Sacking a manager is not always as simple as it looks.
When a manager has lost the crowd, possibly the dressing room and is being criticised left right and centre then you would think that he will be fired. But when that does not happen you have to think there is a good reason why not.
It is a little bewildering why the Arsenal board are sticking with Unai Emery under the current circumstances but there are five reasons that could be affecting the boards thinking on this.
Pride and ego
The new head honchos at the club employed Unai Emery over other candidates and it is not always easy to admit you got it wrong.
Finances
The club may want to avoid a significant payout on a manager that would not cost them a penny if he leaves at the end of his contract. Shortsighted in monetary terms simply because failing to qualify for the Champions League would cost a lot more. But the thing is this, they may well already think that is gone and so it is just a lose lose to offload Emery right now.
Sets their project back
A new manager would inherit two previous managers players and the club would have to begin the process of buying and selling players to suit the new manager. Man Utd is classic examples of this. No one can really say that Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho are poor managers. But they never ever had “their” team available to them. They had a mixture of previous managers players which hindered their ability to instil their strategy and thinking.
They could actually believe Emery is on the right track.
If they did not then surely they would have fired him by now? Not even this Arsenal board would keep a manager on if they believe he is destined to fail. Or would they?
They do not believe a new manager would fare any better
The atmosphere at the stadium and online is hardly harmonious and the board may feel that until that changes what is the point of a new manager right now. As an example, if a new manager starts off with a bad run how long before the crowd turn? Let’s be honest, not long. The thinking could well be that they need to quieten the “noise” down before they can get a new manager in that gets a fair crack of the whip.
Conclusion
There may be other reasons that we do not know of and the above reasons may have nothing to do with why they will not sack Emery. If that is the case then I am stuck because I can not think of any other reason why Emery is still in his job.