As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Belfast Boy wrote:Gonna put my head above the parapet here just to ask am I the only one who doesn't understand why AW for all his many faults is currently accused of being a hypocrite concerning Henry's full time punditry position with Sky compared with AW's occasional (in this case during off season) punditry, especially as, unless I'm mistaken, his point is it's a conflict to work with players during the week and then criticise them at the wknd no matter how valid the criticism is???
I would agree with you if henry was coaching the first team squad or reserves - the reality is that he would be training academy players and wouldn't be criticising them on sky anyway. The problem here is that any weekend criticism would be seen as a slight on wenger and the club as much as it would be the players - when he rightly question giroud last season, the accusation was that he isn't good enough, but it also indirectly implies that wenger cannot see it and we cannot be seen to question the emperor
Good to see you posting again BB - I think that we see haleys comet more than we see you (our absent mod )
I guess in many ways Wenger knows this season will be really tough. Some fans are against him and other teams will be much stronger this season. If we fail to deliver it will be far worse than last year. You could argue that the relationship between Henry and Wenger will be tested to the limit if it's Henry who has to be honest and say that the team is just not good enough.
It's looking like Wenger has failed to do his homework and have a clear target to bring us more goals so with Giroud being our main option, Henry's comments last season mean much more to the fans.
Yet has decided not to strengthen?? I've said this before... Wenger knows deep down he sucks, you cannot lie to yourself....... So when guys like Mourinho, Pep and all the other PL managers go out and spend huge money on big name players they already know how they intend to deploy those players, how to set the team up, how they are going to fit them in to a formidable team they intend building. Not Wenger though, he doesn't do tactics, formations, defensive strategies....etc, so he is shit scared to go out and spend £100m and fall flat on his face, because he WILL. So instead he lets everybody spend huge money,then when they beat us he points to all the money they spent as the reason. Not only is he clueless, he's a coward as well, hoping to scrape into the CL with the minimum amount of outlay, then convince the faithful that it is an incredible achievement. Not this year though, too many good teams, too many managers who have his number, this is the year he crashes & burns.
Btw Henry told Wenger he's not giving up his Sky job. Good for him.
I think Henry was wrong to take the sky job. sky represent all that is wrong in football but the lure of 4 mill a year meant he sold his soul to the devil.
choice between 4 mill or an unpaid job to get your badges mmm easy choice !
Wilson wrote:The reason Wenger wants to get rid of him, is because Henry carries so much weight with Arsenal fans, that Wenger feels his presence at the club is a threat to his own position. Henry acts as an immediate replacement should Arsenal fans demand Wenger's sacking if this season goes sour. But without anyone to take the job at the drop of a hat, Wenger can at least bat away calls for an instant sacking.
When it comes to forward thinking in culling those who could potentially threaten his reign, Wenger is a master. A person of Henry's stature, universally loved by the fans, already in a coaching capacity at the club - Wenger knowing he is under pressure, has moved to clip the wings of a potential replacement.
Its just about self-preservation by Wenger. As what good does this do to get rid of Henry? He is our greatest ever player, and as one of the great strikers of a generation, can offer insight few others can. Yet Wenger wants to sack him because he does a bit of work on the side being a pundit - which Wenger has himself done in international tournaments.
Worst thing is, Henry is still doing his coaching badges, so will need a new club to coach at, and given his work with Sky, its certain Henry is going to end up at one of our rivals.
Wenger really is a vile, nasty, arrogant, scheming c unt. Just because of his horrible insecurities, he will drive Thierry Henry into the employment of another club.
This is from today's Sun newspaper and the tone and the barbed comments about jealousy and not getting a new contract without a title challenge sound like the press tide is turning against him at long last. Let's hope it's the beginning of them finally going after him properly:
Under-pressure Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger shows it’s his way or the highway as Thierry Henry is denied coaching role
ARSENE WENGER has seen the writing on the Emirates wall and he does not like what it says.
The longest-serving manager in football has entered the final year of his Arsenal contract and is feeling the heat like never beforeBut the reality was that he suspected the club’s greatest ever player was emerging as his possible managerial replacement.
And he was not going to allow Henry to learn his trade at the club’s London Colney headquarters unless he agreed to stay under the radar and commit himself to a virtual gagging order. But Henry could not just turn his back on the six-year deal which he signed with Sky Sports last year.
So Henry will now reluctantly continue to work towards obtaining his Pro Licence coaching badge away from the club where his statue stands proudly outside their stadium.
The ex-France international, 38, has already received offers from a number of Arsenal’s Premier League rivals and is currently weighing up all of his options.
Wenger’s ultimatum was actually delivered at the end of last season but news of Henry’s departure only emerged when he was absent for the start of pre-season training last week.
Wenger, 66, famously hates confrontation but felt compelled to act when Henry was asked to become assistant coach with the Under-18s by academy head Andries Jonker in May.
That job offer was overruled by Wenger despite Henry rejecting a six-figure salary and telling Jonker that he would continue to work for nothing. Henry had worked up to six a days a week helping the Under-18 and Under-19 teams last season, travelling around Europe with the club’s young stars of the future without being paid a penny.
It was shortly after gaining his Uefa A licence in March he wrote in his SunSport column that he had never heard the Arsenal fans as angry as they had been after the home defeat by Swansea.
Wenger’s response was both churlish and childish.
He snapped: “He cannot measure the anger of 60,000 people because he sits in the best seats in the stadium.”
Wenger added that he would demand a face-to-face explanation for the comments, but never said a word to Henry despite both men being at the training ground that day.
Matters were hardly helped when respected French newspaper L’Equipe reported Henry was being lined up as Wenger’s eventual successor.
It is understood that Henry’s representatives discussed Wenger’s Sky ultimatum with a senior member of the club’s hierarchy, who made it clear he sympathised with the club’s 228-goal record scorer but was not prepared to cross the manager.
And therein lies the problem for Arsenal. For Henry is not the first strong-minded club legend to have his wings clipped by Wenger. Patrick Vieira and Jens Lehmann were also refused the opportunity to join the Arsenal coaching staff.
Yet the closer Wenger gets to the end of his £8million-a-year contract, the more jealously he guards his power.
It would be unfair to label any of his current coaching staff as ‘yes men’ but it is clear that none of them are regarded as future managerial material.
Wenger, more stubborn than ever as he approaches his 20th anniversary at the helm with the Gunners in October, is convinced that he still has plenty more to offer the club.
He points to the fact that his team enjoyed their highest finish in 11 years last season rather than missing out on a Premier League crown which was theirs for the taking.
Yet he knows that if his side cannot sustain a genuine title challenge this time, it will be impossible for even the most dozy board of directors to offer him a new deal.
He has already started his mind games, suggesting this week that he would be interested in taking on the England job next year.
Such blatant flirting has reaped rich rewards for Wenger in previous years, with the board caving in to all his demands in the face of interest from Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain.
But he might not have it all his own way this time.
This time next year, Henry will complete his Pro Licence and have all the qualifications required to become a Premier League boss.
Fluent in four languages, Henry has won the World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, Premier League and Spanish League as a player.
He has also learned from some of the finest coaching brains in the business during his time at Monaco, Juventus and Barcelona, including new Manchester City chief Pep Guardiola and Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti.
For the first time this century, Arsene Wenger is no longer the only name in the Arsenal frame.
It would be unfair to label any of his current coaching staff as ‘yes men’
Im not sure how they came up with that......it'd be spot on imo!
but this is all good stuff...the fact the mask is already slipping without a ball being kicked means the the momentum gained last year has not gone away at all. The press already smell blood and guaranteed if klopps lot turn up opening day and hand out a beating tyhen poor little le fraud will fast run out of places to hide....i cannot wait for our season to get going...this is the year he gets what coming!!
Last edited by xgtdec on Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
I think we all thought Wenger would finally compete in the transfer market because it's the last year of his contract and the fans and players are far from happy. Firstly you don't keep Sanchez and Ozil if we can't compete in the Champions League.
Secondly the fans have had enough of the team not competing for the Premier League.
Yes United have wasted money on players but with Mourinho they are still spending a fortune because the fans demand success.
Thirdly WHY put yourself and the club through another unhappy season when it could be your last. Does Kronke demand we don't spend money. It's all very strange and there is no hiding place for Wenger anymore or indeed any player who continues to fail to perform like Walcott and a few others we all know.
supergeorgegraham wrote:I think we all thought Wenger would finally compete in the transfer market because it's the last year of his contract and the fans and players are far from happy. Firstly you don't keep Sanchez and Ozil if we can't compete in the Champions League.
Secondly the fans have had enough of the team not competing for the Premier League.
Yes United have wasted money on players but with Mourinho they are still spending a fortune because the fans demand success.
Thirdly WHY put yourself and the club through another unhappy season when it could be your last. Does Kronke demand we don't spend money. It's all very strange and there is no hiding place for Wenger anymore or indeed any player who continues to fail to perform like Walcott and a few others we all know.
oh come on you have had years of Wenger not competing in the transfer market. Why would he change now?
1) Sanchez and Ozil are still here as far as I can see
2) the fans gave him a vote of confidence at the "protest against Wenger" last season. He can therefore do as he likes
3) Wenger will see that the team finished 2nd last season and which he, the board and the vast majority of the numbskulls that now inhabit the Emirates see as a massive success
when we finish 4th again next season those same "fans" will be claiming it to be one of Wenger's greatest achievements considering there are so many top class managers in the PL now. it will then be just a question of when not if le cock signs his latest contract. the torture continues...
supergeorgegraham wrote:I think we all thought Wenger would finally compete in the transfer market because it's the last year of his contract and the fans and players are far from happy. Firstly you don't keep Sanchez and Ozil if we can't compete in the Champions League.
Secondly the fans have had enough of the team not competing for the Premier League.
Yes United have wasted money on players but with Mourinho they are still spending a fortune because the fans demand success.
Thirdly WHY put yourself and the club through another unhappy season when it could be your last. Does Kronke demand we don't spend money. It's all very strange and there is no hiding place for Wenger anymore or indeed any player who continues to fail to perform like Walcott and a few others we all know.
The Ozil and Sanchez situation's are either going to come to a head this season, or next. I still maintain that both players were tricked into signing for us. I doubt the likes of Ozil would leave Madrid, if there was no expectations of a world class striker coming in. Likewise, Sanchez must have been promised big signings to convince him to sign. This, along with the loser mentality that is obvious amongst most at the club, will mean that both players will be gone soon enough.
supergeorgegraham wrote:I think we all thought Wenger would finally compete in the transfer market because it's the last year of his contract and the fans and players are far from happy. Firstly you don't keep Sanchez and Ozil if we can't compete in the Champions League.
Secondly the fans have had enough of the team not competing for the Premier League.
Yes United have wasted money on players but with Mourinho they are still spending a fortune because the fans demand success.
Thirdly WHY put yourself and the club through another unhappy season when it could be your last. Does Kronke demand we don't spend money. It's all very strange and there is no hiding place for Wenger anymore or indeed any player who continues to fail to perform like Walcott and a few others we all know.
The Ozil and Sanchez situation's are either going to come to a head this season, or next. I still maintain that both players were tricked into signing for us. I doubt the likes of Ozil would leave Madrid, if there was no expectations of a world class striker coming in. Likewise, Sanchez must have been promised big signings to convince him to sign. This, along with the loser mentality that is obvious amongst most at the club, will mean that both players will be gone soon enough.
Ozil has repeatedly said he signed because of Wenger showing belief in him, the inference being that the Madrid manager didn't. So Wenger charmed him. How long Wenger's charm can keep a world class player like Ozil content to be an also ran in the PL and CL is the real question for me.
DB10 - "Ozil has repeatedly said he signed because of Wenger showing belief in him, the inference being that the Madrid manager didn't. So Wenger charmed him. How long Wenger's charm can keep a world class player like Ozil content to be an also ran in the PL and CL is the real question for me".
DB, is it not a bit simplistic to suggest that a top class signed because Wenger 'charmed' him? I'm guessing he looked for some assurances on signings, and the direction the club was going in. If he didn't, then he can have no complaints as to Wenger's lack of activity in the transfer window.
BFG4 wrote:DB10 - "Ozil has repeatedly said he signed because of Wenger showing belief in him, the inference being that the Madrid manager didn't. So Wenger charmed him. How long Wenger's charm can keep a world class player like Ozil content to be an also ran in the PL and CL is the real question for me".
DB, is it not a bit simplistic to suggest that a top class signed because Wenger 'charmed' him? I'm guessing he looked for some assurances on signings, and the direction the club was going in. If he didn't, then he can have no complaints as to Wenger's lack of activity in the transfer window.
Maybe, but we have no way of knowing. You have to remember that most footballers are not that intellectual and often are led by their heart or their wallet. Not saying that is Ozil - but we have no way of knowing beyond what Ozil has said. And all he has repeatedly said when asked is; "‘Arsene Wenger was definitely the main reason I signed here".
Of course there is media-speak and a few soundbites in there but I honestly believe Ozil signed because Wenger charmed him. Maybe he did also promise big signings, who knows (and he can probably point at Sanchez as one such).
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