Wenger Out ?

[Power n Glory]

The criticism was based on what went before, not what has happened since. I still firmly believe those rancid old buffers robbed the club blind when they sold out. When you see that sort of track record you then need to see some evidence the promises of cake later are believable. Ozil is a signature of their intent from what I can see so maybe we do have a new approach. Not saying they won't be in it for the money, but at least they haven't sliced a huge chunk out of the club like the last lot.

Yes of course Wenger needs to push. His job has been to keep us in the CL but if he can do more than that then he should. I don't mind winning the FA Cup. It'll be great on the day but it's no real measurement of anything much and I'm not sure a cup win will play a factor in the big Euro games next season or a shot at the title. I think media people like to make that sort of shit up to fill a few more columns. What I'd really like to see is for us to go to Germany and lay into Bayern big time. We were bloody unlucky in the first leg, we stood a great chance of winning that given the way we approached the game. That's what affects things more than FA Cups IMO, the attitude Wenger has going into the game. Is it positive or is it negative. We do quite well when he lets the players go for it. We are gambling when we play negative stuff because we just aren't that good at it. Wenger has dropped into negative mode over the last couple of months and I don't think he needed to. I think he worries too much about who will be fit, who has run how far, who will be 2% away from fitness. Half the players are injured most of the time anyway so a hell of a lot of his planning must go out the window. Just play the best 11 and tell them to attack. Then again, measured across the season he's been right more times than wrong.

Some of the shit he does bugs the hell out of me too but I don't like to see some of the fans turn on him in such a violent way. I think just about all of us have said it wouldn't be a disaster if he went. But on proper terms, not with fans, some of whom have been around a whole 5 minutes, jeering him out the door. But you are right, now we have finances his job gets twice as hard. We'll know within a season if he's up to it but surely he has to be given at least that long?

The other point is, when people say Wenger out they may not realise that out could well mean up and even more control. From their point of view they had better be careful what they wish for.

We've beaten the biggest teams in Europe. All of them. Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern, AC Milan, Juve...we still have this stigma attached to us and end up chocking in cup and title runs. Another big win against a massive club is no milestone. What would another win against Bayern prove? It hasn't done much to change the mindset of the club because we're approaching that 10 year mark without a trophy! We need to break this hoodoo and win something, get over this complex and really push on.

Ozil seemed like a sign of intent but I can't be so sure considering the last transfer window. We may have broke the record signing Ozil but it's not as if we were incapable of splashing most of the budget on a superstar whilst picking up cheap deals on other players. We'll find out next season if Wenger has really switched his approach. I'm not against giving him another season because I'm at the point where I don't really care. If something doesn't change soon then Wenger is the one who will take most of the flak.

[Letters]

Depends on the FA Cup now.
If we fuck it up again then I do think he should go, we're not going to have a better chance of winning it.
If we do win it though then with the general improvement I think he deserves chance to build on it.

[Niall_Quinn]

No way, I don't believe anything should hang on a tin pot. Despite all my misgivings there appears to have been a genuine financial plan in place and it has been a hard and barren struggle to get to the verge of seeing that massive plan mature. I can't see how a tin pot compares with the potential we have ahead of us now. If it's true that these guys knew what they were doing all along, and it genuinely looks that way, we are in for some good maybe great times ahead. We don't do anything to jeopardise that when we are right on the brink of taking a giant step up.

[Letters]

We are more than good enough to win the FA Cup given the other teams who remain.
Against a backdrop of no trophies for this long and a few near misses where we seem to have collapsed when the pressure got to us, to fail again would be too much IMO.

[Özil's Panoramic View]

No way, I don't believe anything should hang on a tin pot. Despite all my misgivings there appears to have been a genuine financial plan in place and it has been a hard and barren struggle to get to the verge of seeing that massive plan mature. I can't see how a tin pot compares with the potential we have ahead of us now. If it's true that these guys knew what they were doing all along, and it genuinely looks that way, we are in for some good maybe great times ahead. We don't do anything to jeopardise that when we are right on the brink of taking a giant step up.

At what point does that giant step entail winning a tin pot or two?

How will we have known that we've taken that giant step?

Against what will it be measured?

[Niall_Quinn]

At what point does that giant step entail winning a tin pot or two?

How will we have known that we've taken that giant step?

Against what will it be measured?

We'll know when a £40mill striker turns up and we see steady competition with the top tier clubs for the top resources. That was the key purpose of this stadium move. A tin pot now is neither here nor there in the bigger scheme of things. Nice and unexpected and I certainly want it because it's there to be won, but it doesn't define anything related to the plan the club has been engaged in over the past 8 years. Titles and CL pots is what we want surely, with of course the odd trinket like the FA Cup or Littlewoods Milk McDonalds Bubblegum Cup thrown in for entertainment. Charity Shield too, why not? Golden boots, POTY awards, the lot. But the FA Cup this season isn't a herald of great things to come. Cash on the table and big signings will be a far better way to judge where this club is heading.

[Niall_Quinn]

We are more than good enough to win the FA Cup given the other teams who remain.
Against a backdrop of no trophies for this long and a few near misses where we seem to have collapsed when the pressure got to us, to fail again would be too much IMO.

Why too much? What happens if we get a player sent off and lose after playing with 10 men for an hour? Surely there are degrees of success and failure based on performance, circumstances, events beyond our control? If we lose playing shit, that's fair enough, questions to be asked. What if we win with a really dodgy pen having been played off the park?

[selassie]

Depends on the FA Cup now.
If we fuck it up again then I do think he should go, we're not going to have a better chance of winning it.
If we do win it though then with the general improvement I think he deserves chance to build on it.

This.

I admit that I have been pretty vocal about Wenger and wanting him gone but if he wins the FA Cup then he should definitely be given a chance to build on it.

If however we fail then he should walk, no two ways about it.

[Niall_Quinn]

Crazy talk. Like stabbing a bloke who carried you out of a plane crash and across the mountains, because he didn't buy you a drink when you reached civilisation.

[Özim]

Why too much? What happens if we get a player sent off and lose after playing with 10 men for an hour? Surely there are degrees of success and failure based on performance, circumstances, events beyond our control? If we lose playing shit, that's fair enough, questions to be asked. What if we win with a really dodgy pen having been played off the park?

In all honesty we should still beat what's left with 10 men, we're far superior to them and only complacency would see us lose (pretty much what happened to City.....twice).