11 July 2012
Arsene Wenger has finally succumbed to months of fan pressure and tendered his resignation to the Arsenal board.
After a particularly barren spell, Wenger has found himself unable to recreate his early successes with the Gooners, currently sitting at a total of over seven years without winning a trophy at the club. Fans of the club have become concerned at the club's apparent reluctance to spend money at a time when it is becoming more and more apparent that the club is being eclipsed by the free spending likes of Chelsea and Man City.
A reluctance to spend money at the club has seen the departures of players such as Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Kolo Toure and of course, Robin van Persie and with the manager seemingly unwilling to splash the cash to replace them, the fans have become restless and the chants for Wenger's head to roll have increased season upon season.
Wenger heeded their chants this morning, officially tendering his resignation and leaving the board free-reign to scour the market to find a manager that they can hope will bring the successes the fans are screaming out for. We take a look at some of the rumoured favourites to land the coveted Arsenal job.
Steve Bould
Bould is a former Arsenal legend and the current No. 2 in the Arsenal camp following the recent retirement of Pat Rice. The appointment of Steve Bould would likely cause the least disruption to the Arsenal camp, but he's untested at this level and there are some doubts as to whether he would he bring about the kind of changes the Arsenal fans are crying out for.
Dennis Bergkamp
Bergkamp is a former Arsenal legend, still revered by fans of Arsenal and the Premier League alike. As a current understudy to Frank de Boer at Ajax, Bergkamp certainly has the professional credentials to lead the team and is likely to be a hugely popular choice amongst the fans. His footballing experience is unquestionable, but does he have the leadership to take on such a huge position?
Jose Mourinho
With every top level managerial vacancy, there's a link to Jose Mourinho. Rumours are running rife across Spain that Jose and Real Madrid are well and truly out of their honeymoon period and that his lack of recent success has put him in the firing line for the chop. Would Jose's style be transferrable to this current crop of Arsenal stars? More importantly, as a previous Chelsea hero, would Jose betray the Blue portion of London to sign for the Red portion?
Pep Guardiola
The hugely talented Spanish mastermind behind the recent success of the Barcelona team has declared that he is taking a "hiatus" from football and seeking some time away from the sport. Recent speculation is that Pep himself delcared that he would like to manage the Arsenal team, and as his Barcelona team have played a similar (albeit more successful) brand of attacking football, could the spaniard be tempted out of hiatus to lead the Gooners?
Ian Wright
Another former Arsenal legend and current TV pundit, Ian Wright is amongst some of the rank outsiders to land the job. Wright would be hugely popular with the fans as his passion for the club has never dwindled in all the years that have passed since his retirement. His lack of managerial experience is likely to count against him and SkySports cannot even confirm if Wright has completed the relevant FA coaching badges to allow him to work at such a high level.
The Arsenal fans have finally got what they wanted, but can they be sure they've made the right decision? Wenger was a manager of unquestionable quality and there's no guarantee that whoever the board appoint to take over will be able to perform at the same level, let alone make any improvements.