Silence is the way Arsenal do business.

I have to admit to feeling a little sheepish. It was on Sunday that I unleashed a, relatively, stringent attack on the way the club had conducted themselves since the Thierry Henry transfer. The silence, I ventured, was unbecoming of a club with hundred of thousands of members and millions of supporters. Where were the statements of intent, the reassurances? Where were the new players we so badly needed? The club was a shambles, I felt: arrogant to its support; unambitious in the transfer market.

The next day, completely out of the blue, Arsenal unveiled a major summer signing. With no warning, Eduardo's picture appeared on the website, and twenty-four hours later he was an Arsenal player (subject to work-permit). I almost feel like taking some credit for this signing: I'm sure that, in some way, the signing was almost like the cosmically club slapping me in the face, telling me to grow up and stop complaining. Possibly -to say this may seem a little egotistical, I know.

As Goodplaya stated shortly afterwards, Eduardo had not been linked with Arsenal whatsoever, in any mainstream or internet-based media, save for one or two blog-based, completely speculative comments. While we cheerfully made lists of Henry's replacements, the club quietly went about its business.

And this is the way, more often than not, Arsenal conduct themselves. Whilst Real Madrid and Barcelona openly and defiantly covet our players, and United have, essentially, an affair with old Owen Hargreaves, Wenger's signings are usually a surprise.

To take a few recent examples, who doesn't remember the signing of Jose Reyes coming almost completely out of nowhere? Or the signing of Fabianski, which came after months in which we were linked to a host of keepers across the land, with no mention whatsoever of our new Polish shot-stopper. And the signings of players we have been linked to, say Rosicky or Baptista, usually come months after our initial interest was allegedly registered.

Arsene keeps his targets close to his chest; but he has his targets. He is extremely mindful of keeping the players he wants to sign quiet, after several recent occasions in which rival clubs have attempted to gazump us after we've opened negotiations.

So, in those long-summer months sans football, I've made peace with the silence emanating from the club. Don't do what I did and unnecessarily fret, even if our rivals seem to be outspending us in the market. If Arsene is to be our manager we have to trust him. He'll get us the players we need, but he'll do it quietly. It's the Arsenal way. The polar opposite to the way this bunch conduct. (If any conversation did take place, I imagine it was a perfunctory two-word reply by Arsene to Madrid's offer).

Elsewhere, this has finally come out. Pardon me if I don't join the 'stampede' at the club shop. I heard it was shoulder to shoulder in the Armory today. I do quite like the new Premiership lettering though.

Only a few weeks til the first friendlies. Let's hope there's a few new faces by then.