Skip to main content

In the name of God, go!

Ian Wright as a former Arsenal player has said that Arsene Wenger should not stay as manager of the club: Time to go

I have had a lot of time for Wenger and I want the top layer of English football to be competitive which means that Arsenal need to pose a consistent threat. This they have failed to do recently. In the Carabao Cup final they didn't seem to be trying at times.

Once Wenger was ahead of the curve in terms of innovations in football. The best of them were adopted by others and he is now behind the curve. Choosing the right time to go to preserve your reputation is an art: Sir Alex got it right. Of course, he built a succession of Manchester United teams.

Wenger has very few apparent interests outside football and he might not be that comfortable moving to, say, a French club. He has achieved a great deal for Arsenal, not least the move to the Emirates, which did have an impact on the team for a while.

Wenger has eighteen months left on his contract. There are changes behind the scene at Arsenal, a shift in the balance of power. But ultimately it is all down to the owner, 'Silent' Stan Kroenke who appears to be well disposed to the manager. The fans and Ian Wright can say what they like, he is the ultimate decision maker. Although I have a lot of time for Arsenal as a club, and hope that one day they will be a force in the Champions League, their fans do sometimes seem to have a sense of entitlement to silverware which can grate a little.

I just hope that Wenger can eventually leave with dignity because he has contributed a great deal to football.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to depl
Post a Comment
Read more