THE WENGER I KNOW...

IAN LADYMAN

THERE have been few greater competitors in the Premier League era. For a while, few things riled him like his rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson and that did grow very ugly indeed. Beneath it all, though, he was always a man of charm, decency and warmth. Away from the muck and nettles of battle, that never changed. A personal memory is of being invited to test the new 2000-01 Premier League ball at London Colney. Watching me lash it 10 yards over the bar, Wenger said generously: ‘See how hard it is to control.’

MATT BARLOW

ALMOST always polite but rarely punctual. Often charming but rarely friendly. His manner with the media was always brisk and businesslike. Throw him a question on anything and the answer was worth hearing. It was a privilege to listen. There were trophies, records and feuds. And years when he was hit relentlessly with questions about his future. He always answered and always with dignity. That was 20 years reporting on Arsene Wenger. We’ll miss him when he’s gone.

JAMIE REDKNAPP

ONE of his earliest influences on our game was when the Arsenal players started turning up to England get-togethers with supplements and vitamins. They would insist on eating yoghurt before meals. It was to help with digestion — something which he had introduced. Arsenal were doing so well we all started copying what their players were doing. He inherited a great team but his revolutionary ideas with player nutrition played a big part in taking Arsenal to the next level.

BOB WILSON

I’M IN SHOCK. He is one of the three greatest men I have ever met in my life. And I’m not talking just about his football knowledge and how he changed the game in this country but outside as a human being and through difficult times with me and my wife when we lost our daughter. He was extraordinary, in that time particularly. We would talk about Anna (Wilson’s late daughter) and he would talk about human spirit and yeah, sorry, it is emotional for me. Wilson was speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live