CM Story - The Story of Josh McEwen
Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed the departure of Vitor Pereira as head coach following their 2-0 away lose to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Wolves currently sit bottom of the Premier...
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Wolves have officially announced that manager Josh McEwen has departed the club to become Arsenal’s new head coach. The club’s statement reads:
“On Sunday morning, Arsenal contacted us regarding Josh McEwen, but we immediately refused their initial approach. Shortly after, Josh reached out to Chairman Jeff Shi to express his wish to speak with Arsenal. This was again declined, leading to an emergency meeting on Monday morning. Club owner Wang Qunbin traveled in specially to personally offer Josh an improved contract to remain at Wolves. Despite these efforts, Josh turned down the new terms and reaffirmed his desire to take the Arsenal job. Ultimately, the club agreed to begin negotiations with Arsenal for a suitable compensation agreement, ensuring we would not lose one of the world’s most promising young managers for free at the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal have officially unveiled Josh McEwen as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract. In their statement, Arsenal said:
“We are delighted to welcome Josh McEwen as Arsenal’s new manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Chairman Stan Kroenke stated, ‘Josh is an exceptional young coach with great vision and a proven track record of maximizing his squad’s potential. We have closely monitored his achievements, especially this season, where he has led Wolves to impressive performances and success across all competitions, including reaching the Carabao Cup final and maintaining a strong position in the Premier League. His leadership has been clear from the outset, guiding Wolves through tough times, and we are excited to see how he will develop our Arsenal squad.’”
McEwen’s arrival at Arsenal follows the departure of Antonio Conte, who was dismissed after the club’s 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Southampton last Saturday. Arsenal only managed to squeeze into the Champions League last 32, finishing 23rd, thanks to a final-day 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon, and advanced in the FA Cup by narrowly beating Bournemouth on penalties. Conte’s tenure was unpopular with fans, both due to his previous stints at Chelsea and Tottenham and the sale of promising left back Myles Lewis-Skelly to Leverkusen last summer, especially as the club did not sign a replacement. Conte attributed the team’s struggles to injuries to key players, including goalkeeper David Raya, who remains sidelined with a PCL injury expected to keep him out for another five weeks.
Josh’s first interview as Arsenal manager is below
Q: Josh welcome to Arsenal how happy are you to finally get the deal completed after a long week of negotiations?
Josh McEwen “I’m delighted to be here, the minute Arsenal made an approach for me I asked for the opportunity to speak to the club and after meeting with Stan Kroenke my mind was made up that Arsenal was the right team for me.”
Q: In the summer reports state that you made an approach for young winger Ethan Nwaneri on loan is this true and how excited are you to now get the opportunity to work with him?
Josh McEwen “Yeah we made an approach for Ethan on loan but it was quickly dismissed by Arsenal. Ethan is a fantastic player who is one of many players I am looking forward to working with, the quality that is in this team is phenomenal and I can’t wait to meet the lads and start laying down the foundation of how I want us to play moving forwards and help try and turn results around on the field.”
Q: We have a massive game with Nottingham Forest tomorrow afternoon. Have you had an opportunity to speak to the players or the coaching staff yet?
Josh McEwen “Not yet, the move has taken a long time to be confirmed with talks about compensation and obviously ironing out minor details about me taking over here. The plan is to meet the players and coaching staff tomorrow morning ahead of what will be an exciting game.”
Q: Will you be in the dugout for the game or will you be watching from the stands?
Josh McEwen “Honestly I would love to dive right in and be in the dug out, the players have had a week of uncertainty with no manager there but again like I say I will meet the players tomorrow morning and will sit down with the coaching staff to determine what is best for the team but I am hoping that I will be in the dugout .”
Interesting, leaving a high-performing minor club to join a struggling major one. Almost similar to Ruben Amorim leaving Sporting in very fine form to join Man United in 14th at the time.
I see why Arsenal want a change though. Only two clubs have conceded more, quite contrary to their current defensive approach under Arteta. It will be interesting to see if you can hit the ground running, or if you will need some time to adapt.
I do like these unexpected events in CM stories. I don't usually change clubs midway through a season myself, so I do like to see an approach different from mine. Looking forward to see what happens next...
I didn't feel like I could take Wolves much further whilst keeping it realistic. Real Madrid was offered in November but I didn't think that was realistic so turned it down but when Arsenal was offered it was an opportunity to make history a team that hasn't won the league in over 20 years that have never won the Champions League it is a team where they have underachieved for a long time and I can see myself managing for a long time building a lasting legacy. I really want to keep this story going for as long as possible and I feel Arsenal is the right club for me to be able to do that.
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