Arsenal need to ditch Wenger now before any more damage is done

THE TIME IS NOW by Viera Lyn
After witnessing yet ANOTHER embarrassing footnote in our team’s recent history against Nottingham Forest I felt compelled to address those who can’t seem to resist the obviously tainted Kool-Aid. How many more times can this team, the owner and our woeful manager disappoint before you open your eyes, swallow your pride and join our efforts. Trust me, I know it’s difficult to admit when you’re wrong, but eating a little crow has to be easier than continuing to play a complicit role in what is quickly becoming a laughing stock situation of epic proportions. Don’t worry though, any true supporter wouldn’t dare gloat, as the stakes are too high. Simply put, if we continue down this all too familiar road without making wholesale changes things will undoubtedly get much worse. More importantly, if we are so naive as to allow Wenger or anyone else currently under contract with this club to be in charge of the reclamation project, the mistakes of the past will almost assuredly be repeated. So don’t be tempted by the “romantic” notion that we must honor Arsene’s legacy by moving him upstairs because as long as he’s in the building and has the ear of our absentee landlord, any potential successor will be little more than a puppet regime, which means more of the same, or likely worse, for the foreseeable future.
Make no mistake, my commentaries aren’t usually meant to sway those with contrary opinions, as I would never be so presumptuous, instead I simply try to keep the narrative squarely focused, for however briefly, on the bigger picture. It’s certainly no easy task considering the manic nature of fandom in North London. When things appear hopeful, it’s difficult to find a receptive audience, whereas when things invariably go south the response is usually so vile that entering the fray seems overkill and certainly not conducive to having a rational discussion about the real underlying issues. Don’t get me wrong, there is something cathartic about the venting process but the benefits are short-lived and ultimately solves little unless some sort of consensus can be achieved. With that in mind, I will attempt to address some of the myths propagated by those enduring Wenger loyalists who can’t seem to see what has become blatantly obvious to most outside observers.
In the first place, hardly a day goes by without a member of the faithful reminding us of Arsene’s past accomplishments, which seems to suggest that those who want him gone either suffer from some sort of collective amnesia or even worse simply disregard his past exploits altogether. This is simply not the case. I have openly applauded his earlier efforts, as I truly believe he played a transformative role in shaping the modern game, but that time has long since passed. In more recent times, he’s been figured out and as such the tables have turned. Unwilling to obtain the quality necessary and too set in his ways to adapt, Wenger has become a dinosaur in the sport he helped shape.
This isn’t a case of “what have you done for me lately” as that would imply that things went off the rails fairly recently, and it’s certainly not a change simply for the sake of change scenario, as we’re not so naive to believe that this alone would guarantee long-term success, this is a measured response based on YEARS of questionable decisions, failed tactics, boardroom blunders, unprecedented losses and a level of dishonesty never before seen at our club. So to even suggest that we should continue to sit on our hands and hope, for whatever inexplicable reason, that success will come our way simply because we stayed the course, seems utterly ridiculous considering the overwhelming evidence that would suggest otherwise.
Secondly, there seems to be a commonly held belief by many of Wenger’s most ardent supporters that even if Arsene left of his own accord it would be next to impossible to find a similarly qualified replacement. Now, no one is suggesting that finding our next manager will be a cake walk, or should it be considering the complexity of the task at hand, but this is not because his managerial shoes would be so difficult to fill, the real issue is the length of his tenure and all that entails. Thanks to your misplaced support, you have made the inevitable exceedingly more difficult.
Let’s face it, over the past 20 years there have been only about 10 teams throughout Europe that any top manager would almost assuredly covet. Up until a few years ago, and admittedly benefiting from Wenger’s earlier accomplishments, Arsenal was considered one of those desired destinations. Unfortunately, this opinion has clearly waned in recent years. With Wenger overstaying his welcome, our owner’s frugal tendencies, the vast accumulation of dead-weight and their failure to shore up the contracts of our most attractive assets, we have not only lost out on some potentially franchise-changing options, of which two now ply their trades in the EPL, we have likely scared off a host of others. It’s probably the reason why some have floated ridiculous replacements like Howe, Dyche or Bould, even though none of them have the pedigree nor the drawing power needed for the kind of rebuild we desire and frankly deserve. That is why time is of the essence. If, and only if, we can rid ourselves of Wenger immediately, before any more damage is done, maybe we can entice a suitable replacement to the Emirates. Whether this candidate is a young, innovative manager or a well-established individual with a long resume to boot, matters not, so long as they want to desperately revive the “beautiful” game in North London and they have the fortitude to not sign off without the necessary financial assurances firmly in place.
Thirdly, some are quick to suggest that changing managers is counter-intuitive if you want to be a successful club, even going so far as to suggest that any such move is destined to fail. To those individuals I would say that recent history would suggest otherwise, especially for teams that have the proper hierarchical structures firmly in place. Most of the biggest clubs in European football who have experienced incredibly successful domestic and European campaigns did so despite undergoing several managerial changes during the past decade. Either a manager works or he doesn’t, and when it’s clear that things have gone awry, top clubs generally make decisive decisions and those teams rarely miss a beat. Of those “top” clubs only Arsenal has failed to make the necessary changes, despite our limited success. This seems to suggest that our club knows better than every other perennial giant in the sport, which is highly unlikely considering our glaring lack of results over the past decade. I personally believe that if we had put on our big boy pants several years ago and put an end to this facade, especially at a time when many of our closest rivals were dealing with their own internal issues, we could have made a real push and won a EPL trophy or two along the way.
Finally,and most importantly, if you truly believe that consistency has currency in the footballing world, Arsenal should have a decided advantage over those teams who are seemingly in a constant state of flux. In fact, by this juncture we should be the example by which all other clubs model themselves from an organizational and player development standpoint. As we all know, this couldn’t be further from the truth nowadays. Some might even go so far as to suggest that we have become the model for what not to do as an organization. I don’t know if I would go that far, but I would say that the longer our manager has stayed on he has become increasingly more fragile and paranoid and to compensate he surrounded himself with a whole host of spineless accomplices (yes men). Whenever this occurs things tend to devolve quite quickly as the club becomes overly dependent upon an increasingly stale manager who has stripped the organization of those individuals who could properly pick up the slack.
Furthermore I believe that this was done intentionally by Wenger so that it would be infinitely more difficult for the club to go in a different direction. I certainly understand why he chose to pursue this course of action, but that doesn’t make it right. There is no doubt he feels that this club owes him the right to decide when and how he leaves the Emirates, which is an incredibly selfish sentiment, especially if he truly cares about this club. For this debacle I place the blame squarely on the board, the AKBs and our current majority owner. It was their responsibility, as the caretakers of this club and his employer, to recognize the obvious errors of his ways and to protect the best interests of this club by saving our once proud leader from himself. Never before and likely never again has a manager been afforded such leeway for so long without major trophies to justify his tenure. So I don’t care if we get Malcom or finally rid ourselves of some obvious deadwood or beat Bournemouth decisively or sign Mahrez or re-sign Ozil or sign another kid defender with a supposed huge upside etc…,what I truly care about is finally removing all the parasites from our beloved organization before we find ourselves joining the ranks of those teams who once mattered but allowed the poor choices of a few to forever change the fortunes of the many. So please don’t fall for the usual Wenger “wag the dog” tactics, which have held us hostage for close to a decade, instead truly recognize where we are as a club right now. When you do this you will quickly realize that we’ve never been farther from realizing our dreams for success in the EPL or abroad and that our prospects for future success have never been more bleak.
Viera Lyn

31 Comments

    1. Easy baz . Gotta respect the effort
      Now reports everywhere Sanchez is going united
      If this really happens this club is finished

      Not only did we leave highbury to become a selling club but we sell our best players to managers and teams that ridicule us constantly

        1. Which in turn means we probably have someone signed ourselves,because he said he wouldn’t let him leave without a replacement

      1. I think media is pushing United scenario just to get us more annoyed. If Wenger sell anybody to United, to fracking mourinho, then fans will dethrone him, not the Board!

    1. We cannot allow Wenger the excuse of ”i respect my contract’ to keep him at Arsenal. I say time for the banners to come out again

  1. Wow that’s the longest article I have seen here.?
    However it explains where we are perfectly and every word was needed. Well said Viera Lyn

  2. Agree 100%.Arsenal are being made to look silly by this man.
    His passing soccer aint getting anywhere and yet he refuses to
    change.
    RVP left because he knew he would never win an epl trophy with
    the fm in charge.

    1. Yes rvp had right to go… but going to ManUtd?! Frack rvp and frack Wenger to let him go there. For 25 mil they delivered a present for fracking Fergie – last title!

  3. Spot on … The one other thing that annoys about our bourbon supporters of wenger …learnt nothing, forgotten nothing… Is their acceptance of a corporate identity (epitomized by their stadium worship) at the expense of our footballing identity … a passing game with purpose, precision and power occasionally … Very ocassionally …. surfaces to remind us of what we were but is overwhelmed by pointless lateral and backward passing, intermitant punting of the long ball and an unwillingness to press the opposition … After a decade this is clearly hard wired in to management practice and squad quality … So yes it will require a major overhaul from top to bottom if we are mot to end up like ac milan as a one time football powerhouse living on past glories

  4. Spot on with your comments, Ive been saying this for years, get all the underaceivers gone , be hard and make the right call , might be hard to swallow short term but will be advantageous in the end
    If this manager dont feel he has let all the faNS DOWN THEN HE HASNT ANY FORESIGHT HE CAN SEE WVERY WEEK THE FNS GETTING FRUSTRATED WITH THE TEAM , BUT HE HASNT ANY QUALITY IN DEPTH NOBODY OUTSTANDING IN THE MESSI MOULD BECAUSE HE IS A CHEAP CHARLIE WITH THE MONEY , LIKE ITS HIS PERSONEL DOUGH , YEH HES GOTTA GO AND SOON

  5. Wenger ruined his own legacy… he will be remembered as a person who led us to todays situation, not the one who led the invincibles. Also he wont be remembered so much by the trophys he won such as PL titles or FA cup titles, but the ones he didnt – 4th place “titles”!
    I know that our Board stinks and they are not investing money in the club but for starters let s get rid of Wenger first.
    I am not afraid that we will strugle under new manager, even if that happens I will see the light… now, Wenger is a heavy curtain infront!

  6. Eight years too late for AW! Sanchez is a big blubbing baby who throws his toys out of his pram when he doesn’t get his own way. Good riddance!

  7. Full of complains and yet no fans wants to buy the club

    and no fans protest and insist the club to be run like City

  8. I know nothing about nature but I think as one gets old he/she becomes more simpler.
    Wenger’s case is the opposite,as he gets old he becomes more and more stubborn (Imagine at 68).
    I know nothing about his personal life but I think he thinks he can live forever. All he wants is power.
    His arrogant attitude is even worse. I’ve lost the little respect I have for him.

  9. In no capacity should Wenger be allowed upstairs or have any say in the team once he is gone, for sentiments sake maybe we could offer him the mascots role, it would at least be one step up from being the clubs jester.

  10. I remember not so long ago how we were told that, and I quote “Arsenal are no longer a selling club”. Well that was obviously just one of the many lies we have come to expect from a club with no class!

    Onward and downward then!

  11. It’s time for Sanchez to leave! I loved the man up until this year when he stopped playing for Arsenal and has had the worst season for us. Oh but we’re selling one of our best to a rival? Really??? I would have said that in the beginning of the year when there was promise with Laca newly signed to see what this front 3 could do, but Sanchez hasn’t shown up all year and we’re fighting for top 4. Any good player we replace him for now will be an upgrade because they’ll have a desire to play for the badge. I’m not undermining what he’s done for us the past years, but he needs to go now. Don’t even get me started on Wenger…

  12. Recent changes make me question the whole article, everyone under contract should go?
    We do not have Gazidis pal Raul Sanllehi as our football relations guy yet, getting the guy from Barca who done transfers to help do our transfers is a step forward.

    I have bashed Gazidis hard but now he is making some changes, very slow, some may say too late… But c’mon! Sven and Raul are the type of people we need in the backroom and it is happening.

    Gazidis knows nothing about football and any manager he got, I would say, would be highly unlikely to be a top manager.
    Getting some people in who know football and updating the infrastructure will allow for the replacement of Wenger.

    AFC will not turn to dust in 18 months time if Wenger stays.
    AFC can still go for top players, did UTD have UCL football when they signed Pogba? They shown ambition and that is what attracts players. AFC get the right people in and let them settle, then we may see better investment.

    I honestly believe that Sven and Raul can turn AFC around.
    We look to be signing a 20 year old prospect for over £40 million, when was the last time AFC dome something like this?

    If Veria wants to “truly recognize where we are as a club right now” then shouldn’t the recent changes and see how the current transfer market plays out with Sven as head of recruitment?

  13. Viera Lyn, sorry to disagree with you. It is not only Wenger that is ruin the club but everybody that is involved. This is the kind of thinking that has made it difficult for the fans to be effective in getting desire changes. Focusing on him alone. Wenger, the backroom staff, Stan, the board, ex players and the fans are ruining the club. For instance, some fans are castigating Wenger for dealing with manu who is ready to pay higher fee than man city but are okay with and supporting Sanchez who is insisting on playing for domestic rival. What is next in Sanchez’s case is to get good money from whom ever. He doesn’t want to. be without us, doesn’t want to go abroad and he will be free agent in six months time and some people are still supporting him and hate on the club for going for slightly better deal.

  14. Never been so angry in my life with anything, the way the board and the tyrant played us for the last 6 years is beyond disgraceful……they turned on e of the biggest Football Clubs in the World into the laughingstock of professional sports…..all shapes to Coquelin admitting he did not leave this club soon enough, I am done with the thanks for past glories, changed the game of football, the architect of the modern game….GET THIS DINOSAUR OUT OF MY BELOVED CLUB.

  15. All this has been coming for a long time now,Arsene Wegner knows that the majority of the fans want him out ,and he refuses to leave ,because Arsenal FC is the only club that would allow him that amount of time ,because he makes them loads of money,so as long as he pleases the pay masters ,why should he care about people who has no power ,and like most big organisations they continue to shit on us knowing full well that we are incapable of organising ourselves ,so as long as he’s at this club I’ll be WEGNER OUT.

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