Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board will be asked at Thursday’s annual general meeting to make a final decision on the club’s managerial future well before the end of next season so as to avoid a repeat of this year’s uncertainty.
Wenger did eventually agree a two-year deal until May 2019 but, for the second contract in succession, final confirmation did not come until last season had ended.
The 68-year-old, whose side host Norwich City in the Carabao Cup tonight, has since acknowledged that the team were affected. A collapse in form between January and March effectively cost the club a place in the Champions League.
Arsenal rallied to win a record 13th FA Cup but shareholders will make it clear that this uncertainty should not be repeated next season.
The situation largely resulted from Wenger’s uncertainty and, while the support of majority owner Stan Kroenke never wavered, it became difficult to make any announcement once Wenger had communicated his desire to go on in March.
By then, Arsenal were on a dreadful run and there was a desire to finalise some off-field additions to the support staff. A group of players went to see Wenger to seek clarification and he did eventually tell them he intended to stay but that their form needed to -improve.
Arsenal then ended the season with 10 wins in 11 matches. “I created, with my not deciding, a lack of clarity in the dressing room — and there’s nothing worse than that,” admitted Wenger. “When you’re not completely in, or the players feel you’re not completely in, it’s difficult to tell them ‘we go’. So at some stage I had to tell them, look guys, ‘I’m with you, but we have to win games’.” A survey by the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust ahead of this week’s AGM has underlined the importance to those shareholders of finding a way to avoid a similar scenario.
Ninety per cent of respondents believed a firm decision should be announced “well before the end of his contract in May 2019”.
The issue of player contract negotiations will also be raised, partly as a result of the departure of negotiator Dick Law but also with players such as Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere now into the final year of their contracts.
Other questions will include the composition of the board, whether Arsenal’s self-sustaining model can still make the club competitive with the world’s elite, ticket prices and commercial performance.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London
