Arsene Wenger

So he finally did it. Soccer manager Arsene Wenger broke a nine-year hoodoo for Arsenal and brought the FA Cup back to north London. It has been a strange ride for the club, moving stadiums and having to balance the books while oil money flows like a steroid injection through their closest rivals. Arsenal have been an enigma, keeping in touch at the top while rarely threatening to win anything. 

Scorpio rising in Anuradha nakshatra is a 'star of success', but also shows somebody beset with responsibility that is shown in their face. It gives Wenger a mysterious, secretive air which is enhanced by Sun and Moon in the 12th. For Scorpio lagna this combination forms a highly auspicious Dharma Karma Adipati Yoga, showing a notable or successful leader. This signature is diluted in the 12th house however, and further by both the Sun's debilitation and the Moon's relative lack of light. 

It suggests a private person who does well working behind the scenes or operating inside an institution, especially in faraway places. He arrived at Arsenal as an unknown in 1996 after managing for two years in Japan. He was the first successful foreign manager in the Premier League and sparked a revolution with his innovations in player's diet and match preparation. "People who do know him tell me he is a good man but I don't suppose I'll ever find out for myself," Sir Alex Ferguson said in 2003. "He seems to pull down the shutters when you meet him".

22/10/1949, 11am, Strasbourg, France

Add caption

Venus rising however, gives him personal charm and a gift for public relations. He regards media work as an essential part of his job and is respected by the press as an open and engaging interviewee. Chart ruler Mars in the 10th also shows someone at ease in the spotlight, with an ambitious, competitive streak. Saturn also in the 10th gravitates towards an executive role and is comfortable with playing a long game, career-wise. Its exaltation in the Navamsha shows character, and he is famous for never having broken a contract in his managerial career. 

Mercury is stand-out strong, exalted in Virgo and also powerful in the Navamsha. This is a classy, practical thinker with natural intelligence. Nicknamed The Professor, Wenger has an economics degree, speaks several languages and is known for his mastery of detail. He arrived in the UK during his Mercury Mahadasha and in 1997-8 won the League and Cup 'Double' in his first full season. The 2002-3 season (Mercury-Moon) saw his stylish Arsenal side remaining unbeaten throughout the whole league campaign, an unprecedented achievement. 

Yet until last Saturday, Wenger had lived on his laurels. Jupiter is notably weak at the first degree of Capricorn, which speaks to his managerial philosophy. Rather than break the club's wage structure, he has repeatedly missed transfer targets and allowed star players to leave. We do not know to what extent his hands have been tied financially, but he has stubbornly refused to pay even a little extra when it might have made the difference. On the field too, Wenger's insistence on playing what some perceive as a dilettante style of football has recently lead to some embarrassing defeats.

He remains popular with the board at Arsenal because he works within the financial restrictions and allows the club to turn a profit. An admittedly weak Gaja Kesari Yoga links the Moon with Jupiter, which shows a builder, but fans do not want him to balance the books so much as lift trophies.

Will he ever recapture his early heights with Arsenal? The astrological evidence suggests not. His Mercury Mahadasha, especially 1995-2007 was a golden period that saw him operating at the height of his powers, with energy, talent and good fortune. He oversaw the move to Arsenal's new stadium in 2006 and the club narrowly missed winning the Champion's League in the same year. Since 2012 he has been in the otherworldly Ketu dasha, which is still governed by Mercury, but with a quite different complexion. He seems aloof and rather eccentric sometimes, Ketu qualites, and one wonders whether he is running a competitive side or simply a footballing academy.

He is also coming out of the gruelling transit of Saturn over his natal Moon, Sade Sati. Times have been tough. When Saturn hits his ascendant next season, we might see a new man, with money to spend and a new competitive spirit. His name and longevity alone links him with the club, he has a statue outside built to him. If he doesn't hit the heights of the 2002-3 Invincible season, then he can rest assured that few others have either.