Wenger Referendum IV

[Niall_Quinn]

So you think the refs helped us to 2nd last year?

And where did I say or even imply that?

[Niall_Quinn]

Of course it’s political manoeuvring. It’s funny how long Arseblog has avoided saying Wenger is the problem and pointed the finger at Gazidis and now that it’s clear that Wenger is the problem, it’s still Gazidis’s fault for not acting sooner. With what power and backing if the owner is a fan of the manager and fans scared to point the finger at Wenger but instead pointing it at the Board?

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, it's only occurring because Wenger has long outstayed his welcome. Just about every problem at the club originates with him.

Why the fuck doesn't he go? It's really hard to believe what's going on. A complete fucking failure sitting there, imparting the wisdom of failure to all those prepared to listen for the umpteenth time. It's all so tired. Embarrassing for the club. Humiliating for Wenger himself.

[Niall_Quinn]

...the relationship between Wenger and the board is now understood to be under serious strain.

Those tensions raise questions over whether Wenger and Gazidis can continue a working relationship together beyond this season should the Frenchman get his way and sign a new two-year deal.

Gazidis, who held key roles for the MLS before agreeing to join Arsenal in 2008, wouldn’t be short of job offers in the USA if he left the Emirates.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...nge-staff.html

The automatic assumption is Wenger will stay and everyone else has to fuck off if they don't like it.

[Marc Overmars]

The autonomy he has is a joke. I don't know what to make of Gazidis but good on him if has tried to strong arm his way through.

[Letters]

And where did I say or even imply that?

Umm...

The biggest influence on this league continues to be referees. It will be up to them how the final placings play out. As usual.

[Power n Glory]

The autonomy he has is a joke. I don't know what to make of Gazidis but good on him if has tried to strong arm his way through.

Crazy situation. You would have thought Wenger would be looking out for the best interest of the club. He’s shielded his own position by surrounding himself by yes men and not embracing former players with influence to come back to the club as coaches. Selfish fucker. Totally opposite to what Cryuff believed in.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Of course it’s political manoeuvring. It’s funny how long Arseblog has avoided saying Wenger is the problem and pointed the finger at Gazidis and now that it’s clear that Wenger is the problem, it’s still Gazidis’s fault for not acting sooner. With what power and backing if the owner is a fan of the manager and fans scared to point the finger at Wenger but instead pointing it at the Board?

I think there is argument for equal culpability

If we are making the argument that the CEO of a football club like Arsenal has absolutely no authority, than what is he doing at the club?

If he's a good CEO would he not be able to get an equally well paid job elsewhere where he would not have his hands tied?

Whether Wenger is a control freak is a side issue, even Le Grove has questioned why Gazidis has not been able to exert any influence over Kroenke (given the argument is that Wenger can).

Now it could be that Ivan Gazidis is using Wenger's lack of standing with the fans to push for the kind of change he has wanted to impose for a while, but it's equally possible that Wenger doing everything has made his job easier and he stayed quiet until it was clear that as CEO he could no longer stay silent.

He's a PR guy and good at spin......but he's been de facto Wenger's boss longer than Kroenke has been majority share holder and yet at no time has there been any impression of Gazidis imposing any authority over Wenger.

Either way, blaming Gazidis in no way absolves Wenger - on one hand there should be no way his future is in his own hands, it should never be the case with a manager but the manager wants us to shoulder the burden of his fear of retirement. I don't believe for a second he is unaware that his ability is diminished, all he is thinking is i've given the last 20 years to this club and they owe me big time.

[Niall_Quinn]

Umm...

Useful conversation going on in this thread and you are doing this? You think one of your smiley responses compensates for the fact there was no mention of Arsenal or specificity to Arsenal in what I said? Or that the implication was plucked out of thin air, by you?

[selassie]

I think there is argument for equal culpability

If we are making the argument that the CEO of a football club like Arsenal has absolutely no authority, than what is he doing at the club?

If he's a good CEO would he not be able to get an equally well paid job elsewhere where he would not have his hands tied?

Whether Wenger is a control freak is a side issue, even Le Grove has questioned why Gazidis has not been able to exert any influence over Kroenke (given the argument is that Wenger can).

Now it could be that Ivan Gazidis is using Wenger's lack of standing with the fans to push for the kind of change he has wanted to impose for a while, but it's equally possible that Wenger doing everything has made his job easier and he stayed quiet until it was clear that as CEO he could no longer stay silent.

He's a PR guy and good at spin......but he's been de facto Wenger's boss longer than Kroenke has been majority share holder and yet at no time has there been any impression of Gazidis imposing any authority over Wenger.

Either way, blaming Gazidis in no way absolves Wenger - on one hand there should be no way his future is in his own hands, it should never be the case with a manager but the manager wants us to shoulder the burden of his fear of retirement. I don't believe for a second he is unaware that his ability is diminished, all he is thinking is i've given the last 20 years to this club and they owe me big time.

I can't claim to have any special information or knowledge about the situation but I do think your first paragraph that I have highlighted regarding Gazidis and Wenger is what is happening. I think there is a political stance to what Gazidis is doing but I genuinely think he also wants change and as such is using the current situation as a catalyst for change.

It is clear that Gazidis/the club are in the market for a Director of Football, Wenger is flat out opposing it and is prickly towards it because he doesn't want it. This to me is Gazidis imposing authority over Wenger and Wenger not accepting it.

Gazidis has many faults...and I've not been overly Impressed with him to be honest, but if the changes he is planning to make go ahead this summer then I'm all for it. We have been linked with some very high profile Directors of Football such as Zorc at Dortmund so that in itself is something positive.

[Power n Glory]

I think there is argument for equal culpability

If we are making the argument that the CEO of a football club like Arsenal has absolutely no authority, than what is he doing at the club?

If he's a good CEO would he not be able to get an equally well paid job elsewhere where he would not have his hands tied?

Whether Wenger is a control freak is a side issue, even Le Grove has questioned why Gazidis has not been able to exert any influence over Kroenke (given the argument is that Wenger can).

Now it could be that Ivan Gazidis is using Wenger's lack of standing with the fans to push for the kind of change he has wanted to impose for a while, but it's equally possible that Wenger doing everything has made his job easier and he stayed quiet until it was clear that as CEO he could no longer stay silent.

He's a PR guy and good at spin......but he's been de facto Wenger's boss longer than Kroenke has been majority share holder and yet at no time has there been any impression of Gazidis imposing any authority over Wenger.

Either way, blaming Gazidis in no way absolves Wenger - on one hand there should be no way his future is in his own hands, it should never be the case with a manager but the manager wants us to shoulder the burden of his fear of retirement. I don't believe for a second he is unaware that his ability is diminished, all he is thinking is i've given the last 20 years to this club and they owe me big time.

It should be a case of equal culpability but I don’t see that happening. We have the technical side of club and then the financial side of thing. We’re now amongst the richest clubs in the world. Top 5. Who takes most of the credit for where we stand as club today financially? Wenger is given more credit for that than anyone else.

On the technical side, Wenger has drawn the line by saying he has overall control and is reluctant to change that. A ‘you do your job but don’t tell me how to do mine’ sort of stance. But it’s Gazidis that’s taken more of the blame for the technical side. We have a flawed set up where it looks like the man with the most footballing knowledge is Wenger. We need more experts and fresh blood in the set up but we have a manger that has the final say on the staff and is often reluctant to change. Has Gazidis been able to push him to make changes? I’d say yes but not far enough.

After years of injuries and topping the table for most injured, who was it that appointed the best in the business, Shad Forsythe, to join our medical staff? It was Gazidis. It was an ongoing problem and despite having to work with it day in day out, we heard piss poor conclusions from Wenger about why the players were constantly out injured and it got to the point where it couldn’t be left with Wenger to fix. We needed outside and not excuses about pitches. The same goes for our Youth Acadmey and Jonker. Gazidis made that appointment but hasn’t ended well because Jonker has moved on since being unable to change the culture. The fact that he was blocked from being able to appoint Henry speaks volumes. Freddie Ljunberg moved on with Jonker! How the heck is that happening when he’s Arsenal?

Need I mention the sponsorship deals and having to push for pre season tours that extend the brand? This stuff hasn’t happened over night and I’m guessing Wenger has dug his heels in for lot of it. But ultimately, it makes no difference if we’re not doing anything to change the first team set up. We’ve seen subtle and slow changes around the club except in one area. It’s definitely not just PR but we’ve gotten worse. Sites like Arseblog have to wake up and smell the coffee. Stop the bullshit and deflecting the attention away from Wenger.