Is there a communications breakdown at Arsenal?

There’s a question asked of Arsene Wenger every press conference: Will you be manager of Arsenal next season?

It has been asked consistently since February when the wheels began to fall off every part of the team’s season aside from the FA Cup. Wenger has been steadfast in his rebuffing of this question stating he wants to keep managing and the situation will be made public soon. First it would be known in March, then April, then May.

Well, it’s May now and with Arsenal likely miss out on the top four for the first time in Wenger’s tenure, the questions have only gotten louder. However, yesterday when asked why Arsenal still haven’t given confirmation when told they would by now, Wenger added:

That means I was wrong.

A bit of honesty but perhaps also a sign of something more troubling. Is it possible that Wenger truly does not known the situation regarding his managerial future? What is the board telling him, if anything? Arseblog suspects the relationship might be a lot more troubling that we’re led to believe.

My understanding is there are issues between the manager and the board, communication is almost non-existent and whatever is being said about mutual decisions, and whatever might be said about how everything’s hunky-dory behind the scenes, the truth is there are problems and divisions.

Lack of communication would explain why Wenger is saying nothing, it would explain why Ivan Gazidis is in no place to make any comment because he’s none the wiser, and it would certainly go some way to explaining why the only thing we’ve heard from the club in months is a 71 word statement which provided as much clarity as a baboon smearing one of his mighty plops on your car windscreen*.

That is troubling. Baboon plop smearingly so. (Thanks a lot for that image, Arseblog.)

The cone of silence and constant refusals to update certainly point to a group in wait-and-see mode. That Wenger might have no knowledge is perhaps the first truly precarious position he’s been in with the Board, from whom he’s enjoyed utter job security. Could England’s longest serving manager finally be facing the axe?

One also wonders, if the board is uncertain about extending Wenger, what it would take to change their mind one way or the other. An FA Cup is on the table but Champions League is likely not. Are either enough to save or doom him? Or is this an effort to not let the situation distract from the final stage of the season and everyone’s just being mum about it.

Either way, as uncertainty continues, it brings into question the futures of many players along with Wenger and prevents future planning for a team that desperately needs a lift in form. Until then, we’ll just keep waiting for an answer.