I personally think we can kiss goodbye to RVP if we miss out on CL football. Losing RVP would be the final nail in the coffin IMO, all the big name assests would have been stripped and I think the fans and more importantly the players would be utterly crestfallen to lose someone as important as him. So for that reason alone I cannot possibly see any benefits to finishing 5th (or even 4th if we're going to bank on a Bayern win, it's too risky). I've got a feeling we'll finish 4th as well so we'll be in limbo until the CL final.

I have no doubt the club will continue running as it is, with or without CL football. Everything is ad-hoc, every penny is counted and I'm sure there is a contingency plan for everything.

As Sin mentions above, it's a matter of status with the CL. If we ever have any designs of becoming a successful, trophy-winning club again, Arsenal needs to remain in the CL and recieve all the kudos that goes with it.