Hill-Wood talks up arsenal's title push
goal
The 76-year-old has backed the Gunners to challenge for the title, but admitted the club cannot compete in the transfer market with teams like Chelsea and Manchester City
The Gunners drew 0-0 against Sunderland and Stoke City before beating Liverpool 2-0 and, while Hill-Wood is unconcerned by their trophy drought, he thinks they can challenge for silverware this season.
We have a pretty good chance of challenging for the Premiership, he told the London Evening Standard. I dont see why we cannot win it this year.
It is not a worry to the board that we havent won a trophy since 2005. It would be lovely to win but its not that easy. Liverpool havent won the title for 20-odd years.
Were very ambitious and want to win but, if you dont have billions of petro-dollars to throw around, youre going to have to do it some other way. Thats what were trying to do - with skilful selection of players. As for Walcott, he did not accept our offer so nothing is happening.
Arsenal made a net profit from the sale of key first-teamers Robin van Persie and Alex Song during the summer, raising questions over Arsene Wengers desire to spend to improve the squad.
Hill-Wood also moved to confirm the club are in a comfortbale financial state, before addressing Chelsea and Manchester City's effect on the market.
Arsene has money to spend but theres a limit, he added. We cant spend £50m on one player.
At a certain level, we cant compete. I dont think Stan Kroenke [the American owner] is going to put the sort of dollars in that [Roman] Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour are putting into Chelsea or Manchester City. Thats not the way he thinks clubs should be run.
Luckily, Arsene understands that. He got an economics degree from Strasbourg University so hes certainly no fool. He knows how a club should be run. That annoys a lot of people but clubs have to be sustainable. Were not going to go bankrupt in the way one or two other well-known clubs have.
The Glasgow Rangers example is something weve all got to guard against. They spent far more money than they could afford. Were ambitious enough but were not going to end in the same plight as Rangers. That is a fact of life. So my advice is dont get miserable about it.
The Gunners drew 0-0 against Sunderland and Stoke City before beating Liverpool 2-0 and, while Hill-Wood is unconcerned by their trophy drought, he thinks they can challenge for silverware this season.
We have a pretty good chance of challenging for the Premiership, he told the London Evening Standard. I dont see why we cannot win it this year.
It is not a worry to the board that we havent won a trophy since 2005. It would be lovely to win but its not that easy. Liverpool havent won the title for 20-odd years.
Were very ambitious and want to win but, if you dont have billions of petro-dollars to throw around, youre going to have to do it some other way. Thats what were trying to do - with skilful selection of players. As for Walcott, he did not accept our offer so nothing is happening.
Arsenal made a net profit from the sale of key first-teamers Robin van Persie and Alex Song during the summer, raising questions over Arsene Wengers desire to spend to improve the squad.
Hill-Wood also moved to confirm the club are in a comfortbale financial state, before addressing Chelsea and Manchester City's effect on the market.
Arsene has money to spend but theres a limit, he added. We cant spend £50m on one player.
At a certain level, we cant compete. I dont think Stan Kroenke [the American owner] is going to put the sort of dollars in that [Roman] Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour are putting into Chelsea or Manchester City. Thats not the way he thinks clubs should be run.
Luckily, Arsene understands that. He got an economics degree from Strasbourg University so hes certainly no fool. He knows how a club should be run. That annoys a lot of people but clubs have to be sustainable. Were not going to go bankrupt in the way one or two other well-known clubs have.
The Glasgow Rangers example is something weve all got to guard against. They spent far more money than they could afford. Were ambitious enough but were not going to end in the same plight as Rangers. That is a fact of life. So my advice is dont get miserable about it.
