Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis says that beleaguered manager Arsene Wenger will not be sacked, despite the Gunners enduring their worst start to a season since the top flight changed its name in 1992.

The French guy has attracted criticism for his inability to organise a defence beyond putting their shin pads on and finding their way onto the pitch, with an increasingly disillusioned Arsenal fan base bracing themselves for a seventh consecutive season without a major trophy, the poor lambs.

A poll on the website arsenal-mania.com has 52% in favour of replacing Wenger but Gazidis, who last week celebrated his 47th birthday, has issued him with what used to be labelled the ‘dreaded vote of confidence’ but has since been rebranded the ‘transparent admission that changing managers would be really expensive’.

The bald, South African man said: “Arsene Wenger is not broken. To see him portrayed as an idiot is damaging – not to him or the club but to the game.

“[Sacking him] is a route we are not going to go down. He didn’t suddenly become a bad manager or out of touch. That’s nonsense.

“If we get into short-termism we will do more damage to the club. He’s frustrated but very, very focused on putting things right and is as positively engaged as ever to drive the club forward.

“The club is not in crisis. There’s no division in the club. We work together.”

Well, there you have it then – there will be no change of regime, no toppling of statue.