Don't mention the UCL

"Not one proposal has arrived from the Gunners."

- Maurizio Zamparini, Palermo president, stating the bleeding obvious about Arsenal's transfer policy

I'm not going to talk about the Champions League semi-finals. Like Wenger, I find it distressing. However, I am going to talk about two things:

1/ Hleb's 3 game ban. It's a surprisingly long time, considering the three-match ban on Mark Taylor. But I agree with it. No form of physicality should be tolerated. A player has the right to play a game without being slapped. I just wish Hleb had done something more manly, like headbutting or kung-fu kicking. A player's disciplanary record goes with him to his grave, and Hleb will forever be known as a slapper.

2/ Wenger's 25 million pound transfer budget. I found this from a piece on ANR from Nigel Phillips, a spokesman for the Arsenal Supporters Trust. I was surprised, because I was lead to believe we had a 70 million pound transfer kitty. However,

"Of the near £70m of cash balances, £25m is unavailable as it is used to partially secure future repayments of the debt facilities and one also assumes some is set aside to meet the probable £20m of additional transfer fees payable on existing squad members. This does however leave maybe £25m for the squad building (transfer plus wages) that appears all too necessary to sustain a season long challenge for honours on several fronts."

I don't understand economics, so I'll take Nigel at his word. I am disappointed, because when the Arsenal board tell me that there's 70 million spend, I expect mountains of cash in a Scrooge McDuck-esque vault on a hill. I don't expect a transfer facility that is eaten up by existing transfer fee commitments and future wages.

25 million pounds doesn't buy much these days. If we buy Ben Arfa, we'll need 12 million in fees, and maybe 8 million more to secure a three-year contract. That leaves 5 million more. I'm starting to understand why Wenger keeps insisting on only one "super, super player". I'm also understanding why Wenger's reluctant to go over that transfer facility and buy big guns like Torres. Not only is Wenger responsible for on-field management, he's also responsible for the off-field stuff. He knows that a four year contract for a misfiring Torres is also four years worth of money that he can't spend on the next exciting prospect. He can't take that risk, not even on an exceptional player.

What I don't understand is why Wenger is willing to cover for the Arsenal board. They lie to us, and push the blame onto Wenger's shoulders. The board are cowards. If they treated us like rational people, we would accept that stadium repayments are more important than title concerns. But they don't respect us enough to give us that honesty. I find that very disappointing.

And I hope Wenger isn't over-exterting himself by leading this double life. He does look very old at times.