Wenger easier to follow than Fergie

BACK in the mists, before the great foreign influx and when lager was the tipple of choice, Arsenal fans asked: 'Arsene Who?' Eighteen years later with their club barely recognisable, they are wondering aloud: 'After Arsene, who?'
The question is even more pertinent now and one that chief executive Ivan Gazidis touched on this week even though the urgency has been lessened by the Frenchman having recently signed a new three-year contract.
Perhaps it was yesterday's AGM when awkward questions were bound to have been asked that brought the succession issue to mind. Or maybe the identity of tomorrow's visitors to the Emirates, Hull City, who proved more than awkward in May's FA Cup final.
One day Arsenal will have to tackle it and just as Manchester United discovered when Alex Ferguson quit, the process can derail even a giant multi-national enterprise for a season and possibly beyond. After what happened at Old Trafford, you'd say Arsenal had better start looking now.
You wonder if they had such thoughts five months ago when Hull took that two-goal lead after eight minutes. Word was that Wenger had decided to quit if Arsenal had lost the final. It would have completed nine years, 3,284 days and 36 competitions without a trophy –– and the feeling was that Wenger simply couldn't take any more.
His face had already morphed into a gargoyle and had Kieran Gibbs not cleared off the line to prevent Hull from going 3-0 up, it may not have been suitable for the children to watch. History and even Wenger's legacy may now be looking rather different.
But that's football. As it was, the drought eventually broke and, more surprisingly, Silent Stan's wallet opened in the summer transfer window to just about placate the fans. Now it seems that absentee owner Kroenke is getting the brunt of the ire from Arsenal's more disgruntled fans – not least because their ticket prices are three times higher than champions City's – while Wenger's position and legacy for the moment seem assured. Doubts about him tend to melt away when they think of who would take his place.
Although he won only six trophies to Fergie's 19 while the two went toe-to-toe, he may appear just as difficult to follow.
That is because he oversaw the complete transmogrification of Arsenal from old-fashioned English establishment club in an old-fashioned ground to a sophisticated international outfit playing better football in a stunning modern stadium.
But perhaps his greatest achievement was to change the culture – from hard-drinking, hard-tackling Anglo-Saxon to pasta-eating pass masters. Continental sophistication replaced quintessential English muscle and, to not only Gooners but to a global audience, it was more pleasing on the eye. 'One-nil to the Arsenal' became a forgotten refrain.
So when Arsenal look around for possible replacements, the incumbent's massive shadow - just like Fergie's at United – is automatically cast over the candidates. The demands will be confined pretty much to the field – no shift of premises will be needed, the billionaire backer is in place as are the training ground and youth system – so in that respect it should be easier for the new man. But just ask David Moyes about that.
Gazidis was mindful of making the same mistake as United when he said "we would hope to come through that (the transition) strongly". And it is pretty obvious that after the Moyes disaster, most big clubs will be going only for big name successors in the foreseeable future.
So just who are we talking about? Of the usual suspects, assuming Jose Mourinho would be persona non grata, we are down to Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Didier Deschamps, Joachim Low and Carlo Ancelotti with possibly Roberto Martinez if he can somehow get Everton into the Champions League.
But once you get past all the off-field stuff, the task of following Wenger may well be easier than following Fergie proved. Simply because one FA Cup in nine years is a pretty poor record. Unless, Wenger can win something else in the rest of his tenure, there will be those, whose faith in the Frenchman had been lost way before the FA Cup final, expressing their doubts once again.
At one time, the 'In Arsene We Trust' banner came down and there calls for him to go were widespread. The long-practised 'fire drill' said it all at many home games. And with Kroenke loosening the purse strings, much of the blame for not strengthening the squad fell at Wenger's door. The American offered the cash; Wenger didn't use it.
Now with terrible luck once again with injuries, he has admitted himself "we are light at the back" while Gazidis described Arsenal's position as "on the shoulder" of the top clubs in Europe. With all this money and a 60,000 capacity stadium, that is not enough for Arsenal fans who can't see why they're not neck and neck with Europe's elite.
So Gooners anxiously awaiting the succession may just have to endure a bit more suffering and possibly another drought before a new man can introduce a winning mentality. In that regard, you have to wonder whether coming back to beat Hull was the best thing that could have happened to Arsenal or whether a clean break then may have been a better option.
Just as Ferguson's stock rose even higher while Moyes was flailing so haplessly, the reverse could just happen at the Emirates if the new guy started winning trophies. If they have to endure further slim pickings under Wenger, Arsenal fans can at least comfort themselves with the thought.