The news that Arsène Wenger refused to be drawn on the subject of extending his stay at the Emirates during today’s pre-match press conference has caused some consternation among Arsenal fans.

When asked if a two-year deal had been offered to extend his stay past the end of this season, when his current deal expires, the manager said:

“Yes, I didn't deny that. I said many times I don’t think there is any need to come back on it. I answered that question already. I said what I said when I was asked this question at the start of the season. Nothing has changed.

“When you are manager at the club you have to prepare for the long-term always and act like you will stay forever. [But] what is important now is our next game.”

At the start of this campaign Wenger said that the question of his staying was linked with the performance – and presumably the success – of the team. But he also made the observation that nobody could question his commitment to the club he has served with distinction for more than 17 years—especially when he has turned down more lucrative opportunities from other clubs during that time.

Is the vitriol gone or just sleeping?

While that is certainly true, one wonders if Wenger would feel quite so sanguine about a player running down his contract before deciding whether or not to take a new deal that had been offered.

And while fans are currently delighted as the team sits atop the table, it is only eight weeks since Wenger and his team were booed from the Emirates pitch. Some of the abuse to which he has been subjected over the past couple of seasons has at times been vitriolic.

It should not really surprise anybody if a man who will next week celebrate his 64th birthday were to decide that next summer would be an appropriate time to take life a little easier.

Similarly, the statistic that Wenger has now gone eight seasons without silverware is regularly thrown in his face. And it does seem inconceivable that any other manager at a club that can genuinely aspire to title and Champions League success would have been allowed to continue in his job after such a long trophy-less spell.

If the team were to have a bad next four weeks – and that is not wholly inconceivable, with games to come against Borussia Dortmund (twice), Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea – it would be very interesting to see whether quite so many fans would still be so keen to see him sign the deal on offer.

A remarkable feat of managerial consistency

For the majority, however, Wenger is as synonymous with Arsenal as Sir Alex Ferguson was with Manchester United. An entire generation has grown up never knowing anyone else as Arsenal’s manager: it is almost impossible for those fans to contemplate the club without Wenger at the helm.

Despite the lack of silverware, Wenger’s supporters will point to the fact that the club has finished fourth or higher every year – and therefore qualified for the Champions League – for 15 seasons.

Given the financial constraints under which Wenger has worked for much of the past decade—and the fact that oil-fuelled rivals have picked off many of Arsenal’s prized assets during that time—that sustained consistency is arguably the equal of anything achieved by any other club manager over the same period. (With the sole exception of Pep Guardiola.)

The fact is that the current situation is not new. Wenger has previously run down contracts before signing a deal that had long been on the table. He has been very loyal to Arsenal and the club has reciprocated.

While there is no reason to think that the same will not happen again on this occasion, the fact that Ferguson has now finally moved on means that the inconceivable is no longer quite so unimaginable as it once was.

The dominant personality in English football over the past quarter century has gone. It raises the spectre, at least, that the second most dominant figure for much of that same period might also decide that the time has come to move on.

The problem that Manchester United and its fans are currently discovering, however, is that it is exceptionally difficult for anybody to follow a managerial legend.

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