Arsenal are looking for a new boss after Unai Emery was sacked on Friday; Watch Norwich vs Arsenal on Super Sunday; Kick-off 2pm
Saturday 30 November 2019 19:13, UK
Arsenal director Josh Kroenke says the club will perform a thorough search for their new manager, insisting it is about the right candidate, not the first candidate.
Arsenal are looking for a new boss after Unai Emery was sacked on Friday, with the club winless in their last seven games, their worst run since 1992.
Max Allegri and Brendan Rodgers are among the names on the shortlist for the vacant Arsenal manager's job, Sky Sports News understands.
Joining Allegri and Leicester manager Rodgers on the list are Manchester City assistant manager Mikel Arteta, Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti and Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Kroenke, son of Arsenal owner Stan, also outlined who will be in the search party, and said his message to interim boss Freddie Ljungberg and the players was to start having more fun.
Kroenke told the Arsenal website: "Our process is already underway. It's going to be led by Raul (Sanllehi), Vinai (Venkatesham), Edu and Huss (Fahmy) here internally. I look forward to getting with them and working closely with them throughout this process."
Asked about a timescale, he said: "Because of our confidence in Freddie we're very fortunate that we're going to be entering into our process and doing a thorough search and it's about finding the right candidate, it's not about finding the first candidate.
"My message to Freddie and the players was let's get back to basics and most importantly let's get back to having some fun. I think footballers are at their best when I see smiles on their faces and going out there and winning matches. That's a winning formula to me."
Emery was sacked just 18 months into the job, having replaced long-running manager Arsene Wenger in 2018. But his position became untenable in recent weeks, with the final straw coming in a 2-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday.
Kroenke admits the decision to sack the Spaniard was difficult, but results and performances were becoming too concerning.
"Like all of our fans and supporters around the globe, we've been concerned about our recent string of performances.
"We wanted to support Unai and his staff until we decided it was time to make a change and ultimately we came to that decision over the last several weeks as a group between myself, Raul, Vinai and Edu."
Asked how difficult the decision was, Kroenke said: "Very difficult. First and foremost Unai is a good man, someone that we all respect very much. His work ethic on a daily basis between him and his staff was fantastic.
"Ultimately we started to fall short of several goals that we set. We still feel that we can achieve those goals this season, which is why we decided to make the change now."
Watch Norwich vs Arsenal on Super Sunday from 1pm on Sky Sports Premier League; Kick-off 2pm
