I give up, I really do… just when the fans were getting over the internal divisions presented by the fans who wanted transfer funds spent to reinforce the squad and those who decided that Arsene Wenger must not be questioned under any circumstances, Peter Hill-Wood decides to open his mouth. Thanks Peter! Even though I have warned everyone to avoid reading Tabloids and especially those from the Murdoch stable of publications, I see that he chose to answer questions from Steve Stammers of the Sunday Mirror. But when was the interview first given is my first question as some Journalists regurgitate old interviews as news. Anyway, what a timely way for the Tabloids to maintain the division at The Emirates. Is this some kind of media plot to destabilise our club or is there really some fire underneath these curls of smoke rising from Fleet Street?

Peter Hill-Wood is quoted as saying

"If somebody came and made a really huge bid then you cannot recommend shareholders turn it down because we don’t like it.

"We want the club the stay in its current ownership and, of course, you have some concern that someone will try to buy the club.

"The directors don’t want to sell but we are a public company. It depends on the price."

But wait….perhaps we do really need to listen to Peter Hill-Wood as upon this occasion something has clearly changed. Let us recall his position one year ago when he gave a pre AGM interview to the Daily Mail, Peter Hill-Wood is quoted as saying the following.

"We have always run Arsenal as a business and kept within reasonable bounds.

"All this nonsense about needing a billionaire to put a whole lot of money in to help shore up the annual deficit is not going to happen - it is lunacy."

The entire mindset of the Board was determined by the noises coming out of Red and White Holdings and the fall out from the split with David Dein. Arsenal supporters must now be somewhat concerned that if the Board is about to change tack, then all of the pain suffered through limited transfer funds etc was for nothing if we are prepared to sell our Heritage to the biggest bidder. But some financial pundits have whispered throughout this that eventually the dam would break under this tidal wave of money from foreign investors in the Premier League, and we had better be ready to consider our options.

Ok, I am not happy but from what I can read between the lines, is that before the buy out of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi group worth some £556 Billion,  it is alleged that Arsenal either in the form of Usmanov or perhaps the Board were approached before the deal with City, but the Group were unsuccessful. Now the talk is of more Arabian interest in the Premier League and that this is from the successful oil rich Saudi Family, The Al- Makhtoums who have revolutionised Horse Racing. The fit would be logical as the Arsenal stadium is called The Emirates and of course the Makhtoums are the family who rule Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. They also own the stadium sponsor’s Emirates Airlines. So in a sense, they  are already involved with the club fortunes to an extent.

So, far from this being a rush of blood to the head, could this be more like a warning that after the clubs accounts are published, Arsenal will be ripe for a takeover?  If so it would seem the Board could be faced with a possible hostile takeover from Usmanov once the intial lock down agreement ends in April of next year. The suggestion is that Stanley Kroenke will not have the financial muscle to outbid Usmanov. So we must look to others to defend us.

In which case this is not so much a gaff from our honourable bespectacled one, but a well timed call for help to the famous Arab Royal families. The wealth that is owned by these families would easily run a medium sized country. The UAE is the fifth largest economy in the living world. However the family that run Abu Dhabi has the richest city in the world. The Al- Nyahans, and according to my brief internet researches, despite being cousins these two families are not exactly bosom pals. Apparently 94% of the oil and gas reserves sit beneath Abu Dhabi, and yet everyone hears of Dubai and the Makhtoums.

Abu Dhabi has just established it’s own Airline Etihad Airways to rival The Emirates based just 90 miles away. Talk is gathering fast that the Arab families are in competition in terms of Global recognition and the product of football as established in the English Premier league would be an easy way of acquiring it.So if it is now about football enhancing the Royal Arab family recognition, then. Arsenal are the logical target, in not having the massive debts of Manchester United. Arsenal is a London based club being very well run would mean that the price of ownership would be lower. There would also be fewer tensions in having two Royal Families competing in the same city of Manchester.

If Arsenal had not given out this signal, and IF a takeover is really inevitable in the calculation of those who sit on the Board, then logically we could only have fallen into the clutches of Usmanov the biggest shareholder of the club. The recent surge in oil and gas prices, must mean that there are literally thousands of billions of pounds (Trillions) which are sitting around as extra cash doing nothing for these families. Those who recall me writing in an earlier blog that for ten seconds I had wanted The Abu Dhabi group to have bought Arsenal, then I came to my senses? Well now the unthinkable is fast becoming a choice between the Devil (Usmanov) and the deep blue sea (Arab Wealth). What should The Arsenal Board do if faced with those options?

Surely we should stick to our principles are remain independent? or is this an early sign that some signatories to the lock down agreement are weakening in their resolve? My call is for them to hold firm and not give away our precious heritage. But whether we like it or not Money talks, and the amount of money being speculated about is not so much loud talk as positively deafening…

Your comments are invited.

Fabregas the King.

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Morning all, as you might expect there's approximately nothing going on about Arsenal. And by approximately I mean exactly. I didn't really see any of the international football yesterday so I have no clue who won, who scored, so perhaps there's some Arsenal connection there. It's not important though.

I do have a real fucking cunt of a hangover though if that makes you feel any better. I bet there are some of you this morning with a mild hangover or just feeling slightly poorly but I feel most unwell indeed. Me and the Mugsmasher went to some bar last night and ordered two Leffe's and the bloke gave them to us in pint glasses filled almost to the top.

I was confused by this and he claimed that they had special Leffe glasses which were less than a pint and that if he'd given us the beer in those glasses that we wouldn't be complaining. My point was that he should have given us the beers in the special glasses then and this wouldn't be an issue but he refused point blank to fill the glasses to the top. How rude. You can't give somebody a pint glass of beer and not fill it to the top. I even offered to pay a bit extra if he'd just top them up but he was having none of it. I still drank the beer but it didn't taste as good as it would have if the glasses had been full.

I see Fat & Orange may very well just be Fat now. I do love the spin Orange has got his mate in the Daily Mail to put on the article. He's walking away for the good of Arsenal? Yeah right. Like he sold his shares for £75m to a despicable, fat, ugly, Man United supporting Uzbeki oligarch cunt for the good of Arsenal. It's quite plain that Fat realises that as long as Orange is on board there'll be no chance of him doing anything at Arsenal so he's sacked him.

I would still hope that even with Orange now out to pasture (although he could get a high profile job in FIFA!!!) that we have nothing to do with Fat, the despicable, fat, ugly, Man United supporting Uzbeki oligarch cunt.

Right, apart from that there's fuck all happening so I'm going to take medicine and drink coffee. Five a side later should be fun, fun, fun.

Laters.

Thus far during the debates on this sight I have vigorously defended Arsene Wenger’s transfer dealings this summer. The club is certainly in a far better state than many, if not all, external commentators give us credit for. However, in full honesty there are question marks and my position is rather closer to that of FTK’s than I have let on. But so disproportionate is the angst and vitriol from our own fans that I have felt obliged to offer robust defences of the manager, team, and club as a whole whenever they are attacked.

In reality our transfer dealings this summer can only leave doubts in the mind, they were certainly not an aggressive trading strategy. Abou Diaby’s injury history scares the life out of me, although I am not as concerned as others that our midfield rebirth hinges on his knobbly knees. Certainly our squad as a whole is much better in terms of depth, the only doubt rests on whether the top line talent is as good. What we have though that people seem to overlook, and consistently have done for a few summers as they predict overblown demise for us, is our football. This is heavily linked with coach, it is his job essentially in any football team.

This is where the phrase “on paper” falls down and drives me nuts. “On paper” Spurs are a good side and where last season also. I had a friend tell me last Christmas that “on paper” Berbatov was a great player, much better than Adebeyor. At the time Ade had twice as many goals and was leading the line influentially for the league leaders with the quality of his play and work rate. Berbatov was a lazy, often bored looking, enigmatic striker capable of brilliance but rarely showing it. What “on paper” meant was partly a reflection of potential through fleeting displays of natural talent, probably in excess of Ade’s I concede, and general opinion. It doesn’t matter how Berba plays, he is perceived as a very good player, in spite of his flaky production.

Opinion plays a disproportionate role in British football, as opposed to analysis, statistics and tactics. Pick up the Gazzetta de le Sport and see how detailed there tactics for a single game are, covering 3 broadsheet pages for the big teams. In Spain they give an award for the player with the most ball retrievals, something significant in a highly technical league when it isn’t returned through an aimless punt within 30 seconds. (I would love to see this in England) The point is analysis reflects reality, or at least endeavours to through reason. Whereas in England stereotypes, generally peddled by semi literate and small minded ex-pro’s and tabloid journalists, rule the day.

For example, foreign players dive; I still hear about Pires against Pompey, but people never bring up Rooney at OT. English players have more heart and by implication foreigners are soft. Clubs decades removed from any real success are “big teams”. Spurs are a decent side. Or, the old classic, the England team should be challenging for major honours. International football highlights well the difference between paper teams and real ones. A football team is not a collection of individual pieces where the sum of the parts equates to the whole, if it were England might pass the ball and even qualify for a tournament once in a while.

Football is a team game. Arsenal as a team produce football as good as any you will find and have done consistently under Wenger. Through this we are able to achieve great things and if anything the sum of the whole exceeds that of the parts. (It is not coincidence players who leave us rarely look as good again) Teams up and down the league strengthened last summer and it is rare now you don’t look at team line up before a game and think that is a damn good side. However, we have our football and we beat most teams, we are nearly untouchable at home. Away we need to dig in and that is where concerns may lie this year, but someone will protect our back 4 and don’t be surprised if they do a decent job, it is essentially a limited role technically for all its undoubted tactical significance. (Is that PGL screaming?)

Sure, only Nasri has come in to help out right away; Hleb won’t be missed. Maybe there is a space where Flamini used to sit, but we will still put 11 players on the pitch. I would wager that those 11 players will beat most teams this year, they will play good football and get results, that you can be confident of. If we play our best, we can beat anyone, there is no need to fear; the boys just have to find it in themselves to do that.

Maybe there are pieces here and there that might have looked like good additions, but we have something that money cannot buy. We have Arsene Wenger, the football he preaches and a team that knows ho to deliver it. That is something that fills me with confidence.  Remember, what we look like “on paper” and on the pitch are two very different things, there lies the managers genius, don’t lose faith in it.

By HollisArsene

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Not much happening, to be honest.

We're at the very height of the Interlulll and you know things are slow when Arsene Wenger is talking about international football. Still, Arsenal's star summer signing can help ease the blues as he's going to be back from injury any time now.

Amaury Fishshop was signed from Werder Bremen for free (they even threw in all his plaster casts and traction) and he's hopeful he'll be back in contention for a place in the squad soon. He says:

The injury is getting better bit by bit. I've been doing ball work for five or six days now and I am running three times a week. I'm nearly pain-free and hope to be back as soon as possible. The ball is fascinating to me. I know it's an integral part of the game but I still haven't quite worked out exactly what it's for. I'm hoping that will continued exposure to it its purpose will become clear.

Arsene Wenger has admitted his signing is a 'gamble' but what is clear is that he's not a central-midfielder. He sees himself as more of an attacking player, perhaps another option for when Rosicky picks up another 10 month injury after just a couple of games. In the meantime they can keep each other company and cry through the dark times.

Loads of our players are in action tonight for their countries as the world cup qualifying campaigns kick off. Some of the games will be on TV where you are. You can watch if you want. I won't be, I don't think. I think I'm going to take advantage of the glorious weather here, lie on my back and drown myself.

You know they actually have ads on the radio here telling us we have to conserve water. I mean, what the fuck is that about? They say watering your lawn for an hour takes up 500 litres of water, or something. Who the fuck needs to water their lawn in Dublin for an hour? At this point it's probably already under three feet of rain. Here's a better idea you pack of wankers, instead of telling us not to use the water we have why don't you cunts figure out a way of keeping it better? Honestly, it's like telling people in the desert they have to be careful about how much sand they use.

Right, lots to do this morning so I'd best get on and do it. Till tomorrow.

Never being the one to hide when the going the gets tough, I should really have laid low today and provided a non controversial blog today after yesterday’s mauling. The lack of a signing to replace Flamini is as perplexing as it is worrying. I do believe that Arsene Wenger tried to bring someone in, but for reasons best known to Arsenal, he failed. I remain of the view that the current options of Diaby and Denilson overlook the player that I believe could transform our prospects for major success this season.

The debacle of the last transfer window is something that appears to be a major error that Arsene can be rightly criticised for, as he is responsible for maintaining the club’s fortunes on the pitch. This is not to say that I am calling for Arsene Wenger to go, or suggesting that the most successful manager in our club’s history does not know what he is doing, this is merely one opinion expressed by an Arsenal fan. Happily I am not responsible for the future of Arsenal Football club. Having heard he say that we needed an extra midfielder, I trusted Wenger to deliver, he didn’t so let’s move on.

Alexandre Song has been selected by Arsene Wenger to become one of our centre backs, and I am hoping that in the absence of a DCM signing, Arsene Wenger will change his mind and give the role of DCM to this vastly underated gem in our squad. Alexandre Song has taken some time to develop, yet those who have charted his progress through his loan period and beyond must be salivating at the prospect of his regular inclusion in Arsenal teams. Now is the time to set him loose on the unsuspecting Premiership rivals.

I think that there are aspects to Alexandre Song’s game that should have seen him put in the team ahead of Denilson, but perhaps it was Song’s involvement at the Olympics that changed Arsene Wenger’s options. In the games that Denilson has played, I am hoping that people will agree that he is far from ready to assume the Flamini mantle, and much of his poor play stems I feel from a lack of a true footballing brain. Cesc Fabregas needs time on the ball and someone that he can depend upon to cover him when he surges forward. Denilson is too much in the same mould as Fabregas and currently lacks the defensive edge to his game. Denilson has much to offer when he eventually matures.

Alexandre Song on the other hand is the alternative to Abou Diaby, and his quick feet and passion for tackling reminds of Kolo Toure when he first arrived at the Arsenal. Song however has a side to him that has held him back, and that relates to a degree of impulsivity and impatience that his loan periods and International games have now thankfully suppressed. I used to call these his “David James” moments. When Song would inexplicably run further up the pitch out of position leaving his colleagues stranded and himself isolated.

Arsene Wenger says that Song lack the stamina to be a DCM for the entire season, and he may well be right, but at the moment given the shaky performances of Denilson, beggars cannot be choosers. Song lacks the creativity of an Alonso, but has the drive of a Gareth Barry. With Song and unlike the Denilson on show at Fulham and Newcastle United, we will win more fifty-fifty balls in the middle of the park, something that Flamini excelled at. Song creates options by putting pressure on the ball, and his ability to change pace is an asset that we need at the moment.

Defensively Song has matured and sees danger often ahead of his team mates. Coupled with his good turn of pace, he possesses excellent upper body strength which means that he is very unlikely to be pushed off the ball. If he could improve his pass accuracy, then Song’s installation at DCM would prove to many that he had come of age and then he would be well on his way to becoming an Arsenal Legend, for that is how highly I rate the prospects for this player. Denilson on the other hand is physically too lightweight at the moment and in my opinion he needs another season or two to mature into what Song brings to the table now.

Denilson will remain a vital and creative member of our squad, and please do not think that I regard him as a weak player. His recent tendency to panic and lose focus is something that we have not seen from the Brazilian, and I suspect that the enormity of the role given to him by Arsene Wenger had got the better of him. He must be protected with regard to his confidence and with others like Aaron Ramsey in the wings, he must improve his game, but for me it is Song, not Denilson who is the solution to the Flamini void.

Fabregas the King.

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A couple of days without a post on the blog, and speculation on The Guns would have you believe that our lack of transfer window activity drove me to suicide.  Well, considering the unlikelihood of me blogging from beyond the grave, I think we can put that rumour to rest.

I just haven’t quite worked out what to say about the lack of signings yet, and fortunately the International break gives me a little while to do so.  In the mean-time, I think this piece by arseblogger should calm the most hysterical of fans.

Just to kill any false hopes that might be fluttering around the debris of our transfer dealings, I understand the Appiah rumour is entirely unsubstantiated, and that he is still expected to sign for managerless West Ham.

We are, however, close to appointing a new CEO, with the rumoured front-runners for the job being Vodafone’s Paul Donovan and Birmingham’s Karren Brady.  Whoever comes in, hopefully they’ll display more tact and intelligence than Dennis Wise has done as he’s gone about destroying Newcastle United.

Good news for our young wide-men, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, who could both be set for International starts this weekend.  Good for them, as long as they don’t get injured.  That would very quickly become not good for us.

More soon.

Morning from a wet and dreary Dublin. I was really hoping for a bit of an Indian summer in September but it turns out the Indian summer is just another Irish summer, except a bit colder.

A few bits and bobs to talk about but as we are still in the midst of the Interlull it's all a bit quiet overall. Samir Nasri is settling in nicely and is rather enjoying himself at the Arsenal. He says:

I'm setting in nicely and I'm rather enjoying myself at the Arsenal.

But really he says:

I am very happy. I have been able to regain my place in the national side, there is a good atmosphere at the club, and we have a very young squad that shares my excitement.

He's played down talk of him being the 'new Pires', and rightly so. The lad has made a very bright start to his Arsenal career but it's a career that spans a whopping three or four games at the moment. He has been the bright spark amongst all the current darkness though. 

Gokhan Inler says he deliberated for a week about whether to move to Arsenal or not. Get to fuck you scaldy cunt. If you need a week to decide you want to move to Arsenal then you're a stupid scaldy spoon of a cunt. Maybe he likes Italian food though. And there's no better place to get Italian food than Italy. I've never been to Italy. Anyway, the point is Inler is a cunt. We never needed you anyway, bastard! That part may not exactly be true but I'm just bitter and lashing out.

Arsene Wenger says the appointment of a new Chief Executive will be made soon. The boss says:

I am involved in it and I am consulted for it but it is down to the Board to make that decision. Having consulted me, they will take the responsibility to name the right person. I think the decision will be made soon but I don’t know exactly when.

You know who would make a good Chief Executive? He-Man singing 4 non-blondes. He'd certainly bring some campness to the club which, frankly, we've been missing since Keith Edelman and his revolutionary 'Your own dress Friday' edict, which meant suits and ties were thrown aside for one day and everyone had to come to work in a frock. Failing that someone with business acumen and knowledge of football would do.

Beyond that there's not much to tell you so let's get on with this week's Arsecast. On the show I chat to Kevin Witcher of The Gooner about the transfer deadline day lack of business and the implications for the team and the manager, The Man in the Bar has a player history, there's a tale of the unexpected, Eboue and more.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, the direct feed URL is here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

And, as we're talking to Kevin from The Gooner, don't forget his book Arsènal - The making of a modern superclub is still available at a discount price to Arseblog readers.  To buy the book online, simply click here and select ‘buy now’. In the window that opens enter the word rocky in the promotion code box and your £2 will be discounted when you press the ‘go’ box next to it. The money you save will be donated to cancer charities so it's well worth it all round.

Right so, that's about that. More tomorrow, no doubt.

So everyone is talking about the Ghanaian midfielder currently a free agent from Fenerbache, and how he could provide experience and a role to replace Flamini at Arsenal. Well I have to say that this would be ok typical of a side lacking in ambition like West Ham, but a clear step backwards for a squad based on youth like the Arsenal. It is clutching at straws, and I believe that we would just get another injury prone player, who every so often would disappear to the African Cup of Nations.

African players disappear to play for their countries, when we need the most. So my view is until the African Cup of Nations changes the timing of the tournament, we should not buy any African players that would command a pivotal place in the team only to disappear at very important times of the season. Harsh maybe, but perhaps it will take this kind of stance to send the message Countries who benefit from the developing of these players without paying their high wages.

What contribution could a player make to our team, who has suffered from major knee injuries and is not good enough to hold down a place in Fenerbache’s squad? This is not the way forward, to sign has been injury prone players, no matter how fantastic "The Tornado" was in his prime. A signing like this would be an embarrassment, and suggest to Arsenal fans the world over that our club lacks desire, vision and most of all money. We have already signed free agent Bischoff as a gamble, can I suggest that someone at the Arsenal wakes up and realises that this talk makes our club look like a laughing stock.

As the excellent image from Perry Groves’ Lovechild suggests, if we are determined not to spend money, then come out and be honest about it, but to accept another hand me down as an excuse for a new signing is just taking the p*ss. Are we the Arsenal? the greatest team in London, ready to launch an attempt to secure the Champions League and the Premiership title? Or are we so bankrupt of cash and vision that we have to apply sticking plasters to the public relations nightmare that saw us linked with three midfielders (Inler, Alonso, Veloso) but failed to get even one of them?

Pass the sick bag Alice…

Fabregas the King.

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So here we are Arsechums. We're now officially in the lull. The international lull. I shall christen it the Interlull.

Of course this should be put in context and we've just experienced the Transfer Window Peak, now known as the Tranpeak. After the huge interest in the Tranpeak, which was massively anti-climactic because of the fact we didn't bring anyone in (a NonSigTranpeak), it just makes this Interlull seem even more lullsome.

Had we managed a signing we would have had a YaySigTranpeak which would have enabled us to put off the effects of the Interlull for another few days as we discussed the merits of the new player, or indeed players, who arrived at the club. Now though everyone is just a bit down in the dumps as we don't have any football to take our minds off the NonSigTranpeak and the fear that Eboue might be thrust into action as a central midfielder (EbTerror) is affecting people badly.

Nevertheless we just have to make do and try and help each other through these difficult times. The Interlull is like a full moon for football supporters, allowing them to change and morph into fur covered beasts (WereFans). Bewildered and upset they try and find a partner, often attempting to mate with other WereFans whose families disapprove of their union and it is not unkown for the pair of star-crossed lovers to take their lives as they cannot cope with the situation (WereForeArseFans).

Difficult times, I'm sure you'll agree. I suspect the lullstrousness of this Interlull will be greater than any other in history. We all want to just get on with things now. We're resigned to the fact that the squad we have can't be augmented until January but the last thing we want is a load of our players off on international duty. We only have each other though. Together we can muddle on through and soon we'll have real football back again with the Arsenal and we can all take it easy (RealArseastion).

In a quick round-up of the news that is out there Carlos Vela says he's really looking forward to making his mark in the Premier League. Speaking to Four Four Two magazine, the Mexican striker (StriMex), says:

In football there's always pressure. That's part of the game. I don't fear it. I prefer to talk about motivation: you want to give 100 percent and I'm just longing to give 100 percent for Arsenal.

And that's about it. Told you it was a quick round-up. There will, of course, be an Arsecast tomorrow so I shall toddle off, get some breakfast and have a think about that.

Till then.

Business men like a challenge and it was interesting to hear that Abu Dhabi group that spectacularly took over the blue half of Manchester wanted Arsenal Football club first, but they failed to break the resolve of the Board. This is surely good news, but as defiant as I stand against the tidal wave of money coming in for just about every Premiership Club, there was just a little part of me that weakened for ten seconds with the lustre of the gold bullion stacked high in arab coffers, and I pondered that if we are eventually going to be taken over, who would I prefer? It was then that I wished for a fleeting moment that perhaps the Board had not been so firm in it’s resolve.

Happily I came to my senses rapidly and realised that all that glitters is not gold, and I would like to explain to Arsenal fans why, despite the disappointment following the close of the transfer window, our security lies not in the hands of Billionaires, but in the honesty of building a real football team by Arsene Wenger. 

Billionaires and the Premier League.

Which is the richest league in UEFA? With all the Billionaires around and the amount of TV money, and high wage settlements, you may be surprised to learn that it is the Bundesliga. How have the Germans managed to buck the trend towards massive spending? Well as I indicated in an earlier blog, the French and German football associations exert a degree of control over the extent to which clubs can run with a deficit.

In controlling their deficits, clubs must only pay the wages that they can afford, based upon strong revenues from attendances and TV income. Last year according to Deloitte, The Bundesliga exceeded the operating profit of the English Premier league by a hundred million Euros, despite having a turnover of 1.3 Billion Euros compared to the 2.2 Billion received by the cash rich English league. How was this achieved? The players salaries are lower and no Billionaires are allowed to come in and bank roll clubs. The wage to turnover ratio that Deloitte indicated as the yardstick for good cost management is around 45% in the Bundesliga, compare that with the 62% of the Premier League. Arsenal have managed 55% whereas for Chelsea it is an astronomical 71%.

With operating profits falling there are harsh lessons that need to be learned by clubs in the Premier League, and UEFA will eventually move towards changing the status quo, but this move will be motivated by the traditional dislike for all things English, I am afraid to say. UEFA said very little when the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid bought and sold players for astronomical sums in the eighties and nineties, and my continuing dislike of the UEFA authorities stems from it’s abject failure to punish Real Madrid for continually tapping the best players in Europe with impunity.

Thus it was for UEFA to have to swallow a horrible dose of medicine, seeing two English clubs compete for the Champions League in Moscow. To see the best players in Europe all expressing a wish to get on the gravy train travelling from South West London to the North West of England. With their short careers and the greed of agents, everyone wants a piece of the action before the bubble bursts. Arsene Wenger is right to suggest that soon action will have to be taken if the Premier League empire is to survive.

Do Billionaires guarantee success in the Premier League?

Forbes regularly compiles the lists of Billionaires in the World and the top 400 are regularly updated here.

The World’s Billionaires 

A quick glance at the first page sees Chelsea’s Abromovich in fifteenth place. The Energy riches of the Russian economy have made many Russians extremely rich, and Alisher Usmanov is one of those who have benefited. Yet at a time when Bill Kenwright of Everton and Mike Ashley of Newcastle United are pleading for a Billionaire to come and buy their clubs, the new players in the Premier League went with the North West of England, where the majority of Trophies reside. Manchester City were lucky by association, and will soon be the richest club in the world.

Then the future for Manchester City is by no means certain, for they lack the single lure of professional status much cherished by excellent footballers. The Champions League. To play in the league of Champions, means that you are the best of the best. At a time when the size of their salary cheques defy business logic in terms of return for those investors who are prepared to throw away money in pursuit of a dream. The sensible investors will realise that the winning trophies is much more than a financial lottery.

It requires a team that can play well together and motivate themselves for that bigger accolade of success. The big investors now entering the Premier League have miscalculated and will soon realise that opulence and extreme wealth does not motivate in the same way. Manchester City will soon see that the burning passion and pain needed to win a trophy by that extra effort in the closing ten minutes of a game, will not be expended by those whose appearance fees and income for the evening will dwarf that being paid to the club as a whole for the success. Players know that once the contracts are signed, it is the clubs that are a hostage to fortune.

Ask the fans of Aston Villa, and Portsmouth if having a Billionaire owner guarantees success? Does the richest individual owner of Chelsea feel happy that his side only drew with Tottenham recently? What of Manchester United and the Glazers? their success of achieving Champions League and Premiership titles must surely guarantee success for the next ten years? Well ask any Man Utd fan who knows the real financial state of their club. The massive debts are unsustainable and soon there will be mass panic among their ranks as the banks call in their massive loans.

This really is why UEFA will move to prevent Private Equity firms and organisations like the Abu Dhabi Group gaining a foothold in Europe. The ability through using natural resources such as Oil and Gas revenues to generate sums of money that I cannot type into my calculator has made the uneven playing field into a one way slide towards those with the biggest pockets. The risk is not that one club will win everything, but as with Everton, and Newcastle and possibly Manchester United, several clubs will financially go under as they chase the dream and live beyond their means.

We have two Billionaires at Arsenal, Alisher Usmanov is a fat Russian Billionaire who stated aim is that he wants to make money out of us, and then there is Stanley Kroenke, a silent American Billionaire married to the Billionaire Heiress of Walmart who will be on the Arsenal Board soon and who has already made money out of us. Stan Kroenke’s 50% ownership of  Arsenal Broadband, the holding of shares in Arsenal PLC by KSE in Denver is the sign of a long commitment with Sport in general and Arsenal in particular. But I predict that even he will succumb to the desire of owning our club outright, with all the perils that would ensue. So my message to Stanley Kroenke, is tread carefully, we value your partnership, not your ownership. 

I believe that Football Clubs must remain independent to survive in the long term, as the succession of Billionaire owners is limited by the profile of the game. Once a market becomes saturated, Investors will move to the next growth area. The Premier league realises this, which is why it is desperate to move the franchise abroad and maintain it’s current monopolistic position in terms of TV revenues. So you could be forgiven for wondering why, after Arsenal failed to prise Xabi Alonso from Liverpool at the eleventh hour for what is being rumoured a shortfall of 2 million pounds, I am still holding faith with the “No Billionaire Takeover at the Arsenal” line.

Well if you have not already gathered from this blog, the success of a football club comes from an interaction of strong relationships and team working. The relationship between a strong fan base and the club to guarantee high attendances. The relationship between the players and the manager, to produce beautiful football and beat the very best in the world with squads worth millions less, and of course the belief that in time, remaining true to these principles will see the club prosper and survive at a time when UEFA regulations and the wider financial economy will make owning a club in the English Premier League so unprofitable, that the Billionaires will lose interest in throwing away their hard earned money. Remember Billionaires are still businessmen at heart and they know only to well, that a fool and his money are soon parted…

Fabregas the King.

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