We'll still have a pot to piss in says Fiszman

Most managers have such a short term in office in which to prove themselves that they end up buying without regard to the health of the club beyond one season Danny Fiszman claims in the News of the World.

The report quotes the director and major shareholder defending Wengers policy of looking to build enduring success.

"You can understand the mentality of other managers who say they have to buy the finished article because the average 'life' of a manager is so short. But Arsene has not gone down that route. His words were ... 'I want to leave it in better shape than when I came'. Now hopefully we'll have trophies along the way but he doesn't want to buy success this year and next year we have a bad year and the next we haven`t got a pot to piss in. We`ve seen all that too often."

Echoing his claim, following the Champions League draw last week, that the club, in the face of billionaire investors, is able to compete for big money signings if the manager wishes he explained:

"We are a profitable club, self-sustaining, the cash is there. It's up to the manager. Our repayments on the stadium are under £20m a year and it`s producing an extra £50m a year. Our annual costs are fixed for 25 years. They will not rise. Our income will rise and our gate income will rise. Those payments are fixed. So in not too long it will look like a few pennies."

Fiszman also defended the transfer comings and goings of the summer while reiterating that these decisions are the managers alone.

"We believe in him but its his head on the block in the end." he said "People talk just because Flamini left. He had one great year - one. Before then, he was just a squad player. And while Alex was a lovely player at holding the ball, there was no end product. We have swapped him for Nasri, who already has two goals."

Unconcerned about the failure to buy more players in the transfer period Fiszman claimed, "You either believe in Arsene or you don`t. We do. We believe in the way he manages the club. We have total confidence in him."

Elsewhere, Club Chairman Peter Hill-Wood continues the theme believing the club has the squad to challenge for honours. Quoted in the Sunday Mirror he says "Arsene doesn`t spend for the sake of it. He is very careful. He won`t bring a player in if he cannot improve the squad."

In the same report Hill-Wood admits that the club could be taken over at some point in the future saying, "If somebody came and made a really huge bid then you cannot recommend shareholders turn it down because we don`t like it."

However, he expects the current ownership to continue for a time yet, "We want the club to stay in its current ownership and, of course, you have some concern that someone will try to buy the club," he admitted before continuing, "The directors don`t want to sell but we are a public company. It depends on the price."

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