The idea that Arsenal could blow £100m on transfers and wages is quite simply laughable. It doesn’t take much research to show that more often than not we balance the books by selling what we spend and like I find myself recently repeating ad infinitum is that we have always run the club like this and it is not some tight fisted ego trip of the manager like some still try to pedal. I assume that Arsene’s budget depends on Champions League qualification which I guess is pretty obvious. The guillotine will fall on many squad necks but that

Whoo hoo! £100m war chest for Arsene Wenger to spend in the summer, great stuff isn’t it. Hang on a minute, I’ve just read the small print and it says that we have to make £110m on transfers before Arsene can go and spend that brand spanking new war chest.

The idea that Arsenal could blow £100m on transfers and wages is quite simply laughable. It doesn’t take much research to show that more often than not we balance the books by selling what we spend and like I find myself recently repeating ad infinitum is that we have always run the club like this and it is not some tight fisted ego trip of the manager like some still try to pedal.

I assume that Arsene’s budget depends on Champions League qualification which I guess is pretty obvious. The guillotine will fall on many squad necks but that cannot happen for the most part unless other teams part with their own cash first and with money in shortage these days I wonder how easy or indeed difficult it might be to shift some of our out of favour players.

This is important not only for financial reasons but also squad restrictions and when you think about it, those clubs who are desperate to obtain the signature of Squillaci have to sell Jimmy McCrudd first and then as you can imagine it turns into the chicken and egg situation all over again.

So while we all want our deals all done and dusted on the first day of the transfer window opening we should not forget that it is not always the fault of Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis, Dick Law or in fact any employees of Arsenal Football Club.

I am by no means trying to insinuate that we are blameless when it comes to our actions or non actions in the market. ‘I know what we did last summer’ but given the fact that we are run without risk you cannot imagine the club telling Arsene to go and buy Hazard, Gotze and Benzema and then once those players have signed, Ivan Gazidis comes in scratching his head asking Arsene ‘how exactly are we going to recoup this money?’

I expect the summer to be the usual cat and mouse, trying to do things quietly and efficiently but also having to wait on clubs, players, agents and so on. I just hope at the end of it we are happy with who leaves the club and who comes in, that is all we can hope for. At least in the mean time we will actually have a squad of players instead of half a squad who were waiting to be supplemented but hey, I suppose you do not want to be reminded of all that and neither do I.

Speaking of squad players, it was nice to see some of them get some minutes in the reserves and playing with a smile on their faces again. Surely that does the likes of Arshavin and Benayoun more good than sitting on the bench and then having 12 minutes or zero minutes over the course of a week.

It could be an explanation as to why our substitutes find it so difficult to make impacts when they come on, they have been starved of real football and have to come in from the cold to change a game at the highest level. Imagine the difference it would do for a person like Chamakh to have scored 18 goals in 23 games in the reserves so when his chance came to play for the first team, his body and mind would be better tuned to make a difference.

It would also be good for the younger players in the reserves to have experienced heads around them during match days and could speed up their progression.

Footballers need games to get the best out of themselves and we currently have a collection of players who are not being afforded the game time, reserve football could at least give them that.

There is a flip side to this argument though, we already suffer a vast amount of injuries without half our first team squad playing regular football. It also takes the chance away from other youngsters to gain football every week and subsequently developing. At the ages of 16-21 it is essential for players to play so they can learn and grow as players but careful rotation in certain games and then careful rotation of different positions in other games could give everyone what they need. Maybe, perhaps. I don’t know, I’m just putting it out there.

Yossi looked good in the reserves 5-0 thumping of Norwich kids but I guess he would do. I loved Benik Afobe’s finish, played through and with a calm head just side footed into the corner. Who knows, some room could be made for him to have a part in the squad next season.

So what about Andrey Arshavin and the link to Zenit? Great idea I say. Let us lose a squad member and gain absolutely nothing in return. Very helpful. I hope that is the end of that one unless they decide to give us Andrey Scoreloadsagoalich in return a striker who plays all across the front, scores goals for fun and also loves playing at left back. If not then just come back in the summer with some dirty cash.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t get his full England call up which is quite a surprise to be honest. As much as I like the idea that the spotlight will be lifted away from him for a little bit longer, I was quite looking forward to seeing how he coped on that stage and how he could affect the game and link up with the likes of Rooney.

I haven’t enjoyed watching England for some time now but the idea of Wilshere, Chamberlain and Rooney linking up together is interesting and we may see that at some point next season. I would venture to say that if they all stay fit then that is pretty likely to happen.

And finally the club have announced a freeze on standard season ticket prices which is beyond sensible. All hell would break loose the if club tried to raise prices with the atmosphere surrounding the club the way it already is. Club level has gone up 2% but hey, what is 2% when you can afford club level anyway.

With that, I am off but back tomorrow no doubt.

till then.