Arsenal first-team coach Boro Primorac insists Arsene Wenger has no intention of leaving the Premier League club and labelled fans protesting against his reign as ungrateful.
Poor form over the past six weeks has seen Arsenal eliminated from the Champions League via a 10-2 aggregate thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich, while they sit a distant fifth in the Premier League title race.
Favourable draws against non-league Sutton United and Lincoln City smoothed a path to the FA Cup semi-finals for the Gunners, but the latter game and the home 5-1 defeat to Bayern at Emirates Stadium were preceded by protests from supporters, calling for Wenger to step down when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Primorac has been Wenger's right-hand man throughout his 20-year tenure in north London and worked with the 67-year-old at Nagoya Grampus Eight for three years before his move to Arsenal.
He is displeased by the speculation swirling around his long-time colleague and told Croatian daily newspaper Jutarnji List: "Wenger isn't considering leaving Arsenal.
"Of course it is ugly to lose 5-1 twice in the Champions League, even though it came versus Bayern.
"We understand how fans are not happy, neither are we. But as for critics, there are no less grateful persons in football than fans and ex-players.
"Arsenal's strength in the past 20 years has been Wenger. It is not all about results, but also business part of the club that matters."
Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to West Brom, Wenger dismissed reports linking Primorac with becoming head coach at Turkish Super Lig side Konyaspor as a "complete invention", and the 62-year-old concurred.
Primorac added: "There's been many similar stories in the past 20 years since I've been working with Wenger. But I will never go to that Turkish club."
