Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Picture the scene – you have built an organisation renowned for developing youngsters that frequently evolve into fine professionals.
You have taken the organisation to various heights although these have not been replicated for a number of years. While performance is still generally good, it is not what it once was and has even been in decline for the past few years.
In order to ease the pressure you now started making the most of smaller victories, disproportionately maximising the impact. Irrational, defensive outbursts, once tolerated when successful, are becoming more frequent and extravagant.
Invariably, past successes have raised expectations, justified by the increased revenues, which largely result from the superior results you achieved earlier in your career. The ‘big wins’, however, are becoming less frequent and the pressure leads to your authority, which you vigorously defend, being challenged. This mounting pressure leads to uncertainty with the board.
Taking sentimentality out of the equation, questions facing the board include:
*Given the resources, is the manager still maximising returns and performance?
*Does the manager still command the respect of his colleagues and board?
*While he may be better than the previous manager, is he the best man available for the job?
*Is the decline in performance a temporary blip or is it more permanent?
*Does his loyal service in the past buy any additional time or should his current performance levels be judged against the performance before he arrived or against the heights of success achieved previously?
Clearly, the answers are largely subjective and could divide opinion. Yet it is an argument frequently heard in the football terraces (along with many other organisations the world over).
The main difference between football and the corporate world is that football matters tend to be more public with every spectator an expert.
It is certainly a debate that is currently raging in watering holes around the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger took over as manager at Arsenal in September 1996 and immediately led them to third place in the Premier League and UEFA Cup qualification.
The following season Arsene’s Arsenal pipped Manchester United to the title with a club record 10 consecutive wins, while also claiming the FA Cup. This feat was repeated in 2002 although a string of runners-up medals, most notably in the UEFA Cup in 2000, kept the fans believing that further success was not far away.
They were right! Scoring in every match of their successful 2001-2 campaign they started on a run of unbeaten games that saw them surpass Nottingham Forest’s previous record of 42 games.
League performances this season are largely on a par with those achieved last season, when they qualified for Europe’s premier competition, the Champions League, in fourth position.
Wenger has just been awarded the Manager of the Month by the Premier League following a couple of resounding victories, most notably a come-from-behind pounding of arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur followed by last weekend’s fine victory at Anfield.
There was some discontent among supporters, although this season these levels have escalated. So what has changed?
Last season Arsenal were ostensibly challenging for the title and a number of cups until much later in the season before their season tailed-off, although they finished comfortably in fourth.
This year, their season yields no opportunities for silverware – the highlight will be the memorable victory over Spurs. However, herein lies another problem, in that they now trail the ‘Cocky Neighbours’ in the league and are fighting to even finish in a European position.
What’s more, there is discontent in the ranks with a squad that appears to need a radical overhaul in the summer. Yet, last summer saw the sale of Fabregas and Nasri, the latter in a long and drawn out saga.
Wenger may well be able to point to the excellent development of his younger players, even including Robin Van Persie who is now one of the finest players in the world. However, he ultimately has to be judged on the results of the first team which have higher expectations as a result of his earlier success.
The earlier comparisons with Forest when Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ surpassed their unbeaten record lead to individual evaluations against Brian Clough, the then manager. Less successful domestically than Wenger, albeit with a much smaller club, Clough remarkably took Forest to two successful European Cup triumphs.
However, he failed to repeat the glory years, occasionally flirting with the odd Cup triumph. His last success was lifting the League Cup for the second successive year in 1990. Their declining league position told the real story of an ageing man whose more inspirational years were behind him.
Ultimately, the loyalty of the Forest board to the most successful manager in their history resulted in relegation, a demotion from which they never recovered. Many lifelong Forest fans believe that, despite the glory years, Clough’s services were retained for too long. Famously, the decline began when he chose to sell two stalwarts, Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham.
The financial disparity between the large and small clubs now makes a similar fall from grace highly unlikely, hence the issue of relative performance judged against available resources.
While most managers with his resources would be lucky to last a year based on the team’s performance this year, Wenger is now the second longest-serving manager in the Premier League behind Sir Alex Ferguson.
At the opposite end of the scale comes Chelsea’s Villas-Boas who, having committed Abramovich to buying into his long-term vision for the club, has now been sacked following Chelsea’s fall to one spot behind Arsenal.
The man referred to as AVB has been dismissed with similar results. At this moment in time he can only dream about having been given the opportunity and longevity afforded to Wenger.
While I do believe that Arsenal look weaker this year than at any time in recent memory, I do believe that Wenger’s past success does entitle him to attempt to rebuild in the summer.
He has achieved remarkable consistency on a shoestring budget – perhaps this is where his strength lies. With funds to spend he now needs to prove he can transform his management skills in the same manner that he has transformed Arsenal’s performance and expectations. Otherwise, he, and Arsenal, needs to move on.
