Say no to managerial change. Say yes to a changed manager.
Well, it is the day after. You can imagine the raucus nature of the debate occuring today around the Arsenal kingdom. Universall disappointment and dissatisfaction with the outcome of the season. Moreso than in any other of the last 6 seasons.
This was a tailspin that noone has been able to pull the Arsenal out of. Not Cesc Fabregas. Not Jack Wilshere. Not Robin Van Persie. Certainly not even the manager, Arsene Wenger. Rightly or wrongly, Arsene Wenger is inextricably tied to the failures of this season. He is the focus of all that happens in the public of the club. When a player fails it is not the player who gets chastised, it is Arsene Wenger. When we don’t buy in the transfer market it is Arsene Wenger.
I am not passing judgement on anyone who places blame on Wenger. He certainly deserves it. However, I am here to argue for his continued employment by this club. Because as I believe he is still the right man for this club.
I’ve not personally waded in to the should he or shouldn’t he go argument. I’ve added a couple snippets but overall I have gotten different writers to argue the point. Today I wanted to lay down my rationale for his staying.
First let me add this disclaimer – I am not of the mind that Arsene Wenger is irreplaceable. I also don’t think Wenger is the only manager who could manage at this club and enjoy success. For those that are so inclined to belive that, I draw your attention to when Arsene Wenger was announced as our manager. Who knew of the bespectacled Frenchmen then? Very few I would wager. The point is, there is likely another Wenger in the making, he only needs a club to give him a shot.
But let’s go to the cruxt of the argument I have. That is under Wenger the success of the club is unparralleled in the clubs history. True much of that happened 6 years ago. But I guess it depends on how you measure success. I look at the totality.
Let me ask you a question – many of you know the New England Patriots. They continue to be the staple by which all other professional gridiron clubs are measured by. Can you tell me the last time the won the Super Bowl? If you answered 2005 you are correct. Still even through camera gate and Tom Brady’s and failed playoff runs the club is held up in esteem and regard by fans and peers because success for them is measured in more than just wins. It is measured in consistency.
I argue that Wenger and Arsenal should be measured in very much the same way. Consistency. Not just trophies. True, we all want trophies and its maddening when so much promise is shown only to be squandered away. But out club is a model of consistency under Wenger that it never enjoyed in the 92 seasons we existed before he got here.
In the 92 seasons before Wenger arrived to Highbury, Arsenal only ever finished in the top 4 23 times. To narrow the time frame down further and in direct comparison to Wenger who has been here for 14 years, the 14 immediate years before Wenger arrived (including the George Graham era) the club finished in the top 4 – 6 times. In the 14 years of the Wenger era, he has never finished out of the top 4.
There have been many clubs coming in to the top 4 in that time frame only United have the same consistency as Arsenal.
Additionally keeping the club in the top tier of the Premier League given the changing dynamics of the league is also something to be lauded not shirked. Since 2004 Arsenal have had transfer dealings of +£11.5 million pounds. In that time frame United have -£108.7 million pounds, Chelsea have -£397.5 million, Man City have -£435.2 million and Tottenham have -£239.6 million. Spurs have one top 4 finish and City is working on its first in that time frame.
These are priniciples to be lauded and adhered to. Spending does not guarantee success. Focus and vision does.
But that being said, I feel that Wenger is in need of a do-over. He needs to change his focus. Relying on youth and enjoying the success he has is admirable. However, youth alone does not get the club over the hump of winning. And as long as the club continue to be successful without winning something, the focus on youth and controlled spending will be viewed as a failing effort.
Wenger needs to change that sole focus from an over reliance on youth to one that develops youth talent, promotes those deserving of it and supplements the youth with quality talent that has experience to lend to a growing group of talented players.
The manager himself post-Bolton has admitted as much that his policy has likely let him, the clubs and more importantly the fans down. It is quite evident that a period of reflection is going to occur for the next few weeks and even if winning returns, rueing missed chances will be the story for the foreseeable future.
The last six years have sucked on part because we have watched others do things we want to do but won’t be done by our club. A few years of this would have been more tolerable if adjustments were made along the way to help this club get over the hump when it matured. This season more than any of the past 6 is a testament to that.
There were sheer flashes of brillance by this club. The demolition of Chelsea and the comeback win against Barcelona standout. But they are tempered by the failures of the last two months. Those two months needn’t have happened had their been the right mix of experience and youth on the pitch when things started turning sour.
The manager who has given this club so much deserves the opportunity to change the direction he and the board set in motion. In this season we were truly in it. We were there and it slipped away. In seasons past there was hope but it was a false hope. He deserves that chance but if he fails at that and I mean:
- He doesn’t jettison as much deadwood as he can (not everyone is going to buy our dregs)
- He doesn’t bring in a few experienced and talented players (you don’t have to pay over the odds)
- He doesn’t show the flexibility needed to make this club winners
If he fails at that then I will be one of the first people who will agree it is time for him to be “promoted” to the board room. Right now, I think he deserves the chance to show he has learned from this season and that he can build a winner.
To me he has to look at the club in much the same way he did when he came here. He saw a club of talented players. Helped some realize their potential but rounded it out with players who fit his vision. He makes that approach to running the club this summer he will be fine. . . and so will the club.
A Quick Note On Fan Protests:
There is word circulating the twitterverse and facebook that at the home match versus Villa – the last home match of the season – there will be a friendly march from the Cannons pub to the stadium.
It is being held by Black Scarf AFC from the web site Where Has Our Arsenal Gone? The walk called the “You Are My Arsenal” walk is a protest against the rising costs associated with football and specifically Arsenal. No word yet on estimated attendances but if what I read on the twitterverse is right – its taking on a whole other dimension.
On one hand you have avid Wenger supporters saying that it is really a march against Wenger which they are decrying and trying to form their own counter protest. Then on the BSAFC side, you have a tacit denial.
Having followed BSAFC, I am inclined to believe them in their intent. It has always been this way with them and the long for the yesteryears of not so long ago. I won’t get into that part of it but given the current financial times, I can absolutely side with protesting the rising costs of attending a football match.
That being said, it will likely not amount to much except that it may get people heard. The only real way to affect change at the club on the board level is to hit them in their pockets. Which means not going to matches, not watching on Sky or buying the latest kit. It is the only way to get them to take notice.
While not on the same level, all the fan outcry at Liverpool did nothing to change the minds of Hicks and Gillette. As much as the scousers would like to think otherwise. It was simply as their financial backing had become to tennuous to maintain. They were going to have large debts to call in they could not handle. Hicks had already gone through it with baseball’s texas Rangers. Had the financial issue not gotten so bad for Hicks and Gillette and they had been able to keep things going – they would still be there sinking that club further into the abyss.
What that shows is that for all the protests by the fans – and the merseysiders were vocal – it was money that finally forced them to sell and affect a change at the club. And that is all that will change the board at Arsenal.
When fans are willing to let their tickets go and stop frequenting or watching matches and buying kits enmasse – that’s when you will see change.
Until then. . . expect another ticket price hike in the next few seasons.
och well . . . until our next installment. . . Stay Goonerish!!!!
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