Monday 7 March 2016 00:09, UK
Arsene Wenger is in danger of losing the support of Arsenal fans but is unlikely to leave before his contract expires in 2017, according to the Daily Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson.
Arsenal dropped eight points behind Premier League leaders Leicester after their north London derby draw against Tottenham on Saturday, leaving them third in the table.
Alexis Sanchez's late strike at White Hart Lane stopped the Gunners from slipping to their fourth consecutive defeat, but after a damaging loss to Swansea at the Emirates on Wednesday, Wilson believes the club's fans are on the cusp of turning against their manager.
"As much as everybody wants him to stay on at the club and he wants to stay on, we all know what it's like when a football club turns and he's on that knife-edge at the moment," Wilson said on the Sunday Supplement.
"One threat to him is the general mood at the Emirates. The atmosphere against Swansea was difficult for the players, and I don't think that's sustainable long-term for any club. A few results and it turns around again quite quickly, but that's the danger to him in the short-term."
A national newspaper report on Sunday claimed Wenger could be asked to leave should Arsenal crash out of the FA Cup at Hull City on Tuesday night, but Wilson said he expects the Frenchman to see out the three-year extension he signed in 2014.
"I don't think the board would ever do that [ask him to resign]," Wilson said. "If it happens, it would be a mutual agreement.
"In the short-term, it will be driven by the mood of the fans, and longer-term, it will be Wenger's decision if he feels he's not challenged as he thinks he should in the next two years.
"We won't get to the end of this contract with another couple of third or fourth place finishes, and they give him another three years. It's a different environment he's working in now.
"It's not everybody who is happy if they finish in the top four anymore. In this cycle of this contract, his expectation and the club's expectation is they challenge to win the title.
"If he doesn't win it or go very close this year or next, in an honourable fashion, not losing to Leicester, but if he went toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola next year and just missed out, I don't think he'd want to carry on.
"The idea that it's an outright failure at the moment is wrong, but it's frustratingly the same problems that seem to keep coming up.
"The fact that Guardiola has gone to Man City without Arsenal even blinking their eyes tells you something about their mindset. They expect Wenger to go on."
Wenger, currently the longest-serving manager in European football, is approaching 20 years in charge and The Times' Matt Dickinson believes Manchester United's struggle to replace Sir Alex Ferguson may influence Arsenal's own succession plan.
"What happened at United looms large," he said. "The worry at Arsenal is the post-Ferguson transition at Old Trafford has been traumatic to say the least. While there are frustrations, they may be thinking, 'How soon do we want to move on?'
"The tone from Arsenal is they are not the type that's going to lurch mid-campaign and Wenger himself will have a massive say in when and how he steps down. That's part of the culture, and part of the problem at Arsenal.
"The lack of challenging Wenger is a problem. He has been a great manager but there is the sense he should have been held to account more."
