The way things are going at Arsenal at the moment, it is unlikely that Arsene Wenger will have his contract renewed when this one finally ends in around 18 months as next season is looking to be even worse than this one when half our players either leave or are too old to play any more. But who would you really want to come in and take over the hot seat?
This has been discussed many times, especially when their was all the protests about Wenger leaving last season, but according to the Gunners legend Ray Parlour, we should be looking at some ex-Arsenal players that already know the system that Wenger has created. Parlour said: “If I was Arsenal now, I’d be looking in two years time, whenever it’s going to be, and see who is going to be interested in taking over.
“Try and put it in place now. Managers don’t hang around.
“Do you know who would be perfect one day? Patrick Vieira.
“He’s manager at New York, but now he’s probably in line for the Manchester City job instead of Arsenal. He’s part of their club.
“In the future, maybe Thierry Henry. He’s a very intelligent guy, he knows the players, he knows the dressing room and he knows how to attract big players.
“He could be perfect for it. Will he get an opportunity? Who knows. I would always look at ex-players.
“I know it doesn’t always work out like that with Tony Adams and such, but if they know the club inside out, which Vieira and Henry do, it gives you a big advantage.
“When you sack a manager you’ve got to have a plan. You’ve got to tap people up.
“You’ve got to be asking their agents and getting something in place.
“Ask them, ‘Would you be interested if an opportunity came up to manage Arsenal?’”
That is obviously a sensible idea, but Wenger himself has recently stated that it is not his job to pick his successor, it is the Board’s responsibility. So should they be talking to ex-Arsenal players now behind Wenger’s back? Or do you think they would be too scared to rock the boat until Wenger actually tells them that he is going to leave at the end of this contract?
But back to the original question, which ex-Arsenal player would you choose to replace Le Prof? I think Mikel Arteta should be part of the discussion as he has already done his training under Wenger, but obviously Patrick Vieira is already gaining in experience. Henry appears to have fallen out with Wenger over his Sky Sports job but is definitely one of our biggest legends. Who would you choose?
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