The next manager..

[Letters]

What are the right things we have to do?

Pay them a market rate salary, indicate some ambition which these days translates into making a load of money available for transfers.

[Letters]

We end up finishing outside the CL spot for a second season in row under Wenger and with less points than Moyes Utd team

That is a disingenuous comparison. Moyes took over a Utd side who had just won the title with 89 points.
Yes, they finished with one more point the following season with 64 points and finished 7th but that's a drop of 25 points in one season.

but you now say Wenger hasn't left us in bad shape!

He hasn't, any more than Moyes left Utd "in a bad state". He did a bad job but that's not the same thing. Wenger did a bad job last season but we've got a squad I believe is capable of much better, we've got the global fan base, the history, the stadium and the money to attract top managers and top players. There is work to do but we're capable of doing it and have the resources to if we hire the right manager.

[rodders]

Until Kroenke goes things can only get worse

[selassie]

Yeah! Wenger out!

Anything constructive to add?

Thought not...off you trot son, don’t trip on your tail on your way out.

[selassie]

I don't demand any titles or cups. What I want to see most is entertaining, attacking, competitive football. I want us to be in every hunt until the end and if we win it, great, but if we don't then we accept somebody was even better than us and we try again next year. It's the competitiveness that counts for me. We lost that under Wenger. Every fan knew, even the most optimistic, we'd crumble when the big challenges came. I want to go into those challenges at least believing we have a realistic chance.

There's a big difference between planning for 4th and planning for 1st but having to settle for 4th. The former is like losing, straight out of the gate. That's what annoyed me most about Wenger. He was proud of his systematic mediocrity. Football is supposed to be a rollercoaster, not a Swiss railway timetable.

Not sure I ever want to see the same manager here for 7 years though. Football has changed. Fresh ideas are important. Money alone is not enough to keep an edge because everyone has money now. The relegated clubs shared a third of a billion between them, for total failure. So the same guy, with the same ideas, for 7 years. Not sure how viable that is any more.

And who knows who the best guy for the job is? Plenty of well experienced managers have fallen flat on their faces in this league. We missed out on Klopp and Pep because Wenger was too selfish to move over and the board was too weak to push him. If the gossip holds any truth, we couldn't get the Hoffenheim coach, we couldn't afford the demands of some of the experienced candidates so we're taking a punt on Arteta. I have a gut feeling it might work out. Can't say why for sure, it's just a feeling. But even if it does (and especially if it doesn't), of all clubs I hope we've learned the lesson that decisive action is required if we start going backwards instead of forwards - in terms of the competitiveness of the club as well as the style of the football.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Pay them a market rate salary, indicate some ambition which these days translates into making a load of money available for transfers.

I have to agree with you Letters

We should be showing ambition and blowing the dust and cobwebs off the company credit card!

[Power n Glory]

That is a disingenuous comparison. Moyes took over a Utd side who had just won the title with 89 points.
Yes, they finished with one more point the following season with 64 points and finished 7th but that's a drop of 25 points in one season.



He hasn't, any more than Moyes left Utd "in a bad state". He did a bad job but that's not the same thing. Wenger did a bad job last season but we've got a squad I believe is capable of much better, we've got the global fan base, the history, the stadium and the money to attract top managers and top players. There is work to do but we're capable of doing it and have the resources to if we hire the right manager.

The repositioning of your argument is what's disingenuous. So doing a 'Utd/Moyes' was more about the huge drop off in points? So our equivalent would mean a manger that has us deep in a relegation battle? That's what a 25 point drop off mean for us.

The discrepancy in points was never part of your argument. It was always about finishing outside of the CL spot and struggling to get back in. That's the position we find ourseleves in today.

As far as the infrastructure and resources, that's a different argument. We're looking good in those areas but I wouldn’t attribute that to Wenger either.

[Letters]

You seem to be trying to argue with me about two different things at once which is very confusing. Let's focus on where we are now and what state Wenger has left us in.

It was always about finishing outside of the CL spot and struggling to get back in. That's the position we find ourseleves in today.

Season before the one just gone we finished outside the top 4 for the first time in Wenger's reign, we we a couple of points away - actually had we got that point total this year we would have been in the top 4.
This is the only year we've been nowhere near the top 4, mostly because of our mysteriously bad away form. I believe the squad, while needing some work, is capable of much better so I wouldn't say that aspect of the club is in too bad shape.

As far as the infrastructure and resources, that's a different argument. We're looking good in those areas but I wouldn’t attribute that to Wenger either.

I don't think it is a different argument, it's part of the same discussion. The infrastructure and resources are absolutely part of the what shape a club is in.
Who do you attribute it to if not Wenger? Not saying he is solely responsible but the success he brought in the early years is a big factor.

[Power n Glory]

You seem to be trying to argue with me about two different things at once which is very confusing. Let's focus on where we are now and what state Wenger has left us in.



Season before the one just gone we finished outside the top 4 for the first time in Wenger's reign, we we a couple of points away - actually had we got that point total this year we would have been in the top 4.
This is the only year we've been nowhere near the top 4, mostly because of our mysteriously bad away form. I believe the squad, while needing some work, is capable of much better so I wouldn't say that aspect of the club is in too bad shape.



I don't think it is a different argument, it's part of the same discussion. The infrastructure and resources are absolutely part of the what shape a club is in.
Who do you attribute it to if not Wenger? Not saying he is solely responsible but the success he brought in the early years is a big factor.

The medical staff appointments, Sven, Raul and the recent firing of the old backroom hangers on has nothing to do with Wenger. If we had kept to Wenger’s vision where we didn’t have a Director of Football and more staff taking on key roles, we’d have been in a much worse state. Wenger has played his part in helping to save money but he’s also been responsible for blowing money. Besides the waste in the transfer window, we missed out on getting £50m-£60m for Sanchez. The wage bill is bloated. We have an ageing squad. Aubameyang, Ozil and Mkhitaryan are 28/29. As seen with Kos, Merts and Santi, their fitness and performances may fall off a cliff once they’ve hit 30. Besides Lacazette, the players in their mid 20s are of questionable quality. Ramsey, Welbeck, Wilshere, Xhaka, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Elneny. None of them are consistent performers and most of them don’t the skillset to be become world class and carry the team. The defence is terrible and the better players are well past their prime.

We’re on shaky territory. Some parts are really good and should appeal to any manager but other areas are bad and it may limit us on who we can attract for the role. I don’t think we can roll out the red carpet for just anyone with experience. Some of the candidates available aren’t that great and represent as much as a risk as someone with little experience, like Arteta.

[GP]

https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague/s...87270041837568