Since September 1996, Arsene Wenger has ruled the roost at Arsenal, not just building a squad and controlling a team, but shaping a club. In almost 19 years in charge of the Gunners, Wenger has won three Premier League titles, lifted five FA Cups, led his team to their only ever European final and masterminded the move to the Emirates. When he does eventually decide to step down, Wenger’s legacy will not just be about his successes, but also his longevity. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal for almost 19 years, while every other team has changed manager . Wenger led the Gunners to their first Champions League final, and has won three Premier League titles . The Arsenal boss has been in north London since September 1996, surviving 156 Premier League bosses . In an era where Premier League chairmen are as forgiving to their managers as Jose Mourinho tends to be towards referees, Wenger is approaching two decades in the job – almost 15 years longer than the next longest-serving manager in the division. In fact, since the Frenchman arrived in north London, there have been 156 changes in management at the other clubs in the division. Here Sporstmail looks at the men Wenger has survived… . What counts as a change? With caretaker managers, interim appointments, and even the odd case of two men doing the job at the same time, it can be difficult to tell when exactly a club have officially changed managers. Counting caretaker managers would mean, technically, that David Pleat had been appointed Tottenham manager three times in five years. There were times when it seemed David Pleat just had to wait a few minutes to be caretaker at Spurs again . Ruud Gullit had already left two Premier League clubs before Wenger had been in the job three years . Gordon Strachan (left) replacing Ron Atkinson was the second change after Wenger arrived . So while ‘interim’ managers are included in our total, caretakers are not included unless they were given the job for a fixed term. Added to that, for those few occasions when two men have been in charge at the same time, they are counted as only one sacking unless, as with the case of Roy Evans when he worked alongside Gerard Houlier at Liverpool, one is sacked before the other. Landmarks . That all means that Gus Poyet’s sacking this month is the 156th managerial change since Wenger took over. Ray Harford’s resignation at Blackburn, less than a month after ‘the Professor’ got his feet under the desk at Arsenal, was the first, with five more coming in the 1996-97 season. Ray Harford (left) was the first manager to go after Wenger was appointed, while Gus Poyet is the most recent . Peter Reid’s dismissal from Leeds United in November 2003 marked the 50th reign Wenger had survived, while Steve Bruce’s decision to leave Wigan for Sunderland brought up the century in the summer of 2009. Tony Pulis’ shock resignation from Crystal Palace on the eve of this season was the 150th time a manager had left their job in the Wenger era. Peter Reid, sacked by Leeds in 2003, marked the 50th Premier League manager to go in the Wenger era . When Steve Bruce left Wigan for Sunderland it marked the 100th managerial change since Wenger arrived . Unsurprisingly the rate of change has dramatically increased in recent years. The first half of Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal produced just 63 sackings in a little over nine years. In the same time since then, there have been 93 changes, at a rate of around 10 a season. Last season’s total of 14 managerial changes was, in fact, the largest number in Premier League history. In contrast the 2002-03 season saw the fewest changes since Wenger’s arrival, with only five managers leaving their posts. Tony Pulis' resignation from Crystal Palace last summer was change No 150 since Wenger started . Method of change? The vast majority of the time, when a Premier League manager leaves his job, it’s because he’s been told to clear out his desk. A lucky few get to set their own date, as Wenger surely will in the coming years, but most are pushed before they can jump. Remarkably, in the last 18-and-a-bit years since Wenger joined Arsenal, only 18 managers left by choice to go straight into another job (and three of those went to international management rather than another club), while some resigned and a handful retired. Roy Hodgson is one of only two Premier League managers in the past two decades to leave for England . Steve McClaren also left a Premier League club to take the biggest job in English football . Three times a manager stepped down for health reasons, although two of those were Joe Kinnear, while one manager, Dave Jones, was placed on gardening leave in January 2000. Ron Atkinson (Coventry) and Steve Coppell (Crystal Palace) share the honour of being the two managers in since 1996 to have been removed from their job only to move upwards to director of football, something that may well happen to Wenger when he decides to end his term in management. Which clubs change the most? We all have a good idea who we consider to be the most trigger-happy owners, or the least stable clubs, and it should therefore come as no surprise which two clubs top the list of managerial changes. Chelsea and Newcastle United have each replaced 11 men since Arsene Wenger walked into Highbury. At Stamford Bridge there were only two sackings – Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli – between the arrivals of Wenger and Roman Abramovich, but the revolving door has turned nine times since the Russian arrived. Glenn Hoddle (left) and Alan Shearer have both managed one of the league's most prolific clubs . Jose Mourinho's return for his second spell at Chelsea was the club's 12th appointment since Wenger started . Since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea the club have had nine managers, Jose twice, in 12 years . Manchester United - 2 . Everton - 4 . Liverpool - 6 . Aston Villa - 7 . Tottenham - 10 . Chelsea - 11 . Change has at least brought success for Chelsea, but the same cannot be said at St James’ Park, where John Carver is the 12th man to try and pick up a trophy since Arsenal last appointed a manager. The Gunners’ north London rivals Tottenham are just behind Chelsea and Newcastle, having replaced 10 managers since their neighbours went for Wenger. Gerry Francis, Jacques Santini, Christian Gross, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood have all left since Wenger arrived. Jacques Santini (left) and Martin Jol are two of the 10 Tottenham managers who have been replaced . Tim Sherwood (right) became the 10th Spurs manager to do battle with Wenger last season . Perhaps most impressive in their high number of changes though, are Southampton and Sunderland, who have managed nine Premier League managerial replacements each, despite spending a fair amount of time outside the top flight since 1996. Saints have had seven Wenger years below the Premier League – including two in Legue One – while Sunderland have had five. Of the top flight’s ever-presents, Manchester United have unsurprisingly had the fewest changes, with just Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and David Moyes’ sacking, while Liverpool have said goodbye to six bosses during Wenger’s tenure. Sir Alex Ferguson (right) and Wenger locked horns repeatedly until the former's retirement in 2013 . Who has managed the most clubs? It is not just clubs that can get restless. While Wenger has been happy to stick in one job since Deep Blue Something’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s was top of the charts, other managers prefer to move around. England manager Roy Hodgson has left four Premier League clubs – Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom – in the last 18 years. Harry Redknapp has left five Premier League jobs in the time Wenger has been in his only one . Redknapp won the FA Cup in one of his two spells at Portsmouth, which ended in October 2008 . Stoke City boss Mark Hughes is on his fifth Premier League job since Wenger arrived in north London . Stoke City’s Mark Hughes has matched that, his terms at Blackburn, Fulham, Manchester City and QPR all coming to an end while Wenger stayed put. But neither of them can match Harry Redknapp, who has left five jobs, at four clubs, since the Arsenal boss took charge of his side. Redknapp most recently resigned as QPR manager, but has also been in charge at Tottenham, West Ham and had two spells at Portsmouth in the top flight.
Arsene Wenger has been in charge at Arsenal since September 1996 . In that time every other top-flight club has changed managers at least twice . Wenger has outlasted more than 150 Premier League changes . READ: Top 50 most shocking moments in Premier League history (30-21)
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