Arsene Wenger has admitted that he has no desire to emulate the 26 years that Sir Alex Ferguson spent at Manchester United and will be gone from Arsenal by then.
With little protests and the manager’s future the subject of more and more speculation as the years roll by, he has just one year left on his current contract, and it’s not at all clear what will happen when that expires.
The board will most likely offer him a new deal, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion that he would accept it.
I guess that depends on how next season goes.
Speaking to the press after the failed fans’ protest at the Emirates on Saturday, Wenger also revealed that he thought the protest would have been bigger.
He wasn’t the only one.
“I give my best for this club. You don’t spend 19 years at a club – like Sir Alex Ferguson spent 26 (years) – without every minute of your time, you give your whole life for that and try to do as well as possible.
“One target is to keep 100 per cent of people happy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that this season.”
He was then asked if he could match the time SAF spent at United, to which he replied “No, no, never. Don’t worry.
“I am a football man. I am not a politician,” he added.
“I am not in a democracy. I am in the next game, perform, try to do as well as you can and accept people’s opinions. That is what it is about.
“From what I was told, I thought the whole stadium would be white (with ‘Time for change’ posters).
“I think I can take that. I am in a public job, and I have to live with judgement as long as it is respectful.
“If it is only opinion, we all have to accept that because we are in a public job.
“We are here to give our best. We have been remarkably consistent at the top.
“There are disappointed people because we didn’t win the league.
“Believe me; we are as well. Like any Arsenal fans, we have to come back and win it, and that is all we can do.”