27 thoughts on “Finally

  1. Bertie Blenkinsop

    A noble man, a football pioneer, he just stayed on that bit too long.

    Hope he goes out on a high.

    1. Martco

      yep

      for me nothing current has ever reached the drama & excitement of the regular ding dongs he used to have with SAF..I think they kinda needed each other to exceed if hope they’re on good terms these days

      a good man who def did things his way, one of the last to stand up to the utter money launderette going on these days in football

      Good luck to him

    2. Neilo

      Well, he’s at least picked the right date to go out on a high. I’ll miss the big puffa-wearing galoot.

    3. Brother Barnabas

      yep to that

      I love him to bits, always will. just a pity he didn’t see what everyone else did 4 or 5 years ago. do believe he hung on for genuine reasons – loves arsenal, was never about ego, legacy etc

      hope for his sake more than anything else that arsenal win the europa

      (less of the ‘don’t let the door..’, please – deserves respect)

        1. Dan

          Yes very snide. He probably should have left 2 years ago, but aside from Ferguson and Mourinho, there’s not been a more successful PL coach. I’m sure Aaron has achieved just as much.

      1. Bertie Blenkinsop

        I’m sure I’ve told this story before but, for the day that’s in it….

        I met Wenger a few years ago in Paris.

        He was really polite and charming as you’d expect, but a little bit jumpy I thought.

        Anyhow….
        the apartment building I was speaking to him outside was where his mistress lived, as was revealed a couple of months later in the tabloids.

        1. mildred st. meadowlark

          Ooooooh. My WORD.

          Do you think they’ll be revealing our secret love nest in the Sun?

      2. david

        My father was a arsenal fan all his life
        He died at ninety one
        He was buried with his football teams scarf
        He adored arsenal
        When he was dying we wrote to Mr Wenger and told him in the letter maybe his oldest loyal fan was about to die
        Not only did Mr Wenger write a personal letter to him by hand on the clubs note paper signed by himself ,he also said he would announce at the next match over the loud speakers a wish that he gets better
        We read the letter to my father and when he died he was buried with the letter
        My father died with a smile on his face
        A more decent legend will never run a football club like him

  2. scottser

    worthy of absolute respect for the ‘invincible’ season alone. what a magnificent team.
    sayonara

  3. rotide

    Hard not to be a little emotional at this news.

    There’ll be endless plaudits droning on about how he changed the game in England but mostly they’ll be correct. Like Scottser said, the invincibles season stands as his greatest achievements, City being the latest club to demonstrate just how hard it is to do.

    1. Ask Arsene

      I’d say Wenger would have gladly given up that record for a trophy of any worth.It’s a record that will always be beatable whereas the premiership winners or Champions league winner of any season cannot be rewritten.

      1. rotide

        but he did win the premiership multiple times?

        Fair enough, He’ might give it up for a champs league but then again it is something he has over every CL winning manager in premiership history

      2. scottser

        won the double in his first full season. and got beaten in a CL final by THE barcelona team of this generation. his achievements are noteworthy.

    2. scottser

      i remember david beckham giving an interview around 2000 after united won the treble. interviewer asks ‘well, what’s left to achieve now’ and beckham goes ‘go a season unbeaten, i suppose’. johnny giles brings it up then on the saturday night, calling beckham a fool, and how going the season unbeaten was a nonsense, impossible etc.
      then wenger does it the following year.
      now i love johnny giles, but it’s nice to see him shut up sometimes too.

  4. Teds Big Adventure

    “Don’t let the door hit your Arsene on the way out.”

    Crikey. A spoilt generation indeed.

    1. Brother Barnabas

      that door-comment isn’t representative of how most arsenal fans feel – in fact, I think very, very few would go with that

      that’s not to say most won’t be glad about today’s announcement

      there’ll always be fondness and gratitude above anything else

  5. :-Joe

    The main problem has been brewing for around ten years…

    No focus on having at least one solid decent defensive holding midfielder to solidify their defence…
    Nevermind two or three like most teams in case of injuries etc..

    The success of going from invincibles to very vincible and in recent years to random self-destructables is because they don’t have access to a generation of great players on the cheap anymore like the French stars who went on to win the Euro and World Cup.in the 90’s.

    To be fair he was happy to see the money spent on the new stadium instead of random marquee players but still… complete neglect of having a solid group of defenders and a strong couple of leaders… Why???….

    It’s a real shame, even when they were 50/50 or just plain dreadful in defence he made them great to watch as an attacking team most of the time and you could see they were capable of being the best in Europe.

    He should have fixed the defense, it was the easiest problem any manager could have and maybe he could have pushed on for European glory before it crumbled slowly around him. .. A painfully slow decline for over five years… Why didn’t he know or listen to the complaints from everyone telling him… someone, anyone?

    Best of luck etc. but totally daft way to try and compete without spending the big money like others around him and then breaks the club record transfer fees twice in less than six months before suddenly announcing he’s leaving ..

    Eccentric / Insane genius (SMH??)

    Mourinho said he is sad he’s not staying tho….

    :-J

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie