Re: Arsene Wenger Contract Discussion Thread

[Jay29]

So other than Martinez, does anyone have any other ideas for a replacement assuming Wenger walks at the end of this season?

I looked around for some potential names - not sure if some are attainable, though:

Mauricio Pochettino - Southampton
Diego Simeone - Atletico Madrid
Ernesto Valverde - Atheltic Bilbao
Rudi Garcia - Roma
Jurgen Klopp - Borussia Dortmund
Remi Garde - Lyon
Frank De Boer - Ajax
Louis van Gaal - Netherlands
Marcelo Bielsa - Unattached
Steve Bould
Patrick Vieira

[MJ]

If you have a manager whose only option is to bring on Yaya Sanogo when we are 3-0 down in in such huge game, you know that we have a manager who is clueless and a team which has no depth and class at all.

I just hope Wenger calls it quit. There is no need to tarnish and destroy his legacy with this persistent failure. Give him a billion dollar to spend he will still find a way to *bleep* it up.

No class at all? Raptor, you're starting to throw out ridiculous words.

[RealGunner]

So other than Martinez, does anyone have any other ideas for a replacement assuming Wenger walks at the end of this season?

I looked around for some potential names - not sure if some are attainable, though:

Mauricio Pochettino - Southampton
Diego Simeone - Atletico Madrid
Ernesto Valverde - Atheltic Bilbao
Rudi Garcia - Roma
Jurgen Klopp - Borussia Dortmund
Remi Garde - Lyon
Frank De Boer - Ajax
Louis van Gaal - Netherlands
Marcelo Bielsa - Unattached
Steve Bould
Patrick Vieira

Lucien Favre but might be a bit too old if we want to go with someone who is there to stay for 5+ years.

[urbaNRoots]

Vincenzo Montella (Fiorentina), Thomas Tuchel (Mainz 05, inb4who), Ancelotti or Martino (should they leave RM/Barça).

I doubt our board know half these names though

[Raptorgunner]

[Raptorgunner]

If you have a manager whose only option is to bring on Yaya Sanogo when we are 3-0 down in in such huge game, you know that we have a manager who is clueless and a team which has no depth and class at all.

I just hope Wenger calls it quit. There is no need to tarnish and destroy his legacy with this persistent failure. Give him a billion dollar to spend he will still find a way to *bleep* it up.

No class at all? Raptor, you're starting to throw out ridiculous words.

I dont care about losing but these players showing no class to be gunner, no fight it sad watching them. Do they know how lucky they are to be playing for Arsenal? do they know some of greatest players did play for Arsenal?

To me after that match, I gave up on these players, their weak mentality and weak physical fight is getting me worried for next season.

[EL Patron]

[Sina]

Add Roger Schmidt to that list as well!
Montella interesting mention esp if he could bring that set piece specialist with him

but still hope Arsene stays,wins some trophy,build proper squad for his successor and leave on high

[Twoism]

Add Roger Schmidt to that list as well!
Montella interesting mention esp if he could bring that set piece specialist with him

but still hope Arsene stays,wins some trophy,build proper squad for his successor and leave on high

Some years later   

[Raptorgunner]

Arsenal are paying the price for Arsene Wenger avoiding confrontation and dodging big issues for far too long

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/10749414/Arsenal-are-paying-the-price-for-Arsene-Wenger-avoiding-confrontation-and-dodging-big-issues-for-far-too-long.html

[Jay29]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/10750921/Arsenal-will-not-countenance-sacking-Arsene-Wenger-even-if-season-ends-in-FA-Cup-and-fourth-place-failure.html

I guess that means Wenger is bigger than the club, then?

[MJ]

Interesting that the majority want him to stay no matter what.

As listed by the article.

If FA Cup and Top 4 are achieved: 68% want him to stay
If only Top 4: 61%
If only FA Cup: 56%
If neither: 54% but majority on a 1 year contract


It's my unpopular opinion that his staying is still what's best for the club. There needs to be change in the medical staff and our training regimens in addition to sincere and swift movements in the market. I genuinely believe he's still that man.

Hopefully on Saturday he'll give us more belief in him.

[urbaNRoots]

The attitude of the board and majority owner Stan Kroenke has been utterly consistent. They believe the recent dip is largely explained by so many injuries to key players and still hope and expect Wenger to lead Arsenal into what will be a new era of massively enhanced resources from this summer.

Are these people at Arsenal blind or something? Injuries are no excuse for losing to your rivals regularly every *bleep* year. This worries me most when Arséne decides to leave, our board know nothing about football, how can you trust these people on selecting our new coach? Even their shortlist is unrealistic, none of Martinez, Klopp or Simeone will leave their clubs in the summer for Arsenal.

[Busby Babe]

I know it's The Telegraph, there might be some truth to that article, but I don't expect your club to say that they're not backing Wenger while the season is still going on. You still have something to play for. I think all will be clearer at the end of the season.

[Jay29]

It sends out a completely wrong message, though. 5th place and no FA Cup would be failure for this club, but yet they're saying they'll reward the manager with a new contract even if that's all he accomplished this season, and that he's not accountable for that failure because there are external factors such as injuries.

Not exactly reassuring sentiments given the uncertainty surrounding Wenger's future, are they?

[Busby Babe]

I agree, but this message might be there to avoid further dressing room unrest rather than to give fans some reassurance. The injuries excuse is a poor cover up, which is why I think think some of this article might not be true. If that's the best your board can come up with, it's hard to believe serious questions are not being asked behind the scenes.

Anyway, it's not unusual for clubs to say they back their man and sack him a few days later, like, for example, Swansea with Laudrup.

I also think your board out of respect, for Arsene Wenger, will say he decided to leave, rather than they didn't offer him a new contract. So, it seems it was his decision.

[Lex]

Shouldn't we wait until the end of the season before throwing out "5th place" and "no FA Cup?"

[Jay29]

The Mirror and Daily Mail are running the story, too, though they give a different slant to the whole thing.

Honestly, none of this is helping anybody. It's becoming a big distraction in itself, and makes me wonder if the staff's uncertainty about their futures is effecting the mood of the players as well. Results aren't going our way and we've got a manager who's looking more resigned and fed up by the week.

One or way or another, Wenger needs to make his mind up soon. Whatever decision he makes can end up motivating the players.

[Chumlum]

Some perspective: just imagine what it's like to be a Spurs fan. You bring in all kinds of different managers over the years, you spend big on hyped up players, and still, as urban puts it, you get beat every year by your rivals. Year after year.

However much someone wants to see Wenger go, and however many rational reasons one cites, let's not lose total perspective either. Late-period Wenger may have a lot of problems, but thus far he hasn't ever left the club in shambles, and he won't be leaving it in bad shape if he walks away this May. Just disappointment, not disaster. (Anyone who thinks 100% consistent CL qualification and a new stadium qualify as "disastrous" by any sane, rational standard is just not thinking things through...)

Arsenal should be fine. This is just another crappy period. Whether Wenger stays or goes is, to me, less important than the hope that whoever is running the club does a better job planning & executing things this summer.

[LeBéninois]

Interesting that the majority want him to stay no matter what.

As listed by the article.

If FA Cup and Top 4 are achieved: 68% want him to stay
If only Top 4: 61%
If only FA Cup: 56%
If neither: 54% but majority on a 1 year contract


It's my unpopular opinion that his staying is still what's best for the club. There needs to be change in the medical staff and our training regimens in addition to sincere and swift movements in the market. I genuinely believe he's still that man.

Hopefully on Saturday he'll give us more belief in him.

Doing the same thing over and over again , expecting differents results : how could you realistically expect thoses changes if the same people are still in place. I like wenger but if he stays he should get new people in, people who are going to bring news alternatives to the club.

Much easier said than done. for instance our injuries problems have been around for easily 6 years now (seems ridiculous) .

[Raptorgunner]

I love Wenger and what hes done but I support the club not him, I just dont trust him anymore. Wenger will never change, its too late for him to change his principles, a tiger never loses his stripes.

He is the 3rd highest paid manager in the world, had he done his job and brought in players in January instead of injured player we would not be losing players every week and would be still fighting for EPL.

How does a top manager like Wenger keep playing Arteta and Giroud every week? he has repeatedly made the same mistakes over and over again and that is where the resentment towards him is stoked.

I would give Wenger one more year if he drops Arteta and Giroud for the rest of the season.

[MJ]

I get that you're upset, maybe you're right to a degree in that Arteta is past being a starter for us but I honestly don't see Sanogo for the rest of the season as an option.

[The Verminator]

I hate to say this, I really do. But this is the first time I've ever thought to myself that I want Wenger out (at the end of the season of course). I won't say I want him out 100%, more like 70% of me wants him out, and another 30% says I want him to stay atleast one more season. And I never thought I would even think of this because even when things were sour, I defended Wenger, I always said he's got limited funds, too many injuries, fans overreacting and all that. But now, I dunno. 6-3 Man City, 5-1 'Pool, 6-0 Chelsea, and now 3-0 against friggin Everton ffs. This is too much; I mean 8-2 against United, I was horrified, but wrote it off as a once off, but this season we've seen us get mauled by teams we should be competing against for the title.

I don't know who else we could bring in that would get us to the top, and the thought of a managerial change is a little scary tbh when you look at other teams who change managers all the time. But I don't think we will ever win the league with Wenger I'm afraid. And that sucks coz I really want Wenger to lift the league trophy atleast one more time before his time runs out at AFC.

P.S: We need another striker (not blaming Giroud for all these poor results, not scapegoating him for all our problems), and Podolski is being wasted I reckon. I feel he can have a greater impact for us if he plays in a different position that can bring out the best from him (Not as a lone striker, I don't think that will work). And we might need a great player to replace Arteta. Don't feel like he's starter quality. Although strangely enough I'd love to see Arteta be given a shot in a more advanced position. I reckon it's a gamble that could pay off.

[MJ]

Decent piece defending Wenger for those interested. Makes some good points:

http://www.akhilvyas.com/2014/04/end-of-era-still-seven-huge-games-to-go.html?m=1

[Chumlum]

Here's another very interesting piece - it's not anti-Wenger per se, but it is profoundly critical of the Arsenal set-up (tactics, training, transfers, etc.) and its author thinks that Wenger may walk.

http://le-grove.co.uk/2014/04/08/guess-which-other-manager-has-a-degree/

To me, this is a good critical summary. Clearly, there is immense respect for Wenger here and the piece doesn't ever stoop to ad hominem attacks (whereas some people just look for scapegoats to get that emotional release). This author is deeply impassioned about the club, but dispassionate in analysis. That's what I like to see, whatever the conclusion is re: Wenger, transfer policy, etc.

[Raptorgunner]

The telegraph put it quite bluntly, Wenger is afraid of confrontation.

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