Match reacton - Soton

[Cripps]

Don't think there's any doubt that Wenger doesn't prioritise trophies. He prioritises top 4 and sees that as a trophy in itself.

He can say that he wants to win real trophies and wants to win the league and european cup but it's baseless fallacy; his actions speak louder than words. I can say I want to leave my job every month for years on end, but if I continue to stay in the same job, do I really want to leave? He sees top 4 as the main objective and if we stumble upon a trophy in the process, then happy days.

He seems to be working on different metrics and his brain is conditioned to different metrics. His words about having to make sure 700 people are paid every month tells you everything you need to know.

That is something the board are guilty of allowing to fester and even catalysing, so they are not blameless, but whilst it seems we have moved onto a different stage in our lifecycle, Wenger is still conditioned in his old ways.

[Niall_Quinn]

If he didn't, there wouldn't be much to discuss.

The relative merits of qualifying for the CL and ewinning the FA Cup fluctuate with where we are as a Club. If you asked me 5 years ago, what was more important, I'd say the FA Cup in a heartbeat.

Why? Because like others, I though a trophy win was all it was going to take for us to push on to bigger things. Like others, perhaps including yourself, I was wrong.

As wrong as it was possible to be.

The comeback against Hull in that final has done nothing but inflict another 5 years (and counting) banality on this club.

Wenger is right where he positions the relative importance of the FA Cup and CL qualification - for any normal team that is. For us, it is of no conswquence, we won't push on no matter what while Wenger is manager and anyone else managing our club may do better, but they'll be severely handicapped by Kroenke.

For sure we were as wrong as it was possible to be. And that's the lesson to be learned, and 10 years is enough time for the lesson to be mastered. When Wenger speaks, he's lying. Either lying to us or lying to himself. Mostly lying to us though. And it's inexcusable. Which is why it's irritating to hear some fans still excusing him.

[Letters]

You quoted him above to back up a point and now you're saying everything he says is a lie?
And, again, it's possible to think that he should be sacked and also not think a lot of the things you think about him.

[Power n Glory]

For sure we were as wrong as it was possible to be. And that's the lesson to be learned, and 10 years is enough time for the lesson to be mastered. When Wenger speaks, he's lying. Either lying to us or lying to himself. Mostly lying to us though. And it's inexcusable. Which is why it's irritating to hear some fans still excusing him.

What Pep said about the Top 4 was his attempt to deflect attention away from the poor season he had. He knows it and his owners know it too otherwise he’d be fired if he came 3rd or 4th this season. Nothing has been left to chance this season. Man City are flying.

I don’t know if Wenger believes half the crap he says. In most cases I believe he’s just putting up a defence to deflect blame away from his record, but boy oh boy, how he’s managed to convince people of his bullshit is quite remarkable. From fans like Letters, to the Board room. It’s unreal. This is a man that tried to blame Ramsey's injury record on the hairspray Ramsey used!

I really can't understand it either.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Frankly it’s always occurred to me that Wenger aggrandises 4th place to gloss over his numerous failings

There’s no doubt that other clubs would like Wengers consistency in champions league qualification, but eventually they’d have to ask well why has this not propelled us onto anything better.

I don’t believe Wenger actively seeks not to do any better than top four, because that would suggest he has purposely put the kybosh on seasons where it was possible for us to win things. What I think is far more likely is that at times he’s chosen to be more parsimonious than necessary because there would be more expectation to succeed and more questions asked.
But on top of that you have to factor in Wenger is one of the worlds most indecisive individuals but along with that is also a micro manager which is a pretty terrible combination.

Happy with 4th? Perhaps overstated. Not willing to do what it takes in the transfer market to get us to win the title well yeah but who would trust him in the transfer market anyway?.

[Cripps]

What Pep said about the Top 4 was his attempt to deflect attention away from the poor season he had. He knows it and his owners know it too otherwise he’d be fired if he came 3rd or 4th this season. Nothing has been left to chance this season. Man City are flying.

I don’t know if Wenger believes half the crap he says. In most cases I believe he’s just putting up a defence to deflect blame away from his record, but boy oh boy, how he’s managed to convince people of his bullshit is quite remarkable. From fans like Letters, to the Board room. It’s unreal. This is a man that tried to blame Ramsey's injury record on the hairspray Ramsey used!

I really can't understand it either.

I forgot about that

Up there with the weather excuse

[Marc Overmars]

I don’t think he believes he can challenge for the main prizes anymore, not at this stage of his career and life where the environment is so much more competitive.

However he finds himself in a unique position where he doesn’t need to challenge yet finds himself absolutely secure in his job. That is down to the owner first and foremost but also a fanbase that just isn’t bothered enough collectively to do something about it, probably due to sentiment.

It’s the perfect place for him to see out his career in relative comfort despite overseeing and accepting a complete drop off in standards. A vanity project, completely selfish and serves no purpose other than to prolong his time in football.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

What Pep said about the Top 4 was his attempt to deflect attention away from the poor season he had. He knows it and his owners know it too otherwise he’d be fired if he came 3rd or 4th this season. Nothing has been left to chance this season. Man City are flying.

I don’t know if Wenger believes half the crap he says. In most cases I believe he’s just putting up a defence to deflect blame away from his record, but boy oh boy, how he’s managed to convince people of his bullshit is quite remarkable. From fans like Letters, to the Board room. It’s unreal. This is a man that tried to blame Ramsey's injury record on the hairspray Ramsey used!

I really can't understand it either.

Would you not argue though that this is what Wenger does on a constant basis?. He knows the expectation with the board is not challenging for the title so better to try and ameliorate for his failings with Bullshit. Unless he’s of diminished capacity it’s easy to suggest a lot of what he says is ridiculous spin with the most recent example being the whole “ideal situation” in regards to Sanchez and Ozil.
I think as someone desperately trying to square the ridiculous things both he and the club end up doing through negligence and mismanagement, he’s likely to come out with all kinds of nonsense. The sad and appalling thing is we know that Pep can roll out the BS for a season, Wenger can get away with it as long as he wants

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I don’t think he believes he can challenge for the main prizes anymore, not at this stage of his career and life where the environment is so much more competitive.

However he finds himself in a unique position where he doesn’t need to challenge yet finds himself absolutely secure in his job. That is down to the owner first and foremost but also a fanbase that just isn’t bothered enough collectively to do something about it, probably due to sentiment.

It’s the perfect place for him to see out his career in relative comfort despite overseeing and accepting a complete drop off in standards. A vanity project, completely selfish and serves no purpose other than to prolong his time in football.

Pretty much.

[Letters]

I don’t think he believes he can challenge for the main prizes anymore, not at this stage of his career and life where the environment is so much more competitive.

However he finds himself in a unique position where he doesn’t need to challenge yet finds himself absolutely secure in his job. That is down to the owner first and foremost but also a fanbase that just isn’t bothered enough collectively to do something about it, probably due to sentiment.

It’s the perfect place for him to see out his career in relative comfort despite overseeing and accepting a complete drop off in standards. A vanity project, completely selfish and serves no purpose other than to prolong his time in football.

Interesting. I've always thought that he does believe he can and is simple deluded. But what you've suggested is certainly plausible.