Post by Salem6 on Sept 11, 2007 12:09:47 GMT
As Arsene Wenger prepares to embark on his twelfth year as Arsenal manager with a new contract freshly signed,, it is interesting to reflect on how much has changed since the Frenchman arrived at Highbury's marble halls in September 1996 - not only at Arsenal, but within English football generally. Wenger's impact on the Gunners has been extraordinary, but his influence on the Premiership as a whole should not be underestimated either, even if Sir Alex Ferguson, for one, thinks it should...
What did the landscape of English football look like eleven years ago? A trawl through the news headlines of Autumn 1996 reveals the following:
September 1st - Glenn Hoddle's first game as England manager was a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup against Moldova - the first match between the two countries. England won 3-0, with Nick Barmby, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer the goalscorers.
September 2nd - Sheffield Wednesday beat Leicester City 2-1 to retain their 100 per cent record and go five points clear at the top of the Premiership (yes, that's right) after four matches.
September 7th - Chelsea go second by winning 2-0 against Wednesday, who stay top. The Chelsea team? Kharine (Hitchcock), Petrescu, Myers, Johnsen, Leboeuf, Clarke, Burley, Di Matteo, Vialli, Hughes, Wise. Ruud Gullit was manager.
September 9th - Leeds Utd sack manager of 8 years Howard Wilkinson. The following day they rescue Wenger's Arsenal predecessor George Graham from the football wilderness. Graham, 19 months out of the game after being banned for accepting a bung, is the new Leeds boss.
September 13th - At Highbury, caretaker manager Stewart Houston quits the club to take over at QPR. And captain Tony Adams admits he is an alcoholic. Pat Rice takes charge of the team until Wenger, fulfilling his contractual obligations in Japan, can take up his post.
September 14th - Champions Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 4-1 and take over from Wednesday at the top.
September 16th - Under Rice, Arsenal recover from a goal down to Sheffield Wednesday to win 4-1. Ian Wright scores a hat-trick which includes his 100th League goal and 150th League and Cup goal for the Gunners. But the talk is all about the impact of debutant Patrick Vieira, on as a substitute, whom Wenger recommended Arsenal to sign even before he became manager. On the same day, ex-Gunner David O'Leary is appointed Graham's assistant manager at Leeds.
September 25th - Arsenal go out of the Uefa Cup 6-4 on aggregate to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
September 28th - Wenger officially takes charge at Arsenal
October 12th - In his first match in charge, Wenger oversees a 2-0 victory for Arsenal at Blackburn. Wright scores both as Arsenal stay second. Wenger's first Arsenal team selection? Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Adams, Bould, Platt, Vieira, Merson, Hartson (Parlour), Wright. Unused subs: Lukic, Linighan, Morrow.
October 19th - Wimbledon go second in the Premiership with their seventh straight win - a 4-2 victory at Chelsea.
October 20th - Newcastle thrash Manchester United 5-0 to go top. It's the Red Devils' first defeat of the season - and their heaviest for 12 years. The teams? Newcastle: Srnicek, Watson (Barton), Beresford, Batty, Peacock, Albert, Lee (Clark), Beardsley, Shearer, Ferdinand, Ginola. Man Utd: Schmeichel, G Neville, Irwin, May, Johnsen (Scholes), Pallister, Cantona, Butt, Solskjaer (Cruyff), Beckham, Poborsky (McClair).
October 23rd - Popular Chelsea director Matthew Harding, who had pumped nearly 27 million pounds of his own money into the club, is killed in a helicopter crash. He was on his way back from watching Chelsea lose 2-1 to Bolton in the League Cup.
October 26th - Manchester United lose 6-3 at Southampton.
November 2nd - Wenger's Arsenal stay top despite being held to a 2-2 draw at Wimbledon.
Incidentally, the composition of the Premiership in 1996-97 was as follows (in end-of-season finishing order): 1-Manchester United, 2-Newcastle United, 3-Arsenal, 4-Liverpool, 5-Aston Villa, 6-Chelsea, 7-Sheffield Wednesday, 8-Wimbledon, 9-Leicester City, 10-Tottenham Hotspur, 11-Leeds Utd, 12-Derby County, 13-Blackburn Rovers, 14-West Ham Utd, 15-Everton, 16-Southampton, 17-Coventry City, 18-Sunderland, 19-Middlesbrough, 20-Nottingham Forest.
Since then, Wenger has also pitted his wits against the following teams in pursuit of Premier League points: Crystal Palace, Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, Bradford City, Watford, Ipswich Town, Manchester City, Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City, Wigan Athletic, Reading and Sheffield United.
United Nations
With Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp injured, the only non-British player in Wenger's first Arsenal team selection was Patrick Vieira - though significantly, the French midfielder, in only his third start for the club, had been signed on Wenger's recommendation while Le Boss was still working in Nagoya. John Hartson (Wales) and Steve Morrow (Northern Ireland) were the only other players in the squad not born in England.
For comparison, Wenger's most recent Arsenal squad selection - for the Premiership game at home to Portsmouth last weekend - was: Almunia (Spain), Toure (Ivory Coast), Senderos (Switzerland), Gilberto Silva (Brazil), Clichy (France), Rosicky (Czech Republic), Fabregas (Spain), Flamini (France), Hleb (Belarus) [sub: Denilson (Brazil)], Van Persie (Netherlands) [sub: Diaby (France)], Adebayor (Togo) [sub: Eduardo (Croatia)].
Subs Not Used: Fabianski (Poland), Walcott (England).
Wenger's Arsenal Milestones
May 1998: In his first full season in charge, Arsenal are Double winners. Wenger becomes the first non-British manager to win the English top-flight title, and the first to win the Double as Arsenal come from behind to take the Premier League title from Manchester United with 10 successive wins, then beat Newcastle in the FA Cup final.
December 1998: Arsenal fail to make it past the Champions League group phase after playing their home games at Wembley.
May 1999: The Gunners lose out to Manchester United by one point in the League, after being knocked out of the FA Cup by the Red Devils in extra-time of the last-ever semi-final replay, courtesy of Ryan Giggs' wonder goal. United go on to complete an unprecedented treble of Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League.
August 1999: After Nicolas Anelka leaves Arsenal for Real Madrid for £23 million (making the club a profit of £22.5 million), Wenger signs French winger Thierry Henry from Juventus for £10.5 million. He converts Henry into one of the best strikers in the world.
May 2000: Arsenal, runners-up to Manchester United in the Premiership but a whopping 18 points behind, lose on penalties to Galatasaray in the Uefa Cup final.
October 2000: Wenger is handed a 12-match touchline ban and fined four weeks' wages after being found guilty of "threatening behaviour and physical intimidation" towards fourth official Paul Taylor in a match at Sunderland on the opening day of the season. The ban was overturned on appeal in February.
May 2001; Having finished 2nd to Manchester United for the third season running in the Premiership, Arsenal are beaten in the FA Cup final by Liverpool. Although Arsenal dominate, Michael Owen scores twice for Liverpool in the last five minutes on heir way to a unique cup treble.
May 2002: The Gunners secure a second League and FA Cup Double under Wenger. They clinch the title with victory at Old Trafford, having remained unbeaten away from home all season, after beating Chelsea in Cardiff to lift the FA Cup.
May 2003: After allowing United to overhaul their lead in the Premiership (the Gunners finish second, five points behind), Arsenal retain the FA Cup by beating Southampton in the final.
June 2003: Wenger is awarded an honorary OBE.
May 2004: Arsenal win the Premier League title after going through the entire 38-match campaign without losing a match. Their achievement earns them the nickname 'The Invincibles'.
October 2004: Arsenal set a new record of 49 consecutive games unbeaten in the English top-flight. In the 50th game, at Old Trafford, Manchester United win 2-0 amid controversy. The same month, Wenger agrees a three-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until May 2008.
May 2005: Arsenal finish 2nd to Chelsea in the Premiership but beat Manchester United to win the FA Cup. United dominate the final but the Gunners hold out in a 0-0 draw, then win the penalty shoot-out.
May 2006: Arsenal are uncharacteristically inconsistent in the Premier League but get things right in Europe to reach the Champions League final for the first time. They lead Barcelona for most of the match in Paris but, with just 10 men after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's early dismissal, they eventually succumb to the Catalans 2-1.
July 2006: Arsenal play their first match at the new Emirates Stadium, a testimonial for retiring Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp.
February 2007: Wenger's young team outplay Chelsea for an hour of the Carling Cup final but are eventually beaten 2-1 by Jose Mourinho's side. Yen days later they are also out of the FA Cup and the Champions League.
May 2007: Arsenal finish 4th for the second season running amid some uncertainty about the club's future.
September 2007: Wenger ends speculation about his own future by signing a three-year contract extension, tying him to the club until June 2011. That will make him Arsenal's longest serving manager (15 years). George Allison (1934- 1947) currently holds the title of longest serving Arsenal manager - but his tenure spanned the Second World War, when there was no official League or FA Cup football.
In Wenger's 11 years Arsenal, the club have won the Premier League three times and been runners-up five times. They have appeared in eight major finals (five FA Cup, one League Cup, one Uefa Cup and One Champions League), winning four (all FA Cup). Wenger's haul of seven major trophies is better than any other Arsenal manager's.
Graham Lister
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