Sir Bobby Robson says it's madness to be doubting Arsene Wenger's management at Arsenal.

In his column for the Mail on Sunday, Robson wrote: "His gamble of appointing William Gallas as captain has clearly backfired and I don't know why he didn't sign a midfield warrior to replace Mathieu Flamini. But he's kept Arsenal as one of the Big Four during a period when they have been financially restricted by moving to a new stadium.

"Look at every other club which has paid for a new stadium: their team has suffered. The Football League is full of the likes of Coventry, Derby, Southampton and Leicester, who went down because their money went on a ground rather than the team. I know Arsenal are a bigger club than any of those, but they aren't in the same spending league as Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, either.

"Thanks to Arsene, Arsenal have been able to fill a fantastic new stadium that has cost hundreds of millions of pounds and furnish it with quality players, signed on the cheap or developed by the club's Academy. Youngsters like Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott are playing for Arsenal at a fraction of the price that was required to launch Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres or Didier Drogba. The money Wenger gained from selling Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira has assured the club's financial security for years to come."