Amnesia strikes anti-Wenger mob

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Published Dec 16, 2012

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London – So, farewell Arsene Wenger. Not yet perhaps but soon, very soon, if the pack has its way. Defeat at Bradford City, in what some of us still call the League Cup, was apparently the last straw. It seems that the Arsenal manager must fall on his sword. Failing that, he must be shown the door. Either way, he has to go. Don’t take my word for it; listen to the people.

One red-top tabloid, which knows a bandwagon when one comes clattering by, organised a highly scientific opinion poll. This “damning” exercise revealed that around 60per cent of respondents believed that Wenger’s time was up.

Considering it was taken in the hours after Bradford, and plainly included a hefty cargo of drunks, comedians and Tottenham supporters, some might think the manager came out rather well.

Yet the weight of informed opinion was against him. Somebody called Tim, who is apparently a spokesman for the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, announced: “His inability to delegate or seek help from others has resulted in a stale environment where best practice is no longer to the fore.”

We must wonder how Tim can speak so confidently of such private matters. But in the current climate, even impertinent middle-management clichés find an audience.

Which takes us, quite seamlessly, to Stewart Robson, who played for Arsenal more than a quarter of a century ago. Robson declared himself “embarrassed” by Wenger. “In my view,” said Robson, “it was time up for him three or four years ago … Tactically Arsenal are all over the place, they are underprepared defensively and he doesn’t understand the game well enough.”

Now, most will acknowledge that losing to Bradford was mildly disgraceful, that a good many of Arsenal’s displays this season have been sub-standard, that the performances of players such as Gervinho, Chamakh and Santos are incomprehensible and that the manager’s recent transfer dealings are heavily at odds with his glittering track record in this department.

And Wenger must know that he has made enemies. He is not “clubbable’, he has never sought membership of that managerial cabal which likes to gather after matches to swap cosy anecdotes, curse grasping players, endorse amenable agents and slurp expensive red wine. A frosty winner and a graceless loser, the Arsenal manager has offended most of his contemporaries down the years with his distaste for conspiratorial small talk. He will expect no mercy in these mean and trying times.

Yet Robson’s portrayal of Wenger is clearly an absurd caricature. The man who “doesn’t understand the game” has won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups. That same inadequate innocent has secured Arsenal a place in the Champions League for 15 consecutive seasons. Think about it: not since Tony Blair’s first administration was in its opening year have Arsenal failed to qualify for Europe’s major competition and even then they played in the old Uefa Cup.

The consistency is staggering, the achievement extraordinary, especially when we reflect that he has also effectively built a glorious stadium and encouraged his sides to produce some of the most enthralling football the modern British game has seen.

In recent memory, the teams of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, back to Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira have set standards of excellence which speak of inspired coaching and sensitive development. Yet this is the man whose head is currently being demanded by an avenging posse. Loud of voice and short of memory, they seek a manager who will take them to “another level”.

Well, in a spirit of helpfulness, I have compiled a random list of men who may be open to offers of employment.

Assuming that Pep Guardiola is unavailable, it includes the likes of Avram Grant, Roy Keane, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer, Iain Dowie and Mark Hughes. These may not be the kind of candidates who would slide snugly into the shoes of Arsene Wenger.

Clearly, I have no stake in this particular argument. But we are considering the future of an authentic visionary, one of our most brilliantly accomplished football managers.

And so I say to the avenging mob: be very careful what you wish for. – Mail On Sunday

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