Wenger enjoys board’s support

LONDON: Arsenal have given Arsene Wenger their unequivocal backing and will give the beleaguered Frenchman £55-million (about R668million) to rebuild his ailing squad.

Majority shareholder Stan Kroenke and the Gunners board remain 100-percent behind the Frenchman despite being resigned to a seventh consecutive season without a trophy. The American is flying over to reaffirm his support for Wenger, whom he will join at Thursday’s regular board meeting.

Wenger will be critiqued by just over 100 small share- holders at tonight’s Arsenal Supporters’ Trust gathering. They will discuss plans for an end-of-season survey on the manager before relaying the results to the board.

Last season, 42-percent of those polled believed the board should reconsider their confidence in the manager, with 40-percent disagreeing and 18-percent undecided. The north London club’s season went from bad to worse on Saturday as they crashed out of the FA Cup after losing 2-0 defeat at Sunderland. Saturday’s loss came just three days after Arsenal’s 4-0 defeat against AC Milan in the Champions League – a result that virtually sealed their exit from the competition.

This season’s struggles have, for the first time, raised major question marks over Wenger’s role as manager.

However, the Arsenal board remain staunch in their backing of the under-fire manager and still believe Wenger is the man to revive the club’s faltering fortunes. As it stands, Wenger is under no danger of the sack– only a sensational shift in opinion between now and the end of the season from the Gunners board will alter that stance. – Daily Mail