Gunners Town is pleased to present the latest addition to our remarkable writing team. Please welcome Graham Perry (aka @ArsenalCircular). Please show him some support in the Comments and on Twitter.
Welcome, Graham! ~ Gunners Town Admin
To All Arsenal Fans
The press speculation mounts – Guardiola could come to Arsenal. Wonderful. Excellent. What I have always wanted. It is a natural fit and would take the Wenger style of playing to a new level. So do we go for him? Do we make him an offer he cannot refuse and then pay off Arsene. Yes we do but with one clear unchangeable condition – only if Wenger agrees. We cannot dump Wenger. He has played fair with us. He has never broken a contract. He has always seen out the term of his employment. And this with mouth watering inducements for him to go to almost any Club in the world.
Wenger is unusual. He is a man of his word. Arsenal FC, too, have to be men of their word. Actually this is not addressed to the Board because I am sure they will not pressure Arsene or persuade him to go unless that is what Arsene wants. I would fully expect the Board to act ethically and not apply any squeeze.
No, my comments are addressed to Arsenal Fans and especially to those who have the knife out for Arsene, and there are a few. Men – no ladies yet in executive positions at the Emirates – who have a contempt for our manager – who recoil from his every utterance and who will only find bad in him. These are people who see him as a failure – “past his sell by date” – self serving and out of touch. A manager who has failed Arsenal and should have gone when Vieira scored the winning penalty against Man U at Cardiff in 2005. I do not agree with them but they are out there.
Let me be clear. Wenger is not a God. He is fallible. He has made mistakes – some on his own admission. Forget that. The issue here is that he has always conducted himself properly. He has been straight with AFC.
There is another point – any Club is entitled to dismiss any manager if during his contract the team is failing. The results are not there. The points are being dropped. The Cup runs are brief. Attendances are falling and if that was happening at Arsenal the Board would have a duty to the Club – the fans, the shareholders, the staff, the players – to call it a day and reach a deal that was fair to the manager. But that does not apply to AFC. We are top of the Premier League.
So there is only one solution – canvass the idea with Wenger. Talk to him about the option. See what he says. Maybe he will at the age of 66 and with his private life undergoing change be content to retire at the end of the season and Guardiola would be a perfect fit. But Wenger because of his standards and his ethics and his achievements and his present position with the team in number one spot must have the right to say he wants to see out his contract. He has always been fair with us. We have to be fair with him. Anything less and the standards of AFC drop and supporting Arsenal is partly about playing success and partly about doing things the right way. We must handle Wenger in the right way
Regards
Arsenal Circular
My name is Graham Perry and I have been a lifelong Arsenal supporter since 1952 when I saw the ten men in red shirts hold out heroically until the 84th minute at Wembley.
The Arsenal thing was confirmed by a meeting with Alex James during Easter 1953. As with most of us it is a family thing with my father always waxing eloquent about the Chapman years.
I am married with four children and five grandchildren. I have been a solicitor in a legal aid practice and have just stepped down after 13 years as an Immigration Judge.
Arsenal is in the blood. The goals and the excitement matter but so does the Community thing and sharing Arsenal with friends and family over so many years.
Want nothing more than to see Wenger hold aloft the Premier League Trophy again.
Most Arsenal fan’s who love the club for it’s value system as much as it’s easy on the eye playing style will agree Le Prof has made lot of personal sacrifice to stick with the club during the tough year’s ( shifting to Emirates and the financial burden that had to be repaid). Le Prof would himself move up and be involved with the other developments at the club and leave the first team to Pep. Both men have enough mutual respect and both are cultured enough to function towards the betterment of AFC. For the ardent AFC fans it couldn’t get better than this. May Pep come to AFC and may good football win the hearts and minds of football fans around the world.
Nope, I don’t agree, I want Wenger to stay and sign a new contract.
Graham Perry you are worse than Piers Morgan because you think you are smart where Piers is crude. You are talking on behalf of an enclave within Gooners who are loud, vacant and seek change for the sake of it. You play the sympathy card while plunging the biggest dagger between his shoulders. We have seen many big name coaches/managers from mainly two-club European leagues come to the EPL, have a few highlights in otherwise unsuccessful careers. The question I always ask the WengerOut howlers is: would you like to see Wenger at ManchesterU, ManC or Chelsea when you succeed in unceremoniously pushing him over the ledge ?
The only thing I like to see is Gardiola at EPL(be it Man city, or United or Chelsae) and Arsene on top of him. EPL is different animal.
Hi Graham,
A very good maiden article.
I have been writing consistently advocating that Arsene`s time to hand over the reins has come but I agree that he must be allowed to do so on his own terms. I agree that he is patently a man of his word and an example of what is expected of THE ARSENAL. I do not think that Guardiola would reject the financial rewards either Manchester club would offer him and I would not contemplate sacking Arsene unceremoniously. I doubt very much that anyone on the board would either so this must remain a hypothetical exercise.
Victor Thompson
arsene is for arsenal and arsenal is for arsene.
away from the name. arsenal lifting ant trophy without wenger will be a war won withour the captain. good but certainly not better… just a plain cake without icing ….ssssss
some of you supporters have such short memories, how long did pep take in barcelona and bayern. despite all the privilages he had at his disposal, he still forced his way out of those clubs. how sure can you be sure that he won’t leave in the next two seasons. I prefer wenger some guardiolar or morhino somewhere.
Linda, I’ve been reading Graham Perry’s pieces on Arsenal for several years and have no idea what you’re talking about. Yes, of course we should interview Guardiola and I’d like to think that Arsene Wenger would take part in that process; maybe Pep Guardiola doesn’t want to start in England until 2017, we don’t know. If it is 2016, Wenger’s Arsenal team winning the title this coming May would be an excellent way to sign off and leave at the top. Of course he should be given a role at the club that included developing young players and possibly scouting.
pep is good but can he stay and work toward a long term issue because I see him as someone that does it stay more than 2 or 3 season in a club and Arsenal is not a short term club but a long term one. so I don’t see pep coming to arsenal.
Wenger is a good man. He deserves the fairest treatment. Nothing I say should be interpreted as wanting to ease him out and if he wants to stay to the end of his contract he should be allowed to do so. If at the same time he is thinking of “Next Steps” then at least have the conversation
Arsenal Circular
Why are there only three comments shown?
I supported Graham.
All comments approved and nothing oustanding
Thanks Dave, The other comments including mine all appeared just after I sent my comment. Must have been an aberration on my PC.
Richard,
In fairness to Guardiola, he has always said that he only stays three years at any club. So far, the clubs he has gone to are of such stature that they get the best of the rest when he leaves.
Victor Thompson