Wenger's 'not going anywhere'

05 June 2016 - 02:00 By The Daily Telegraph

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger is going no time soon. In an interview this week, chief executive Ivan Gazidis said that the reason "we have Arsène as our manager is because our board believes he can deliver success."The reason that Arsène is here is because he believes that he can deliver success. If either of us didn't believe that, we would not be constrained by nostalgia or longing; we would have to make a change."Arsène would understand and support that. But it's just not how either side feels. We feel we are on a good path."story_article_left1Wenger is now into the final year of his contract and, while he has said that he could wait until the end of next season before resolving his future, the club believe that they will know much earlier.There has been no hint of him winding down."He's in his mid-60s, it's natural to think about when his time here might come to an end, but the truth is nobody knows," adds Gazidis."He is in fantastic shape. He is deeply engaged and excited. One of the biggest challenges we will face is the transition, whenever it happens, but that is not something we are going to be facing imminently."The debate about the extent to which Wenger and the club are indeed delivering is never ending.An attempted "Time for Change" protest in April focused on the 12 years since Arsenal have won the Premier League. The counter argument is their consistency, the two FA Cup wins since 2014 and consecutive Premier League finishes of fourth, third and second, even if the most recent was a missed opportunity.Gazidis's answer is yes, the past year cannot be looked upon with anything but frustration, but the broader picture must also remain in focus. "We have to be disappointed, certainly not satisfied, to end up second," he says. "We wanted more than that and I think that there were chances during the season. We are taking a long, hard, realistic look at why we fell short of our ambitions. You can't say second is a disaster."..

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