Wenger’s Nightmare Walk In The Forest
A fourth round visit to Hull City might not have been the reward they hoped for, but there was a definitely a sprinkling of FA Cup magic in the air when Nottingham Forest hosted Arsenal on Sunday. For the Gunners, the Tricky Trees must have offered a view of what once was, a memory of happier times.
Later in the week at Stamford Bridge, they may well have found themselves with a view of what is yet to come – quite a contrast from the one match to the other.
Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger in particular, find themselves in an unenviably unique position.
The Frenchman has been at the helm in North London for 22 years, his longevity ensuring that landmarks keep passing him by like signs on a seemingly endless highway. Yet real success, once familiar to the Emirates, is increasingly elusive.
There have been managers who have served clubs for long periods previously, earning success and plaudits along the way. These giants of the game, the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish have shown they knew when to call time on their reigns, leaving when the going was good and even if their successors might have struggled, their legacies remain untarnished.
There is another way, and Sunday’s defeat may well have brought it home to Arsenal; that of Brian Clough. Before the match, Wenger spoke of his admiration for the two-time European Cup winner. The two met not long after the Arsenal man’s move to England, a time when Clough’s star had long since faded and his health was beginning to follow suit.
Clough’s time at Nottingham Forest was spectacular.
He breezed into the club like a revolution and helped them rise to uncharted territory both domestically and in Europe. Like Wenger, he made stars of players who had seemed to have lost their way, and also like Wenger, he managed to ensure his team forced their way into the very top tier of English football.
Throughout the 1980s, Nottingham Forest remained big players in Division One. As time wore on Clough’s magic seemed to work better in cup competitions than the league – a clutch of finishes around the 8th spot at the turn of the 1990s was allied with victories in the League Cup and defeat in the FA Cup Final to Spurs. It is not difficult to follow that pattern with successes in the Premier League giving way to cup triumphs for Arsenal.
In 1993, Forest slumped appallingly and by April, when relegation from the first ever Premier League season seemed inevitable, the news was broken that Clough was to retire. Wenger seems unlikely to lead Arsenal to relegation but equally, there is certain to be a low watermark.
There is more to the long-serving managers than just their time at their clubs, because something always has to come next. Of those managers mentioned earlier, each saw their club suffer long droughts from titles following their departure. Manchester United have not won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, nor Liverpool since the famous ‘boot room’ was dissolved with the appointment of Graeme Souness.
Even lower down, the likes of Charlton Athletic, after Alan Curbishley and Oldham Athletic, after Joe Royle, have never scaled the same heights after their respective departures.
It would not be entirely unfair to suggest that Nottingham Forest’s history has been almost suspended since the departure of Clough. Although Premier League football has returned to the banks of the Trent, those years were brief and the club show no sign of a return soon.
What does any of this mean to Wenger, though?
Well, Clough may have resigned, but he did at a low point, and would likely have been forced out if he did not. His announcement was a shock, but he retained his dignity and stature.
With Arsenal looking increasingly less likely to claim any silverware, they will be sentiments Wenger will understand all too clearly.
Following a view of their past, in Nottingham Forest, the Gunners have likely enjoyed a view of their future in Chelsea. Their Carabao Cup opponents are their polar opposite in terms of managerial longevity – but also in terms of success. Chelsea’s churn in the dugout is very much the modern way, and Arsenal, just as Manchester United and Liverpool before them, will not be immune to that when Wenger does depart.
His stability, and the length of his service, will not grant his successors any favours.
In fact, the only question that remains is when he will he leave. Perhaps, here, too, he could learn from Clough.
“’I suppose I am entitled to sit back and enjoy my pension,” the Nottingham Forest manager explained at the time, “but it’s very difficult to decide the right time to go. I have talked for many hours with my wife and my colleagues about the possibility and I have got to admit that this season’s events have not helped. If we’d been more successful, I might be feeling better about things but I’m not getting any younger.”
Dignity and wisdom resides in those words, and it resides in Wenger, too. He may be very different to Clough, but if Sunday’s defeat at the City Ground did anything, it may have brought their similarities home, too.
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