Morning all.
Kev and and I have mustered this one up..
If changing managers was a simple task, then Arsenal would have done it by now, as would Man Utd, but it’s a case of sip it and see when an icon manager leaves the stage and a club is trying to keep the train on the tracks.
I’m sure that many on here can recall the famous Liverpool boot room, Shankley, Paisley, Fagan, and Dalgilsh, ably supported by Moran, Evans and Lee. It seemed like it would go on forever, but suddenly it ended, for no other reason other than time and there was nothing Liverpool did could revive their previous dominance in the domestic league as the boot room culture ran out of steam.
It’s now approaching the 30th anniversary of Liverpool’s last Championship triumph, you can see how, desperate they are despite the Champions League successes, how they long for a league title.
Arsenal won their first league title in 1931, under the brilliant Herbert Chapman, an icon manager, the best in my view as he did it at unfashionable Huddersfield Town before joining Arsenal in 1925. Chapman began and built a strong legacy, as Shankley did years later at Liverpool. His legacy was so strong that those who came under his influence were able to continue the magic. So when he prematurely died in 1934 George Allison stepped into the job, supported by the people Chapman had installed, Allison continued the success up to the outbreak of the Second World War. He retired in 1947 and Tom Whittaker, Chapmans old trainer, took over, winning more trophies until he, as Chapman had before, died in the job in 1956. 31 years, an era of success and then, just as with the Liverpool boot room, it ended.
Arsenal then had 10 years of sip it and see, Jack Crayston, George Swindin, Alec Stock briefly, Roy Greenwood joined the staff for a very short while and then the disastrous Billy Wright, great player, great captain, too nice and totally unsuited for the job.
Bertie Mee took over in 1966 and we all know the rest.
So our club isn’t immune to having the kind of periods when we go through a few managers trying desperately to find the next icon.
When George Graham left we had Stewart Houston, Bruce Rioch, Pat Rice as caretaker, it’s not unusual, as Tom Jones sang, in fact it’s normal. Let’s see what’ll happen at Man City when Guardiola leaves?
So whilst we were all hoping that Unai Emery was going to get the Arsenal express back on track, it’s not really worked out and we shouldn’t really be too shocked by that.
There’s no guarantee that the next incumbent will transform us back into title contenders either, we might have to suffer a couple more sip it and sees before we unearth another Chapman.
The longest Arsenal have gone between winning league championships, since we first won it in 1931 is 18 seasons, 1953/1971 and 1971/1989.
We are approaching our 16th season since Wenger last won us a league title in 2004, so they’d better get their skates on…
However, if what’s been published on the BBC is correct, Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham have no immediate plans to make a change of manager.
“We firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job,” they told Arsenal staff at a meeting. We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season.
“We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect. Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season. We are all working intensively behind the scenes to turn things around and are confident we will.
“We never take our fantastic support for granted. We hope we can all stick together and get behind the team in this challenging period, as together we are stronger.”
I’m always sceptical when reports like the above come out because firstly, who has leaked this information and secondly, how much has been added or changed to suit an individuals agenda? Chinese whispers are a dangerous thing.
The objective for this season no doubt is to secure a place in next season’s Champions League. In fact I’d go as far as to suggest this is the minimum expected of Unai Emery after the club spent big money in the summer in improving the strength and depth of the squad. So what if certain players were signed on the ‘never never’ as isn’t that how many clubs operate? After all, when you or I drive around in a nice new car, do we care that it won’t be paid for until the loan agreement is up, or the three years before we can change for a newer model? No and unless one is rolling in money of course, isn’t that how life is today for the majority? It’s still a financial commitment though whichever way you choose to look at it. Plus, the club can’t spend money they are not making through the game.
However, when the car you’re driving fails to fulfil your needs, you have to do something about it. You might be able to get the bus to work if you’re lucky enough to live on a route or better still, you might be able to walk but if not, you’re snookered. Without work, you’ve no money, without money you can’t meet the loan payments or bills and so it goes on. Although it doesn’t for most because we get the car fixed and life goes back to normal.
Arsenal and Unai Emery’s need top four of to win the Europa League Final yet right now, both look a million miles away from being achievable. As it was pointed out yesterday, we’re close to a relegation scrap if we don’t improve, especially if other clubs below us start stringing a few good results of their own together. Just eight points separate us and third from bottom in the table.
Unai Emery is Arsenal’s old banger, or a first car bought on the cheap. When bought, one just knew it wasn’t going to last for years but there was hope it do the job required at least. Perhaps until a better option was available, affordable even.
The weather has changed and the battery in the old car, which has required charging every other week, now needs a reboot every couple of days. Buy a new battery I hear you say but the problem runs deeper than that and you know it.
It’s not ideal because the cold weather is on its way so it’s only going to get worse. Crunch time has arrived. Take the financial hit or take the risk knowing that one day you could be left stranded out in the cold on a road in the middle of nowhere. Cue Anastacia ‘Left Outside Alone’ – thinking ‘if only I’d done something about changing my car.’
It’s all very well standing in support of Unai Emery and publicly, I’m sure we’d all expect the board to do so but if this support really has been confirmed privately to staff behind closed doors then we can only hope improvement is imminent.
There’s no guarantee a change of manager right now would improve things long term, but just like the car battery being charged every week, it might give the club a better chance of reaching its intended destination over the next six months….
Sorry for waffling on…. lol
Morning all.
Great post guys.
I agree that a change of manager guarantees nothing, but I do think it gives us a better chance of success than we have right now so it’s worth the risk, imo.
Hi All I agree that some times we have to weather the storms with a new coach and some times the best coaches just can not get used to English football or bond with the players and fans but what gets me is the media and fans are all ways blaming the coach but its not his fault when the striker miss a simple goal from only a meter out or when we miss a goal the players just stand their blaming each other yet the other team has all ready brought the ball back into play and read to score why our players are still jogging back down the players need to stand up and admit it was there fault not the coaches team plan or position of the players.
Thanks Scott, factor in the new manager boost and we might just creep into the top four. Lol
I hope though that if the board stick by Emery, they prove us all wrong.
Geoff, while I agree the players have their own issues to rectify, it’s not their fault Emery swaps, changes, hangs players out to dry, odd subs etc etc…
Perhaps if our football was more organised, individuals would be too. Personally, I think they’ve just lost all faith in Emery.
Interesting analogy. For me, there is a difference between results and the way we play. Our results are bad and that hurts. But I am much more alarmed by the way we play. If a manager slowly get his ideas across and need a year or more to do so you still see sings of improvement or hope. You get 20 or 30 minutes of brilliant patches in a game here or there. you get an unexpected great result with a 4-0 victory. You see the energy in the team excited to express themselves and their playing style. You lose games because of a short poor stretch but feel you could have won the game.
With Arsenal at the moment, there is no energy in the team, no excitement to express their style (pressing?, possession?, counter?), no clear starting eleven, no believe in what they are doing, we play like a typical team about to stop playing for the manager.
It is those signs that make me believe we are not waiting for the team to all of a sudden “get it”. They don’t look like they will put it all together in the next game. I, and many fans with me, can deal with the poor results if we believe we are rebuilding, if we can see signs of improvement, moments of conviction, if we can see a team that is in it togher, playing for each other and playing for the manager. Our team does not have that feel.
What sets Pep and Klopp apart from Emery is that both teams play like they love their manager and play with passion and conviction, to do that for such a long period of time is all a result of the manager’s ability to inspire his squad. Their are many more squads in the PL that look like they are a lot more inspired than we are and I am not talking about the teams above us only. Even a freshly promoted team plays with a lot more conviction and passion than we do. If Emery could get all of our players on the same page signing from the same hymn book he would have at least managed that by now.
Getting no results out of this season would be expensive, not even using the remainder of this season to give an other manager a chance to start to mold a unit out of our squad is wasteful.
Same here Govinda, the performances are far more concerning than the results. The Aston Villa game alone supports that.
I didn’t expect miracles, just improvement.
I know it’s been said before, but Emery hasn’t show any single style he wants out boys to play, and he seems to be reactive rather than proactive.
He’s had enough time to at least have a grasp on how best to use the players he has.
Morning Rico, Kev and all. Great post again !
Scott I think it’s worth the risk too, we are going backwards if anything.
Geoff, Nothing frustrates me more than players not trying hard enough, not putting a proper shift in etc.But a lot of that must come from the manager. We have mentioned before about a decent captain who would give these slackers a kick up the backside.
Sounds pretty bad over there in OZ chaps.Wishing you all the best with those fires. Hope it rains very soon!
Morning Rico and all. When Stan bought the club I imagine that having Arsene in place was a large factor in the decision. In a way Wenger immunised Stan and latterly Josh, from the harsh realities of PL football. I doubt they were daft enough to believe that the enduring reign of Arsene would go on forever, despite the fact that it seemed that way for many fans. When he left they went through the process and for whatever reason, they chose Unai. It seemed like a fair choice at the time I would say and I completely get why they did it and chose him over the inexperience of people like Arteta. But, built into that choice and lying right behind it was the fact that it is a notoriously difficult proposition and regardless which way you jump (experience of no experience, but with promise) you have a less that 50/50 chance of getting it right first time. It’s a matter of timing as much as anything else.
As the Kroenkes are now seeing, the PL is not an investment for the faint-hearted and there is no no shame in getting it wrong as long as you are savvy enough to recognise when that is the case. The fact that they bought in Raul and Edu I thought spoke to the fact that they acknowledged how green they are at all this so they went for a seasoned mover and shaker with great credentials and an experienced ex-Arsenal player to form a management team for the football side of things. The financial side was left under the apparently astute Vinai.
It seems to me that, if you assemble such a team of men you are doing that for both good times and bad so, if things go wrong, as they have with Unai, then you will be in an ideal position to make a judgement and introduce a remedy in the shape of the next manager and whatever team he brings with him.
Taking an overview of Unai’s performance including the latter stages of last season and looking at his insistence on changing formations on a game by game basis is worrying. I’m no tactician or strategist but from what I see and considering the players he has at his disposal I reckon he has been failing for quite a while. He blew his chance at CL football when it seems much easier to qualify and looking at the results and the sheer ineptitude of the team’s performance and of course trying to figure out why he is incapable of building anything remotely solid has been a profoundly depressing experience. Failing to be a great and successful Arsenal manager is ok. Recognising that fact is what counts as far as the board is concerned. The fans will respect you and the club more if you have the balls to act on it and try again. But the statement that has come from within the club is very worrying to me. Now, it might be, as others have said, the dreaded vote of confidence. It might be the precursor to change. It might be that the board know who they want to take over but can’t get that person yet. And when you think about it, they could either issue a statement like this or say nothing.
But, let’s face it, unless some seismic shift takes place under Unai Emery and he starts winning games regularly, then we aren’t going to achieve the goal of CL qualification as things stand.
I know where we are, I just can’t work out where this board are taking us.
Thanks Mike and all.
We probably have a good 4-5 days of problems ahead with these fires.
Again I emphasise the fact we are fine-very little chance of issues-but it’s just terrible.
Something like 85 fires in New South Wales alone of which a few dozen are out of control.
3,000 odd firefighters are battling the burn of which a hell of a lot are volunteers.
Very special people.
The worst thing is that many of these fires are invariably deliberately lit.
Morning Adam and Mike, thanks
I agree Adam re the Kroenke family. The very fact they’ve brought Raul and co into the club is like they’ve handed over the keys and said get on with it. Something Josh said they tend to do anyway. Whatever goes on on the pitch, ultimately ends up in their lap imo so surely it’s in their interest as much as the clubs, to not let this disaster continue much longer.
It was Inter Reading the last few comments from Sunday’s post, it was like an episode of Neighbours or Home & Away… 😄
Inter Reading???
Do they play in the Berkshire & District League?
I meant interesting… 🙄
Good afternoon all, Rico and Kev as joint ventures go this is a good un.
The “news” that leaked out of Arsenal has been picked up by too many media outlets for it to be either wrong or accidental. There is just too much noise emanating from the club at the moment and the press are lapping it up. The only way to counter the negativity is to show Emery the door.
Changing the head coach is not a guarantee of a top four finish but sticking with him is a guarantee of a mid-table finish or worse.
What’s Home and Away, Kev 🙂
Hi Rico don’t get me wrong I am losing faith in Emery to but if we get rid of Emery in January how much will it cost us to pay him out and will we have money to buy new players straight away for the new coach. I just feel that Emery has been made an escape goat for the players who don’t give 100 percent on the field.
Geoff. With a half-decent player costing £35-40 million plus huge wages, whatever it costs to pay Emery and his team off (about £6-7 million I would estimate), it will be cheap when you think how important the manager is.
I don’t see money as a consideration.
I have two friends affected , one who lives just outside Los Angeles and the other near Barcelona , they both say the same thing that deliberate fire raising is the root cause of these fires starting . Once lit however they are impossible to stop if the undergrowth is dry and extensive. “Weired people ” , unless there is an insurance claim or someone needs to build a new stadium in Tottenham High Road.
On to the Arsenal , Emery lost me at the end of last season , the chucking away of the league’s coveted 4th spot and the Europa League final told me that there was something rotten in the state of Arsenal and I saw little that looked like solving things in the summer.
I have nothing against chasing Pepe but was he really our first priority ? Buying a nice shiny new forward is always eye catching but we failed because we were and still are badly organised and getting a new winger was not addressing the problem.
There was and still is so much work to be done and most of it is in the planning . In our everyday lives we set ourselves targets and devise a way of achieving them , a salesman has a journey plan , retailers stock appraisals , office workers work out how to empty their in trays efficiently . If they don’t do this their work gets confused and eventually they fail and are replaced .
I can’t see any other outcome for Emery and I think to do it sooner rather than later is the best course of action for all parties . The club needs to look forward with a plan and Emery needs to go before his reputation is completely wrecked, at the moment there are excuses for him ( language ) which he can can use to resume his career in Spain.
I think that Emery is on £6m pa, or so I’ve read from reliable sources.
His staff are going to be on decent money as well, so we can only imagine the cost, but I’ve heard it could be £10m.
Also we don’t know the accuracy of the 3rd year, is he under contract or not?
A new Coach will want his own staff and if he is currently employed then compo will need to be paid for him and his staff.
Short term Ljungberg is the answer, he is already an employee, the fans love him, there could be a Lampardesque bounce also the players like him. At least the football under Freddie could be palatable…
When Ozil is on about £18 million a year plus, it’s relatively low anyway Kev.
I know every one wants Emery out but what concerns me if we go down the same path as Manchester United and we start winning under a care taker coach then we sign him and the players stop trying again we are back were we are now All I am saying is that we need to think carefully who to get and not rush in I would prefer to be up front and tell Emery if we are not in the top 4 by the end of the season then you are out.
https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/11/estudiantes-marks-roaring-return-to-stadium-with-flaming-lion
How to open a stadium , we got a parachutist that missed the North Bank
A great “Waffle” Rico & Kev, and, had it been topped with maple syrup and cream, we’d be reflecting on a different Arsenal.
Afternoon all.
It’s a sad day when our team is spiralling slowly down the Premier League table with an embarrassing, negative goal difference, and, if nothing is done that will arrest that downward trend, then I fear we may end up (as has been mentioned frequently here) in a relegation battle.
Nothing more I can add really, other than I agree with the majority of the comments regarding Emery and the futility of continuing with him further.
rico, you couldn’t fit my car in for a service tomorrow week could ya lol.
Let me check my diary Micko. Lol
Geoff, we won’t know until we take the chance and right now I’d say it’s a chance worth taking…
Cracking post thanks.
Off Topic, I see Patrick Vieira is bigging up Emery and also thinks Xhaka needs more respect from the fans and saying we have to remind ourselves that he(Xhaka) has achieved a lot since being at Arsenal !!!! wtf !!!
Listen Paddy, I have given Xhaka the utmost respect, I made him the Captain of my Subbuteo team, but after a while he was almost mannequin like with his pace, his misplaced passes were amaturish and I started to boo him to such an extent that I considered self harming my fingers !…………………and some people want you as the manager and you are coming out with cuckko stuff !
He is hardly going to say “” He’s crap get him out I want the job.””
If Vieira is eyeing up the post he knows full well how the old etonian’s think . So he is unlikely to make too many ripples.
I believe we can’t afford NOT to make a move on Emery.
Ok I know when I beaten, so here we go next question The board sack Emery who do with go for as new coach and assistance My choice coach Freddie Ljungberg and assistance Mikel Arteeta or swap them around and we cross fingers and hope for the best.
Geoff, we Aussies don’t ever give up hahahaha
Arteta for mine, but I’ve said that since Wenger left.
Experience-well, Emery has plenty so I don’t see the relevance.
We’ve also seen olwnty if managers succeed overseas yet do nothing here so I’m not concerned on that, either.
Then there’s experience actually managing in England-big Sam?
Woy Hodgson?
Nah, unless it’s someone who’s succeeded at a big club in England and relatively recently, and is willing to join us, I’d go Arteta.
Who knows though, maybe the board really will keep Emery on.
Good morning, a cold one here 1c and windy.
This will bring a warm glow, Xhaka reportedly seen house hunting in Italy ahead of a proposed January move to A C Milan.
Morning all.
New post up now.
I saw that too Cicero… 🤞🤞