Rodgers coy over Cole future

Southampton defender Dan Seaborne will remain on loan at Charlton on a week-by-week basis.

Seaborne has won three and drawn one of the four matches he has played in since making the temporary move to The Valley.

The 25-year-old was forced to sit out the final match of his original loan spell, last Saturday's 2-2 draw against Brighton.

But Seaborne will get the chance to extend his unbeaten run in the Charlton team after a fresh deal was struck.

The League Two side were expelled last week for fielding an ineligible player, Newcastle loanee Curtis Good, in the original tie between the sides which finished 1-1.

But after launching a successful appeal the Capital One Cup semi-finalists are back in the competition having instead been fined ?1,000 for their error.

The replay will take place at Griffin Park on Tuesday, December 18, and will kick-off at 7.45pm. The winners will face Southend in the third round.

The humiliating exit from the Capital One Cup at the hands of League Two side Bradford on Tuesday night may become a critical moment in Wenger's reign, especially with the Gunners also misfiring in the Premier League.

Wenger insisted that part of his job is to help the team "recover and focus on the next game", but the Arsenal Supporters' Trust (AST) was set to demand immediate changes at a meeting tonight with chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

The AST has long supported the Gunners' prudent financial approach but believes the lack of spending has now gone too far and that the defeat by Bradford was a symbolic moment, with the team having decreased in quality year after year since 2009.

The Trust wants changes at board level, for Wenger to release some of his duties to others and for the manager to spend some of the many millions available to him.

AST spokesman Tim Payton said: "This is the most difficult time in Arsene's 16 years and both the club and himself need to change direction quickly if his wonderful era is not to end on a sad note.

"The Arsenal Supporters' Trust cannot fathom why ?70million was left untouched this summer. Arsene needs to get over his distaste for spending and use the resources that, after all, are provided by the hard-pressed fans who watch the team.

"The AST believe a shake-up is needed. We would like to see new, younger blood added to the board, and they also need to exercise more control and direction over Arsene's football strategy.

"One man cannot direct all transfer targets, wages, coaching methods and manage the team at games. It's too much for one man."

Even if results do not pick up, Wenger's position should be safe at least until the end of the season but an increasing worry for club executives is that significant numbers of fans are not turning up to matches at the Emirates despite having bought tickets.

There is also growing frustration that players brought in since the departures of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie have failed to deliver.

Even Arsenal's honorary vice-president Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith expressed that frustration last night, saying on Twitter - though deleting it soon afterwards - that: "Gervinho is a FLOP player".

There is also a fear that Theo Walcott may also leave the club - especially with Manchester United now linked with the England forward.

Arsenal do not play now until Monday, when they face Reading away, and Wenger has to try to raise the players' spirits though he insists the team suffered some misfortune at Valley Parade.

"It's extremely disappointing because in the second half and extra-time it was one-way traffic," said Wenger.

"We created a lot of chances but the final ball was missing."

Asked how Arsenal could recover, he added: "I believe that it is part of our job to recover and to focus on the next game."

The Cumbrians have won just one of their past seven games and are only four points above the relegation zone in League One.

But Steel was quick to point out the review was simply part of an "ongoing" process.

"The managerial situation is reviewed on an ongoing basis," he told BBC Radio Cumbria. "We are not looking to replace the manager at this time, but there's always a contingency in place.

"I don't think it's the right solution every time to sack the manager on the back of four or five bad results.

"It is the board of directors that appoint the manager in the first place, so surely there is some responsibility on the board to honour the agreement they have with the manager."

Cole, who scored his first Premier League goal since April 2011 in Sunday's 3-2 win at his old club West Ham, has featured only sporadically for the Reds this season.

The 31-year-old midfielder has been out of action due to injury for bits of the season, but when fit for selection this term he has only started cup matches and reports have suggested he could be set for a move.

On that matter, Rodgers will "see what happens" and insists the way the situation develops from here is very much down to Cole.

"I'm just going along game by game," said Rodgers on the Liverpool Echo website.

"There is every opportunity for every player.

"It's not just about the games. Every player gets a chance every single day to show what they are all about.

"Is his future here? You would have to ask him that.

"The guy is still a Liverpool player and while he's a Liverpool player I'll work as hard as I can with my staff to try to make him the best we possibly can.

"If he's not going to play as often as he wants then he's no different to any player really. Players are about game time and money.

"But he's not any kind of problem, he's a good guy and we will see what happens over the coming months."