Premier League - Criticism of Wenger 'disgraceful'

Eurosport - Tue, 19 May 15:45:00 2009

Shareholders who criticised Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and his players at a meeting were "out of order", according to Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

FOOTBALL Arsen Wenger Arsenal Manchester United - 0

In the wake of a Champions League semi-final mauling by Manchester United which confirmed a fourth trophy-less season for the north Londoners, the French boss suffered the wrath of some fans during the forum at the Emirates Stadium on May 14.

"Frankly, some of the questions were quite disgraceful," he said.

"There you have the most successful manager in our history and two or three of the shareholders made the most negative and somewhat hostile and sarcastic comments, which I think were completely out of order."

Wenger's youngsters were accused of lacking backbone, defender Mikael Silvestre was branded "geriatric" and striker Emmanuel Adebayor also came in for fierce personal criticism over his performances this term.

Reports this week have suggested Wenger could be tempted by a move to Real Madrid after he refused to rule out the possibility when quizzed on French television this week.

Hill-Wood added: "I was very upset by the questions, I have to say. We, and he, kindly agreed to have this meeting and whether we have another one is a moot point.

"Arsene was very diplomatic and honest in his answers and deserves great credit for that. But I wouldn't have been anything like as polite if they had asked me."

PA Sport

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  1. I'm not suprised that players like Adebayor want to­ leave Arsenal after all what true fan boo's thier­ own players. It's happened with Eboue, Bendntner­ and Adebayor this season and of course a player is­ going to suffer with a loss of form or lack confidence­ if everytime they touch the ball they are getting­ abuse. I think there will be a few players leaving­ Arsenal during the summer and considering they­ don't have the funds to replace them it looks like­ the fans will be booing djorou, Song and Diaby next­ season !!!!

    From Tony R, on Thu 21 May 10:17AM
  2. Although I'm a MU fan, I have the utmost respect­ for Mr. Wenger. He is very good manager. If some of the­ fan and management don't want him, well I guess he­ should look into his future. A job is a job man.

    From Zaqueman, on Thu 21 May 3:14AM
  3. I solute wenger for his daring move to played his­ young­ promising and skill gunners in his campaign in­ EPL. i­ believe that next season this young guns willl­ bash­ all the others team. yeah....But come to think of­ this Arsenal is not a training club,we need to get more­ matured player plssssss and plsssssss.Me as a arsenal­ fan not too happy 4 season without nothing.PLEASE MAKE­ US SMILE....I remain Arsenal till eternity...Ola Atanda

    From james a, on Wed 20 May 6:05PM
  4. look at leeds, newcastle, spurs.... and then look at­ man u... see any differences???

    From Sharum A, on Wed 20 May 4:32PM
  5. Frank Rijkaard arsenal next manager for 4 years , we­­­ will will the prem and CL in 2 years with him­­­ incharge..then we bring in Dennis "the god"­­­ Bergkamp to manage for life after..look what Rijkaard­­­ did with Barca winning la liga and the CL in his­ short­­ time there. we would still play attacting­ football­­ under him..

    From chris, on Wed 20 May 3:18PM
  6. rubbish! he has more, dont listen to the rumours they­ are all biased! fact!

    From Joseph, on Wed 20 May 3:14PM
  7. The Gunners boss has been told that he will have just­ £13million to spend unless he sells another one of his­ stars. FACTS

    From c, on Wed 20 May 2:54PM
  8. Lies, arsene had 30 milion to spend in the transfer­ market last year and this year they managed to raise­ another 29. that is 59 milion not 13! hill the wally is­ trying to cover up for wengers stingyness. i dont care­ for this unfactual rumour. Arsene was not diplomatic­ and respectful in the shareholders meeting, he was­ cheeky and disrespectful. Hill wood your an idiot a­ total idiot and your finished at Arsenal you­ idiot.
    Wenger is wenger and he will never ever spend­ unless he is forced too! he has distanced himself from­ the fans because he believes he is on the board of­ directors....not!!!!!

    From Joseph, on Wed 20 May 2:47PM
  9. I am a gunners fun £13 million is just for one player,­ arsenal need 3 good defence, 2 good midfield, 3 strike­ to do the proper job next season

    From naza, on Wed 20 May 1:16PM
  10. £13 million is nothing for the transfer, wenger need­ £35 million to buy the player don't keep the money­ just for yourself if you are fun of gunners not only­ criticise WENGER, arsenal need more defence, attack ,­ other get injury another good come again ,look man utd­ all team the good every player seat in beanch is good,­ when 2 players get injury disaster come for arsenal,­ sale other player and get another good

    From naza, on Wed 20 May 12:54PM
  11. I am an Arsenal fan man and boy and have been going to­ the Arsenal since 1974 and the type of football we have­ played in the last 5/6 seasons is exceptional and every­ pundit would agree, but, the only thing we miss is the­ steel we use to have when we were known as boring­ Arsenal because no bugger could score against­ us.
    Although we have bought players we have never spent­ in the same way as Utd, Liverpool or Chelski as we have­ never had the money they have, nor would Arsen­ jeoperdise the clubs future by putting it into so much­ debt, just look at what happenede to Leeds.
    The money­ Liverpool and Chelski have spent still hasn't won­ them anything this year so spending big doesn't­ guarantee success just debts.
    Arsen is without doubt­ one of the best coaches in the world and thats coming­ from the professionals not just a fan of Arsenal so if­ he was to leave who could replace him, the short list­ is very short and none of them speak a word of­ English.
    As fans we want immediate success but I­ believe we have to have faith in our manager and what­ ever decisions he makes I truly believe he has the­ clubs interest at heart and he wont cripple a club to­ win silverware.
    Now we have the emirates and we as a­ club are making money perhaps he might start to look at­ higher end established players that demand big salaries­ and signing fees.

    If your a fan you need to get behind­ the club and Wenger and give the support they need then­ perhaps things might change, you never­ know.

    Gooner4ever.

    From Raider, on Wed 20 May 12:47PM
  12. AW ought to be allowed to stay and for the sake of AFC­ i hope he does stay, as a coach he is there at the top­ of his profession and knows his "onions".­ watch out for the young gunners next season by which­ time the rookies would ve gained enof valuable­ experience on d pitch.

    From Sampson, on Wed 20 May 12:34PM
  13. and wow, when you­ analysed the way Arsenal played the­ game its as if you­ knew a better way to manage a team.­ I'm sure this­ summer you will be getting loads of­ offer from Premier­ Clubs outside the top four and who­ knows you could even­ replace Wenger when he­ leaves......Arsenal4

    From a_hisham76, on Tue 19 May­ 3:13PM

    You are joke, you have clearly displayed how­ little knowledge of football you have. Go back to the­ armchair, put you Arse slippers on, drink from your­ arse mug, and rest easy knowing you truly are a­ committed fan or the team you love......?? If you­ cant see that truth in what i say, i am not gonna waste­ breath explaining it. You keep following Wenger, you­ see how many trophies you pick up over the next season,­ you are a sell out, a faker, you dont even care if the­ team play with passion, just as long as the twats on­ SKY keep telling you the football is "sexy"­ you will kepp lapping it up. Go and find another­ artistic sport, where your fancy dan attitutde matters,­ like gymanastics or diving, they give points for what­ the moves look like, you would enjoy it, leave the­ football to people who really support their­ club.....Wannabee football fan

    Enjoy your­ "entertainment" because it sure aint­ "Sport"

    From ghettovest, on Wed 20 May 10:55AM
  14. A. Wenger is a nice coach please let him stay but­ should get English players as well.

    From NuraLast, on Wed 20 May 10:51AM
  15. 190.To all the Arsene Wenger critics who call­ themsleves­ Arsenal fans, all of whom have short­ memories and even­ shorter foresight. Please go and­ support Chelski; they­ are used to having fair-weather­ fans. You'll all­ be crying if he leaves, and in a­ couple of seasons at­ most you'll be whingeing­ about whoever replaces­ him. If you are blind to the­ good that he has done and­ will do for Arsenal then­ you'd better start wearing­ blue.

    From­ colourblindfan, on Tue 19 May 4:45PM

    WTF - you are­ blind, as your name suggests. Blind faith in Wenger­ will lead you nowhere - he is accountable for the­ players bought, and they are not good enough to win­ anything. No doubt you never actually go to the­ games, because if you were paying to see some of the­ weak performances at home this season, you would be­ worried too. Stick to watching the game on MOTD, and­ leave the comments to people who bother turning up..

    From ghettovest, on Wed 20 May 10:47AM
  16. 195.kagaba71, so you fire the best manager you could­­ possibly have because some manic depressive takes a­­ football team too seriously? yeah that makes sense. ­­ why are we all so results driven? I tune in to every­­ Arsenal match because they play the most entertaining­­ style of any team. we are paying to be entertained­­ after all. Tell me what's better: watching a team­­ win a treble and being bored out of your skull during­­ very match, or no trophies after being completely­­ entertained every second of the way? I'll take the­­ latter any day.

    From shoo, on Tue 19 May­ 5:30PM

    Thank god not all "fans" are like­ you shoo, a new school wannabee football fan, who­ doesn't even mind if his team win or lose. I­ notice you say you "tune in", well thats the­ problem mate, you dont pay 60 notes to go and watch a­ game of maybe 2/3 clear cut chances, you sit at home in­ your armchair pretending to be a football fan, probably­ support Arse because they have been succesfull at the­ time you got "interested" in football... As­ you said yourself, you just want to be entertained,­ well can i suggest you go to the movies, you are a­ "plastic fan". bugger off and leave the game­ to people who care about it.

    From ghettovest, on Wed 20 May 10:42AM
  17. Lots said but its still Arsenal for life!!! Viva­ Arsenal

    From Andrew, on Wed 20 May 10:19AM
  18. Lee Dixon, arsenal fans pay good money to watch good­ football and win trophies. we play one style only and­ it has been counter attacked so that dont work.­ secondly, the fans demand success and why shouldnt­ they?
    we are not supporters of shares or wenger­ fanatics, we want to have more than just pass and pass­ and pass with no end product. this is what don howe was­ renowned for. Arsenal fans have been taking bets as to­ whether the team will shoot or not? that is why we are­ not happy, and the lies, nobody tells us anything!

    From Joseph, on Wed 20 May 8:35AM
  19. ha..what a nightmare. now, all real madrid fans really­ think chances of they getting AW as their new manager­ is big.. thanks to those share holders and those fans

    From Sharum A, on Wed 20 May 7:51AM
  20. Arsene Wenger is, in my opinion, the second best­ manager in the EPL, behind Fergie ( obviously I'm a­ little biased ). I think his loyalty to the club, his­ brand of football, his excellent mind games with our­ gaffer( which seem to have mellowed with age). When you­ think that only a few seasons ago, Arsenal went the­ whole season undefeated. Yes, Arsenal are going through­ a barren spell, and yes, it's lasted 4­ seasons...but they've never been involved in a­ relegation struggle, they've always qualified for,­ and done well in, Europe. They've done well in­ domestic tournaments....the list goes on. There are­ some hugely talented players at Arsenal, but also some­ players whose ego exceeds their ability. If Arsenal­ board members can back Wenger with some decent transfer­ funds, they'll be serious rivals next season. One­ thing United have proven beyond doubt is that stability­ with the manager will reap its reward....and who out­ there would you replace Wenger with?

    From David, on Wed 20 May 7:20AM
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