New manager

[Özim]

Or it's possible you genuinely can't see it, in which case your posts are understandable.

Wenger's remit, keep us near the top, keep us in the CL, keep the transfer budget to close on zero. Which helps, keep the stadium full, keeps the commercial deals coming in. All boxes ticked without even one slip-up. Now the next phase is go and build a top squad to compete with the very best in Europe. Or get Owen Coyle, I can't recall, it was one of those.

PS. Owen Coyle is mentioned because some people hilariously suggested him and it's just funny. He's mentioned for comedy value. I can say David Moyes if you like that better.

I don't think he's up to the next phase personally, we've taken some beatings this season but really what rounded it off for me was Saturday.

His 1000th game, again a team with a manager who had disrespected him, David Dein said AW doesn't like to get into conflicts and talk much he prefers to win matches (in an Interview before the match), what would you expect?

I'd expect a team coming out fired up, hungry, highly motivated and ready to prove their title credentials and prove everyone wrong, a team who start the match chasing every ball, closing down every player and forcing errors out of the opposition.

What we saw was a team with a lack of desire suffering a 6-0 humiliation and if we're honest not too bothered by it, a total embarrassment for everyone associated with the club. This tells me all I need to know.

[Power n Glory]

Im seriously embarrassed to call myself an Arsenal fan, if the majority of Arsenal fans are this way...

That's a shocker.

[Globalgunner]

The only analogy I have for some of these befuddled chaps. Is this. Your in a race with 19 other racecars. You have the 4th most powerful car and you end up 4th. Bloody hell!, that's some really brilliant driver you got there.......30 seconds behind the winner, but heck he did really well to sneak ahead of the 5th place car which was driven by a fucking Spud called Tim. Best keep the driver for next season as coming 5th would be a complete disaster

[Bumble]

I know people think Wenger should stay but at some point we need to move on. He is in his early 60s now. It might be good to transition now while United need a lot of renovating, if we wait too long they might be back up there, chavs ans city will still be spending and Liverpool could also be better with the money and regularity of CL football.

[Letters]

We will likely do just as well or better with another astute manager

Hmm. That's the bit I'm not so sure about. I think some people underestimate how difficult it is to stay up there every year, no-one else but Fergie has managed it for such a sustained period and while the lack of trophies is damning we have been working under some financial constraints at the same time as two clubs have the infinite money cheat on. Wenger could have done better but he could have done a lot worse too.

I don't know what to make of this season, I guess I'll tell you in May. I never thought we were title contenders this year despite our early season form, never quite felt we had enough and was just pleasantly surprised to be in the title race. We have had a lot of good results this year in games which last year we'd have drawn or lost. But the thumpings away at the top 3 have been bad (although I thought we played well against City, that would have been much closer with competent reffing) and our results and performances over the last couple of months have been patchy at best.

The Ozil signing, and it's clear we were bidding serious money for Suarez, does show a new ambition and financial muscle. If we win the FA Cup then that will hopefully give the squad more belief they can finish the job and win trophies. IMO that is a basis to build on. I don't believe that changing manager - and Wenger is far more than just a football coach at Arsenal - would help us push on. If we continue to collapse in the league and don't win the FA Cup then I'm not sure we have much to lose by changing manager. If we finish OK in the league and win the FA Cup though...

It's not as cut and dried as some are making out.

[saintnickle]

[QUOTE=Niall_Quinn;383092]Or it's possible you genuinely can't see it, in which case your posts are understandable.

Wenger's remit, keep us near the top, keep us in the CL, keep the transfer budget to close on zero. Which helps, keep the stadium full, keeps the commercial deals coming in. All boxes ticked without even one slip-up. Now the next phase is go and build a top squad to compete with the very best in Europe. Or get Owen Coyle, I can't recall, it was one of those.

I think you will find that most people who have had enough of wenger and want him out do not disagree with the money side of it and actually think he will eventually spend the money(in the areas needed).The problem lies with his tactics (or lack of them ) ,his ability to motivate the team (or lack of it,), his team selections and rotation of players and his choice of substitutions (and when to use them ie.68 min).To compete with the very best in europe you have to be spot on with all of these .So a question to you Niall Quinn,letters and Ollie the optimist is do you think A.He will spend the money needed to buy the players in the positions where we are short?? B.Improve tactically enough to compete with very best in europe?? If he does next season i will like most others hold my hand up and admit i was wrong about him ,but i fear groundhog day all over again ,but Wenger will be another 8 million pounds better off for it.

[AFC Leveller]

I don't think he's up to the next phase personally, we've taken some beatings this season but really what rounded it off for me was Saturday.

His 1000th game, again a team with a manager who had disrespected him, David Dein said AW doesn't like to get into conflicts and talk much he prefers to win matches (in an Interview before the match), what would you expect?

I'd expect a team coming out fired up, hungry, highly motivated and ready to prove their title credentials and prove everyone wrong, a team who start the match chasing every ball, closing down every player and forcing errors out of the opposition.

What we saw was a team with a lack of desire suffering a 6-0 humiliation and if we're honest not too bothered by it, a total embarrassment for everyone associated with the club. This tells me all I need to know.

Yeah thats what made me think prior to the game that we'd get a decent result because the game had so much riding on it and the players would make sure the manager got a nice present on his big day.

What happened was, for many fans, a reminder that these players and manager arent up to it and dont have what it takes for the big occasions.

[Letters]

A.He will spend the money needed to buy the players in the positions where we are short?? B.Improve tactically enough to compete with very best in europe?? If he does next season i will like most others hold my hand up and admit i was wrong about him ,but i fear groundhog day all over again ,but Wenger will be another 8 million pounds better off for it.

A - I bloody hope so. We have the money to compete more seriously now so he should. Last summer we signed Ozil and made a serious bid for Suarez. It's the most ambition we've shown for years so there's clearly intent there to step up a level in the transfar market.

B - He's never been a master tactician. Reading Bergkamp's autobiography right now and get the impression Wenger gives the players more freedom to express themselves as opposed to Graham's rigid defensive drilling. So no, I don't think he'll radically change there but he's had enough success before to suggest that with the right players he can do so again.

[I am invisible]

People who know me from AHFC days (and 606, if anyone still remembers that!) will tell you that I've generally been one of Wenger's biggest supporters over the years, and I still very much take the position that things are nowhere near as bad as we like to make out (in fact, all things considered, we're actually in tremendous shape as a club), and that Wenger isn't the total mug that we like to make him out to be? On the one hand you could argue that his inaction in the transfer market, and obvious weaknesses in certain areas (tactics, fitness, etc) is the reason why we continually fall short, but on the other, you could argue that he must be doing a lot of things remarkably well as a coach, because (even if you blame him for all of the following problems) we're still up in the CL places, and on for the FA Cup, in spite of having a thin squad who look dead on their feet, no decent strikers, no pace or power in the side, and no thought about tactics? He may cause a lot of problems for himself, but to then guide us through a season with all those problems, and still come out near the top, must take some doing?

That being said, the idea of change doesn't terrify me in any way - I think we're in a great place as a club right now, and I think whoever comes next will have every tool at his disposal to be a success. Like Bumble says, Wenger is 64 now and will be 65 in October, so this is something we're going to have to deal with before too much longer anyway - even if he'd won everything in sight for the past 9 years, and everyone was super-keen for him to stay, it wouldn't change the fact that he's fast approaching / already at retirement age, and we'd only really be buying ourselves a little bit of extra time to get prepared for what comes next. For me, it's all kind of inevitable, and I think how quickly it happens all hinges on who's available and when: if we have our eye on someone specific as a long-term appointment, but he's not available for another year (for example), then I can see Wenger staying on, and keeping us ticking over until we can get our man; but if that person suddenly becomes available now, then I wouldn't be adverse to seeing him step down, and for the change to happen pretty quickly.

Personally speaking (and this is pure fantasy football for the moment), I'd be sounding out Klopp - him and Arsenal would be a match made in heaven, IMO. We share an almost identical philosophy, we can give him the kind of long-term security he'd need, and (crucially) we now have the financial muscle for him to be able to keep his teams together, and actually augment them with whoever he wants. I think we'd represent an extremely interesting proposition for him, and visa versa...

[JonasTC]

What would people think about bringing in Henry, once Wenger leaves? Guardiola did pretty well for having never managed before. I think its underestimated how much it means to understand how a club is run from top to bottom, and having the respect of everybody who works/plays for the club, when it comes to managing.