Arsenal

Pat Rice: Arsene Wenger "very hurt" by manner of Arsenal exit

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 24 April 2018

Pat Rice says that it is a "shame" Arsene Wenger will bring down the curtain on his 22-year Arsenal career on a sour note following a spate of fan protests.

Former Arsenal assistant manager Pat Rice has claimed that Arsene Wenger will be feeling "very hurt" by the manner of his exit.

The Frenchman is to step aside from the position that he has held for the past 22 years this summer, having come under pressure from certain sections of the fanbase.

Wenger is close to seeing his side finish outside the top four in successive Premier League campaigns and is now relying on the Europa League to salvage some pride from his final season at the helm.

On the back of fan protests and unrest both inside and outside the Emirates Stadium in recent years, Rice says that it is a "shame" his former colleague has been forced out.

"I think he would feel very hurt about the reaction he was getting but at the end of the day we all know we are in a business where it can happen to anybody," he told Sky Sports News. "It is not the first time it has happened to a football manager but when you think what he has done for our great club it is a shame that it had to end this way.

"I'm just hoping that for the last home game of the season [against Burnley] everybody shows their appreciation to a wonderful man and a tremendous manager. In my eyes he is the best Arsenal manager there has ever been.

"Having seen the way he works and the way he treats people, everybody is treated with respect. He always looked after his staff, he is just an incredible manager. Everything that he goes in to is researched. When he came to the club all the training schedules were down to the finest minute.

"He changed the food that the players had, he changed the way they were drinking. Cokes and orange and all that stuff went out of the window. The foresight that he had was just second to none and he changed the way of people's thinking about football in England, there's absolutely no doubt about that."

Rice worked alongside Wenger between 1996 and 2012, at which point he brought his coaching career to an end.