WENGER - Is it time to move on?

Given what Arsene Wenger has achieved, it would be difficult to imagine Arsenal without him. But I think it is a distinct possibility in the near future.

Despite what the Frenchman has done at Arsenal, the North London club were a huge club before he arrived and will be after he leaves.

Granted, Wenger transformed the way Arsenal played and also re-addressed the fitness regimes, diets and mentality of the club. But he didn’t make Arsenal an overnight success.

Under George Graham they won two league titles, the FA Cup, two League Cups and a European Cup Winners’ Cup between 1987 and 1994.

Graham was a dogmatic and direct coach who built his team’s foundation on sturdy defences and skilful wide players. This is quite the opposite of the contemporary Wenger teams who concede a few goals and don’t score many goals direct from crosses into the box.

Although Emmanuel Adebayor’s presence has slightly altered this style, his teams are more suited to counter attacking and playing through the middle.

I was listening to Radio Five Live last weekend and Mike Ingham made a very valid observation. He added that the double winning teams of 1998 and 2002 and the 2004 championship winning side all contained an English spine, and importantly an English defence.

The likes of David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Martin Keown spanned both double winning teams, while in 1998 Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn were still regulars at the back.

In 2002, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Dixon, Adams and Keown, were part of a solid, powerful defence. And Campbell, Cole and Keown were also there two years later, during the Gunners unbeaten season.

Ingham asked the question, would Wenger have signed Adams, Keown, Bould, Dixon, Winterburn and even Seaman? All three of these teams also included Ray Parlour and would Wenger have signed him? He didn’t sign Jimmy Bullard, a very similar player, despite being heavily linked to him in January. Is it because he was too old? Was it because he was too expensive?

The game has possibly moved on a little, and Arsenal have two English players close to, or playing in the first team. But Theo Walcott and Keiran Gibbs are raw, and need developing. Walcott is very special, but you would hardly call either of them spine players would you?

Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all have a middle spine of English players, but Arsenal do not. Are players from these shores an important aspect of a successful Premiership team?

The Arsenal spine is weak. Almunia is the weakest of the top four goalkeepers while Kolo Toure is not the same player without Sol Campbell alongside him, Cesc Fabregas is top class, but Denilson and Diaby, are they top level? Adebayor has been very disappointing this season and Van Persie, although a top player, is injury prone and picks up a lot of suspensions throughout the season.


Tomas Rosicky is an excellent player, but will he get over his injury problems? It’s also difficult to see Eduardo being the same player after his horrific injury last season.

The injuries are not Wenger’s fault, but unlike previous seasons, Wenger’s team has not pushed on from the success of last season.

I remember once thinking that Wenger was the master when it came to developing players who had previously looked like lost souls. Later he would so often nurture them into superb players once they had adjusted to the English game. Some were even world class.

Robert Pires for example, took a whole season to adjust, but then won footballer of the year. Freddie Ljungberg looked like such an average player for a good two seasons, but then became one of the best goal-scoring midfielders in Europe, and was a crucial player in the 2002 run in.

Wenger converted Thierry Henry from a winger lacking confidence at Juventus to the most lethal striker in world football. And Edu, who looked way out of his depth in his first six months at the club, was shaped into a superb all round midfielder who had tenacity, a knack of scoring important goals and had an incredible engine.

Alexander Hleb also appeared overpriced at first. But after a year or so, his superb technique, wonderful close control and ability to keep the ball in tight situations was so terrific on the eye. But he was sold, along with Flamini. They reportedly wanted to go, but why? Was it the manager? Was it wages? Or was it the club?

The current crop of players may yet prove me and other doubters wrong, but the majority of the players from last year still remain. They haven’t pushed onto the next level. They have had injuries, but surely this is where Wenger’s highly rated and much lauded youth players should come into play and demonstrate the strength of his squad.

Last season Arsenal finished on 83 points, just four points behind Manchester United. That is one result away from the title. They also finished seven points ahead of Liverpool.

This campaign, the Gunners finished 14 points behind Liverpool and 18 points behind Manchester United, is that progress? Is that the young players getting even better? No.

The team haven’t kicked on, in fact they seem to have gone backwards. Maybe they just overachieved last year, but quite frankly in the semi final of the Champions league, they were out of their depth and could have lost by a lot more goals over the two legs. They were never in contention.

The worrying thing for Wenger is that many of the players who were injured earlier in the season were available. They were virtually at full strength across those two ties.

The majority shareholder at the Emirates, Stan Kroenke, has said he is unhappy at finishing so far behind the leaders. At the AGM it is believed that Wenger’s outstanding record in years gone by has given him breathing space. But it’s four years since they won a trophy and they have only challenged for the title once in five years. Even George Graham didn’t have such a lean spell.

Of course, these days it’s not only managers’ skills that win titles. Finances and pay structure play a huge role, and both of these factors have hindered Arsenal. The terrific Emirates stadium is great for the future and will in the long term, provide huge financial stability for the London club. But some fans are certainly becoming impatient after years of wonderful football and domestic success. They have been spoilt.

From what I’ve seen of Arsenal, they can still play some great attacking football, and the one touch play is a pleasure to watch. However, they lack a Viera, or even a Flamini to patrol in front of the back four. I’m not sure Diaby, Denilson or Song are up to this task, but I have thought this before about Wenger’s teams, so I will reserve judgment.

However, unlike the earlier years of Wenger’s reign, when he knew when to offload a player and get the maximum profit from him, Wenger’s judgement in the transfer market seems to have waned slightly.

Players such as Overmars and Petit were sold at the right time and he received excellent transfer fees for them. Nicolas Anelka was also a great bit of business, but with Viera he waited one year too long, and it appears like he has also waited one year too long to sell Adebayor. The front man has become a frustrating figure this season and was sulky and anonymous against Manchester United in the Champions League. I expected this to be the sort of high profile game he would shine in.

I bet Wenger wished he let him go last summer for 30 million pounds. He will do well to command such a fee now for the Togo striker.

You also have to question the Frenchman’s handling of Lassana Diarra. He is exactly the type of player they require now and it makes you wonder how he let him slip away. Would that have happened six or seven years ago? Again, probably no.

Despite my views on Wenger’s decision-making, I also believe Wenger has had his hands tied to a certain extent. The building of the stadium has restricted him in the transfer market, although he is also very stubborn and frugal. It must be his degree in Economics. You certainly wouldn’t find Wenger claiming for expenses.

Chelsea and Manchester United, and even Liverpool have bigger spending power. The record signings of these clubs illustrate that, and the Emirates club are in far less debt than any of the other ‘big four’. But fans demand instant success.

Wenger has given the Arsenal faithful some wonderful memories, but is it time to move on? He has not won the Champions League, something I believe hinders him in the transfer market, despite the obvious pull factor of London.

Although Andrey Arshavin was signed in January, I actually believe that many big name players are put off by the club’s lack of success in Europe, or maybe the fact that they cannot command such a high salary. But this has been the case for many years, it just appears that Wenger has lost the knack of solving this conundrum.

Wenger hasn’t just fallen behind Chelsea in recent years, but has also fallen behind Liverpool. The former Highbury club finished in the top two every year between 1998 and 2005. However, they have finished fourth in three of the last four seasons, and 2006 aside have never looked close to winning the Champions League.

It would be sad to see Wenger go, but maybe he has finally taken Arsenal as far as he can. It was interesting to see him say that Florentino Perez being voted in at Real Madrid was ‘an interesting project’. Perez is a long time admirer of Wenger and it would be an interesting proposition for the Arsenal boss.

The Strasbourg born coach has surprised us before and could well do it again. But me, like many others did not expect Arsenal to be so far off the top of the league this year. They team even had five consecutive goalless draws in January and February, something un-heard of among Wenger’s usual free flowing, prolific teams.

The speculation regarding Pat Rice’s departure from the club only adds substance to the possibility of the Frenchman ending his 13-year association with the club. He was even quoted in one newspaper recently, criticising the Arsenal fans and stating they were destroying his players’ confidence.

Whether you love or loath Wenger, you cannot deny the impact he has made. But have other managers just caught him up now? He was a revolutionary in English football, but seems to have reached a plateau.

One thing is for sure. All is not well at the Emirates, despite last week’s reports.

WHO SHOULD REALLY BE THE PREMIERSHIP MANAGER OF THE YEAR?

Sir Alex Ferguson will almost certainly win the manager of the year award once again. And if the seasonal awards are based on trophies won then it is the right decision.

However, football management is so much more than winning, so everything should be analysed relatively.

I’ve followed football for over twenty years, and I have never known there to be so many contenders for manager of the year.

Along with Sir Alex, there is David Moyes at Everton, Roy Hodgson at Fulham, Gianfranco Zola at West Ham, Harry Redknapp at Spurs, Sam Allardyce at Blackburn, Tony Pullis at Stoke and even Gary Megson at Bolton. These names are all contenders in my opinion, and all deserve a mention.

At the end of most seasons, the manager of the Champions will win the award. And, as Manchester United are also in the European Cup Final, and won the League Cup, Ferguson does, of course, present a very good case.

However, every year we expect Manchester United to be challenging on all fronts.

Last year United won both the League and the European Cup, so in a perverse way it’s not really an improvement. Even their points total is going to be approximately the same as the last two seasons. Maybe the League Cup victory could be the difference.

For me, the major, decisive factor is who has improved his team so much, its almost incredible to believe?

Firstly, there is Roy Hodgson. With two games to go, his team is 14 points and ten places above last season’s final position. The Cottagers also have the fourth best defensive record, and are currently in the last EUROPA Cup position.

Hodgson has also conducted himself quietly and acted like a gentlemen.

An outside contender has to be Gianfranco Zola. He probably won’t win the award, but when you take into account the financial and internal problems at West Ham, and the players he’s had to sell, the Italian has done a terrific job. They are currently ninth, but could still finish seventh.

In recent months, the East Londoners have also been consistent and have never looked in trouble after Christmas. Zola has also moulded together a team of youngsters who play excellent possession football, and, as always he has conducted himself with dignity and humour. He is also very new to management, and has proved many doubters wrong after a difficult start to his reign at Upton Park.

The former Parma and Chelsea star demands respect from his players due to the player he was, while his gentle manner will probably mean he won’t fall out with players very often. He has a bright future…

Harry Redknapp also has to be a major contender for manager of the year. When he took over Tottenham, the team had two points from eight games. They now lie in eighth position, two points off a European place. His team have taken 46 points from 28 games since he became manager, and they also got to a cup final.

After such a poor start, Redknapp also had to build the players confidence, sand that would have taken some doing after the disastrous Ramos period. When the former West Ham and Portsmouth boss took over at White Hart Lane, he was just expected to keep his team up. He has exceeded expectations.

Some people will point at the money that Spurs have spent, but these are not really his players, and they are already up on last season’s position and total, despite such a dreadful start. He has also helped make Heurelho Gomes into a decent keeper. That, alone, deserves the award.

Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers has not been mentioned much in the media as a possible contender. However, after the difficult period of stewardship under Paul Ince, it would have taken a lot to lift those players. The Lancashire club were on a horrible losing streak and were five points adrift at the bottom when Alladyce took over in December.

Rovers have now reached the magical 40 points with two games left and are now looking at a mid table finish.

Once again, the former Bolton boss has proved himself to be a terrific boss under pressure and a motivator of players. In fact, the position that Newcastle are currently in reinforces his track record, as it showed they were in a terrible state long before he was in the North East.

It just illustrates how well Allardyce was actually doing when he was there. I bet the St James’ faithful wish they were in mid-table now.

I believe ‘Big Sam’ has not been mentioned much in the reckoning because people expected him to turn Blackburn around. But, he has achieved what he was appointed for and more. It’s just a shame he acted like such a child as Ferguson’s ally against Rafa Benitez in the recent spat. That was pathetic.

Much has been said about Tony Pullis and the football that Stoke City play, but I for one, think he deserves all the credit he gets.

You have to think back to the start of the season when there was nobody, even many of their own fans, who thought Stoke would stay up.

The Staffordshire club have been criticised for their style of football and their use of Rory Delap’s long throws. But, how many of their goals have actually come from his long throws? Pullis’ team get the ball forward quickly, but they also defend with bravery and guts and do use the full width of the pitch to full effect. It’s up to the other teams to combat this.

It must be noted that they have beaten Arsenal and drawn twice with Liverpool.

James Beattie and Matthew Ethrington have been inspired signings and the club have not only escaped relegation, they are 11 points clear of the bottom three and now lie in 12th place. They have comfortably avoided relegation and their home record and home support are fantastic.

Stoke have been an alternative and passionate addition to the Premiership, and have surprised us all. Pullis also still has many of the players who helped the team up last year. Everything he has done has gone against everyone’s predictions.

The Stoke manager would be my choice as boss of the year. He gets on with his job and doesn’t moan about decisions going against him. He has also spent the majority of his managerial career in the lower divisions, making this achievement even more impressive.

David Moyes, contrary to popular opinion, has had money to spend in recent years. Yakubu, Fellani and Lescott have all been big money signings.

However, the unfortunate thing is that Yakubu and Saha have been injured since the turn of the year, and that’s why he deserves so much credit.

Everton have stayed inside the top six without any strikers and have had to play midfielders or youth team players as centre forwards. Mikel Arteta, possibly the team’s most creative player, has been out since February, and the club have reached the FA Cup Final, despite all those injuries.

The Merseysiders have also set a club record for clean sheets, and three of their back four have been in the England squad.

Moyes has to be a major contender. He has consolidated the club’s league position, but is also in the mix for trophies.

Gary Megson is perhaps a controversial choice. He is not particularly popular, even with some Bolton fans. He is also perceived to have a lack of charisma.

However, when Megson came into the job last season, they were bottom of the Premiership. They unexpectedly escaped relegation, but he was rightly criticised for not taking Europe serious and fielding a weakened team.

This year Bolton have been a mid table team and beaten the teams in and around them regularly. They have never looked in trouble, and I personally think that they have some really dynamic players and play some decent football.

Megson deserves a mention, considering some of the stick he has received in the past.


Ferguson is bound to win it again, but as I said previously, it’s all relative.Tony Pullis did not have any sort of track record at the very highest level, but now, none of us can say that.

What is particularly interesting is that five of these managers are English. Maybe we are not such a bad bunch of managers after all and can actually manage at the highest level. If only they were given the chance more often.

He should be advertising umbrellas, but did we judge Steve McClaren too soon..?

Steve McClaren has become a bit of a laughing stock in this country, but is that really fair?

Who can forget his forlorn figure trudging off the Wembley pitch in the pouring rain, clutching an umbrella, after his last game as England manager.

However, following his unsuccessful stint as England boss, the Yorkshire man has reinvented himself in Holland this season.

Last August, I watched a very amusing clip of McClaren giving an interview to a Dutch journalist, and he was speaking English, whilst trying to imitate a foreign accent. It was cringe-worthy, but many of us do actually do this, quite naturally. I certainly do, living in China.

I couldn’t stop laughing at McClaren for producing yet another comical moment in a whole recent series of comical moments, but in all honestly, it’s unfair to judge the man’s career on his failing's as England manager.

At that time, I was just joining the flock of seagulls gathering, hoping that McClaren would fail again. But his successes in the Netherlands have certainly made many of us think again.

McClaren was a terrific coach at Derby and Manchester United, and has actually become a decent manager. He was carried off the pitch like a messiah by his players on Saturday, following FC Twente’s 3-0 win over AZ Alkmaar, the newly crowned Dutch Champions.

The result ensured that McClaren's team, FC Twente, would finish second in the Dutch Eredivisie. This is, without any doubt, a superb achievement.

Some insular journalists and supporters will ignorantly point out that it’s ‘only the Dutch League’, but we have to put this achievement into context.

PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Feyenood are all historic European clubs.

Ajax have won the European Cup four times and have reached the last eight as recently as 2003. PSV reached the Champions League quarter finals only two years ago, beating Arsenal, while Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup as recently as 2002.

These clubs are so powerful across the North Sea and are the equivalent of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal in the English game.

McClaren has, to use a familiar analogy, taken a club like West Ham or Manchester City (big clubs, but not superpowers) automatically into the Champions League.

The former national coach has been playing an attacking 4-3-3 system for most of the season and has, according to some reports in Holland, helped to dispel the myth that English coaches can only play one way.

If Twente beat Heereveen on May 17th and lift the Dutch Cup, it will be the most successful season in their history. What more can you ask from the man?


It might be easy to be nostalgic at the Riverside, due to their current league position, but the majority of Middlesbrough fans appreciate that McClaren did a very good job as boss.
He gave them the best times they’ve ever had.

After reaching three domestic cup final under Bryan Robson in the late 90s, McClaren took the club to another level, after being appointed in 2001. He actually started off very badly, losing his first five league games, but you always know that Steve Gibson, the Boro chairman, will give his managers time, and his decision was justified. Boro finished a solid 12th in that first season and also reached the FA Cup semi finals.

McClaren did have money to spend in his five years on Teeside, but that doesn’t always guarantee success, and he steadily built the club into a major force during the middle of the decade.

Following another mid table finish in 2003, the club celebrated the first silverware in their history in 2004 by beating Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup Final. It also took them into Europe for the first time. Many journalists seem to conveniently forget this stunning achievement.

In fact, before Harry Redknapp won the FA Cup with Portsmouth last season, McClaren was the last English manager to win a major trophy.

The following season was, to some extent, even better. The team became a team to be reckoned with in the Premiership and was fighting for a European place all season. They became very tough to beat, especially at home, and also, at times, played some fine attacking football with players such as Viduka, Hasslebank and Zenden well nurtured by McClaren, and reproducing their best form.

The club finished seventh in 2005 and qualified for Europe in dramatic style on the last day of the season. The Leeds born manager had overseen another very successful campaign.

Another trip into Europe followed, and, having given a good account of themselves the previous season, Middlesbrough excelled beyond all expectations in 2005-06.

The Riverside club produced thrilling, classic second leg comebacks against Steua Bucharest and FC Basle. They also beat AS Roma along the way, in a match that proved McClaren could mix it tactically against strong Serie A teams.

The only major blip that year, was a Boro fan approaching McClaren’s bench during a 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa and throwing his shirt at the future England boss. The team were 17th at that point in February, but in the next match beat the Champions, Chelsea, 3-0. They eventually eased away from safety and reached the FA Cup semi finals again.

McClaren’s side eventually went on to lose the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, but it was still a fantastic run, and had given the club’s supporters an unforgettable experience.

McClaren had had three terrific seasons with Boro, and landed the England job. However, in hindsight, he probably over achieved and wasn’t ready. Of course, this is easy to say now.


His time with the national team was a disaster, and was a reign filled with criticism and anguish.

A team including players such as Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Ferdinand, Joe and Ashley Cole, John Terry and Michael Owen should not be failing to qualify for a major championship. This is especially true, when the team are the top seeds in the group.

However, it is also important to be objective.

McClaren did make mistakes, and made some strange decisions. Some of them were very public, and showed a lack of experience.

He tried to stamp down his authority early, by dropping David Beckham. It famously backfired, and the Real Madrid man was recalled.

However, Fabio Capello also tried this tactic at Real Madrid, and look what he has achieved and where he is now. It’s often all about luck, as well as judgement.

Steve McClaren certainly did not have much luck as England boss. At times, so many things conspired against him, and I personally think some players let him down with their performances.

England went to Russia in the penultimate game knowing that a win would put them through to Euro 2008 with a game to spare. Rooney scored, but at 1-0 Steven Gerrard missed a chance that nine times out of ten he would have scored.

At 2-0 the game would have been all but over and England would have qualified. In acres of space, 15 yards out, coming in from the left on the half volley and on his right foot, Gerrard, with his technique and ability would normally bury such an opportunity. He didn’t and it proved to be a crucial miss.

Would Gerrard have missed that chance for Liverpool? Who knows, but it was a turning point and pretty much cost McClaren his job. Any England manager cannot legislate for his players making these errors of judgment, especially players with the quality of Gerrard.

In the last group game at home to Croatia, McClaren was desperately unlucky again. He had no first choice centre halves or full backs. Gary Neville, Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole were all injured. His first choice strikers, Heskey, Rooney and Owen, were also unfit.

It is all very well saying that England deserved to go out of that group as the results were not good enough, but McClaren was without seven of his usual first eleven that night, and this has often not been mentioned. Of course it was a huge factor.

McClaren's case was also reinforced by the fact that both Russia and Croatia performed exceptionally well at the European Championships.

On the other hand, this also just increases the disappointment, and shows what McClaren might have achieved with just a little more insight.

The fact is, that England should have been good enough to qualify with ease and the campaign should not have gone to the wire. Nothing, however, is so clear and simple in football, and the England manager’s job is one of the toughest there is.

You have to respect Steve McClaren though. He has put his reputation on the line in Holland, and proved that he has talent. In all intense and purposes he’s a nice guy, who was too young for the England job. The FA just felt obliged to appoint an Englishman and he got the short straw.

But it was also an opportunity very few turn down.

He needed more experience, but he has shown he is more than capable. He has also proved himself in a foreign country, which is a testament to him and his ambition.

McClaren has now been linked with Sunderland, but shouldn’t he stay in Holland? FC Twente are already in the Champions League proper.

If he does stay, and I hope he does, maybe now he can really prove himself at the highest level of club football. Then, maybe some of us, can be left with at least a small egg on our face, and start thinking of some different umbrella scenario’s to jest about.