BACK ME SACK ME
Wenger says Arsenal board must give him full backing
ARSENE WENGER will demand the full backing of the Arsenal directors if he is to stay. The Gunners boss wants assurances at a board meeting tomorrow that they are still behind him after a season in which he felt they didn’t support him enough.
He wants them to decide based on “competence not popularity” and says there can be “no doubt” he is the right man for the job after winning the FA Cup for a record seventh time on Saturday.
Wenger knows he has the full support of majority shareholder Stan Kroenke but has doubts about some of the other board members at the Emirates.
Record Sport understands the club expect him to sign a new two-year contract and there has been a shift in the past few weeks towards him staying.
Arsenal have gone from wanting a director of football to a more general appointment and tellingly they have no other manager lined up.
But there does remain some doubt which Wenger refused to remove after the game. He did not give any clues at the postmatch party and knows going after the FA Cup would allow him to enjoy a glorious farewell.
He will also want the final say on his backroom staff and any behind-the-scenes changes. He knows chief executive Ivan Gazidis has been pushing for a degree of change after a poor league campaign but points to the weekend FA Cup victory.
Wenger said: “The best presentation I can make is to say watch the game and then there can be no doubt. We live in a society that wants always change but at the end of the day football is about making the right decisions.
“That’s why I say it’s not about popularity, it’s about competence. It’s the board who has to decide who will lead the club in the future.
“If they want me, I have to decide do I say yes or no.
“If people ( fans) want me out I can accept that. But in the game you support the team, it’s as simple as that.”
Gunners captain Per Mertesacker added: “We’re all waiting for tomorrow’s board meeting. There was great relief on Saturday but it didn’t feel as if it was the end. We don’t know how the decision will go but I’m sure he wants to continue.”