I was sent an email early in November, after the visit to Stoke from the creative mind that is Doktor Schneide. Normally he sends me funnies, but on this occasion we were involved in a more serious exchange. He wrote -

"Your point about AW's standing at the club is perfectly illustrated by this: Took my two sons on the Arsenal Tour last week. The tour guide asked a few questions now and then - usually to the kids. One he asked was 'What was the best signing Arsenal ever made?' There were a few muttered responses as you would expect like Henry and Bergkamp, but he shook his head and said 'The best signing Arsenal ever made was Arsene Wenger.' I'm beginning to regard this attitude as the one felt by the Romanov court in the weeks before October 1917 – everything’s fine, the people love us really, pass me another Faberge egg."

Arsene Wenger has made a contribution to the history of Arsenal Football Club that is beyond question and he merits the bust that was commemorated in his honour, although I’d have been a lot happier if he’d been asked to unveil it at the time of his retirement. However, in recent times, the very real danger of hubris has loomed like a cloud on the horizon, and since the beginning of this season few seasoned observers have been surprised that things have not worked out.

The manager has simply attempted to defy footballing logic by refusing to replace the necessary types of player that were integral to past successes. As a consequence, results and performances have been patchy, leading to the concept of team spirit being as distant from Ashburton Grove as any chance of winning the Premier League title for the foreseeable future. Morale is low, confidence is low, and players who can play much better are anonymous.

I replied to the Doktor’s email of early November as follows -

"Very interested to hear about the tour. Arsene Wenger has done great things but that doesn't make him infallible. Pride comes before a fall and all that.

I don't expect the board to get involved in team matters to a certain extent, but the manager should be reminded that he is an employee. The club should never be beholden to him. If he can't do the job, then get someone who can. The big fear now is that the rot is terminal. The manager no longer has genuine authority with the players. So they don't perform for him. It's a real irony, but what comes of making them feel more important than they are by continuing to select them when they are underperforming. It's a vicious circle."

Arsene Wenger almost pulled it off. Almost. It's unlikely he could have spent much more money between 2005 and 2008. So those seasons I accept. Arsenal almost won trophies that they would not have had a sniff off with a different manager who couldn't put together a half decent bunch of players on a shoestring as Wenger did. Quite simply there was no alternative. Now though, I am starting to believe he will not be able to rebuild. He's too proud.

The summer changed my opinion. He had money but presumably dithered or tried too much penny pinching. I was prepared to wait until it unravelled before condemning the man. It's now unravelling.

He saw things in this group of players that others did not. He needs to go back to whoever produces his contact lenses and demand a refund. Last season, Arsenal were undone by bad luck, but the truth is they rode their luck to get to the point at St Andrews where they could have gone eight points clear. To then allow the squad to weaken was a dereliction of duty.

What galls the most is that Arsenal ticket buyers are paying a lot of money to watch the team, and that the profits resulting – after debt repayments - are not being used to enhance its chances of success. So we are being cheated. What exactly are we paying for? Certainly not to see the kind of performances turned in against Hull and Villa, Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke and Man City. Performances lacking any drive, commitment or imagination.

I wrote this after transfer deadline day. I haven’t changed my mind.

There’s no insight being claimed here, and that’s partly the point. Every Arsenal fan could see this coming. The team didn’t have the type of player required to assert themselves physically in the Premier League. They had a soft centre. Even Wenger knew it, so why the hell didn’t he do something about it? There’s your abdication of duty, the loss of the senses. The manager presumably felt the possession football would be enough. When Arsenal post stats of 100% possession in a match, I might buy into the argument, although with the determination of the current ‘wide’ players to cut in and head for the centre rather than the corner flag, I’d still only predict a 0-0. There is no cutting edge because the one-twos have to be played to such perfection that they invariably break down. Arsenal have become easy to play against.

The captaincy issue is a sideshow, but let’s face it, there’s no natural leader in the squad. No-one with both the authority and the bollocks to haul people up and who will refuse to allow standards to slack. Everyone is far too comfortable, from the boardroom down to the box office. I’ve banged on about the culture of complacency at the club for weeks and what’s needed is a complete overhaul from top to bottom. The new CEO needs to have some bollocks. What chance that if Arsene Wenger is taking part in the decision of who to appoint? He’s only going to approve a yes man. And there are way, way too many of those at the club already.

Frankly, things have been allowed to rot. Last season was probably the manager’s final hurrah. He almost pulled it off by coming close in two competitions, even if he pointlessly passed up the opportunity to win the other two. And think on this. If he’d have put out full strength line-ups against Spurs for the two Carling Cup matches, Arsenal might have been at Wembley the day after that game at Birmingham. The nightmare of St Andrews would not have happened because the game would have been played on a different date with a different course of events. Eduardo would have completed the campaign and Gallas’ histrionics would not have taken place.

So back to Gallas anyway. Although skating on very thin ice given his own displays this season, he spoke a lot of truth in the interview that lost him the captaincy, and presumably ensured him a fast ticket out of London. He has exposed the reality of where Arsenal are now, and such baring of the ugly truth is the last thing a manager expects from his captain. So although his position became untenable, fair play to the man for telling it like it is, even if his own role in the collapse is as significant as anybody’s.

It’s going to be a long season. It’s now about just trying to ensure that the knockout stages of the Champions League are reached, trying to protect the Carling Cup kids from the poison that has infected the atmosphere amongst the ‘senior’ players, taking the FA Cup seriously and just trying to pick some points up in the league until January comes and the opportunity for remedial surgery via use of the chequebook.

Wenger’s going nowhere. He’s built himself such an empire he’s hardly going to walk away from it, and if he is big enough to admit his mistakes and stop talking bullsh*t about the quality of his players, then he can turn things around with a change of philosophy. It just needs him to tell his network of scouts to start headhunting winners instead of technicians. And forget the age nonsense. What I’d give to have Vieira, Pires and Henry still at the club today. What this Arsenal side needs is men, not spoilt children. Sometimes goals can be scored as a result of sheer will. Skill and technique can be involved, but there’s nothing wrong with trying to beat a player rather than pass your way round him. Arsenal need to use speed, force and width. They’ve served the club well in the past. Time for a return.

But if we have to endure many more performances like that seen at Eastlands, with no apparent desire to abandon the existing style, then the manager should step down and allow someone else to attempt to return Arsenal to its former glories. That Fabio Capello bloke seems exactly the type that’s needed right now…