Morning all.
A break from the men and youth today because another team within the club need a mention and that’s the ladies, although nowadays they are called Arsenal Women. It wasn’t that long ago when they were winning nearly everything there was on offer. The women’s team only started up in 1997 and have gone to be the most successful team in the women’s game with 43 major trophies under their belt. That’s some record eh.
2 FA WSL titles, 12 FA Women’s Premier League titles, 14 FA Women’s Cups, ten Women’s Premier League Cups, 4 FA WSL Continental Cups and one UEFA Women’s Champions League (formerly the UEFA Women’s Cup).
Via Akers was the man responsible for the ladies team from the day they were founded, to 2009 when he retired and he has a pretty impressive Arsenal CV himself:
- UEFA Women’s Cup: 2007
- FA Women’s Premier League: 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
- FA Women’s Cup: 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008.
- FA Women’s Premier League Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009.
- FA Women’s Community Shield: 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007.
Replacing him was always going to difficult and so it proved when after just eight months, his successor Tony Gervaise quit the role citing outside interference as his reason. Gervaise swapped places with the then reserve coach Laura Harvey with the latter taking over as manager. After securing another treble for the club, three years later Harvey left for a job in the United States. Shelley Kerr was appointed as her successor but she didn’t last long. Shock results against Birmingham and Reading caused her to resign at a time when Arsenal were possibly going through their worst spell ever.
In October last year, Pedro Martinez Losa joined the list of managerial exits after three years in charge. During his time he guided the Ladies side to a League Cup trophy in 2015 followed by an FA Cup victory in 2016 but just like the men, were way off winning the league title. Funny enough, they were in sixth place when Losa left. Third place behind Man City and Chelsea for three seasons in a row wasn’t good enough.
On his departure, Ivan Gazidis said:
“Pedro has taken us through a significant period of change and has helped put in the foundations for further success in the future.”
“We are grateful for all of Pedro’s hard work over the past three seasons.”
Anyway, Ismael Garcia took over on a temporary basis until Joe Montemurro was appointed in November last year, making him the sixth manager since Vik Akers retired nearly nine years ago and apart from Laura Harvey, none left with a particularly good record.
Montemurro, with a CV as long as your arm came to Arsenal from Australia but suffered a loss on his debut but since then, his team have gone on a seven-match unbeaten streak, a run which has included six wins and six without conceding a goal. We’ve also secured a place in the FA WSL Continental Cup final and the last eight of the SSE Women’s FA Cup so perhaps things are looking up.
Talking to the official website, Montemurro said:
“The organisation has been good, the work we’ve been doing off the ball has been very, very good and, if we can use that as a base and a framework to score one goal more than the other team, then it’s a good base to work with.”
How much do you love reading the words “the work we’ve been doing off the ball has been good, very good?”
I wonder what if any work Arsene Wenger or his coaching staff do off the ball? If Sunday, just one of many performances over the last ten years is anything to go by, I’d say very little.
Anyway, the moral of this post today is that when Arsene Wenger finally goes, the club might not get it right first time when appointing a new manager although there’s just as good a chance that they will. Either way, the power struggle will be over and no one man will control things in the way Arsene Wenger seems to have done since the day David Dein left.
That in itself has to be a positive move and on that the club can build and get our players back to playing with passion and pride for the shirt they wear, the club who pays them and of course, themselves. It may not guarantee trophies but at least we might actually get back to challenging for them.
We might even start to enjoy watching them play again too……
Chips Keswick age 78, Ken Friar age 83 , Lord Harris age 75 , Stan Kroenke age 70 . The old guard
Ivan Gazidis age 53 , Josh Kroenke age 37.
The next few managers will come and go but effectively the top row can only go one way.
The next step of Arsenal’s success will rely not on who we appoint to replace Wenger but who we get in to replace them.
Possibly ex players with business acumen but they are hard to find . A few years ago I would have touted Bob Wilson but he is 76 so he is not the answer.,
Although I don’t always agree with their comments in the media some of the ones that have gone on to write about the game should be the targets , Alan Smith , Martin Keown are more level headed than say Ian Wright or Paul Merson , Tony Adams. Maybe David O leary would be a possibiity.
One thing is certain that the next manager will have to see out the top row old guard and in my opinion nothing will change in the way the club is run until they go.
Morning Rico great post hearing jardim is the front runner. Great with the youth set up, requires less funds and plays attractive football so hey he fits the bill of what the board wants. Like I said yesterday from the shortlist I ‘ll take him even though am still hoping we bring in one of sarri nagelsmann or hassenhuttl ????
If Arsene really is “amazed” that his job is being questioned then he really must be completely delusional. Apparently he has turned down the World to stay and believes that has earned him the right to completely disregard performances and the results and presumably to do what he wants, when he wants.
I am amazed that he is amazed. 🙂
Morning all.
Still Allegri for me although Kardim would be a very good and close second choice!
In fact anyone now would be better than the old retainer!
I fully expect a succession of short term unsatisfactory appointments until the right person is found. I also expect the Arsenal to sink down the league, a little, until a new stability is established.
As for new Directors, Lord alone knows which saps will be offered and accept the vacant positions. We can only hope they appoint football savvy folk and not, has been carpet salesmen or their ilk!
The fight goes on…..Wenger out!
White and fluffy here and it’s still fluffing too!
AW still making it about him and only him..no regards or concerns for the club or the fans. .
Selfish?
Delusional?
Dictator?
ILL?
Fraud?
All the above?
Hi KK. I watched the press conference in full and I think it was very worrying on many levels.
Adam, the whole presser!?..you must be on some sort of beta blockers tablets…lol
I had a projectile vomitting and switched off when I heard him saying
“I’ve been here 21 years and turned the whole world down to honour my contract.”
What a ****
Kk. I know what you mean but I wanted to watch him deal with the questions rather than lift a couple of quotes, possibly out of context. It really was a car-crash. His justification for the loss against Ostersund being (predictably) that we had scored 3 goals at their place and we went through. He kept banging on about being in the final by beating Chelsea and actually seemed unclear as to how a team might be judged. He conveniently forgot the points column.
He also failed to consider the club or the fans (as you mentioned) and when Neville’s criticism of the players walking around he said that some of the MC players walked too. He fell back on the old shots-on-target thing too as if to justify our abysmal performance.
I thought that the press were very gentle with him as they didn’t want to rub it in. His constant banging on about how long he has been in charge and how he has turned down “the World” was horribly patronising to those who have supported him for years and I am convinced he still sees himself as one of the World’s top managers.
He comes from a generation of managers who simply refuse to be open and honest and think they are cleverer than they really are. Or that everybody else is absolutely stupid.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43222872
Come On now, let’s keep a perspective about it all, because you know it’s really about mathematics and cohesion… mish.
And mental strength of course.
He don’t make it past the summer does he?
Brudder. I can’t see it, but with this owner and board you never know. When you have to explain your failures on a weekly basis it’s never a good sign.
I thinks he’s been talking a little bit with zee ‘and brake on!
Wavy ?
He’s talking footballistically
Oh yeah where is Lady Bullshit-Smith she has much to answer for
Danny Fiszman was the one who persuaded her to plump for Kroenke purely because Usmanov was in bed with Dein. Sorry to day Fiszman knew his fate and was determined to keep Dein out of the club . Both he and Hill wood wanted nothing to do with Dein and it was enough to put us where we are now.
Just read snippets of his interview, he really has run out of things to say hadn’t he. Me me me me…. If he had an adviser, he/she would tell him to say nothing…
Evening guys…
Evening Rico. I agree. It was odd and there’s a very weird feel to the club at the moment.
Evening Adam, it’s like a volcano expected to erupt at anytime…
Evening all. Well, I just can’t get my head around that interview. He seemed genuinely surprised at tne personal criticism aimed at him. Surely he’s bricking it about tomorrow’s game?
He seemed happy that we won 3-0 away in the ropey cup, so it didn’t matter about the home defeat.
There comes a point when you can’t defend the indefensible, but he clearly hasn’t reached that point yet.
He seems to have taken it as a given that Arsenal cannot expect to beat other top teams in the league. When did that happen? Are we no longer a top team then?
He is sending out subliminal messages that will take root in fans minds, that we cannot compete with the Cities, Spuds, manures, Liverpools. Before you know it, we will all think that way, instead of being pissed that Arsenal are losing so many games.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I took it that he is staying until the end of his contract. He has no intention of resigning and they won’t sack him all the while the business is still making money.
Oh dear. Oh deary me. More of the same then.
I think he’s lost the plot…
Meerkat, we doomed. .doomed ..
He is too stubborn and thinks he can turn it around… no hope in hell. . we have been here too many times. .one step forward 10 backward..
many things happening behind the scene at the club. so hopefully we get a new face cometh the summer!
Kk, keep the fingers and toes firmly crossed eh…
Night guys…
Night Rico..
So news of a non Wenger crisis meeting leaks out . AGAIN . This time apparently Mertersacker has used the line that If they want to keep Wenger then settle their differences and play for the manager. On the surface that’s fine but it does suggest that certain players do not want him around anymore and that the arguments which are taking place on the proverbial terraces are happening in the dressing room as well.
It seems that there is a split between the players that want to play and those that feel that they are trapped in a system which stops their abilities to express themselves.
I can’t imagine that some of our flair players are happy to be trapped in the short passing game that stifles their natural desire to attack. We come out of matches having had 3 attempts on target but having had over 60% of the possesion. Anyone that plays football for fun has to be totally frustrated by the whole thing.
It seems that as Wenger won’t change the players are starting to take things out of his hands.
Morning Rico and all. Very quiet on here!
The state of the roads in North London suggest this game could be postponed.
I hear Arsenal were asking for volunteers to shovel snow at the Emms…
They hoped to get enough snow shovelled into stadium to get the match postponed…
Morning all…it’s a winter wonderland here,
Morning Potter,Adam, Bt and all.
I hope it’s postponed, there’s a good film on tonight… 😉
New post up now.