After the event, the updates. The ManC case and our managers

By Tony Attwood

“Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs told Manchester City guilty verdict early”. Such is a headline in the Telegraph which if it tells you anything it tells you that the scandal of the Mancs will rumble on and on and on until they are finally relegated out of existence – or League Two, whichever is the furthest. Hopefully along with ManC and most of their supporting journalists.

For this is not just about what the club did – it is the attempt by the media to make us feel sorry for them with headlines such as, “Worry and unease has taken root inside Manchester City” with the subheading, “Employees describe being ‘shell-shocked’ by ‘ferocity’ of the independent commission’s ruling and fear hostility of opposition fans at games”.

And really one is forced to ask, isn’t that the point? I mean there is not much hope in asking for resource, and if there were any it wouldn’t do any good or put the clock back, but at least if they feared our hostility, well maybe that is a quarter of an inch along the road to redemption, the end of which appears at the moment to be some distance beyond Alpha Centuri.

And we are still getting driblets of news about the case (although not really anything else much.) So we are told that “Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs were all told about Manchester City’s guilty verdict before the rest of the league.” That is in the Mirror who blame the Telegraph for the story and say that “The early notice was linked to a legal step the quartet had taken two years earlier, when each independently reserved the right to pursue damages against City in the event of a guilty finding.”

GB News had worse luck, as they say that they “contacted four teams and the Premier League, who refused to comment,” but they do rather unhelpfully tell us that “the clock already ticking after the original revelations about City’s financial arrangements were published by German outlet Der Spiegel.” So that’s ok then, somehow we can blame the Germans.

Meanwhile GB News tells us that “The Football Association has warned it could take action over Manchester City’s financial case, saying an independent commission’s findings have significant implications for the integrity of the game”.

With others already looking over their shoulder it could mean that we could have enquiries into the efficacy of inquiries Meanwhile what we are left with is pretty much the same story that we started with, namely, Manchester City received almost “£950 million in sponsorship revenue from Abu Dhabi-based companies, while around £830 million of the funding had come from the Abu Dhabi United Group, which owns City.” (Again, as per GB News).

But you will also know Arteta has signed a L O N G term contract until 2030 – which although expected, was still a relief since his existing contract ends at the end of this season.

Arsene Wenger is of course Arsenal’s longest-serving manager in terms of years actually managing the league club (although George Allison was manager between May 1934 and May 1947, but that obviously included the period of the second world war, when the club was effectively run out of a tiny room within Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium and there were no league games played, and wartime teams were made up of whoever was available on the day).

But in terms of numbers of games managed, Arteta is still some way down the list, and because that list of managers ordered by number of games in charge is not often seen I thought I would offer it here – but just for the top seven, in descending order (if you see what I mean).

In the following table “trophies” includes the League, FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners Cup and Fairs Cup. Managers are ordered by the number of games managed at Arsenal….

Position	Manager	Started	Left	Games	Trophies*
1	Wenger	1 Oct 1966	13 May 2018	1235	10
2	Mee	20 June 1966	4 May 1976	539	3
3	Graham	14 May 1986	21 Feb 1995	460	6
4	Whittaker	2 June 1947	24 October 1956	430	3
5	Neill	9 July 1976	16 Dec 1983	415	1
6	Chapman	11 June 1925	6 January 1934	411	3
7	Arteta	22 Dec 2019	Present	360	2

* I have not included Charity Shield and Community Shield totals as that represents just one game

Meanwhile Josh the chairman made a nice little speech about his “deep understanding of Arsenal‘s values and carries them in his heart. He knows what this club means to everyone connected to it and is committed to building on everything we have achieved together.” So could we have another double this season please?

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