My Dad is French, and as a result when Arsene Wenger was appointed Arsenal manager unlike most Arsenal fans I did have access to someone who knew the name Arsene Wenger. It wasn’t my Dad himself, as he had been living in England for many years by this point; it was my Dad’s uncle.

He was an avid football fan, and like most had an opinion on every player, manager or club. One of his previous comments to my Dad was to watch out for a goalkeeper called Sebastian Frey who he said “would someday be playing at the top level”. Having known Frey from a young age he in later years used to tell stories of Frey returning home to the local village and parking his expensive cars in his garage to keep them safe.

So when we found out that the new manager was one Arsene Wenger my Dad and I decided to ask his uncle what he thought and whether following Wenger’s time at Monaco if he had any interesting opinions. And this is what he said:

“Wenger is a unique and interesting man and as a result he appears to be a good coach but I don’t think you’ll win much with him because he is very much the nearly man…he is known for always coming second.”

Following the double in Wenger’s first full season my Dad and I thought we were having the last laugh, that my Dad’s uncle had on this occasion got it wrong. However, following last weekend’s defeat to Stoke, I for some unknown reason started to think about what my Dad’s uncle had said. I started to look back over the Wenger years and for the most part I think it has been my Dad’s uncle who has had the last laugh.

In 1999 United won the treble, when many would argue we should have done the double. In 2000 we dominated the UEFA Cup Final only to lose on penalties. In 2001 we somehow let the FA Cup slip from our grasp, and the same with the league title in 2003. In 2006 (although mostly unlucky on this occasion) it was the Champions League Final in Paris. 2007 saw us lose the Carling Cup Final and last season saw us blow the title.

I’d just like to say that I am not one of these young Arsenal fans who has been spoilt by the successful years of Wenger. I fully appreciate the three league titles, the four FA Cups, a Champions League Final and 49 games unbeaten. I know that many other fans would love their clubs to have even half that success. However, the fact remains that for the quality of teams Wenger has produced and had at his disposal, for the positions those teams have been in, Wenger could and should have delivered more trophies for Arsenal?

If Wenger had won more as opposed to being “the nearly man who comes second” maybe he would have even more power and time at his disposal (which for some fans is maybe a scary thought). But he didn’t, and he hasn’t, and that is why many fans appear to be finally running out of patience.

Am I one of them? I don’t think I am. I’m still blinded by the good that Wenger has done and the seven trophies he has won, but judging by the amount of unrest and even physical violence I witnessed amongst fellow Arsenal fans in the away section on Saturday afternoon I feel that maybe people have lost patience. And like my Dad’s uncle maybe they now feel that Wenger is indeed “the nearly man”.