Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal 15 years ago, with a point very much to prove. A decade and a half later and we have seen the rise, and subsequent fall of one of the games greatest pioneers.
I'm not going to sit here and slag off a man who has bought us Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, signings his peers can only dream of finding and creating.
Nor am I going to slag off a man who in his own right, when no one else believed he could do so, assembled a team so great, that they went unbeaten in the greatest league in the world for 49 games, including one full season. Even Sir Alex will never lay a claim to that.
But to echo Abraham Lincoln's famous words, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." And as much as I hate to admit it, these words will be ringing in the ears of many football fans alike.
What started so courageously back in 1996, with a pair of spectacles that only John Lennon could have loved, could not be a world a part from where we are now. The Old Evertonians that make up the boardroom, with their green fingers, have tied a knot in Wenger's neck so tight, that he will have to dismantle what he has built in order to spare it.
I'm not saying that I blame a lack of money for fifteen consecutive Champions League finishes, nor am I blaming project youth. For a club that built it's success steadily and revolutionally through Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger, had numerous success under George Graham, and stood alone as the only remaining British empire of a football club, until recently. To produce players of the ilk of Jack WILSHERE, Henri Lansbury, Kieran Gibbs and Kyle Bartley, is a massive incentive. It's what football is about, and Wenger along with Steve Rowley, Liam Brady and Steve Bould have transformed the club in to one of the finest youth academies in the world. My problem is that when you are backs to the wall, these kids are barely playing, Jack aside.
What must these kids think when they see Sebastien Squillaci and Andrey ARSHAVIN in the team? By far the 2 worst players on Sunday, and they were replaced by Alex Song, a naturalised midfielder and Nicklas Bendtner. Now, who did we have on the bench? Young Spanish centre half Ignasi Miguel and young Irish U-21 international Conor Henderson. Now for the life of me, I can't understand why these 2 lads weren't bought on. If they are not ready, then perhaps big names should have been signed six years ago. If they are ready, then this is what the club has sacrificed so much for and invested so much in.
We saw the same with Sylvain Wiltord, our then record signing playing on the right wing... Forcing two of our most talented youngsters in a generation out of the club in Jermaine Pennant and David Bentley. Both of whome have Premier League Hat-tricks to their names.
Still, the summer is fading and the curtains are slowly being drawn on our most famous moment. If Wenger is sacked it would represent a massive statement from the club, personally I neither think it would be the right decision, nor the best one.
You can talk about your Del Bosque's and your Guardiola's all you want but that doesn't guarantee success. All that means is a manager throwing away money on x and y players because he knows, that if he doesn't deliver straight away, he will be shown the door. If we go down that route we become Real Madrid or Chelsea... For all their success they will never be football clubs, but franchises.
You can also talk about your Parker's, your Jagielka's and your Benzema's, but Jose Antonio Reyes and our very own Andrey ARSHAVIN are both glaringly obvious monarchs of failure. A club has to be built from the core, much like Barcelona, much like Manchester United, until then and only then can we think about extravagance.
There is obvious square pegs in round holes, and they must be fixed. Alex Song is not a big game player and our defence needs a leader. Personally I would bring Vermaelen in to defensive midfield and drop RvP in to the Bergkamp role. This would allow us to sign the 2 big players we need, a commanding centre half such as Gary Cahill and a goalscorer such as Darren Bent or Karim Benzema, without ruining the philosophy of the club.
You also have to look at the price of players like Cahill and realise that Mamadou Sakho of PSG, is younger, better and cheaper... I know where I would go, unfortunately the xenophobia around the ideal British centre half has us thinking otherwise.
I'm not one to state which signings we need, this is not Championship Manager with a plastic budget to work with. But the truth remains that the shadowy clouds gathering over out managers head won't clear until the public are fooled with what they want... And the sun continues to set on the horizon!
