If Wenger leaves at the end of the season ...

[GP]

I didn't ask you and he doesn't have job security for life. Had we dropped to mid-table or below he'd have been long gone.

I think exceeding your employers targets is good enough reason to keep your job.

The problem is the targets are now set too low.

[Letters]

I agree with that but all the bull on here about how Wenger is unsackable.
He's kept his job because he's met his employer's targets.
And I agree if those targets remain "top 4 will do" then that's too low given our new financial muscle.

[Niall_Quinn]

I agree with that but all the bull on here about how Wenger is unsackable.
He's kept his job because he's met his employer's targets.
And I agree if those targets remain "top 4 will do" then that's too low given our new financial muscle.

10 years of footballing underachievement when every other PL manager bar Ferguson has tumbled tells a different story. It's not just Wenger, the owners are just as guilty. all nest featherers and financial empire builders. On the football front, bare minimum to achieve those financial returns. It's a form of fraud.

[Letters]

Had we dropped to mid-table or below he'd have been long gone.

That.

[Niall_Quinn]

That.

The bare minimal resources have been put in to ensure we always stayed in the optimum earnings position. We would have earned less had we dropped out ofthe top 4. Don't you find it just a little strange that our best form tends to materialise when revenue is at stake?

[alexander]

10 years of footballing underachievement when every other PL manager bar Ferguson has tumbled tells a different story. It's not just Wenger, the owners are just as guilty. all nest featherers and financial empire builders. On the football front, bare minimum to achieve those financial returns. It's a form of fraud.

You really do give him a hard time. He does have his faults, I agree, but he isnt as bad as you continually go on about.
Do You think he is on some sort of mission to wind up fans, and to do the bare minimum of finishing 4th every season?

Of course he wants to win the league and CL every year. But he is stubborn yes, and wants to do it in his idea of the `right way`, keeping spending down, blooding and trusting youngsters etc, but he isnt in this just to piss us off (even if he does at times!) he does want to win.

[Niall_Quinn]

You really do give him a hard time. He does have his faults, I agree, but he isnt as bad as you continually go on about.
Do You think he is on some sort of mission to wind up fans, and to do the bare minimum of finishing 4th every season?

Of course he wants to win the league and CL every year. But he is stubborn yes, and wants to do it in his idea of the `right way`, keeping spending down, blooding and trusting youngsters etc, but he isnt in this just to piss us off (even if he does at times!) he does want to win.

That's the old cover story, I think the real story is emerging now all the excuses have been stripped away. The Half Billion Club and the incoming leeches, with Wenger driving, sold the stadium move in a very particular way. Between then and now there has been a rollercoaster economy but the chief sales reps all cashed in and some cashed out nonetheless. Win win. Meanwhile the fans still sit through the summer and winter transfer windows waiting for better backup for our lucky find Coquelin while enduring Flamini. Lose while the stadium was in progress, lose now it's built. This must all be a coincidence I suppose.

But I don't think so. I now see Wenger for what he is and it's quite embarrassing really to have been taken in for so long. I don't think I'm within a mile of being hard enough on him.

[Niall_Quinn]

This is a viewpoint from elsewhere worth consideration:
http://www.goonersworld.co.uk/forum/...30064#p1346449

In part:

However modern day, the stadium has largely been paid off and we are now able to compete again for household names. The question is was the 12 years of sacrifice worth it?

We were and still are charged the highest ticket prices in world football. Just let that sink in. A team who hasn't won their domestic title in 12 years. And has NEVER won the major European trophy. Charging the highest ticket prices in world football. Disgusting. We see the likes of Spurs, Lpool, Chelsea, Everton and WHam all in the advanced stages of agreeing new stadiums. The additional revenue from sponsors and TV rights, combined with the young, promising teams they have assesmbled suggests they may well be able to remain competitive. If so, what does that mean for Arsenal? Will the Emirates now just be the norm for English football Stadia?

Is the Emirates even any good? A stadium which has priced out many traditional Arsenal fans and as such has one of the worst atmospheres in the league... I honestly preferred Highbury.

Players were all taught the 'Arsenal way' which resulted in us producing clones of over-pampered, technically however tactically inept youths who never really stood a chance of becoming world class players. We had many players excel at youth level, however the over emphasis placed on the technical side of the game seemingly saw many players unable to make the grade at professional level. The failure to compete for top talent, bring in top international coaches, and develop the tactical side of the game has seen us fail to develop any real noteworthy talents in the past 12 years... Wilshere the only one who springs to mind. The loan system was/is also largely flawed. Players were often loaned to the highest bidder, and has often seen many of our players without game time.

Hope lies with the appointment of Jonker, and with him the arrival of new external coaches and analysts to turn the fortunes around.

With Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky set to leave this summer, and Cazorla either this or next we are in need of a complete overhaul in midfield. Is Elneny good enough to play for a club with ambitions to be an elite club? Can Wilshere remain fit? Is Wenger going to be the man to do this? There is a lack of a true world-class striker who can score 30 goals a season. Are players like Welbeck and Walcott good enough?

The British core - Perhaps rocked by the departures of key players during the early post-Emirates he wants to add stability and cohesion. However has Wenger bought the wrong Brits? Walcott, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Chambers, Welbeck and Jenkinson at a combined total of around £65m, in comparison to the likes off Bale, Smalling, Sterling, Butland, Stones, Gomez and Alli at a combined total of around £25m. The lack of development in the majority of our Brits suggest this is a real possibility.

Are our players over-pampered? A lack of a high-performance culture sees players rewarded with new lucrative contracts without showing any real deserving. Walcott springs to mind.

Do we even play attractive football anymore in comparison to that of old?

When you really look at the Wenger legacy what do we see? The perfect transformation of a football club into a corporate entity that serves the many at the expense of the few. Everything the club used to stand for is gone. It could be argued Wenger had no choice, that's the way the game was going. Fair enough, but let's not call him a great manager, let's call him a great marketer. He certainly sold me for long enough and he's still selling the majority today.

[Kano]

You're posting the same stuff on Goonersworld too? I admire your commitment to our club.

[alexander]

This is a viewpoint from elsewhere worth consideration:
http://www.goonersworld.co.uk/forum/...30064#p1346449

In part:







When you really look at the Wenger legacy what do we see? The perfect transformation of a football club into a corporate entity that serves the many at the expense of the few. Everything the club used to stand for is gone. It could be argued Wenger had no choice, that's the way the game was going. Fair enough, but let's not call him a great manager, let's call him a great marketer. He certainly sold me for long enough and he's still selling the majority today.

Football isnt about the 60k that go to the stadium anymore, that goes for any club. You only need to look at the TV deal that is coming. Gate money is small change. Im sure fans of many clubs are becoming disillusioned with football in general.