Are we all agreed that AW's going nowhere, regardless of a top 4 finish ?

[7evens]

We are ? Good, then at least we can confine this wedge of the cake to a minimum.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Yesterday Once More]

[The Tony]

Zonal Marking Failure
No Defensive Coaching
Doesn't even help Arsene with his zipper problems.

Sack him and get Di Canio :cloud9:

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

But he has earned one poor season in charge of the club.

[7evens]

They're coming from somewhere ?

[Monty91]

narrative. For that reason alone we should be deeply suspicious.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[7evens]

can ?
Whatever people say, he's a very honourable bloke and I believe that a contract extension at this point isn't even on his agenda

[Bergkamp's Brain]

or are you going by where we finish in the league?

[7evens]

[Yesterday Once More]

The great illusionist has simply changed some people's perception of what a mediocre season is. Three years ago we used to laugh at talk of "Fourth Place Tottenham"!!

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

I doubt even Ferguson would cope well with having his best laid plans continuously scuttled like that. That is why I find these accusations of 'stagnancy' so ridiculous. If anything we have had too much change at our club, vis-a-vis the playing staff, rather than too little.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

While paying off the stadium. I don't think finishing third/fourth should be counted as a failure at all.

[The Tony]

Implication being no defensive coaching to make for more exciting games to get bums on seats and its all back fired.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

Last season we lost Fabregas and Nasri towards the end of the summer, and had our other best midfielder injured for the whole season.

You could level the accusation that we didn't replace as we should, but is that an accusation that should be directed towards the manager, or the club?

[Bergkamp's Brain]

I suppose if you judged Wenger in May, he'd have been a C or a C+

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

And when they had settled we went on a pretty good run from January onwards iirc.

Yes, it wasn't a good season, but it was by no means bad, given the circumstances.

[Bergkamp's Brain]

I wouldn't suggest that last season was bad, just that we had some very poor performances. This season has a similar feel, but without RvP to bail us out. If Arsenal fails to finish 4th, I reckon Wenger will walk because the asbuse he is taking right now is pathetic, let alone what will happen if we fail to qualify for the CL.

[gco40203]

The problem is that he has too much control and is basically unsackable.

The fact is that the last 7-8 years the eam has got worse and worse. Despite all his spin and misdirection there are 3 domestic trophies and 1 European one and we have won none of them for 8 years. In addition we are 20 odd points behind league leaders. Where is the progress ?

Finishing 4th is bollox really. Getting into CL is simply about money. We are not realistic contenders for CL and usually go out in last 16/quarter final year on year. So the 4th place thing is just a money bonus. He focusses on the CL to the detriment of domestic trophies yet we are more likely to win a domestic trophy...so where is the sensible strategy ?

He also buys in substandard players and stays loyal to them beyond reason. He said on monday that we have a great team......no we don't.Bayrn or barca have great teams.

He also fails to get the best out of them. Manutd don't necessarily have a better technical team when compared man for man. But they have determination and a will to win instilled in them.