Tony Adams, "Mr Arsenal" to legions of Gooners, has resigned as coach of FC Gabala, a club playing in the top flight of the Azerbaijan football league.

He has cited "family reasons" (one of those "well I have to say something and can't tell the truth" kind of excuses) as the explanation for his sudden departure.

Adams, in a move that surprised many, joined the Azeri club in May 2010, and was on a three year contract.

His decision to jump ship midway through his "project" (the term used mainly as a euphemism for spending sprees these days) will definitely raise a few eyebrows, given how effusive he was about his assignment. He was enjoying the challenge of building not just the team, but the entire club, right from the grassroots, and far from the spotlight and the madding crowd.

Close on the heels of that piece of news comes a somewhat sensational interview given by Arsene Wenger to French newspaper L'Equipe.

In this interview, Wenger seems to suggest that his time at Arsenal is coming to an end. He expresses that last summer was probably his worst time at the club, and that he was badly hurt by the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, two youngsters identified and nurtured by Wenger, who were approaching their prime.

When asked if he had, yet again, put in place a long-term vision for himself and the club, he surprisingly retorted with "No. For me we’re now talking short term, it’s obvious." And then added that a successor would build upon the foundations he had put in place, cont

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good, now we are talking. no more useless building projects