Arsene Wenger – Pure Genius

He is a great guy and, perhaps more importantly, he has a very good feel for football

Rumours had spread about Arsène’s pending arrival prior to his official appointment and Hill-Wood had not helped matters with an embarrassing blunder in front of the media. Hill-Wood refused to reveal the identity of the new manager but, when asked to whom he had promised this secrecy, the chairman announced: ‘To Arsène Wenger and his club.’ Stunned faces absorbed the information and Hill-Wood was left red-faced.

The new boss had signed a couple of French midfielders, Gerald Passi and Franck Durix, 30 and 29 respectively, to give the squad a European flavour.

The opportunity to test himself as a first team manager arrived in 1984 when Arsène was offered the chance to take charge at AS Nancy. Jean-Claude Cloet recommended Wenger to the club president as the man to push the club forward. There was not unanimous support for the appointment of Arsène but nonetheless he was unveiled as the new Nancy manager.

Wenger was a little repentant when addressing the media post match: ‘I was so absorbed that I didn’t notice that I got out of the technical area. But it was a small incident. It is the third time I have been sent off as a manager.’

he received a two-match ban after he was adjudged to have harassed

also far from easy for Wenger to adopt – he had not expected such teething problems

The first three months were especially testing as he suffered with loneliness and homesickness and began to wonder whether he had made the right decision.

It was almost as though Wenger was afraid to slow down and relax for fear of not knowing how to unwind. Some worried that his excessive attention to detail and the long hours that he worked would have an effect on his health.

It was a sad moment for Wenger when he said farewell to Hild, bringing an end to his Strasbourg adventure, but he was excited for the future.