Arsenal Outlook: How Long Can Arsene Wenger Stand Power Struggle?

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Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger watches on in frustration as his team lose to Manchester United in the Champions League

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'In Arsene, we trust' they say. And thank goodness. For as long as he remains in charge of the shop floor at that burgeoning international empire known as Arsenal Holdings PLC, and continues to deliver the right results, it matters little what Stan Kroenke and Peter Hill-Wood are playing at with their shareholdings on the floor above. Or does it? 

The moustachioed man of silence, who declined to explain himself at last month's annual general meeting, has every right to have built up a holding of 29.9 per cent - within a whisker of having to launch a full take-over bid. He has every right to remain dumb in public, too, when it is manifestly obvious that he is not a dumb man. And, in so doing, he has every right to deny the Arsenal fans any explanation of his motives while the current board of directors adopt a 'smoke and mirrors' approach to media and public relations.

That the club chairman Peter Hill-Wood sold him 100 shares, to enlarge his portfolio to the cusp of enforced action, may suggest that there is a plan of sorts in place to prevent others making hostile takeovers; but that is merely theoretical. It could be more simply that Hill-Wood wanted the extra cash for an extravagant Christmas shopping binge.

Not even Wenger, in whom we all trust, knows what is happening. "I don't know what to say about that," he admitted, with his normal candour, on Thursday. "They are on another floor, above me... I report to them, so they are just one floor up." Wenger explained also that he has declined all opportunities to own shares in the club because, for him, it would be "unhealthy" and create potentially a conflict of interests.

In his world, he said, he prefers to be left alone to concentrate on football without interference or influence. That is all well and good, particularly if he has a two-way relationship of confidence with his board, but it still leaves the club's customers - all over the world now, in this brand-expanding age of Ivan Gazidis's global visions - in the dark. For the time being, at least.

And that is a shame at the very time when Arsenal are playing the best football in the club's history, scoring goals for fun and entertaining bigger and more lucrative sell-out crowds than ever before. It all looks perfect - but that can be the very moment when one rotten apple, delicious-looking, rosy and attractive, but made by artifice, starts to spoil the beautiful basket.

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Wenger's decision to look the other way, and stay downstairs and independent, is sensible. It has protected him from knowledge that he may have found it difficult to carry on his own. And it has moved him out of the reach of anyone who wanted to persuade him to join one or other of any opposing factions within a boardroom that at best lives in balanced and perfect harmony or at worst in stomach-wrenching topsy-turvy battles for power.

For now, this apparent phase of change, as old and new look to find a future that is best for both, appears to be remaining calm - at least on the outside. Nobody wants to rock the boat while the team is winning, the tills are ringing and the 'house full' signs are up for every performance. So, Wenger is the man astride the tipping edge of his club, both feet firmly on the floor of his own level and delivering the goods, the results, the players and the riches that are more persuasive than any words or promises.

And there is less pressure on him to produce a trophy this season than there is on the board to keep his working conditions in fine fettle - which means no interference, no warring, no distractions and no takeovers. Arsenal is a club of great traditions and a club of style and it is the responsibility of the directors to maintain them.

Saturday lunchtime's match at Wolverhampton Wanderers is a reminder of all that, a metaphor for historical values and the enduring currency of fabled names and reputations in the popular idiom of the sport. These are old and famous clubs that stand for something that has lasted generations and, in this context, current form is secondary. This fixture is more than 100 years old and has a lustre to it that opens the mind to sepia-tinted memories, old glories and great events in English football.

Wolves were the great innovators and achievers of the 1950s, when they were champions three times, pioneered floodlit football and entertained great visiting European teams thanks to the visionary management of Stan Cullis, who was in charge for 16 years. In that era, they were to the game what Arsenal were in the 1930s. At both times the club remained of great stature.

This weekend, however, it will be ability and form, on the pitch, that counts.

Forget that it is 30 years and five weeks since the last Wolves' win in this fixture (a 3-2 victory in a Division One clash at Highbury) and that Arsenal did the double in the last season when the west midlands' club were last in the Premier League. And forget the financial results, too.

Instead just read the team-sheets, remember Arsenal are undefeated in 12 outings and that three points will lift them within reach of the top with a game in hand, whatever the outcome at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. And, in Arsene, just carry on trusting.