I've not posted for a while, for a combination of reasons; work and exams, laziness and the lack of any news that really excited me. I got bored going over the same stories again and again.

Today, I saw something that really caught my eye though. The BBC has an article about Adebayor. It's different though; not claiming he's off to Milan or Barcelona (which he isn't), but rather about his life in Togo before he came to Europe, and the work he does there now. For me, it shows how hard he has worked to get where he is today, and I don't know why really, but it makes me even surer that he isn't about to leave the club. I thought it was a nice change to the normal bollocks-mongering you get from the papers during the summer.

Hopefully I'll be updating the blog more regularly in future, although I am about to go on holiday on Monday, so I'll get back to it when I'm back home.

Fabregas and Adebayor Speak Out, Scudamore to be Chief Exec? and Eboue Analysed

Thank God! It's been a while now since we've had any real news to report on, and even though today's isn't anything that special, it makes a change from constant Nasri and Hleb transfer talk. Apologies for the lack of a blog yesterday, but I couldn't face covering new variations on the same stories yet again.

The most important news I have come across today are statements of loyalty from both Cesc and Adebayor. Fabregas is in talks over a new deal at the club, which would take his pay from 60,000 to 90,000 a week. Bear in mind though, that the information comes from the Telegraph's "source at the club", so is more than likely completely made up. What is more cheering is Fabregas' interview with Radio Marca, in which he committed his future to the club, and stated his desire to win the league here. He said:

"I am staying at Arsenal. I have given my word to my coach, he asked me and I told him that he had my confidence 100 per cent and that is the end. He has asked for unity in the team and I am the first one who is going to stick by him so there is no problem. I want to win the league and I am one of those people who fights for what they want until they get it."

And isn't that just music to your ears. Barca and Real can piss off, they're not getting their hands on Cesc! Adeabyor has come out with similar sentiments in an interview with the Sun;

“I came to Arsenal with a mission to succeed, I have assured the gaffer Arsene Wenger I’ll stay because I believe in the team and I want to assure the fans my concentration is here.I have no reason to leave so I’ll stay to ensure that together we’ll win silverware."

It's great to have to players who are both so important to the team state their happiness and loyalty to the club, especially when other players have been more critical. It proves to the doubters that this Arsenal team will not fall apart, and that they will be back, even stronger, next season for another attempt at winning the title.

Apparently, Richard Scudamore, current chief executive of the Premier League is at the top of our list for David Dein/Keith Edelman replacements. I don't know if there is any truth in the rumour, but it is an interesting one. One one hand, Scudamore knows football very well, and has been able to increase the profits of the Premiership hugely. On the other hand he does he does appear to be a conscience-free kinda guy, who wouldn't be averse to changing anything for extra cash (witness the 39th game proposal). I think he could potentially do a very good job at the club, but as long as the other directors kept a close eye on him to ensure he doesn't turn out a twat in the mould of Peter Kenyon. I don't know nearly enough about the financial side of football to say for sure what kind of impact he could have, but I would be cautiously optimistic if he was appointed, though slightly concerned he could turn the club into the kind of corporate sponsorship whore Man Utd have become, constantly going on tour around the USA, Far East and Middle East to raise the clubs profile instead of concentrating on footballing matters.

Finally, I have done a bit of work analysing the contribution of Emmanuel Eboue to the club this season. I, along with almost all of the fans, think he has been rubbish for pretty much the whole season, but Wenger has defended Eboue, claiming that he helps balance out the side's attacking instincts. Someone may well have done this before, but I decided to put Wenger's claims that Eboue helps the team to the test. Basically, I have worked out the average number of points the team won in games the Eboue was and wasn't involved in. I have counted him as involved if he has played over 45 minutes of a game. When Eboue was in the team, we got an average of 1.95 points per game, whilst we got 2.5 points per game without him. Obviously there are a huge number of other factors I could take into account, but, honestly, I can't be bothered. Despite this, the statistics do seem to show the negative effect Eboue has on the team. However, the situation isn't as clear as it seems, because Eboue tends to have played in some of our trickier games this season; featuring both home and away against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd, and this is bound to skew the figures somewhat. So there you go, the figures I have come up with are inconclusive, though I suspect lean to the side that says "Eboue is completely useless!".

I may not be blogging much over the weekend, as I am away, but I'll try to find time. I'll be back Monday though, so never fear!

Transfer Roundup and Good News For Mad Germans

Once again today, we have various spurious transfer rumours flying around that link sveral different players to moves to or from Arsenal. There has been a lot of talk about Real Madrid's interest in Hleb, and quotes from his agent back this up:

"For any player in the world, it is always a great honour that a club like Real Madrid is interested in him.

"This confirms the good work that Hleb has carried out in the last years is being recognised by one of the greatest clubs in the world. Nobody can doubt that the interest of Madrid is a privilege for the player."

However, there has been nothing from either club or the player, so it may well just be a case of Hleb's agent trying to drum up interest in his client. While I accept that this is an agent's prerogative, I just wish Hleb would just come out and say something conclusive himself; does he want to leave the club? The only other commenton this issue comes from ex-Gooner Julio Baptista, who said that Hleb would be "good reinforcement" for Madrid.

Another story floating about the internet and papers today is of Milan's interest in Emmanuel Adebayor. This is just your usual load of transfer bollocks - we're not going to sell Adebayor, and he doesn't want to leave.

As per usual at this time of year, we seem to be being linked with pretty much every young player under the sun. As well, as all the Nasri stuff which is still circulating - the transfer seems no nearer conclusion, although I guess the less we hear at this stage the better - we have apparently signed Francis Coquelin, who I know nothing about other than he's a young French player (apparently a defensive midfielder). We have also been relinked with Hatem Ben Arfa here, although there doesn't seem to be any source for the story. The same page also links us to another player I've never heard of, PSGs Clement Chantome. I doubt there's anything in it, but who knows?

There is on piece of news that I was delighted to hear today, and that is that our very own Mad Jens is likely to be Germany's #1 for the Euros this summer! He's had a tough season with us, but is still a quality player. Will I support Germany now? I don't know if I can bring myself to, but I will most definitely be supporting Lehmann! He is a true Arsenal legend, and deserves a good send-off, as I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up retiring this summer.