Kieran Gibbs. Photo: Catherine Etoe

Published: 22 August, 2013
by STEVE BARNETT

THE Arsenal Supporters’ Trust reacted to Saturday’s home defeat against Aston Villa by telling the club’s board that it would be “inappropriate” to offer manager Arsene Wenger a new contract.

Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners the lead at the Emirates but two goals from Christian Benteke and a late strike from Antonio Luna saw the Villans battle back to net a 3-1 victory.

Wenger apologised for the opening day defeat but furious fans made it clear that any talks regarding a new contract should be put on hold until more important matters, such as Arsenal’s transfer policy, have been addressed.

“In recent weeks (chief executive) Ivan Gazidis has spoken of the club’s intent to offer Arsene Wenger a new contract. The AST believes this is inappropriate,” the group said on Sunday.

“There remain important questions about the way player identification, recruitment and remuneration processes are managed at Arsenal. The failings we highlighted in Arsene Wenger holding too much power have only been amplified in recent weeks. These must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“For several transfer windows now, Arsenal have not used all the resources available to strengthen the team.
“A decision on whether to offer an extension to the manager’s contract, which ends in May 2014, should only be taken following the closing of the transfer window and assessment of the team’s performance in the weeks ahead.
“Considerable improvement must be shown for us to be convinced this should happen.”

Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat was compounded by the news that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a knee injury in the match which will keep him out of action until November.

Wenger said on Tuesday that he expected the midfielder to be out of action for “at least” six weeks, but soon after the player tweeted: “Gutted I’m injured so early in the season. But I’m going to be working hard to hopefully be back playing in three months.”

It wasn’t all bad news for Wenger, however, as he received a timely boost from the treatment table. Kieran Gibbs (pictured) and Bacary Sagna returned to training on Tuesday following major injury scares on Saturday.

Gibbs suffered a nasty cut over his eye against Villa and had to be substituted after just 28 minutes, while Sagna was lucky to escape a serious neck injury when he took a horrible-looking fall and landed on his head.