LAST night’s embarrassment at Bradford is enough, it is time for Arsene Wenger to step down as Arsenal manager.

Many of his supporters will point to the lack of money, no backing from the board and the debts involved in paying off the stadium.

But the truth of the matter is this, Arsenal are no longer very good. A Carling Cup final we could not lose against Birmingham was lost and we destroyed AC Milan 3-0 at the Emirates last season, just a shame we lost the away leg 4-0.

Which brings me to this season, for every excellent performance (victory at Liverpool and a draw with Man City) there are hopeless ones (drawing 3-3 with Fulham, and losing to Swansea and Norwich).

In amongst the usual criticisms of the team this season, the board and now Arsene Wenger, I have seen little real analysis of the current playing squad and, in particular, the amount of ‘deadwood’ in the team.

(Note - For the purpose of this article, I am defining ‘deadwood’ as players who either do not want to play for the club, players that Wenger doesn’t want at the club anymore, and/or players who have been at the club for too long and who have no realistic aim of ever becoming established first team players).

I will highlight twelve players still at the club who I would happily accept the club giving free transfers to get their wages off of the wage bill. This will then allow the club to either replace by spending some money, or giving young players like Gnabry, Eisfield etc the opportunity to sit on the bench, gain some experience and, in my opinion, will be hungrier to impress when given the opportunity than the likes of the following.

Late last night and earlier this morning a rumour popped up that Arsene Wenger had been sacked. It wasn't widespread, but it was enough to get a few people talking.

I awoke from my slumber to see people doing this very thing. Though my mind was clouded with sleep and yesterday's 'incredible' display of attacking football at Villa Park, it didn't take much thought to realise this was a stinker.

But there was the time in between...

Unfair

Arsene Wenger has done so much for Arsenal that he doesn't deserve to be sacked and unceremoniously booted out of the door. Whatever your feelings are regarding his continued employment, he deserves respect for taking a successful but stagnant club from North London and making them one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Succeeding the 37 goals of Robin Van Persie was never going to be the easiest of tasks for any striker, but Olivier Giroud faced difficulty from the moment his €12.5M transfer from Montpelier was confirmed.

After Arsenal's last two signings from France in Chamakh and Gervinho failed to make an impression there was fear Giroud would follow in their slippy, open goal-missing footsteps.

What's more, a number of Arsenal fans had it in for him the moment it was confirmed by Arsene Wenger he was the player signed to replace the former Dutch hero.

There was a time in the not too distant past when Arsenal were challenging for titles and in cup competitions, however sadly this now looks a thing of the past, as profit takes priority.

Following last night’s pitiful loss to Schalke in the Champions League, Arsenal have now gone the best part of 180 minutes of football whilst only creating a handful of scoring opportunities, and this is what Arsenal fans can come to expect if the club continues to sell their top players.

Profit over success?

Over the past few seasons Arsenal have had to cope with loss of their best players to rivals, whilst never properly replacing them.