring our own criminal in (which I hope we don't because then everything really will have been for nothing), but we are in the game at least. We can spend as much as teams like Utd (marketing giants) and Liverpool (short termism with their finances), we can start replacing lost talent rather than selling it. We all know we are short of players in the squad and there's a blatantly obvious reason for it and that reason is about to expire. The sentient arguments about Wenger struggling as a coach (certainly not as a manager because he's proved his worth in that discipline over and over again) I understand. It could well be Wenger moves up and a more training ground focused coach with a tighter remit is brought in. That could happen. But the hatred and ridicule has gone way beyond such reasonable debates.

This guy hasn't stolen anything from the club, he's poured everything he can give into it. But we haven't managed to overcome the billionaires yet and we are still prone to the effects of underinvestment (the opportunity cost of investment elsewhere) when a few players hit the treatment table. And that's disappointing and frustrating. And it's pointed out by the "pro-Wengerites" (pro our own manager, can you believe it) in the match threads. But things go much further than that in some cases and as an example, there were so-called fans here and elsewhere joining in with the media braying at pictures of Wenger tripping and hurting himself. That suggests more that a desire to see to see Cazorla play centrally or a trophy being won. This suggests something nasty that no real fan would ever want a part of surely? Plus all the other stuff. We can have as many disagreements about the club and how it is run, managed, coached as we want because it's a free world. But there's also the facts to balance the criticism, what Wenger has put into this club and what he has achieved not just in the early years but also over the last decade. Who else could have done it? Seriously. Who else?

If he's to go on his way after almost two decades of service to the club then is it completely unreasonable to afford him the acknowledgement he thoroughly deserves? From what I gather you say yes and that's good. For others though, I stick with what I said. Value of nothing, short term gratification, bragging rights for those who probably don't have a clue how to measure an achievement. They could never be Norwich fans, could they? Seems to me they can't even be Arsenal fans.
Wenger will get his due credit when he finally steps down or a few years after he's gone. That's just the way these things can work when things are heated. People will look back on the memories and remember the glory years. It's like any relationship that's gone the distance. Ups and downs. At the moment it's on a down and you can't really take to heart some of the extreme comments. It's impossible to police that over the net. Just look at the back and forth that goes on here regarding certain players past and present. There is outright disrespect and disdain expressed in some of the comments reserved for players and Board members that represent Arsenal. You yourself get involved in that sort of talk and the same guys that may agree with you about an underperforming Giroud/Walcott or Gazidis/Kronke may have no reservations about sticking it to an underperforming manager. Where do you draw the line? It's pointless trying to police it. Just steer the conversation in a new direction. That's a side issue anyway.

The main point is where do we go now with Wenger? I disagree with your point about us pulling into the driveway and we're trying to wrestle the wheel from the driver. If Wenger stepping down were to result in us falling to pieces, then this whole stadium move was pretty pointless. It's supposed to secure our position as an elite club for years after Wenger. When this move was planned over 10 years ago, we couldn't predict the changes to the game and we may need to adjust slightly. Wenger will have to adjust or the game will bypass him. His training methods and tactics used in the late 90s won't work today. The transfer market strategy that worked then won't work now. Given the outcry by the fans, it's pretty clear that we want a change but will he respond and just plod along as if he doesn't need to adjust? It's like last nights game. The most frustrating thing is to see no response or adjustment and that just ticks people off.