Assuming the stories are true. Because nothing is official and I tend to be cautious about these things.
On the contrary. Like you, I felt from the outset that he will sign his contract eventually. But I also heard from good sources that he had not signed because of a disagreement with funds for the squad from the Board in the light of the spending by the competition following the failure of FFP which the Arsenal Board and Wenger banked on to level the spending field. For example, Chelsea's wage bill for the 2014/15 season was £23m more than Arsenal wage bill for the 2015/16 season. ManU's was £37m more for the 2015/16 season. This, despite Arsenal additions to the squad.The irony is, Arsenal finishing above Chelsea and ManU influenced the Board with their spending decision and they expected Wenger to improve despite the competition outspending us once again in the summer. I was also one of those who expected us to improve in terms of points and finish 1st or 2nd. I was wrong this time around.
You cannot continue to get away, season after season, with putting yourself in an inferior competitive position. We all know what wage bill of sport men tell us in all sports. The best sport men get paid the most money in wages and everything else. Arsenal wage bill is clear, it is telling us bar 2 or 3 players, we do not have anything close to the best, but we have somehow come to expect to compete and beat the best with the sort of wages disadvantage I mentioned above. We have gotten away with it for too long. It is no coincidence that we cannot cope with the top teams when we are missing 2 or 3 of our best players. This season, like last season is now showing we cannot also expect to beat the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th placed teams when missing 3 to 4 of our best players.
With growing fans expectations, Wenger pressed for more funds to sign better quality proven players in the EPL. He got no support from the Board, and he did not sign his contract. This was a big mistake, because it gave Ozil and Sanchez the ready excuse to hold the club and their team mates hostages. It is no secret that Sanchez and Ozil do not think much of a few of their team mates playing abilities, while Ozil has been less vocal, he has been petulent on the pitch when a team mate he does not rate tries to point out anything to him. Sanchez has been down right disrespectful to all.
With the players, the excuses got better as they hid behind the fans who went after the Manager in social media and certain elements of the press. But at the Emirates stadium, Wenger still held sway, the fans did not turn against him. Instead, it is the players that got it game after game as fans turned against them. When the Away support grew in numbers to sing, 'we want Wenger out' at the Bayern game, I felt, Wenger's time was up. I felt the fans will turn at the Emirates, I also felt Wenger will walk because he will not want to see the fighting amongst the fans. But I was wrong, the protests and protesters were an embarrassment. One even protested against Vic Akers - the Kit Manager. They were goaded, booed and insulted at the Emirates stadium. At best there were 200 of them, although many in the press say 100.
I think many of the 'Wenger Outers' got it wrong, they thought their campaign will gather support and the Manager will be forced out, so far they have failed. What they have done is make many now defend Wenger because of their tactics. Indeed, they have turned a lot of the support against them and it has got to the point where Arsenal fans now stand and hurl insults at the 'Wenger Outers and protesters. I have seen this at the last 2 games at the Emirates. What I have observed is, and I posted this here when I gave a breakdown of how I saw the split in the fan base, even those who feel Wenger's time is up have developed a deep hatred and resentment for those fans who they see as not speaking for them because of how they have conducted themselves.
I actually now believe is Wenger, who is known as a real fighter - go read the books of his ex-players - has now realised he made a mistake not signing the contract cos it has led to the uncertainty at the club and both players and fans have now taken advantage. I think the Board and Wenger have now decided arrest the situation and show who is in real control. I gave an example with the Fergie situation and ManU those years ago a few weeks ago. I also feel, Wenger instead of walking away has realised he must stand up to the 'Wenger Outers' and take them head on. I personally applaud this move.
I believe strongly that the Board and Wenger have not come this far to see all what they have worked so hard in the past 12 years disintegrate, especially when they are on the verge of making the final leap in terms of finances. The new sponsorship deals for example are almost due, the club cannot put itself in a weak position of not being in the CL. They have come together, sending a clear message to their detractors that we are the ones in control of this club. For me, the question now is, is it all too little too late?
Having said the above, let us not get away from one fact, all the problems we have now, is the makings of the Manager and the Board. When you have a wage bill deficit of £37m on a close rival, you have so much scope to do better than we did in the summer. We had even more scope when you consider the amount of money the rivals spent. Clubs we have always dismissed like Liverpool and Spuds improved by buying proven EPL quality. We were arrogant and we made mistakes. We had to get Kante, we had to give Ozil and Sanchez new deals, we had to improve the overall quality by taking a loss on one or two under performing players and letting them go to make room for new proven and better players in the EPL or top money for top players outside of the league. When our competitors spent money, we did, but we spent far less on mainly development players. We failed to get the balance right. We also kept at least 2 under performing players which we should have shipped out, via loan or sold for better players. We have gotten away with it for too long but this season, it has caught up with us both in the dressing room and on the pitch. In the dressing room, it has gotten nasty as the players who have been carrying the under performers have hit out. Not saying they were right because they have been unprofessional. I bet they would have handled things better had they foreseen the consequences of their actions.
On top of all of this, we have a Manager who set the way by creating uncertainty with his contract situation, we may have gotten away with this sort of contract situation in the past but the Board and Manager were too arrogant and dismissive of the threat this situation posed in certain sections of the fan base till it was all too late. When three years ago, Gazidis raised the fans’ hopes when he boasted, “We should be able to compete at a level like a club such as Bayern Munich. We can do some things which would excite you. I say that this is an extraordinarily ambitious club.” You then start missing out on number one targets in the transfer market, to rub salt into injury, we see the same Bayern Munich outclass us in every dept of the pitch, you create trouble for yourself. Just be honest and let the fans know the truth. Arsenal have a waiting list for Season Tickets of over 12 years. There is no chance of them not selling the STs, so why tell fibs and create grief for yourself? Arsenal are fortunate with me, I am financially secure enough to say, I will have a ST for the rest of my life. I know many like me, the club knows it, so why the BS?
For me, I have loyalty to the Manager because of his loyalty to us in our deepest time of need. I have faith in the Board and Manager because of their achievements in the last 12 years. I also believe the Board is right to stick with the Manager because they know their role in this mess of a season we are experiencing. I also believe that one poor season where we are performing below expectation and resources is not enough to panic. I see far too many great and good things at Arsenal, what we must not do is throw the baby away with the bathwater. I am glad we have a Board that is wise enough to this.