THE WENGER THREAD

[northbank123]

From Kroenke's perspective the appeal of keeping Wenger is becoming less apparent. It was obvious when he was happy to deliver top 4 every year without going mad on transfer fees (although paying over the top in wages) and there was no need to rock the boat, but he could pay somebody far less to do a better job of qualifying for top 4 without a doubt now.

The other advantage to the board is that Wenger does a lot of their job for them and doesn't cause them trouble, but how much will Kroenke care about old Chips etc? My thoughts are he would throw him under a bus as quickly as the fans if it would pave the way for him to make more money.

Still don't think he will sack him, but worth remembering that he has stuck by Wenger unwaveringly because he has made him money with the minimum of fuss, not because he's an arsene worshippers like many of our fans.

[xisstential]

Would be interesting for someone not on the waiting list to apply for a season ticket and see how quickly they got offered one

Anyway still not convinced he can't see this out, he is that obstinate and the club/board are that ineffective. Even if he does not re-sign as Manager i'm still convinced he'll be here as Director of football next year with a weak manager and him pulling the strings.

The board just aren't capable of running the club without him and i think it terrifies them not having him to do the stuff they don't know how too, even if he does it poorly he is the one that does it. You can bet your arse he's spent the last few seasons convincing them of how crucial he is and how much it will cost them to replace him in all the different jobs he does

Yea...but he's doing those jobs badly now. Circumstances, time & talent have not only caught him, but overtaken him. If they wanted they could source the right people to straighten it out. Wherever Arsene gets moved to in the club he is going to stink the place out and cost them money..they cannot have that and I think there are people there, who might not actually say it, but they know it..

Pressure, pressure, pressure now...WENGER OUT!!

[Retro Gunner]

Would be interesting for someone not on the waiting list to apply for a season ticket and see how quickly they got offered one

Anyway still not convinced he can't see this out, he is that obstinate and the club/board are that ineffective. Even if he does not re-sign as Manager i'm still convinced he'll be here as Director of football next year with a weak manager and him pulling the strings.

The board just aren't capable of running the club without him and i think it terrifies them not having him to do the stuff they don't know how too, even if he does it poorly he is the one that does it. You can bet your arse he's spent the last few seasons convincing them of how crucial he is and how much it will cost them to replace him in all the different jobs he does

There's a lot of truth in that Muzz. He has made himself indispensable and they have allowed him to do it, either for sheer lack of inclination to deal with it themselves, or because he took advantage of all the credit he had in the bank (both before and after Dein's departure), to garner ever more power for himself, while the board were otherwise engaged, or were simply happy for him to do so.

He needs to go of course, but it's likely to be bedlam when he does. I repeat, that's no reason for him to stay.

[EastupperA]

Would be interesting for someone not on the waiting list to apply for a season ticket and see how quickly they got offered one

Anyway still not convinced he can't see this out, he is that obstinate and the club/board are that ineffective. Even if he does not re-sign as Manager i'm still convinced he'll be here as Director of football next year with a weak manager and him pulling the strings.

The board just aren't capable of running the club without him and i think it terrifies them not having him to do the stuff they don't know how too, even if he does it poorly he is the one that does it. You can bet your arse he's spent the last few seasons convincing them of how crucial he is and how much it will cost them to replace him in all the different jobs he does

I had a season from 1986' latterly in club level, which I gave up 3 seasons ago. I've had numerous marketing calls this year from the club to see if I wanted a ticket for next year. It culminated in me saying I WILL NEVER BUY A SEASON TICKET OR PAY TO WATCH ARSENAL AGAIN IF WENGER IS STILL INVOLVED IN THE CLUB. They were fine about that and laughed and said fair enough you're not the first and they've not called me again.

[Sean]

Judge him in May, you ungrateful bastards!

He'll be telling us 'soon' what he wants to do - Stay here forever

There is now only 29 days left of his £23K per day contract which expires at the end of this month. 699 hours from now

MAKE IT STOP!

[Steve_I]

As a self acknowledged AKB I would point out that even I can see 4th this year would be extremely fortunate given how we've played recently. It is not unheard of that us at the other end of the spectrum can see and say such things

[Sean]

It's obvious. They win and TOF leaves Fuck, I'd take 17th in the table to get him out

Should have added a poll, it'd be fairly one sided

[StuartL]

As a self acknowledged AKB I would point out that even I can see 4th this year would be extremely fortunate given how we've played recently. It is not unheard of that us at the other end of the spectrum can see and say such things

By "recently" do you mean 7/8 years ?
We have been dogshit to watch for the majority of the last 5/6 years

[SteveO 35]

Its been obvious for so long now that the board have been cynically waiting for the right moment to announce that he will be staying, but sadly the usual return to form when the title has gone and the Virtual Trophy comes gleaming into view, hasn't materialised.....so now they have a dilemma

Its clear to me now that there will not be announcement until after the Cup Final. Do it at any time before, when there are still league games to play, and the toxicity will be turned up a notch and the protests and banners will be lapped up by the media.

Do it after the Cup Final and they can't lose. Win the thing and it will be the 'good news' moment they've craved.......lose the thing and there will be 2 months of nothing during which they hope the news will be dampened down by stories of new signings and endless Pathe news reels about how positive everything is.

My guess is that the announcement will take place on the Monday after the final

[A11M11]

Dont rule out Kante being injured / suspended for the final

And once Cesc has shown us all the reasons why Wenger should have got him back and run Ozil into the ground. Costa , Hazard and co can have a field day and we can all go home / turn it off and say we wern't surprised.

[augie]

Preston
Sutton
Lincoln
Southampton reserves
Man City (hit the woodwork twice)

Sheer luck we're in the final, think it will run out against the chavs.

Dont rule out Kante being injured / suspended for the final. Wenger's luck knows no limit.

Kante or no Kante, we are on a 3-0 hiding i think

You could well be right mate.

I think if Chelsea get a 1 or 2 goal lead they're more likely to shut the game down to make sure they don't concede so a thrashing is unlikely but who knows ...

That's exactly what I suspect will happen as well

[Retro Gunner]

As a self acknowledged AKB I would point out that even I can see 4th this year would be extremely fortunate given how we've played recently. It is not unheard of that us at the other end of the spectrum can see and say such things

By "recently" do you mean 7/8 years ?
We have been dogshit to watch for the majority of the last 5/6 years

Quality.

[Wilson]

Wenger will fail to qualify for the CL, and the pressure to spend big to get back into the top 4 will be immense. In contrast, the preferred model was minimal investment and no fuss CL qualification.

Therefore, I wonder if Wenger's usefulness is being questioned by the board. Because from the boards point of view, the monetary and political benefits to keeping him are non-existent. Wenger has been outfoxed by Pochettino and Klopp despite enjoying a bigger budget than both, whilst at the same time Wenger has bombed a heap of money on poor/pointless transfers. So I wonder if the board are asking themselves if backing Wenger is a loser. Why support an unpopular manager who is wasting money on players, and failing to qualify for the top 4 which in effect, costs the club even more money.

The conventional wisdom is Wenger 'makes money for Arsenal'. But is that still true? I would say Wenger is hemorrhaging money - both in transfer fees and stupid wages to players like Giroud and Walcott. Now with the forfeiture of CL revenue, you wonder if Stan and the rest of the board are evaluating Wenger's contribution to the 'business model'.

Do the board trust Wenger with a war chest in this new era of high competition? Gone are the days where our top 4 rivals were Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, or Martin Jol's Tottenham. They could give him 150m on top of player sales and he could still finish 6th next season - and I think the board are beginning to realise it.

The board could sack Wenger, hire Koeman, Allegri, Tuchel or Low, invest in the team, and the mood at the club, and chances of finishing at the top 4 would improve drastically.

They must on some level be investigating not giving him a new contract.

[Bradywasking]

Judge him in May, you ungrateful bastards!

He'll be telling us 'soon' what he wants to do - Stay here forever

There is now only 29 days left of his £23K per day contract which expires at the end of this month. 699 hours from now

MAKE IT STOP!

Just wondering does the new contract legally have to be announced before the old one expires..or can the club drag it into the Summer and announce it by stealth ? ..

[xisstential]

https://m.facebook.com/Centennial38/pho ... =3&theater

American supporters bitching about their "soccer" team the Colorado Rapids....Owned by you know who....Striking similarities between them and us.

Read it, it's not long & worthwhile.