RealGunner wrote:truly a father figure for most of us.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says goodbye to the fans at Emirates Stadium. pic.twitter.com/bJBM1121PE

— Stuart MacFarlane (@Stuart_PhotoAFC) May 6, 2018

After lunch Wenger watches a recording of the entire training session and has meetings with his staff and players, who are welcome to drop in at any time. The door to his office is open most of the time with the manager conscious to make sure he is accessible, although, rather than holding formal meetings, many of his conversations with the players take place as they are walking out to train or during the session. In recent years Steve Bould, his assistant manager, has held most of the team meetings, with Wenger preferring to offer his guidance one to one.

Wenger was responsible for lobbying the club to build the new training ground 20 years ago, as well as being instrumental in the construction of the Emirates Stadium, and his pride in the place and respect for all the staff remain obvious. His gift for diplomacy is such that he has managed to stay on good terms with all the competing factions at Arsenal, including Stan Kroenke, the majority shareholder, and Alisher Usmanov, his great rival, who sends Wenger several hampers every Christmas, the contents of which he gives to workers at the training ground.

“He makes a point of walking around the training ground checking everything is immaculate,” a staff member says. “When they planted some new trees recently he was always talking to the groundsmen, asking them how they were doing. He gets on very well with the head groundsman and they have a laugh and a joke, with the boss asking him how many tractors he buys every year. He has got a real human touch. He talks to all the security staff and gets on with everyone.”

“As soon as we get on the coach after an away game the first thing he says is, ‘Get the Spanish football on’,” a member of his team says. “It’s football, football, football. I’ve never brought up a game that he’s not watched, or a player he doesn’t know. Sometimes the staff try to test him by talking about an African game or scoreline and he says, ‘Yes, I watched that’. His knowledge is remarkable.”

Wenger is an atheist but, despite this, was profoundly moved by meeting the Pope while refereeing a so-called peace match in Rome four years ago, insisting on fulfilling his commitment to attend even though it clashed with the final day of the transfer window when Arsenal were negotiating the purchase of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United.

He also enjoys travel and gets regular invitations to speak at events all over the world. He receives offers of non-executive directorships from global companies and is particularly fascinated by China. On one trip to Beijing he was asked to have a go at karaoke with Jackie Chan, but politely declined.

It's the end of an era...

22 years
1,235 games
716 wins
2,298 goals
1 Arsène Wenger#MerciArsène pic.twitter.com/5nn4K7blD4

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 13, 2018