g88ner wrote:Steve_I wrote:if we were managerless and Arsene had never managed us but was available with his current record but from a different club, we'd be wanting him - is a view of mine)
Just out of interest, which current record are you referring to?
Are you including 1998-2006 in that? or concentrating on the matter at hand i.e. the alarming decline over recent seasons?
Because if you turn your agrument on it's head, and ask if Wenger had left after the Champions League final in 2006 and was replaced by a manager (lets call him John Smith) who then went on to win nothing for the next 6 years, replaced all of our experienced players with a youth project that didn't really work, oversaw a staggering decline in quality, a decline in defensive stability (we conceded a whopping 49 last season! - and not much better in the 3 previous seasons either), and had overseen an 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford, as well as having the worst start to a season in 17 years last year, and worst start in 18 years this season, would you still be happy to retain him as manager?
And what if we'd gone from signing gems like Henry, Pires, Anelka, Cesc, RvP, Vieira, etc. (all pre-2006) and instead 'John Smith' was bringing through (and endlessly playing) players of lesser talent and lesser character, would you be ok with that?
And what if, together with this staggering decline, our entertainment value had also plummeted at the same rate as our ticket prices went up? and what if he was tactically naive, and spent most of the games berating the 4th official, and talking nonsense in interviews? what if he'd insisted on getting players like Bendtner, Denilson, Chamakh, Squillaci, Almunia, etc. on long contracts that make them dead-weights... and what if he over-relied on injury prone players that constantly handicapped us when they inevitably spend months on the sidelines? and what if he'd removed any sign of leadership from the team? and... ah, you get the idea.
Personally, I think people are [understandably] unable to seperate the great Wenger from the John Smith bloke
but for me, he used to be top quality champagne, bubbling and fizzing away in all his glory... now he's a flat, watered down, pint of John Smith's
To lack any respect for the man after what he has achieved for us is ungrateful and very short-sighted. I'm not an AKB but I have the decency to accept that he's still a good manager. Anyway, for me the greater evil is the board, who's exploitation of Arsenal's fanbase through their charging of extortionate ticket prices and complete disresgard for the fans' thoughts and priorities are killing our club more than any manager could
