Summer Transfer Misery and Recriminations.

[Kano]

EDIT: Oh, and for all his faults I genuinely believe Wenger cares how we do. I don't think the board give a shit.

Of course he does. He wants to do the best he can but he no longer has the ability to reach the top as he used to. It's a case of failing ability rather than lack of care. He wouldn't be flipping his nut on the sideline if he didn't give a damn. The team would pick up on that lack of interest and wouldn't even achieve the high table position they typically do. If the boss doesn't care, why should we, would be their approach. Chelsea last season is the perfect example of a team and boss on completely different pages. He earns £8m a year but anyone with their head screwed on would understand that all wages in the game are obscene and who wouldn't maximise their wages if it didn't mean bankrupting the company paying you? The board on the other hand, can go fuck themselves. Perhaps things would be different if he delegated more, perhaps not. His philosophies have been implemented in far too many parts of the club and because that benefits the board too, it isn't about to change.

[Niall_Quinn]

Being in a position to? The board are his bosses aren't they? Of course they're in a position to, take the responsibility away from him, get someone else to manage the transfers. But they don't want to because Wenger is doing a brilliant job, from their point of view. Keeping us relatively competitive, enough to keep the CL money rolling in anyway, and not spending silly money on transfers. It's perfect for them.
Wenger has far too much power in the club but the board are responsible for letting that happen.

EDIT: Oh, and for all his faults I genuinely believe Wenger cares how we do. I don't think the board give a shit.

We only just heard from Wenger himself how he has to calm Gazidis' requests to buy players. This isn't media speculation, this is Wenger telling us who makes the final decisions. Yes of course his bosses could theoretically sack him or overrule him. But practically, considering none of them seem to know the first thing about the cash cow they have obtained, Wenger is like their key to the kingdom. It's the lack of conflict that's most revealing. If the board genuinely wanted the club to be ambitious and succeed on the pitch then they'd demand it, and if Wenger was subject to their demands on a practical level he'd do what he was told. I'm not saying the board bows to Wenger. I'm saying neither party needs to worry about such things as their methods seem to be so perfectly aligned, even if their ultimate objectives are not (thought I can't see any indication they aren't on precisely the same page). So Wenger has bosses-in-name-only. Like a captain at sea. The owner lets him sail on provided he phones back the profits from each port of call. They love him all the more because he insists on using oars rather than a modern engine.

[IBK]

It does seem Wenger has tried to sign someone better so he must recognise it's a problem, but he's failed to and that's the problem. He doesn't seem that good at closing deals and frankly that shouldn't be his job anyway. The board should get someone in to deal with all that, all Wenger should be doing is identifying the players.

This. And the fact that Wenger is omnipotent at AFC is a lot of the problem that we are seeing, because it means that there is no check on his increasing myopia. Wenger has clearly lost sight of his principal function. It is not a manager's job to look after the financial health of the club as an investment, yet this appears to have become his priority. Its bizzare and (ironically) damaging to the reputation and the long term prospects of the club. It means also that one man's incraesing detachment from the reality of the modern game has become the watchword and modus operandum of the entire club.

What's even more shocking are his attempts to have us believe that we don't even need a striker - having made it crystal clear that he thinks that we do (albeit at the 'right' price).

Bad times.

[Letters]

Of course he does. He wants to do the best he can but he no longer has the ability to reach the top as he used to. It's a case of failing ability rather than lack of care. He wouldn't be flipping his nut on the sideline if he didn't give a damn. The team would pick up on that lack of interest and wouldn't even achieve the high table position they typically do. If the boss doesn't care, why should we, would be their approach. Chelsea last season is the perfect example of a team and boss on completely different pages. He earns £8m a year but anyone with their head screwed on would understand that all wages in the game are obscene and who wouldn't maximise their wages if it didn't mean bankrupting the company paying you? The board on the other hand, can go fuck themselves. Perhaps things would be different if he delegated more, perhaps not. His philosophies have been implemented in far too many parts of the club and because that benefits the board too, it isn't about to change.

Pretty much what I think, and I added that addendum because I've heard some on here suggest that Wenger is perfectly happy with perennial top 4 finishes and isn't bothered about us doing better. That's balls, of course he is but I don't think he has the ability to do better. And yes, the board can sod right off.

[Power n Glory]

Care to elaborate?

There's a perception though that Wenger is far too involved, and maybe that's true. Is it Wenger saying he won't pay £31m rather than £30m and thus losing a player or is it Dick Law? If the latter then Wenger doesn't deserve as much flak as he's getting. If it's Wenger messing up deals by penny pinching then he deserves the flak.

Is Wenger responsible for penny pinching and does he deserve the flak? Nobody asked if he cared about the club. Stan’s position is pretty clear. This is just an investment to him. Nobody has argued otherwise. If that’s his stance on the club but Wenger genuinely cares about what happens here, you have to question why he seems so eager to serve their agenda and not the supporters that have been here a lot longer. That’s a side note. It goes back to who is messing up the deals and it sounds a lot like it’s Wenger.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Well all know Wenger is cheap, let's not pretend otherwise, he's like a squirrel collecting nuts for the winter, but then winter comes and he doesn't use up the nuts, he keeps them so that next year he's got more nuts and when looking for a new nest the following near another squirrel offers him a nest for 1 nut, Wenger offers him 0.41 of a nut.

What?

[Xhaka Can’t]

You just summarised almost everything I already said above.

Yeah but yours was tldr material.

[IBK]

Well all know Wenger is cheap, let's not pretend otherwise, he's like a squirrel collecting nuts for the winter, but then winter comes and he doesn't use up the nuts, he keeps them so that next year he's got more nuts and when looking for a new nest the following near another squirrel offers him a nest for 1 nut, Wenger offers him 0.41 of a nut.[/QUOTE]

What?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

That player's name?

Albert Einstein.

No...J.R Hartley

[Power n Glory]

We only just heard from Wenger himself how he has to calm Gazidis' requests to buy players. This isn't media speculation, this is Wenger telling us who makes the final decisions. Yes of course his bosses could theoretically sack him or overrule him. But practically, considering none of them seem to know the first thing about the cash cow they have obtained, Wenger is like their key to the kingdom. It's the lack of conflict that's most revealing. If the board genuinely wanted the club to be ambitious and succeed on the pitch then they'd demand it, and if Wenger was subject to their demands on a practical level he'd do what he was told. I'm not saying the board bows to Wenger. I'm saying neither party needs to worry about such things as their methods seem to be so perfectly aligned, even if their ultimate objectives are not (thought I can't see any indication they aren't on precisely the same page). So Wenger has bosses-in-name-only. Like a captain at sea. The owner lets him sail on provided he phones back the profits from each port of call. They love him all the more because he insists on using oars rather than a modern engine.

Pretty much. I match made in heaven.

I have a real problem with Wenger. He’s supposed to be a football purist and what happens on the pitch should be focus. The end game for him should be trophies. I can understand the owners being focussed on keeping the club ticking over and building up the revenue, etc. They’re not football men. Wenger is like a player that’s happy to warm the bench. Where the heck is the drive and motivation?