Not sure what we're debating if we both agree on the main points.
You agree that our lack of success has nothing to do with money - I agree with you that football is becoming a more money=success sport although I think this will change with the FFP rules (hopefully, although it's expecting a lot of FIFA).
That said despite all the errors we've made I'm looking at our own team, and our biggest errors have jack all to do with money which is why I'm beginning to despise Wenger.
The richest teams still don't win stuff, sure money helps but I don't think it's the ultimate factor given the amount of big teams in the sport. The two biggest spenders in England last season won a mere FA Cup between them; Real Madrid spent €260M in one transfer window a couple years ago and ended up trophyless. With more and more obscenely rich clubs emerging (PSG and QPR, to name two), I don't think it's going to affect the elite group of players too much over the next few years.
Manchester United's success is an example of how money isn't a requisite; sure, you can say Ronaldo distorts the figures but it does that for us as well with the likes of Adebayor and Toure going for 40M (who else would pay so much for such little quality). Even if you remove the Ronaldo fee you have clubs that have consistently spent 30-40M per season more than them (just on players, not even including coaches) but they've still been successful.