A lot of Arsenal fans have started to look at the huge salary that Arsenal play to Arsene Wenger every year as one of the biggest, if not the main, reason for the Frenchman’s stubborn refusal to accept that things are not working and that we need a change at the top.
I am certainly not going to argue with that theory after the strange comments made by the Arsenal boss in his press conference yesterday, but that is not what I mean by the title of this article. As reported by the BBC the long serving manager was talking about his decision to stay at the club through the hard times of having very little to spend in the transfer market as the club paid off the loans taken out to finance the building of a new state of the art stadium.
Perhaps in an attempt to ease the anger of the Arsenal fans and relieve some of the flak being thrown his way, Wenger reminded us that he showed great loyalty and commitment to the cause when he accepted the demands of the lenders to stay in charge through those lean years and I must admit that he did do a fantastic job for us back then and deserves great respect and credit for it.
He said, “When we built the stadium the banks demanded that I signed for five years.
“Do you want me to say how many clubs I turned down during that period?
“The banks wanted the technical consistency to guarantee that we have a chance to pay them back.
“I did commit and I stayed, and under very difficult circumstances.
“So for me to come back and, on top of that, (critics) reproach me for not having won the championship during that period, it is a bit overboard.”
But what Wenger seems determined not to understand is that those times are now over and yet he is still acting as if there is no money to spend. That is why the Arsenal fans are not happy, even though most of us do still appreciate what he has done for the club. But how long can we keep living in the past?
Wenger is only loyal to his 8 million pounds a year contract,the reason he never joined other clubs like Real Madrid is because he was scared of being under pressure to succeed while at Arsenal he keeps his job whilst being a specialist in failure!
Very true, he keeps bragging about the teams that he turned down, we all know Madrid wanted him, but by the look of things, even the managers who won them UCL were shipped out in a slight failure, where would he have been by now? Heheheh, may be back to China
Wenger could have gotten allot more than that if he wanted. Sure he could get more than that right now if he decided to return to France tomorrow. Remember it wasn’t just Spain that wanted him, he was wanted everywhere. Chelsea and City would have easily improved on that offer. Chelsea especially, who probably believed he would bring half the Invincibles along with him. Man city as-well would have given just about anything to get him, they where successful in getting some of our players and I have no doubts that Gooners would have been totally crushed if Wenge ended up there along with them. Wenger is already a very rich man, before we moved ground Wenger was already a very rich man. He could have easily gotten better offers throughout the years paying off them debts. You are looking at it from your point of view as an ordinary everyday man looking at the huge sums of money involved. This is football though, were huge sums of money is just an average day. There is very little loyalty within football and our manager does deserve respect for giving his to us.
what a load of nonsense from you again Tre… loyalty???? wenger probably realised he couldn’t fool the boards at the other clubs so stayed at arsenal. as a poster has commented, 1 or 2 seasons with the same tactics and favoritism he has shown in the last 12 years would have meant he would have been shown the door earlier
Or maybe those tactics & loyalty combined with more sizable resources would have meant he would have countless trophies? Far more likely in my opinion. We are catching up now the stadium is done & dusted, & we are slowly recovering from the damage of selling our star players, at least a couple of the mediocre signings made in that period (Flamini/Arteta) will be leaving this summer. We’ll see in the next few years anyway, now we are more on an even keel with the other big clubs (thanks to Wenger & co sorting the Emirates move) & bringing in world class stars in the last 4 summers- Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Cech.
Ozzy, you really believe that? I always thought this was one of those stupid accusations brought up only because you were tired of saying the same stuff over and over. Trying to get creative or something in finding more insults. I honestly cant believe people out there actually think the reason why Arsene stayed was because of money. Iv realised today that social media cannot be trusted and too many of the people complaining aren’t even fans in the proper sense.
I was thinking the same same thing. Not sure whom he trying to impress by talking about the offers he turned down. The simple fact is, he wouldn’t have been at any of these clubs any measure of time finishing 3rd or 4th and round of 16 in champions league. Real Madrid got rid of Ancelotti after he won the league and the Champions league, Mancini was fired after he won the league, so tolerance at these clubs are thin and Wenger knew that and also knew that Arsenal is more loyal to any manager, more than any other club.
Disgraceful comment. You evidently have no understanding of the word loyalty. Cheap comments based on complete fantasy. Summarises precisely the shallow thought processes of certain glory hunters.
totally agree, do any of us believe that come july he will buy anybody of note,and as einstien stated “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” Arsene looks on loyalty as not being questioned for what he does, shock outrage how dare you question me. the only glimour of hope is that all dictators turn on thier own people as it comes to an end and he has started to turn on us
Loyalty can’t win us the title!
Reciprocating Wenger’s loyalty can.
Stop making excuses arsene!
Why can’t someone ask him these questions?
1. Why did you not sign an outfielder last summer when every top European Club did?
2. Why is Walcott paid the same salary as Ozil and more than Alexis ?
3. Was it a mistake not to get a top high scoring CF similar to Kane and Vardy?
4. How can you say that we would have won the Title on away games when Leicester had a better away record than us?
5. Lets get this climate remark crystal clear. Are you actually blaming the fans for not winning the title?
He will never have answers to those questions, he’ll use his words like cohesion to justify every answer to your questions there.
But there are AKBs in here who can answer you by at least 4 paragraphs for each of your questions, they are deep into Wenger’s a*s for real
excuses excuses if some fans still don’t see him for who he is then we are done as a club.pple say we need make changes to the squad which is a no brainer but wenger WILL IGNORE AND WILL NOT MAKE THE NECESSARY DECISION.do u think he will sell his sons and fifix the rot I don’t see it happening.we hve been crying and crying he still hasn’t replaced viera what makes u think he will change!!!
No top team would come for Arsene looking at him now. He is trying to take all the credit to himself for building the stadium, but truth is it’s just another sorry excuse to get some fans behind him again! My verdict for the Norwich game is WengerOUT!
why is it that he earns that much but he finds it difficult to spend good money on quality players? The money belong to d club not arsene, if the fans want it spent, spend it AW
If he want to talk about loyalty, let him reduce his salary to 2m or 3m per annum.
good morning fellow gunners:
I hope that you all sharing the wind of change,i hope that all of you share the same enthusiasm.
Today is a historic day of our club,today with a mutual efforts,we bring back the passion of the arsenal,we are going to bring back hope and desire to our beloved football club!!!
Today,every gunner must come to the emirates,with or without a ticket,and tell the wengers,the board,and the kroneckers,enough is enough-we want our club back!.
In the stadium the stewards,on behalf of the club,will try to threaten and intimidate you,they might throw you out,but don’t be scared-the board are scared,kronecker is scared,wenger is scared!
Today is the most important day in decades,it is like the D’ DAY FOR OUR CLUB!!!
We all should be there today and create the change.
It’s the end of the season,it is the last chance to create the change,if we wouldn’t do it today,it’s another season of failure and despair.
Let’s make a day of change,let’s make a day of hope,let’s make a great day for the future of our beloved club!!!
I assume given you say good morning at 4.23pm you’re no where near the ground so you’re just another agitator?
That went well then….
Lol
OT
Golum Dean making a terrible penalty decision that fortunately wasn’t converted against relegation desperate Newcastle.
Amazing the guy is still an EPL official
Even when everyone is back from injury and able to play Ramsey and Giroud still makes our so called strongest 11. Just saw the team sheet and Campbell isn’t even in the match day squad. I really feel for that guy also while Welbeck is benched for Giroud. Even though Wilshere and Cazorla just returned from injury, I would split playing time between them rather than see Ramsey on the pitch. I would also rather see Chambers than Gabriel as well.
The best way to protest is not going to watch at emirates stadium. Empty seats = less profit. Don’t buy merchandise= less profits. Kroenke will only change Wenger if he fails to make it in top 4.
this is my first comment on this site although i have voted and read articlesfor a few years now, i am just so angry to hear aresene’s comments over the last two days the “we didnt win the league because at home the crowd have been on our back” stuff, and then this evening, the protest was a waste of time. i have stayed loyal to arsene until this season how dare he tell me that its my fault we didn’t challenge for the tilte, i dont remember picking giroud for 70 mins against sunderland although he hasn’t scored in the league for more than a third of thisseasons games and that was away by the way. The protest may be seen as a waste of time but movements for change have to start somewhere. arsenes arrogance has gone beyond the pale now
The thing that surprises me most about Wenger is he knew the formula for success and for two seasons he had the money. He could have planned his own exit in style but chose to get the fans off side and mistrusting him. How much is down to Kroenke and the board or how much is down to his own misjudgment we`ll probably never know, we`ll just have to wait for his autobiography. “I STUFFED IT MY WAY”.