Arsene Wenger will manage five games – and a maximum of six – before he leaves his Arsenal managerial post at the end of the season.
The Gunners boss has enjoyed a 22-year reign in north London but has shown no desire to immediately retire from the game.
Kieran Cunningham and Johnny Ward joined Tommy Martin in studio to discuss Wenger’s most likely next move.
“From what I gather from people who have an in with Arsenal – he likes money,” Cunningham told OTB.
“He’s like a lot of people in football. He wants to go somewhere where he’ll be well paid. And I think his ego wants a big job after all the things he has achieved over the years.
“He still wants to be a manager. I think a general manager job is of no interest to him and it’s kind of a vague role. Different clubs have different ideas about what it is.
“To me, he’s best suited to international management now. And I think taking on another big club job is probably beyond him at this stage.
“If we wait to see how things pan out after the World Cup, France might well be looking for a manager, and I think it often suits an older manager.
“The week-to-week thing may have worn Wenger down and getting into an international routine where you have breaks and you get wound up for a match every few months, it might refresh him.”
The Republic of Ireland recently extended the contract of manager Martin O’Neill until 2020 despite failing to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Russia after losing to Denmark in the play-offs.
But Ward does not fancy Ireland’s chances of luring the Frenchman to the Aviva Stadium in the same manner that Giovanni Trapattoni was in 2008.
“He’d be some contrast to Martin O’Neill,” Ward said.
“He’d be a great manager for Ireland. I’m not sure the food would be good enough for a man of his tastes.
“When Wenger came to England he revolutionised things and by the time he left it had passed him by to a degree.
“If you don’t change as a manager you’re in trouble. It’s not that simple of a game and if you’re a manager and you’re trying to deal with how Manchester City and Liverpool – in contrast with Manchester United – they’re playing completely different styles of football.
“Arsenal were deemed a lovely team to watch – and they still are – but they’re not a patch on other teams, they’ve been completely obliterated by Manchester City.”
Written by James Hopper
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