Graham Perry
This Arsenal Circular is a response to criticism of my comments in Arsenal Circular 153 by Mark Halfpenny.
Mark, who I do not know, does not hold back. These are some of things he said about me “his article is so full of inaccuracies, wishful thinking and blindness to the facts...thousands of long term fans have wanted Wenger out for years due to his mismanagement, end of season collapses, chronic under achievement and wasteful spending on huge wages to rubbish players...In late 2010 I gave up paying £100 a time to watch Eboue, Song, Squillaci, Denilson, Almunia, Gervinho, Walcott and others poncing about while Wenger sat on the bench fiddling with his zip...”
He goes on to say that the Glazer debt was no bar to success at United. “My dislike of Wenger is built on seeing the same mistakes, hearing the same excuses, watching the same rubbish every year since 2005”. Wenger is “so arrogant and disingenuous...Wenger’s record at producing and managing young talent is woeful” and cites the treatment of Chambers as an example of bad management. “There is nothing to suggest that Wenger will ever recreate past triumphs” and focuses on his failure to get anywhere in Europe. The problems at Arsenal “are caused by a stubborn, arrogant, out of date manager that has too much power is way behind his rivals”.
So let me respond.
1. Have thousands of fans wanted Wenger out for years? The much vaunted protest at the end of last season was a damp squib. I accept that there is frustration among some supporters and some have become vocal. But Mark should not distort reality. There is much support for Wenger as well – you can read it in social media alongside the critics. And have the critics wanted him out “for years”. Really? Looseness is no good, Mark, when you are marshalling a case against Wenger. Why not accept reality and simply admit that there are supporters who support Wenger and supporters who want him out.
2. “Mismanagement, end of season collapses, chronic under achievement and wasteful spending on huge wages to rubbish players”. I readily accept that Wenger has made management mistakes and I have said many times that last season was our season and the failure to win the title was Wenger’s fault. I do not runaway from reality. But nor do I embrace distortion. It is not chronic under-achievement to end up in the top four for 20 years. That has to be an error. You cannot have - and Mark these are your words not mine – “chronic under-achievement” and at the same time be either first or second or third or fourth. You may feel we should have won the title but not winning the title is not “chronic under-achievement”.
3. You refer to unsuccessful players and then make a gratuitous and quite dismissive comment about players “poncing” about” and Wenger fiddling with his zip. Now you are lapsing into insult and pettiness. Don’t follow the nasties and the sillies. And don’t become rude and unpleasant. Sorry to be firm on this Mark but you let yourself down with your zip and ponce comments. The question is not whether Wenger fiddles with his zip but whether a larger than acceptable number of players at AFC have fallen short of the necessary high standards - whether the squad as a whole have been less talented than you would expect of AFC. I would make two points – one is an admission that some players have not come off and you could include Jeffers, Suker, Chamakh and Bendtner in your list (but not Song). It happens at every Club and for a very good reason – no coach can ever be sure that any player will make it to the top. Some adjust to the demands and expectations of a big club and some fail. Even Ferguson failed with Veron and let Pogba go on a free and there are other players who fall short – the two Brazilian players, Anderson and one other come to mind, also keepers Bosnich and Pierre B.
This brings me to my second reason – you cut your coat according to your cloth meaning you spend what you can. Arsenal were a selling club. We sold our best to fund the stadium – Toure, Clichy, Nasri, Fabregas, Adebayor, RVP. We had to make ends meet. We sold high and bought low. The talent coming in was not of the best. The talent going out was the best. Wenger did what he could to muster enough funds to keep the football positive and the league placings high. We sacrificed the short term for the long term. We focused on a new stadium and looked to the day when we would be free of borrowing in a top stadium and with a secure bright long term future. That was the policy that was decided upon. In my view it was the right policy. We are stable, financially sound, in a top stadium and throughout this period of massive transformation Wenger had us year in year out in the top four. We were punching above our weight. But you avoid this issue.
Mark – you may say “take the risk, to hell with balanced budgets, go into debt, mortgage the future of the Club”. That is a point of view. Popular with many. At the same time there are business people who prefer to be safe and secure and stable. Some fans think one way. Some the other. That is life. United are a special Club. Their name is known throughout the world – they can afford to go for deficit financing. Arsenal FC are more cautious and Wenger also does not flash the cash. So we sold the best – bought in what we could and still challenged at the highest level – admittedly without winning but today we have a future and it is due to Wenger that we can look ahead with justified optimism.
Also - is Chambers an example of bad management or an example of not knowing how a player will fare when at the very top? He started well in the centre of defence and then when played at right back had torrid games v Anderlecht and Swansea. Self doubts set in and form dropped. Not every signing at every Club comes off – look at City’s current concerns about their keeper. Sometimes you re-group and a year at Middlesbrough will be the best thing for Chambers. Going out on loan may trigger the turnaround in form. Too early to form a view on Holding but the indications are positive.
Finally Mark your pen runs away with you when you conclude that Wenger “finds a way to mess everything up”. Apart from diehard Wenger critics I think you will find very few people agreeing with you. We have stuttered so far this season. Things may come good and if they do you and I will be on the same side shouting Arsenal and Wenger from the roof tops. If things go wrong then maybe Wenger’s time will be up. But let’s avoid making every match a referendum on Wenger. But more important as between we supporters let’s be straight and objective and free of insult.
Regards
Graham
I am on twitter@arsenalcircular
