It seems that it’s not just the fans that are split between whether Arsene Wenger should stay on as Arsenal manager. Former players, Stewart Robson and Ray Parlour have both publically stated their thoughts on the Frenchman.
Stewart Robson wants to see the back of Wenger and believes his time was up ‘two or three years ago’ and he also labelled him as the Arsenal ‘dictator’. However, Ray Parlour has rubbished those claims and said that the boss is far from a dictator.
Robson, 48, said: “In my view, his time was up three or four years ago.
“He has got a massive ego because he’s a dictator when it comes to Arsenal. And he’s not allowing Steve Bould to do any work.
“He’s actually putting players backwards now.
“It’s no coincidence that when Cesc Fabregas goes to Barcelona, he says he is now learning about the tactics of the game.”
The ex-Arsenal player, then made a dig at Wenger by saying the Bradford manager is tactically better than him.
He added: “Tactically, Phil Parkinson showed he was a better coach than Arsene Wenger.
“He will rant at the fourth official, linesman and referee but he needs to start doing some coaching both on the training pitch and during games.
“I’m not just talking about the Bradford defeat, I’m talking about the last five or six years.
“When the team are making mistakes he doesn’t rectify them as he doesn’t know what the mistakes are.”
He continued further to say that he even controls the board and dictates everything that happens at Arsenal.
“He runs the board. Arsene is a dictator and I think he was even part of the appointment of Ivan Gazidis.
“Last year Arsene said the Press were brain- washing the public into believing there was a crisis. The only person brainwashing the public in recent years is Wenger.”
On the other hand, you have Ray Parlour, who is still behind Wenger and has rubbished the comments that Robson has made.
‘Stewart Robson has got his own opinions, but I played under Arsene Wenger and thought he was a great manager when I was there,’ Parlour told Sky Sports News. ‘He was always one of those managers you could talk to.
‘Arsene Wenger is one of those sort of guys who will always try to stick up for his players.
‘We would have meetings after games and it would all come out in the dressing room, which (is how) it should be. It is a private matter between the players, the manager and the staff.
So it seems that even ex-Arsenal players cannot decide between themselves on the future of Arsene Wenger.
Alex William Batt
