With zero home WSL wins, a difficult Champions League group to conquer and no permanent manager to steer the ship – Arsenal Women have been given a fright this season.
Jonas Eidevall resigned as the side’s manager on October 15 having held the role since 2020 and failing to bring home a WSL title.
Eidevall did indeed bid farewell to the club after a long saga of ‘will he, won’t he’[/caption]
Since then, assistant coach Renee Slegers has taken the reins while the club seek out a replacement who can bring them back to their glory days.
Arsenal Women are historically the most successful side in English women’s football – but they look far from it at the moment.
However it seems the managerial search is nowhere near over.
Ahead of the weekend’s WSL match against the unbeaten Manchester United, Slegers confirmed she would not be going anywhere in the near future.
“For these five games, I will be staying in the interim role,” she said.
But she would not be drawn explicitly on whether she saw herself staying in the role on a permanent basis.
She explained: “I definitely see myself doing it at the moment.
“I enjoy working with the girls and the club to try to get successes. I have done it before and enjoy the role but when you do it over a period of time it becomes different. Now, I am really enjoying my role.”
It has been over two weeks since Eidevall resigned from his post with the club seemingly having made little progress when it comes to appointing his successor.
Slegers has overseen two wins in charge – a 4-1 win over Valerenga in the Champions League and a 2-0 victory over West Ham in the WSL – but it seems unlikely that the club would appoint her permanently.
Now, talkSPORT’s Shebahn Aherne has admitted the lack of any kind of announcement around the situation was surprising.
Moreover, she also revealed how a surprise Halloween night encounter had her crossing paths with a familiar face.
“Well, Renee Slegers has taken interim charge,” she said. “She actually came with Jonas Eidevall from Rosenberg. She’d worked with them in the past, and then she became the manager of that team. Then she came to Arsenal.
“Now, funnily enough, guys, I was out trick-or-treating with the kids last night. Who did I see, Miss Renee Slegers out with the kids. And I nearly went up and being like, so what’s the chat?
“But she has said very clearly she doesn’t want the role. You know, she’s very keen on the stuff that she does as a coach with the team.
“Now, Nick Cushing, who was formerly at Manchester City, won the league with them back in 2017. He ended up going to work under Ronnie Deila in the MLS. He is now reportedly the number one target.
“But originally, we’re all looking at going, why not Casey Stoney? You know, she’s kind of perfect for the job. She’s an Arsenal legend. She’s a Lioness legend. She understands the game, and did well at Manchester United.
“Then she went to San Diego Wave. OK – she lost her job there after a winless streak. But she understands the league. And I think she would command a lot of respect.
“But something’s not right there, obviously, with Casey Stoney in the hierarchy. Possibly that’s why that deal has not been done. But we wait and see.
“It’s something I think is a bigger story, why it’s not being announced yet or why it’s not done yet, who the new manager is. But it’s weird. I don’t know why. I don’t know why it’s gone so quiet.”
Stoney is no stranger to the WSL either, having managed Manchester United Women from their reformation back in 2018 through to 2021.
She won them a Women’s Championship title on the first time of asking, earning promotion to the WSL.
They finished fourth in the top flight for both the seasons that Stoney was in charge, before she stepped down in 2021 – soon after becoming the head coach of NWSL side San Diego Wave.
However, Stoney – who has 130 international caps to her name as a Lioness – is widely considered one of the most prestigious names in the game.
A former England captain, she also helped Arsenal to two top flight titles and three FA Cups.
For many Gunners, she is the perfect successor to Eidevall given her lifelong association with the club – but who his permanent successor will be remains to be seen.
