This one Rigsby-
In a period of economic uncertainty when financial institutions don't want to lend, it should come as no surprise that Arsenal are reluctant to spend.
The Gunners have been run as a bank for too long. Finance has taken precedence over football to create an imbalance that has led to the team's decline.
Yet it is bank manager Arsene Wenger whose credit is at an all-time low. The Frenchman has his faults. That famous myopia that helped deflect undue criticism of his side when successful now appears to prevent him from realising their fallibilities.
Questions must be asked of the use of a tactical system that places great strain on the full-backs when the club are suffering an injury crisis in that position.
Defensive mistakes occur with embarrassing regularity, a lack of maturity continues to hinder them on the pitch while the club's backroom staff is crying out for a shake-up to inject fresh ideas and banish the yes men mentality that ensures Wenger's philosophy goes unchallenged despite six trophyless seasons.
These concerns were the underlying cause of the anger vented in the direction of the dugout during Sunday's defeat by Manchester United and Wenger has undoubtedly made mistakes for which he should be held accountable.
But there comes a point when the board should take
some responsibility for embarking upon a route of financial prudence while failing to provide Wenger with the help needed to take the club forward.
Majority shareholder Stan Kroenke must be more vocal in outlining his plans for the club because at present it is hard to escape the feeling Wenger is being hung out to dry.
Having been championed by a board happy to give him as much footballing freedom as any manager alive, he stands and falls by what his philosophy delivers.
But that would absolve the board of responsibility for their previous actions. In the 1990s, they rightly felt a new stadium was required to increase matchday revenues to compete with Manchester United and other clubs with bigger capacity.
By 1999, the move to Ashburton Grove was confirmed and, after a delay, the stadium was opened in 2006, three years later than originally planned.
It was a sensible move and Emirates Stadium is an enduring legacy for the board and Wenger but in between 1999 and 2006, Roman Abramovich arrived to change the landscape of English football at Chelsea. Suddenly, football's finances were warped in a manner nobody could have predicted. The influx of cash-rich foreign owners multiplied the problem before Manchester City's Arab owners took
things to a fantastical level.
Arsenal are well managed and correctly proud of their self-sustainability, particularly in contrast to City's huge losses, which were £197million at the last count. But pride in the balance sheet does not satisfy supporters, especially those asked to pay the highest ticket price in the Premier League. There is a middle ground between financial madness and a cobwebbed chequebook.
Wenger, of course, buys into prudence and for that he is blamed. He endlessly preaches value in the transfer market. "Football is not a Âsupermarket," says Wenger, yet his club seem content on counting their Clubcard points without ever cashing in.
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill are among recent targets Arsenal refused to pay the going rate - or a Âlittle more - to get the deal done. Finance 1 Football 0.
Wenger knows a season without Champions League football would be a disaster in footballing terms but chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists the club would be well-placed regardless. Finance 2 Football 0.
The club's hierarchy ultimately decided it was worth delaying their transfer dealings until the end of August in a bid to squeeze around £5m extra from the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. Finance 3 Football 0.
Qualification for the Champions League was not assured until Udinese had been seen off but the club should already have replaced those certain to depart. Finance 4 Football 0.
Delays and doubts over bringing in defensive reinforcements and creating a swollen squad have prompted stalling in the market this month while the team suffered three successive League defeats for the first time in five years. Finance 5 Football 0.
No other club are better placed for the introduction of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules but the wait for a fully regulated system to have an impact is a damaging one. Finance 6 Football 0. Is it worth keeping score? Maybe eventually it will reach 8-2.
Wenger has erred but his former glories combined with an ability to navigate the club through such a seismic shift should ensure respect endures. But the club must stop counting the cash and instead count the cost of a failure to invest.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy deserves credit for keeping key players and successfully negotiating contracts. Arsenal face another battle with Robin van Persie among others this summer.
Since 2005 - when they last finished a season in the top two and last won a trophy - Arsenal have made a £24.3m profit from Âtransfers.
Financially, the Gunners are in the black but their football is in the red. Wenger has made up the deficit for too long. He needs help.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard- ... -rating.do
The irony being that he says in the same article that there are thousands of people that think they could do his job. Given the quality of this and other articles he's written, they'd be right!! 
