With the Frenchman set to take charge of the Gunners for the 1000th time, the British businessman feels a change of coach would irreparably damage the club Former Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists losing long-serving boss Arsene Wenger would be a nightmare for the club. Saturdays Premier League fixture at Chelsea sees Wenger take charge of the Gunners for the 1,000th time, as the Frenchman approaches the 18th anniversary of his appointment. In that time, Arsenal have won three league titles and the FA Cup four times, as well as reaching the final in both of Europes major competitions. Former chairman Hill-Wood, having seen the difficult transition Manchester United are going through after losing Sir Alex Ferguson, feels it will be an almost impossible task to replace the Frenchman in the future. I will be extremely difficult, he told The Daily Star. I dread to think who is coming in. If we were to lose Arsene it would be a nightmare. He has an enormous amount of knowledge and has developed a lot of really excellent players who, overall, werent that distinguished when they came to us. Many of them became household names at Arsenal. Thierry Henry is a very good example, also Cesc Fabregas, Patrick Vieira and Robin van Persie. Wenger is out of contract at the end of the season, but Hill-Wood assured fans there was nothing to worry about. I have spoken to [chief executive] Ivan Gazidis and he is very confident that there isnt a problem, he said. Its just that he doesnt want to sign up right now, thats all. Its not a question of somebody dangling greater riches in front of him. I dont think his enthusiasm has diminished at all. He doesnt think his job is finished yet.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:26:59 +0000