Bump. Anyone wanna add their vote now? This is just the scenario I was hoping for. Wenger rides off into the sunset with FA Cup in hand. But the club would have to have someone in the wings for that to work. Chances of that?
I don't see a successor in sight, which makes me think Le Boss will stay. That said, part of me wonders is whether this drawn out decision is in part due to Wenger wanting to ensure a proper successor is in place before vacating it.
If Gazidis is doing his job, they should have someone lined up to take over already (TBF, if Gazidis was REALLY doing his job Wenger would have been gone a few years ago).
I don't think Gazidis is allowed to do his job. Wenger allows Kroenke to make $$$ without having to pay attention.
I'm glad for Wenger,and feel hurt he is hurt by the criticism. Critiques are fine, but then not insulting his nationality/ethnicity, calling him a ********, or flying planes around. Even still, this performance as glorious as it was begs the question why didn't we play like this all the time? Or at the very least most of the time (which is more realistic)? This is one of the major reasons that pisses fans off and makes Wenger Outs the way we are. IF he is to stay, and it looks like he will, then he, his tactics, methods and preparation needs to change, as does the club structure. MAYBE Alexis will stay if we prove to him that we can challenge. But then this is too paltry a change. I'm grateful to beat Chelsea (and grateful a certain club has finished second, is acting cocky, and hasn't won a decent trophy since 1991). But then this tactical change/new formation, and winning a record 13th FA Cup only papers over the cracks imho. We need more in the summer and next season. I'd kill to be a fly on the wall in this supposed board meeting. Even if it's decided that he'll stay, then i'm sure there will be some frank decisions and no holes-barred talk. Kroenke has fired a manager before for non-performance, though I suspect he won't do it again. Hopefully we get some change in the structure of the club at the least. tl;dr Wenger OUT. But i'm happy for him, the players and the club, and we need change. One FA Cup win against a top Chelsea team who didnt turn up cannot mask our deficiencies.
just speculation. who knows if the board or kroenke are truly not happy with him? hence why i would kill to be at that meeting, or even have a glimpse at the minutes.
From his comments about wanting to stay and how the board don't need a presentation to convince them because all they need to do is watch the FA Cup Final, there's no way he's"riding off into the sunset". At least not as someone who understands why he should move on. He would see it as a sacking which will absolutely affect his legacy.
I have mixed feelings about this: on one hand, we did win a trophy. On the other, this was our worst league season in a long time, and after a summer in which we spent 100 million quid. Managers do get fired for that kind of showing, and it happens all the time.
There sadly a fair amount of truth to what you say. I just wrote a post in another thread comparing the lifelong fans to drug addicts. And it seems to me that Wenger is also addicted the club. And addicted to his relationship with the club, something not far from a benevolent dictator. This addiction may be as big a factor as any, in his decision to extend, which is being fairly widely assumed and reported. Sigh.
Kroenke doesn't know squat about how football works. In one way, it's a good thing; Wenger re-signing is the "bad thing".
The "board" doesn't exist. There is one vote on any issue and that's Kroenke's. He owns more than enough of the club to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. No one on the board has any leverage to do anything. So get the idea of the "board" out of your head. They're meaningless.
I've heard this said quite a bit. Is there any legitimate documented proof of this? The board is flacid, and Kroenke calls all the shots?
Are you assuming that every important decision that's made at the Board level comes down to a straight vote of shareholders. Is that really correct? Does Usmanov really get to vote his weighted shares on all these key decisions?
i get the suspcision that this entire hold-up was Stan saying "look, i'm busy, don't say shit until I come for the FA Cup final". The way Wenger said he would tell us in March/April, and now it's the end of the season means something was going on behind the scenes. It should be an opportunity for Wenger to prove the haters wrong. Though apparently it's been said that Alexis is keener to stay if Wenger does.
Care to explain? I don't profess to be an expert on Arsenal's board/decision/voting structure. In particular, I'd like to validate what @mebeSajid seems to be saying, that Kroenke gets to decide every key decision by himself, just because he's the majority shareholder.
And the way Kroenke and Wenger discussed it, and the board "rubber-stamped it" is telling too. Kroenke has our club by the short and curlies, and seems obvious to me that he prevented Wenger from telling the media anything. I don't think Gazidis will leave either, who says there was a power struggle? I doubt there was. It won't surprise me if Wenger gets top four again next season, wins Europa League and retains the FA Cup, and finishes ten points above Spurs. It would be the perfect f-you to all the haters, and the vindication the board needs. It may seem unlikely now, but then who said Spurs would finish second, Leicester would win the league, or City wouldn't blitz the league under Pep by 20 points.
Usmanov owns shares, but has no board presence. those who do have decision-making ability are those in his trusted circle, namely Wenger, Gazidis, his son, Law, etc.