The Armoury

There were stories about him needing surgery?

Arsene Wenger agrees new three-year contract

Arsene Wenger has agreed a new three-year deal to remain as Arsenal manager until 2017.
The contract could be signed and announced as soon as Saturday.
Wenger, 64, has led Arsenal to eight major trophies since joining them in September 1996.

This season he guided the Gunners to a 17th consecutive Champions League qualification and ended a nine-year wait for silverware with victory over Hull City in the FA Cup final.

The Frenchman, who moved to the club from Japanese outfit Grampus Eight, was in the final year of his current contract.
Arsenal had not lifted a major domestic trophy since 2005 prior to the recent FA Cup triumph, although they did reach the Champions League final in 2006.

Wenger's record
Premier League: 1998, 2002, 2004
FA Cup: 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014
Charity/Community Shield: 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004
Champions League runners-up: 2006
Uefa Cup runners-up: 2000
League Cup runners-up: 2007, 2011

During Wenger's time at the club, Arsenal moved to the new Emirates Stadium close to their old ground at Highbury.
Wenger, who became the longest-serving manager in the country when Sir Alex Ferguson retired from Manchester United in May 2013, is credited with bringing new ideas about sports science and nutrition to English football.
"This is a guy who works 24 hours a day all year around," former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson told BBC Radio 5 live.
"He hates to lose. He totally revolutionised all sorts of things in the game in this country. People tend to think he has too much power, (but) a guy who dedicates himself to the game in the manner that he does is someone you treasure."

Wenger's greatest achievements was when his side, dubbed 'the Invincibles', remained unbeaten in winning the 2003-04 Premier League with a team featuring striker Thierry Henry and captain Patrick Vieira.

A quiet summer in the transfer market in 2013 and a 3-1 defeat at home by Aston Villa on the first day of last season drew criticism from some sections of Arsenal support.

The signing of Mesut Ozil for £42.4m on transfer deadline day and a good start to the season, where Arsenal were top of the Premier League for long periods, helped Wenger.
But a 6-0 thrashing by Chelsea in March saw him under fire again after his 1,000th game in charge, and Arsenal slipped out of contention for the Premier League title, eventually won by Manchester City.
But despite the uncertainty over his manager's future, in January the Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis predicted that Wenger would sign a new contract in due course.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson reacts to news of Arsene Wenger's new contract on BBC Radio 5 live: "I was there when he arrived and got to know him very well. This is a guy who works literally 24 hours a day all year round. He hates to lose and revolutionised the game in this country. Some say he has too much power but a guy who dedicates himself like he does, you cherish."

After signing his new contract which will see him take charge of the club until 2017, Arsene Wenger has told fans they can expect the club to be very active in the transfer market.

It’s something we have heard before from the club, but last time around it was Ivan Gazidis telling people ‘We can do things that would surprise you’. Wenger is never usually so forthright about the summer activity, preferring to remain cautious about any possible spending.
However, asked by the official site if the fans should ‘expect a big summer’, he said, “Yes, they should expect that. What I can promise is that we work very hard on a market that is very, very congested with many people who have a lot of money.
“But we have a big advantage, players want to join us and if we find the right quality I’m sure we can strengthen the team.”

The other key difference is that this summer the money from new commercial deals and sponsorships kicks in. It’s not something that will happen in the future, it’s now, and on top of the resources the club already has it puts Arsenal in a good position to do quality business, something the Frenchman acknowledges.
“We have built a stadium, the fact that we have paid a big part of the debt back and the weight of the debt back now is not as strong and heavy as it was before. The fact that the Financial Fair Play rule comes in hopefully will stop craziness that happened on this market. With these two together, I think we can fight on a more even level than before.”

With fans used to business being done as the club try and bargain their way to better prices, there now seems an acceptance that the sooner we get things done the better.
“We know we have to have a successful June and July,” he said. “That’s where you strengthen the team. It’s very important that we are good now in the next two months until the end of August, that we can give to the team some more quality and go into next season with the belief we got from the FA Cup.
“It’s the start of a new team and I believe that victory was crucial in that belief.”

Arseblog News would suggest that some measure of caution is taken over these comments, but it’s certainly the strongest statement of intent we’ve heard for a long time.
Now, get shopping Arsene.

David Court axed in youth system shake-up

Long-standing member of the youth set-up, David Court, has become a casualty of the new boss Andries Jonker as the Dutchman looks to make his mark in his new role.
The 69 year old has been Assistant Head of Youth Development to Liam Brady since 1996, and although the Irishman is set for an ambassadorial role at the club, it seems Court’s time at Arsenal has come to an end after many years of service.
A popular figure at the club, he played 175 first team games for the Gunners between 1962 and 1972 before returning to the club after retirement to work alongside Brady.
Court is not the first to be jettisoned by Jonker, who has been given free reign to remodel the youth system at the club. Terry Burton has become the technical director at West Brom having been overlooked for the position filled by the former Bayern Munich assistant-manager, and it seems likely that further changes to the coaching staff will be made over the coming months.
Arsenal are also believed to have finalised a deal to add American fitness coach Shad Forsythe to the first team set-up. He’s currently working with the German national team, but is set to move to London following the World Cup.
Whether that’s to work alongside incumbent Tony Colbert, or to replace him, is unknown at this point.

Arsenal are the first sports team in the United Kingdom to reach 4 million Twitter followers. Third in the world after FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F..