He's subsequently, and finally, managed to come up with something positive to say. And the explanation for his comment on Saturday is that he meant it literally, "with a Premier League inquiry under way, it is hard for me to talk as freely as I would like right now."

But he did also explain that he understands our frustration at his having been so quiet over all this, and in respect of that he went on to say, "The main thing I want to convey is that I have two years left on my contract here and it goes without saying that I am fully focused and fully committed to this football club."

Not quite as totally unequivocal as Henry's expressions of love for the club, but one simply can't expect to be able to demand that from every player. At the end of the day, being committed while being our player is the most one can truly demand. But at least he's said something. It didn't "go without saying", Ash, so we're very glad you've said it, especially with a big Premiership game coming up. None of those Gerrard-style "scoring for the opposition who want to pay you loads of money" antics, please! :)

The Premier League's Cole-tapping inquiry dates have been set to 17th and 18th May, just 3 days before the FA Cup final. It had originally been scheduled for 25/26th April but Chelsea asked for a delay. Not ideal timing for Arsenal, naturally. Chelsea now have another potential scandal bubbling under, but they assure us that Rio Ferdinand's bumping into Peter Kenyon at a restaurant in London and then going on to another venue with him was a complete coincidence. Oh yes, and the fact that Pini Zahavi (the "super agent", which seems to mean he's untouchable, who was involved in the Cole affair) was there again was also sheer fluke.

On the positive side, there's the fact that the last league games will have been played before the hearing, so they'll know exactly how many points they need to deduct in order to hand us the title.