Indeed Brom .... as I said couple of days back ; hard to start waffling tributes about Arsene ; when a milli second before the news I fervently wanted him to f***& off to the highlands of Ethiopia .

One of the overlooked benefits of watching sh****t football , listening Wenger's inane drivel .... it has driven many to

[a ] getting their footballing rocks off at smaller clubs

[b] discovering there is a life outside of football , take the wife / kids somewhere , build a birdhouse , bit of gardening etc etc

I doubt fan support is something you can switch on and off like a light and I'd think many driven away who have discovered other interests ....... might not come back to the same level of Arse support even with a new manager .

Ha ha brilliant reposte

I was hoping Spurs would win. Much prefer them to the dour Mourinho outfit

The finality of the Wenger leaving Arsenal ( I firmly do not believe he resigned of his own accord) matter gives a much better feeling than our wins against Spurs. That is how much of a relief it is for me. Although polite tributes are coming through for him, he would have received so much more and with much more sincerity, had he listened more to his fans instead of being arrogant with them. I can't bring myself to pay him tribute after wanting the see the end of his tenure for years. I hope he retires and starts to enjoy his life again. Everybody deserves to enjoy their life, and I hope he calls time on his coaching career.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/blog/the-mat ... g-trophies

Looks like they are becoming us. Similar traits. Comments from manager fairly similar to Wenger.
Poche will only leave them in another 20 years

I am on the same view as you that he was sacked. A number of articles suggest the same - as an e.g.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/p ... 65892c2332

It would explain the Gazidis press conference and the wording used. Also Wenger is quoted as saying 'After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season.' Following discussions with the club... hmmm.

If he was sacked then it shows he still never got it and was never thinking of the club or fans.

Some of the nonsense being written and said about him is getting to embarrassing stages - embarrassing for those saying or writing the twaddle. I acknowledge he was a great and innovative manager and introduced new ideas to us and the league. He had some of the greatest Arsenal teams and players but a great leader knows when to go and when he cannot inspire any longer. I think he was one of our greatest managers but when you average his achievements over 21 years not our greatest. You cannot isolate part of his time at the club to justify such comments.

People talking about singing 'theres only one one Arsene Wenger' for the rest of the season. Really, at least half of those people would be ones who wanted him out - bit of guilt perhaps. Give him a clap on the last day, if you really must, but if he was sacked his cheque should make him feel a little better.

I never want to see him have an other position with the club.

It seems to me that the supporters who have only ever known Wenger are more likely to want to laud him and elevate him to a god. Those older fans have seen a number of managers and just want to get on with it. At least some of our players may put in some real efforts from here on to impress the manager to be.

The test for me is the Atletico and Man U games. Personally, and many will not like this, I would ask Bould to run the team for the remainder of the season because I don't think Wengers head will be in the right place. Assuming he was sacked, I am a great believer in marching the person out of the door then and there. They do more damage staying. Sorry if this offends the sensibilties of those who wanted him out but now feel guilty - grow some.

To OMOH and Goonie who remained steadfast in wanting Wenger to remain- I admire your resolve and hope you are both okay.

Shh!! Don’t say that down here you’ll have em out with pitch forks the man is adored in these parts

It’s an open seceret that he didn’t resign of his own accord , he was given The loaded revolver

This is the crux of that arsenal truth quote I put up yesterday ( forget arsenal truth in general and lomekian’s view that’s about a wider issue) the past year -18 months I have become an arsenal observer more than a fan and it’s not easy to just switch back.

The other knock on ( leaving BHA out of it )is that I would hate to feel like this and then my level of interest in the club to start being dependant on how well the next manager does. Once we are out of the unique bubble of the Wenger situation , this would be wrong and is the sort of behaviour ‘ plastic fans’ get accused of and quite rightly so, but this whole saga has taken many of us long term arsenal fans into very strange places, and is inadvertent not deliberate either

Add all this to the factions still out there (which will rise in reverse as soon as any new manager hits a sticky spell) and you have a very turbulent mix bubbling along the next few years. What it could do without ( 6 months down the road)is Wenger sticking his oar in with the odd barbed comment from stage left. Which remaining disciples ( and I potentially include certain ex players in this )can latch onto.

Unfortunately knowing that Wenger is likely to be absolutely seething at being removed from what he sees as his divine position ( and breaking his contract, although this would’ve previously happened when he was sacked at Monaco back in the 90s anyway ) and knowing the type of personality he is I fear this is wishful thinking

I completely understand that many blame Wenger for the malaise which has engulfed the club for many years now, but lets not forget the role of the board who could and should have fired him whenever THEY wanted. Also, lets not forget that the football landscape in the premier league has changed beyond recognition and despite some obvious positive changes overall it has lead to a more sanitised and commercialised experience which has killed a lot of what being a supporter was about.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/club/ars ... ve-arsenal
One of the best pieces on events I’ve read

Absolutely , their as guilty too and I hope fans never forget this either, but now they haven’t got that Wenger shaped shield ( to quote arseblog) to hide behind , and they should be judged on who they hire and how they support him , also we get to see Kroenke with a different manager finally

I agree with you both. But I firmly believe Kroenke without Wenger is better than Kroenke with Wenger.

Goonie, I doubt Bould has any real chance of getting the job. Moreover, I don't think he should.

Yes, when they start interviewing candidates for the job and they say - well I need 150mil this season and 200 mil next to change the players they will probably starting dialing Wenger's number.

LOL.
Thanks for the early morning laugh.

I am with you on this. Give them all an opportunity, but more importantly work with each individually and collectively and if they fail at the end of next season they are for sale. i suspect like Bernard, yourself and others there are some very good players in our ranks who in a well balanced, defensively coached team will improve significantly.

The thing that will always puzzle me about Wenger is how someone so intelligent could fail to see the obvious failings of his teams when they were practically staring him in the face and, given the vast resources at his disposal, fail to address them in any meaningful way.

He could have appointed a defensive coach, given Bould the role or used the experience of Keown, Dixon or Winterburn, and allowed them carte blanche to sort out our defensive organisational issues. Instead it just feels like he was either completely oblivious to the inherent problems or delusional in thinking that he could build a competitive team without proper regard to the defensive side of the game.

He didn't need to spend tens of millions to upgrade his coaching staff to better reflect the needs of a modern day superclub and then delegate some of his workload to those better equipped and more willing to work on the defence.

Exactly, as I amongst others has been saying for years, many years.

I think he is a hostage to his ideals. To properly sort the defence out would require compromising his attaching principles.

Abandoned the club before a European semi.

http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/sport ... -1-5486661

This is plain savage and bloody hysterical. You've rattled off 3 or 4 world class posts there since you've been back Babs. I demand your permanent return to this platform now Wengers gone.

PSG, Real or Chelsea even?

Babu, have you been at the acid, buddy? I would advice you to lay off before you permanently fry your brain.

Gary Neville grinning at Arsenes interview saying he went down the win the next game line. He's right if he hadn't been sacked he would have been able to provide a more concise explanation rather than ducking the question still.

AW playing his best team possible ie the team that will or should meet Athletico on Thursday. Aubameyang benched.

Missed something. Ospina playing not Čech............

This defence is so porous I worry about Thursday.

Ranieri at the game . Nice shoe in for a few seasons?

Because he’s not the personality type to delegate And not have complete control

boring boring Arsenal

Maybe in the same way Donald Trump has continued the campaign rallies after he has been elected we should continue with the Wenger out protests after he's gone. Character building for our fans

Must have been a great ht talk from Wenger. Totally different game.

Harsh yellow that for Niles!

Well well. 1 all

Great strike unstoppable

Oops, it happened again

Wenger out !

Twisting the knife? You bad

Wenger should have got a hand to it on reflection. West Ham on top here get PEA on pronto