Nozzer
I am resigned to another year of Wenger’s stewardship. He has one year left on his deal and I believe that he will go at the end of it. It is incredible the amount of power that he wields and as a result he is unsackable. In my time supporting the Arsenal I have seen four managers get the sack and I will reflect on how the sackings came about.
1. Terry Neill
The former Arsenal skipper took charge in 1976 having spent two years managing the Spuds. He then brought double winning coach Don Howe back to Arsenal in 1977 and oversaw the three FA Cup final appearances from 1978 to 1980 and the Cup Winners Cup final defeat to Valencia in 1980.
Terry Neill made some interesting signings during his tenure - Pat Jennings from Spurs and Malcolm MacDonald from Newcastle to name two. Unfortunately during that time we lost Liam Brady to Juventus and Frank Stapleton to Man United.
It was the inability to replace these two stalwarts that cost Terry Neill ultimately. He signed Lee Chapman and Tony Woodcock for a combined £1 million in the close season of 1982. Chapman was not a success and left a couple of season later going to Sunderland, then Sheffield Wednesday before becoming a title winner at Leeds.
Terry then signed Charlie Nicholas for a fee reported as being between £650,000 and £800,000 in the close season of 1983. Charlie was the hottest prospect in British football and it was a coup for us to sign him. However Charlie struggled and after a League Cup defeat to Walsall, Terry Neill was sacked in December 1983.
2. Don Howe
Don Howe took over as caretaker manager after Terry Neill’s sacking and the team finished strongly after he signed Paul Mariner and then played Charlie Nicholas in behind Mariner and Woodcock. Don signed Viv Anderson and Steve Williams but the Arsenal still struggled, ultimately finishing mid-table. Don’s legacy though is that he did blood the likes of Martin Keown, Niall Quinn, David Rocastle, Martin Hayes and a young centre back called Tony Adams who was behind the pecking order to Martin Keown.
Don resigned in March 1986 after he became aware that the board had approached Terry Venables about his job. So technically he wasn’t sacked but the writing was on the wall. As a result, Venables did not take the Arsenal job and Arsenal approached Alex Ferguson. But he would not take the job till after the World Cup as he was Scotland caretaker following the death of Jock Stein.
3. George Graham
George took over at the end of the 1985/1986 season and made Arsenal great again and for me does not get the credit he deserves. He got rid of the old guard and put his faith in the youngsters and won six trophies during his tenure. Anfield 89 is my favourite football memory. George was sacked in February 1995 following the bung allegations. He was the only manager to be punished at the time he was banned and subsequently came back to manage Leeds and then sadly take the Spurs job.
George Graham built the great back four and the defensive sessions he held were something of legend. He used to play seven attackers against the back four in training and apparently when the ball was in a certain area on the field each defender knew where he had to be in the defensive zone.
Unfortunately at the time Arsenal had a strict wage policy and we missed out on some signings, players who asked for a rise were thrown in the reserves. He ruled with an iron fist and sometimes the football was not easy on the eye but the memories of the commitment and fight of his teams brings a tear to my eye.
4. Bruce Rioch
Bruce Rioch took over the Summer of 1995. Arsenal had tried to get Bobby Robson but he was under contract at Porto. Bruce had got Bolton Wanderers promoted and had the previous season presided over a Bolton Wanderers cup win over the Arsenal.
Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt were unveiled as Rioch signings but it has since emerged that these were already in place prior to his arrival. The only signing he presided over was the free transfer signing of John Lukic the following close season.
The lack of transfer business with Rioch was rather peculiar, he was offered Zidane but turned him down because he felt that Zizou and Dennis could not play in the same team. Rioch oversaw a UEFA Cup qualification that season but he was sacked prior to the 1996/1997 campaign. Rioch had fallen out with Ian Wright and it has been said by various ex-players that the Arsenal board realised early on that he was not the right man for the job.
So there we have it, since then we have had Arsene Wenger for the last twenty years. He benefitted from inheriting George’s back four as George benefitted from the youngsters nurtured by Don Howe. What will Wenger’s successor benefit from? The cash mountain in the bank? Time will tell.
