To write a headline like that shows how frustrated and impotent I feel right now with my beloved Arsenal. The day Dein sold his soul to the Ukrainian Usmanov, I like most fellow Gooners felt he had burnt his bridges and had lost all credibility at Arsenal. However today when I look back and think how passionate he was at striving to make Arsenal the world’s no 1 club and now see what our current board of spineless fence sitters have become, whose sole ambition for the club is to finish in the top 4, I despair and view David differently.

Someone at board level should be kicking Wenger’s backside right now as we are, believe it or not, a football club whose stated purpose should be to be the best, not just aiming for the top four. Although I know Dein is a great friend of Wenger’s I am convinced the decline in the team since the Invincibles days would not have been allowed to develop had Dein still been calling the shots at board level. It is ironic that Dein’s abrupt dismissal came about because of his courting of Kroenke (whom subsequently the board have fallen head over heals in love with - so his judgment was not all bad to warrant his dismissal). I am not wanting Dein in tandem with the Ukrainian as I still have little or no respect for him or what he stands for, but Dein the man on his own.

Maybe I am clutching at straws, but this is what happens to people like me who can see a manager committing kamikaze tactics with zero ability to learn from previous humiliations at the hands of Chelski and Manure, knowing nothing is being said to him behind the scenes by anybody (coaching staff included). The facts remain we have to overcome those two sides sooner or later in the only two competitions Wenger has deemed suitable for us to compete in, and they are not going to go away. Neither will Barcelona if he ever wants to actually win something. In addition the teams like Man City, Spurs and Villa are not just going to disappear either. They will keep trying to usurp us for a top four finish and are prepared to invest money into their respective squads. Should they ever succeed denying us the revenue generated from the Champ League then we could be on a slippery downward spiral.

Dein, for all his faults, can’t be denied had an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. He has contacts in places most clubs could only ever have dreamt of, and he used them all for the benefit of our club Arsenal. He was a true fan who attended every reserve or youth game when possible. How many of the current board can say they currently do that?

Would bringing Dein back make any difference? I don’t know, but I do think he would be prepared to highlight to Wenger where his misplaced faith in certain players is costing him, and in turn us. In other words I don’t view Dein as a yes man. I genuinely don’t think that there is anyone at the club currently who would dare to challenge Wenger, and this I am sure is the major stumbling block as Wenger is simply all powerful. Remember he is only the manager, but it would appear that he has complete control over everything from the major financial decisions down to which brand of tea is being supplied in everybody’s cuppa.

This situation cannot be allowed to continue as the man needs help, not more responsibility over non-footballing matters. Many indeed are now voicing the opinion that Wenger’s time is up and I can fully understand where they are coming from. We appear to be just standing still treading water with no signs of progress from one season to the next. My view is that someone like Dein could help give Wenger one last bite at the cherry but only if certain obvious team personal changes are made. Otherwise, I would have to agree that Wenger’s time has come to a natural end, just as George Graham’s era did, although it took the ‘unsolicited gift’ incident for the board to act.