Only a pessimistic person with flagrant disregard for the team will claim or posit that we stood a positive chance of clinching the Premier League crown or any other title for that matter given our unexplainable injury state the previous campaign.
As a matter-of-fact we were actually cruising to the top before those unfortunate events - when no matchday passed without a report of injury or recovery been dished out to us by Arsene Wenger, who must have being utterly frustrated with the situation.
Speaking on the Arsenal season review DVD, the Frenchman said the injuries last term hit our title ambitions very hard and as such, it would have taken a magician to weave title-winning tactics with the depleted squad.
Wenger said: "(the effect) was massive, at the beginning of March we were in touch and had the same chance as everyone to win.
"But when you go into the final games and you do not have your players it's too difficult, it's impossible. (We had) four, five, six key players not in the squad, not available.
"You need to be a magician then to win the Premier League if everybody else has their players."
Meanwhile, it's double jeopardy for the club as Hill-Wood confirms Arsenal's bid for Fulham's Mark Schwarzer has been rejected by the club, although he didn't rule out the possibility of knocking on their door for the Australian stopper in the near future. The chairman said: "We have made an enquiry for him and they are not prepared to sell him so we have gone away.
"We can only hope they will change their minds, but at the moment it doesn't look like it."
