Arsenal defeated Newcastle by a convincing 3-0 scoreline on Tuesday, leaving them top of the table until a Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United ripped Portsmouth to shreds a day later to reclaim the Number One on goal difference.

Many sites have already reported on Arsenal’s win over a still-goalless Keagan-Newcastle, with Adebayor putting a wonderful header on an equally wonderful Flamini assist, before Flamini again decided to blow the stadiums’ mind with a thumping 25-yard drive that rasped past the despairing Shay Given. Fabregas scored his first goal in three months after finishing off a move started by an offside-Bendtner, rounding off an enjoyable night for the red and white.

-{Lately I have been pondering who - if the season were to end tomorrow - would be Arsenal’s player of the season.}-

No surprises (after all the adulations he’s received in the press) that Mathieu Flamini gets man of the match for his performance - tackling, backtracking, crossing, running and scoring - he simply did it all that night.

Lately I have been pondering who - if the season were to end tomorrow - would be Arsenal’s player of the season. The beginning was run by Fabregas, with Hleb then Gallas taking over the honours in November and early December, until Adebayor (with an Eduardo cameo) hit his scoring straps and then some up to the present day. Yet all the while, the combative midfielder known to his teammates as ‘Gattuso’ - to some of us as ‘Katita’ - has consistently put in performances that gel Arsenal into a cohesive, combative title-pushing side. With him in our side, fear is never an issue against the Chelsea’s, Liverpool’s and Manchester United’s of the world.

Hopefully I can put a poll up sometime soon so we can start getting our votes in for such things. Sticking with Flamini, and implications from the midfielder and management suggest that a new contract is a matter of ‘when, not if’, despite interest from Juventus. In an article on Arsenal.com, Flamini talks of his friendships in the team, as well as the imminent new contract, saying:

“My priority is to stay here. I’m very happy here. I’m happy to play in the team and everything is good. My representatives are talking with the Club and I hope everything will be good. I want to play game after game. The rest, we will see later.“

So it is all looking fairly positive at this juncture. Another player who has extended his own contract until 2012 is the Vieira-imatition himself, Abou Diaby. Despite giving some on-and-off performances down Arsenal’s flanks, he has still managed to show glimpses of his potential, earning him the extension. From what we have all seen (we have all seen good things from him, right?), I certainly hope he will become a success with the club in some measure.

-{(Djourou) got more games as a stand-in midfielder, rather than settling him into a position he has shown new, refreshing talent in.}-

Walcott has personally rubbished claims he might have gone on loan before the transfer window ended, saying that it would benefit him more to train with ’some of the best players in the world’, rather than move clubs temporarily. It’s probably the correct decision, especially considering Arsene Wenger will insist on developing him into the position he feels is best. The experience with Birmingham and Johann Djourou was less than helpful - the Arsenal defender got more games as a stand-in midfielder, rather than settling him into a position he has shown new, refreshing talent in.

-{A recent development that I have been front-running amongst the major Arsenal bloggers…is to establish a weekly ‘Arsenal Blog of the Week’ award.}-

An Englishman who has also signed the dotted line is young Luke Freeman, who after a ‘protracted’ saga with his club Gillingham, has agreed a student-registration with Arsenal. Gillingham are set to receive bonus payouts should Freeman make enough appearances and score enough goals for Arsenal in the future, so they will be rewarded (hopefully) for their allowing Freeman to enhance his gifts at a major club.

And with that, there’s just one thing left to mention before signing off. A recent development that I have been front-running amongst the major Arsenal bloggers (all on the blogroll to the right, there) is to establish a weekly ‘Arsenal Blog of the Week’ award to those that demonstrate outstanding writing, enterprise and originality in the upkeep of their blog and the provision of news to their readers.

I expect the award to evolve over time, both in its adjudication and in its recipients. A full explaination of the award and what it hopes to achieve can be located here. Hopefully it develops into something worthwhile and deserving.

With that, it’s another night of me signing off. Stay well, all.