Zeljko Buvac taking over from Arsene Wenger would be a disaster for Arsenal… they need a ready-made gaffer
Gunners need Allegri, Ancelotti or Enrique otherwise this current slide out of the top four could be just the beginning
THE long goodbye that was supposed to have a dream end in Lyon will, instead, come to a conclusion in Huddersfield.
The long hunt for the man to steer the Arsenal ship away from the rocks and back into the balmier waters of top four battles and trophy hunting goes on.
Max Allegri, Luis Enrique, Brendan Rodgers, Carlo Ancelotti and now Zeljko Buvac… they’ve all been hot fancies for the job since Arsene Wenger announced he was going.
And it is the recent clamour for the latter which should really have Gunners’ fans shaking their heads in disbelief.
There is no doubting, of course, that Buvac has worked wonders alongside Jurgen Klopp as his number two at Liverpool.
He did likewise at Borussia Dortmund, in a partnership which some had even dubbed a modern day Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.
Buvac shot into the Arsenal reckoning when it emerged he would not be back at Anfield for the rest of the season for “personal reasons”.
Those reasons, according to rumours in his native Bosnia, were largely that he was on the radar to take over at the Emirates.
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Others suggest there had been a fall-out between the two amigos which had become irreparable.
Some even claim it was down to something as bizarre as a huge row between the respective wives, and an extreme case of marital loyalty.
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Arsenal fans would be better served hoping it is that last one which is behind the split because in all honesty, Buvac is hardly the man they need to turn them around.
They don’t need a man who, for all he may be a brilliant assistant, amounts to three years in the German lower reaches – and one relegation – with Neukirchen, and speaks little English.
Just as they don’t need Gunners legend Thierry Henry to get the nod in his first managerial appointment, or Patrick Vieira in what would be his first serious, top level one.
What Arsenal need is a ready made gaffer. Not a work in progress, not someone still cutting his teeth, not someone who may be a total flop.
When it comes to players, the Gunners’ policy has shifted of late. Not so much buying young players who may become great ones, but those who are already way down the path.
Men like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, in big, big deals as well.
It has to be the same when it comes to the manager. It cannot be someone at the bottom of a huge learning curve. And there has to be some clear thinking on this.
It is truly staggering that the short list seems to grow longer by the day. It is staggering the tales of boardoom splits over who they should appoint seems no nearer to healing.
In time the likes of Buvac, Vieira and Henry may very well go on to be great managers, but for now they remain far too big of a risk.
Arsenal have the basics of a good team in place, but need someone with the gravitas which commands instant respect of what they have already achieved.
They need Allegri, Ancelotti or Enrique. Anything less than and this season may not be the end of the slide – it could just be the start of it.