Arsene Wenger to step down

[phonics]

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Press conference in 5 minutes.

[Lewis]

No. Stand and fight you coward.

[SvN]

The timing of the announcement seems ridiculous.

[phonics]

Doing it the day after all the football podcasts get recorded as well. Ian Macintosh will be seething into his panini album at the lost traffic.

[niko_cee]

Brendan, Brendan, Brendan!

[Shindig]

Rafa :(

[Disco]

Arsene Wenger to step down ..... in 2020.

[Mazuuurk]

The timing of the announcement seems ridiculous.

Yeah Agreed, I don't get it at all.

If he sort of wants the squad to be a bit fired up and "fight for him" or whatever (would they...?!), then telling them in Private would be good enough wouldn't it?


Must have something to do with finding a replacement or whatever.

[Greg]

The owners probably want fans to actually turn up to games for the rest of the season.

[phonics]

I want him to write that book he's talked about so bad.

[phonics]

Doing it the day after all the football podcasts get recorded as well. Ian Macintosh will be seething into his panini album at the lost traffic.

987298721128951808

Told 'ya.

[SincereTheRebel]

Eddie Howe as the replacement, in a typical arsenal way. Simone would be my preferred pick though. No English needed.

[phonics]

My bet's are Enrique and Vieira, two underwhelming appointments for different reasons.

[Lewis]

Arsene Wenger to step down ..... in 2020.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg_teqyLNOs

[Jimmy Floyd]

Wenger to Chelsea please.

[Lewis]

Oh shit 'Troopz' (billed as such) is on ITV News.

[Lewis]

He hasn't said 'blud' or 'fam', so he clearly puts it on for the fan channel.

[phonics]

Wenger to smash Tuchels dreams and go to PSG or take over the France job if Deschamps cocks it up imo.

[Mazuuurk]

Dont you think Wenger will just retire?

[phonics]

Definitely not. It seems the board was going to sack him in the summer so he's gone on his own terms. He'll die working in football, he has nothing else in his life. When talk of retirement comes up he talks alot about his Dad who became a shadow of himself once he had nothing to work for and died shortly after.

[Lewis]

He should roam the world conning idiots in China and Qatar with 'consultancy' jobs like some upper tier Sven.

[Lewis]

987280955059638272

Right. That's it. The sport has peaked.

[Mazuuurk]

Nuuuuuuuuuurse! Get my cap! It's IMPORTANT

[Disco]

The more football fans I see on the internet the more convinced I become that we really do need a good war to thin the herd.

[Baz]

The more football fans I see on the internet the more convinced I become that we really do need a good war to thin the herd.And the more I go off football.

[Magic]

Can't wait until BRENDA takes them to 2nd then relegates the season after.

[Giggles]

All the media tributes are lol as fuck. They've been calling him a useless twat for years.

[Pleb]

Michael Cole: #wengerout is trending worldwide.

[Kikó]

It was about 10 years too late but he's been a great part of English football.

Here's the beasts view: When Arsène Wenger and Alex Ferguson fought bitterly to be top dog

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/19/alex-ferguson-arsene-wenger-manchester-united-arsenal-tv-documentary-feud?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

[Dquincy]

Great manager. Farewell old seadog.

[Waffdon]

987280955059638272

Right. That's it. The sport has peaked.

Claude’s reaction was great. Putting on the pounds, though.

[Lewis]

He's a proper yo-yo dieter isn't he? You see old videos of him at both extremes. It's probably grief.

[SincereTheRebel]

Dont you think Wenger will just retire?

PSG or Monsco lad.

[Bam]

That's us stuffed 2-0 tomorrow. :mad:

[Magic]

I'd be breaking the bank trying to convince Max Allegri like.

[Lewis]

He would be a complete dickhead to leave Juventus.

[Magic]

He would be a complete dickhead to leave Juventus.

Nope. He may have to replace Chiellini, Buffon, Barzagli, Lichsteiner? I'd go on a high. He's won the lot bar the CL.

[Spikey M]

Following Wenger at Arsenal would do to you what Man Utd did to Moyes. You’d be mental to take it on, but the same is true with the England job and it’s always attracting people somehow.

[Magic]

Following Wenger at Arsenal would do to you what Man Utd did to Moyes. You’d be mental to take it on, but the same is true with the England job and it’s always attracting people somehow.

If you appoint a useless cunt I agree.

[Lewis]

If anyone can replace those sort of players Juventus can. If he went to Arsenal he would need a whole new side with a new mentality, and then he would have to guide them past five domestic rivals who are all better and wealthier than them. What would be the point? He would have stayed at Milan if he wanted to be in that sort of perma-shit position. Unless he gets an offer from the national team, the Spanish giants, Bayern, or 2020 post-MELTDOWN United ('The Deloitte Four', as they probably call themselves) he should just take the re-building job on at Juventus (something which has the added bonus of making whatever emerges 'his' team, rather than one that he mostly inherited).

[Magic]

The CHALLENGE.

[Shindig]

Is there anybody in the backroom down with the whole philosophy? Barca could kinda throw whoever at the job and get something out of it because everyone was in on it. Arsenal feels entirely of Arsene's making.

[niko_cee]

Barcelona could throw anyone at the job and get something out of it because of Leo Messi.

As his star fades, so will the strange power of the binman. It's already happening at the highest level.

[Shindig]

Now that I think of it, La Mesia's not churning out the next Xavi or Iniesta either. Or, if they do, they sign for City at 15 and get ruined.

[Lewis]

If he went to Arsenal he would need a whole new side with a new mentality

Jesus when you see it written down (http://www.football365.com/news/arsenal-rating-the-players-what-wenger-leaves-behind). It's Mesut Oezil plus crap (flakes at best), and you're looking at at least three MASSIVE summers before they're bothering the top four again.

[SvN]

They do all seem like the stereotypical weak minded player. Mkhitaryan really was the perfect signing for them.

[Lewis]

All part of Mourinho MIND GAMING Mino Raiola out of the country.

[SincereTheRebel]

I would rather see them pull a athletic bilbao and just go for local education boys.

[Lewis]

Half-castelona.

[Disco]

That stadium would look out of place in league 2 though so lets hope Kiko is in the market for a new flat.

[niko_cee]

Jesus when you see it written down (http://www.football365.com/news/arsenal-rating-the-players-what-wenger-leaves-behind). It's Mesut Oezil plus crap (flakes at best), and you're looking at at least three MASSIVE summers before they're bothering the top four again.

I dunno. They're decent enough going forward, it's just most aspects of the defence/defensive-minded midfield that needs work, and even then, some idiot like Elneny is probably a capable enough shitkicker if he isn't expected to do anything else or play alongside Granit Xhaka. A top quality 'keeper and centre-half and they might be halfway decent again. I think most of the 'top' sides outside of the Manchester pair have the potential to chuck in a bad season (or, conversely, an exceptionally good one). Given the rivals (one mentally weak [Spuds], one apparently bereft of direction and sailing precipitously close to the iceberg [Chelsea]) they could easily come out on top in London next season if they play their cards right in the summer.

[Lewis]

The Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/04/23/new-arsenal-manager-restricted-50m-summer-transfer-budget/) reckons the new manager will have fifty million quid (plus whatever he can sell) to spend 'following two club-record transfers and three major new contracts in the last 12 months'. What? I thought they had loads stashed away. Poverty club.

[phonics]

We had about 150 million and spunked it on Lacazette, Aubameyang, Mustafi and Xhaka and Ozil's 300k a week deal. It's really not that much in todays market.

[SincereTheRebel]

Its a decent project for anyone who has the balls to take it. You could probably raise about £60m from selling a few first time players who just don't cut it anymore.

[Lewis]

We had about 150 million and spunked it on Lacazette, Aubameyang, Mustafi and Xhaka and Ozil's 300k a week deal. It's really not that much in todays market.

That's like salting the earth before you move house. LEGACY.

[phonics]

It seems it really is between Luis Enrique who wants 15 million quid a year to run the gaff or Mikel Arteta because he gave Ivan Gazidis a nice watch when he left. FML.

I guess they've both won more than Pochetino though. Every cloud.

[Lewis]

I took whichever waxwork it was saying that they needed to be 'open-minded' (and 'BOLD') about the new manager as them having already been rejected by the big and/or obvious names. Luis Enrique. The binman's binman. It's Eddie Howe I feel sorry for.

[CJay]

What’s £50 million going to get them when they really need a proper keeper, a centre back who isn’t a headcase, and half-decent midfielder? Is there even anyone worth anything that they can sell?

[phonics]

Bellerin will be out the door for 40 million. Ramsey will be sold if he doesn't sign a new contract.

[Lewis]

Half the Premiership would be after Aaron Ramsey thinking he is an actual creative midfielder 'who can get you a goal' (rather than just somebody who scores occasionally), but nobody actually decent will want him, so he'll sign a new contract surely?

[phonics]

He'd be a perfect player at United. Straight swap for Pogba? They're more appreciative of creative haircuts down south.

[SincereTheRebel]

Unless the teams above arsenal are struggling to fill the homegrown quota, him and jack will both have to take a step down.

[phonics]

The constant under-rating of certain Arsenal players is quite funny when you consider Giroud has done more for Chelsea in 2 months than Morata has done all year.

[SincereTheRebel]

Giroud is excellent at what he does though and his strike rate and minuets played per goal is probably similar as it was at arsenal.

[Lewis]

Relative to the finances involved so have various dead players.

[Disco]

The constant under-rating of certain Arsenal players is quite funny when you consider Giroud has done more for Chelsea in 2 months than Morata has done all year.

Perhaps they shouldn't have been so mediocre for so long.

[Shindig]

Bellerin would probably wind up at Barca.

[Mazuuurk]

Any manager whose only success has come at the helm of Barcelona (with Messi) needs to be seriously doubted until they achieve something elsewhere.

[Raoul Duke]

Bellerin would be good at Utd, as long as he ditched the shit haircuts.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Morata has scored one in three for a fairly anaemic team, I suspect he'll come good.

[SvN]

Bellerin to Barca seems inevitable.

I rate Morata. He's not top, top level, but he's good for 25 per season. Whether that's good enough for Chelsea, I'm not sure.

[Shindig]

What they should do is give it to someone who's proven in the Premier League with an unfashionable team. Sean Dyche.

[phonics]

Louis Van Gaal has an offer he can't refuse...

[Spikey M]

We had about 150 million and spunked it on Lacazette, Aubameyang, Mustafi and Xhaka and Ozil's 300k a week deal. It's really not that much in todays market.

It is if you don’t spend it like a spastic at a window factory.

[Spikey M]

The constant under-rating of certain Arsenal players is quite funny when you consider Giroud has done more for Chelsea in 2 months than Morata has done all year.

If Ramsey and Wiltshire were any good, your Midfield would be good. As it is, you have some quality strikers looking like dog shit because the ‘under-rated’ cunts behind them aren’t offering them anything decent.

[phonics]

James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson just dismantled a team in a European semi-final, while the worlds most expensive midfielder looks like he's won a competition to be there. Midfield is about systems not individuals.

[Boydy]

Oxlade-Chamberlain was only on the pitch about 15 minutes.

[phonics]

European Quarter Final versus a team that will win the league by double digit amount of points then.

[SvN]

Was he playing when City won 5-0?

[Spikey M]

James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson just dismantled a team in a European semi-final, while the worlds most expensive midfielder looks like he's won a competition to be there. Midfield is about systems not individuals.

‘The worlds most expensive midfielder’ wasn’t even the best midfielder at Juventus, he just popped up with the odd long ranger and stands out because he’s a show off. That sells shirts, which attracts big clubs and here we are. Anyway, whether you’ve gone off him or not; Wenger knows how to set up a midfield. At some point you have to acknowledge that your midfield is shit because your midfielders are shit.

[Mazuuurk]

Wenger knows how to set up a midfield.


I dunno about that. He keeps sticking Xhaka in it.

[Magic]

James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson just dismantled a team in a European semi-final, while the worlds most expensive midfielder looks like he's won a competition to be there. Midfield is about systems not individuals.

Remember Roma are joint 3rd, nearly 20 points behind 2nd and 1st.

EDIT: Yes I know Cess are 20 points behind CITEH but I think we all agree Serie A is the weakest of the big three leagues.

[phonics]

Wenger knows how to set up a midfield.

When at any point in the last 8 years has he shown any signs of this?

[phonics]

Remember Roma are joint 3rd, nearly 20 points behind 2nd and 1st.


So are Liverpool and they destroyed the team they were 20 points below. I'm really not sure how any of these comebacks are refuting my point that Aaron Ramsey is a step above Everton and Burnley.

[Magic]

So are Liverpool

See my edit gonorrhoea chops.

[Mazuuurk]

That just sounds like a Scottish delicacy.

[Ian]

Just another term for donner meat.

[phonics]

Unai Emery has been confirmed. How am I somehow more underwhelmed then when it was the bloke who hadn't ever managed a game before.

[Lewis]

He was 40-1 originally when I was saying he would be a great fit. Fucking hell.

[Shindig]

Seems pretty reasonable.

Oh, God. Rafa to PSG must be on. :uhoh:

[Giggles]

A panic appointment that just confirms the power shift.

[Magic]

Unai Emery has been confirmed. How am I somehow more underwhelmed then when it was the bloke who hadn't ever managed a game before.

Why would you be underwhelmed with that? :cab:

[Spikey M]

http://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/next-west-ham-manager-pellegrini-becomes-frontrunner-ahead/dkc46ldkl12f1kbhh5dd4fs3l?__twitter_impression=tru e

It’s a bit shitty stealing West Ham’s second choice off of them.

[Mazuuurk]

If Emery came straight from Sevilla it would have seemed nice, like thie Tuchel now who is "up and coming" or whatever.

Now since he's pissed about in the French league with a team of divas, it seems like it's tainted his image a bit somehow. That Barcelona fuckup didn't help either.


He seems like a bit of a Wenger-clone to be honest, and I would have probably preferred something a bit different, but who knows. It's seems like an overall quite sound appointment.