Most of the Gooners on this forum appear (in my opinion) to beoverstating the loss of henry and have gone into a depression as a result. Lets be 100% clear about this...the future successes of The Arsenal were not in any way linked to whether henry stayed at The Arsenal but rather are firmly linked to the future of Arsene Wenger. I doubt in the history of the game has any club so depended on its manager like we do wenger which is the reason I am posting this article. Arsene is very unhappy and unsettled since his friend David Dein was sacked and it is his future uncertainty that is leading to mass hysteria amongst the players, the fans and the media far more than the departure of henry. This leads me to the question - "how far would each of us, as fans, go to secure the long term signing of Arsene Wenger ?".
If Arsene demanded the reinstatement of David Dein before he would agree to sign a new deal would we then led a major board protest demanding such an action ? If arsene demanded outside investment to provide a decent transfer budget so that he can continue to keep the club at the top would we again support him in this request ? Finally, if he felt that the current board were not equipped (financially) to maintain Arsenal and Wenger in the lofty heights we've all become used to, and he therefore stated his desire sold to people that could take the club to new heights would we also back him on this ?
I do not have the answer for the last question but my answer to the 1st two questions would be an definite yes and I believe my fellow gooners that these three points are all interlinked to arsenes future (I was going to call this article The Linx Effect).
David Dein brought Arsene Wenger to this club and his influence on all things Arsenal over the last 20 years or so has been seriously understated by most fans. It appears to me that a lot of fans that opposed Dein over the introduction of kroenke were spilt into 2 groups - 1 that didnt want the club to lose its tradition or heritage and the 2nd group, of what I would call newish fans, that didn't really see the loss of Dein as a big deal. The 1st group I can understnd but to me the 2nd goup have no idea how low the standing of our beloved club was all those years ago when DD first entered our boardroom. To put in simply, if this recent uproar had not happened, and wenger decided next season that he wanted to stand aside then DD would have still been at the club and would have gone about his business quietly and used his contacts to bring in a top quality suitable replacement for le Boss and things would have gone on as before. In the meantime the players would not have been unsettled because the trust that they placed in dein would still be there and the worlds biggest clubs would not be circling our team like vultures about to pounce on a half dead animal. Would DD have stayed at Arsenal after Wenger had left ? The answer is without a doubt yes because Dein is an Arsenal man through and through. The question is now though, will Wenger stay after DD's departure and sadly the answer looks to be a resounding no. For all those that have supported the saying in recent years that "Arsene Knows" then you should at this moment of time be asking yourselves what does Arsene now know that is making him question his long term future at the club. When DD was sacked i sadly forcast the start of a domino effect that would shake this club to the core and it now appears to be coming to pass. As fans we need to see DD return, we need to see Wenger commit his future to our club and we need to see the club invest in top quality additions to our playing staff and this is a message we need to get across to the board now...or else I fear it will be too late.
