James Olley: It’s time for Arsenal chiefs Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke to challenge Arsene Wenger’s authority

Dictator of Football | Wenger has said that he would not work under a director of football at Arsenal
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
James Olley10 May 2017

Dictator of football. That was the verdict from several Arsenal fans on Twitter in response to Arsene Wenger ruling out the possibility of Arsenal appointing a director of football while he remains manager.

He practically bristled when I put the possibility to him yesterday morning. “No, no, no. Sorry, no. I’m not prepared to talk about that,” he said. “I’m the manager of Arsenal Football Club and as long as I’m manager of Arsenal Football Club, I will decide what happens on the technical front. That’s it.”

And with that statement, the lines have been drawn in the power battle at Emirates Stadium.

Wenger has enjoyed total autonomy at Arsenal for years. He arrived in 1996, when the infrastructure at elite level clubs was very different. Scouting networks were more primitive, agents were far fewer in number and the concept of using analytics in football was nowhere near become a reality.

By overseeing the club’s growth while keeping them competitive - to an extent - on the pitch, he believes he has earned the right to continue on his own terms.

The 67-year-old mocked the importance of a director of football yesterday. “Is it somebody who stands in the road and directs play right and left? I don’t understand and I never did understand what it means,” he said.

But that isn’t entirely true. Following David Dein’s departure as vice‑chairman in 2007, Arsenal sought to appoint a director of football. Wenger was put in charge of the process and he said on July 17 of that year: “I wanted to do it before the end of the season, when I started buying and selling but then I thought that now is the worst time because I have no time to tell someone how I want to do things.

“I did not want to unsettle the team before the end of the transfer market. So at the moment I work with Ken Friar and it is working well for us.”

An article on the club’s website in September stated that Wenger had rethought what the position should entail, adding that “its primary role was surrounding player transfers — however Ken Friar has dealt with negotiations since then and the Frenchman wants to retain this structure for the time being”.

In Pictures | Arsene Wenger's 22 years at Arsenal

1/23

Managing director Keith Edelman left the following year and it was not until November 2008 that Ivan Gazidis was named as the new chief executive.

Gazidis’s appointment was pre-approved by Wenger and, with Stan Kroenke happy to pay deference to his manager upon becoming majority shareholder in 2011, the present model is the Frenchman’s creation in every sense.

He believes close ally and transfer fixer Dick Law should stay on and sees any modification to the set-up as a challenge to his authority, almost an insult to the achievements made and dedication shown in 21 years of loyal service.

Yet Arsenal need modernising and results in recent years suggest his authority should be challenged.

​Wenger stands as the last bastion of a bygone managerial era in which power was absolute. Admirable yet antiquated. Gazidis, belatedly, is attempting to help and the desire to move Law on and appoint someone else with football expertise is the first step towards a more modern structure, an existence beyond Wenger.

Yet Wenger was clear: it won’t happen on my watch. Except, of course, we still don’t know how long that will be.

Maybe he can’t let go. Wenger has done an inestimable amount for Arsenal but the club will carry on after he departs. Kroenke and Gazidis must show some leadership at some point otherwise this unhealthy perception of dictatorship will only continue.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in