Will Wenger step down at end of season?

[Tony Tuesdays]

Probably bullshit, and no doubt if asked the question he'll refute it but here goes...




Arsene Wenger reveals to close friends that he is preparing for his final season as Arsenal manager

The Gunners boss has privately conceded that his reign at the Emirates is coming to an end, with newly rich Paris Saint-Germain keeping a close eye on his situation

The Frenchman has three years remaining on the new contract that he signed last summer but has privately conceded that his tenure at the club is coming to an end.

The longest-serving manager in Arsenal’s history has already begun considering other options in football because he fears his powerbase will eventually be diminished by new owner Stan Kroenke and has been shocked by the growing criticism he has received from supporters over the last 12 months.

Goal.com understands that Wenger met a Manchester City delegation led by chief executive Garry Cook and football administrator Brian Marwood at a hotel in Kensington, west London, in May although there is no confirmation that the Frenchman either sought to or was asked to replace Roberto Mancini at Etihad Stadium.

Nevertheless, the Arsenal manager held informal talks with the new owners of Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain this summer to discuss the prospect of him taking over as manager at the French club.

PSG - who have spent heavily on new players, including £37 million on Javier Pastore, over the last two months - targeted Wenger as their No.1 choice to use the club’s financial muscle to restore their place at the summit of French football and establish them among the Champions League elite. The club has not won Ligue 1 since 1994.

Wenger, who owns an apartment close to PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, rejected the opportunity although he admitted in an interview with a Strasbourg TV station in June that he has long-standing friendships with senior officials at the club. It is believed that the Arsenal manager has had a loose arrangement for many years to advise PSG on transfers and recruitment strategy.

One source said that Wenger has established a “great relationship” with the French club’s Qatari investors, who could make another move for him if PSG underachieve this season under new sporting director Leonardo and manager Antoine Kombouare.

His relationship with Arsenal supporters has become increasingly tense over the last year, particularly after the club extended their trophy drought to six years following a disastrous finish to last season.

Wenger promised that he would be “very active” in the transfer market in the summer as he pledged to rebuild a team that has faded badly in recent campaigns and, while he has spent relatively large sums on two attacking midfielders, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the new Premier League season about to kick off, he has yet to address the club’s chronic defensive frailties.
The Frenchman still retains the full support of the Arsenal board and there is believed to be little appetite for change at the top of a club whose ambition has generally been restricted to securing a Champions League place, something Wenger will do for the 14th consecutive season if his team beat Udinese in a qualifier later this month.

However, Wenger knows that the criticism from the stands will reach unprecedented levels if Arsenal begin what is a tricky start to the season in sluggish fashion, particularly if it follows the anticipated sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City.

Those close to the Frenchman say he increasingly feels it is time for a new challenge, a situation exacerbated by the growing uncertainty caused by Kroenke’s takeover and Alisher Usmanov’s increased shareholding.

He is proud of his record of honouring his contracts throughout his coaching career and has consistently stated he will do the same at Arsenal. The cost of paying off the Frenchman’s £6million-a-year contract, which is supplemented by a £1m bonus for winning the Champions League, would mean that only a cataclysmic start to the season would lead to him being removed from his post before Christmas.

Wenger, who is 62 in October, has no medium-term plans for either retirement or a less hands-on role ‘upstairs’. He wants to continue in management and the prospect of overseeing an ambitious project in club football is one that appeals to him.

Wenger’s agent Leon Angel refused to comment on his client’s situation.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/08/13/2617767/arsene-wenger-reveals-to-close-friends-that-he-is-preparing

[Ironing]

It's goal.com

Of course it's fucking bullshit

When will people learn?

Surely a constant stream of bullshit from the same website is a bit of a clue?

[Marc Overmars]

No but I would be willing to bet that his current contract will be his last with us.

He'd look a bit silly going to PSG as well given how vocal he has been about the spending power of Chelsea and City.

[Cripps_orig]

Hope so. Would have said there was no way he would leave but Goal are rarely wrong. I'm hoping they are wrong now tbh and he leaves now instead of end of the season

[Joker]

Wishful thinking tbh.

[Syn]

It's goal.com

Of course it's fucking bullshit

When will people learn?

Surely a constant stream of bullshit from the same website is a bit of a clue?

Nope, the people quoting it are utter cretins.

[Alias]

Could you imagine if he actually signs another deal? i think id die.

[fakeyank]

This m'fucker needs to leave the club.. He has ruined whatever legacy he built and I cant wait for him to leave or get sacked.

[Kano]

philippe auclair, who usually speaks good sense, seems to think this is the case too.

nothing really solid to base this on but I wouldn't say it's out of the question, wenger is an increasingly frustrated man.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Yes, The Man looks fucking Ill, I see so much stress in him and if this season is a faliure then he will have no choice but to go.

[Grebbo]

He has to go, he should have gone two seasons ago when it was obvious his project was doomed to fail.

I'm sure he's a great guy, and I don't like the fact that I really want him sacked so badly, but he is killing this club.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

He has to go, he should have gone two seasons ago when it was obvious his project was doomed to fail.

I'm sure he's a great guy, and I don't like the fact that I really want him sacked so badly, but he is killing this club.

This, i agree he should have gone a few seasons ago where he would have left with so much respect, you feel when he leaves now it will be with disrespect.

[Niall_Quinn]

philippe auclair, who usually speaks good sense, seems to think this is the case too.

nothing really solid to base this on but I wouldn't say it's out of the question, wenger is an increasingly frustrated man.

He brings it all on himself. He's had many opportunities to change direction, but he's stubborn as hell. Utterly convinced his way is right even though he doesn't have a shred of evidence to prove it. What he does have though is a blueprint from the past that was highly effective. Why he tore it up is a mystery. It's not just about the stadium move, in his arrogance I believe he thought he could change the face of the British game. Joey Barton begs to differ.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

He brings it all on himself. He's had many opportunities to change direction, but he's stubborn as hell. Utterly convinced his way is right even though he doesn't have a shred of evidence to prove it. What he does have though is a blueprint from the past that was highly effective. Why he tore it up is a mystery. It's not just about the stadium move, in his arrogance I believe he thought he could change the face of the British game. Joey Barton begs to differ.

This... His problem should have been this team, instead he's tried to be this Ambassodor to European football. If he wants to make rules fine, Join Uefa he'd do better then the cunts there, If not do his job.

[Darth Vela]

Depends. If we fail miserably this season, i.e. take a few steps backwards and look nowhere near good enough to win anything then I think he will step down, and rightly so, as he will have tried to rectify his error but been unable to, bring in some new blood. If we look like actually recovering then I reckon he'll honour his contract.

[IBK]

I'm afraid that I am now firmly in the Wenger out camp. I don't think he's as much of an idiot as some people make out, but IMO he has become irrecoverably blinkered, supercillious and arrogant - and he is now causing more harm than good to our club. Whatever the future, I want this season to be his last, so I can start enjoying supporting my club again.

[AKBapologist]

I have no confidence that we can not only replace the manager with anyone better, but support that manager with the funds Liverpool for instance, have been provided with this summer. If you where a world class manager, would you want to manage here?

[Power n Glory]

Of course. No debt, a board that support their manager and don't stick their nose on....that's what any coach wants. We don't have silly funds to spend, but enough to support a manger with his ideas. If a new manager can't turn things around in one season, you know the board will give him enough time to overhaul the team as long as we haven't fallen into a relegation battle.

Wenger is really delusional. You lot should of watched Sunday Supplement. Wenger seems to think the negative press stories are effecting the fans. When asked about the vocal fans, he said they don't represent all of the fans. When discussing Cesc Fabregas, he makes out if he's not going when everyone knows a deal has been done. The press went on to ask him why Cesc and Nasri were absent from the squad, he said Cesc is fit but not match fit and Nasri is 'sick'. Nobody is buying his BS. What is it with him?

[Japan Shaking All Over]

I try not to get drawn on whether I want Wenger to do one or not but what does wind me up is his habit of hiding behind token gestures and little decisive action
Oxo on the bench seemed like one such case, no expected him to be brought on, hes just joined, little training, young, raw and from a division below but he did cost 12 mil and you might say their would have been vouces if we hadnt seen him at the game. . . .the red card put paid to any notion in any case
but on the flip side we have Cesc and Nas on their way so no sign of them, those two are complicated cases but what the fuck about Bendtner and Eboue! why havent their deals been sewn up, shit we could have got got paid and spent that money on an immediate contributor, Obewinge of someone like that!
we had 4 or more players AWOL and that is not the way to achieve anything.

sure we may get some bodies in by the end of August but unless they are PL tested and ready to play from day one we are going to be left with Wenger seeming like he is doing something but actuslly doing fuck all , dare I say it AS USUAL!

do I want the manager of the club I love to be acting in such a manner, no I dont. . .if it continues then I want Wenger to do one

Get Drogba

[Joker]

Wenger has run out of ideas, and is lashing out at anyone who points out the obvious, that we're a club who've been in stagnation for a good 5 years, and are about toe enter a period of decline. I seriously hope for our sakes that Wenger leaves in the summer, because we need a fresh perspective to dig us out of the whole we're in. For Wenger as well, it'll be the for the best before he completely damages the legacy he'll leave behind when he goes.

[IBK]

I have no confidence that we can not only replace the manager with anyone better, but support that manager with the funds Liverpool for instance, have been provided with this summer. If you where a world class manager, would you want to manage here?

I think we would find someone fairly easily - we wouldn't get the likes of Mourinho, but we would get an up and coming manager wishing to test himself in the EPL at a club with an excellent developmental reputation, and one that staunchly supports its managers. Now that expectations have been lowered at Arsenal, but it remains a high profile club, I can't think of many more fertile grounds for the right manager!

Whether there would be the perceptiveness to choose wisely, now DD has long gone is another matter, of course.

But I am willing now to take the undoubted risk. If last season and the events of the Summer have not changed AW's mindset - and the overwhelming evidence is that it hasn't - then nothing will, and I am getting sick of being put through the heartache of supporting a club that is becoming little more than a vehicle for our manager's recurring failed experiment.

From preseaon to yesterday it is clear that Wenger intends to persist with the same game plan, yet almost certainly without the one player we had that could make it work. We look tired and rudderless as a team - yet nothing has been done to address this. It is patently obvious to anyone other than Wenger that we will not have a snowball's chance of winning the league - and that most likely we will struggle even to make the top 4 this season.

As far as I am concerned, we have little to lose now. Even if we drop out of the CL places - what players are we chasing now that would be put off by this - hell even Everton players are content to stay where they are rather than join us - our ambitius players can't wait to go. As for CL revenue - if the transfer fees that we do receive aren't spent on players - you might almost say that there is limited purpose in us getting CL revenue, to spend on overpriced teenagers and the bloated wages of players who simply aren't good enough to win us anything, and don't seem to give a flying fuck that they won't

My first desire isn't to win trophies - its to support a team that is exciting; and consists of players that give a toss, with a management that doesn't take me for granted and play me like a sucker. That gives me something to cheer rather than depressing me.

And if Wenger has to move on in order for this to happen, then so be it.

[selassie]

I think we would find someone fairly easily - we wouldn't get the likes of Mourinho, but we would get an up and coming manager wishing to test himself in the EPL at a club with an excellent developmental reputation, and one that staunchly supports its managers. Now that expectations have been lowered at Arsenal, but it remains a high profile club, I can't think of many more fertile grounds for the right manager!

Whether there would be the perceptiveness to choose wisely, now DD has long gone is another matter, of course.

But I am willing now to take the undoubted risk. If last season and the events of the Summer have not changed AW's mindset - and the overwhelming evidence is that it hasn't - then nothing will, and I am getting sick of being put through the heartache of supporting a club that is becoming little more than a vehicle for our manager's recurring failed experiment.

From preseaon to yesterday it is clear that Wenger intends to persist with the same game plan, yet almost certainly without the one player we had that could make it work. We look tired and rudderless as a team - yet nothing has been done to address this. It is patently obvious to anyone other than Wenger that we will not have a snowball's chance of winning the league - and that most likely we will struggle even to make the top 4 this season.

As far as I am concerned, we have little to lose now. Even if we drop out of the CL places - what players are we chasing now that would be put off by this - hell even Everton players are content to stay where they are rather than join us - our ambitius players can't wait to go. As for CL revenue - if the transfer fees that we do receive aren't spent on players - you might almost say that there is limited purpose in us getting CL revenue, to spend on overpriced teenagers and the bloated wages of players who simply aren't good enough to win us anything, and don't seem to give a flying fuck that they won't

My first desire isn't to win trophies - its to support a team that is exciting; and consists of players that give a toss, with a management that doesn't take me for granted and play me like a sucker. That gives me something to cheer rather than depressing me.

And if Wenger has to move on in order for this to happen, then so be it.

:gp:

Top post Sir, exactly how I'm feeling now.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

would love pep here.

[Niall_Quinn]

would love pep here.

Would he be able to do anything if the board told he he had no money and had to sell all his players?

[Syn]

:gp:Top post Sir, exactly how I'm feeling now. Yeah me too.But he's not going anywhere for some time yet.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yeah me too.But he's not going anywhere for some time yet.

2014, he'll be going to head up the world bank.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

would love pep here.

No thank you no more Barca cunts please.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Would he be able to do anything if the board told he he had no money and had to sell all his players?

in 3 years time when arsene leaves our financial position would have improved (if we are going at the rate we are going and spending fuck all).

plus our main problems are organisation and basic fundamentals of the game. something pep can shore up easily and turn us into a genuine title force, without too much money.

we do have money, we spunked £12m on oxo, £10m on gervinho etc. wenger chooses to be cautious with it.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

No thank you no more Barca cunts please.

get your head out your arse. he would be class.

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah, one day he'll dream of managing there again and attempt to win those trophies he never won in his first spell.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

get your head out your arse. he would be class.

Yep he was real Class tapping up fabregas.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Yeah, one day he'll dream of managing there again and attempt to win those trophies he never won in his first spell.

erm... he's won everything.

[Marc Overmars]

Wonderful piece of poetry there.

[WilshereourGHEL]

He is obviously going to Barcelona why else would cesc leave a father figure.

[AKBapologist]

Yep, let's get some young up and coming, probably won nothing know nothing manager to replace AW. :Doh:

I think there are only 3-4 managers I'd rather have as our manager given our business model, even after this summer and I doubt either of them would wanna step down from what their doing to manage us. AW pissed me of beyond redeption this summer with the transfer policy but until we have people running the club with the same aspirations as the fans or rivals, then I don't see the point of simply pulling the lever and hoping for a quick fix or change for the sake of change.