Arsene Whinger

There would have been obvious digs at Chelsea, or Liverpool, or United, you might have thought... but for those of you who missed it, this is exactly what he said:

"If I lose £150million each year the club goes nowhere....bankrupt.The target of a real, good manager is to achieve success with what is available.

"You would like to think at Newcastle, at Aston Villa that you work only with the funds that have been created by your natural potential.

"By that I mean your sponsorship, gates and TV money. All the rest should not be allowed."

To which interviewer Des Kelly says: "That would cause a few problems somewhere", and Wenger replies: "Maybe, but at the moment it is not like that."

So, what does he mean? And why mention Villa?

Is he for-seeing a Randy Lerner and Geordie blitz this summer in the transfer market?

Anyway, whatever he means he should concentrate on his own business and leave Villa well alone.

Villa, after all, are not the ones at the centre of a FIFA led assault by Michel Platini to protect young European footballers from Wenger's grasp.

After last night's draw at the Emirates, England's best footballing side could quite easily end up with nothing in the trophy cabinet again.

Good manager, absolutely no doubt about that. Classy club. Yep, you gotta hand it to them.

But what a load of nonesense by Kelly and fellow pundit Steve Bunce- who is quite brilliant at boxing but should stay there.

Bunce was talking about Wenger as if the man had died. There he was harping back to the dressing room he inherited and the tabloid rumours... yawn, yawn, yawn...

Give Martin O'Neill, or for that matter David Moyes, Mark Hughes or whoever half Wenger's resources and you'd start to see some genuine competition in the top four.