No violins and roses for spiritual father on day of muted acclaim

Arsenal supporters conflicted about Wenger after the discord created by lack of direction

CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

Arsene Wenger has been reading the professional obituaries with a mix of gratitude and bafflement. “When people speak about how you were, it’s interesting – so I don’t need to die any more,” he joked. He’s not ready to accept the death of his career.

This is not going to be an easy parting. There are too many undercurrents, from Wenger’s obvious hurt to disengagement by many Arsenal supporters, who left thousands of seats empty and chanted their manager’s name with fervour only when the team were 4-1 up against West Ham. Until then “there’s only one Arsene Wenger” was sung only once or twice – and quietly. Many are plainly ready for the day when there are no Arsene Wengers. Or not here, anyway.

Anyone expecting violins and roses for Wenger two days after he announced his impending departure was in for a shock.

The “Wenger out” banners were gone but so were many Arsenal fans who are either delaying their farewell until the end of the season or want no part in the send-off.

Emirates regulars talked of a “strange day”, and felt conflicted. Yet no neutral could claim the crowd were clinging to his legs in the hope the decision would somehow be reversed.

Audience reaction aside, there are big themes churning below the surface here.

The first is that Wenger almost certainly jumped before he was pushed. The consensus is that he was going to be replaced as first-team manager in the summer and did not want to go out of the club that way. There can be no velvet divorce if one side is unhappy with a separation and how it was arrived at.

From Wenger’s angle, the next few weeks present a diplomatic challenge. How this all came about will be known one day, but for now he must keep indignation in check, because he is sincere in his wish to see Arsenal avoid further turmoil. He speaks as if he is the spiritual father of the modern Arsenal (which he is) and would clearly hate to surrender that role for the sake of revenge.

There is, though, a schism at the heart of this. Wenger said the discord around his position “did not give the image of unity I want at the club all over the world – and that is hurtful”. That can only be a reference to supporters flying “Wenger out” banners on the back of planes, marching with placards and fuming on social media. Pointedly, he said the respect shown to a football club was based “on the way we treat people”.

Those who know him say he is dismayed at the damage to the club’s international standing by the presentation of this image of Arsenal as a basket case.

And he said as much after the victory over West Ham, stressing that his concern has been how the club “is perceived worldwide by kids who play in Africa, in China, in America”. Sensing headlines, he rowed back, saying: “It is nothing to do with the fans. The fans were not happy – I can understand that.”

On the pitch, “nothing to do with the fans” is right, even if some players have probably been adversely affected by the negativity (a good answer would have been to show more fight, and win more games). The banner held up by a young fan saying he had not seen the glory years but had been told