One of the things that annoys me most about the managerial merry-go-round is that many of those who get the chop haven’t been allowed the time to get it right.

Panicked or frustrated chairmen are often too quick to wield the axe without giving their manager a chance to find their feet. In Watford’s case, they tend to get fired before they’ve even found the ground.

This propensity to fire first and think later is an indisputable fact in an era when instant results are all anyone seems to care about.

However, there are rare examples when clubs stick with a manager long after it has become clear things aren’t working; when the fear of change or misplaced loyalty clouds their judgement about what is right for the team.

And to me there is no clearer example of this than Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.

At a time when managers are lucky to stay in a job for 21 months, Wenger is now in his 21st year with the club. But while the first half of his reign was brilliant, the second half has been a near-constant flow of disappointments.

Yes there have been a couple of FA Cup wins in the past few years and the odd flirtation with a title race. For the most part however, the club has perpetually underachieved since they last won the league in 2004.

When I talk about a manager being given time to get things right, I am thinking of a year or two. Not 13.

Despite their prolonged period of stability, I would argue that Arsenal are no nearer winning the league now than they were a four, five or six years ago.

And for that reason I think Arsenal need to move on.

It would, of course, need to be the nicest, politest and most respectable divorce in the history of football – after all, Wenger is a genuine club legend.

Nevertheless his era has run its course and it is now time for a change at the Emirates.

Last weekend’s defeat to Chelsea was, for me, the final straw; not because they lost – any team can lose a match – but because they looked entirely incapable of matching their opponents in any department. It was men against boys.

And if that scenario is still playing out after 21 years of Wenger being at the club, what reason do we have to think it will change next season or the one after?

For years, Wenger’s primary objective has been qualifying for the Champions League – and nobody can argue with the way he has consistently done just that.

But surely Arsenal and their fans deserve more than that.

Arsenal desperately need some new ideas. And Wenger seems to have run out of them

As I said earlier I can only imagine the board haven’t acted before now in the desperate hope that Wenger recreates the glory of those early years. Well, that combined with their loyalty to a man who has remained loyal to them when opportunities have arisen.

But surely now they are going to have to face facts: Wenger has lost his magic touch and it shows no sign of coming back. Despite his best efforts, and numerous rebuilding processes, Wenger has not been able to create a team capable of challenging at the very top of the game.

On the other hand, their reluctance to remove him may also have something to do with not having an obvious replacement. But, in my mind, that isn’t actually as important as it may seem.

When Antonio Conte took over at Chelsea I was underwhelmed and I thought it would take a bit of time for him to be successful; if at all.

But just having a new, decent, manager in charge – even though he was working with much the same players – has given the club a new lease of life. And that is mostly down to his new approach and fresh ideas.

And those two things, more than anything else, are what Arsenal lack. They have the players (for the most part), they have the ground, they have the supporters and they have the money in the bank.

But they desperately need some new ideas. And Wenger, for all his talent and belief in attractive football, seems to have run out of them.

In fact, if the Frenchman does still have the desire to succeed and wants to stay in football, a new challenge at a new club might be in his own best interests too.

It will be a sad day and a sad end to an era when this club and manager go their separate ways.

But I honestly believe the Wenger and Arsenal love affair has run its course and an amicable split is in everyone’s best interests.

Singing Carroll’s praises

Andy Carroll’s current vein of form has prompted calls for him to be restored to the national team.

In fact, England manager Gareth Southgate was at yesterday’s game between West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion keeping an eye on the big striker.

It’s a sad indication of just how short the supply of English players is these days that every time one of them hits a little purple patch, the media start labelling them as the saviour of the Three Lions.

Four goals in four games is, admittedly, a decent run for the former Liverpool player. But it is hardly a Linekeresque spell of sustained scoring brilliance.

Having said that I actually do believe Carroll should be in the England squad.

He isn’t your modern forward with a game based on skill, speed, trickery and the ability to play numerous positions. He is a throwback to the days when strikers lurked around the penalty box being big, strong, good in the air and scaring the living crap out of defenders.

But in this case that isn’t a drawback, it is a plus. His retro skills are precisely why he would always be in my England squad, assuming – and this is a huge assumption given that he is made out of glass – he is fit.

England have plenty of modern strikers to choose from but they all fit into pretty much the same mould. For example, taking off Daniel Sturridge and replacing him with Jamie Vardy or Marcus Rashford doesn’t give opponents anything new to deal with other than fresh legs.

However, replacing Sturridge with Carroll would give defenders a whole new problem and little time to come up with a solution. Balls could be crossed from the wings or pumped upfield, and more often than not, the big man would get on the end of them.

In short, he offers England a Plan B, an alternative approach when more refined tactics have failed to deliver.

I don’t see him starting many games for England, but as a player to bring on when things need shaking up, his value shouldn’t be underestimated.

Let’s see if Southgate feels the same way.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade