James Olley: As boss and peacemaker, Arsene Wenger is the man for Stan Kroenke at Arsenal

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James Olley26 October 2016

No wonder Stan Kroenke wants Arsene Wenger to continue as Arsenal manager. The club’s Annual General Meeting this week was more amiable than in recent years, with Wenger having effectively saved the day before he arrived.

The usual course of events sees Kroenke and his fellow board members baited with increasingly hostility until Wenger takes the microphone to deliver a speech deftly mixing reassurance, humility and hope, appeasing shareholders largely incandescent at the inertia they feel is holding the club back.

Wenger is not absolved from blame for the failings that have undermined previous campaigns — and he has publicly admitted as much on many occasions — but in becoming the club’s era-defining figure over the past two decades, he has by association become a lightning rod for almost every aspect of fan disaffection.

The Frenchman is at times overtly autocratic but he never shys from his responsibilities. Whatever the criticism, Wenger fronts up.

He had an easy excuse not to attend Monday’s gathering of around 150 shareholders, with preparations for last night’s EFL Cup tie against Reading in their final stages, yet it was again a measure of the man that he delayed a training session to appear. The AGM had originally been moved to accommodate Kroenke’s schedule, given he attended Saturday’s draw with Middlesbrough and Sunday’s NFL game involving his Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham.

Arsenal’s positive start to the season combined with the £90million summer outlay ensured the room would be more hospitable. The meeting was noticeably smaller, too, with individual shareholders steadily picked off by Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, the man with the second largest stake.

Kroenke hailed Wenger’s longevity with a presentation and yet the convivial atmosphere did not endure when it came to the formality of reappointing the American as a director, having retired by rotation on an annual basis, as dictated by the terms governing public limited companies.

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“That looks quite tight,” said Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick almost under his breath after a show of hands for and against.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would say we can have a poll should you so wish, which is very much within the description of the order of the day. However, before doing so, I would inform you I hold proxies which will be voted in favour of the resolution which together amount to over 79 per cent of the total shareholding.”

That assertion was greeted with laughter in the room, born in recognition of the futility of genuinely opposing Kroenke’s re-election.

A second vote saw those in favour marginally win out but the awkward exchange emphasised the lingering resentment there is towards an owner who many fans feel has insufficiently engaged with them or transmitted his future plans for the club.

Kroenke has rarely been visible during Wenger’s most turbulent periods. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has repeatedly rejected advances from various media to back Wenger during times of intense criticism, not because the board don’t believe in him — the opposite could not be more accurate — but due to a confidence the manager can look after himself.

Wenger, as erudite and charming as he is, can cope but that absence of public responsibility from the club’s hierarchy will not endure so easily when he eventually steps down; Kroenke had no doubt hoped the decision to drop his £3m fee for “strategic and advisory services” would improve relations but it has seemingly had little effect.

The only major English club that can offer a comparison in terms of a single manager’s longevity is Manchester United and they continue to struggle without Sir Alex Ferguson’s all‑encompassing personality.

Stories of player unrest at Old Trafford have grown in number, while chief executive Ed Woodward has been savaged as the club struggle to compete in the transfer market.

Rarely do Arsenal players complain of their treatment under Wenger yet such is his pre-eminence at the club, whenever the Gunners are fallible in contract negotiations or transfers, he takes a considerable share of the flak often over and above Gazidis or their chief negotiator, Dick Law.

Ferguson was equally vital in dampening fan protests at the Glazer family’s takeover of the club and his footballing legacy has only been enhanced since retirement as United have failed to muster a title challenge.

So no wonder Kroenke’s preference is for Wenger to stay come what may this season. The 67-year-old has stated fan opinion will be an important consideration when deciding whether to continue. Examining whether he has the appetite to continue as both manager and peacemaker, too.

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