Indeed we are self-sustaining - by "we" I mean Kroenke. Because that's what's actually being sustained, isn't it? His investment. Are we self-sustaining going forward as a footballing force though? I can't see it. After all the projects and plans designed to pull in the cash, even with world record gate receipts, we still hear talk of a £70mill "war chest". Utd will most likely spend twice or three times that rebuilding their squad under a new manager. The Spanish clubs, Bayern, PSG, they'll all dwarf our "skirmish chest" with their spending. These clubs can compete for the very best players, if they want them they go and get them. We still need to find angles and discounts and one-off circumstances to lure genuine talent and much of the lure was the Wenger myth which has now been clinically exposed. So let's not pretend we are the football power we think we are. We are the leading business in the football industry, that's all. We still lag well behind the real football powers and there's no indication that will be changing.

You can point out the many nefarious means by which the competition stays ahead and you might not approve of it but it remains a fact, we still can't compete. Or you could fall back on this idea that money is no longer the ultimate factor, based on Leicester's performance this season. But that would be naive thinking. Look at what was uncovered just last week. As soon as an outsider steps into the reserved territory of the "big" flops we see covert meetings and talk of plans to lock in the privileges of the money clubs. At most you can say the Wenger myth kept us in the "big 5" reckoning. That will be worth something, but how sad we even think about such underhand means to preserve our status because we can't do it on the pitch.

If we can't buy our way to success then what's happening internally that might offer another route? Nothing is the answer. Look at the state of our "hot" prospects like Walcott and Chamberlain. Where are the youth prodigies? Who is coming through to make a big impact on the European and global stage? Nobody is the answer. What happened to Project Youth? What did it yield?

Even when we get a new manager in, if Kroenke remains and the focus of the club is unchanged then how much opportunity will the new guy really have? Will his job be to push us on as a football team or simply keep as at a level that delivers the financial returns the owners have so far prioritised? Did Wenger, with all his influence, ever try to force a change in the mentality? It appears not. Could a new manager step in and change the culture given he'd surely start with much less influence in far fewer aspects of the club (and rightly so) than Wenger? I doubt it. We'd have to find a guy who could succeed despite the owners. Who could it be and how long could he expect to remain in charge?

And if by some miracle Kroenke pissed off, look at who is waiting behind him. A guy who has only recently made very clear he aims to keep his grip on his shares for the benefits they can offer to his crime family. He's the one who wanted dividends paid out from day one, don't forget that.

After the shambles of this season, can we hang on to the few genuine star players we have. Probably yes, for another season. I expect to see contract negotiations strung out as Bosman windows approach. Then we'll have a choice of caving in to huge demands or letting players go while they still have value. We've seen it before. Grand plans that don't materialise, transfer windows that plunge the club into gloom rather than build anticipation and expectation. Huge demands on individual players to make up for the long standing gaps in quality. There have been too many false dawns, too many promises, too many proclamations that finally we have the resources to compete followed by failure to utilise those resources. Players will be wise now. When they see the likes of Ozil and Alexis come here only to languish in the customary also-rans placings and be embarrassed in the Champions League it's a powerful message. Why would a player who can take his pick choose Arsenal?

What I do know is the longer Wenger remains the more it will drain the potential of the club, in football terms. An owner with balls and a will to win would have pushed the faded and well past it manager out the door the second Guardiola became available. We should have secured him at all costs because he's a guy who could change the culture. Even if he's not the best thing since sliced bread (and we'll soon find out) his appointment would have been a massive statement of intent. But we don't have people running this club who think like that. They have an entirely different agenda.

Which is why Wenger will be here for a while yet. And why we'll end up right back at the start when he eventually goes. We've reached our limit. Not because we couldn't succeed on the pitch if we put our minds to it and backed the effort with resolve and resources. But because we're owned by leeches who understand nothing about this game and don't feel the need to ever learn. They are getting precisely what they want and what they want most is Wenger because he feeds their true and only passion - money.