Garry Birtles: It's decision time at Notts County, do you stick or twist?

NOTTS County need to make a decision. It is time for them to stick or twist.

Personally, I can see the logic in keeping on Chris Kiwomya until the end of the season. If there is one thing our Nottingham clubs don't do very well it is stability.

I don't know if there is something in the water in the Trent, but managerial change seems to be rife on both sides of the river in recent years.

Again, Keith Curle was unlucky to lose his job at a time when he was still building; still putting his ideas into place.

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But now they have decided to part company with him, they need to decide what the next step is.

They have said that Kiwomya would be given a chance to prove himself – but they need to be more specific.

Because, at the minute, everything is overshadowed by speculation. At every press conference, Kiwomya is asked questions he does not know the answers to.

How long will you be manager for? Are you going to get the job permanently? Have you been given assurances about the future?

If the club want to give him a fair chance to prove himself, then let him do so without a cloud of uncertainty hanging over his head.

Give him the job until the end of the season. State publicly that you will not look for anyone else until the summer, until you have decided whether he is the right man for the job.

Because, at the minute, he is being asked to do the job without any certainty, without any authority and without the ability to plan beyond the next game. In those circumstances, I find it hard to believe it is possible to prove yourself at all.

So Notts either need to give him that chance or give the job to somebody else. But, while the situation remains in limbo, nobody is the winner.

EIGHT years without a trophy and people are calling for Arsene Wenger to be given the bullet at Arsenal. But, rather than see him sacked, I'd like to see Arsene bite the bullet.

Go and sign some players; use the money that is available and do what you did when you unearthed players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Manu Petit, Robert Pires and the like.

Make Arsenal a force again, because you can, Arsene. In the not too distant past it was Wenger versus Alex Ferguson for the title race, now Wenger's biggest foe is the threat of the sack.

But the Premier League would be a better place with Arsenal, under Wenger, firing on all cylinders, with AVB getting Spurs challenging and with Roberto Mancini defying his own critics by getting Man City to put pressure on United as well.

The Gunners without Wenger is almost an unthinkable thought. But hopefully he will stop spending the money like it is his own and realise that new blood is needed.