Firstly, can I say that I despise what Citeh, and to a slightly lesser extent the Chavs are doing to our league. It sickens me the way the whole football world is creaming their pants about the City 'goal machine' and the genius of Pellegrini - when the reality is that he inherited a billion pound squad, and then added at least 3 of the world's best players to it. Fuck's sake, will no pundit or commentator ever point out that for all of this money, Citeh have under-achieved in the past and bloody well should be out of sight in the league and playing the best football on earth? As for Maureen - reporters should be savaging him rather than sucking him off for the way he plays, and the pitiful excuses he makes, despite the ridiculous funds at his disposal.
I'd go so far as to say that these 2 clubs have done more to turm me off football altogether than any number of trophyless years as an Arsenal fan.
But ranting over - I want to ask those who say we can't compete against the billionaires whether we should just throw in the towel and accept that we will never win anything again? Because no matter how well run Arsenal is; no matter what our commercial success is using a proper business model - we will never compete financially unless we go the same route as Citeh; Chelsea; PSG; Monaco (we will never get the state aid of RM or Barca; and we will of course never have top dog status like Bayern). We can hope all we like, but PSG have shown in stark relef the pointlessness of FFP - and the reality is that there is so much money swilling around the game, and the EPL will forever be bloated with TV money - that there simply won't be a 'crash' when rich owners lose interest. The future is likely only to see more money, not less, invested in our competitors.
So, if we accept that this season is steroid Citeh's for the taking - and that the future will see just as much, if not more financial doping - then what's the point? Do we accept that our once proud club is now doomed to accept CL football as the summit of our achievements - and if so do we all need to alter our position as fans permanently, and concentrate simply on enjoying the wins we get on matchdays, without harbouring any greater ambition than that? What's the point of making limited progress this season if we all accept that we are not going, realistically to win the league this season; next season; the season after.
And should we all stop criticising club and/or manager if finishing top 4 is the best we are ever realistically going to do?